Chapter 46: The Jade Bottle

Choosing between north and south, Liu Chou relied on his intuition. Subconsciously, he chose to head north, away from the direction of Xiyi. Thanks to a day of wild galloping by Golden Eye and a benevolent smile from fate, he successfully located the camp of another demon army.

As expected, the attire, weaponry, and strength of the demons here confirmed Liu Chou’s suspicions—this was indeed the decoy force, waiting to be wiped out.

With the two detachments separated by a hundred miles, he figured that even if he struck now, he would not alert that half-step Great Demon.

The number of demons in the camp was small, roughly a few dozen. They were clearly just a vanguard, struggling to clear a relatively flat patch of forest. They pushed aside tangled vines and fallen leaves, hacking away at shrubs and startling insects into flight. As they worked, the lesser demons would casually snatch up nearby insects and crunch them between their teeth with sharp, audible snaps.

Liu Chou did not move. His gaze fell upon a dog-demon resting nearby. While the others labored, he alone rested, clearly the scout—the equivalent of a human sergeant. His strength was roughly at the fifth or sixth stage; he was not powerful, and engaging him would pose no pressure.

He waited quietly for over an hour. Only when the weeds and leaves had been cleared did the dog-demon order a rest. The demons immediately collapsed where they stood, indifferent to the damp, muddy ground, and were soon snoring thunderously, drifting into sleep.

Liu Chou waited another moment, scanning every demon in sight. Once he confirmed there were no formidable monsters, he set his mind at ease and began to calculate the moment to strike.

The dog-demon scout had not posted sentries. After all, this was deep within the Qinling Mountains, where few humans dared to venture. Besides, if humans were to approach a pack of dozens or hundreds of demons, they would surely have been detected long ago.

Amidst the chorus of snores, Liu Chou finally moved. His body flickered, revealing his true macaque form, and he began to slip into the crowd of demons, inching toward the dog-demon.

The demons were sound asleep. Liu Chou, having suppressed his aura, revealed no murderous intent, and his shared lineage with the demons kept them from feeling any alarm. When he was less than five yards away, Liu Chou pushed off the ground and shot forward in the blink of an eye.

Liu Chou’s speed was extraordinary; even without a running start, he could hit his peak instantly. By the time a few lesser demons caught the scent of his murderous intent, Liu Chou was already before the dog-demon.

The iron staff in his hand swirled like a wheel, instantly sweeping the surrounding lesser demons away. Accompanied by the sound of snapping bones, they were tossed aside. Before they could even land, Liu Chou thrust the staff forward, slamming his entire weight and the weapon into the dog-demon.

With a dull, thunderous thud, the dog-demon—who had been rising reflexively and hadn't even opened his eyes—was sent flying. Several crisp cracks signaled the breaking of his ribs where the staff struck. He arched back through the air and landed with a crash among a group of bewildered, sluggish demons.

In an instant, Liu Chou’s iron staff became a wild dragon, sweeping through the ranks, unstoppable and devastating.

The entire camp erupted. The lesser demons were jolted awake by the sudden attack, letting out terrified screeches and roars. They scrambled to grab their weapons, but as they looked toward the god of slaughter in their midst, all they saw were severed limbs flying through the air and blood raining down in a torrential downpour.

Liu Chou took a few leaps, clearing away the obstructive lesser demons, and charged back to the dog-demon. The dog-demon had not even managed to grasp a suitable weapon when Liu Chou’s staff arrived again. He could only shove a lesser demon toward Liu Chou while scrambling back in terror, roaring:

"Whose command are you under? What is the meaning of this?"

Liu Chou ignored him. With a slight twist of his staff, he scooped up the lesser demon and hurled him at the dog-demon like a cannonball. The dog-demon, with no room to dodge, reached out his claws to bat the body away. He tore the lesser demon’s torso open with his sharp nails, spilling entrails across the air.

From the moment he was shoved by the dog-demon, the lesser demon hadn't even had a coherent thought before becoming a corpse.

The dog-demon began to howl shrilly. Only now did he realize that the attacker was just this hideous macaque. Though the iron staff was powerful, the attacker was alone. Hoping to overwhelm him with numbers, the dog-demon issued his commands.

Long accustomed to his authority, the demons ceased their panic and lunged at Liu Chou in unison.

But at that moment, a piercing whistle tore through the air, stinging the demons' eardrums.

Seeing the distance widen, Liu Chou decisively pulled out his hand-crossbow and triggered it toward the dog-demon. In an instant, a black light-arrow tore through the dog-demon’s chest, spraying a mist of blood before passing through his body.

It was not the "Thousand-Pound Bolt," so it did not kill the dog-demon instantly, but it destroyed most of his muscle function and made any further retreat a fantasy.

When Liu Chou charged for the third time, he easily took the dog-demon’s life.

