Lu Yan wasn't optimistic about it.
If the murderer who killed Zhao Zhuang's couple was the monster from two years ago, the fact that the Liu Family couldn't kill it then means it won't be easy now either.
This time, the Red-clad Guards arrived quickly and in large numbers, a whole group of ten men.
But Zhang Jun and Chen Ji weren't among them.
The Red-clad Guards carefully examined Zhao Zhuang couple's corpse, from which two of them wrapped the corpse in mats and carried it away.
"Fellow villagers, don't panic, it's merely the work of thugs. The Liu Family has dispatched martial troops. They will capture the culprits quickly."
A Red-clad Guard loudly assured and calmed down the crowd.
As expected, hearing this, the villagers felt much relieved.
Only the original villagers still couldn't hide their fear.
"Also, anyone spreading rumors shall be executed without mercy."
The Red-clad Guard left with the last cold words as he scanned the crowd with a dagger-like gaze, and then walked away briskly.
"It's getting more and more dangerous outside the city. We must save up money to buy a house in the city as soon as possible."
Lu Yan murmured.
On the way home, the family was full of worry.
"Father, Mother, you guys shouldn't go out to work these days, stay at home. If anything is wrong, hide in the cellar."
Lu Yan advised.
"Yan, are you still going hunting?" Wang Cui asked worriedly.
"Mother, don't worry. Even if there is a monster, it seems to only appear at night, not during the day. I always return home at dusk."
Lu Yan said.
He went home to grab his bow and went into the mountains to hunt.
By dusk, Lu Yan returned home carrying two deer.
Nothing happened that night, and the next day Lu Yan went hunting in the mountains again, returning in the afternoon to sell the game in the city.
In this way, seven days passed without incident, and the villagers were gradually reassured.
In the deep night, a crescent moon hung, casting a dim moonlight.
Lu Yan suddenly woke up.
During this time, he had been on high alert at night, and a moment ago he had heard an odd sound.
It was an extremely eerie and complex noise, as if whispering and growling, laden with pain and resentment, coupled with a touch of excitement.
It was coming from near their house, seemingly from their neighbor's house, Zhang Dafu's.
Lu Yan's house was on the outskirts of Kaoshan Village, near a wooden fence, with a few neighbors there. One was Sister-in-law Hai's house, and the other was Zhang Dafu's.
"Could it be…the monster?"
Lu Yan's heart clenched.
He got up, picked up his bow and arrows, ready to fight at any moment.
Zhang Dafu's house was nearby. If it were the monster, it could come to their house at any moment.
If anything is wrong, he will immediately wake his parents and hide in the cellar.
Although hiding in the cellar might not work, it's at least an extra layer of protection.
But afterwards, the noise did not get closer but remained at Zhang Dafu's house.
Driven by curiosity, Lu Yan braved his fear, quietly opened the door, and stepped out.
That sound was very soft. Even in the night sky, only Lu Yan, with his exceptional sense of hearing, could notice.
Then, he climbed up an elm tree next to his house, hid in the thick foliage, and looked down at Zhang Dafu's house.
At the sight, Lu Yan's skin exploded, and his hair stood on end.
Zhang Dafum and his family were doing something utterly weird.
A family of four stood side by side in the yard, their eyes wide with hollow expressions, muttering to themselves as if sleepwalking.
In the next moment, Zhang Dafu extended his finger, surprisingly digging into his own eyeballs. His strength seemed to be extraordinarily strong, removing his eyeball forcefully.
Oddly, Zhang Dafu didn't make a sound, and there was no expression of pain on his face, as if he wasn't digging out his own eye.
His wife and child stood numbly on the side, expressionless.
After Zhang Dafu dug out his own eyeball, he cradled it in his palm as if offering it to someone.
Suddenly, a long neck and head stretched out from the shadows of the yard.
This was clearly a human neck, but it was two meters long, elongated, with an ugly face on top of it, looking excited, yet mixed with a thread of pain. Opening its mouth, it sucked in Zhang Dafu's eyeballs, chewed them up and swallowed them, appearing to enjoy it.
After eating, the neck retracted and disappeared into the shade.
Immediately after, Zhang Dafu's wife also began to gouge out her own eyeballs...
"Evil spirit...monster..."
Lu Yan felt his heartbeat quickening and a chill running through him.
He was certain that it was this monster that killed Zhao Zhuang's couple, and now, it had come again.
His left hand clung tightly to his bow, veins throbbing.
He restrained himself from acting impulsively.
The feudal lord, Liu clan, had attempted to kill it multiple times, but failed. This monster's strength far exceeded his. If he were to act, he would surely die.
By then, not only he, but also Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui may be unavoidably killed.
Patience. He now could only endure.
Zhang Dafu's family, one after another, gouged out their eyeballs and fed them to the monster, then numbly walked into the living room and hung themselves from the crossbeam, soon ceased to breathe.
Then, a figure emerged from the shadows.
It was a middle-aged man, big-boned, his face showing a very strange expression, as if in pain, yet excited, and seemingly struggling.
What was truly eerie was not this, but his chest.
His chest also had a head, a long neck, extending and retracting freely, swaying like a snake.
