Chapter Ninety: Baring Its Fangs

The courtyard was not large. The inner gate stood wide open, and brilliant lamplight spilled out from within.

At the center knelt a young man, looking thoroughly disheveled.

Aside from him, there was no one else.

Jiang Fan walked inside and came to a stop before the youth, looking down at him as he unrolled a scroll in his hands. In a low voice he said, “Yang Jun?”

“Yes!” The young man lifted his head. With his long brows, narrow face, and especially slitlike eyes, he looked at Jiang Fan with a strange expression. “You’re the one who came to judge me? Do you even know who I am?”

“Yang Jun, twenty-three years old. You entered the path of cultivation one year ago. A core disciple of the first-rate sect Prime Unity Sect, you traveled down the mountain half a year ago and stayed at the inn in Green Mountain Town. Lust seized you; when she would not submit, you forced and killed her. Afterwards, enraged, you slaughtered the innkeeper and seventeen others, then set the place ablaze and left without looking back. Three months ago, within Min City, you ruined the innocence of three women and killed eight people. Ten days ago, in White River County, you imprisoned a woman and killed her afterward.” Jiang Fan’s voice was ice-cold. “Am I correct?”

“They were nothing but common folk. Killing them was no great matter. Besides, to be killed by me was their honor!” Yang Jun sneered. “Do you know that the first stage of judgment in the Patrol Office is always recorded? Once you declare me guilty, it will reach my Prime Unity Sect tomorrow! In Prime Unity Sect, I am a core disciple and the personal student of a great elder. Do you know what level of cultivation that elder possesses? He is in the third step of the Primordial Spirit realm, and with only one final chance at fate and chance, he can prove the Dao and become an earthly immortal. Boy, you had best think carefully!”

“If I declare you innocent, then you may leave safely?” Jiang Fan asked.

“Of course. That is the rule of the Patrol Office. At least this time, you will let me go!” Yang Jun lifted his chin and snorted. “Those of us who seek immortality and the Dao are meant to draw upon the resources of the world to nourish ourselves. As for the common folk, under our protection, it is only natural that our sect may take from them as we please.”

“Yang Jun, I sentence you to death!”

“What? How dare you! If I die, you will certainly not survive. A mere patrol officer like you—my master could crush you as easily as pinching a stinkbug!”

“Then I shall wait and see who is the stinkbug.”

With that, Jiang Fan struck the crown of the other’s head with a single palm.

Yang Jun shuddered. Blood poured from all seven apertures, and he fell lifeless to the ground.

His eyes still held unwilling disbelief.

“How was it?” Jiang Fan’s gaze shifted to the left.

Ripples spread through the air, and an old man appeared. Stroking his beard, he smiled and nodded. “Such keen senses. Good, very good. Decisive and clean—if he deserves death, then kill him! Remember this: the creed of our Great Song dynasty is to shelter the people beneath heaven. Though we cannot make everyone equal, we must do our utmost to protect them. Cultivators may stand high above others, but before they began cultivation, which of them was not an ordinary person? Even our present Human Emperor has said that before he cultivated, he was merely an ordinary village boy. Yet some cultivators, having grasped a little power, imagine themselves lofty and forget their roots and their beginning. Such people may be forgiven if they do not reform, but once they run rampant, remember this well: meet one, kill one; meet a thousand, kill a thousand. It matters not whether they are princes or marquises, all are the same. And remember this too: our backing is the Human Emperor, the foremost person in the Great Hong World!”

“Yes!” Jiang Fan was stirred. “Then I have passed?”

“You have passed the first stage. The rest will not be difficult!” said the old man. “I am Wang Liuxing, an administrator from the prefectural city. If you come to the prefectural city in the future, you may seek me out.”

Wang Liuxing turned into a streak of light and departed.

Outside the gate, Chang Yuan and Nangong Rou walked in.

“These disciples of the sects, every one of them deserves death!” Chang Yuan glanced at the corpse and gave a cold snort.

“Grandpa Chang Yuan, do I deserve to die too?” Nangong Rou looked at him with pitiful innocence.

“Ah—ha ha, look at me, lumping everyone together again!” Chang Yuan laughed awkwardly, then looked at Jiang Fan. “Not bad. Next is the second task!”

