Chapter 109 – Demons Come Knocking (2/2)

“Little brother, you don’t seem to be a local. Forgive me, but you better quickly return to your inn after you’re done. It’s not very safe here at night.”

Li Qingshan said, “Are there bad people?” Afterwards, he heard even more woes and grumbles. Every single place had them, procuresses who forced women into prostitution, wretched loan-sharks and jianghu gangs that harassed the weak while cowering before the strong.

Li Qingshan listened and memorised it all quietly. He casually asked for the names and addresses of these people, eating four or five bowls of dumpling as he did that. He left behind all of the silver he found on the ruffians who just tried to rob him before standing up and bidding farewell.

“T- that’s too much!” The old man astounded, but when he raised his head, Li Qingshan had already vanished. There was a night breeze. He thought about the stories of monsters and ghosts he had heard before. He decided to close up for the night immediately.

On that night, demons came knocking, upholding justice and helping the weak, ridding the cruel and bringing peace.

There were no evil abilities or techniques in the world, only evil people. If I were to kill every single bad person in the world, I would be a man of great benevolence.

Before the sun had even risen for the day, Li Qingshan had left the small city. He began practising the Ox Demon’s Fist of Great Strength in a region of wilderness. He had consecutively killed over a dozen people last night. He felt at ease, throwing fists like beating drums that boomed through the air.

Xiao An sat by one side, refining the essence blood of the people. The Blood Flames of Corpse Incineration constantly flowed around him, assuming various shapes such as wild beasts and venomous snakes. In the end, it actually became a lotus pedestal that lifted him up from the ground. It hovered in the wilderness, sometimes higher and sometimes lower in quite an imposing manner. Wherever it passed by, the verdant wild grass would immediately wither and die, leaving behind a trail of death on the ground.

Xiao An could kill second layer Qi Practitioners like Yan Song as easily as a piece of cake now. Li Qingshan felt both admiration and awe. He was definitely stronger than Xiao An right now, but he could not fly. However, Xiao An was still nowhere close to the level where he could rebuild his body. The Path of White Bone and Great Beauty was terrifyingly powerful, but it was difficult to practise. It required even more sacrifices.

Although Li Qingshan had not purposefully tried to gather money, his wealth had easily reached several tens of thousand taels after the slaughter last night. If those people were lamb-eating wolves, then he was a wolf-eating tiger. Suddenly, he discovered that to Qi Practitioners, the currency of ordinary people no longer held much significance at all, as they all possessed powers that surpassed ordinary people. Even through the most underhanded methods of stealing, they could easily gather a sum that ordinary people would struggle to accumulate through their entire lives.

To Qi Practitioners, the true treasures were spiritual pills and spiritual stones that could increase their cultivation. However, it was evident that these resources would remain in the hands of powerful organisations. Ordinary people would probably never even hear about it in their entire lives. If he wanted these items, joining the Hawkwolf Guard was the best choice.

He signalled to Xiao An and continued on the way. Regardless of day or night, he travelled and stopped whenever he wanted. He casually destroyed two or three nests of bandits, and after three days, he finally arrived before a river and stopped.

The river was Clear river, as well as where the name, Clear River prefecture, came from. It flowed for thousands of kilometers, directly to Clear River city. The river was five to ten kilometers wide. Even with his two lives combined, he had never seen such a mighty river before. Looking at the rippling, reflective water, he immediately felt his mind open up.

Li Qingshan arrived in a large town on the banks of the river. It was called Downstream town, originally developed due to the Downstream port. It was only a town, but it was much busier than Qingyang city. On a horse, he saw a sea of heads, jostling about in the streets with quite the noise. Suddenly, he thought of something. If he killed all these people, would Xiao An be able to reconstruct his body immediately? But afterwards, he shook his head. Wouldn’t he just be a mass murderer then?

There were countless vessels on the river bank as people hurried to and fro from the port. It was extremely busy, and there were obviously many ferries travelling south. Li Qingshan immediately saw huge, dragon ships of several stories high, constructed from beautifully carved beams and painted rafters. They seemed like luxurious restaurants and hotels built on water. He immediately gave up on the thought of hiring a smaller boat and boarded a large, dragon ship instead.

The room at the very top of the dragon boat offered the best views, but it was also the most expensive. It actually cost several thousand taels of silver. Obviously, Li Qingshan was not lacking silver, so after fishing out a few silver notes, the manager of the ship immediately smiled from ear to ear before ordering some maidservants to take him to the very top. Before they left, he even gave ambiguous hints for them to take care of his needs as much as possible.

The room was extremely large. Even if there were several dozen people there, they would not find it crowded. Its decor even exceeded the best establishment Li Qingshan had visited along the way here in terms of extravagancy. He opened the window and looked down at the port and Downstream town. He wondered when Yan Song and the others would arrive, but he ended up seeing two familiar figures. It was the pair he had come across in the restaurant three days ago.

“What? The top room is already booked, and we have to stay below?” The man was displeased.

The manager said awkwardly, “There’s nothing we can do. Young master, the next level down is very luxurious as well, so please just make do!” A person who could spend several taels just to board a ship obviously did not need money. Even if you offered them several tens of thousand taels to switch rooms, they would never agree to it out of pride.

The woman said, “We’ve never had the habit of making do. Please find a way, manager. Money isn’t an issue.”

The man frowned. He raised his head and saw Li Qingshan.