Turns Out I'm the Real Monster?!

’They must be brothers.’

"Ji Hongyuan."

Jiang Mu’s gaze was icy as he said in a low voice, "Lend me a hand and we’ll wipe out this stronghold. After it’s done, you can absorb as much as you want!"

"Hee hee hee..."

Ji Hongyuan’s dark gold eyes glittered in the night, and her red lips curved into a bewitching smile.

"I just love straightforward little guys like you."

Jiang Mu said no more. He took a deep breath, and the Blood River True Qi and Star Power in his body surged simultaneously.

He drew his long saber, its blade reflecting the firelight from the valley in the distance.

He leaped down from the high slope and charged in for the kill!

...

「Thirty minutes later.」

Inside the Red Forest Valley stronghold, a dead silence had fallen.

The once-raucous den of demon fiends had now become a mountain of corpses in a sea of blood.

Countless demon corpses were piled high, their fresh blood pooling into streams that stained the earth red.

In a clearing within the valley.

The massive Pig Demon was half-kneeling on the ground, panting like an ox.

The flesh on one half of its body had been almost completely flayed away, revealing stark white bone. The large saber in its hand was broken in two.

Meanwhile, Ji Hongyuan sat lazily on a relatively clean boulder nearby, her long legs crossed. The lines of her legs, wrapped in black silk stockings, were faintly visible in the firelight.

She had her head lowered, fiddling with her nails, which were painted a vibrant crimson.

It was as if the bloody scene before her had nothing to do with her at all.

"You... Just who are you!?"

the Pig Demon Leader demanded hoarsely.

It had killed at least eighty, if not a hundred, Demon Slayer Envoys in its life, but it had never encountered such a ferocious and twisted cultivator.

He was more like a demon fiend than an actual demon fiend!

Jiang Mu’s expression was indifferent as he asked coolly, "Where is Du Yuanfei?"

He had searched the entire stronghold but hadn’t found any sign of the traitor.

"Hmph! I ate him long ago!"

The Pig Demon Leader sneered viciously.

Jiang Mu’s eyes turned cold, and he shot a look at Ji Hongyuan.

Ji Hongyuan pouted her red lips and stood up somewhat reluctantly. "So troublesome. You’re making your big sister do the dirty work."

She walked up to the Pig Demon, flicking a slender finger.

WHOOSH!

A red thread, as fine as silk, bored into the Pig Demon’s body.

"AHH!!"

The next moment, the Pig Demon let out a heaven-shaking, wretched scream.

The veins beneath its skin bulged as if countless insects were gnawing away from the inside. The red thread roamed freely through its body, spreading out like tiny blades slicing through its meridians and bone marrow.

The Pig Demon writhed on the ground in agony, wailing and cursing.

"You bitch! As a member of the Demon Race, you’re colluding with the dogs of the Demon-slaying Bureau! You’ll die a miserable death..."

"Noisy."

Ji Hongyuan snorted coldly and made a grasping motion with her delicate hand.

The red thread inside the Pig Demon’s body suddenly tightened, the pain so intense that its eyes rolled back in its head and it began to foam at the mouth.

"I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Stop torturing me!"

The Pig Demon completely gave in, snot and tears streaming down its face.

"Du Yuanfei left long ago...

My superior, the Great Golden Roc King, personally escorted him away. He’s probably almost at Yan City by now.

The Master ordered him to go back and continue lying low, to wait for the next command..."

"He ran?"

Jiang Mu had Ji Hongyuan continue the torture. Only after repeatedly confirming the Pig Demon was telling the truth did a trace of disappointment flash in his eyes.

"That bastard sure runs fast."

Next, Jiang Mu interrogated it about how they had turned Du Yuanfei.

Eager to lessen its suffering, the Pig Demon spilled everything.

It turned out the Red Umbrella Sect had long been secretly gathering intelligence on various Demon Slayer Envoys, targeting each one’s personal weaknesses to infiltrate their ranks.

Du Yuanfei, who was greedy for life and afraid of death, was a prime target.

On the day Yan City fell, besieged and intimidated by several Great Demons, Du Yuanfei, who had already lost his will to fight, predictably knelt and surrendered.

The Red Umbrella Sect planted a "Life and Death Talisman" in his body, giving them control over his very life and death. From then on, he was completely tied to their criminal enterprise.

’A Life and Death Talisman?’

Jiang Mu’s heart skipped a beat.

He suddenly recalled the mysterious woman who had claimed to be the Red Umbrella Sect Master and had wanted to subdue him.

She had sworn at the time that she had more than one way to control him.

’Could it be...’

’Could this kind of Life and Death Talisman have been secretly planted in his predecessor, Jiang Chen, long ago?’

’Is that why the woman was so certain he couldn’t escape her grasp?’

Just as Jiang Mu was lost in thought.

The Pig Demon, which had been on the verge of death, suddenly showed a vicious glint in its eyes. It erupted in a burst of motion, charging toward the stronghold gate in an apparent escape attempt.

"Kill it."

Jiang Mu gave the order coolly, without even lifting his head.

Although Ji Hongyuan was annoyed by Jiang Mu’s commanding tone, she decided not to make an issue of it, considering they were in the honeymoon phase of their partnership.

Her figure blurred, leaving a fragrant breeze in her wake as she pursued the Pig Demon.

