Chapter 98 - 92: If Humans Can’t Handle You, What About a Demon?

Chapter 98: Chapter 92: If Humans Can’t Handle You, What About a Demon?

News of the rout at Jinshan Village reached the desks of the Li and Liu Families’ Patriarchs the very moment Lu Jing’an stepped across the threshold of the Lu Family’s Old Mansion.

Inside the Li Family’s study, the light was a murky yellow, casting Li Chongshan’s silhouette into a blurry, dark shape—much like the state of his mind at that moment.

Li Chongshan listened to the detailed report his subordinate brought back from Jinshan Village.

His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, the veins on the back of his hands bulging like coiled dragons.

Although the Li and Liu Families had joined forces this time, the Liu Family had only contributed the Crimson Gold Copper; all the manpower came from the Li Family.

They had even thrown one of the family’s hidden assets into the fray—the Fate Cultivator they had spent countless resources to nurture.

Fate Cultivators were rare, and their Cultivation was even more difficult.

The Li Family had already paid an immense price to acquire this Fate Cultivator.

’Though Li Chongshan had verbally promised him freedom, he had never truly been willing to let him go.’

This plan had seemed crude on the surface.

But in Li Chongshan’s scheme, all the initial crudeness was merely bait to lure Lu Jing’an in at the end.

He wanted to use this very crudeness to lower Lu Jing’an’s expectations and draw him into the trap.

The Fate Cultivator was meant to be the true killing blow.

But who could have imagined that Lu Jing’an would emerge completely unscathed?

His Li Family’s elites, including that precious Fate Cultivator, had vanished without a trace. Not a single one had returned.

"Explain clearly,"

Li Chongshan’s voice seemed forced through his clenched teeth, suppressing a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"How, exactly, did Lu Jing’an survive that fatal blow?"

The messenger sensed the menace in Li Chongshan’s tone. He bowed even lower, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor.

"My Patriarch, according... according to the scout who was observing nearby at the time, not only did Lu Jing’an not retreat, he actually stepped forward to meet the iron staff’s shadow.

That iron staff, infused with the Fate Cultivator’s essence, spirit, and energy, struck him squarely on the crown of his head.

But... but it didn’t even break the skin.

Instead, our assassin... he slit his throat with a single slash. It was so... so fast no one saw it clearly."

"Completely unharmed?"

Li Chongshan’s pupils contracted, the rage on his face replaced by a hint of bewildered suspicion.

This was beyond his expectations. Lu Jing’an’s own Cultivation didn’t seem to have reached such a level.

’Could it be that the Lu Family has an unknown Cultivator protecting him from the shadows?’

At this thought, the fire in Li Chongshan’s heart strangely subsided, replaced by a cold, gloomy shadow.

He dismissed his subordinate and paced alone in the study.

The sound of his soles tapping on the floor was exceptionally clear in the silence.

Two consecutive failures had pushed the Li Family to the edge of a cliff.

In Xiao County, once their prestige completely collapsed, the Lu Family wouldn’t even have to act; the other jackals waiting in the wings would swarm in and devour the Li Family.

One could fail once, and one could fail twice, but there could not be a third time.

Therefore, this third attempt had to be a victory. It was the only option.

Li Chongshan’s gaze turned dark, finally settling on a Zitan wood curio shelf in the room.

He walked over and moved aside a pair of blue-and-white porcelain vases from a previous dynasty.

He pressed his finger lightly on a spot behind the smooth wooden panel.

With a soft CLICK, a wooden panel popped open, revealing a small, hidden compartment behind it.

There was nothing else in the compartment but a whip, approximately a meter long, lying quietly.

The body of the whip was a dark, brownish-red, as if soaked in old bloodstains.

It was made from the tanned sinew of some long-unidentifiable beast.

Its form was ancient, more closely resembling an old horsewhip.

Li Chongshan reached in and took it out. It felt cold and slick to his fingertips.

The next moment, a layer of flickering black light flowed across the whip’s body.

Waves of shrill wails and furious roars directly assaulted his Divine Soul.

The sounds were inhuman, filled with savagery and pain, as if they came from the Netherworld.

Li Chongshan’s face paled, but he tightened his grip on the handle, a frigid glint in his eyes.

"If men can’t deal with you, then I’ll let a monster do it."

That night, along a remote stretch of the Canglan River, undercurrents surged.

Provoked by some unknown stimulus, the normally cautious Water Monkeys took advantage of the night to come ashore.

They charged into the nearest village, pouncing on anyone they saw, killing any living thing they met.

In an instant, blood stained the village paths, and terrified screams and desperate wails tore through the night sky,

only to be quickly drowned out by even more ferocious snarls and the sound of chewing.

That night, the moon was bleak and the stars lightless; the entire village had become an Asura Blood Prison.

Early the next morning, a peddler who traveled between villages selling his wares was humming a little tune as he approached the village entrance when the thick, overpowering stench of blood hit him.

When he saw the horrific sight before him, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted dead away.

When he came to a while later, he scrambled and stumbled his way to the Public Security Bureau, which was under the Liu Family’s jurisdiction, to report it with a hoarse voice.

The scene was so brutal that even Director Liu from the Liu Family’s Public Security Bureau, a man who had handled countless murder cases, turned deathly pale as his stomach churned.

Severed limbs and scattered organs littered the ground; almost no one had been left with a complete corpse.

An experienced coroner, suppressing his discomfort, carefully examined the scene before reaching a conclusion.

"Director, based on the bite marks, claw marks, and the mucus and scales left at the scene, this wasn’t the work of a human."

Hearing that conclusion, Director Liu’s heart sank as he gazed toward the rushing Canglan River in the distance.

"Water Monkeys!"

This was the Water Monkeys’ territory.

The only monsters that could have committed such an act here were the Water Monkeys.

And only Water Monkeys would willingly come ashore to cause such trouble.

This put Director Liu in a difficult position.

If it were the work of men, even ruthless bandits, there would be clues to follow.

’But a monster on a rampage... how could they possibly apprehend it?’

He had no choice but to leave a few men behind to guard the horrifying scene.

He then led the main contingent back to Lou Mountain County to report.

Inside the Liu Family’s residence, Liu Zhenyue listened to the report.