Slaying demons and eliminating evil, a martial saint among mortals.

If he hadn't come to Wolf Fang Mountain today, Wolf King would have remained hidden.

Will Heishan Town become the next Shiqiao Village?

Will Liu Yunniang and her children also be eaten by these monsters?

Lu Chen noticed the change in Qin Lie's expression.

"What's wrong?"

Qin Lie raised his finger and pointed to Black Mountain Town on the map.

Li Hu also squeezed in to take a look at the map.

"Black Mountain Town, isn't that your hometown?"

"Yes, I have a few acquaintances over there."

When talking about acquaintances, the image that comes to mind is Liu Yunniang speaking in a low voice.

There was also Xiaohe standing at the door with Huzi in her hand, watching him.

Before, when we were together, I didn't feel anything.

But now that he's left, the thought of Liu Yunniang and Hu Zi being eaten by the monster makes Qin Lie's heart churn.

No, we absolutely cannot let this happen!

After returning this time, he needs to find out whether his merits can be exchanged for silver and whether the Demon Suppression Division can help settle his family.

If possible, he would bring Liu Yunniang and the others to the city as soon as possible.

Lu Chen stared intently at the map, making a few gestures on it with his hand, his expression gradually darkening.

"Judging from their locations, these villages weren't just randomly selected."

"Shiqiao Village is the closest place to Langya Mountain, and it's also the place where the incident happened recently."

"There's no news from other villages yet, but these groups of villages are connected and form a line."

"I reckon that if Shiqiao Village hadn't been discovered, they would have taken over the villages one by one."

After listening to Lu Chen's analysis, Li Hu gritted his teeth.

"These bastards really treat the surrounding villages like their own granaries!"

Qin Lie didn't speak at this moment, but just looked at Black Mountain Town on the map with a cold look in his eyes.

Lu Chen picked up the blood-red talisman paper again; the talisman paper had crooked and twisted patterns drawn on it.

The patterns had dried, but a faint smell of blood could still be detected.

Lu Chen frowned.

"This was drawn with human blood."

Li Hu's expression turned even uglier.

Xu Qinghe stood to the side, her gaze sweeping over the blood-red talismans.

Then he bent down and wrote a few strokes in the booklet.

Lu Chen then used the tip of his knife to pick up the tag of the human caravan.

The sign was small, with the character "梁" engraved on it and copper patterns commonly used by caravans around the edges.

Li Hu frowned immediately upon seeing this thing.

"Is this the sign of a human caravan?"

"Um."

Li Hu's face darkened.

"How come there are human merchant caravan tags in this demon's lair, Wolf Fang Mountain?"

Qin Lie also looked at the badge. Actually, the answer to this question wasn't hard to guess.

If it were just food captured and the tag on his person, Wolf King wouldn't carry it all with him when he escaped.

It's impossible for demons to swagger into the city to buy things, but Wolf Fang Mountain needs these things, which means someone is sending them in.

In other words, these people are doing business with the demon race.

Lu Chen had obviously thought of this as well.

"It seems that Wolf Fang Mountain is no ordinary den of demons."

"The Wolf King here is not simply someone who rules the mountain and eats a few people."

"He's been able to hide here for so long, there must be someone covering for him."

Li Hu gritted his teeth in resentment.

"These beasts are so brazenly helping the monster eat people!"

"If I catch him, I'll chop him up with my own hands!"

Qin Lie didn't speak, but just looked down at the tag.

Traitor!

This thing is even more despicable than a demon!

Finally, Lu Chen looked at the black domino on the ground.

After the thing fell to the ground, no more black smoke came out.

Qin Lie touched it just now, and his palm felt like it had been pricked by an ice needle, so it was obviously not an ordinary object.

Lu Chen didn't touch it directly, but instead gently flicked it with the tip of his knife.

The black dominoes flipped over.

The back is engraved with a wolf's head, and below the wolf's head are several patterns that Qin Lie cannot understand.

