Chapter 84: Chapter 83: The Inventor of the Demon Corpse Is a True Beast
SWISH!
The black blade slid across the Demon Corpse’s neck as if cutting through tofu. Its fine Scale Armor provided no protection whatsoever, and a moment later, the creature’s severed head landed in Wu Chen’s hand.
At the sight of this brutal scene, the onlookers all seemed to feel it themselves, unconsciously twisting their own necks.
"Thank you, good sir, for lending your aid!"
The old Patriarch didn’t dare slight such a person. He quickly signaled to the men around him with his eyes, and together they all bowed to Wu Chen in gratitude.
Wu Chen had no time for them. He glanced along the top of the wall; there were no more elite Demon Corpses. Then, his gaze shifted to the lands outside the city, and he frowned in thought:
’The three elite Demon Corpses that climbed the wall have been slain, and the horde hasn’t reacted at all?’
’At this point, given the Demon Corpses’ intelligence, either the big one should be making its appearance, or they should be retreating!’
Wu Chen shook his head. He didn’t care about the Demon Corpses’ final decision. If they didn’t retreat, he would just continue along the city wall, crushing their skulls.
AROOOO!—
Just as he was about to move, a long, drawn-out howl finally echoed from outside the city.
The sound was powerful and resonant, blanketing the entirety of Fenglin County.
As the cry faded, the Demon Corpses scaling the walls froze. They turned and leaped back down.
The Demon Corpses already fighting on the ramparts also turned in a flash, leaping directly from the twenty-foot-high walls.
THUD!
Upon landing, the Demon Corpses merely shook their heads, dazed from the impact, and then gathered together from all directions as if nothing had happened.
Before the eyes of everyone on the walls, the horde of nearly seven hundred Demon Corpses converged into a thick, dark mass, like a storm cloud rolling toward the distant wilderness.
The horde stampeded away, kicking up clouds of yellow dust.
The forms of the Demon Corpse horde were soon obscured by the dust, vanishing from the sight of those on the city walls.
"We’re... we’re finally saved!"
"I thought we were dead for sure this time..."
...
Watching the direction the Demon Corpse horde disappeared, many people on the wall let their blades slip from their hands, their legs giving out as they collapsed to the ground.
Their faces showed the profound relief of having survived.
Wu Chen also let out a sigh of relief. Following the direction of the sound, he had also seen a Demon Corpse with an even more imposing and robust physique.
It must have been the leader of these nearly one thousand Demon Corpses.
’Did that thing glance at me before it left?’
Wu Chen had clearly felt a cold gaze from among the Demon Corpses. If he wasn’t mistaken, it came from that very leader.
"It’s not that I couldn’t beat it, it’s just..."
Wu Chen shook his head helplessly. These Demon Corpses had neither silver taels nor treasures. Fighting them offered no profit whatsoever.
If killing a hundred of them would yield even a single Martial Arts manual, he would have done so with pleasure.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but curse inwardly:
’Whoever invented Demon Corpses was a real monster!’
Done with his cursing, Wu Chen turned his gaze toward the city below.
There, thirty or forty Demon Corpses had heard their leader’s voice from outside the city and had clearly become panicked, quickly turning to flee.
"Now that you’re here, don’t even think about leaving."
Although there was no profit in killing Demon Corpses, Wu Chen leaped from the twenty-foot-high wall without a moment’s hesitation.
As a Jade Bone Realm master, his flesh, muscles, and bones had been completely transformed.
Even if he wasn’t indestructible, a fall from this height wouldn’t even make the soles of his feet tingle.
The moment he touched the ground, his figure transformed into a black streak, plunging towards the remaining Demon Corpses trying to escape within the city.
Even elite Demon Corpses only took a few punches from Wu Chen, so these ordinary ones naturally couldn’t withstand a single exchange.
Soon, the commotion within the city was quelled.
...
「Two days had passed since the Demon Corpse attack.」
The bodies of the Demon Corpses slain on the walls and inside the city, except for one elite Demon Corpse kept as proof, were all thrown outside the city and burned to ash.
