Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

In its terror, it instinctively shoved the village chief in its claws toward the blade's edge, using the force to retreat rapidly.

"Pfft!"

The blade flashed, and blood splattered.

Before the village chief could even scream, his head flew high into the air, his face frozen in disbelief and horror.

The headless corpse swayed and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"You... as a demon-suppressing guard, how dare you kill villagers!" The weasel demon screamed, pointing at Li Yuan, both shocked and furious.

Chen Shuo stepped forward, coldly looking at the weasel demon: "He aids demons in their evil deeds and harms his own kind; he deserves to die. His life is not even worth a fraction of the lives of my brothers in the Demon Suppression Division."

Seeing that its last resort was gone, the weasel demon was utterly desperate. It took a deep breath, and its already bloated belly swelled up violently, with countless yellow hairs growing all over its body, each hair standing on end.

"Oh no! It's going to release poison!" Xu Sheng, with his rich experience, immediately warned sharply.

However, it was still too late.

"puff--!"

A muffled, loud bang, accompanied by an indescribable stench—a mixture of foul, putrid, and fishy yellow-green gas—violently erupted from the weasel demon's rear end, instantly filling the entire room.

The flavor is far stronger than I imagined!

Li Yuan felt an indescribable stench rush to his head, his vision went black, and he immediately felt dizzy, nauseous, and even his internal energy stagnated.

Chen Shuo, Xu Sheng, and the others also changed their expressions drastically. They hurriedly held their breath and retreated, while also taking out antidote pills and putting them into their mouths.

"Hahaha... Let me show you the power of this great immortal!"

Amidst the billowing smoke, the weasel demon laughed triumphantly, its form rapidly fading until it almost blended into the smoke.

Under the cover of the thick smoke, it shot towards the roof with all its might.

Before it could even reach the rooftop, two fierce attacks were already upon it from behind.

Chen Shuo sealed off the space above, while Li Yuan went straight for its back.

The weasel demon was known for its cunning and deception, but its direct combat strength was mediocre. Now, in its panic, it was even more vulnerable. It barely dodged Chen Shuo's palm strike, but was struck in the hind leg by Li Yuan's blade.

With a scream of agony, the weasel demon fell from mid-air, its hind legs charred black.

It still tried to struggle to escape, but Li Yuan had already swooped in, his blade light transforming into a net that completely enveloped it.

The demon's tricks were exposed, and its mind was in turmoil. Under Li Yuan's full-force attack, it was struck in a vital spot in just over ten rounds, its demonic energy dissipated, and it revealed its true form.

It turned out to be a weasel nearly ten feet long with messy fur, which had fallen to the ground dead.

As dawn broke, Chen Shuo ordered his men to clean up the mess, dragging the village chief's body and the weasel demon's remains to the village's threshing ground. Then he had Shi Yong gather the villagers.

Most of the villagers' eyes remained numb and vacant, clearly a consequence of being controlled by the demonic magic for a long time and having their life force drained. However, a few people gradually regained their clarity after the weasel demon was killed, and looked at the headless corpse of the village chief with expressions of shame on their faces.

"Anyone among you who participated in harming others shall be handed over to the authorities for punishment. As for the rest who were merely coerced, once the ringleader has been eliminated, their past actions will be forgiven."

Seeing that both the weasel demon and the village chief were dead, some quick-thinking villagers, eager to gain merit, immediately jumped out and began to identify them.

Chen Shuo only instructed Huai Xue to watch quietly from behind, to prevent anyone from making false accusations. He had no intention of letting her show herself; these villagers were unreliable, and they would definitely retaliate against her after the Demon Suppression Division left.

Soon, seven or eight villagers, pale-faced and trembling, were dragged out, including the one who had been blocking them at the village entrance with a hoe.

"Shi Yong, send a message to the nearby county government and order them to send constables to arrest these accomplices and punish them severely according to the law. The remaining villagers need to be well cared for and helped to recover their lives."

Shi Yong accepted the order and left.

After the matter was settled, everyone left the village together. In order not to frighten the villagers, the water monster remained in the shape of a small stone and quietly stayed in a corner, though its aura was somewhat weak.

"Canglang, take us to the source of the Wushui River and meet that Blackwater Serpent."

The water monster's real name is Canglang. According to it, it has lived at the source of the Wushui River since it was a child and has never harmed the humans here. It only eats fish and shrimp.

The mere mention of the Blackwater Serpent filled it with rage. If the serpent hadn't stolen its nest, it wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state.

Canglang nodded at the enormous head: "That black serpent is extremely cunning and rarely dares to show itself..."

After a short rest, guided by Canglang, the group left Shitan Village and headed upstream along the Blackwater River.

The further upstream you go, the higher the terrain becomes, the narrower the river channel becomes, and the more rapid and turbid the water becomes. A putrid smell permeates the air, making it difficult to breathe.

On the way, Xu Sheng carefully inquired about some details of the Blackwater Serpent from Cang Lang.

"It is over ten zhang long, and its scales are jet black and shiny."

Canglang recalled carefully, "It suddenly appeared more than a year ago, coming from downstream, and it already had injuries on it at the time."

"More than a year ago, exactly when? Do you remember the season?" Xu Sheng pressed.

Canglang tried hard to recall: "It was probably... in spring, when the river had just begun to thaw."

Xu Sheng and Chen Shuo exchanged a glance. The timing matched up; the Poyang Lake case had occurred in early spring of last year.

"You said it's injured, but where exactly is the injury? Besides the broken horn on its head, what other characteristics does it have?" Xu Sheng asked again.

"Besides its head, it has a long gash on its abdomen, and..." Canglang paused, "it has a venomous fang that's broken in half."

Xu Sheng's body jolted violently as he recalled the great battle at Poyang Lake where he besieged the Blackwater Serpent, and how he had broken that venomous fang with his own hands.

"But... we clearly surrounded and killed it back then, and even dissected its abdomen to check; its demon core was shattered. How could it still be alive? And how could it have run all the way to the northwest, thousands of miles away?"

Xu Sheng murmured, completely incredulous. Even if there really were two similar Blackwater Serpents in this world, how could it be such a coincidence that they even had the exact same injuries?

Chen Shuo took out the thin black shard he had found on the shore of Poyang Lake and handed it to Canglang: "Have you ever seen this before?"

Canglang examined it carefully and shook his head repeatedly: "I've never seen it before. I've cultivated at the source of the Wushui River since I was a child, and I've almost never left this area. I don't recognize this kind of thing."

As they continued onward, they began to see scattered fragments of weapons and scattered bones gnawed by wild animals along the riverbank.

Judging from the remaining fragments of clothing and remnants of standard equipment, they belonged to the Demon Suppression Division's Demon-Catching Guards.

A heavy feeling settled over everyone. Although they had expected it, they had to admit that the investigation team had probably been wiped out.

Chen Shuo ordered his men to quietly collect the identifiable relics, and bury the rest of the fragments on the spot.

As noon approached, the group finally arrived at the source of the Blackwater River, a huge pool nestled between two mountains. The water was as black as ink, bottomless, and bubbling with putrid bubbles.

On the other side of the pool, on the mountain wall, there was a deep cave half-hidden by vines, its entrance still emitting a strong fishy smell. Beside the pool, a long-abandoned water god temple stood crookedly, clearly having been without incense offerings for a long time.