Start slaying demons from the proficiency panel.

As the bamboo basket swayed back and forth, faint whistling sounds could be heard emanating from it, as if some living creature was contained inside.

"With these offerings, the Mountain God and Goddess should bestow blessings upon our village. This year will be another auspicious year."

"Don't talk, hurry up and get on the road. We must deliver the offerings to the mountain temple before sunset. Missing the time is no small matter."

"Don't worry, brother. We are the best porters in the village. You don't need to worry about our pace at all."

As you walk along the dirt road, you can occasionally hear roars from various places in the mountains.

As the group walked, a gray wolf emerged from the tall grass by the roadside, its mouth constantly drooling. This gray wolf had four tails, clearly indicating that it was a strange and unusual demon.

But when the porters saw him, they didn't show any panic or fear. Instead, they all greeted him.

"Greetings, Fourth Master."

"Greetings, Fourth Master. You seem to be attaining enlightenment more and more, and your time to become an immortal is near."

The gray wolf let out a low growl, and the lead porter immediately realized what was going on. He put down his carrying pole, opened one of the bamboo baskets, and took out a baby boy who looked no more than one or two years old.

The child's eyes and mouth were covered with cloth, so he could not see anything and could only make whimpering sounds at most.

"Fourth Master, please. We're in a hurry to get to the mountain temple, so we'll be leaving now." After putting the child down, the porters bypassed the gray wolf and set off again.

Immediately, a gnawing and chewing sound came from behind, as if bones were breaking and shattering under the force of biting.

Judging from the way these porters are acting, it's clear this isn't the first time they've done this.

Several hours later, the group finally arrived at the deepest part of the mountain. Amidst the swirling black clouds and mist, a dilapidated stone temple suddenly appeared from behind the mountain mist and came into view.

Corpses littered the fields, human heads piled high, and a chilling atmosphere hung in the air.

Even before getting close, a chill already enveloped one's body, sending shivers down one's spine.

In front of the stone temple entrance, there is a stone staircase with dozens of steps. Anyone entering the temple from here feels as if they are being looked down upon by the stone temple from above, adding an inexplicable sense of majesty.

"Grandpa Mountain, the offerings have arrived!" The lead porter shouted loudly into the temple as they walked uphill to the temple gate.

A few breaths later, a cold wind blew out from the temple, carrying a large number of wails. Before the porters could react, their carrying poles and bamboo baskets were blown away by the wind and swept into the pitch-black depths of the stone temple.

"The number is not enough this time. Send ten more boys and girls in a few days."

A hoarse voice echoed from deep within the stone temple.

"Grandpa Shan, this is impossible. We always offer this much food every time."

“I said it’s not enough, and that’s it. If you want your village to have continuous good fortune and your descendants to achieve fame and fortune, then do as I say and send me the offerings. I will speak highly of your village to the goddess.”

Soon, the stone temple fell completely silent.

【100】

Even if the Demon Buddha is far away from Ning Xiu, Ning Xiu can still find the Demon Buddha's location by the accumulation of evil thoughts within himself.

The only slightly uncomfortable part was that the process was rather troublesome, because the evil thoughts could only provide Ning Xiu with a general location. Each time he moved forward, he needed to make different directional adjustments in order to finally pinpoint the location of the Demon Buddha.

Fortunately, the dragon served as a perfect mount during Ning Xiu's journey to Donghai Prefecture. It swam extremely fast on the rivers, and even the boats on the Yellow River were no match for it.

Whenever Ning Xiu sat atop the dragon's head, riding the wind and waves and overtaking other ships, he always garnered a large number of admiring and envious glances, truly attracting a lot of attention.

Moreover, besides being an excellent water mount, the dragon is also incredibly fast on land, moving two or three times faster than the iron-eating beast Ning Xiu had previously ridden.

It was truly as fast as the wind, covering several meters in just a few breaths.

With the help of the dragon, Ning Xiu traveled down the Yellow River in less than three days and successfully arrived at Donghai Prefecture, the closest territory of the Great Shang Dynasty to the East Sea.

If the world's aquatic products were divided into ten, seventy percent would come from Donghai Prefecture. This place relies entirely on fishing, and fishing boats and aquaculture industries are found throughout Donghai Prefecture.

