Chapter Fifty-Three: The Black Heavenly Deity

"My lord, what's the need for all this? Take your reward quietly and leave—there'll be no shortage of benefits for you in the future. But if you insist on digging deeper, nothing good will come of it."

But Steward Chu Feng's gaze was fixed on the old matriarch of Chu Village.

He could tell something was very wrong with her.

"Have all the women and children in the village been hidden away?" Chu Feng's face was grave.

"What do you mean by that, my lord?"

"A demon has struck the village, so the women and children are in hiding, but the able-bodied men remain. It seems you’re not afraid of the kappa. The old matriarch of Chu Village has her ways, but even she needs medicine to deal with the monster."

"My lord, the old matriarch is getting on in years, her mind is muddled. Please don’t take her words to heart,” Chu Feng forced himself to remain calm.

"What are you afraid of? That the old matriarch will let slip a secret and reveal the Chu family’s treasure for dealing with monsters?" Baili Feihong smiled with a hint of amusement.

He was in no hurry, not at all. The long night stretched on; he was wide awake, inclined to chat, and found himself rather entertained.

"So you care nothing for the Chu family's little gratuity," Chu Feng said regretfully.

"Oh, I care, but I worry that taking this money would leave my conscience forever troubled."

"Then, Lord Baili, I must ask you to leave Chu Village at once."

"Leave? Why should I leave?"

"This is Chu Village, not the Demon Suppression Bureau."

"Every inch of land in the Great Yuan Dynasty is protected by the Demon Suppression Bureau."

"It’s late. The night brings out the jackals and wolves, my lord. You’d best be on your way." Chu Feng clenched his fists.

The master had ordered: if money can solve a problem, it’s not a problem. If money won’t suffice, then let gunpowder and steel do the work.

"What’s so frightening about jackals and wolves? What’s truly terrifying is a gang of fiends in human guise, bringing calamity to the world."

At that moment, Baili Feihong’s senses grew razor-sharp. He detected movement outside the village—a great many living beings converging on Chu Village.

The scent of blood was thick. The weakest among them were Five-Blood Martial Artists; the strongest had reached the Bone-Refining stage. Such a formidable force, yet on the Eastern Shores they remained utterly unknown.

Chu Village was very strange.

His intuition had been correct.

So had the Demon Compass.

While Baili Feihong was distracted, the old matriarch finally broke free from his blood energy restraint.

"Chu Feng, he wants to investigate the opium—kill him!"

In that instant, Chu Feng’s face fell in shock. The villagers’ expressions all changed.

Baili Feihong’s eyes glittered as he looked at the old matriarch, a being that was neither demon nor evil cultivator.

What a foolish ally. But from her perspective, better her neighbor dies than herself.

Her words had now placed Chu Village in dire straits. There was no turning back.

"Trying to run?" Baili Feihong moved his foot, kicking a silver coin from the ground. It shot through the air, piercing the old matriarch’s body.

A gory wound opened, spraying green blood. The flickering lamplight made it hard for ordinary eyes to see, but Baili Feihong saw it clearly.

Green blood?

"Bring you back to the Demon Suppression Bureau—someone there will be very interested."

The Bureau’s holding cells were filled with monsters, specimens for research by certain Suppression Envoys. The old matriarch’s strangeness made her quite the subject for study.

But in the next moment, her green-blooded wound began healing rapidly. Faint luminescence shimmered at the site, some wondrous power knitting her flesh together.

"Wood attribute? A wood demon turned human?" Baili Feihong wondered.

No, it must be a wood demon parasitizing a human host, fusing with the body to create a hybrid.

Steward Chu Feng took several steps back. The servants carrying the eight large chests immediately surrounded him, shielding his retreat.

"The wound heals quickly—but can you regrow lost limbs?" With one kick, pouring out his strength, Baili Feihong sent a gold coin slicing through the air, shattering the old matriarch’s legs.

She collapsed, howling. Her screams tore at the hearts of every Chu villager.

Bang!

A musket barrel jutted from a window, aimed at Baili Feihong, and fired in fury.

Sensing danger, Baili Feihong circulated the Six Paths of Demon Suppression. A faint golden force surged over his skin.

Ting—

The bullet left only a shallow mark on his flesh. Its power was nothing to him—less, even, than the force of the coins he had kicked.

Chu Xiaoyong, who had fired, gaped in disbelief. That was a firearm! He’d once killed a Nine-Blood Martial Artist with such a shot!

"The threshold to the extraordinary is Bone-Refining," Baili Feihong said coldly.

He’d mastered all six forms of Bone-Refining; his body was like forged steel. The round lead bullet could hardly breach his defense.

If it were a modern large-caliber gun firing armor-piercing rounds, he would flee as far as possible.

"Kill him!" Chu Feng shouted.

Outside the village, fog rolled in. A band of warriors in kimonos, hearing the order, raised their swords and charged Baili Feihong from all sides.

"Wokou? Sakura Samurai?"

Blond giants, wielding exquisite firearms, took aim at Baili Feihong.

Bang, bang, bang—

Bullets whistled from every direction.

The Free Roaming Step!

In a flash, Baili Feihong seemed to ride the wind itself, his form flickering and elusive, moving at lightning speed.

He no longer bothered with set moves.

He dove at the foreign gunmen.

With a single hand strike, a neck was shattered. His speed only increased.

He plunged into the ranks of the gunmen—ten or so overseas shooters—and in a heartbeat, heads flew, blood spraying for yards.

He cut them down mercilessly.

Like a dragon entering the sea, he tore into the Sakura Samurai formation.

He struck down a samurai, seized his blade, and wielded it with chilling precision.

Wherever he passed, none could withstand him.

Even the Sakura Samurai at Bone-Refining level could not survive an instant in his hands.

"Colluding with foreign powers, consorting with Wokou, trafficking in opium—your deaths are well deserved."

Blade in hand, he strode toward Steward Chu Feng.

Bang! Bang!

From every house, guns fired.

Baili Feihong’s gaze was cold as lightning.

There was nothing more to be said. Snakes and rats in the same nest.

Chu Village had finally revealed its true face.

From the moment he set foot here, he knew he’d stepped into a conflict.

But both sides of this conflict were his enemies.

The kappa demon was formidable.

If the Chu villagers were unprepared, they would surely be slaughtered. But because they had the power to resist, the kappa threatened them with violence.

"Baili Feihong, the master will never let you go!" Chu Feng shouted, veins bulging.

"So the master is no longer in the village," Baili Feihong said, disappointed. "How is he directing you from afar?"

"Heh, Baili Feihong, no—the Demon Suppression Bureau is obsolete. Look at the world: what is the Great Yuan Empire? Only a corner of the map. The world is vast, its wonders beyond your imagination."

Chu Feng’s face twisted with madness. Dark, tadpole-like runes writhed across his skin.

"The Black Heaven God will descend upon this world.

"Humanity is ignorant. The Black Heaven God brings down ten tribulations—opium is but a pleasure-curse ordained by the god.

"After the ten tribulations, the world will be cleansed."

Dark energy surged.

In an instant, the once-mortal Chu Feng possessed strength not inferior to a Bone-Refining expert.

"It's getting more chaotic—and more interesting," Baili Feihong mused.

An evil cult, a deity.

He’d only read of such things in books.

Now, a living cultist stood before him.

In a heartbeat—

Baili Feihong moved.

"The First Suppression: Blood Seals the Mountains and Rivers!"