Chapter 29 - 23: My Hall Master is a Madman
"Based on my initial assessment, this Snake Demon has a Cultivation Level of around Tier Six," Ling Ye stated.
A Tier Six Snake Demon?
Everyone’s expression changed drastically.
A Tier Six Great Demon was a regional overlord no matter where it was. For Demon Slayer Envoys of their level, going against it was simply suicide.
"Don’t worry. Just leave this Demon to me."
Ling Ye’s voice was cold. "The main problem is that this Snake Demon has been entrenched here for years and has spawned a great number of offspring. That’s why I’ve brought you all here to help clear them out."
Only then did everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Ling Ye’s cold gaze swept over the village. She pointed at the villagers.
"Additionally, these people have lost their minds, and their actions are unpredictable. While you are slaying the demons, if any of them make a sudden move, you must stop them. Do not let anyone get near the wellhead."
A young Demon Slayer Envoy from the Third Hall spoke up:
"Why not just kill them? It would save us the trouble. They’re basically walking corpses now; keeping them around is just a liability."
The moment he spoke, silence fell.
The others looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Zhang Daxie explained in a low voice:
"They’ve only had their minds eroded by ’Yama’s Ration’; they haven’t transformed into Demons or other demonic beings. If we slaughter these civilians, it would be the grave crime of massacring a village. No one can bear that responsibility."
There were some reasons Zhang Daxie didn’t elaborate on.
Public sentiment was currently unstable; any incident would be blown out of proportion.
Demon Fiends were watching, rebels were watching, and many factions of officials in the Court were watching as well.
Once the situation escalated, it would inevitably implicate many people.
The Court needed the people’s support, so the line between right and wrong was blurry. If an issue was escalated to a certain level, it automatically became your fault.
Ling Ye’s beautiful eyes were as sharp as knives.
"If you want to kill them, I won’t stop you. Just don’t drag me into it if someone comes looking for answers later."
The young Demon Slayer Envoy’s face flushed red, and he stammered, not daring to say another word.
Ling Ye ignored him and started calling out names. "Wang Ershang, you, you, and you... follow me down the well."
She pointed out six people in total, including Zhang Daxie.
They were all the ones with the highest Cultivation Levels present.
"The rest of you, patrol the village. If you see any of the snake’s spawn trying to escape, kill them immediately.
The perimeter of the village has been dusted with ’Scorching Sun Sulfur Powder,’ so Snake Demons below Tier Three can’t escape. These lesser demons are all merits for the taking. How many you can snatch is up to you."
Finally, Ling Ye’s gaze fell on Jiang Mu, her tone becoming indifferent.
"As for you, you only recently broke through to the Second Realm. In a situation like this, staying here would only cause trouble. Besides... your status is special. If anything were to happen to you, it would be difficult for me to answer for it. You may leave first."
Jiang Mu’s expression was unconcerned.
"That won’t be necessary. I’ll just patrol with the others."
"Actually, our Hall Master is really powerful..." Zhang Xiaokui couldn’t help but chime in from the side.
Ling Ye merely took it as a subordinate trying to save his superior’s face and paid it no mind, coldly tossing out a phrase:
"Suit yourself. Don’t blame me if you get killed."
With that, she waved her hand and, leading Zhang Daxie and the other elites, leaped into the dry well.
About a dozen Demon Slayer Envoys from the Third Hall remained by the well.
They exchanged a few glances, then split into groups of two and three to begin their patrols.
Clearly, none of them wanted to group up with Jiang Mu and his man.
"Hall Master..."
Zhang Xiaokui was indignant.
Jiang Mu patted his shoulder and smiled. "Let’s just patrol diligently."
...
The village was shrouded in a deathly silence.
The villagers who had eaten Yama’s Ration wandered about like lost souls.
When they saw Jiang Mu and his men walk by with their swords and sabers, they neither shied away in fear nor tried to get closer. Their gazes were mostly numb and chillingly cold.
Jiang Mu paused briefly as he passed the woman holding an infant.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Mu took a pastry wrapped in oiled paper from his robes.
It was one Bai Xiang had made fresh this morning, carrying the faint scent of osmanthus.
He offered it to her.
The woman’s eyes were hollow, and she gave no reaction.