As he spoke, he tossed Jiang Fan a scroll.

Jiang Fan opened it and saw that the task was simple enough: eliminate a band of bandits outside the city.

“These bandits appeared here half a month ago and have taken root deep in the river channels. They are not easy to encircle and wipe out, so it is just right to leave them to you. After you kill them, there is no need to do anything else; someone will go to verify it.”

“Fine. Why not give me the third task as well, to save trouble?”

“The third task? Very well. It is also outside the city. Since you are already eliminating bandits, you can handle it together.” Chang Yuan produced another scroll. “This task is no easy matter. Be careful not to turn victory into defeat through carelessness. Remember to bring back the head!”

Without lingering, he turned and left. “Someone will deal with this place. You need not concern yourself with it!”

The night deepened.

On the long street, a man and a woman walked side by side.

“You’re going to finish the tasks overnight?”

“The earlier the better. I’ll head out tonight and try to return before noon tomorrow!”

“Shall I go with you?”

“You? Girls should not be fighting and killing. Cousin, hurry back and learn embroidery, so you can marry well someday!”

“Must women all marry? Hmph. Better to keep a pet!”

“You want to raise a dog?”

“How did you know?”

“A terrier?”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.” Jiang Fan said with deep meaning, “Girls who raise dogs are not very good. Truly not very good.”

“At least they’re more loyal than men!” Nangong Rou sneered. “Come on, I’ll go with you so nothing unexpected happens!”

“All right.” Jiang Fan’s expression flickered strangely.

The two rode the air, moving at great speed.

Beyond the city, river channels crisscrossed everywhere, with reeds growing in profusion. If one hid within them, it would be hard to find anyone, but such things could not escape the intelligence network of the Patrol Office.

Even the task location was marked clearly.

“One hundred and eight men, and only three at the Innate realm, yet they dare roam outside the county city. They must think White River County has only just suffered a calamity and they can make a fortune here!” As Jiang Fan passed, corpses were left strewn all over the ground. Flying onward, he could not help sighing.

“That should be it!” Nangong Rou nodded. “What is the third task?”

“Shouldn’t you already know?”

“Anyway, I’m not an outsider. As long as I don’t take action, there’s no restriction on this sort of thing.”

“All right.” Jiang Fan unrolled the scroll and read as he spoke. “Three days ago, at the confluence of Little Clear River and Red River, a water demon appeared, took up residence there, and refused to leave, building itself a watery mansion. Kill it.”

“A water demon? Doesn’t it know that White River County is under a severe crackdown right now? And it still dares to come? It truly has a death wish!” Nangong Rou shook her head. “What kind of water demon is it?”

“An octopus.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Hmm?”

“Some time ago, there was a great uproar. One of the calamities that struck the county city involved a Primordial Spirit demon whose true form was an octopus. To give the dynasty an explanation, it was slain by the Dragon Palace. I imagine the octopus line was driven away and had nowhere else to go, so it drifted here.”

“Perhaps.”

The bright moon hung high, and a gentle breeze blew.

They stepped across the vast sky, graceful as immortals.

Soon, they arrived downstream of Little Clear River.

Ahead lay the Red River, eight hundred meters wide, surging powerfully as it flowed straight into the Eastern Sea. The Red River nourished both banks, yet it also bred many water demons. Great sea-born fiends often surged upstream as well, preying upon the common people along the shores.

Jiang Fan said nothing and plunged straight into the river.

True energy circulated through his body, raising a protective barrier that parted the water around him.

Soon, on a rock wall beside the river mouth, he found a wide cave entrance. A layer of shimmering light rippled over it, automatically blocking the current.

Inside was bright as day. At a glance, there seemed to be carved rails and painted beams, exquisitely ornate.

At the center sat a strange man with eight tentacles growing from his head, drinking wine.

Jiang Fan stiffened. “No. The octopus only came three days ago. How could it already have such a fine dwelling?”

In the next instant, he felt a terrifying force surge from behind him.

Without time to think, he activated his profound art, but he still failed to block it. His entire body was slapped inward.

“Cousin, why?”

Jiang Fan cried out in shock.