The village was ordinary. No, it looked ordinary.
There were passersby and merchants, and even children running about.
At a glance, no one would ever think this place was the “village of Evil Valley.”
However, though it seemed like an ordinary village at first glance, the gazes, wariness, and atmosphere of those coming and going were anything but ordinary.
We sensed furtive glances passing between them, but pretended not to notice as we walked along the road.
“Not everyone here follows the Lord of Evil Valley. Rather, there are many who constantly covet his position. You can think of it as similar to the Green Forest.”
That was why we did not rush in using lightness skill.
We made sure our movement would not be taken as an intrusion or an attack. If it were judged to be an attack, every villain in Evil Valley would step forward. Whether they liked it or not, they would try to defend their home.
But we were merely walking as unfamiliar visitors. That difference was enormous, and it was a strategy we could choose because we had the Extreme Evil Little Demon, who understood the nature of Evil Valley better than anyone.
As we walked along the road, we saw more than ten men and women sitting around in an open space, drinking. Whatever was so pleasant and enjoyable, they were laughing and chattering noisily.
The very moment we passed them.
They sprang to their feet and tried to throw hidden weapons. But before the hidden weapons could even leave their hands—
Shiiiiik.
Kwakwakwakwakwa!
A step faster than them, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s saber qi swept them away. We had already been prepared for their ambush.
Their acting had been fine up to the point of laughing, chatting, and playing, but even after we passed by, not a single one of them had so much as glanced at us. If it had been two or three people, perhaps, but with more than ten sitting there, not one looking at us was unnatural in itself.
“Most of the villains in Evil Valley are people who would sell even their souls for money. The Lord of Evil Valley has probably put a bounty on us in preparation for our arrival.”
At the Extreme Evil Little Demon’s explanation, I said with a smile,
“He’d have to put up at least a million nyang.”
Then the Drunken Demon said,
“Per person, of course?”
We continued walking while joking like that, when ambushers sprang out again from the woods on both sides.
This time, the Sword Venerable lightly soared upward and spun once in the air, unleashing sword qi. Her sword turned with her, scattering sword qi in every direction.
Those who charged were cut down by the sword qi and all collapsed dead, and not a single strand of sword qi missed its mark.
The Sword Venerable descended once more with elegant footwork to the spot where she had been walking.
As if nothing had happened, we continued the conversation from before as we walked.
“The Lord of Evil Valley isn’t the richest man under heaven. How could he possibly put up a million nyang per person?”
“That’s why only people like this are coming out.”
The moment the Drunken Demon spoke, hidden weapons flew in from the thicket ahead.
We all lightly twisted our bodies and avoided them. The hidden weapons passed through the gaps between the five of us. They flew in fiercely, as if they could never be dodged, but everyone moved lightly and avoided them all.
This time, the Drunken Demon moved. His figure flashed, then vanished into the thicket. And he returned to his original spot even faster than when he had gone in. Not a single scream was heard, so we could not tell how he had dealt with the ambushers.
After returning, he drank a cup of wine and said,
“I gave them all a cup, so they drank and went to sleep.”
I had never properly seen the Drunken Demon fight, but just from this, he was not someone whose martial arts could be underestimated.
After walking on again, we arrived at a ferry.
“From here, we have to take a boat and cross the river.”
We boarded a boat procured at the ferry and crossed the river.
“As the youngest, I’ll row.”
Watching me row, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon said,
“When did you learn how to handle a boat? You’re very used to it.”
“Is there anything I can’t do?”
The other three Demon Venerables also stared at me intently.
“Why are you all staring like that? It’s embarrassing. If you keep doing that, I’ll… row even better, you know? I happen to like being the center of attention.”
I joked, but they all looked at me with strange eyes. It was probably because there were too few things I could not do—far too few.
Like that, the boat swiftly cut through the current.
After staring at the river water for a while, the Drunken Demon suddenly said to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon,
“Seeing you make your move against the enemies this time, senior, you are still hale and vigorous.”
When the Drunken Demon suddenly praised him, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was visibly flustered.
“Well, I don’t drink much.”
Then the One Flower Sword Venerable said,
“At times like this, just say, ‘Thank you.’ Why is it that even with age, your spitefulness doesn’t lessen?”
She was interfering, but her tone was gentle. Normally, he might have become even more prickly, but this time, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon took a step back.
