Liu Cheng was surprised at both Qiang Yan's passionate speech and the fact that he was suddenly attacked. Normally, the demon hunters of the Chun Feng Sect were highly valued wherever they went because of the fact that they were freeing the people of this demonic scourge. Well, he probably shouldn't be surprised. Considering what he had just heard, this person was related to that Qiu Ling and didn't seem to mind his possible heritage, still feel that he could be a 'good person'. He might even have known about Qiu Ling's origins but refused to say anything, thus endangering the people around them.
Liu Cheng unsheathed his own weapon and met Qiang Yan head-on, his gaze darkening when he thought about these things. "You do not seem to understand what kind of creature a demon is."
"I'm sure that I understand them much better than you." After all, he had fought in several wars against them and watched the political games the current and past demon king liked to play. On the other hand, he also knew that a bit of demonic blood didn't necessarily make you a bad person. Otherwise, he never would have married Huan Yin and stayed with her until the end. He wouldn't still be missing her. No, even though he hadn't known before, he was sure that Huan Yin had been a good person. He would never believe anything else.
Liu Chen snorted. Demons were vile creatures by nature. It was unfortunate but true. From a certain perspective, they couldn't even be faulted for that. The humans that refused to acknowledge this were much more problematic because they would often enable the demons to stay in this world. They would teach them about humans, help them to blend in and thus enable them to hurt others. They often only realized when it was much too late.
"That is what they want you to believe." He sped up his attacks, hoping to finish this fight fast so that he could go back to finding a way into that realm.
Just a moment later, Liu Cheng's expression changed though. No matter how he attacked, his opponent didn't have any trouble defending. No, on the contrary, he even slowly but surely pressured Liu Cheng into the defensive himself. It gave him the feeling of being played with.
Just who was this person?! In all his years in the Chun Feng Sect, Liu Cheng had never experienced anything like this. Sure, there were fights where he was disadvantaged but he always managed to pull through. This time, there was no way to do that though. There was no weakness in his opponent's fighting.
Qiang Yan smirked. Looking at Liu Cheng's expression, he could imagine what he was thinking. It really made him feel that it was quite funny. This guy was overestimating himself. He was just a human and not even one of their premier talents. Sure, as a demon hunter, his ability to wield a weapon wasn't bad but it wasn't outstanding either. If he thought back to how Leng Jin Yu fought instead … now that was what a prodigy looked like! And even for him, it had been impossible to win when they had a mock fight once. Somebody like this Liu Cheng couldn't compare.
Liu Cheng's brows furrowed together and he finally glanced at the other disciples of the Chun Feng Sect. They drew their weapons and approached.
Qiang Yan huffed. "I see now. Your Chun Feng Sect is really very righteous, actually ganging up on one person. Makes me wonder what your excuse is right now. Am I also considered a demon?"
"No. But you are trying to obstruct us from entering this realm and taking care of the ones inside. So either you step back or we don't have another choice but to take you out first."
Qiang Yan shook his head. "You really believe that you can't be wrong."
"Naturally. Demons are vile creatures. They need to be eradicated."
"Even if they aren't full-blooded demons?"
"In that case, we might be compassionate and let them live but they can't be allowed to stay among humans."
Qiang Yan's brows furrowed. "So where do they stay? Locked up in your dungeons? What makes you think that that is a life worth living? They haven't done anything but you insist on hunting them. Anyway, you won't be able to win this time. Even if you managed to beat these two with some underhanded tricks, your Chun Feng Sect wouldn't survive it if you actually locked them up." He couldn't help but laugh at that thought. The Chun Feng Sect was really courting death.
One of the people they were currently accusing of being a demon was the current dragon king. If they really locked him up, wouldn't the dragons go nuts? The Chun Feng Sect probably would cease to exist if they tried.
And even if they didn't get Qiu Ling and instead caught the previous dragon king, they still wouldn't meet a good end. After all, Leng Jin Yu wouldn't let his husband come to harm and he was an ascended deity with several thousands of years of experience in the human realm after all. That kind of person was equally able to flatten one sect.
Anyway, if the Chun Feng Sect insisted on going through with this and succeeded by some fluke, they'd regret it deeply. Beating them up so that they wouldn't be able to endanger themselves further was actually really compassionate of him, wasn't it?
He chuckled to himself and then sped up, the weapons clanging while Liu Cheng was pushed back further and further. The other disciples finally jumped in but Qiang Yan didn't break a sweat holding them back. Anyway, he was a god so the weapons made to suppress demons didn't have any additional effects on him.
Just when he wanted to give Liu Cheng one last push, somebody threw himself into his path and made him stop, looking at them unbelieving.
"Hong Bao?" What was this woman doing here?!