However, just as she was about to catch up.

Ji Hongyuan’s beautiful face suddenly changed drastically.

Without any hesitation, she abruptly reversed course, instantly flashing to Jiang Mu’s side. She grabbed his arm, yanked him up, and retreated hastily.

Jiang Mu hadn’t even processed what was happening.

BOOM—

A terrifying explosion erupted right beneath their feet!

---

「Red Forest Valley, on the shaded side.」

The ground here was covered in jagged rocks, and the vegetation was scorched and withered.

On the face of a steep cliff, the deep, dark mouth of a cave was visible.

The outside of the cave mouth was covered in yellow paper talismans. Despite the suppressing seal, a heatwave still pulsed from within like a breath, scorching the surrounding air until it shimmered and warped.

At this moment, a graceful figure stood silently before the scorching cave entrance.

She was a woman of about thirty.

Her face was serene and gentle, with delicate features that exuded the dignity and compassion of a well-bred lady.

Her eyes curved when she smiled, and her gaze was as gentle as water. A single glance was enough to make one feel a sense of closeness, as if she were the kindest, most considerate older sister from next door, or a loving young mother.

In particular, she carried an air of bereavement about her.

She seemed almost like a born widow.

However, such a holy and gentle face couldn’t suppress her ripe, mature figure.

Especially now, as the hot wind gusted from the cave, her simple, light-blue muslin gown was pressed back against her body.

This made the contours of her figure even more distinct.

Her upper body was as slender as a willow, with a delicate waist, but below that, she was suddenly voluptuous.

At a glance, she resembled a perfectly ripe, full-moon gourd, wrapped in fabric that only served to accentuate what it was trying to hide.

Swaying gently in the hot wind.

She exuded a mature charm that was bone-deep, a natural, sensual allure.

This person was the very goddess who had haunted the dreams of Jiang Mu’s superior, Ran Qingshan, for many years—

The Head of the Yunzhou City Demon-slaying Bureau, Shui Miaozheng!

At this moment, Shui Miaozheng paid no mind to the hot wind rustling her skirt.

She was holding an ancient compass, her beautiful eyes lowered and her expression grave.

"The Qian palace sees Hai, the Kan position faces Gui, the sign of the Water Dragon passing through the gorge has formed..."

"The outer plate’s seam needle points to Zi-Wu, but the inner plate’s primary needle is offset toward Mao-You... This is the ’Golden Plate Turning the Dipper’ anomaly."

A moment later, she lifted her eyes and looked toward the scorching cave mouth, which was sealed by talismans. Her beautiful eyes shone brilliantly, as if reflecting starlight.

"Hai mountain, Si facing, with the water outlet at Xun..."

"It seems the dragon meridian dives into the abyss here. Though this is a place of fiery dryness, water energy actually rises to form a spring. This is a formation of Yin and Yang in harmony."

"The divine object contained within this place must be the [Shuyu]!"

’Just as I thought.’

That divine fortune-telling Daoist wasn’t lying.

This mission to support Yan City truly held a great fortuitous encounter for her.

She had actually managed to find the divine object, [Shuyu]!

One must understand that she was already at the Great Perfection stage of the Eighth Realm. She was just one step away from attempting to break through to the higher "Suzun" level Star Position.

At this level, a cultivator needed to begin condensing the prototype of their own Dao Foundation.

This would lay the groundwork for opening a [Grotto Heaven Dao Mansion] in the future.

To condense a Dao Foundation, the first priority was Artifact Refining.

One first needed to refine a life-bound [Artifact] capable of bearing one’s own Great Dao.

And the materials required to refine this artifact were all rare treasures of the world.

The [Shuyu] inside this cave was one of the most crucial main ingredients!

Not only that.

To nourish the Dao Foundation and make it perfect and without flaws, one also had to obtain the corresponding divine object from the sixty Jiazi’s Nayin elements.

Shui Miaozheng was born in the year of Ren-Xu.

Ren corresponds to Yang Water, and Xu corresponds to Yang Earth.

According to numerological divination, her life-bound element is [Great Ocean Water].

"According to the hexagram analysis from the Divine Fortuneteller, the divine [Shuyu] is guarded by a Demon Dragon from the bottom of Fire Dragon Cliff. Right now, this Demon Dragon is sealed and has fallen into a deep slumber..."

Shui Miaozheng murmured, "As long as I don’t make any major disturbances, it won’t wake up. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for me to handle."

This was especially true because this Demon Dragon had once been cast out of the Dragon Race for being too licentious.

It’s been suppressed for so long now.

It must be terribly repressed.

If it were to awaken, it would be difficult for her even to escape. She would have no choice but to fight for her life.

Thinking of this, she hesitated no longer.

With a light wave of her slender hand, a water-blue curtain of light shielded her body. She then took graceful steps, braving the scorching heatwave at the entrance as she walked into the cave.

As the hot wind grew fiercer.

The woman’s dress clung even tighter to her body as she moved.

First clinging to her left hip, then sliding over her right leg, the fabric’s pattern gathering in the center...

However, just as the woman’s right foot stepped into the cave, a tremendous BOOM echoed out, and the earth shook violently in an instant.

The talismans at the cave’s entrance fluttered and fell.

The expression on Shui Miaozheng’s face froze.

Immediately after, the furious roar of a dragon resounded from the depths of the cave.