Rise to God with Life Skill Professions-Chapter 415 - 405: Reckoning with Lu Mountain and Tiger Cave

Chapter 415: Chapter 405: Reckoning with Lu Mountain and Tiger Cave

The corpse was covered in scars, and the exposed skin was shriveled like kindling.

Beside the corpse knelt a group of people in mourning clothes, weeping.

Qin An fell into silence, and followed the constable into the courtyard.

The sound of footsteps immediately caught the weeping people’s attention.

A few people, clad in mourning white, looked up, their tearful eyes fixated on Qin An.

The leading elderly woman, her hair already gray, crawled to Qin An on all fours upon seeing his silver-etched token, and knelt, kowtowing before him.

Qin An’s eyes flickered, and he extended a hand to help the elderly woman stand: "Ma’am, please don’t be so agitated. You can speak slowly if you have anything to say."

The elderly woman, weeping bitterly, said: "Sir, please seek justice for my son. After my son arrived in Zhen Nan County, he worked diligently, keeping clean of any official misconduct. He only worked for the people of Zhen Nan County. But who would have thought he’d die by the hands of monsters? I implore the Evil Extermination Bureau to vindicate my son!"

Upon hearing this, Qin An fell into silence.

The mourners immediately wailed even louder.

A mournful atmosphere enveloped the courtyard.

Qin An helped the elderly woman to a seat on a nearby chair and asked: "Those monsters slaughtered half the population of Zhen Nan County. Did they leave any clues or gossip?"

This was the last known site of the blood debt, and Qin An was searching for clues.

Hence, he intended to ask the elderly woman if she knew any leads.

The elderly woman wiped the tears from her face and said bitterly: "I don’t know exactly what they are, but I know one thing. When one of the monsters severely injured my son, it mentioned they were holed up in the Dark River to the east of Zhen Nan County, seemingly plotting where to go next for more slaughter."

"Dark River?"

Qin An raised an eyebrow and said: "Ma’am, could you bring me a map?"

The elderly woman nodded hastily and instructed one of the kneeling mourners to bring a map.

Before long, a map of Zhen Nan County was handed to Qin An.

Qin An accepted the map, opened it, and gave it a general look-over, locating the Dark River.

He then stored the map in his bosom and turned to leave the government office.

The elderly woman saw Qin An’s resolute departure and instinctively asked: "Sir, where are you heading this time?"

Without looking back, Qin An waved his hand: "For revenge."

The elderly woman asked, puzzled: "Revenge for what?"

"Revenge for Zhen Nan County, revenge for the people..." Qin An paused his steps, turned, and looked at the elderly woman: "And revenge for this incorruptible County Magistrate. Blood debts demand blood payment, do you agree, Ma’am?"

The elderly woman snapped back to reality and clenched her wrinkled hands: "Thank... you, Sir!"

She knelt on the ground, kowtowing three times with resounding thuds.

When she lifted her head, Qin An was gone.

The grief seemed to have been soothed a bit, and the knots in the elderly woman’s heart loosened.

"With the Evil Extermination Bureau’s help, these life-destructing monsters will surely come to a deserved end!"

Inside and outside the government office, tranquility prevailed, only the sound of weeping echoed.

...

A faint drizzle still fell.

Qin An galloped through the rain and finally arrived at the Dark River.

He tied his horse to an old tree and strolled up the mountain path.

The Straight Blade in his hand was drawn long ago, angled at his side.

Raindrops ran down the blade, forming a continuous line.

At this moment, traces of Evil Qi surrounded the area around the Dark River.

In front of the Dark River was a dense forest.

Qin An traversed the forest and faintly heard ongoing conversations.

Continuing deeper through this forest, the original appearance of the Dark River revealed itself to Qin An.

Before the Dark River, a few Inner God Realm monsters were gnawing on several corpses.

Among them were three Deer Demons and three Tiger Demons.

While feasting, they conversed.

"After finishing these, we’ll head to the next county. It’s been so long since we indulged like this; these humans truly are the most delicious things."

