At the start of the game, you have one equipment slot; the effects of unequipping the equipment rema

The bald, burly man's rough voice continued: "Stubborn fools, thinking you've seen through the ways of the world, how could you possibly understand how much effort your Sun family has put into serving the people of Sancha County!"

"Don't you think so, Brother Sun?"

The bald, burly man glanced at Sun Shixin beside him.

"Brother Xie, you flatter me."

Sun Shixin stepped forward from the side of the bald, burly man, a perfectly measured humble smile on his face: "As the magistrate of Sancha County, it is only my duty to do something for the safety of the people."

Seeing Sun Shixin's hypocritical smile, the boy standing behind Mu Yang suddenly took a few steps forward.

He ignored the malicious stares around him and shouted in a trembling, childish voice:

"You call this 'effort and effort' just feeding fish in the river with my sister and the children from every household in Sancha County?!"

Upon hearing the boy's shout, many of the dozen or so constables who had gathered around instinctively touched the cloth bags on their chests, lowered their heads, and looked around erratically.

Only a few constables, instead of bowing their heads, stared intently at the boy with fierce eyes.

Faced with the overwhelming malice around him, the boy's calves began to tremble uncontrollably.

But seemingly recalling Mu Yang's decisiveness in killing the two constables, the boy did not back down. Instead, he stared intently at Sun Shixin.

"No wonder this official from the Demon Slayer Division misunderstood us; it turns out there was a misunderstanding!"

Faced with the boy's questioning, Sun Shixin maintained a calm and unhurried expression.

Even the look in her eyes when she looked at the boy showed no resentment or bitterness, only a deep sigh and the helplessness of being misunderstood.

He withdrew his gaze, looked at the expressionless Mu Yang, and said sincerely and earnestly, "This... Captain of the Demon Slayer Division, do you know how many people died from demonic calamities in our Sancha County on average each year twenty years ago?"

"Three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two people!!"

"More than three thousand living lives!!"

"Ninety percent of them were civilians who died in the area near the Sancha River outside the city!"

"But do you know how many people have died from demonic calamities each year during the twenty years since I took office?"

"Less than three hundred!"

He paused, as if reminiscing or sighing, "From three thousand six hundred and seventy-two back then to less than three hundred now, this is the weight of the River God Festival that you asked about, sir!"

"People will always die in this world. I can't protect everyone, but I can keep more than two thousand people safe. Isn't that enough?"

Sun Shixin's impassioned words echoed throughout the county, and the constables who had been bowing their heads all looked up.

Some even had a hint of pride on their faces.

It was as if everything they did was righteous.

Sun Yingjie and the two second-class captains beside him also showed similar expressions, clearly agreeing with Sun Shixin's argument.

The boy standing beside Mu Yang listened to Sun Shixin's speech with a blank stare in his eyes, and even his mind seemed a little dazed.

Suddenly, many voices echoed in his mind.

He wanted to refute, to denounce Sun Shixin as the villain who had kidnapped his sister and many other children in the county, but...

His lips moved, but it was as if something was stuck in his throat, preventing him from making a sound.

Was he really doing this for everyone's sake?

Looking at Sun Shixin's earnest and resolute expression, the boy was bewildered.

If Mu Yang could hear the boy's inner thoughts, he would definitely tell him that this is called a utilitarian fallacy of changing concepts.

They talk about the greater good of the people, but in reality, they're just trading the lives of the weak for their own comfort and pleasure.

"Would you be willing to join us in protecting the people of this city?"

Sun Shixin looked at Mu Yang and invited him.

"Protect the people?"

Mu Yang smiled; this was the first time he had shown any expression since entering the county government office.

"You allow demons to wreak havoc and feed them with humans, yet you claim to protect the city and its people, considering it the righteous path. You are utterly hypocritical."

"How are you any different from that man-eating monster beside you, given your actions?"

"Or rather, you're not even as good as those monsters; at least they eat openly."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear and resonant.

Demons eat humans, humans kill demons; the strong prey on the weak—that's the law of nature.

Mu Yang never believed that humans and demons needed to be divided into good and evil.

But Sun Shixin, born a human, is ranked alongside demons and even boasts of feeding demons to uphold justice. How shameless!

Such behavior is no different from that of a traitor!

As if a small, unsettling thought had been hurt, Sun Shixin's smile slowly faded.

His face was contorted with anger, all traces of his previous impassioned tone gone: "What a sharp-tongued, black-and-white-distorting brat you are! Since you're so stubborn..."

"Bang--!!"

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of the stone slab cracking rang out.

Mu Yang, who had been standing still, suddenly took a step forward, his figure as fast as lightning, sweeping across the blue brick ground of the courtyard, heading straight for Sun Shixin's face.

"Brother Xie, stop them quickly..."

Sun Shixin was terrified.

He was just an ordinary third-tier Blood Marrow Realm martial artist, no match for the Demon Slayer Division Captain, and hurriedly asked the bald giant for help.

However, the bald, burly man had somehow distanced himself from him, and now they were dozens of meters apart.

As a result, Mu Yang's black gold four-sided mace, accompanied by a strong wind and a loud bang, struck him in the mouth.

With a loud bang, his obese body flew backward like a tattered sack with its mouth torn open.

Red and white substances, along with fragments of shattered skull bones, were scattered on the ground.

"You resort to insults when you can't win an argument? What kind of manners are you? It's pointless to waste my breath on you!"

Mu Yang flicked the blood off his black gold four-sided mace and glanced at everyone present.

"Magistrate Sun!!"

It wasn't until Mu Yang's gaze swept over that the surrounding constables reacted, collectively groaning in grief as they looked at Sun Shixin's corpse.

"Big brother!!"

Seeing Sun Shixin's gruesome death, Sun Yingjie's face darkened, and he roared, "Attack him!"

Having said that, he gripped the long sword at his waist, and his true energy surged forth, revealing the full power of a late-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivator.

The two people behind him immediately followed.

Judging from their aura, they are all martial artists in the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm.

When the three of them move together, it's really not easy for an ordinary Qi Condensation Realm martial artist to deal with them.

Unfortunately, Mu Yang is not a Qi Condensation Realm martial artist, but a Meridian Opening Realm martial artist!

Seeing Sun Yingjie and his two companions charging towards him, Mu Yang neither dodged nor evaded, but instead reached out with one hand and grabbed the blade that Sun Yingjie was slashing at him with his bare hands.

Then, the five fingers suddenly exerted force.

To Sun Yingjie's astonishment, that fourth-tier longsword actually...

It's broken!!

Holy crap!

Sun Yingjie was shocked and immediately tried to retreat, but he couldn't dodge Mu Yang's black gold four-sided mace.

"Bang!!"

With another sharp crack, Sun Yingjie, headless, flew out and embedded himself in the wall.

At the same time, two bright arcs came from Mu Yang's left and right sides, from the two who were a step slower than Sun Yingjie.

In fact, the moment they saw Sun Yingjie die, they immediately sensed something was wrong and wanted to retreat, but the knife had already been swung and there was no time to retract it.

They could only pray that Mu Yang's neck wasn't as hard as their blades.

Unfortunately, their prayers were in vain.

The two blades struck Mu Yang's neck, but they didn't even break the skin, let alone leave a white mark.

Only two muffled clangs sounded, like a death knell tolling in their hearts.

At the same time, Mu Yang's left hand formed a tiger claw, and he reached forward like a tiger descending a mountain, grabbing one of the people's heads.

With the other hand, he swung his long mace like a hammer, slamming it heavily onto the other person's head.

"Bang bang!!"

Two more crisp sounds rang out, and the two followed in Sun Yingjie's footsteps.