The death of the Liu Family father and daughter was like a bucket of cold water that woke Shen Yi up.
Don't hold onto any delusions of luck!
They are not stagnant monsters aimlessly wandering the wilderness, content to stay put in one area, waiting to be harvested as experience points by heroes banding together.
Just like Shen Yi had done before, by pretending to rely on the relationships left by his predecessor, taking advantage of the Demon's carelessness to suddenly attack and slay them, that had been indeed very easy to accomplish.
But it couldn't possibly continue like this forever.
Those violent creatures had emotions as well and would communicate with each other, and the speed of their communication was far faster than Shen Yi could have imagined!
If they knew the Black Skin Dog Demon went to the Liu Family, how could they not know whom it had followed there?
With every Demon that died, the remaining beasts became increasingly cruel, and their vigilance rose accordingly. If the news of the Ape Demon's mishap were to spread too, the next one to ambush him might well be a true Great Demon.
Shen Yi did not want to live in fear every single day.
He needed more life spans of Demons.
With this thought in mind, Shen Yi stood up, slowly walked out of the courtyard.
By this time, many civilians had gathered on Liuye Street, all looking in his direction from a distance.
Watching constables beat up one of their own, such dog-eat-dog entertainment was not commonly seen.
"Let them all go."
Shen Yi gave a nod of his chin.
"Understood." Chen Ji saluted with his fist and signaled the remaining few to untie them.
Chen Ji averted his gaze, suddenly conflicted, gritted his teeth, and pulled out a bloodstained, opened letter, "Do you want to take a look at this... It just fell out from those few."
Shen Yi furrowed his brow, accepted the letter, and slowly unfolded it.
The content was but a single sentence.
"Come to Liulimiao Village, I have a question for you."
There was no beginning or end, and not half a name was written on it.
But understanding those group of Dog Demons as Shen Yi did, they were more adept at wielding weapons than learning how to hold a pen.
The only one among them who could afford such leisure was that old dog that didn't need to worry about food or drink, and the only regular constable who could forge a connection with a yellow-skinned one was himself.
Chen Ji clearly also noticed something amiss and hesitated to bring this matter up: "What should we do, we definitely can't go, but if we ignore it, they will also come to the city looking for you... Should we find Eunuch Clerk, Lord Liu?"
Everyone knew that Liu Dianli treated Shen Yi as if he were a nephew and was grooming him.
With such a relationship, if the other party was willing to speak up, they might even be able to invite the strong martial master from the county government to speak to the Demons.
"You must act quickly, or else Liulimiao Village..." Chen Ji was somewhat anxious.
"Ha." Zhang Pengtian, staggering against the wall and spitting out blood, laughed coldly, "Liu Dianli has already sent the word, you can't mobilize half a constable right now, just stay put in the county. You're lucky, someone's protecting your life, but as for the other lives... pah... you have no power to intervene."
Upon hearing this, Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat.
He subconsciously turned to look at the young man before him but was soon overwhelmed by a deep sense of powerlessness.
Even though Shen Yi's martial prowess had far exceeded his expectations, that was limited to the realm of ordinary constables. If up against the entire Dog Demon force... hadn't they seen that the martial masters they had invited, each skilled in monster slaying, were now also stuck obediently in the county?
Just then, Chen Ji suddenly noticed that the crease in Shen Yi's brow had relaxed abruptly.
"Officer Shen..."
Shen Yi patted his shoulder, "Go back first."
He had been worried, knowing that the Demons were in the deep mountains, with rugged terrain making them difficult to track down.
To wait for them to come looking for him would be too passive.
Now that they wanted to talk, how could he miss such a good opportunity?
"..."
With an indifferent expression, Shen Yi did not alarm Chen Ji, who became increasingly uneasy as he watched the other man walk away, blurting out instinctively, "You're not planning to leave the city, are you?"
"Leaving the city? I've watched him climb his way up from a street thug, even if his own mother was captured by demons, he wouldn't spare her a glance, now he pretends to be all high and mighty here!"
Zhang Pengtian was supported by two of his subordinates, his Adam's apple bobbing, a lump of thick phlegm was spat onto the ground.
"Ptui!"
...
Outside Baiyun County City.
A figure swept past, like an arrow cutting through the air, the tree branches trembled lightly, and birds took flight in alarm.
What was originally an ordinary martial art, the Serpentine Eight Steps, under the propulsion of the Initial Realm Five Apertures ability, could make a person's speed nearly invisible to the naked eye.
It wasn't long before Shen Yi caught sight of the dilapidated little temple again.
He slowed his pace, his breathing even and steady, showing no signs of the all-out sprint he had just performed.
On the ridges of the fields of Liulimiao Village, the villagers stopped their labor and turned to look at the approaching figure with a saber.
Generally, the arrival of a constable meant trouble.
It was either trouble from the constable themselves or demons causing chaos.
Upon recognizing the face of the comer, the villagers' numbed expressions eased slightly.
They remembered this constable.
Last time, it was he who personally slain the Dog Demon, and when he left, he didn't take any silver.
A little girl, barely knowing how to walk, dressed in a comically large, torn burlap, wobbled over, holding up a broken bowl and said with a milky voice, "Officer, drink water."
Shen Yi patted her head and took the broken bowl, drinking it all in one gulp.
As he set the bowl down, his gaze gradually shifted to the mountain path on the other side.
As the saying goes, "It is not about arriving early, but arriving at the right time" ...and it was such a coincidence.
On the rugged mountain path, more than a dozen figures at least two heads taller than ordinary people, appeared and disappeared in the dense forest.
Underneath the knotty and sticky fur, their muscles pulsed evenly, their faces were ferocious, with only a piece of loincloth on their bodies, shoulders bearing a two-zhang tall colossal carriage, stepping on the mountain path as if on flat ground.
On that carriage, a body weighing at least eight-hundred jin laid flatly.
Each layer of its fat was about two fingers wide, piled up densely, like a mountain of flesh, making it hard to count the number of layers.
What stood out the most was the oily and shiny deep yellow fur, forming a stark contrast with the other Dog Demons.
Moments later, they carried the carriage and came to a halt at the entrance of the village.
The raggedly dressed girl had just reached out to take back her broken bowl when she turned and "plop" fell to the ground with a thud.
On her dirty little face, all expressions froze, she held her breath, her milky teeth biting her lip forcefully, her tiny body starting to tremble involuntarily.
Compared to her youthful innocence, the other villagers appeared calmer...but it was not so much calmness, as it was being used to such incidents.
They instinctively looked towards the entrance of the village.
There was only one constable there, with just one saber at his waist.
Behind the constable, the winding path seemed so silent; they waited a long time but didn't see any other figure emerge.
The villagers seemed to understand something, with despair flickering in their scattered eyes.
They squatted down, hugging themselves tightly, without crying or running away.
Suddenly, the girl felt her tiny form overshadowed by a tall shadow.
She looked up.
She saw the constable step over her slowly, drawing the saber from his waist as he did so.
Not until the long sword was entirely unsheathed.
Shen Yi, holding his side arm at an angle, stood in front of the gigantic carriage.