The roads had been washed clean, damaged buildings were being repaired, and everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Only the city gates remained closed, for fear that the Demon Corpses might attack again.
But the sounds of vendors and business had already returned to the streets and alleys, and the inns were filled with the whispers of discussion, mostly people expressing their relief at having survived:
"Those Demon Corpses this time were truly wicked..."
"No matter what, it’s thanks to the great families of the city who stepped up to defend the walls. Otherwise, we’d all have ended up as Demon Corpse food..."
"Bullshit! What do you know!"
Immediately, a man drinking wine interrupted them: "While those families did help defend the city, the Demon Corpses’ retreat had nothing to do with them! Not one copper’s worth!"
"Nothing to do with them?"
The crowd was confused. They looked at the man and gathered around him. "Then why did the Demon Corpses retreat?"
"It’s because a Ranger from the martial world appeared in our city! With one man and one blade, he swept the Demon Corpses from the top of the walls!" Seeing the crowd gather, the drinking man raised his voice.
"GASP—one man, one blade, swept the Demon Corpses away?"
The people who had gathered around all gasped in shock. "We have such a powerful figure in our city? Tell us more! Quick!"
"You want me to tell you for free?" The man tapped the table and promptly shut his mouth.
The crowd knew exactly what he meant. They immediately shouted into the inn:
"Waiter, quick! A jar of your best wine! Quick!"
"Right away!" The waiter, also captivated by the man’s story, trotted over with a jar of wine.
"AAH!"
After taking a gulp of the crisp wine, the eyewitness from the city wall was finally satisfied.
He now had the courage to recall the scene from that day:
"Don’t laugh when I say this, but I was right there on the wall, so scared of those Demon Corpses I almost pissed my pants..."
"Three Demon Corpses, each taller than two men stacked on top of each other! A single whip of their tails meant instant death. One touch, and you were gone."
"And yet, in front of that Ranger, such ferocious beings were nothing—felled by a single slash of his blade!"
"It’s a good thing the Demon Corpses retreated when they did. Otherwise, with that Ranger’s skill, he would have slaughtered every last one of the monsters outside this city, leaving none behind!"
He spoke with vivid flourish, describing how the Ranger could leap forty or fifty feet in a single bound, how one swing of his blade would obliterate all monsters around him...
The crowd of common folk listened with wide eyes, and soon began to speculate about the man’s identity.
"Could he be someone from Mountain Mist City who happened to be staying here? Maybe someone from one of those sects?"
"I wonder if a man like that is still in the city!"
"Heh, a man like that roams the world and calls no place home. He must have left as soon as the Demon Corpses retreated..."
...
On the second floor of the inn.
Wu Chen listened to the gasps and murmurs from downstairs and just smiled faintly.
He naturally didn’t care for the credit. He just took a bite of food, then a sip of wine, enjoying his meal immensely.
’It’s been long enough. The reinforcements from Cangwu City should have arrived by now, shouldn’t they?’
He wiped his mouth and looked out the window.
Although the county magistrate, Lord Liu, had been killed, there were still clerks in office, so there was no worry that a request for aid wouldn’t be written.
Even if there were no clerks, the great families of the city could send men to Cangwu City for help.
In short, as long as they rode with haste, the reinforcements from Cangwu City should arrive today without any issue.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Just as he was thinking about this, Wu Chen felt a tremor from the ground.
He put down his chopsticks, picked up his wine jug, and walked to the window.
He saw seven or eight soldiers on fast horses arriving from the south. The one in the lead, wearing a great cloak, headed straight for the Fenglin County office.
Following them were three hundred soldiers in heavy armor, marching into the city. Each step they took boomed, making the entire street tremble.
The people of Fenglin County quickly made way. The street vendors cleared the road in an instant, afraid that after just suffering a demon disaster, they would now suffer a military one.
He took a look at the soldiers’ imposing aura. They were in a completely different league from Fenglin County’s leather-armored troops.
Wu Chen nodded. He knew Fenglin County was safe now.
He sat back down in his original spot and continued to eat and drink.
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