“Thank you.”
He had meekly thanked the Drunken Demon.
“Not at all. I only said what I felt.”
The One Flower Sword Venerable looked at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon with an expression that asked what had gotten into him.
I could feel that the Drunken Demon was making an effort. That effort was creating change.
The Drunken Demon’s gaze met mine. Thank you, brother. You’re doing well.
The attacks continued.
When the boat reached the middle of the river, ambushers burst out from under the water and launched hidden weapons.
This time, I leaped up while holding an oar and struck them down.
I struck one, stepped on him, then struck another; stepped on that one and struck again. It seemed like nothing special, but it was a technique combining the highest level of footwork and lightness skill.
All those who had leaped up were hit by the oar, their skulls bursting as they fell back into the water. Dressed in fish-scale attire, they were the Yellow River Water Ghosts who had once roamed the Yellow River region. They had plundered passing boats and slaughtered passengers, and in the end had been driven all the way to Evil Valley to live.
The very moment I landed back on the boat—
Boom!
With an explosion, the ferryboat we were riding was blown apart.
The Demon Venerables and I all soared upward. The Water Ghosts poked their heads out of the water and fired poison needles from tubes held in their mouths.
Pikpikpikpikpikpikpik!
But not a single Demon Venerable was struck by those poison needles. They moved their bodies in midair and avoided every ambush. The one to act this time was the Extreme Evil Little Demon.
Ping! Piiing! Ping! Ping!
The Blood Calamity Finger was released in succession. Only then did I learn for the first time that the Extreme Evil Little Demon’s finger wind could be fired continuously like that.
Those who had shot the poison needles floated up as corpses like dead fish.
The Demon Venerables and I each landed on pieces of the shattered boat. Though we stood on fragments smaller than a man’s forearm, they did not sink.
Shaaaaaaaa.
The pieces of wood carrying the Demon Venerables cut through the current and advanced.
There were Water Ghosts far behind us, poking their heads out of the water, but they did not dare attack us. Just the technique of crossing the river atop broken pieces of wood by exerting internal energy was enough to make them lose the will to fight.
Like that, we reached the opposite riverbank in an instant.
The ones whose names were known blocked our path about a hundred zhang away from there.
The movement arts displayed by the five martial artists standing in our way were anything but ordinary.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon recognized them.
“The Five Evils of Chongqing!”
They were men who had once committed atrocities with the Chongqing region as their base.
“It’s been so many years that few people recognize us now. Old man, who are you?”
“You’ve forgotten me.”
“Do you know me?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon merely smiled faintly.
“Seeing as you’re blocking our way, when one grows old, judgment becomes as clouded as memory.”
The First Evil’s expression stiffened.
He had stepped forward to kill, yet some inexplicable unease pricked at him. He was sure he had seen this old man somewhere, but he could not remember.
“Kill them!”
It was an order the First Evil gave to his subordinates, but in the end, it became an order given to the Demon Venerables.
No sooner had his words ended than each of us faced one opponent.
The Extreme Evil Little Demon released the Blood Calamity Finger. Unable to dodge the Blood Calamity Finger fired at close range, the Fourth Evil fell with his forehead pierced through. The One Flower Sword Venerable’s sword technique severed the Second Evil’s neck, and my Azure Heaven Form split open the Fifth Evil’s chest in the blink of an eye. The Third Evil’s head was shattered by the Drunken Demon’s Blood Tears, and he collapsed.
The only one left was the First Evil. The moment they died, he remembered.
“Ah! You… Why are you here?”
His voice trembled violently. There had once been a time when the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had shaken the jianghu. Back then, the First Evil had not even been able to meet his eyes properly, and now, after so many years, they had met again here.
The First Evil hurriedly tried to flee, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s great saber cut his body in half.
While fighting together, I was realizing one thing. Though they seemed to fight indifferently, the Demon Venerables were conscious of one another. They used each move carefully, and while pretending not to look, they attentively watched what techniques the others used. In a sense, the opponents they were paying attention to were not the villains of Evil Valley, but one another. And what they watched most carefully was, naturally, my movements and martial arts.
Even so, I did not bother hiding my skill. I did not reveal everything, but neither did I deliberately try to diminish my abilities. Because I was someone who would become their leader. Because I had to make them trust and follow me.
