Chapter 29

The four of them traveled for a day and arrived in Jincheng.

As soon as they entered the city, the group seemed to sense something was wrong; the villagers on the road all seemed to be on guard against them.

Honeysuckle nudged Su Mu's arm. "I feel like something's not right here."

Su Mu nodded in agreement.

Dongfang Jin also moved a little closer to Jing Tao.

The four of them found an inn to stay at and asked the waiter about things in the area while they were eating, but they got almost nothing useful out of him.

"Be careful when you sleep at night," Dongfang Jin whispered a reminder.

Everyone nodded, and all three locked their bedroom doors tightly when they went to bed that night.

The next day, Su Mu and Dongfang Jin slept until noon before getting up.

As soon as Dongfang Jin woke up, she went to check on Jing Tao and found her safe and sound.

But then came Su Mu's anxious knocking at the door: "Ren Dong, open the door!"

Dongfang Jin led Jing Tao to the door of the honeysuckle in the far corner, only to find that Su Mu knocked for a long time but no one answered.

Su Mu drew his sword and violently opened the door. The three of them went inside and found the windows wide open, but there was no sign of Ren Dong.

Su Mu and Dongfang Jin searched around for any other clues, but still found nothing.

Su Mu turned around and went downstairs into the street, calling out Ren Dong's name loudly and aimlessly asking passersby if they had seen his sister.

Dongfang Jin then took Jing Tao downstairs and pressed the shopkeeper for an explanation of what had happened in the city, but the shopkeeper was not going to answer.

Dongfang Jin punched the innkeeper in the stomach, and the innkeeper curled up on the ground in pain.

Dongfang Jin squatted on the ground, grabbing the boss's collar. "Are you going to talk or not?"

Seeing that the boss still refused to speak, Dongfang Jin drew her sword and pressed it against the boss's neck.

The small wound gradually bled, and only then did the boss relent.

“Our area has been ruled by a powerful demon for many years, and every year we have to sacrifice a sixteen-year-old girl to him. This year, the lot was drawn for our richest man, and he certainly won't be willing to offer his daughter to him. I... I don't know if the disappearance of your companions is related to him.”

Where does he live?

"The Li family pawnshop is just two streets away."

Dongfang Jin sheathed her sword and, with Jing Tao, found Su Mu, whom she had been searching for all over the city, and arrived at the Li family pawnshop.

"Closing the shop in the middle of the day, something's definitely up."

Su Mu didn't care about anything else anymore; he drew his sword, kicked open the door, and rushed in.

All the servants inside rushed out to stop Su Mu, but Su Mu took the lead and knocked down all those who blocked his way.

Seeing this, Dongfang Jin exclaimed in disbelief, "If only we could show this kind of enthusiasm when fighting demons!"

Even though Su Mu was injured, he never retreated and rushed through the pawnshop to the Li family's residence.

Upon learning that the attackers had reached his doorstep, Master Li arrived and ordered his servants to stop them.

Su Mu fought ten against one and was not at a disadvantage at all. After being ambushed, he immediately stood up.

Jing Tao watched as Su Mu leaned leisurely against the pillar, observing.

Dongfang Jin then strode past the servants who were beating Su Mu and arrived behind Master Li, raising her sword to take him hostage.

"Don't move!"

Seeing their master being controlled, everyone threw down their weapons.

Su Mu immediately stepped forward and asked, "Where's the honeysuckle?"

Seeing that he was powerless to change the situation, Master Li obediently confessed, "Don't kill me, don't kill me! Men, bring me the girl we captured last night!"

The steward immediately went to the woodshed and brought over the honeysuckle.

As soon as Su Mu saw Ren Dong, he rushed over and untied the ropes binding her.

Honeysuckle immediately rushed into Su Mu's arms.

Su Mu kept reassuring her, "It's alright, it's alright, your brother is here to save you."

Ren Dong nodded and came to Master Li with Su Mu.

Seeing that nothing was wrong, Dongfang Jin sheathed her sword and prepared to leave.

As the departing crowd, Master Li knelt down tremblingly, saying, "Young heroes, please wait!"

Su Mu turned around and helped Master Li up. "Get up first."

"Thank you, young hero."

"He tied up Honeysuckle without saying a word, what are you two still doing here listening to his nonsense?"

Su Mu glanced at Ren Dong and said, "You decide."

Looking at the tearful Mr. Li, Ren Dong still felt a pang of pity. "I know you must have had no other choice but to resort to this tactic. What are your difficulties? Please tell us."

"What a pair of overly compassionate idiots," Dongfang Jin muttered under her breath.

Seeing that the two men had not held a grudge, Master Li invited them into the main hall.

"As you all may not know, there is a great demon outside Jincheng who demands a young girl from us every five years. This year, she was unfortunately chosen by lot and ended up in my family. But my daughter can't bear this suffering. In previous years, without exception, we've never heard from the girls we sent there. We've tried to resist, even going to other cities to hire demon hunters to subdue him, but they were all wiped out by that great demon. Since then, we've had to sacrifice a girl to him every year, and gradually, there are fewer and fewer women in this city. If this continues, our city will be destroyed in a few years."

After listening, Su Mu gripped the Taotie sword tightly. "Leave this matter to me."

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Jin immediately retorted, "Are you out of your mind?"

Ren Dong asked worriedly, "The other day, even Jing Tao couldn't harm that powerful demon in the slightest. Are you really confident?"

Su Mu nodded solemnly. "As a demon exorcist, if you can't protect the weak, you might as well go home and be an ordinary person."

"Master Li, where is that monster?"

"Each time, we would carry the sedan chair and wait ten miles west of the city, where lesser demons would come to meet us."

"Then what should we do? Isn't there any other way to find that great demon?"

Master Li nodded weakly.

"In that case, I'll ride in that sedan chair, and Su Mu, you and Dongfang Jin Xiaotao will act as the sedan chair bearers. We'll make our move once we're inside the great demon's old cave."

“No way,” Su Mu immediately retorted.

"You have no martial arts skills at all. What if something unexpected happens?" Dongfang Jin analyzed.

Jing Tao rubbed her stomach and walked towards Ren Dong.

The three of them immediately focused their attention on Jing Tao.

“That’s right, we can send Jing Tao,” Su Mu slapped his thigh.

Honeysuckle asked Master Li for some food and handed it to Jing Tao, saying, "Since that's the case, I'll go too."

"no"

"Why? Didn't you say you could protect me?"

Su Mu was speechless and had no choice but to agree.

Seeing that everyone was willing to help them, Master Li thanked them profusely and prepared meals and rooms for them to rest.

"Then let's discuss tactics after lunch, and set off first thing tomorrow morning."