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

"Wow, it can still move? Looks like we'll have to use a bigger dose next time we stock up."

At the doorway, the short, fat Huang Changgui, standing beside the rat demon Hui Jiu, exclaimed in surprise, but didn't pay much attention.

If it were before Grey Nine arrived, he might have been a little scared.

But now, a mere lowly constable who hasn't even reached the next rank isn't even worth a single claw from Lord Gray Nine.

Mu Yang didn't speak, but stared at Hui Jiu's neck and silently drew the long knife from the table.

In a life-or-death situation, the more you talk, the faster you die.

This is a sentence that the old constable often said to him before he died.

"It's alright, the prey that's moving tastes fresher!"

Hui Jiu swayed his broad shoulders, his tone full of eager anticipation for the meal.

However, just as it slightly bent its hind legs, preparing to pounce and devour the delicious flesh,

Muyang,

Moved!

In the still-unchanged, mocking gaze of the rat demon, and in Old Huang's still-surprised eyes—

The candle flame suddenly went out, and a flash of silver light appeared!

......

Night fell, and thick, dark clouds gathered.

Inside the courtyard and house, all was deathly silent.

Suddenly, as if in an instant, a gentle breeze swept by, and the pale moonlight once again bathed the room.

Mu Yang, who was just sitting at the table, has now come to Huang Changgui's side, holding a long knife at an angle.

"Tick-tock--"

Blood droplets rolled down from the tip of the knife.

Along with the blood droplets, a huge rat head also fell to the ground.

"Bang!!"

The rat demon's robust body, filled with resentment, crashed to the ground.

The rat's head, which had rolled to the corner of the wall, seemed to have died with its eyes wide open, making a hoarse sound.

"thump!!"

Another muffled sound rang out inside the room.

It was the sound of Huang Changgui falling to the ground in fright.

He looked at the beheaded Hui Jiu, his neck stiff, and then at Mu Yang, who held a knife in one hand with cold eyes, seemingly indifferent to joy or sorrow. He was immediately terrified.

No way, buddy, if you're that strong, you should have said so earlier!! I wouldn't have dared to drug you!!!

"My lord, please spare me! I was forced into this despicable act by this monster. I have an elderly mother, a wife, and daughters to support... I have no one to rely on..."

"Whoosh--!!"

Before Huang Changgui could finish speaking, another flash of silver light appeared, and another drop of blood rolled down.

However, this time, what rolled down with the blood droplets was not a rat's head, but a fat arm wrapped in brocade.

"ah!!!"

A pitiful wail echoed inside the house.

Huang Changgui clutched his severed arm, writhing on the ground in pain.

If this place weren't so remote, and if it weren't a "shrine" specially prepared by Huang Chang-kuei, just that shout would be enough to wake up half the village.

However, the next second, the room fell silent, and the wailing stopped abruptly.

It wasn't that Huang Changgui was no longer in pain, but rather that the long sword that had just slain the rat demon was now pressed against his neck.

"I ask, you answer."

Mu Yang spoke slowly and calmly, but Huang Changgui felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and was terrified. He hurriedly agreed, afraid that if the other party made a tremor, he would lose his head as well.

"How many times is this?"

"The...first..."

"Um?"

"The seventh time, the seventh time!!"

"Where did this rat demon come from?"

"Lord Hui Jiu comes from Yellow Wind Mountain, a hundred miles east of the village, and is a descendant of the Yellow Wind King!"

How many wives does he have?

"..."

Mu Yang asked Huang Changgui many questions, and with the help of Chang Dao, he answered almost every question.

From his answer, Mu Yang gradually understood that the other party drugged him not because he had offended anyone, but because it happened to be during his inspection of Huangjia Village.

But how could a mere village chief who doesn't even have the cultivation level of an entry-level cultivator dare to cooperate with demons?

On what grounds?

As his thoughts raced, Mu Yang continued speaking with a blank expression:

Who's behind you?

"It's Clerk Wang, Lord Wang..."

Before he could even utter the word "person," Huang Changgui seemed to suddenly realize something, and his body trembled.

Oh no, I said it without thinking!

Huang Changgui closed his eyes, his face filled with despair.

He would die if he offended Mu Yang, but if he offended the Wang family, his entire family would probably be buried with him.

But having already spoken, he dared not hide anything any longer and told everything he knew.

Half a year ago, someone from the Wang family came and asked him to provide blood food for the rat demons of Huangfeng Mountain. Today, in order to provide high-quality blood food for Hui Jiu, who has just broken through his realm, to consolidate his realm, he risked drugging Mu Yang.

