From slaying demons and eradicating evil, begining the path to immortality 1

Chapter 1: A World of Demons and Monsters
March 14, 2024

Chapter 1: A World of Demons and Monsters

Patchy mud walls, a dim oil lamp.

A small bed covered with old red cloth, emanating the smell of decaying wood.

Shen Yi stared at everything before him, stunned for a long time, unable to accept the fact that he had transmigrated into a low-ranking constable in Baiyun County.

But everything around him felt so real.

The scattered memories in his head became increasingly clear.

A world of demons and monsters, evil spirits everywhere.

His predecessor was a petty thug, who clawed his way up from the bottom, finally obtaining the uniform of a constable, ensuring a carefree life—a seemingly inspirational story.

But why did he die so suddenly?

At this thought, Shen Yi felt a strange pain in the back of his head.

He reached out to touch it, and his hand came away covered in blood.

The glaring crimson between his fingers was like a switch being flipped. Instantly, Shen Yi finally shook off the post-drunken stupor, and a violent pain surged through him.

“Hmph!”

His eyes widened, and he gasped for breath, rapidly and repeatedly.

He looked down.

At the foot of the bed was a small girl, her face filled with terror, clutching her undergarment.

Beside her, an old man in ragged clothes, his stooped body trembling uncontrollably, clutched a wooden stick; blood dripped from the top of it.

The desperate and terrified gazes they fixed on him were like those of someone who had seen a monstrous flood beast.

“I… say…”

Shen Yi gritted his teeth, the rage in his chest surging uncontrollably under the intense pain.

He stared at the old man, wanting him to put down the stick first.

At that moment, the girl suddenly frantically pulled off the only undergarment she had left, wrapping it around Shen Yi’s leg, like a crazed little animal, wailing, “Master! I’ll give you anything! I’ll give you anything! Please let my father go back to the countryside!”

The old man’s hand loosened, and the stick fell to the ground with a thud.

His face was numb, his eyes vacant, as if that blow had exhausted all his strength.

Given Shen Ye’s infamous reputation in Baiyun County, once he opened his eyes again, both father and daughter would be dead.

“Can you shut up first?”

Shen Yi’s eyelids twitched in pain.

Already hurting and annoyed, he couldn’t bear the girl’s wailing.

His predecessor had intended to forcibly marry the Liu family girl that night, and the old man’s blow could be considered a public service, deserving of praise.

But he was innocent; why did he have to suffer this blow?

Shen Yi felt stifled with anger, but he couldn’t curse, because in the eyes of others, Constable Shen had merely fainted and then woken up, unaware that he was a different person entirely.

He grabbed a garment from the bed, casually threw it over the Liu family girl, waved her away like a fly, and weakly said, “Get lost, get lost.”

This was giving him hallucinations. In his past life, he would have at least extorted half a house from them.

He rubbed his temples, but the hallucination before him became even clearer.

[Current Martial Arts]
Bone-Piercing Grappling Hand (Mastered)
Demon-Subduing Swordsmanship (Beginner)
[Life Force can be injected into martial arts to increase progress]
[Cannot continue infusion when life force is less than one year]
[Current remaining lifespan: Thirty-four years]
…

Shen Yi looked at the text, a murmur in his heart.

Sure enough, based on his residual memories, his predecessor did know these two skills.

The Bone-Piercing Grappling Hand was taught at the Yamen (government office), a skill every constable had to learn, a fundamental technique.

It was precisely because he wielded this grappling technique so skillfully that his predecessor was able to get promoted and become a minor leader.

As for the Demon-Subduing Swordsmanship, it was taught to constables by the Demon-Suppressing Agency’s officer after a demon incident in Baiyun County; it was a genuine demon-slaying martial art.

But at that time, his predecessor already had some status and had been weakened by alcohol and women. Compared to learning martial arts for self-preservation, he had another way to survive under the demons.

In other words, this panel was real, not a hallucination?

But it was too useless.

Injecting lifespan to gain martial arts progress; it was no different from exchanging years of his life for a salary.

The problem was that his past life was already a mess, with no hope and no attachments, like a living corpse. Getting paid would let him enjoy a few more years, not a bad deal.

But learning martial arts was to save his life; if his life was already gone, what was the point of learning?

Couldn’t I just practice slowly by myself?

“Hiss.”

Shen Yi turned his head to try to dismiss the panel.

He happened to see the father and daughter again.

They stood there like wooden posts, their souls seemingly absent.

“I told you to get… go…”

Shen Yi winced, pressing on the back of his head, about to speak, then suddenly remembered something.

His predecessor had come to forcibly marry the Liu girl in the middle of the night, so this was the Liu family’s house, which meant that he should be the one leaving…

At this thought, embarrassment flooded Shen Yi’s eyes.

Fine, get lost.

He rolled his eyes, stood up, grabbed his saber, and walked towards the courtyard in disheveled clothes.

