Chapter 54: The Corpse Monster Paraded Through the Streets, the Entire County Shaken to Its Core

Zhuang Lin lightly flicked the sword in his hand, shaking off the demonic blood staining the blade, and then raised the wooden sword to inspect it closely.

The intricate patterns on the blade now appeared even more mystical, and their luster seemed slightly different from just a moment before.

Although this sword was merely carved from wood, through his previous refinement and subsequent demon-slaying "edge-sharpening," it had instantaneously devoured the spirit of that demonic entity, and surprisingly, it felt remarkably well-balanced in his hand!

On the other side, Lu Jing and the other three stared blankly, their minds in a daze, taking quite a while to finally snap back to reality.

"A-A demon..." "Dead?" "Am I dreaming..." "That scholar..." "We actually just..." "Even made fun of him..."

Standing in a daze, the four of them expressed their shock one sentence at a time. After exchanging blank, bewildered glances, they all successively recovered their wits and hurriedly walked forward.

The large macabre ape on the ground had completely ceased breathing, but blood was still oozing from the gash on its corpse.

Even though it was dead, looking at the monster on the ground under the moonlight still felt deeply unsettling.

This creature was significantly larger than an ordinary ape, and in Lu Jing's eyes, it was even a size larger than when he had last seen it.

If the first time they met it had resembled a slightly hunchbacked adult, now its bulk was somewhat larger than an ordinary stalwart man. Clearly, during the time it had vanished, it had grown somewhat more formidable.

Yet, however terrifying it might be, the demon was dead now, and the fear in their hearts gradually dissipated.

"Wonderful, simply wonderful! This demonic entity is dead, Master Zhuang... No, Senior Zhuang, you have truly eliminated a scourge for the people!"

"Senior... Senior! We were blind and failed to recognize a master..." "Ah, we hope Senior will forgive us..."

Filled with excitement as well as a sense of awe and trepidation, the four of them hurriedly put away their weapons and kept cupping their hands in salute, not even daring to stand straight.

Zhuang Lin shifted his attention away from the wooden sword, slung it behind his back, and walked toward the four of them with a smile.

"Why must you all be so formal? Wasn't it agreed beforehand that I would go first?"

Zhuang Lin said this jokingly, finding their nervous expressions quite amusing. By the time he finished speaking, he had already approached them, his peripheral vision sweeping across the demonic corpse on the ground.

"This creature has harmed quite a few people. The few of you can also be considered to have acted on behalf of heaven!"

Lu Jing hesitated for a moment before carefully speaking up.

"Senior, none of us even got a chance to strike; it was you who acted on behalf of heaven..."

Zhuang Lin looked at the cautious-looking Lu Jing, then at the other three who were equally jittery, and could not help but laugh in amusement.

"Hahahaha... Alright, alright, I already told you not to be so restrained. I am not a person of eccentric temperament, merely a scholar traveling for his studies. Does my appearance look like someone capable of slaying such a demon?"

"But... but we saw with our own eyes that it was you who slew this demon..."

"That's right..." "I saw it too..."

"Then let me ask you, what shall be done tomorrow?"

"Uh, bring the demonic corpse into the city to the county Yamen, and perhaps parade it through the streets afterward to pacify the people. Everyone will praise Senior's heroic feat..."

Zhuang Lin immediately cut off Lu Jing's words.

"Sigh, exactly! I am merely here to sightsee in Wuling. Could it be that tomorrow I should drag the demonic corpse along to the county Yamen to claim credit? Let's drop such troublesome matters... I see that Constable Lu and all of you are righteous and chivalrous, and slaying this evil entity to rid the people of a scourge tonight is precisely fitting!"

Zhuang Lin's smile remained unchanged, pausing slightly before finishing his sentence.

Lu Jing finally caught the drift.

"Senior means for us to take the credit? We can't possibly do that, we truly can't!" "Indeed, how could we ever dare to do such a thing!"

"I say you can, and you can! Let's go, it's chilly out here, let's head back to the pavilion to chat..."

Zhuang Lin walked toward the Shili Pavilion first. The four of them exchanged glances, looked at the corpse on the ground once more, and then hurriedly followed.

Without these four, Zhuang Lin would have eliminated this evil entity regardless, but he equally would not have gone to the county Yamen to claim credit.

Now that these four were present, there was no harm in taking this merit. It could quickly pacify the common folk, clear Lu Jing's name, and even force the stingy magistrate of Wuling to cough up a proper bounty. Why not do it?

In the pavilion by the bonfire, Zhuang Lin offered a thorough explanation to the four of them until they reluctantly understood, though they still dared not claim full credit.

At Lu Jing's strong insistence, the four unanimously decided that tomorrow the demonic corpse would still be brought to the county Yamen, but they would only dare to report that the four of them had assisted an eminent master in slaying the demon. They would never dare to claim the sole glory!

Seeing that he could not sway them otherwise, Zhuang Lin dropped the subject, merely suggesting that the demonic corpse should be burned after being displayed for at most a few days. Amidst casual conversation, he continued to pay attention to the wooden sword in his hand.

Lu Jing and the others would also subconsciously glance at the wooden sword. Unless one's martial arts had reached the realm of perfection, how could anyone slay a demon with a wooden sword?