The drying racks for fish, the fishing boats moored on the shore, the fishing nets in the water, the strong smell of the sea, and the white sand beach on the shore—these are the most unique symbols of Donghai Prefecture.

The weakest of these demonic creatures, the Flood Dragon, is at least a third-rank expert. They are extremely rare, and very few people can actually ride one.

When Ning Xiu rode the dragon ashore, the fishermen who were gathering seafood on the beach were all dumbfounded. A dragon more than two zhang long crawled out of the water, which was visually stunning.

"Gentlemen, where is this place?" Ning Xiu asked a few fishermen not far away, sitting on the dragon's head.

"Little, Little Sand Village." The fishermen were terrified and wanted to turn around and flee immediately.

But looking at the dragon's piercing eyes staring at him, he couldn't muster any courage to run away and had no choice but to answer Ning Xiu's question with a stiff upper lip.

"Don't be afraid, everyone. I am the Demon-Subduing Commander. I'm here on a mission. Don't panic, it won't harm you," Ning Xiu said.

Xiaosha Village is located in the north of Donghai Prefecture. It is a place that is not easily noticed on a map. After confirming the location, Ning Xiu chose to go ashore here and go deeper into the land to continue searching for the location of the Demon Buddha.

As the enormous dragon slowly departed and finally disappeared into the distant land, the fishermen finally breathed a sigh of relief, only to find that cold sweat had quietly seeped out from their foreheads and backs.

"To actually ride a dragon, this Demon-Subduing Commander is no ordinary man."

"I don't know what mission he came to Donghai Prefecture to carry out this time."

The dragon crawled swiftly across the ground. The trees in the seaside forest were not very dense, and there was plenty of space between each tree, allowing the dragon to move freely.

Ning Xiu looked at the evil thoughts extending from his arm to guide his direction while surveying his surroundings.

Just then, a faint commotion in the distance caught his attention.

After stopping the dragon, Ning Xiu led the Overlord Puppet on foot toward the direction from which the sound came, intending to see what had happened.

As they got closer to the source of the sound, pieces of red paper, resembling scribbles, began to appear on the ground. Similar red paper was also pasted on some trees, making the area look like a ritual site.

Not far away, a high platform made of wood was placed on the ground. At the top of the platform, a hunchbacked, pockmarked old woman was wearing a yellow robe and holding a wooden cane, dancing and singing in a mystical manner.

Each time she tapped the ground of the platform with her wooden staff, a dozen or so men and women standing below would take out red paper from their bamboo baskets and toss it high into the air, letting it fly in the wind.

This scene is truly something else.

"Demons and monsters, retreat quickly! My child has been retrieved. Today, I will repay this kindness and make offerings to your family."

“Children are innocent and their karma is shallow. You have harmed their wealth and will be judged as sinful in the cycle of reincarnation. In the next life, you will be reborn as an animal to repay your sins.”

The people in the audience had red eyes and visible tear tracks on their faces, clearly indicating that they had cried many times.

Ning Xiu was puzzled and was about to step forward to ask about the specific situation. If they needed any help, he, as the Demon-Subduing Officer, could lend a hand and help them solve their difficulties.

Just then, a dark mist suddenly appeared above the platform, and a black claw stretched out from it, grabbing directly at the pockmarked old woman's body.

The pockmarked old woman seemed to have expected this, and immediately tapped the ground several times with her wooden cane.

The end of the wooden staff was tied with a large number of small gourds and bells. At this moment, light flowed from inside each gourd and bell, transforming into luminous birds that rushed towards the location of the black claws.

Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

As the Radiant Bird cried out repeatedly, it instantly pierced numerous holes in the Black Claw's palm, followed by an angry roar from within the gloomy mist.

The pockmarked old woman immediately scolded, "Everyone has their own path. If you want to live in peace like before, both sides must abide by the rules! You have seriously violated the rules this time. If you still want to live like before, do less of what you shouldn't do and return all the children. Otherwise, you will attract the attention of the Demon Subduing Division, and your situation will not be much better!"

After saying that, the black claw suddenly began to melt, turning into black mist and disappearing without a trace in an instant.

Upon seeing this, the pockmarked old woman stopped what she was doing. Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, her chest suddenly swelled up, and a black claw burst out from her chest, clutching a pounding heart in its hand.

