Chapter 69 - 63: Killing the Vicious Woman
Gah!
Jiang Mu jumped, startled by the sudden sight of a bare backside.
Taking a closer look, he realized it wasn’t a real person, but a White Jade statue of a woman, prostrate on her hands and knees.
In the dim light, the cold white of the stone made it look just like a real person at first glance.
"That scared me to death."
"Why would they put something so disturbing here?"
Jiang Mu wondered.
Seeing a torch leaning against the wall, he took out his flint and lit it.
The flickering firelight dispelled the darkness.
Jiang Mu found himself in a secret passageway.
The area around the statue was covered in bizarre, blood-red runes. Dark red bloodstains filled grooves in the floor, leading deeper into the passageway.
Clearly, this was once a site for demonic sacrifices.
As a precaution against any hard-to-handle Great Demons lurking deeper within, Jiang Mu left an anchor point for his "Demon Shadow One" at the entrance. Only then did he raise the torch and carefully advance down the secret passage.
The tunnel was not long, and it ended in a spacious stone chamber.
The chamber was filled with piles of remains.
Some had been reduced to white bones, while others were still fresh. He could just make out that they were the bodies of young boys and girls.
Jiang Mu’s heart pounded:
’What’s going on? Did that leopard cat demon not truly die? Or has a new Demon taken over this place?’
Suppressing his rage, he stepped forward to investigate.
He found that without exception, each corpse had a bloody hole in its chest.
Their hearts had been torn out.
He soon discovered a hidden stone door.
He pushed it open cautiously.
Firelight flooded in, illuminating the small space behind the door.
There, several emaciated boys and girls were huddled in a corner, their wrists and ankles shackled in iron chains.
The children’s faces were sallow, their eyes vacant.
Faced with Jiang Mu, who had burst in holding a torch, most of them merely flinched, lacking even the strength to cry out.
Only one boy struggled to crawl out from the corner, positioning himself in front of an even younger boy.
He lifted his small, filthy face and pleaded in a trembling voice:
"Mister, are you here to eat us? Can you... just eat me? Please, I’m begging you, spare my little brother..."
Jiang Mu stared, stunned by the scene.
An indescribable chill shot up his spine, immediately transforming into a towering inferno of rage that churned violently in his chest.
The knuckles of the hand gripping his saber’s hilt cracked.
HFFF...
Jiang Mu took a deep breath, just about to offer words of comfort.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed from the passageway outside.
’Someone’s coming!’
Jiang Mu’s eyes went cold. He quickly shut the stone door.
At the same time, he activated the breath-suppressing bone tablet in his pocket, his figure flashing into the shadows of a blind corner.
A moment later, a man in gray robes walked in.
He appeared to be in his thirties, with an ordinary face.
He walked over to the stone door imprisoning the children and reached for the bolt.
Just as his fingers were about to touch the door—
From the shadows, a leg blurred through the air, whipping up a fierce wind as it kicked straight toward his midsection.
The gray-robed man was shocked. He reacted in a flash, twisting his body to dodge.
But he wasn’t fast enough.
BAM!
A dull thud echoed through the chamber.
The gray-robed man was sent flying, smashing hard against the stone wall and spitting out a mouthful of blood.
He stared in terror at Jiang Mu as he emerged from the shadows. "Who are you? How did you get in here?!"
’A human?’
Jiang Mu frowned.
He hadn’t sensed any demonic aura from him.
When the gray-robed man saw Jiang Mu’s Demon-slaying Bureau uniform, his expression changed drastically. He immediately flicked his wrist, flinging an iron ball from his sleeve to the ground.
The iron ball exploded!
Thick smoke and dust instantly filled the chamber.
The gray-robed man darted to the hidden exit with incredible speed and expertly slapped a specific spot on the wall.
The hidden door slid open.
Elated, the man ducked his head to charge through.
In the next moment, he froze.
Outside the door stood Jiang Mu, arms crossed, watching him with an indifferent gaze as if he had been waiting there for some time.
"Twins?!"
The gray-robed man’s mind went blank.
Before he could react, Jiang Mu kicked him squarely in the stomach.
The man was once again sent flying backward, slamming hard against the wall.
This time, he couldn’t even manage a scream.
He struggled to get up, only to be hauled up by the back of his collar like a dead dog and slammed viciously back onto the ground.
