Chapter Twenty-Three: Using Oneself as Bait

"Young master, let’s leave quickly. We have no money left."

Smack—

Barely holding himself upright, he slapped the servant across the face.

"You worthless dog, I want opium, I want smoke! Get me back to the opium den at once!"

Listless, pale-faced, and thin as a skeleton, the young man shouted, his veins bulging and his breath ragged. The force of his blow and his furious outburst drained what little strength remained in him. His body swayed, teetering on the edge of collapse.

"No money… no money… no money…" The servant clutched his mouth, tears brimming in his eyes, repeating the phrase in a trembling whisper.

The master’s vast inheritance had been squandered, all lost to the opium den.

The gaunt youth’s gaze was vacant, clearly shaken within. Yet in the next instant, a long string of mucus slid from his nose. His entire body felt as though ants crawled through his bones—he was in unbearable agony.

"Smoke… I need smoke…" His eyes, glowing with a desperate green light, fixed on the servant.

Caught between sobs, the servant froze, his mouth hanging open, pale and trembling, unable to utter a word. With a grimace, he turned and fled.

The young master meant to sell him.

Baili Feihong watched the scene unfold before him, feeling a touch of emotion. Yet he could not intervene.

The Demon Suppression Bureau held authority only over monsters and supernatural threats. When it came to civil matters, they dared not meddle arbitrarily.

He asked the locals along the street and soon found the constable’s office.

The Constabulary was a new institution, responsible for upholding law and order.

"This is the Constabulary. If you wish to file a report, you must pay a fee first," said a young officer, legs propped on his desk, reclining in his chair, hat pulled over his eyes, leisurely shaking his leg.

Baili Feihong’s expression darkened, but he held his tongue.

"Demon Suppression Bureau, here to carry out a mission. I require the Constabulary’s assistance," he said coldly.

Snap!

The young constable sprang to attention. "Constable Luo Yaoyang reporting to the Bureau, sir. If you need anything, please give your orders."

Baili Feihong showed his badge. "Take me to Huangxian Village."

"Yes, sir."

But soon, Luo Yaoyang’s face became troubled.

"Sir, our captain is out on duty. Would you care to rest here for a moment? I’ll notify the captain to return at once."

"No need. Just take me to Huangxian Village. The rest is none of your concern."

If Fairness Town’s constables got involved, who knew what complications might arise? Unfamiliar with the area, he needed to remain vigilant.

"Understood, sir."

Luo Yaoyang dared not refuse. He agreed immediately, though his heart was uneasy—Huangxian Village was now a dangerous place; escorting the Bureau’s man there felt like stepping into a pit of fire. Reluctant as he was, he dared not defy the Demon Suppression Bureau’s orders. Those people were madmen. Why not just live a normal life? Why join the Bureau? If one was killed by monsters, there’d be no chance for regret.

Baili Feihong was unaware of the constable’s inner turmoil. Even if he knew, he would not comment.

He left his Bureau’s fine steed at the Constabulary, entrusting its care to the stableman.

Luo Yaoyang summoned a carriage and personally drove Baili Feihong to Huangxian Village.

The mountain roads were rugged; the jolting carriage finally halted in a deserted village.

"Sir Baili, Huangxian Village’s able-bodied men have gone to work in the city, leaving women, children, and the elderly to tend the fields. Since the monster appeared, those left alive have all fled to the city for safety," Luo Yaoyang explained, seeing the Bureau’s agent’s grim expression.

"How many villagers perished at the beast’s claws?" Baili Feihong asked gravely.

"Sir, casualties have already been reported to the Bureau," Luo Yaoyang replied, avoiding specifics, for he himself wasn’t sure how many deaths the captain had reported. If the Bureau discovered falsified numbers, the captain would surely punish him. Luo Yaoyang spoke carefully.

Baili Feihong asked no further.

Luo Yaoyang hesitated, then mustered courage. "Sir, if you have any questions, please come to the Constabulary for me."

"Very well. You may go," Baili Feihong waved him off.

Having the constable around would only hinder him—he’d have to worry about Luo Yaoyang’s safety as well.

"Take care, Sir Baili."

"Hyah!"

He drove the carriage away from Huangxian Village in haste.

Baili Feihong shook his head in resignation.

They avoided him as one would a snake.

Common folk harbored deep fear of monsters.

Even Baili Feihong, now a warrior of the seventh blood tier, felt dread in the face of supernatural evil.

Confronting such unknown darkness, one’s life and death could not be claimed by oneself.

With his Blood Sea Longblade in hand, he stepped into the leaf-strewn village.

The silent settlement was utterly devoid of human life.

Desolate, decaying, empty, lonely…

Shattered bones lay scattered on the ground, their breaks clearly bearing the marks of gnawing.

Human leg bones were sturdy, but judging from the broken edges, even the hardest bone was no match for the beast’s sharp teeth.

"This monster has eaten far more people than the Fairness Town Constabulary reported."

Moreover, the villagers devoured by the beast would likely exceed his imagination.

"A monster grows stronger with every person it devours."

"If it’s eaten the entire village, I fear even a Tier-D Bureau agent would need to intervene."

He saw no demonic mist swirling over Huangxian Village, meaning the beast was still only an animal, not yet fully transformed into a demon.

He could still handle this.

Baili Feihong walked from one end of the village to the other. Huangxian Village was sizable, with about one hundred thirty-two households, and six to seven hundred villagers. By Fairness Town’s standards, it was a large settlement.

"It’s not in Huangxian Village!"

He did not fret; instead, he sat down to boil water and cook rice. The people had gone, but the village remained.

He took out rice, homemade preserved meat, and a jar of wine.

He cooked a meal and began to enjoy it.

He carried Blood Essence Pills to replenish his vitality.

He moved a table outdoors, and under the evening glow, leisurely ate his food.

According to Ding Bo’s teachings, monsters were easily dealt with by Bureau agents—easier even than wild animals.

Wild animals feared humans.

Monsters, on the contrary, felt an unusual greed for humans.

Eating people became their nature.

Once tainted with demonic energy, a beast’s desires grew boundless.

Baili Feihong sat in the village lane, savoring his meal.

He hardly looked like a man on a mission to slay monsters—rather, he seemed to be vacationing in a picturesque countryside.

Ding Bo had once said, "In the wild, beware the monster’s ambush. Their sense for human presence is sharp; they can smell it from afar. If there are many people, they may keep away, but when someone is alone in the wild, monsters are likely to attack. That’s an instinct retained from their days as predators."

Human presence.

What did it mean to have human presence?

Cooking, eating, being alone.

Baili Feihong used himself as bait to lure the beast out.

He did his utmost to suppress the blood energy cultivated through the Four Seas Fist. Only the Four Seas Fist allowed such control; the Blood River Blade technique hadn’t reached that level yet.

Mastery of a technique meant understanding it to its utmost detail.

Baili Feihong ate slowly.

When night fell, he lit a candle and continued eating.

In the silent village, alone, with a flickering candle, he bowed over his meal.

Such eerie atmosphere—if anyone saw it, they might think they’d encountered a ghost.