Chapter 184: Chapter 10 Punishment

Baili Village, by its name, implies that it is a town situated approximately a hundred Li from Yongzhou.However, this 'hundred Li' is not precisely accurate.

If measured by the actual distance, it is roughly about seventy Li, which translates today to approximately thirty kilometers.

Shen Qing, urging his horse swiftly, had arrived in the vicinity within a matter of minutes.

At that moment, the thick, almost indissipensible smell of blood overwhelmed the air.

Shen Qing's eyebrows twitched as he instinctively encouraged his men to quicken their pace.

"Hush!"

Shen Qing halted his horse and stared intently ahead, where a corpse was carelessly thrown by the roadside.

The corpse lay with its back up and face down, the center of its back appeared as though slashed by sharp claws, sketching the silhouette of a wingless eagle.

The flesh on both sides was sliced open, the rib bones were fractured, and the ribs were turned inside out along with the flesh, forming a pair of bone wings spread as if to fly.

The blood-red bone wings, together with the earlier mark of the wingless eagle, resembled a gruesome "Blood Eagle."

Upon seeing this corpse, Liu Sangui and the others' faces paled, and almost instantly recognized it: "This is trouble; it really is it!"

Shen Qing turned his head and asked, "This 'it' you mention, who is it?"

"A mature Eagle Demon."

"Eagle Demon?"

Jiang Dacong, Guan Yunjian, and Uncle Shu's expressions turned even grimmer upon seeing the corpse.

"Lord officer, you may not be aware, but this Eagle Demon has committed offenses here not once or twice. After each incident, it leaves behind a corpse like this. After consuming the person, it spreads its wings and flies deep into the mountains, which makes it extremely troublesome. Even the entire Guardian Martial Department has been unable to handle it."

Shen Qing listened quietly, pondering in his heart.

As described by Guan Yunjian and the others, if it was a demon that could fly, indeed, these men would be helpless.

"Let's go have a look first."

With a solemn expression, Shen Qing tightened his grip on the horse, leading the way into Baili Village.

Baili Village has roughly a few dozen households, which is somewhat larger than an ordinary village, and contains many taverns and stands to cater to traveling merchants looking for rest.

However, many rooftops were torn off now, walls collapsed, beams broken, having turned into ruins.

"Stay close, everyone be careful," Liu Sangui called out from behind.

Jiang Dacong, Guan Yunjian, and Uncle Shu instinctively tightened their grip on their weapons, closely following behind.

As Shen Qing entered Baili Village, he was met with debris scattered everywhere.

Demons consume humans.

Shen Qing looked around; not a single intact body could be found, not even the internal organs were left untouched.

The ground was covered in vast patches of dark red blood and signs of struggle.

If one looked closely, they would notice many claw marks and pecking traces on these remnants, even an infant with its skull cap lifted, completely hollow inside.

Shen Qing couldn't help but recall the scene he had witnessed in the village, identical to this one.

As Shen Qing and his men delved deeper, the scene underwent many changes.

More fragments of bodies appeared.

Upon careful observation, eyes, ears scattered on the ground, with patience, one could even piece together an entire body, though many vital areas remained uneaten.

This suggested that the Eagle Demon initially killed only to feed, but later, having satiated its hunger, it killed these people merely for the pleasure of slaughter.

Shen Qing couldn't help but develop a profound hatred for this Eagle Demon.

Guan Yunjian and others looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground, and scenes like this had become commonplace to them, causing no great stir deep within their hearts.

Only one thing made them somewhat worried.

"If it's the Eagle Demon, the Lord Chief Officer has ordered us to capture it within three days. If the Guardian Martial Department can't handle it, where can we go to kill this Eagle Demon? This month's official salary is bound to be half of what it usually is."

"How about we stick to the old rules then?"

"What old rules?" Shen Qing turned his head and asked.

Uncle Shu spoke naturally, "What happened here, we don't say it was the Eagle Demon. Who knows if it was the Eagle Demon's doing? Fortunately, I know a few thugs. We could kill them and claim they did it. Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

After hearing this, Shen Qing's face remained impassive as he asked, "Is this what you've been doing before?"

"Not always, but we do have experience with this kind of thing. When the time comes, we'll set the place on fire, eliminating all evidence. No one will know. If the Eagle Demon strikes again, as long as it's not in our area of responsibility, others will have to deal with the headache."

After finishing, Uncle Shu still wore a smug look, as though he took great pride in this arrangement.

"Killing innocents and taking credit, and you seem quite pleased?" Shen Qing's glance made it more of a retort.

"Huh?" Uncle Shu, seeing the look in Shen Qing's eyes, shivered all over, involuntarily furrowing his brow.

The next moment, before he could react, a sudden burst of Qi forcefully struck his lower abdomen.

The overwhelming strength exploded in his belly, throwing Uncle Shu into the air like a battered sack caught in a fierce wind, heavily falling to the ground amid a cloud of dust, ending up in a sorry state.

Guan Yunjian and Jiang Dacong, among others, witnessed this scene and cried out in shock.

Shen Qing slowly withdrew his hand and coldly warned, "If you ever consider doing such a thing in front of me again, it won't just result in an injury."

Fire appeared in Uncle Shu's eyes, and he became uncontrollably furious.

I kindly suggested an idea, and you have the nerve to strike?

What are you pretending to be so righteous for?

Just as Uncle Shu was about to erupt, Guan Yunjian quickly stepped forward, helped him up, and pinched him hard on the arm.

Catching Guan Yunjian's eye, he instantly got the hint and suppressed his anger.

Standing up, Uncle Shu together with several others chorused, "Yes, Lord Officer."

Liu Sangui stepped forward and asked, "Lord, what should we do next?"

Shen Qing mounted his horse and inquired, "Where does the Eagle Demon usually roam?"

"I know a place," Liu Sangui hurriedly said. "I'll lead the way for the Lord right now."

"Good."

Liu Sangui hurriedly mounted his horse and spurred it forward.

Shen Qing followed closely behind.

Watching Shen Qing's gradually receding figure, Jiang Dacong couldn't help but blurt out, "Is he... really thinking about finding that Eagle Demon?"

"With just him?"

Rubbing his belly, Uncle Shu filled with disdain for Shen Qing: "Damn, what a pretender. Only he's the good guy, and we're all miserable officials. Bah, once he experiences the trouble of the Eagle Demon, he'll understand what true despair is! Then I'd like to see if he can still be as arrogant."

The Eagle Demon has always been Concealing between rugged mountains and ridges. Even if they find it, it will just fly off with a flap of its wings, and they won't catch up even on horseback, let alone capture it.

Moreover, the Eagle Demon holds grudges. If it remembers them, they're in for trouble.

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"Stop talking, let's hurry up," Jiang Dacong urged.

She mounted her horse and quickly caught up.

Uncle Shu spat out a thick wad of phlegm, his face full of hatred as he mounted his horse: "I really want to see just how big of a wave you, Shen Chasi, can make, let's go!"

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