With the camp’s strongest opponent dead, the remaining battle was a foregone conclusion. Terrified, the demons began to flee in all directions. Liu Chou simply released Golden Eye, and together, man and automaton prowled the perimeter, slaughtering every demon in the camp. None escaped.

After severing the heads for a final count, Liu Chou found he had killed seventy-two demons here.

Daring not to linger, he quickly obscured his tracks and departed. He knew exactly how great a risk he had taken; if there was an outpost here, the main force could not be far behind.

Indeed, less than a quarter-hour after Liu Chou left, a strange whirlwind rolled in from the mountains and came to a halt. As the wind dissipated, several demonic figures emerged. Among them, a wolf-demon with a ferocious, towering build scanned the surroundings viciously. He let out a long, howling roar toward the sky, then gestured with his hand. Without a breeze, the grass and fallen leaves on the ground began to swirl.

Riding the wind, traversing the earth—this demon had reached the level of a "Monster Demon." His status was at least that of a military commander, a Great Scout.

But eerily, just as the whirlwind began, an inexplicable force suddenly blanketed the camp. The demonic wind vanished, and the leaves and grass fell from the air in a shower.

Seeing this, the wolf-demon grew vigilant. He looked around, and the lesser demons beside him bristled, raising their weapons to their chests.

The sky had turned murky, and the dense forest grew rapidly dim as the light faded. The wolf-demon’s pupils began to glow with a faint green light, filling the woods with a grotesque, eerie atmosphere.

*Snap... snap... snap...*

At that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed from deep within the forest. Falling upon the century-old layers of dead leaves, they sounded like a funeral knell. Even as demons, the wolves felt their pupils contract into thin, vertical slits at the sound.

Then, three figures emerged from the darkness.

A young woman in white, her brows an indigo blue, followed by two elders—a man and a woman—trailing behind her. The old man walked with the dying, flickering aura of one near death, moving listlessly as if he might collapse at any moment, yet he maintained a distance of two paces behind the girl, never lagging a single step.

"It seems the scouts here are all dead." The girl’s gaze swept over the headless demon corpses scattered across the field. She smiled faintly and looked back at the old man. "It seems he is still as ruthless as ever."

The two elders laughed, their faces creased with wrinkles. The old woman said softly, "A demon’s nature is inherently cruel. As long as that nature remains, they are forever demons; they can never become human."

The old man chuckled in agreement. "True. As long as they are the enemy, regardless of their origin, that is a trait I find rather likable."

The girl smiled thinly. Suddenly, she looked up, gazing through the gaps in the leaves into the deep night. Her haunting, crimson pupils were now filled with a sense of bewilderment and longing, lost in memories of a green, fragrant past...

The three stood among the demons, whispering as if no one else were there. To the monsters, this was an act of supreme contempt. Low growls began to emanate from the throats of the lesser demons. The wolf-demon, while more composed, was clearly displeased. He eyed the three for a moment and suddenly barked:

"Did you dispel my magic?"

The old woman watched the girl with affection, guarding her side as she waited for her to finish her contemplation. The old man, however, smiled at the wolf-demon and said, "Do not pursue him. Let him go."

"Who are you to order me around?" The wolf-demon, aware of their strength after they dispelled his magic, felt compelled to vent his indignation, relying on his military rank. He shouted in a low voice, "The army has its regulations, and magic has its laws. Though we are demons, we still follow rules. Do not think that just because you are strong, you can act with such insolence..."

The wolf-demon scout’s voice grew louder and louder, pulling the girl from her deep reminiscence. She turned sharply, her face filled with disgust. When she looked at the wolf-demon, her eyes were a solid, brilliant crimson!

An invisible pressure suddenly permeated the forest. In a fleeting moment, all the demons let out a long, unified shriek. Then, wailing, they collapsed to the ground, clutching their heads and struggling in agony!

But the rolling was futile. Immediately after, the heads of the lesser demons began to explode as if a massive force within their brains was erupting outward, forcing their brains and blood to spray into the sky.

The only one who could withstand it was the wolf-demon. He drew a sharp breath, resisting the power brought by the scarlet light in the girl’s eyes. But his expression became one of extreme terror and shock. Trembling, he shrieked, "You... you are of the Tushan clan! Why, why..."

Before he could finish, he turned and bolted into the depths of the forest, fleeing in a panic.

Upon discovering their identity, he realized their background was far beyond his ability to provoke. Furthermore, since they had acted, there was no turning back. To stay was to die; to flee was his only hope of survival.

But with the old man and woman there, even in flight, there was no escape.

A pristine white jade bottle appeared in the old woman’s hand. She murmured a few words, and as an ethereal sound echoed, the wolf-demon stopped his frantic flight. He let out a long, mournful howl, and then, with a *bang*, he exploded into fine dust. The dust was then pulled into a strange, ghostly vortex and sucked straight into the bottle in the old woman’s hand!

On the bottle, there were words: *Pure Suet Jade.*