Turns Out I'm the Real Monster?!

And the greatest, most hated enemy of the Demons is our Demon-slaying Bureau.

Now that we’re sending in major reinforcements, the Demon Fiends are bound to make a move. A fierce battle between both sides is inevitable. When that time comes, we will need to fight side-by-side with the people from the Yan City Demon-slaying Bureau.

"So, we must be wary of them, but we must absolutely not ostracize them! Understand?"

After hearing this, Xu Fu was left speechless, looking somewhat chagrined.

Jiang Mu, on the other hand, gained a new appreciation for the usually stern and rigid Elder Tian.

’This old man might have a foul temper, but when it came to the bigger picture and navigating the world, he was truly experienced and steady, far more thorough in his thinking than they were.’

The three of them said no more. They each opened their registers and began to meticulously sift through them.

One person would point out a suspicious detail, and the other two would raise questions, cross-examining and repeatedly deliberating over it.

They worked straight through until evening before the three of them finally narrowed down a list of potential suspects.

There were about ten of them.

As dusk fell, Jiang Mu and Xu Fu changed into the plain clothes they had prepared beforehand. They hid the Talismans that concealed their Star Power close to their bodies and headed towards Meiruo Temple under the cover of night.

...

The night was as black as spilled ink.

Bathed in moonlight, Jiang Mu and Xu Fu arrived before Meiruo Temple.

By the faint moonlight, they could see that the temple’s main gate had long since collapsed for the most part. Two vermilion-lacquered wooden doors hung askew.

One had already fallen to the ground, covered in moss.

The plaque on the lintel hung crookedly, from which one could vaguely make out the two words "Meiruo Temple."

Withered vines crawled between the strokes of the characters.

The courtyard walls had crumbled in many places, revealing the outlines of temple halls shrouded in overgrown weeds.

"So this is the place..."

Xu Fu, disguised as a Scholar’s Attendant, was carrying two heavy book boxes on his back. He peeked inside and whispered, "It looks pretty creepy."

Jiang Mu was dressed in a green scholar’s robe.

Though it had been intentionally wrinkled and dirtied, it could not hide the scholarly air about him.

He held a folding fan in his hand, his brow furrowed as he gazed at the dilapidated little temple and let out a long sigh.

Then he stepped over the threshold.

Inside the courtyard, the weeds were knee-high and rustled with each step.

"Young Master, slow down."

Xu Fu followed behind, his face scrunched up in a pained expression. He deliberately raised his voice. "Can anyone even live in this wreck? Let’s just go back to town. Even sleeping in a stable would be better than this."

Jiang Mu turned and tapped Xu Fu on the head with his fan, feigning anger:

"Go back to town? Do you have any silver left?

Those refugees took all our travel money. If we don’t find a place to stay, the two of us, master and servant, will be sleeping in the wilderness tonight, feeding the wolves."

As he spoke, he strode into the main hall.

He found a relatively clean spot, brushed the dust away with his sleeve, and sat down with a worried look on his face:

"Sigh... I thought coming to Yan City to rely on my second uncle would be the start of my future. Who would have thought Yan City would be in such chaos, and my uncle’s family would be nowhere to be found? Now I’m penniless and stranded here... Can it be that the heavens wish for my demise..."

Xu Fu tossed the book boxes onto the ground, plopped down beside them, and rubbed his aching shoulders, complaining with great dramatic flair:

"Young Master, I told you we shouldn’t have come, but you wouldn’t listen. And look at us now! This broken temple is so gloomy. I even heard a crow cawing behind us just now. It’s a bad omen, a very bad omen."

"Enough nonsense. Get a fire started!"

Jiang Mu shot him a glare.

"Even if we’re to die, we should at least die on a full stomach. Get out that last half-piece of dry rations and let’s toast it."

Grumbling, Xu Fu got to his feet.

He searched around the hall for some wooden window frames and dry straw, piling them up in an open space.

HISS—

A fire starter flared to life.

A faint flicker of light danced in the darkness, then caught the kindling.

The orange glow of the fire dispelled the darkness for several feet around and brought a faint warmth to the desolate temple.

The two of them sat around the campfire.

