Chapter 55 : Chapter 55
Chapter 55: The Asura Saber? No, a Just Magistrate!
Peach Blossom Alley, Western District.
The police had set up a cordon around the area and were evacuating the crowd. Yet a group of people refused to leave. They surrounded Wang Botao, crying and pleading about something.
“Lord Wang, you have to save them.”
“My son is still inside.”
“My wife is still in there...”
“My parents too...”
“Lord Wang, when is the Demon Extermination Bureau going to organize a rescue team to go in?”
...
Wang Botao could only smile bitterly.
This was a Demon Nest. Forget ordinary people—if even he went in, he would probably die without even leaving a corpse behind.
Fortunately, the Demon Nest had been discovered early.
Otherwise, once the Demon Beasts inside came surging out, the chaos would be far worse.
SCREECH!
The sharp sound of brakes rang out.
Bang!
A car door slammed shut, and a young man with a swift, decisive air stepped out.
“What are you all doing crowding around here? The Demon Extermination Bureau is handling this. Everyone, move aside!”
There was an imposing aura about the youth that made people afraid to disobey him.
After Wang Botao squeezed his way out of the crowd, Lu Zhan asked,
“Wang Botao, what’s the situation now? About when will the Demon Nest open?”
Lu Zhan looked at the Demon Nest looming before him. To him, it looked like an underdeveloped fetus.
It sounded absurd.
But that was his genuine impression.
Before Wang Botao could answer, the system screen popped up.
【Ding! Demon Beast nest detected. Side Quest issued.】
【Side Quest Description: Please enter the Demon Nest and kill all Demon Beasts.】
【Quest Reward: Perfection Martial Art Limit-Breaking Card x1, Nightmare Demon Peach x1】
【Accept?】
“Accept!”
This was his turf. No matter what, this Demon Nest had to be cleared out.
“Brother Lu, the Demon Nest is still relatively stable for now. It’s estimated that it won’t open for another ten minutes, but...”
Wang Botao hesitated. Just then, a middle-aged couple suddenly broke through the police line.
They dropped to their knees in front of Lu Zhan.
“Lord Lu, I know you’re a man of great ability. Please, save my child.”
“My son is trapped inside the Demon Nest. Please save him. He’s my only son... sob... please... please save him!”
The middle-aged couple kept kowtowing.
“Get up first, and then we’ll talk. You can just call me Lu Zhan. Don’t worry. You’re people from my jurisdiction. Naturally, I won’t ignore this.”
Then he turned and asked Wang Botao,
“What happened? Did ordinary people fall into the Demon Nest?”
Lu Zhan frowned. The Demon Nest had not even opened yet, so how had they gotten in?
“It’s like this. The place where this Demon Nest appeared just happened to cover a residential building...”
Lu Zhan understood.
No one knew where Demon Nests came from. And no one could know where one would appear. It was as though they manifested at random.
And any area where a Demon Nest appeared would be completely enveloped by it.
“Officer He, please take them away and clear out the crowd. I, Lu Zhan, promise this: the moment the Demon Nest opens, I will move in immediately and begin the rescue.”
Once they had Lu Zhan’s promise, dispersing the crowd became much easier.
Suddenly, the still-closed Demon Nest split open with a crack, and that crack rapidly spread wider and wider.
A terrifying suction force came from the Demon Nest, whipping up gust after gust of wild wind.
“This is bad. The Demon Nest is about to open!”
Wang Botao’s face changed drastically.
“Fall back!”
“Everyone, get back!”
Lu Zhan immediately pulled out his phone and dialed the Demon Extermination Bureau’s special line.
“Hello. This is Lu Zhan, Demon-Subduing Guard of Peach Blossom Alley.”
“Sir, has something changed on your side? The Demon Extermination Bureau has already sent people to support you. Please hold on a little longer, or perhaps withdraw temporarily and avoid the brunt of it. Once the Jurisdiction Heads from the other districts arrive and gather, you can join forces to exterminate the Demon Beasts.”
Lu Zhan looked at the Demon Beasts trickling out of the nest.
With a casual flick, he sent out a few strands of Saber Intent and shredded them on the spot.
“Retreating is not an option. The Demon Nest has opened ahead of time. Since these filthy creatures chose to appear in my jurisdiction, I assume they were already prepared for me to flatten the whole place.”
“I’m only calling to remind you of one thing. When you come later, bring more people who know healing. There’ll probably be some casualties on my side.”
“Wait, sir, you’re not seriously planning to go in alone... beep, beep, beep, beep...”
Silence fell over the Demon Extermination Bureau.
Over the past few days, they had all heard the name of the Asura Saber.