"You!" The pockmarked old woman was extremely surprised, but her eyes quickly lost all life, and she collapsed to the ground.

The fog finally dissipated completely, and everything returned to normal.

"Po Zhang!"

"Grandma Zhang!"

The people below the platform saw this and rushed to the platform in a panic, but the pockmarked old woman's heart had been ripped out by that black claw, so there was no chance of her survival. She was already dead.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye; Ning Xiu himself couldn't even see how the black claw had done it.

However, it's not hard to see from the current situation that there's a lot of trouble behind this matter.

Based on the last words the pockmarked old woman spoke before she died, Ning Xiu would absolutely not sit idly by if he heard them now.

He immediately went over, grabbed a man who hadn't run up to the platform, and asked, "What's going on?"

"Who are you?" The man was very surprised when he saw Ning Xiu, and he couldn't figure out where Ning Xiu had come from.

This place is rarely visited by outsiders on ordinary days. Even those who come to Donghai Prefecture for a spring outing would not venture into this forest.

"Demon-Subduing Commandant." Ning Xiu took out his bronze leopard token to identify himself.

Upon hearing this, the man hurriedly shook his head and said, "I don't know, I don't know anything. You should ask someone else."

As he spoke, he dropped the bamboo basket in his hand and tried to run away, but Ning Xiu would never give him such a chance. He grabbed the man and exerted force, not giving him any chance to escape.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Let go, sir, let go!"

“Tell me everything that happened, who the dead person was, and why you are all gathered here,” Ning Xiu asked.

"My lord, I... I can't say this! If I do, the consequences will be dire. I... I can't bear it! Please, please let me go. Don't ask me about this!" the man pleaded desperately.

Ning Xiu glanced at the platform above: "You must have encountered some serious trouble. What, even the person who could perform magic is dead, aren't you going to ask the Demon-Subduing Commander for help? I can help you completely resolve the problems you're facing."

Dragging the man up to the high platform, the people who had run up to check on the pockmarked woman also noticed Ning Xiu's appearance.

"Everyone, whether it's evil spirits causing trouble or demons causing harm, it has always been the Demon Subduing Division that has dealt with it for hundreds of years. If you encounter any difficult situations, just ask the Demon Subduing Division for help. In the name of the Demon Subduing Commander, I will definitely guarantee to solve the problem. You all know that time should not be delayed for too long, right? Even this old woman you asked for help has died. Are you still planning to continue to drag it out?"

Compared to the men's attitude, the women with tear stains on their faces were undoubtedly very hesitant. Finally, the last woman, who looked haggard, couldn't help but step forward and prepared to tell Ning Xiu the truth.

But another woman next to her quickly grabbed her wrist and shook her head, signaling her not to act impulsively.

Ning Xiu saw all of this and reminded him, "If you don't say it now, you won't have a chance to regret it later."

The woman couldn't bear it any longer and quickly ran to Ning Xiu, kneeling down and pleading, "My lord, please help me, please help me! I beg you to save my child!"

Seeing this, the other people had very complicated expressions, but there was nothing they could do, so they could only stand there speechless.

Ning Xiu reached out and helped him up, reassuring him, "Just tell me what you need to do. As long as it's within my power, I will do my best to do it."

The woman, with tears in her eyes and a sob in her voice, recounted everything that had happened to her in a broken and fragmented manner.

It turns out that a while ago, the woman's child mysteriously disappeared in the mountains while she was out chopping firewood with her father. Later, many villagers went into the mountains to search, but they could not find any trace of the child.

This kind of thing doesn't only happen in this woman's family; similar things happen in the same village and neighboring villages. In some families, even babies who are only a few months old have mysteriously disappeared at night, and the mothers are almost going blind from crying.

In an effort to find her child, the woman's village invited a local shaman to try and locate the child through shamanistic methods.

Unexpectedly, not only was the child's whereabouts not found, but now even the shaman himself has been killed by an unknown and bizarre entity. Where can one seek justice for this?

Ning Xiu, as the Demon Slayer, naturally became everyone's only remaining hope.

According to the woman's explanation, Ning Xiu also learned some rather secretive information, as well as why these people initially showed such panic when he revealed himself to be a Demon Slayer.