This time, those who used poisonous smoke attacked.
Several men who had been hiding revealed themselves and sprayed poisonous smoke at us.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable stepped forward at the same time, and when they swung their sleeves, the incoming poisonous smoke flew back toward those who had released it.
Then they collapsed in agony, blood gushing from every hole in their bodies.
For the first time since entering this place, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable coordinated to face the enemy. They looked at each other. The gazes they directed at one another were growing softer and softer.
“Once we pass that field, the Lord of Evil Valley’s residence will appear.”
With about a hundred zhang left until the Lord of Evil Valley’s residence, villains holding spears poured out all at once from one side.
The huge man at the front was holding a spear as large as a pillar.
He was the Giant Strength Ghost Spear, who had once made a name for himself in the martial world with a single spear. A master of the unorthodox path, he had attained mastery in spear arts, but after attacking a branch of the Martial Alliance, he had been branded a public enemy of the martial world and disappeared. Now he had shown himself here in Evil Valley.
Dozens of villains also appeared from the opposite side. Wearing black martial robes and masks that revealed only their eyes, they were assassins. The one leading them was Yin Yue. He had once been famed as an assassin of the highest skill, and here he was leading an organization of assassins.
Those who appeared from another direction wore only undergarments on their lower bodies. Standing there with vacant eyes, they were intoxicated by drugs.
But if one let one’s guard down because of their appearance, one would have one’s entire body torn apart and die. They were far stronger in martial arts than they appeared, and they were men who felt no pain even when stabbed by blades and swords. When such people made up their minds and charged like madmen, there were not many who could withstand their momentum.
Not only them, but this time a group made up solely of women also appeared, as did men dressed as hunters, and even a band of beggars.
Those who appeared were not people receiving the Lord of Evil Valley’s orders, but rather those who each possessed their own forces and lived here. They fought among themselves, trying to seize supremacy over Evil Valley.
It was also because of these people that, when the Lord of Evil Valley’s hands and feet died, he had judged his position to be in danger.
The killing intent and momentum directed at us were no ordinary thing, but the Demon Venerables were not shaken in the slightest.
Wearing his bloodstained mask, the Extreme Evil Little Demon gazed at them haughtily with his arms crossed. That composure was overwhelming the enemy.
The other Demon Venerables were the same. Merely by standing there proudly, they made hundreds of villains unable to dare charge.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon stepped forward and shouted in a thunderous voice,
“If you’re going to come at us, all of you come at once.”
Guuuuuuung!
Saber aura gathered on the Heaven-Extinguishing Great Saber hanging at his side.
His aura was red as blood. It was my first time seeing his saber aura, and perhaps because it was blood-red, it was truly intense and impressive.
Starting with him, the Demon Venerables each released their own presence. Sword aura also gathered on the One Flower Sword Venerable’s White Flower Sword. Her sword aura was pure white. It was a color that suited her far too well.
As the momentum of the five of us spread in every direction, the villains backed away further, as if pushed by an invisible force.
If I had come alone, or if I had come with only the Extreme Evil Little Demon, we would have had to fight all of them.
But since I had come with the four Demon Venerables, no one dared rush at us.
Hundreds had gathered, but they did not dare attack and only watched from afar. When we were together, there was nothing that could obstruct us.
In the end, they could not attack. Our momentum was one thing, but upon realizing that the place we were heading was the Lord of Evil Valley’s residence, they did not go out of their way to fight. Their greed had now turned toward something greater.
We began walking again. At the end of that road stood the manor where the Lord of Evil Valley lived.
On the signboard above the main gate was written: Mutual Aid in Evil. It meant that even villains aided one another in order to achieve evil.
“He must have received reports that we were coming, so he’ll be waiting with his own preparations.”
At my words, the Extreme Evil Little Demon smashed the signboard with the Demonic Extreme Berserk Palm. The entire place where the signboard had been attached was blown away and disappeared without a trace.
At the same time, the other Demon Venerables released palm force simultaneously. The main gate and the wall in front crumbled into powder.
“If I had come alone, perhaps it would be another matter, but with four of us here together…”
The Extreme Evil Little Demon walked ahead and added,
“If mere preparation were enough to deal with us, we would have to give up our seats as Demon Venerables, wouldn’t we?”