When Xu Qinghe saw those lines, her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Although it was a short time, Qin Lie had been watching her closely, so he saw it.

"Clerk Xu, do you recognize this?"

Xu Qinghe raised her head.

"It looks somewhat familiar, but I can't be sure."

"Let's take it back first. The demonic energy here is too strong; it's not suitable for us to stay any longer."

Hearing her say that, Qin Lie guessed that she knew something, but just didn't want to say it now.

Or perhaps it's something that can't be said.

Lu Chen didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he took out a piece of cloth and wrapped the black dominoes in it.

"Keep it safe for now. When we get back to the Demon Suppression Division, we'll have Elder Zhao take a look at it."

Qin Lie glanced at Xu Qinghe but didn't ask any further questions.

This woman already had a lot of secrets, so it's not surprising that she has one more now.

Li Hu, carrying his knife, glanced deeper into the secret passage.

"There shouldn't be anything left in this secret passage. Let's turn back."

"I might run into a few lesser demons outside; I'm going to wipe them all out."

"No rush back," Wolf King didn't run away immediately, but instead ran towards the cave. Maybe there's something else hidden in the cave, let's search it first.

"Okay, let's search for it then."

The group, carrying the wolf king's corpse and the pile of belongings, headed back towards the main path of the cave.

The main cave in Langya Mountain is much more spacious than the secret passage.

Several oil lamps hung on the stone wall. The oil was made from some unknown substance and had a nauseatingly sweet and fishy smell when burned.

Qin Lie frowned as soon as he stepped inside.

There were many broken bones and tattered clothes of various sizes on the ground.

Qin Lie didn't want to look at it a second time after the first glance.

The owner of these clothes is most likely now a pile of bones in a cave.

Li Hu's expression was also very unpleasant.

"brute."

He had uttered those two words more than once.

But apart from these two words, it seems that there is really no more suitable word.

The deeper you go into the cave, the stronger the smell of blood becomes.

Soon, the group arrived at the depths of the cave.

There was a low-lying stone pit there, filled with dark red blood.

The blood had not completely dried, and a thin layer of black mist floated on the surface.

There were some twisted patterns carved around the stone pit, somewhat similar to those on the blood talisman from earlier.

Qin Lie had never seen anything like this before.

"What is this, a pool of blood?"

"It's a blood pool, filled entirely with human blood."

Upon hearing this, Li Hu immediately cursed.

"These bastards, they weren't content with just eating people, they even bled them dry!"

Lu Chen squatted down and glanced at the marks on the edge of the blood pool.

"Wolf King captured these people not just to eat them, but mainly to use their blood to nourish something else."

Qin Lie thought of those blood talismans.

"Offering blood incense?"

"Not necessarily, it could also be that strange black domino."

Hearing this, Qin Lie frowned.

If what Lu Chen speculated is true, then Wolf King must have other schemes up his sleeve here.

In the past, Qin Lie wouldn't have cared what he was plotting.

But after seeing Black Mountain Town circled on the map, he was no longer so calm.

Xu Qinghe stood beside the blood pool, staring at it for a long time.

Then he took out a demon-suppressing talisman and stuck it on the edge of the blood pool.

As soon as the talisman was affixed, the black energy in the blood pool immediately began to churn, as if something was struggling inside.

Upon seeing this, Li Hu immediately stepped forward.

"Get out of the way."

Xu Qinghe took a step back.

Li Hu reached out and took down an oil lamp from the side, then threw it directly into the blood pool.

boom!

The blood pool suddenly burst into flames.

The dark red flames rolled and emitted a pungent, fishy stench.

Just then, a faint sound came from the other end of the cave.

"Help...help me..."

Qin Lie suddenly turned his head.

"Someone's there!"

The group immediately ran towards the direction from which the sound came.

Turning a corner around a stone wall, they saw a row of cages made of wood and iron chains.

There were several people, both men and women, locked in the cage.

However, they were all so thin they were unrecognizable, and their bodies were covered in injuries.

When they saw Qin Lie and his group enter, those people shrank back in fright.

