Chapter Eighty-Nine: Scavenging Demon Corpses

The room was filled with the faint fragrance of a woman’s perfume, while the afterglow slipped through the thin window paper and spilled across the chamber, where a beauty bent over her music.

A long while passed.

At last, Su Yang let out a long breath.

He looked at the young Li Doukou before him and asked, “Have you made up your mind?”

“Yes. I have,” Li Doukou replied, nodding solemnly. Sincerity flickered in her eyes as she said, “If Master can reunite me with my father, I will never reveal a single word, and I will speak to Father exactly as Master has arranged.”

“In that case, swallow it,” Su Yang said.

“Yes, Master...”

Li Doukou obediently carried out the order and swallowed it. Her brows drew together faintly, and she even remembered to lick the corner of her mouth.

The mind-binding worm had been swallowed.

...

Su Yang had tried to help Wang Han purge the mind-binding worm within his body, only to discover that once his vital blood probed into the flesh, he could not locate the worm at all. It was as though the worm had merged completely with Wang Han’s flesh and blood.

If Wang Han could precisely control his vital blood, he might slowly search out the worm’s position. But the very moment he discovered it would also be the moment the worm went mad and attacked from within, and he would surely perish on the spot.

Unless Wang Han had reached the strength of the eighth rank. Then, once it was found, he could seal it instantly with vital blood, and that would be the end of it. But the vital blood consumed in sealing the worm would leave him unable to mobilize his blood and power freely, making him no different from an ordinary man.

Yet if Su Yang had not told them with his own mouth, and if they had not personally seen the worm swallowed, they would never have known there was a gu worm hidden within their bodies.

Once the mind-binding worm entered Li Doukou’s body, there would be no way to undo it.

On a dim street, Su Yang carried the poorly dressed and dirty Li Doukou to the front of the Li family magistrate’s residence.

“Go and inform your master that the young lady has returned,” Su Yang said, holding Li Doukou by the hand as he looked toward the doorman who had come out from inside.

“What... young lady?”

The old doorman froze, then hurriedly turned his gaze to Li Doukou behind Su Yang. His eyes widened in utter shock, as though he had seen a ghost. His voice shook as he stammered, “Y-Young lady... is it really you?”

Li Doukou said nothing. She simply lowered her head and hid a little farther behind Su Yang, a trace of wariness flashing through her eyes.

“Stay right there, young lady. I’ll go report to Master at once... I’ll go report at once!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the old doorman rushed madly into the courtyard, and cries from several old voices rang out again and again within.

“She’s back... she’s back... the young lady is back...”

“The young lady is back!”

“Master, the young lady has returned...”

...

Before even half an incense stick’s time had passed, a middle-aged man in a dark green official robe hurried out from the Li residence, followed by a woman.

“My daughter, it really is our daughter...!”

The woman burst out crying the moment she stepped through the door and saw Li Doukou hiding behind Su Yang. Tears poured down her face.

Magistrate Li had never imagined that after he had already given up hope of ever finding her, heaven would bring him such a tremendous surprise. The figure standing before him was truly his most cherished daughter.

In front of the residence stood the sobbing old couple, while Li Doukou cowered behind Su Yang, her gaze evasive and filled with uncertainty. Su Yang remained calm and composed.

After Magistrate Li’s emotions had settled somewhat, he brought Li Doukou and Su Yang back into the residence and asked how all of this had happened, and how his daughter had ended up in Su Yang’s hands.

Naturally, Su Yang told the story he had already prepared.

Li Doukou had somehow ended up in the hands of slave traders. He had originally gone to the traffickers to buy domestic servants, and because he had seen the government’s missing-person notice, he vaguely remembered Miss Li Doukou’s appearance. So he immediately prepared to seize the two traffickers and question them.

Unexpectedly, those traffickers knew the matter had been exposed and that they could not survive, so they had fought desperately to silence him.

But he was a seventh-rank martial artist. How could the two of them possibly be his match? He had no choice but to kill them and rescue Miss Li Doukou, then hastily bring her here.

As for when Li Doukou herself was questioned, she said nothing at all. She kept her head lowered and remained silent, standing behind him while clutching the hem of Su Yang’s clothes. If anyone pressed her further, she would tremble with fear all over. Magistrate Li and his wife no longer dared ask more.

Their daughter must have been frightened badly and was likely in a somewhat disturbed state of mind. She should rest peacefully at home for a while.

After that, Magistrate Li asked his wife to take Doukou away to rest. Then he fixed his sharp gaze on Su Yang and said, “You are still a scholar of Yanggu County?”

“Yes.”

“Have you thought of taking the imperial examinations?”

“I have, but with the rebel army besieging the city now, there’s no way to sit for them. I can only take things one step at a time.”

“Hmm. Having such ambition is a good thing.”

“County Magistrate, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave...”

“Wait.”

Seeing that Su Yang was about to leave, Magistrate Li hurriedly stopped him and said, “If you encounter trouble in the future, you may come to me.”

“Thank you, Magistrate Li.”

Su Yang was delighted inwardly and slowly withdrew.

Not long after, a constable bearing a saber entered. He was already of the seventh rank, and he was none other than Constable Feng from that day.

“Master, you called for me?” Constable Feng asked.

“Over these next two days, investigate the background of the man named Su Yang. He should be the live-in son-in-law of the Wang family. Be careful not to alarm him.”

Magistrate Li said coolly, his eyes calm.

“Yes, sir.”

Constable Feng nodded and withdrew from the room.

...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After Su Yang left the Li residence, heavy explosions kept sounding from the distance.

This should have been the noise of the rebel assault on the city. It was probably that brute bull smashing apart the already unreliable city wall. He had never gone up to see what the rebel assault looked like.

Now that he had reached the sixth rank, standing on the wall to watch the attack should not be too dangerous.

With that thought, Su Yang first returned home, changed into a black night garment, and then went up onto the city wall. The wall itself was not very high and served little real purpose; at best, it could resist the first wave of rebel cannon fodder.

Fortunately, the rebel force attacking the city was not much stronger than Yanggu County itself. If the main rebel force truly launched an assault, they might be able to break in within a quarter of an hour. That realization stirred a sense of urgency in Su Yang’s heart.

He still had too few martial retainers. If the city walls fell, self-preservation would be difficult, and his own power was far too weak as well.

On the walls, and within the city beyond them, slaughter raged everywhere.

Aside from the cannon fodder and ordinary soldiers, there were martial soldiers as well, along with black shadows darting wildly about, each one reeking of a thick, foul stench. They were black-furred rat demons.

Su Yang noticed that after these black-furred rat demons were slain, their corpses were not immediately carried away. They were left where they fell, likely to be collected only after the battlefield had been cleaned up. That realization filled Su Yang with delight, and he began moving back and forth across the wall.

All of it was free pickings.