Chapter 33 - 27: You Have the Strength to Use the Back Door
The Demon-slaying Bureau had a strict rule forbidding colleagues from fighting one another.
But Jiang Mu didn’t care.
Usually, at the bureau headquarters, he acted warm and easygoing, but that didn’t mean he would tolerate others pushing their luck and bullying him as they pleased.
’What’s mine is mine.’
’If you dare to steal it, I’ll dare to make you spit it back out.’
"WHOOSH!"
Just then, a foul-smelling wind suddenly sprayed from the mouth of the well.
A massive black shadow was thrown out, slamming heavily onto the ground.
A closer look revealed it to be a giant python, as thick as a water bucket and covered in dark scales.
The giant python’s head was connected to its body by only a thin layer of skin and flesh.
It hung limply to the side, long since silent.
Immediately after, a voluptuous and tall figure in black leaped gracefully out of the ancient well.
It was Patrol Envoy Ling Ye.
Perhaps due to the damp air in the well, her black, form-fitting dress clung to her body, outlining her stunning curves and cinched waist, adding a touch of hazy, cold beauty.
Wang Ershang and his group also emerged one after another.
Every one of them was wounded, but their expressions were ecstatic.
Each person carried the corpse of a Snake Demon of varying size, and clutched a blood-stained Demon Pill in their palm.
Clearly, their harvest had been bountiful.
However, when they saw the scene outside the well, they were stunned.
The ground was littered with the corpses of Snake Demons.
And there were their colleagues from the Demon-slaying Bureau, lying scattered on the ground, groaning in pain.
"What happened?"
demanded Wang Ershang, who was in charge of this team from the Third Hall.
"Mr. Wang!"
The man Jiang Mu had first sent flying—a man named Zhang—was overjoyed to see his people. He pointed at Jiang Mu and began his accusation:
"It was him! They tried to steal the Snake Demon corpses we killed. When we refused, he suddenly attacked and injured all of us! Mr. Wang, you have to stand up for us."
Wang Ershang and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.
’Two people beat down more than a dozen colleagues of the same level?’
’What kind of joke is this?’
But looking at his colleagues wailing on the ground, Wang Ershang’s expression darkened.
’No matter what, being so heavy-handed with his own men was indeed going too far.’
He turned his head to stare at Jiang Mu, his tone hostile.
"Master Jiang, don’t you think you went a little too far?"
"Bullshit!"
Zhang Xiaokui pointed furiously at Zhang and cursed.
"Have you no shame?! His Lordship and I clearly killed these Snake Demons together! You’re the shameless ones who came to forcefully snatch our spoils, and now you dare to make false accusations!"
At these words, all the people who had just come out of the well were dumbfounded.
So many Snake Demon corpses.
’Killed by just two people?’
Even Zhang Daxie was startled, but he knew his younger brother never lied, and he was momentarily shaken.
’Our Hall Master is this fierce?’
This was also the first time Ling Ye had encountered such a situation.
Her initial impression of Jiang Mu had been terrible; she’d thought he was just some silk-panted fop who got by on connections.
But now, seeing the Evil Qi clinging to him from being soaked in demon blood, and looking at the injured men lying all over the ground, a trace of shocked suspicion appeared in her beautiful eyes.
She looked at Jiang Mu and asked coldly, "What exactly happened?"
Jiang Mu’s expression was indifferent.
"We killed these Demons. But they didn’t believe us and insisted on stealing them. So I had no choice but to beat them all down. Now... they should believe me."
Everyone: "..."
Wang Ershang, being more experienced, hauled the still-groaning Zhang to his feet. "Tell me the truth. Did you really kill these Demons or not?"
Zhang shivered and stammered.
"We thought... we thought they were the ones you and Mr. Wang had seriously injured in the well before they escaped, so we figured we’d pick up an easy score..."
Only now did he fully come to his senses.
’So those two really did kill all those Demons.’
Wang Ershang then questioned the other injured men.
None of them dared to hide the truth and confessed honestly.
And so, the truth came out.
Wang Ershang and the others stared at Jiang Mu as if he were a monster.
’Is he even fucking human?’
Ling Ye’s beautiful eyes held a strange look. In all her years of traveling far and wide, this was the first time she had seen something so bizarre.