Transmigration was one thing, but to get hit with a club and then have to walk home himself, I don’t know what kind of bad karma I’ve accumulated, how sad!

“…”

The Liu family girl clutched her father’s hand, her thin body shivering under her clothes.

She didn’t understand why Shen Ye’s temperament had changed so drastically. He surprisingly didn’t torture her or beat her father, and just left in a sullen mood.

But her eyes still didn’t show relief at escaping death.

On the contrary, as Shen Yi got closer to the gate, the Liu girl’s pupils shrank, clearly terrified to the extreme.

Creak.

The dilapidated courtyard gate was pushed open.

Shen Yi walked out of the courtyard, taking a deep breath of the dry night air.

He wanted to clear his head, but the stench that entered his nose made him frown instinctively.

Had he forgotten something?

“Finished? My turn.”

A rough voice sounded in his ear, and the stench intensified several times.

Shen Yi’s body froze, and he glanced sideways.

A mountain-like, hulking humanoid figure crouched at the courtyard entrance.

Its muscles were tightly packed, its shoulders high, its black fur shiny and smooth, its neck bent forward, topped with a dog’s head.

It turned its head slowly, reached into its trousers, and then stood up, a full head taller than Shen Yi, its shoulders twice as wide, its huge shadow cast on the ground.

“Next time be quicker, an empty stomach makes me angry.”

Hearing this, Shen Yi lowered his head with a complicated expression. He finally remembered his predecessor’s way of survival.

That was to collude with demons and do some “food” business.

With people like him in the Yamen pulling strings and creating unjust cases, they could ensure that the demons were fed while not alarming the Demon-Suppressing Agency.

Tonight, for example, he had already paved the way for the Liu family; after the dog demon finished its meal, there wouldn’t even be a ripple in Baiyun County the next day.

Understanding everything,

after a moment, Shen Yi forced a smile, bumped the other’s arm with his shoulder, and said, “You don’t know how capable my younger brother is, how could I be fast?”

Then, he tried to walk past the demon, saying, “Let’s go, let’s go. I’ll buy the drinks tonight, to apologize to my elder brother.”

However, the hulking figure remained motionless.

The dog demon’s eyes drooped, looking at Shen Yi indifferently: “Do you think I’m a fool?”

Then, it turned around, ripped off the roof, and stepped into the courtyard.

With his plan exposed, Shen Yi instinctively reached out to stop him, and even he didn’t realize why his hand dared to reach out.

Damn it! What’s it got to do with me?

He quickly tried to retract his arm, but it was already grabbed by a thick, furry dog paw.

The dog demon suddenly turned its head, close to Shen Yi’s face, its blood-red mouth full of sharp teeth, thick saliva dripping like threads from its long mouth.

“Shen, you seem to think you’re something.”

“Have you forgotten what kind of demon I am? I heard everything inside. You dare to betray me?!”

The two had come together to commit a crime, yet one had stopped halfway, the meaning clear.

As it spoke, the dog demon’s massive leg kicked out!

“Aren’t you a dog? You change your mind that quickly?”

An unimaginable force hit his abdomen, instantly making Shen Yi’s brain dizzy, the blue veins on his neck bulging, his body flying backwards like a broken sack, smashing through the house door.

He swore that this was the closest he had ever been to death.

“Ungrateful thing, you’re coming along to feed my five organs.”

Listening to the cold voice from outside the courtyard, Shen Yi collapsed to the ground, clutching his abdomen, looking up at the trembling father and daughter beside him.

He looked away, gasping for breath, “Couldn’t you… remind me… to take the back door?”

The old man and girl frantically swallowed their saliva, as if to suppress the screams in their throats.

Their faces were full of confusion, unable to understand why the man before them, who should have been colluding with the demon, was also kicked in.

“Forget it, the knife…”

Shen Yi weakly raised his hand, seeing the dumbfounded couple, reminding them again, “Pick up the knife for me.”

The Liu girl quickly picked up the saber and handed it to him, wondering who he wanted to cut, surely not the demon outside?

Shen Yi swallowed the sweet and bloody saliva, grasped the hilt, and under the watchful eyes of the father and daughter, he suddenly spat inexplicably, “So disgusting.”

This chaotic world in his memories, his predecessor’s way of survival, and his need to imitate him to barely survive.

Not only disgusting, but also incredibly boring.

“…”

Watching the dog demon push down the courtyard wall, bend down, and enter the courtyard, sticking out its thick tongue to gently lick its paw, already prepared to eat.

Thinking of his head being held in that dirty dog’s mouth, chewed bit by bit, mixed with thick saliva and swallowed.

Shen Yi’s breathing became more and more rapid, a hint of madness appearing in his eyes.

Good, good, you want to play like this.

My life is borrowed, yours is your own. You want to play a game of life or death with me, who do you think you are?

The panel rapidly unfolded in front of him.

Inject life force into martial arts to gain progress.

“Yes, the Demon-Subduing Swordsmanship, please fill it up for me.”

“Thank you.”
(End of Chapter)

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