The few of them had even witnessed Zhuang Lin carving the wooden sword with their own eyes!

However, as the conversation progressed into the latter half of the night, Zhuang Lin gathered more information, such as Lu Jing's description of the demon's transformation.

This detail also gave Zhuang Lin some food for thought.

When he visited last time, Zhuang Lin had possessed only mortal eyes and could not pierce through illusions, seeing nothing more than a woman in plain attire.

Yet Lu Jing had actually crossed blows with that large macabre ape.

If it had truly been only a little over half a year, and this large macabre ape had not only healed from its injuries but grown even stronger, could it have encountered some miraculous fortuitous encounter during this period?

Because the demon was dead, the relaxation of tension among Lu Jing and the others brought the aftereffects of their sleep deprivation over the past few days to the surface, and they quickly grew tired.

Coupled with the warmth radiating from the bonfire, which had been replenished with ample firewood, drowsiness crept up on them, and before they knew it, they drifted off to sleep one by one in the pavilion.

In the early morning, the sun leaped over the eastern mountain, casting its brilliant rays onto Lu Jing's face. He blinked awake, shielding his eyes from the dazzling sunlight, and then suddenly snapped back to awareness, sitting straight up.

"Hmm?"

Lu Jing looked around. The bonfire in the center of the pavilion had almost burned out, leaving only a wisp of white smoke, while his three companions lay curled up nearby, still fast asleep.

However, the eminent master with the scholarly demeanor was nowhere to be found, leaving behind only the pile of withered grass where he had sat the previous night.

"Senior? Senior—"

Lu Jing called out several times, but there was no response from the surroundings. Instead, his voice woke the sleeping companions.

"Ah, what is it..." "Mmph, it's already dawn..."

"No! How did we sleep so soundly!"

"Hurry up, get up!"

Slapping their cheeks and rubbing their eyes, the men quickly regained their alertness, scrambling to their feet and scanning their surroundings just as Lu Jing had done.

"Senior—Senior Zhuang—" "Constable Lu, where is the Senior?"

The three of them emerged from the pavilion and looked toward Lu Jing, who had gotten up first. The latter shook his head.

"He must have left ahead of us..."

"What about the demon?" "Right, let's go check!"

The men suddenly remembered and hurried toward the spot where the demon had been slain the night before. It wasn't far—just a few dozen paces away toward the mountain slope.

Sure enough, the large macabre ape was still lying on the ground, undeniably dead. At this hour, under the daylight, it was even clearer, revealing the sheer terror of the demonic entity. Just looking at its corpse sent a shudder through the heart...

The men felt a lingering sense of dread. The previous night, they had acted on sheer passion and anger; without an eminent master by their side, their fate would likely have been grim.

"How should we handle this?"

"What do you mean how? Naturally, we carry it back to Wuling City so that everyone inside and outside the county knows the demon has been eliminated. This is a deed to pacify the people!"

"Right, let's do just that!"

Having made up their minds, the men hesitated no longer. They chopped several branches of suitable length and thickness nearby, constructed a simple four-man litter, placed the demonic corpse upon it, and then hoisted it up together.

Today, the northeast gate of Wuling City looked no different from any other day.

However, just as people were bustling in and out normally, someone suddenly let out a cry of exclamation.

"Hey, hey, look over there—" "What is that thing? A beast?"

"Goodness, what kind of beast is that..." "Phew, it smells so foul..."

"Isn't that Constable Lu?"

"It really is Constable Lu!"

"Why does it seem to have clothes on? Could that be the demon..."

People near the city gate exclaimed repeatedly, and many who were in a hurry to enter or exit subconsciously stopped in their tracks.

On the main road, Lu Jing and the four men were marching quickly, carrying the demonic corpse. To them, with four people combining their strength, this little weight was naturally nothing at all.

As they carried the corpse past, travelers and carriages on the road hurriedly made way or paused, every single person who caught sight of the corpse drawing in a sharp breath of cold air.

Soon, they reached the city gate with the corpse, and the guards on duty retreated in fright.

"Constable Lu, what is this creature?"

Lu Jing and his companions were brimming with heroic spirit, and the one at the front could not help but laugh out loud first.

"Hahahaha... Hasn't someone among you already guessed it? This is that scourge of a demon, and it was vanquished last night—"

Lu Jing loudly announced to the surrounding crowd as well.

"That's right! This is the demon that repeatedly harmed the people. It was jointly slain by us and an eminent master last night. You all need not worry any longer. Brothers guarding the gate, make way—"

As they spoke, the men had already carried the demonic corpse into the city. The bystanders quickly stepped aside and then swiftly reacted, following closely behind.

Someone even dashed into the city, running and shouting at the top of their lungs.

"The demon has been slain—that demon was killed by Constable Lu and the others—"

"The demon is dead, such a huge mountain sprite—" "Go and see, the demon has been slain—"

The news spread rapidly through Wuling City. From various households, shops, inns, and pavilions, people emerged or leaned out from windows.

On this day, Wuling City was exceptionally lively.

Lu Jing and the others paraded the corpse of the large macabre ape through the streets, drawing dense crowds wherever they passed and sparking waves of astonished gasps among the people...