Xu Fu took two cold, hard cakes from a bamboo basket and propped them over the fire to toast.

"Young Master, what has the world come to?"

Xu Fu sighed and rambled on as he turned the cakes,

"I wonder when we’ll ever see a peaceful day again. Oh, right, I heard this area isn’t safe. They say Demon Fiends and monsters often appear around here. We’re not going to run into one tonight, are we?"

Jiang Mu leaned against a pillar behind him, putting on the face of a scholar trying his best to remain calm:

"The Master taught us not to dwell on the strange and supernatural. We’ve done nothing wrong, so what is there to fear? Besides, even if there are ghosts, we’re so poor we’ve got nothing but our lives. Even a ghost would find us pathetic."

He took the toasted cake from Xu Fu and took a bite, nearly breaking a tooth. He couldn’t help but let out another sigh.

And so they sat before the fire, occasionally exchanging a few idle words, but mostly in silence.

Outside the hall, the wind moaned, making the broken window shutters CREAK.

「An unknown amount of time passed.」

Suddenly, a low rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.

Jiang Mu looked up. Through a hole in the roof, he could see that the night sky, which had held a few stars just moments ago, was now completely covered by dark clouds.

"It’s about to rain."

No sooner had he spoken than large raindrops began to SPLATTER down.

Immediately after, a fierce wind kicked up.

The already rickety windows were blown about, CLATTERING violently.

The huge raindrops poured down like a waterfall, instantly hanging a dense curtain of rain between heaven and earth.

Jiang Mu and Xu Fu exchanged a surprised glance.

’If this rain was just the heavens having a tantrum, that would be one thing. But if a Demon deliberately caused this, then this Demon is even more powerful than we imagined.’

"This damn weather! It changes in a heartbeat!"

Xu Fu cursed as he added more wood to the fire, afraid the wind would blow it out.

「A moment later.」

A cold gust of wind swept rain and mist into the hall.

The campfire flickered violently, nearly going out.

Jiang Mu narrowed his eyes, his hand instinctively moving toward his waist. But he immediately remembered his persona as a "down-and-out young master" and lowered the hand he had just started to raise.

He saw that the newcomer was a burly, bearded man.

He wore a tattered straw raincoat, soaked through with rain, and his thick beard bristled like steel needles.

He carried a massive Sword Box on his back, almost as tall as he was.

In his hand, he held a wine gourd.

His entire being exuded the wild, unruly aura of a wandering martial artist.

Jiang Mu’s mind raced.

’Peak of the Fourth Realm, maybe even touching the threshold of the Fifth Realm.’

’His aura is dense and domineering, carrying a strong sense of righteousness mixed with a potent killing intent. He’s clearly a wandering master of the martial world, one who’s spent years living on the edge of a blade.’

As soon as the big man entered, he shook the rain from his body, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Mu and Xu Fu like a bolt of lightning.

Then, he broke into a grin.

"The rain’s too heavy out there. Mind if I take shelter for a bit, you two?"

Jiang Mu quickly stood up and cupped his fist in a salute, affecting the appearance of a well-mannered scholar:

"To meet is to be fated. Please, make yourself at home, brave sir. This temple belongs to no one; my servant and I are just taking shelter here as well."

The big man didn’t stand on ceremony. He walked straight to the campfire, plopped down, and unslung the Sword Box from his back, setting it heavily on the ground.

It landed with a dull THUD.

He uncorked his wine gourd, tilted his head back, and took a long swig, then let out a satisfied, boozy breath.

"Good wine! On a miserable night like this, you need strong liquor like this to drive out the cold!"

He glanced at the hard, dry cake in Jiang Mu’s hand, then pulled a packet of spiced beef wrapped in oil paper from his robes and tossed it over.

"What’s the fun in gnawing on a tasteless cake? Here, have some meat!"

Jiang Mu didn’t refuse. He caught it and offered his thanks:

"Thank you for your generosity, brave sir. This humble one is Jiang Shu, and this is my Scholar’s Attendant, Xiaofu. May I ask for the brave sir’s esteemed name?"

"My name?"

The big man wiped the wine stains from his beard and said heartily, "The name’s Yan Zixiao. Just a wanderer of the martial world, making my home wherever I go."