The villagers felt that something was amiss the moment they heard the set of instructions given by their village head.
Still, they reluctantly cancelled their plans for the day and abided by the given instructions.
One by one, the villagers streamed into the village hall with apprehension in their hearts.
And when they saw the imperious look on the cultivators’ faces, as well as the look of guilt on Fu Du’s, they immediately understood that the cat had been let out of the bag.
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“Is that so?” Mo Mian raised an eyebrow. “You must be really skilled at making weapons, then?”
“When it comes to making weapons, Ah Ye is the best in the village, for sure,” Fu Du complimented from the side. “He is a valuable asset to the village, and everyone has always been relying on his craft.”
“Haha, I’m just doing my best to help the village in whatever way I can,” Ye Cangyu scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “I’m not good at anything else, so I can only do this for everyone.”
“I don’t know about the villagers relying on your craft, but you are popular for sure,” Mo Mian replied. “Do you know that more than half of the villagers mentioned your name today?”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“They mentioned my name?” Ye Cangyu revealed a look of surprise. “May I know what they said about me?”
“What do you think they would say?” Mo Mian directed the question back to him.
“I... I’m not quite sure, great cultivator sir,” Ye Cangyu answered hesitantly.
“Then I will tell you,” Mo Mian said with a smile. “Congratulations. You have been voted as the person whom the monkey demon likely hates the most.”
Mo Mian might be smiling, but Ye Cangyu felt no warmth from it whatsoever.
“I-Is that so...?” Ye Cangyu could only let out a bitter smile in response.
“And that is why...” Mo Mian’s smile grew wider as he spoke. “We have decided that you will be helping us bait out the monkey demon.”
“What?!” Ye Cangyu cried out in terror. “No! No, wait! Please spare me, great cultivator sir! There has to be some sort of misunderstanding here! I know, maybe it has been too long and the other villagers are confused! Yes, that’s right. They have probably confused me for someone else! Why don’t we ask them again? I’m sure they will change their mind this time!”
“Will you change your mind, Village Head Fu?” Mo Mian turned his attention towards Fu Du.
“Wait a minute! You said that too, Village Head Fu?” Ye Cangyu questioned.
“This...” Fu Du hesitated to answer.
“How can you do this to me?!” Ye Cangyu shouted in rage. “Do you know how much I have done for this village? How can you betray me like this?”
“H-How is this a betrayal?” Fu Du retorted despite being slightly flustered from being called out. “You heard the great cultivator sir. More than half of the villagers said the same thing. My statement alone wouldn’t have made a difference!”
“The person who had abused the monkey demon the most,” Pu Feixiang stated the reason that most villagers gave. “What an achievement!”
“Did you perhaps use those smithing skills that you are so proud of to make equipment for abusing others?” Gui Longcan questioned.
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“Count yourself lucky,” Pu Feixiang added grumpily. “If it were up to me, you will definitely be there in person to act as a live bait.”
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The party returned to the inn and convened in Mo Mian’s room for a discussion once more.
“The more I think about today, the angrier I get!” Pu Feixiang grumbled. “Why do we have to pick up the pieces for them?”
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“What is the matter, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?” Chu Han asked all of a sudden. “Is there something on your mind?”
His comment drew everyone’s attention to Zhao Yunxiao who had been silent for a while now.
Zhao Yunxiao slowly looked around the room to meet everyone’s gaze before asking, “Don’t you feel that we have been focusing on the wrong things?”
“We have been focusing on the wrong things?” Mo Mian frowned. “Explain.”
“There are three ways for a demon to form,” Zhao Yunxiao started. “It could be through self cultivation, external creation, or if they were another demon’s offspring.”
Everyone furrowed their brows simultaneously.
Those words were more than enough for everyone to understand just what Zhao Yunxiao was trying to say.
“If the young monkey had attained demonhood through self cultivation or external creation, it would be unlikely to have been taken down and imprisoned by the villagers in the past, even if they had all worked together...” Mo Mian rubbed his chin in contemplation.
They had seen the villagers for themselves.
While they did possess decent weapons, they could not be considered strong warriors by any measure.
“In fact, self cultivation can be ruled out completely, considering how young the monkey was,” Chu Han added.
“That means it had somehow managed to attain demonhood while it was in the wild during the past twenty years!” Pu Feixiang exclaimed.
“Don’t speak nonsense if you don’t know anything,” Gui Longcan chided. “If that is the case, then it would not have exhibited an unusual level of strength back then either. Junior Martial Brother Zhao is trying to say that the monkey demon is likely to be the offspring of another demon!”
“If it is the offspring of another demon, then it makes sense that it was relatively weak back when it was still young,” Chu Han agreed.
“What? Does that mean we are dealing with multiple demons here?” Pu Feixiang asked in surprise. “Do we have to deal with its parents too?”
“I’m just saying that it is a possibility,” Zhao Yunxiao clarified. “And even if it really is the offspring of other demons, there is also a chance that its parents are no longer around.”
“But if they are still around, then this is going to be a lot more complicated,” Chu Han said solemnly.
“This is complicated indeed,” Mo Mian agreed. “Until we fully understand what we are dealing with here, we will only be moving together as a group from now on. Let’s ensure that there are no accidents until the very end.”
“Understood!” the party members acknowledged.
As they adjourned the meeting and returned to their assigned rooms, Chu Han could not help but steal a glance at the departing Zhao Yunxiao.
Zheng Biru did the right thing to have recommended Zhao Yunxiao as his replacement for this mission.
This young junior martial brother was really proving to be far more interesting than he had originally expected!