"Of course, and this time we have a Mountain Patrol Golden General from the Evil Extermination Bureau as our undercover agent. We don’t even need to fear being wiped out by the Mountain Patrol Generals."

"But to be honest, we’ve lost quite a lot."

"There’s nothing we can do. Even a Mountain Patrol Golden General can’t know the background of every Mountain Patrol General."

As they conversed, they devoured most of the corpses on the ground.

A Tiger Demon spoke in a muffled voice: "I wonder when that kid Qin An will come out of the Evil Extermination Bureau. Is our scheming effective at all?"

Another Deer Demon responded: "Why care if it’s effective or not? We’ve feasted and indulged plenty; we’ve already gained. Hurry and eat; once we’re done, we’ll find another place."

The beasts ceased their exchange and resumed feasting on the bloody food on the ground.

But just then, the ears of the head-down Tiger Demon twitched suddenly. It looked toward the woods behind them, its bloodstained whiskers twitching slightly.

"Who?"

At this word, several beasts reacted immediately, warily watching the edge.

Subsequently, all present beasts were stunned, sensing an icy chill rapidly encompassing them.

In the night rain, a figure clad in dark attire, wearing a bamboo hat and a cloaked coat, approached with a Straight Blade in hand, walking through the rain.

Rain drops, like continuous threads, beat against the cloak, sending up a spray of rain.

The murderous aura from the young man distorted the rainwater slightly.

"The Evil Extermination Bureau Silver General actually found his way here?" The Tiger Demon wiped away blood at the corner of his mouth, displaying a cruel smile: "Looks like we’ve got extra meat today. Boy, state your name quickly, so you won’t die without ever knowing who you were."

The other beasts showed similar cruel smiles, surrounding Qin An.

They were all in the Inner God Realm, nominally matching the Inner God Realm of a Mountain Patrol Silver General, thus confident they could take Qin An.

Qin An raised his head slightly, adjusting his bamboo hat to show his face: "You were just discussing me; how come you don’t recognize me now?"

At these words, the Tiger Demon who had been speaking showed a look of shock and wasted no time in turning to run.

"Run quickly, it’s Qin An! Don’t engage him!"

But before the Tiger Demon could walk far, a blast of Eight-Colored True Essence burst from Cold Star.

The blood-stained head soared up, landing on the ground, splattering mud with water droplets.

The other demons reacted too and turned to flee.

Yet Qin An wiped the blood from his blade with his fingertips, revealing a cold smile.

"A blood debt should be repaid in blood."

Rain danced as slaughter erupted.

Every flash of the blade was followed by a head soaring high.

Until Qin An kicked a Deer Demon to the ground, he then absorbed five demon consciousnesses into his body.

Now, reaching the Unity Realm, the capacity has greatly increased, and he’s absorbing demon souls instead of demon consciousnesses.

He can absorb ten demon souls into his body, equivalent to a thousand demon consciousnesses.

So this quantity poses no pressure to Qin An.

The Deer Demon, fallen to the ground, scrambled to flee, but Qin An kicked him down again.

The Deer Demon climbed up again, and Qin An kicked out another time.

After three or four successive kicks, blood flowed from the Deer Demon’s mouth, and he dared not move.

Qin An stepped on the Deer Demon’s face, speaking calmly, "Your Master Lu and the Mountain Lord from Tiger Cave should have arrived by now?"

The Deer Demon trembled all over, not speaking.

A flash of the blade gleamed.

The Deer Demon’s left arm severed.

Screams continued nonstop, drowning out even the sound of rain.

Qin An’s right foot stamped, crushing the Deer Demon’s left antler.

The Deer Demon endured tremendous pain but remained silent upon seeing Qin An’s icy eyes.

Qin An said calmly, "Speak and die quickly; don’t speak, and you’ll be skinned, your tendons extracted, cut into a thousand pieces, then handed over to the people of Zhen Nan County. What do you think the outcome will be?"

Upon hearing this, the Deer Demon shivered, hastily saying, "Head south, go several hundred miles, there’s a natural array there, where they hide as the headquarters for dispatching numerous demons."

