parentshiftbook Chapter 520 The Great Demon's Reliance
Chapter 520 The Great Demon's Reliance
Chapter 520 The Great Demon's Reliance
The county constable, his expression agitated, continued, "I don't know when the magistrate was replaced by a demon, or perhaps he was always a demon. It all started five years ago during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The magistrate hosted a banquet for me and the county clerk. In the midst of the revelry, the magistrate revealed his true form, poisoned us, and forced us to work for him!"
"His strength far surpasses ours, and he used his family to blackmail us. We had no choice but to submit..."
The county constable skipped over what he and the county clerk had done for the county magistrate and instead said, "Just a few days ago, we brought some more spiritual items for the county magistrate."
"After obtaining the item, he went into seclusion to cultivate, and then he suffered a qi deviation. When we went to check on him, his body had exploded, and he had become a half-human, half-demon..."
"We were afraid that others would find out, so we tried to dispose of the body and prepared another corpse for others to examine."
"But unexpectedly, for some unknown reason, perhaps due to improper handling of the corpses or other causes, a plague suddenly broke out in the city, and the virus originated from the poison present in the county magistrate's body..."
The county constable spoke fairly clearly and revealed some of the truth that he had been concealing.
Someone couldn't help but ask, "The magistrate is dead? Then who was this person?"
The county constable looked at the man on the ground, stiffly shook his head and said, "I don't know. I also thought he was the county magistrate, but this man only looks about seven or eight parts like the county magistrate."
“I saw the magistrate’s body with my own eyes. He couldn’t possibly be the magistrate…” the county constable said with some uncertainty. “Maybe the magistrate practiced some kind of technique and had the ability to shed his skin like a cicada. This person is the magistrate who shed his skin.”
Upon hearing this, everyone felt that the county magistrate's statement made a lot of sense.
Seeing that the county magistrate had revealed some of the truth, Lu Zheng looked at the man on the ground and asked, "Do you have any objections?"
The man chuckled and said, "I'm not some county magistrate. I've already said that the plague in Cang County has nothing to do with me."
Upon hearing this, not a single person believed it.
Even the county magistrate's assistant and the county constable, who had seen the magistrate's body, didn't quite believe it.
Seeing the other party's confident demeanor, Lu Zheng couldn't help but squint and scrutinize him.
Lu Zheng slowly said, "The poison in your body comes from the same source as the plague in the city. Perhaps the plague here is really unrelated to you, but apart from that, are you really clean?"
The man grinned and said, "I see they all follow you, and you're in charge. I'd like to speak with you privately for a bit."
Lu Zheng thought for a moment, then raised his hand and led the man into a room.
The man sat down on the ground and gasped for breath.
"You are not government officials, yet you possess such extraordinary abilities. Why do you concern yourselves with these matters..."
"The plague here is just an accident. I am really not the magistrate of Cang County. That magistrate is a descendant of my clan who died from a cultivation deviation, causing the plague. It really has nothing to do with me."
"If I hadn't met those two women today, I wouldn't have known about the plague in Cang County."
The man stood there sighing and lamenting, acting as if he were an innocent victim.
Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng said calmly, "When you say you don't know, you'd better really mean it. Do you think I'm some kind of naive person?"
The man's expression froze for a moment, then he smiled and said, "Alright, I did sense something, but what does this have to do with me? Plagues have happened before, it's not my business, so why should I meddle?"
The man paused, then said, "Of course, if you insist on blaming me, I can only accept it. Your two companions ransacked my cave, but I don't want it anymore; consider it compensation for Cang County. If you let me go, I promise I will never appear in Cang County again."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng said, "I will release you. I hate evil as if it were my enemy. Even if the plague has nothing to do with you, your evil aura makes it difficult for me to let you go."
The man's expression changed slightly, and he couldn't help but say, "Why are you being so aggressive? Although I am a demon, I am not without my own strengths." Lu Zheng smiled and asked, "What strengths do you have? Tell me."
The man's eyes flickered, and he said in a low voice, "Knowing too much about some things won't do you any good. If you think the compensation isn't enough, I can give you more compensation later."
Lu Zheng shook his head. "I'm sorry, I have no shortage of cultivation resources, and what I want, you can't give me. More than those spirit stones and pills, I want to know your secret. Of course, you don't have to tell me..."
The man frowned upon hearing this. "You really don't want to let me go?"
Lu Zheng said calmly, "You have an aura of evil, how can I let you go so easily?"
Seeing Lu Zheng's attitude, the man had no choice but to say, "Fine, I'll stay here. You have the guts to let those officials punish me."
As Lu Zheng raised his hand, a sharp sword intent was released, and he slowly stepped closer to the man.
The man's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. "You, what do you want to do? You can't kill me!"
Lu Zheng said indifferently, "Why not? According to the laws of Shu, dealing with a wicked demon like you doesn't require going through official procedures..."
"Do you think you have some kind of backing that even the local government officials wouldn't dare to do anything to you?"
“I was also worried that you might be able to persuade some officials, so I thought it would be best to execute you on the spot.”
The man's expression changed upon hearing this. He realized he couldn't persuade Lu Zheng and thought he would negotiate with the government later and pay some price to atone for his sins.
The officials in the prefecture city are not as skilled as Lu Zheng and his group, so they might pay a lower price.
As it turned out, Lu Zheng didn't seem to give him that opportunity at all.
Previously, Lu Zheng's aura had not been deliberately targeted at the man.
The righteous energy he was exuding now made the man feel terrified; he had never felt such fear when facing that little girl.
The sharp sword intent easily pierced the man's skin.
An unbearable pain instantly spread throughout my body, reaching the depths of my soul.
The man suddenly began to convulse, and with difficulty, he said, "No, don't kill me, or many people in the entire Cang County, and other counties, will be buried with me!"
Lu Zheng's sword energy swirled at his fingertips, neither withdrawing nor advancing further. "What do you mean?"
The man's face contorted in agony. "You think only the magistrate of Cang County is a demon? There are others in other places too! They are all my offspring. If I die, a plague will break out among them, and it will be far worse than the plague in Cang County. Can you save them then...?"
Lu Zheng frowned. He realized that the man wasn't lying; he was telling the truth.
Lu Zheng slowly withdrew his sword energy, his gaze toward the man growing increasingly cold.
The man ignored Lu Zheng's gaze, feeling unbearable pain all over his body, panting heavily, his entire body soaked in sweat.
He almost died... The man was breathing heavily, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Having killed so many living beings in the past, only now does he realize how terrifying death can be.
(End of this chapter)