Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

Seeing this, Chen Shuo also moved his feet slowly and tacitly, blocking Xiao Shitou's retreat.

With a smile on his face, Li Yuan walked step by step to Xiao Shitou, and kindly reached out his hand, as if he wanted to pat his head.

Just as his hand was about to touch the small stone, it suddenly accelerated, his five fingers forming claws, and fiercely grabbed at the top of the small stone's head. At the same time, his knife was drawn, and he slashed horizontally at the small stone's waist and abdomen.

Little Stone was stunned, seemingly frightened. If it were anyone else, seeing this, they would inevitably doubt their own judgment.

But at this moment, the bronze palace in Li Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness had already sensed the demonic energy and was emitting a slight hum.

Chen Shuo frowned slightly, immediately choosing to believe Li Yuan. With a sharp shout, he drew his long sword from his waist, the bright blade instantly blocking Xiao Shitou's escape route.

"ah--!"

Little Stone let out a sharp howl, its eyes instantly turning blood red, and its thin body twisting violently.

The oil lamp in his hand shattered with a "crack," and his body rapidly expanded, tearing his tattered clothes apart to reveal the fine, dark green scales beneath.

In just a few breaths, the little boy with a dirty face disappeared completely.

A monster, over ten feet tall, barely maintaining a human-like outline, covered in dark green scales, with a head resembling a snake but not quite, and dragging a thick tail behind it, appeared before him.

The aura emanating from it was that of a late-stage demon general, but it was somewhat unstable, suggesting that it had been injured.

"hiss--!"

The monster let out an angry roar, its scales shattered, and dark green blood seeped out. A charred wound was also cut open at its waist by a knife.

It suddenly swung its sharp claws, creating a foul gust of wind, and slammed them down on Li Yuan.

Li Yuan was prepared and quickly retreated, simultaneously slashing back with his knife to clash head-on with the claws.

With a clang, Li Yuan's arm went numb. He used the momentum to float backward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Chen Shuo, coldly watching the monster in front of them.

"It really was you." Li Yuan stood there, knife in hand, his gaze icy. "You're quite the actor. You killed that child, didn't you?"

The monster shook its head, its eerie green eyes fixed on the knife in Li Yuan's hand, seemingly extremely wary of it.

It made a strange "hoho" sound from its throat and spoke in human language.

"Nonsense! If you want to fight, just fight. Why make up so many excuses?"

"roar--!"

The water monster roared, waving its sharp claws, and pounced on Li Yuan again. Its massive size and the cramped space of the earth temple restricted its movements, causing it to roar repeatedly in frustration.

Li Yuan dared not be negligent and engaged the water monster in a fierce battle with his sword. Chen Shuo blocked the doorway, his swordsmanship being wide and sweeping, focusing on the water monster's vulnerable waist and abdomen.

The two worked together seamlessly, one skillful and the other forceful, forcing the water monster to retreat repeatedly, its scales constantly being cut off, and dark green blood splattering everywhere.

"hiss!"

The water monster cried out in pain, a glint of madness flashing in its eerie green eyes. It lashed out with its thick tail, slamming it against the earthen wall beside it.

"Boom!"

The earthen wall collapsed with a crash, and smoke and dust filled the air. Taking advantage of the smoke and dust, the water monster ignored the blade flashing behind it, ducked down, and slipped out through the breach, heading straight for the Wushui River outside the village.

"Chase it! Don't let it escape back into the water!" Chen Shuo shouted, and he and Li Yuan gave chase.

The night was deep outside, and the water monster was moving extremely fast, leaving a slippery trail on the dirt road in the village. It looked like it was about to rush out of the village.

"Stop it!"

Seeing this, Xu Sheng, who was providing support from the perimeter, roared and his spear transformed into a silver dragon, thrusting straight at the water monster's back. His cultivation was not weak, and the timing of this strike was perfect; it looked like he was about to pin the water monster to the ground.

Suddenly, a slender figure stumbled over, carrying something in her arms. She seemed stunned by the sight before her, standing blankly in the path of the water monster's escape, blocking Xu Sheng's pursuit.

By the dim moonlight, one could see that she was a village girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a coarse cloth dress covered with patches. She had a pretty face, and at this moment, her face was full of fear as she stared blankly at Xu Sheng.

"Girl, get out of the way!"

Xu Sheng was shocked. His spear was already in full swing and was about to be pulled back in time to injure innocent people. In a flash, he managed to deflect the spear tip, and the spear grazed the village girl's clothes and stuck into the ground, the shaft vibrating and humming.

In that brief delay, the water monster seized the opportunity to pass by the village girl who had collapsed to the ground in fright, plunged into the Wushui River outside the village, and quickly disappeared.

"Damn it!" Xu Sheng stamped his foot in frustration, drew his spear, and gave chase.

Chen Shuo and his companion also arrived, their faces grim as they looked at the dark river. If the water monster escaped back to its lair, catching it again would be difficult.

"I'll take men to pursue them," Chen Shuo ordered without hesitation. "Li Yuan, you stay in the village to prevent any further complications."

Without pausing, Li Yuan and Xu Sheng continued their pursuit. Li Yuan stopped, glanced at the village girl slumped on the ground, and nodded: "Yes!"

He walked up to the village girl and carefully examined her, finding that she had no demonic aura whatsoever.

Li Yuan reached out to help her up: "Young lady, are you alright? Are you from this village? Why are you out so late?"

The village girl seemed not to hear him. She shoved Li Yuan's hand away and scrambled towards the half-collapsed earth god temple, letting out a mournful cry.

"Little Stone! Little Stone! Where are you? Your big sister is here! Your big sister brought you some food!"

She rushed into the temple, ignoring the mess on the ground, and frantically searched among the broken walls and ruins, tears streaming down her face.

Li Yuan sighed inwardly and followed him inside, saying in a deep voice, "Miss, don't look anymore. Little Stone... he's already gone."

The village girl whirled around, her eyes fixed on Li Yuan, her voice shrill: "He's gone? What did you do to him?"

"Girl, calm down." Li Yuan looked at the heartbroken village girl before him, and already had a guess in his mind. "You must be the Huai Xue sister that Little Stone mentioned?"

Huai Xue trembled, looking at Li Yuan with teary eyes, without denying it.

"Miss Huai Xue," Li Yuan sighed, having to tell her a cruel truth, "the monster that just charged past was Little Stone; he's probably already been eaten by the demon..."

"No! You're talking nonsense!" Huai Xue shook her head desperately, tears streaming down her face. "It didn't eat the pebbles! If it wanted to harm people, I would have died long ago! Everyone in this village would be dead by now!"

Li Yuan frowned, utterly shocked: "What did you say? You know it's a monster?"

Huai Xue seemed to have all her strength drained away. She slumped down among the rubble and began to sob softly, recounting her story in broken sentences.

"It's not a man-eating monster at all; I rescued it from the riverbank. That night, I went to collect my fish baskets and found it injured and lying on the riverbank. I felt sorry for it, so I took it in."

"Later, I hid it in the local temple and gave it some herbs." Huai Xue's face was deathly pale. "There was a man-eating monster hiding in the village, bewitching the villagers and making them offer sacrifices regularly..."

"The Little Stone family was sacrificed by the villagers. At that time, I ran to it and begged it. It was still seriously injured, but it ran to help me save people."

She choked back tears, her eyes filled with hatred, "It was already weak, and then it fought that monster and got even more badly injured. We couldn't save Little Stone's family either."