Driven by intense curiosity, she walked up to Jiang Mu, reached out to squeeze his arm, and then checked the pulse at his wrist.
The woman thought to herself:
’Strange... He really did just break through to the Second Realm. How can he be this powerful?’
She suddenly took a few steps back and said to Jiang Mu:
"Draw your saber. Strike me."
Jiang Mu was taken aback. "That... doesn’t seem appropriate, does it?"
Ling Ye’s tone was as cold as ever.
"Don’t worry. I just want to test your mettle. You won’t be able to harm me in the slightest."
"I’ll stand perfectly still and let you strike."
Jiang Mu was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Then I must apologize in advance."
"CLANG—!"
The saber left its sheath, and a cold light exploded forth.
There was no fancy buildup, just a single "Severing Flow" slashing straight down.
The thin curtain of rain was forcefully split apart by the blade.
A visible white wave of saber energy billowed up like an enraged dragon emerging from the sea, rushing straight for Ling Ye’s face.
A damp lock of hair at the woman’s temple was whipped back by the powerful qi,
Her form-fitting black dress was pressed tightly against her skin, revealing every curve in an instant.
The fabric strained against her chest, which swelled like a mountain range and tensed like a fully drawn bowstring on the verge of snapping, exuding an astonishing force that seemed about to rip her clothes apart.
Yet her waist was incredibly slender, like a willow swaying in the wind.
"Hm?"
Ling Ye’s cold eyes narrowed slightly.
Driven by instinct, she subconsciously dodged to the side.
BOOM!!
The Saber Gang grazed past her shoulder and struck down.
The ground exploded, sending mud and water splashing ten feet high and carving a trench several dozen feet long with edges as smooth as if they had been sliced.
The expressions on Wang Ershang and the others all changed.
Now, they completely believed that Jiang Mu had been the one to slay those Snake Demons.
"Impressive."
Ling Ye glanced at the deep trench by her feet, her beautiful eyes shining brightly as she stared at Jiang Mu.
"No wonder Ran Qingshan made you a Hall Master. I take back what I said before. You really do have the strength to use the back door."
Zhang Xiaokui said:
"Lord Patrol Envoy, didn’t you say you’d stand still?"
Ling Ye: (→_→)
Jiang Mu gave a dry cough, then pointed to the giant Snake Demon nearby and asked, "My Lady, what about this Demon’s Demon Pill?"
Ling Ye’s delicate brows knitted slightly. "What, you want it?"
Jiang Mu quickly shook his head.
"I wouldn’t dare. It’s just that I’ve never seen the Demon Pill of a Tier Six Great Demon, so I’m curious. I was wondering... could you let me broaden my horizons and just touch it?"
"This isn’t a Tier Six Great Demon,"
Ling Ye shook her head. "This is a Tier Five Snake Demon. We don’t know where the Tier Six one went. We came up empty this time."
’Tier Five?’
Jiang Mu froze, inexplicably thinking of the terrifying Great Demon from before.
’Could it have been that one?’
’No, that wasn’t a Snake Demon.’
’Otherwise, seeing so many of its children and grandchildren killed, it would have skinned me and pulled out my tendons long ago.’
The woman flipped her fair wrist over.
A Demon Pill the size of a fist, resembling a Luminous Pearl, appeared in her palm.
"Here, take a look."
She tossed the Demon Pill to Jiang Mu.
Jiang Mu hurriedly caught it.
The next moment.
A torrent of pitch-black Demonic Qi, as vast as a river bursting its banks, peeled away from the Demon Pill and surged madly into the birthmark on his arm.
In his sea of consciousness, the giant Demon Slot, shaped like the character for ’demon’, began to tremble and hum.
The dark red demon blood rose frantically, breaking past the previous bloodline and surging toward the top of the slot.
’Rising!’
’It’s rising so much!’
’I’m about to burst.’
’As expected, the more powerful the Demon, the more vast and immense the Demonic Qi it contains.’
Jiang Mu was ecstatic, desperately trying to suppress the upward curve of his lips.
Just then.
A giant Snake Demon’s Demon Shadow condensed with a rumble beside the Demon Slot.
The moment it formed, it opened its massive, bloody maw and swallowed the smaller snake’s Demon Shadow in a single gulp.
’It can evolve by devouring its own kind?’
Jiang Mu was startled.