Then, Jiang Mu noticed a flatbread and a waterskin next to her. He recalled seeing Ling Ye carry a waterskin of the same design; she must have been the one who left it.
Jiang Mu gently placed the pastry on the infant’s swaddling clothes and turned to leave.
Only after Jiang Mu was a good distance away...
...did the woman pick up the pastry with her withered fingers. She carefully broke off a small piece and tried to feed it to the baby.
"Eat... eat..."
she murmured to herself.
But the baby remained motionless, letting the pastry crumbs pile up at the corners of its mouth.
...
Time trickled by in the silence.
No sound came from the depths of the well.
This made Zhang Xiaokui grow more and more anxious. He kept looking toward the pitch-black maw of the well, worried about his brother.
At some unknown point, a light drizzle began to fall.
At first, no one paid it any mind.
But the rain grew heavier, soon becoming large drops that splattered against the dirt road.
Jiang Mu’s face fell. "This is bad! The sulfur powder!"
Zhang Xiaokui and the other patrolling members of the Third Hall also reacted, their faces changing.
They rushed toward the village outskirts.
They saw that the rain had already washed away the circle of sulfur powder, creating multiple gaps in the perimeter.
"A Demon!"
A startled cry rang out.
Everyone whipped their heads around.
On a collapsed roof in the distance, a green-scaled Snake Demon fully three meters long was rearing its head and flicking its tongue, its eyes fixed on the group.
"Stop it!"
The men from the Third Hall drew their blades, roared, and scrambled to be the first to charge and kill it.
Just as Jiang Mu was about to follow, he felt a strange impulse.
He subconsciously summoned his Demon Slot.
He saw that next to the Demon Slot, the Demon Shadow of "Huang Silang" was now emitting faint wisps of black smoke.
The black smoke stretched toward the western side of the village, as if being pulled by some unseen force.
’What’s this?’
Jiang Mu wondered, surprised.
Seeing that Zhang Xiaokui was also about to charge east, he grabbed him. "Come with me!"
"Hall Master? The Demon is over there..." Zhang Xiaokui said, confused.
"No more questions. Let’s go!"
Jiang Mu gave him no room to argue, pulling him into a sprint toward the west side of the village.
Though filled with questions, Zhang Xiaokui could only follow closely behind.
Following the trail of black smoke, the two passed through the dilapidated village houses and arrived behind a low, earthen slope on the village’s western edge.
The black smoke grew denser here, drifting down the other side of the slope.
"Hall Master, what are we doing here—"
Before Zhang Xiaokui could finish, Jiang Mu grabbed his head and shoved him down into the wet grass.
"SHH!"
Jiang Mu made a silencing gesture and pointed downward.
Zhang Xiaokui wiped the rain from his face and cautiously peeked over the edge.
The sight made him gasp.
On the walls of the depression below, countless holes were packed together as densely as a massive honeycomb.
Right then, venomous snakes of all sizes and patterns were slithering out of the holes.
Some were as thick as buckets, their scales exuding a cold gleam.
Others had fleshy crests and, despite being only half the length of a man, radiated an oppressive aura.
A rough count revealed more than fifty of them.
Among them were no fewer than twenty Tier Two Demons!
"A feint to the east to attack the west..."
Zhang Xiaokui’s pupils constricted as he instantly understood. "The snake on the roof was a decoy. This is their main force for the breakout."
He pulled a bamboo signal flare from his robes and was about to light the fuse.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
Jiang Mu reached out and gripped his wrist.
Zhang Xiaokui said, "I’m signaling for help! With this many Snake Demons, we need to get the people from the Third Hall over here to support us, quickly!"
"Signal for what?"
Jiang Mu snatched the bamboo tube from his hand.
"The moment that flare goes off, it’ll spook these creatures. By the time our allies get here, these Demons will be long gone."
Zhang Xiaokui froze for a second, then his eyes went wide.
"Hall Master, don’t tell me you’re thinking... There are more than fifty Snake Demons down there! Over twenty of them are Tier Two! And there are only two of us!"
Jiang Mu slowly drew his saber.
"What’s there to be afraid of?"
"Two against fifty... the advantage is ours!"
Zhang Xiaokui: ?