Chapter 92 - 85: Filled to the Brim
Defecting?
Do people from the Demon-slaying Bureau actually defect to the Demon Race?
As a matter of fact, yes.
And quite a few of them, at that.
Because as long as they are human, they will feel fear and succumb to greed.
Their resolve would waver in the face of despair.
For instance, some Demon Slayer Envoys, surrounded by Demons and driven by the fear of death and the instinct to survive, chose to bend the knee and surrender in exchange for a wretched life.
Others, blinded by personal gain, secretly colluded with the Demon Race.
They sold out their comrades’ lives and intelligence.
And still others, having completely despaired of this murky world, turned to the side of Demon Fiends, seeking a different, twisted form of "order" and power.
So, when the two Leopard Demon brothers saw Jiang Mu charging toward them all alone and in a great hurry, they were genuinely baffled.
Their minds naturally jumped to the conclusion that he was defecting.
After all, what sane person would charge an army of five hundred all by himself?
That wasn’t a battle, it was suicide.
It would take you days and nights just to eat five hundred steamed buns.
"Bro, what do we do?"
Bao Er scratched his furry chin, uncertain.
Bao Da squinted and said:
"Get Old Zhao over here. That guy used to be with the Yan City Demon-slaying Bureau; he knows the ropes. Have him go sound the kid out, see if he’s here to defect to Lord Tiger Vanguard or to deliver a message for Yan Fenghuo."
Bao Er nodded and let out a sharp whistle.
Soon, a gaunt-faced man in his forties, dressed in the tattered old-style leather armor of the Demon-slaying Bureau, came jogging over, bowing and scraping.
After listening to Bao Da’s instructions, he nodded and headed out to meet Jiang Mu.
As the distance between them closed, he forced a smile onto his face and shouted:
"Brother from the Demon-slaying Bureau, I’m Zhao Jingzhong!"
"I used to work at the Yan City Bureau myself. Have you, brother, heard of Lord Tiger Vanguard’s great prestige and come to leave the darkness for the light?"
Jiang Mu didn’t stop; in fact, his pace quickened.
He stared at the sycophantic face, his eyes ice-cold.
’Zhao Jingzhong?’
’He could have been a man, but he chose to be a dog.’
With a flick of his wrist, Jiang Mu drew his saber. Its snowy gleam reflected his chilling killing intent as it slashed straight down!
"I’m here to send you on your way."
"What?"
The smile froze on Zhao Jingzhong’s face.
Sensing his opponent’s undisguised killing intent and ferocious pressure, he was scared out of his wits and immediately turned to flee.
The flash of the blade was like lightning, gone in an instant.
"SHLICK!"
A head, its face etched with astonishment, flew into the air. The headless body staggered two steps before collapsing to the ground.
"Fuck!"
Watching from the rock, the expressions of the two Leopard Demon brothers changed drastically.
Now, there was no need to ask.
"This fucker is actually here to kill us! Is he insane?!" Bao Er was dumbfounded, his Wolf Fang Club nearly slipping from his grasp.
Bao Da’s eyes spat fire, and he ground his fangs with a grating sound:
"He’s gone too far! Charging our ranks all alone... judging by his aura, he’s only at the Third Realm. How dare he?!"
"Does he really think our five hundred boys are just for show?!"
Bao Da drew the dual blades from his back and roared:
"I’m going to slaughter this reckless idiot and wash down his heart and liver with wine!"
Before his voice had faded, he had already become a blur, leaping down from the rock and making a beeline for Jiang Mu.
Far away, behind a mountain pass, Yan Fenghuo and his subordinates watched, their scalps tingling with dread.
In Hu State, everyone said the Fourth Hall was full of madmen.
But compared to this Master Jiang, they seemed as normal as well-bred young ladies.
This guy was truly stubborn as hell!
"Hall Master, what should we do?"
Ma Wenliu swallowed hard, his voice trembling.
Yan Fenghuo stared intently ahead, grinding his teeth.
"What else can we do? You, go get reinforcements. The rest of you, stay here to provide support. I’m going to go fish that reckless brat out of there!"
The Lord Chief had repeatedly warned him to ensure Jiang Mu’s safety.
If a Hall Master lost his life because of his probing plan, not even a hundred deaths could atone for his failure!
Besides, he was a Fifth Realm expert and could protect himself.
If the other brothers followed, they would just be throwing their lives away against a demon horde of this size.
’Damn it, I must have owed you in a past life!’
Yan Fenghuo cursed under his breath, raised his saber, and shot forward.
...
「On the battlefield.」
CLANG!!
The dual blades and the saber crashed violently against each other, sending sparks flying.
Jiang Mu felt a tremor run through the web of his thumb as the ground beneath his feet cracked and he slid back several steps.
Bao Da was truly a peak fourth-rank Demon. In terms of both strength and the density of his Demonic Qi, he was far beyond the heavily injured Wolf King from before.
"Kid, you’ve got some strength, but not much!"
Bao Da gave a savage grin. He swung his dual blades like a whirlwind, his offensive as fierce as a raging storm, giving Jiang Mu no room to breathe.
Jiang Mu didn’t meet force with force. He executed the Spirit Snake Body Step, weaving and dodging through Bao Da’s ferocious dual-blade assault.
The flashes of the blades wove a web of death.
Yet he always managed to evade them by a hair’s breadth or parry them with a precise block of his saber.
Although this Demon was tricky, Jiang Mu wasn’t flustered in the slightest.
His Demon Slot was currently filled to the brim with Demonic Qi; he had more than enough "energy" to wear his opponent down.
Every time he felt a wave of exhaustion, a wisp of pure Demonic Qi would surge from his Demon Slot, rapidly replenishing his spent stamina and Star Power.
It allowed him to constantly maintain his peak condition.
Just as the two were locked in fierce combat, Bao Er suddenly pointed into the distance and yelled:
"Bro, Yan Fenghuo is here too!"
Bao Da, who had been startled by Jiang Mu’s bizarre Body Technique and incredible resilience, spared a moment to glance over.
He saw a figure shooting toward them like a sharp arrow.
"Fuck! Do you really think I’m a pushover?!"
Bao Da’s eyes looked ready to split from their sockets. He laughed in extreme anger, "Since these lapdogs from the Demon-slaying Bureau are so eager to die, we might as well take them down with us!
Little brother, sound the horn!
Call out all the boys for me!
Today, I want to see if these bastards from the Demon-slaying Bureau really have multiple lives to spare!"