"Wang Dianshi..."

Mu Yang murmured to himself.

The position of Dian Shi (典史) is quite special.

Although they did not hold official positions like county magistrates and county assistants, they held extremely high status and had functions such as apprehending thieves, maintaining public order, and managing prisons.

In some small counties without county magistrates and registrars, they can even perform some administrative functions on behalf of the county magistrates and registrars.

It's like a combined version of the police and detention centers from the previous life.

Furthermore, because this position is mostly held by locals, they often have more prestige than county magistrates from outside the area.

For example, the position of Registrar of Qingxi County was held by Wang Rudong, the head of the Wang family, one of the three major families in the county.

However, this was not what worried Mu Yang the most.

What worried him most was that the so-called "clerk" was their superior.

He is the superior of his superior's superior.

No wonder Huang Changgui dared to target him, a mere constable; he must have powerful connections.

It's a small temple with a lot of evil spirits. This Wang family is even capable of colluding with demons and sending people to eat!

"My lord, I have told you everything I know. Please, have mercy and spare my life. I truly know I was wrong..."

Despite the pain, Huang Changgui knelt on the ground with one hand and kowtowed repeatedly.

But before he could finish speaking, another flash of silver light streaked across the sky.

"You don't just know you're wrong, you know you're going to die."

Mu Yang sheathed his sword and muttered to himself.

Not to mention that Huang Laodeng colluded with demons to harm the innocent, the mere fact that he was alive and could potentially contact Wang Dianshi was a huge hidden danger.

Speaking of potential risks, it's unclear whether Huang Laodeng acted on his own initiative today or was instructed by higher authorities.

The former is fine, but the latter might have hidden dangers!

Thinking of this, a cold glint appeared in Mu Yang's eyes.

To kill, one must draw blood; to cut weeds, one must eradicate them at the root.

This is a phrase that the old constable often told him.

The Wang family are treacherous; they are enemies, not friends, and deserve to be killed!

However, before that...

Mu Yang focused his attention on the newly activated equipment slot.

[Ding! Detected that the host has slain a Tier 1 demonic beast. The equipment "Tiger Subduing Blade Technique" has met the conditions for permanent solidification. This equipment has been permanently solidified!]

Current number of available equipment slots: 0 → 2

......

This was the message that appeared when he had just killed the rat demon.

"Sure enough, three months of martial arts training is not as good as one night of cheating. It's too true."

Looking at the newly empty equipment slots, Mu Yang was filled with emotion.

Twenty years, a full twenty years.

The cheat code has finally arrived!

"It's a pity the old man passed away so early, otherwise he could have enjoyed his retirement."

The old man was the old constable who adopted Muyang. He had been a bachelor all his life, but he adopted Muyang before he got old.

It's a pity he was old and his martial arts skills weren't high. He fought hard when he was young, but his body was depleted when he got old. He passed away before he was even fifty.

Shaking his head, Mu Yang pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at the panel.

"There's one more empty equipment slot?"

Mu Yang was stunned.

Wasn't there just one '一'? How come there's one more?

Could it be that reaching a higher level in martial arts cultivation will reward you with additional equipment slots?

What a pleasant surprise!

After the initial surprise, Mu Yang calmed down and looked at the rat demon's head.

When his cheat ability was first awakened, the first equipable item he saw was dried pork, which increased his strength.

Can a monster stronger than an ordinary animal be equipped?

Under Mu Yang's expectant gaze, the rat demon's head lay quietly in place.

After a while, nothing seemed amiss.

Apart from the blood spreading little by little, nothing changed.

Mu Yang frowned slightly.

Is he overthinking it?

Or does it mean that the rat demon's corpse must be processed before it can be considered "equipment"?

As he pondered, Mu Yang's gaze swept over the headless rat corpse.

To Mu Yang's delighted surprise, a semi-transparent panel with a faint ink-wash color slowly emerged from Hui Jiu's headless corpse.

[Equipable Item: Rat Demon Corpse (Complete)]

[Rank: Tier 1]

【Equipment Effect: ① Robust Physique (White): Physical physique is slightly improved (physical strength, total stamina, and reaction speed are all improved).

② Abundant Qi and Blood (White): The total amount of Qi and blood has slightly increased.

[Permanent fixation conditions: Equip this item for ten hours, or slay any monster of rank one or higher while equipping this item.]

......