A dark blur followed.
CRACK!
The sound of shattering bone rang out.
The gray-robed man let out a piercing shriek. His right calf was twisted at a grotesque angle, with shattered bone piercing through the skin and blood gushing out.
Expressionless, Jiang Mu raised his foot and pinned the man’s left leg.
"Why did you take these children?"
The man’s face was drenched in a cold sweat from the pain, but he clenched his jaw and remained silent.
"Tough, are we?"
CRACK!
"AAAHHH!!"
His left leg shattered.
Jiang Mu lifted his boot again, this time hovering it over the man’s crotch.
"Don’t make me ask a third time."
Staring at the boot hovering over his manhood, the man’s resolve completely crumbled.
"I’ll talk! I’ll talk!"
"It’s the madam! I work for the madam!"
"Which madam?" Jiang Mu’s boot didn’t move.
The man stammered, "It’s... It’s from the Chang Estate... Young Master Chang’s concubine, Madam Liu."
"The Chang Estate?"
The name was unfamiliar to Jiang Mu.
"What does Madam Liu want with these children?"
"I... I’m not entirely sure..."
CRUNCH!
"AARGH!!!"
The man’s body curled up like a shrimp from the agony.
Jiang Mu pressed his foot onto the man’s chest, applying a slight pressure. "This is your last chance."
Under the looming shadow of death, the gray-robed man completely broke down.
"The madam... Madam Liu is ill and has been unable to conceive. To... to bear Young Master Chang an heir, secure her position, and contend for the title of primary wife, she... she sought an unorthodox remedy from a Demon surnamed Huang..."
"He told her that if she used hearts as a medicinal catalyst, combined with a secret concoction to refine a ’Mother-Son Pill,’ she would be guaranteed to conceive a son..."
’Killing innocent people just so she can have a child?’
Jiang Mu’s gaze grew even colder.
’What a venomous bitch!’
Just then, the sound of urgent footsteps and shouts came from outside.
Apparently, the gray-robed man’s screams had attracted a nearby patrol from the Demon-slaying Bureau.
Wang Ershang rushed into the abandoned courtyard with several of his men and was stunned by the scene before him.
"Master Jiang? What...?"
Jiang Mu pointed to the stone door. "There are surviving children inside. Rescue them first."
Wang Ershang’s expression changed, and he immediately led his men into the secret passage.
When he and his men emerged carrying the weakened children, everyone’s face was a mask of shock and uncontainable rage.
The scene inside had been too cruel.
Even for men who battled Demons year-round and were accustomed to bloodshed, it was rare to encounter an atrocity so utterly devoid of conscience.
Wang Ershang approached Jiang Mu. "Master Jiang, what in the world happened here?"
Jiang Mu briefly recounted the events.
When he heard the name "Chang Estate," Wang Ershang’s furious expression turned grim.
"Master Jiang, the Chang Estate is the residence of old General Chang Lie. That Young Master Chang is his only son. He holds a position in the army and is currently in Yan City, putting down a rebellion."
After a pause, he added:
"In his youth, old General Chang Lie made his name in a single battle at Wolf Valley, where he defeated sixty thousand barbarian cavalry with only three thousand of his own men. He has guarded the frontier for over thirty years since and commands immense prestige."
Jiang Mu, his face a mask of indifference, asked the gray-robed man on the floor, "This Madam Liu, is she at the Chang Estate right now?"
"N-no... she’s not..."
The man, delirious with pain, answered instinctively.
"The madam is on Cyan Locust Lane, in the third courtyard. Tonight was for the final catalyst... I was supposed to bring the child to her..."
Jiang Mu said to Wang Ershang:
"Lock down the scene and gather evidence. Take this man to the Demon-slaying Bureau’s dungeons and place him under heavy guard."
With that, he picked up his saber and turned to leave.
"Master Jiang!"
Wang Ershang cried out, alarmed.
Jiang Mu didn’t break his stride.
"Don’t worry. Per regulations, I will split the credit for this case with your Third Hall."
Wang Ershang asked urgently, "Are you going to slay the Demon?"
"I’m not going to slay a Demon."
Wang Ershang had just breathed a sigh of relief.
But in the next moment, Jiang Mu’s cold voice drifted back on the wind:
"I’m going to kill a bitch."