Volume One: The Menial Laborers of Longshui County, Chapter Ninety-Four: The Marks of a Martial Artist

The little county of Changshui was hardly worth noticing in the vast realm of Great Zhou, so why were there two ruins here?

And these were only the ones already discovered; there might very well be others still hidden, waiting to be found.

This place was not simple.

After a moment of thought, Lu Jiuye looked toward Master Zhong and said, “You can hide in the Three Righteous Estate for a while and first avoid the pursuit of those people. Then, after a few more years, when the matter has been mostly forgotten and no one cares about it anymore, you can seek out a small sect and become an honored guest elder.”

Behind the estate, the hills were rich with spiritual energy and well suited for cultivation.

Once the pursuit had eased by more than half, he could come out and head to a minor sect, using its power to investigate what had happened back then.

It would amount to starting life anew under another identity.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Zhong Zhengming said with a nod.

It was not as though they had any better choice.

...

The group continued onward, and after more than ten minutes, they stopped again.

The black hound wore a grave expression as it looked ahead. “There’s no way around. Ahead is a pack of demons.”

“Can we cut through the ruins and only travel along the edges without going deep inside?” Lu Jiuye asked.

“That’s the only way,” Zhong Zhengming replied with a nod. “Everyone, stay alert.”

The group changed direction and entered the ruins.

Director Xue had recovered enough to walk for short distances.

Zhong Zhengming set him down, gripped his saber, and remained on full alert.

Among the broken walls and wild grass, there were many bleached demon bones.

It was plain to see that those demons had fought fiercely here.

“Wait!”

Not long after they had gone on, Zhong Zhengming suddenly halted and looked toward a spot in the grass.

Lu Jiuye followed his gaze and saw traces of a fire there.

The ground had been charred black, and there was still some unburned dry wood left, one end blackened by fire while the other remained intact.

“Could someone be living here?”

Lu Jiuye said in surprise.

“It’s not impossible. Everyone should still be careful,” Zhong Zhengming said. “Since there are signs of habitation, and since they can survive amid the lair of demons, it means they are no weaklings.”

“We should keep edging closer to the perimeter of the ruins and try not to step into their living area, so as to avoid danger.”

Zhong Zhengming’s heart tightened. The situation here was far more complicated than he had imagined.

“Could they be survivors of the battle that year?” the black hound asked.

“Unlikely.” Zhong Zhengming shook his head. “When you pull up the weeds, you must root them out completely. Some of the weaker demons may have survived, but it is unlikely that cultivators did.”

“I suspect it may be someone from the small sect that once established itself here.”

“And afterward, they never left.”

“In other words, it is not that they did not want to leave, but that they were trapped by these ruins and could not get out.”

As soon as Zhong Zhengming finished speaking, the black hound barked, “Damn it, doesn’t that mean we can’t get out either? Uncle Jiu, I haven’t even found a mother beast yet, and I don’t have any offspring to leave behind.”

“If we’re trapped here forever, won’t it just be the few males of us keeping each other company in the end?”

The black hound was most unwilling.

“When speaking of people, don’t say males. Say men,” Lu Jiuye said darkly.

“What’s the difference?” the black hound replied with disdain.

...

Meanwhile, at the core of the ruins.

Along the way, Bian Yuan and the others had also encountered many dangers.

There had originally been nine or ten of them when they entered, but now only six or seven remained.

One demon had died, and the demon-slaying envoy from Nanwu County had also perished.

Bian Yuan, deputy director of the Demon-Slaying Bureau of Anxi Prefecture, led at the front. They had already ventured deep into this place, each step taken with utmost caution.

Before them stood a tall tower reduced to only its frame, swaying perilously, as if it might collapse at any moment.

Upon the tower there was also an enormous palm imprint.

It should have been struck there by a mighty expert in those days.

Back then, the tower’s materials were naturally extraordinary, and it had even been inscribed with a formation, barely managing to withstand the blow.

Then, eroded by the passage of time, the structures atop the tower gradually fell away, and the paint peeled with them, leaving only the frame.

“Go in and take a look. In its day, this tower should have been one of the most important places here. It may have been a scripture repository, an armory, or a place for cultivation,” Bian Yuan said.

“Understood!”

The others and the great demons all nodded, yet none stepped forward.

“What now? Are my words no longer enough to order you about?” Bian Yuan asked coldly when no one moved.

“Last time it was one of my great demons who died scouting ahead. This time, it should be your human cultivators’ turn, shouldn’t it?” said the snake demon, with a single head and two bodies, its body covered in black scales.

“Is there room for you to speak here?” Director Song rebuked.

They had the deputy director of the Demon-Slaying Bureau of Anxi Prefecture with them, a martial artist of the seventh rank.

Among all present, he was the strongest.

The snake demon was only an eighth-rank demon; even if it was close to the seventh rank, it was still no match for Director Bian.

Letting a demon scout ahead was the most fitting arrangement.

“You...” The snake demon was infuriated.

So human lives counted as lives, while theirs did not?

“We miscalculated. If I had known, I would have seized Zhong Zhengming and the others first and made them scout the way,” Bian Yuan said coldly. “Never mind. Since they are gone, let them be gone. This is not the time to dwell on it. Great demon, send one of your demons to scout ahead.”

“If there is to be scouting next time, send our people.”

With a martial artist of the seventh rank speaking, the snake demon could only swallow its anger and order one of its subordinates to enter the tower.

A few minutes later, a cry rang out from within the tower.

Everyone was alarmed and hurried inside.

The first floor was nothing special, merely broken stone tiles and the like. It was not until they reached the second floor that they saw the great demon standing motionless with its mouth agape.

The great demon stared fixedly at the arrangement on the second floor.

There was a bed and a tea table here, altogether no different from a place where a person might live, save for the somewhat crude surroundings.

“From the look of it, the person should have left not long ago,” Bian Yuan analyzed.

The windows were bright and clean, without the slightest trace of dust.

That person must have lived here for a long time and had only briefly gone out just then, which was why they had not run into them.

“Stay alert!” Bian Yuan said. “We were too naive. We never expected that besides demons blocking the way, there would also be human warriors. Try not to clash with them; do not forget our mission.”

“Director Bian, if there are warriors here, could it be that they already reached the ruins first and took away the treasures ahead of us?” the snake demon asked. “If so, wouldn’t we have made this trip for nothing?”

At those words, everyone’s hearts sank.

If that were truly the case, it would be troublesome.

A great demon had died, as had a warrior of the eighth rank, and after so much painstaking caution, it would all have been for nothing.

“It is not impossible. Be prepared,” Bian Yuan said. “Or else, we could...”