Volume One: Menial Duties in Changshui County Chapter Forty-One: The Way of Sorcery

"Master Zhou, but the monsters I saw earlier possessed intelligence. How do you explain that?" Lu Jiuzhang asked.

"Those monsters are no longer ordinary; they are on the verge of reaching the eighth rank. Moreover, there are clear distinctions among monsters. For example, that fox demon—its intelligence is inherently quite high."

"Most monsters, if they settle in a single place, will demarcate their own territory."

"Their main pursuit is cultivation. Once their cultivation is complete, they emerge to feed. Therefore, as long as you don't trespass into their domain, there is generally little danger."

"The village behind this forest, I suspect, has been claimed as territory by such a monster. Yet, there's one thing that puzzles me: why does the monster kill only animals and not harm humans?"

Having explained, Zhou Cheng murmured to himself.

If the reason was fear of retaliation from the Demon Slayers after harming humans, that wouldn't hold. Deep in the mountains, it's doubtful the monster even knows of the Demon Slayers.

"Let's move on and see if anything unusual lies ahead," Zhou Cheng ordered.

...

Immediately, everyone continued their journey. Lu Jiuzhang returned to the rear, taking up the responsibility of covering their backs.

The group pressed forward. Less than a hundred meters ahead, they encountered another rotting carcass of an animal.

This one appeared to be a tiger or a leopard. It was just an ordinary beast, not yet cultivated into a monster, so it posed little threat.

After a brief pause, the group moved on.

From the outside, the old forest didn't seem large, but deep within, the towering trees revealed its vast and profound nature.

The light within the woods grew dimmer, casting an eerie unease upon all who walked there.

Fortunately, nothing amiss occurred along the way.

Apart from the uncanny silence of the forest, there seemed little else of note.

As they neared the forest's edge, the group spotted yet another rotting animal carcass.

By now, they had seen dozens if not a hundred such corpses, so no one thought much of it.

Lu Jiuzhang deliberately took a detour, passing close to the carcass.

At that moment, a wave of anxiety swept through him, his hair standing on end.

Danger!

Lu Jiuzhang instantly leapt backward.

In that split second, the animal's decayed body sprang up from the ground.

The beast, dead for days, lunged straight at Lu Jiuzhang.

He drew his blade and struck at the corpse.

A clear, metallic ring echoed.

Lu Jiuzhang saw plainly that his sword had left only a faint white mark on the creature's body.

Unbelievable!

A beast dead for so long, yet not even the Demon Slayers' blade could cut through it!

No, something was wrong!

Lu Jiuzhang looked more closely and realized the animal was in disguise.

It was alive, merely draped in the rotting skin of another.

A strange, guttural sound issued from its throat.

Perhaps it should no longer be called a beast, but rather a monster.

This creature was two meters long, possessed astonishing strength, and its hide was thick enough to render the Demon Slayers' blade useless.

Lu Jiuzhang's earlier strike sent a jarring recoil up his arm.

An eighth-rank monster? Or perhaps a ninth-rank that had cultivated to its peak, about to ascend?

Otherwise, the Demon Slayers' blade would have surely left a wound.

The monster lunged again.

Lu Jiuzhang raised his blade to block, but the creature's strength was overwhelming; in mere moments, he was forced back several steps.

All of this happened in a flash.

Zhou Cheng reacted at once, rushing to Lu Jiuzhang's aid.

Yet the monster seemed to focus solely on Lu Jiuzhang.

"You are a ninth-rank scholar—your literary aura naturally restrains such evil beings!" Zhou Cheng shouted as he approached.

"With sword in hand, I shall smite demons and monsters alike!" Lu Jiuzhang cried, unleashing his Confucian vigor.

He swung again, but the attack merely delayed the monster's advance.

"That's not how you wield a scholar's fortune!" Zhou Cheng snapped in frustration.

But he had already arrived, and his blade, of far superior quality than the common retainers', struck the monster, carving a deep gash to the bone.

Something was wrong!

There was no blood at all, and despite the grievous wound, the monster didn't retaliate against Zhou Cheng but continued its assault on Lu Jiuzhang.

"Recall how you dealt with the fox demon last time!" Zhou Cheng yelled from behind.

Last time? Did Zhou Cheng already see through something?

It had simply required channeling the reservoir of literary energy within and reciting the words of the sages.

He had summoned thunder to smite the fox demon.

But this time, Lu Jiuzhang dared not borrow the power of Grand Scholar Lu Shiyi again.

Last time, using Lu Shiyi's strength elevated him to the fifth rank, draining his vitality and depleting his literary reservoir. It had taken days of recuperation to recover.

"‘The ancients said: when faced with gain, consider righteousness; when faced with desire, recall righteousness, and evil thoughts will abate…’" Lu Jiuzhang chanted under his breath.

At the same time, the literary reservoir within the Star Pavilion surged, literary energy rapidly diminishing—though not as dramatically as before.

Confucian fortune radiated from him, even imbuing his blade.

With one stroke, another wound appeared on the monster.

Though not deep, the monster writhed in agony.

Zhou Cheng's earlier strike had elicited no reaction, so it must be the literary aura inflicting pain.

Emboldened, Lu Jiuzhang coordinated with Zhou Cheng, channeling literary power into their attacks.

With two ninth-rank experts, the monster quickly succumbed. Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, it was hacked to pieces, collapsing to the ground.

"Something is amiss," Zhou Cheng said, standing over the remains. "This monster was already dead."

"Dead? Then how did it..." Lu Jiuzhang was astonished.

If it was already dead, how could it still attack?

"I don't know for sure, but I suspect it's necromancy at work," Zhou Cheng replied.

"Necromancy?"

"Necromancy is another path altogether; it can control all things. I've heard of controlling the dead, but it's exceedingly rare—even among shamans, few can do it."

"Our Changshui County is remote. There can't be many shamans in the entire Northern Reaches, let alone here. Why would one appear now?"

Zhou Cheng looked at Lu Jiuzhang.

The monster had attacked him specifically and without hesitation.

There was something more here.

Zhou Cheng dared not pursue the thought further.

Shamans were too scarce, and to command one—especially one who could manipulate the dead—spoke of a power behind the scenes far beyond their reckoning.