CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: PULLING THE TIGER’S SKIN

Wen Yan’s brows furrowed slightly. He didn’t even have the energy to complain anymore. If someone told him right now that the whole world knew about the Soul Devouring Beast, he probably wouldn’t even be surprised.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Find this great lord before anyone else does. With this lord’s power, fighter jets and tanks would all be useless.

Only with a king like this leading us will our days get better.

No more living in constant fear, watching our living space shrink bit by bit, worrying every single day.

As long as we find this lord first and unite our forces,

then we’ll never have to be slaughtered at will like we are now, all us non-humans getting killed left and right.

And divided into National First-Class, National Second-Class, or whatever, just to humiliate us."

Lady Lie couldn’t hide the fanaticism in her tone. When she talked about this, her eyes sparkled with excitement.

That kind of fanaticism made Wen Yan naturally assume she’d been brainwashed. And then, naturally, he thought of Mo Zhicheng.

Mo Zhicheng, after all, had a history of brainwashing sparrow cats, so Wen Yan had a bad feeling about this.

Who knows where that bastard went, but it seemed like his traces were everywhere.

The Scorching Sun Department’s internal investigation was still ongoing; it’d take at least ten days to half a month to finish.

Wen Yan let his eyelids droop slightly, turned his head, hiding the turmoil in his heart.

He glanced casually around, and with a slow, steady tone, began to speak.

"Nice speech, but, forgive me for being blunt, with just us here—including you and me—

we don’t even have enough clout to make the Scorching Sun Department bump up our case on the to-do list."

You’re like someone dreaming about a feast when you’re still starving—talking about throwing away half the food when you haven’t even seen any yet.

It’s totally meaningless.

Sorry, but I’m not interested."

Wen Yan turned to leave right away.

Lady Lie got a bit anxious in that instant. The more aloof Wen Yan acted, the more she was convinced he was strong and well-connected, way above these misfits.

Someone like Wen Yan was exactly who she wanted.

"Wait!"

"I’ve got backing, too!"

Seeing Wen Yan didn’t even look back, Lady Lie couldn’t afford to wait any longer. After searching so many days, she’d finally hooked a big fish; how could she let that go?

To put it bluntly, the other wild demons, little monsters—they’re just cannon fodder. The more the merrier, but one more or less isn’t really a big deal.

But the ones with real power and backing, that’s the key.

"All this is top secret in the Scorching Sun Department. Even there, not many people know the three words ’Soul Devouring Beast.’

Yet the people above me somehow know about this, and even know where the Soul Devouring Beast will appear.

These days, if you’ve been in Nanwu County at all, you’ve probably heard the Scorching Sun Department moving around, right?

That chemical plant they were drawn to—still haven’t taken it after fighting so long—that was all our work.

I’m just suited for tasks like this, and honestly a bit weak, so they sent me out to this domain.

If Young Master Su is willing, I can introduce you to my boss."

Wen Yan figured that was enough, so he stopped and turned around, his expression showing a hint of surprise.

"So that chemical plant mess—that was all you guys?"

"That’s right!" As soon as Lady Lie saw her bluff worked, she perked up.

"Oh, no wonder I heard that after a new minister parachuted into the Nanwu County Scorching Sun Department, they started going crazy, mobilizing people like mad. I thought it was just internal power struggle and the new guy showing off—turns out it was something big."

"Young Master Su, you already heard about it? You sure have your ear to the ground." Lady Lie’s eyes sparkled, testing the waters.

"Old folks mentioned it, just caught a little bit. I don’t really keep up with this stuff." Wen Yan replied casually, without betraying anything.

That made Lady Lie’s eyes brighten even more. The other demons, who’d stayed quiet for ages, didn’t feel slighted at all. They were more and more convinced Wen Yan must have some serious background—as did Lady Lie.

"Oh, I just remembered—there was a chemical plant in Duanzhou. A few days back, they evacuated a whole area. Were you working there, or was it about the Soul Devouring Beast?"