With this, the Deer Demon saw a Straight Blade enlarging before his eyes, stabbing into his mouth and piercing out the back of his neck.

Eight-Colored True Essence surged through.

The Deer Demon’s corpse exploded into flying ashes all over the ground.

Qin An picked up the demon consciousness, absorbed it into his body, without a word, and headed toward the direction pointed by the Deer Demon.

Just as he told the old woman, tonight he came to kill demons.

If it’s demon-slaying, don’t waste any time.

The blood debts of Zhen Nan County must be repaid; the blood debts of other villagers must be repaid as well.

He would step over these demons’ corpses to ascend to the position of Mountain Patrol Golden General.

In the night rain, Qin An’s figure disappeared into the misty darkness.

The rain grew heavier, washing away the demons’ bodies, and the blood on them gradually faded.

...

Several hundred miles from the Black Water River, in a mountain valley.

At this moment, Master Lu and the Mountain Lord sat facing each other at a stone table.

There was a large amount of blood food arranged on the table.

Beside them were many Inner God Realm demons.

Some sat on the ground, some sprawled on the ground, some lay supine on the ground.

They held a large amount of blood food in their mouths and hands.

Master Lu picked up a piece of blood food, chewed it carefully, a joyful smile emerging on his face, "Surely it’s much more comfortable outside, just the endless blood food lately makes me feel the old days were too hard."

The Mountain Lord grabbed a nearby wine cup, downed the blood water inside, wiped the blood smudge from his mouth, "Enjoyment is all good, but don’t forget Lord Situ’s intent. Qin An has stepped out from the Evil Extermination Bureau, but his exact destination is still pending from the scout’s report."

Master Lu nodded, "Rest assured, Qin An will surely die this time. Previously, we were under the watch of the Mountain Patrol Golden General from the Evil Extermination Bureau, but now with Lord Situ sending word, two from the Unity Realm adept in Divine Soul Refining Body Skill, killing Qin An will be easy."

"Let’s think about how we can gain more benefits."

The Mountain Lord slightly raised a brow, "What do you mean by this?"

Master Lu revealed a cruel, bloodthirsty smile, "Demons and Pseudo-Gods across the world have long suffered from the Evil Extermination. Lu Mountain, Tiger Cave all are such. Even having blood food now needs careful precaution, there isn’t much left in our forces."

"I have a freezing technique, let’s seize this chance to hunt for human blood food and bring back for freezing so we can enjoy it later."

Hearing this, a hint of approval flashed in the Mountain Lord’s eyes, "You’re the clever one, that’s right, although we serve Situ Shen, we’re demons to the core, eating humans is in our nature."

"Seems like the Mountain Lord agrees." Master Lu laughed, "Pass down the order. Before news of Qin An arrives, go stockpile some human blood food. I won’t worry for the next ten years!"

With these words, the Inner God Realm demons laughed and echoed the sentiment, even planning immediate bloodshed.

But then, several things suddenly blocked the moonlight in the sky.

Master Lu and the Mountain Lord looked up reflexively, seeing several demon corpses falling from the sky onto the valley floor.

"Bang!"

A dull sound resounded.

Master Lu and the Mountain Lord stood up, eyes bright with bloodlust, "Who dares to act insolent here!"

On the ground lay several demon corpses, the Deer Demon and the Tiger Demon.

The other Inner God Realm demons vigilantly scanned the surroundings.

Master Lu and the Mountain Lord looked towards the distant cliff of the valley.

Though it was deep night, the Inner God Realm demons’ eyesight was excellent, penetrating thick darkness, seeing the silhouette sitting on the cliff.

Qin An in black attire, sat atop the cliff.

He wiped his blade with tiger skin, as blood from the tiger skin trickled down slowly.

Qin An casually tossed the tiger skin away, standing atop the cliff, his tone as cold as ice.

"Since I set foot in Xunyang Prefecture, our grievances are entangled beyond clarity. It’s time to settle the score tonight."

As he finished speaking, Qin An performed the Seven Stars Dragon Roar Shadow Step, ghost-like across the high sky.

Cold Star shimmered under moonlight, emanating a chilling glow.