Turns Out I'm the Real Monster?!

When Jiang Mu sprinted all the way to the ruined temple at the foot of the mountain, he saw that Tang Guixin and the others had already gathered there safely.

To his surprise, Xu Fu, Zhang Daxie, and their group were also among them.

Seeing all the familiar faces safe and sound, the weight in Jiang Mu’s chest finally lifted, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

"Xiaojiang!"

Tang Guixin, who was in the middle of a headcount, looked up and spotted Jiang Mu’s figure. The tense expression on her face immediately blossomed with delighted surprise.

She took a few steps forward to greet him, looking him up and down with a tone full of concern.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

Zhang Daxie and the others also crowded around, their faces happy as they all asked how he was.

Jiang Mu shook his head, calming his ragged breaths.

"I’m fine. Aunt Tang, the situation is just as you guessed. There are two Great Demons on that mountain. The Black Armored Divine Soldier seemed to be trying to seize something, but it ended up waking the Zombie Queen.

Right now, the two titans are fighting, and the mountain is in complete chaos."

Tang Guixin’s elegant brows furrowed, and she sighed.

"I never would have thought that the seemingly ordinary White Deer Peak would turn out to be a dragon’s pool and a tiger’s den, hiding such terrifying Great Demons.

This time, if you hadn’t risked your life to lure the zombies away, Xiaojiang, it’s hard to say if any of us would have made it down the mountain alive."

"What the hell is wrong with the patrol team’s intelligence!?"

Xu Fu, who was standing to the side, also started cursing, "They said the strongest was a Tier Five Demon, but it nearly got me killed! This intelligence report is basically attempted murder! I’m definitely going to file a harsh complaint against them when I get back!"

Jiang Mu looked at Xu Fu. "You guys sure are fast runners."

Xu Fu gave a sly chuckle, a smug look on his face.

"Of course. I personally witnessed the scene with the Mist Demon back in Hu State.

The moment I saw that blood mist rolling in, I knew something was wrong. I happened to run into these two subordinates of yours and immediately dragged them down the mountain with me."

"Did you run into any other surviving Demon Slayer Envoys from Yan City?"

Jiang Mu asked.

Xu Fu stepped aside, pointing to a corner inside the temple.

Some hay was spread out there, and a middle-aged man, covered in blood and unconscious, was lying on top of it.

You Dashan, whom Jiang Mu had saved earlier, was carefully tending to him at the side.

"Got lucky. Picked up a survivor on the way. This guy is the Hall Master of the Second Hall of Yan City’s Demon-slaying Bureau. His name is Du Yuanfei."

’This guy actually saved a Hall Master?’

Jiang Mu was a little surprised and walked over to take a look.

Du Yuanfei was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a rugged face and a short, bristly beard under his chin. He exuded an air of fierce courage.

Seeing Jiang Mu approach, You Dashan quickly stood up and clasped his hands respectfully.

"Thank you for saving my life, Lord Jiang!"

Even though he had calmed down, seeing Jiang Mu before him again, You Dashan still felt like he was in a dream.

’This guy is just too incredible.’

Jiang Mu asked, "How many people came with you this time?"

You Dashan’s expression darkened. He lowered his head and said in a low voice:

"Twenty-nine brothers in total. We were hunting a Demon that had escaped from Yan City and tracked it all the way here. We never expected... that there would be a demon’s nest here."

Twenty-nine people...

Jiang Mu did a quick mental calculation.

They had found seventeen bodies of Demon Slayer Envoys at the Tiger Demon’s lair, with only three survivors. Adding You Dashan and the unconscious Du Yuanfei, that only accounted for nineteen people at most.

The remaining ten were most likely dead.

After all, for an ordinary Demon Slayer Envoy, the terrifying blood mist that later covered the entire mountain, and the zombie tide that followed, was an almost certain death sentence.

Jiang Mu sighed inwardly.

’This is the fate of a Demon Slayer Envoy.’

They enjoyed the Court’s patronage and held a transcendent status, but their lives were always on the line.

You never knew which mission would be your last, leaving you to die in the wilderness with no one to even collect your body.

He composed himself, but a sudden thought struck him. He turned to Tang Guixin and asked, "Aunt Tang, have you seen Yang Tianci and his group?"

Tang Guixin shook her head. "No."

Nearby, Ming Cuicui snorted coldly and curled her lip.

"That spoiled brat relied on his Magical Treasure for protection and ran faster than anyone. And what happened? He still didn’t make it out, did he? He’s probably dead on the mountain. Serves him right!"

The others in the temple had various expressions upon hearing this, but no one responded.

Deep down, they naturally hoped the arrogant and domineering brat had ended up in a demon’s stomach.

But they were also rational enough to know that if Yang Tianci had really died here, his father, the deputy commander of the Inner Guard, would not let the matter rest.

He would inevitably vent his anger and launch an investigation.

All of them who were present would likely face trouble as well.

But at this moment of life and death, who could afford to worry about that? Saving their own skins came first.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jiang Mu didn’t dwell on the matter. He said to the group:

"It’s not safe to stay here for long. Everyone, rest up for a bit, then we leave immediately. We need to get as far away from White Deer Peak as we can before nightfall."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

If they hadn’t been waiting for Jiang Mu, they would have left this godforsaken place long ago. Every extra moment they stayed made their hearts pound with fear.

After a short rest, the group reassembled, ready to depart.

As Jiang Mu watched Xu Fu and the others lead their horses out from behind the temple, he suddenly remembered something and said to Zhang Daxie:

"Oh, right. I found your horse for you too. You must not have tied it properly before. It wandered up the mountain on its own and someone else found it."

Hearing this, however, Zhang Daxie looked completely baffled. "Hall Master, my horse has been tied up here the whole time. It never ran off."

"What?" Jiang Mu was taken aback. "The whole time?"

"That’s right."

Zhang Daxie pointed behind the temple.

Jiang Mu strode over to look.

Sure enough, the three horses they had tied up behind the temple were there, perfectly fine, eating their feed.