Some said he only knew how to throw his weight around against his own people.
Now it seemed that was utter nonsense.
When something happened, Lu Zhan truly stepped forward.
They could not help admiring him a little.
A man like that was no coward.
“No, I have to report this upward...”
Meanwhile, Lu Zhan had already hung up the phone.
The surrounding crowd all fixed their eyes on Lu Zhan. They all wanted to see what this Lord Lu would choose.
“What are you staring at? Are you all tired of living? Why are you still here? Officer He, clear out the crowd as fast as possible.”
“Wang Botao, come in with me to save people. Shangguan Ling, stay outside and kill any Demon Beasts that scatter out.”
Then Lu Zhan handed Shangguan Ling the three Lightning-Summoning Talismans and one Rejuvenation Talisman he had obtained from the Demon Extermination Bureau.
Guarding the entrance to the Demon Nest alone was extremely dangerous.
As for Wang Botao, with him by Lu Zhan’s side, he would be quite safe.
At those words, Shangguan Ling hurried forward to stop him.
“What?!”
“You’re really going into the Demon Nest, Brother Lu?”
“No, no, this is madness. It’s too dangerous. We should wait until the Demon Extermination Bureau’s reinforcements arrive.”
Officer He was also stunned. This young man actually dared to charge into a Demon Nest?
He had thought Lu Zhan was only saying that to steady the crowd.
Lu Zhan wasted no words. With a thought, the Longevity Saber appeared in his hand. Then he strode past Shangguan Ling and headed straight for the Demon Nest.
“By the time the Demon Extermination Bureau gets here, it’ll already be too late. Besides, a mere Level-1 Demon Nest isn’t worth taking seriously.”
Demon Nests were divided into nine levels, from low to high. Level one was the weakest, and level nine was the strongest.
According to the patterns summarized by the Demon Extermination Bureau,
a Level-1 Demon Nest could generally hold around fifty to a hundred Demon Beasts.
Their strength was usually around the Qi Condensation Realm, and the strongest among them would not exceed the Divine Sea Realm.
For a Demon Nest like this, Lu Zhan felt he could sweep through it by himself.
Wait for the Demon Extermination Bureau to arrive?
He could not wait even a little.
At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind.
Kill them all. Leave none alive.
Watching Lu Zhan charge headlong into the Demon Nest, Shangguan Ling felt both angry and anxious.
Brother Lu might be strong, but even the strongest man could not fight a crowd. So in Shangguan Ling’s eyes, this was nothing short of courting death.
“Wang Botao, Brother Lu is acting recklessly, and you’re not even trying to stop him? Since when has anyone ever been able to wipe out a whole Demon Nest alone?”
But when Shangguan Ling turned around, he discovered that Wang Botao was already following behind Lu Zhan.
“Other people might not be able to do it. But if Brother Lu says he can, then he definitely can.”
That was what he said, but in truth, he was not sure either.
Yet the moment he thought of all the people inside the Demon Nest still waiting for them to save them, a little more courage rose within him.
He was, after all, a person in charge for the Demon Extermination Bureau. He could not go on drawing a salary and then turn tail and run the moment danger appeared.
If he did that, could he still call himself a man?
Perhaps Brother Lu was thinking the same thing.
Knowing full well that death was almost certain, yet still pressing forward without hesitation...
Was this Brother Lu’s sense of responsibility?
No wonder Brother Lu could say something like, “If someone causes trouble in my jurisdiction, I’ll kill him.”
Wang Botao unconsciously straightened his chest and strode forward with broad steps.
Even if I die, I, Wang Botao, will die in a way worthy of the position of Jurisdiction Head.
Everyone in the surrounding crowd was moved.
Of course they knew how dangerous a Demon Nest was.
And yet Lord Lu, just to save ordinary people like them, had leaped into it without the slightest hesitation.
How could they not be moved by that?
In this world, where Martial Artists treated ordinary people like ants, how many people in charge could do what he had done?
They had misunderstood him.
The world had misunderstood Lord Lu far too deeply.
People said Lord Lu was cruel, but every time he struck, had it not always been because someone else provoked him first? Every time he acted, was it not to protect the ordinary people in his jurisdiction?
And people even gave him the title Asura Saber. What kind of Asura would disregard his own life to save others?
This was no Asura.
He was clearly a just magistrate!
“Lord Lu the Just, you must come back alive!”
Someone in the crowd dropped to their knees and shouted that with great emotion.
Then the families of those trapped inside the Demon Nest seemed to be infected by the feeling, and they all knelt as well, kowtowing.
“We respectfully await Lord Lu the Just’s triumphant return!”
“We respectfully await Lord Lu the Just’s triumphant return!”
...