"With that kind of deterrence, of course that was the Soul Devouring Beast, my lord." Lady Lie replied instantly, not hesitating at all.

"I’d rather not get dragged into a fight with the Scorching Sun Department. The Nanwu County Tuoba Martial God—such formidable power, it really left an impression." Wen Yan finished, and decided to steer the conversation: "Besides, this is a big deal. I’m really not in a position to agree to anything just like that."

Instead of being disappointed that Wen Yan didn’t commit, Lady Lie was overjoyed.

She just wanted Wen Yan to pass the message along to his backers—the more careful he was, the better.

Unlike those little monsters—say yes right away, total lack of background or support.

"Of course, of course. I’ll await your reply, Young Master Su."

Seeing Wen Yan about to leave, Lady Lie called after him,

"Young Master Su, once you’re in here, you can’t leave until sunrise. Plus, wherever you came in, that’s where you have to leave from."

"Alright, thanks. I’ll wait, then."

Wen Yan was carrying a Blood Warm Jade, so he wasn’t worried about the mountain’s chill at night. He just sat down to wait.

He thought over Lady Lie’s warning. This was completely different from the advice given to the little raccoon before.

One just had to wait for sunrise, the other had to leave from the same place they entered.

Going by the domain rules, this was probably a big trap.

Wen Yan sat there, acting like he couldn’t care less about the others. Lady Lie kept pitching her plan to the remaining few little monsters. It went smoothly this time, and a few wild demons joined up right away.

After all was said and done, Lady Lie started sharing stories, boasting to the little monsters, even handing out little trinkets as gifts.

Wen Yan got three as well. Seeing Lady Lie looked a bit embarrassed, as though her gifts weren’t anything special, Wen Yan just accepted them without a word.

They looked like jade, but not quite that good. Honestly, he couldn’t tell if they were valuable or not.

But the more indifferent he acted, the more deeply he stuck in Lady Lie’s mind.

As dawn approached, the demons scattered, each searching for their entry point.

Wen Yan walked with a slight spring to his step. He had a little zombie clinging to his back—who knew where it came from? He figured, once he left the domain, the little zombie shouldn’t be able to follow him, right?

Getting choked by a zombie around the neck, with the thing ready to snap it at any second—not a fun experience.

When he got to his spot, he saw a solitary figure off in the distance, standing motionless on the stones.

Wen Yan slowed his steps, got a little closer, and was stunned—how did the hopping corpse get in here?

Then he realized—Old Xi must have been worried about him, and just sent the hopping corpse in directly.

...

Deeper in the woods, Lone Wolf, who’d barely spoken till now, marched ahead, his face a mask of canine gloom. Even though he nursed a grudge inside, he decided: once he got out of here, he was never coming back.

Suddenly, a faint metallic scraping sounded. Lone Wolf’s ears twitched, then he acted like nothing happened.

The hatred bottled up inside him was silently pierced, murderous intent leaking out, making him more and more unsettled—the more he thought, the less he could bear it.

He only walked a short while before he suddenly turned, bolting off in another direction.

Before long, Lone Wolf reached a patch of woods, crouched in the bushes, and stared at Wen Yan approaching the rocky riverbank. His single eye glowed faintly, and his fangs slowly emerged.

Lone wolves hold grudges the deepest. He’d offended Wen Yan and his gang, and after that, he said nothing more, acting like he’d backed down.

But he remembered how trash-talking that cat-headed bird was. If they let them go, that foul-mouthed cat-headed bird would blab about what happened here for sure.

And with Lady Lie sucking up like that, if there was ever more tension, she’d be the first dead for sure.

Plus, who knew what the other monsters were thinking? But after surviving all these years, he at least understood—the bigger Lady Lie’s plan, the more likely wild demons like him would be cannon fodder.

The more background that damn cat-headed bird’s gang had, the more dangerous they were. Rather than risk becoming a target later, might as well take care of that mouthy cat-headed bird and his lot while still inside the domain—then run for his life, and save himself from turning into cannon fodder.