Perhaps it was because they saw that they were all wearing the clothes of the Demon Suppression Bureau that they became bolder.

"The Demon Suppression Division...it's someone from the Demon Suppression Division..."

"Help us..."

A middle-aged man gripped the wooden railing, his voice hoarse.

Li Hu walked straight up and cleaved the chains in two with a single stroke.

"Don't be afraid, we've already killed those beasts."

Upon hearing this, some of the people burst into tears on the spot.

Some people tried to stand up, but their legs gave way and they fell back to the ground.

Looking at their expressions, Qin Lie felt a lump in his throat.

He went over and helped one of the people who had fallen up.

She was a young woman, so thin she was practically skin and bones, and her wrists were covered in wounds.

"Which villages are you from?"

"Shi...Shiqiao Village..."

"I'm from Hewan Village."

"I...I'm from Liushugou outside Heishan Town."

Qin Lie's expression changed immediately upon hearing the words "Black Mountain Town".

"Are you from Black Mountain Town?"

"Yes, it's from Liushugou in Heishan Town. A few days ago, I went into the mountains to cut firewood and was captured by those beasts."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lie clenched his fist.

He didn't expect that these monsters from Langya Mountain had already extended their reach to the vicinity of Heishan Town.

Even when the timeline is accurate, this person had already been arrested while he was still in Heishan Town.

There was absolutely no response from Heishan Town.

Li Hu then broke open several more cages and released all the people inside.

Lu Chen took out some medicine and gave them some basic treatment for their wounds.

Xu Qinghe was recording the names and origins of these people.

Qin Lie stood there, the sheepskin map from earlier resurfacing in his mind.

The blood-red circle around Black Mountain Town on the map made him feel somewhat irritated.

Li Hu glanced at him.

"Qin Lie, are you alright?"

"fine."

Although Qin Lie answered calmly, there was a hint of anger hidden in his words.

After Lu Chen finished, he walked over to Qin Lie.

"Don't rush, let's take these people back first, and then hand over what we've collected to the department."

"The matter of Langya Mountain is probably bigger than we imagined."

"After this matter is resolved, you should go back to Heishan Town."

"Okay, boss, I got it."

Qin Lie knew that he was now a member of the Demon Suppression Division and had to follow orders.

Moreover, now that Wolf King has been killed, any plans should be abandoned.

There shouldn't be any problems in Heishan Town in the short term.

The most important thing now is to accumulate attribute points and level up as soon as possible.

Then check if the merit points of the Demon Suppression Division can be exchanged for silver.

"Everyone has been rescued, let's go back now."

"However, we must be careful of the remaining demons outside!"

"If any monsters block our way, just kill them."

"Don't chase those who escaped. There will be people handling things on the perimeter. Get everyone safely down the mountain first."

At this moment, Xu Qinghe closed the booklet and looked at Lu Chen and the others.

"The wolf chieftain of Langya Mountain has been slain, and his demonic soul has been collected."

"Ten villagers were rescued, and seven more were rescued from the secret passage. A pool of blood was discovered, but it had already been burned down."

"There are also four other pieces of evidence: an unidentified map, a blood-stained talisman, a signboard, and black dominoes."

"The mission to exterminate the demons at Langya Mountain can be closed."

"This case seems to involve human caravans, and even deeper arrangements by the demon race."

"I suggest upgrading the case file upon returning to the company!"

After listening, Lu Chen nodded.

"Then let's pack our things and go back."

Qin Lie took one last look at the blackened blood pool, and then at the people who had been rescued.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that not only Black Mountain Town, but even Dongxuan City was not a safe haven.

As long as the demon race exists, those beasts will treat human villages and towns as granaries, and no one can truly live in peace.

He's not that great; he can't control everyone in the world right now.

But he couldn't let Liu Yunniang, Xiao He, and Hu Zi turn into skeletons in the cave.

Therefore, he needs to become stronger faster.

At the very least, one must have the ability to protect one's own people.