His hands didn't look human, dry and stiff like a zombie's, with long sharp nails. A casual stab could easily gouge out Zhang Dafu's heart, hand it to the head on his chest, that head took a big bite, chewing with excitement.
Then, he handed the remaining heart to the other head, but this head growled, face contorted with struggle, and constantly shook its head in resistance.
The head on his chest laughed coldly, and swallowed the remaining heart in one bite.
Next, the second heart was extracted.
Lu Yan's muscles were tense, his body soaked in cold sweat, and his breath became unavoidably heavy.
Suddenly, the monster violently turned around, its chest-head directly staring at Lu Yan's direction.
"Oh no, it's discovered me."
Lu Yan was alarmed, his arm forcefully swung, ready to attack first.
But the monster opened its large mouth full of tusks, emitting a soundless ripple, extremely fast, and in an instant, swept towards Lu Yan.
Lu Yan's head felt heavy, and he started to feel drowsy.
"No, I can't fall asleep."
Lu Yan bit his tongue tip, the piercing pain woke him up a bit, then he proceeded to mobilise the Qi-blood throughout his body, to fully awaken himself.
He drew the bow and was prepared to fire his arrow.
But a black mist suddenly filled the monster's body, it pushed out with a palm, an extremely cold force crossed several tens of meters instantly and rushed towards Lu Yan.
Before the force fully arrived, Lu Yan already felt pain in his skin, as if a sword was close to him.
Fast, too fast, so fast that Lu Yan found it difficult to dodge.
At the last critical moment, He instinctively lifted the iron bow to block in front of him.
Bang!
The iron bow deformed, Lu Yan felt as if he had been hit by a giant truck and was thrown backward, he heavily hit the ground and blood spewed out from his mouth.
The terrifying thing was, a cold and eerie force drilled into his body and started to wander inside him.
"What was that noise?"
"Yan, was that you?"
The noise had awakened Mr. and Mrs. Lu Qingshan.
The monster was surprised when it didn't kill Lu Yan with one attack, revealing its intense killing intent. It jumped up and headed towards Lu Yan.
"It's over, am I going to die at the hands of this monster today?"
Lu Yan was reminded of the horrific state of Zhao Zhuang and his wife, also Zhang Dafu, and felt unwilling.
But the gap in power between him and the monster was too wide, there was absolutely no hope.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Just then, a few arrows flew through the air, cutting through the night sky like shooting stars.
The target was the monster.
The monster was startled, dodged two of the arrows, but got pierced by the third arrow through its body.
Following this, shadowy figures leaped into Kaoshan Village from beyond the fence.
These figures, carrying war bows, were tall and sturdy. Each one of them was over 1.9 meters, they were indeed martial soldiers.
Liu Family's martial soldiers.
Among the martial soldiers, there were also a few red figures, those were experts from the Red-clad Guard.
The monster turned around and fled, its legs seemed like they had springs, taking strides of more than ten meters each, and with a thud, the wooden fence was smashed into a big hole as if it was made of paper.
The monster escaped from the village and sprinted towards the deep mountain.
"Pursue!"
"Don't let it escape."
"This time, we must capture it."
The martial soldiers and experts from Red-clad Guard chased after it with breathtaking speed, soon, the village regained its quietness.
"Yan, Yan... are you alright?"
The sound of worrying calls from Wang Cui and Lu Qingshan echoed within the house.
Lu Yan wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth, walked into the house, and said, "Dad, Mom, I'm fine."
Seeing Lu Yan safe, the elders were relieved and inquired about what had happened just now.
"There seemed to be a monster, but it's being pursued by the Liu Family's martial arts experts."
Lu Yan said.
"The monster is back?"
Wang Cui's face turned pale, her voice trembled a bit.
"The Liu Family sent a lot of experts, they should be able to kill the monster. Mom, don't worry."
Lu Yan consoled.
The noise has woken up the entire village, but no one dared to come out and check, everyone hid in their houses in terror.
"That cold power, it's gone."
Lu Yan checked his body and noticed that the cold power that entered his body was gone, it wasn't even found after transferring the Qi-blood in his body.
Lu Yan sighed with relief.
Then, Lu Yan heard footsteps outside, probably more than a dozen people.
Lu Yan walked out of the door, he saw a team of Red-clad Guard.
This time, Zhang Jun and Chen Ji were also amongst them.
The Red-clad Guard were holding torches, they scrutinized Zhang Dafu's home, then Zhang Jun and Chen Ji walked towards Lu Yan, obviously, they saw Lu Yan too.
"Brother Lu Yan, did you see anything?"
Zhang Jun asked.
"I only caught a brief glimpse of a black shadow, it was chased out by martial soldiers, and ran into the mountains."
Lu Yan answered.
"You're lucky that you didn't encounter it, otherwise it would've been dangerous." said Zhang Jun, his face serious.
"Jun, what exactly is it?" Lu Yan inquired.
"Orders from our Liu family's master, not to leak out any news, don't ask too much."
Zhang Jun waved his hand, thought for a while, then softly said, "Martial Spirit."
After saying that, he quickly walked away.