Patrol Captain

A few days later, at night.

In the northwest of Sichuan, outside a county town in Yong'an Prefecture, there is a dilapidated temple on a mountain road. It was a small temple built spontaneously by passing merchants in earlier years to provide shelter and pray for peace. However, as the official road became more and more accessible, the temple was soon abandoned and left to languish in the desolate mountains, with only two broken houses and tiles remaining.

The night was dark and the wind was high. A light rain was falling in the mountains, and the rain streaked across the muddy mountain path. A dilapidated temple stood by the roadside, its crumbling mud walls cracked and its eaves broken in half, swaying in the wind and rain.

That night, a few lights flickered and swayed inside the temple, casting the spiderwebs on the beams on and off.

The surrounding mountains loomed darkly, their peaks like animal teeth, their shadows like claws. When the wind whistled through the trees, it seemed as if countless dark shadows were lurking in the mountain hollows. The rustling of raindrops on the leaves was always mixed with some indescribable sounds. Following the wind, I crawled toward the dilapidated temple. The firelight shrank, making the darkness outside the temple seem even darker, as if it were about to seep in.

At this moment, in this almost abandoned and dilapidated temple, the clay statues were headless and missing their hands and feet, covered with thick cobwebs. Water dripped in from between the broken tiles and eaves, soaking the mud floor into small puddles.

Several fires had suddenly risen in some places inside the temple where the roofs were still relatively intact. They were probably made from water-soaked tree branches. As they burned, thick, choking smoke filled the dilapidated temple, accompanied by the occasional crackling of firecrackers.

There were people around several campfires, indicating they were not traveling together; they had split into three groups, totaling seven or eight people.

I don't know what day it is today, but this dilapidated little temple, which had been abandoned and neglected for a long time, suddenly has so many people coming, adding a bit of life to this desolate place.

A bonfire was lit beside a stone platform near the clay sculpture. A young couple sat there. The man was fair-skinned and handsome, with almond-shaped eyes and a delicate, almost effeminate air. He looked sickly, coughing occasionally, and held a white handkerchief to his mouth. Beside him was a frail woman in a white dress, with a pure and lovely face, though the dress held a strange allure in the firelight. The woman knelt beside the man, patting his back, like a maidservant attending to him.
The second bonfire was in the southwest corner of the small temple, where five men of different ages were gathered. The oldest was in his fifties with graying temples, while the youngest was not yet twenty and still looked quite immature.

Several men wore clothes of coarse linen, patched in numerous places, their skin dark and rough, appearing dull in the firelight. They huddled together in silence, their faces betraying unease, and the faint rumbling of their stomachs could be heard. However, one of the older men couldn't help but steal glances towards the stone platform, watching the pretty maid through the smoke and firelight. He'd look at her a couple of times, thinking how beautiful she was, and how wonderful it would be to marry such a lovely wife someday.

The young man stole a glance and suddenly noticed that the beautiful maid seemed to glance at him sideways and smile at him. This smile startled the young man so much that he quickly lowered his head, his face turning red. Then he couldn't help but look up again.

"Snapped"

A man patted the young man on the head, bent down and scolded him in a low voice.

"Hey kid, don't look around like that."

"Don't remember who we are now. Be careful not to get into trouble and be recognized. If the government catches you, you'll be in serious trouble, if not dead."

The young man rubbed his aching head, looked at the dark-skinned, thin-faced man beside him, and, remembering something, said somewhat uneasily:
"Uncle Ga Zi, I miss my mother, I want to go home."

"Keep your voice down. Everyone wants to go home, but we're here to escape, so we need to hide."

"Uncle Ga Zi, we have travel permits, right? We're just passing through this place. The local authorities probably don't know we escaped back here." The young man was a bit confused.

"I don't know. Something's happened in this county town. The checks are extremely strict. Not only do you have to explain where you came from, but you also have to explain exactly what you did a few days ago. If you're caught lying, you'll be arrested by the authorities. If we hadn't been careful, we might have run right into them and gotten arrested. If you had that kind of guts, you would have been scared into spilling everything if you went to be checked. That would have been even worse."

The young man clicked his tongue in disbelief and became very frightened. "Uncle, is this strict because they want to take us back with them?"

That's a bit too loud.

Several older men nearby panicked, looking around and glancing at the other people in the temple, some casting stern glances.

The man called Uncle Ga quickly covered the boy's mouth, then looked around and, seeing that the people at the other two campfires were not acting strangely, gave his companions an apologetic smile before lowering his head and saying irritably, "Keep your voice down, are you looking for death? You silly kid, you think you're something special. We're just cheap lives, why should the authorities make a big fuss about us?"

"Something big must have happened in the nearby county," the man said with a self-deprecating laugh. He then released his grip and warned in a low voice, "Behave yourselves. We'll take shelter from the rain here for the night, and we can just go around the county from this mountain the next day."

Speaking of which, these five men were from the same hometown. Last year, they were conscripted to build a dam on a large river upstream of Yong'an Prefecture. However, the area was poor and the water was harsh, and the overseers exploited them too much, leaving them with no way to make a living. During a water monster's rampage, they escaped in the chaos and embarked on their journey home.

The five men traveled together under the stars and moon, hiding and fearing for their lives. When they arrived at this county near their hometown, they originally planned to use their travel permits to sneak through the checkpoints as before. However, they found that the neighboring county was conducting unusually strict checks and that troops were on duty. Terrified, they quickly hid in the nearby mountains, and that's how they discovered this mountain road.

They were afraid of the government offices and also of the tigers and monsters in the mountains, but the five of them had no other choice but to risk taking the mountain path to bypass the area. However, it started raining halfway through, and while struggling to find shelter, they discovered this dilapidated temple and quickly took refuge inside. Initially, everyone was a little scared, but when they arrived, the young master and his maid had already started a fire, which gave them some courage.

After all, in the wilderness, a large group of people can boost courage.

Thinking about this, the man whom the young man called Uncle Ga looked at the third bonfire. The fire was burning under a pillar in the northwest of the temple. A man dressed in black sat cross-legged with his back against it. A sword was placed across his knees. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, as immovable as a mountain, and looked quite imposing.

Judging by his attire, he looks quite respectable; he appears to be a wandering knight!
With such people around, sharing the same dilapidated temple, Uncle Ga felt a little more at ease.

Just as he was thinking this,
"call"

"boom"

At the entrance of the dilapidated temple, the crooked, half-closed door was suddenly blown open by a strong gust of wind, and a cool breeze carrying raindrops whistled in.

Then, footsteps could be heard outside.

Before the people arrive, the sound comes first.

"Damn it!"

A rough, cursing voice came in.

Then, a tall and imposing figure appeared at the entrance of the dilapidated temple, obscuring most of the more than ten-foot-high temple gate.

Then, in the firelight, a person strode in.

This man had messy, brown hair that was tangled together. He had a thick beard and a dark face, which was a deep ochre color from years of exposure to the wind and sun. His cheekbones were high and prominent, and his jawline was as taut as a hard rock. There was a scar about an inch long across his left cheek, with dark red edges. He looked like a bandit.

"Oh, I didn't expect so many people to come to this little temple." As soon as he entered, the man's slanted eyes swept over the people in the temple, and he grinned.

With that laugh, the scar twitched, revealing two rows of yellowed teeth, adding to the menacing look.

This man was dressed in short clothes, with a broad back and thick waist. He had a thick hemp rope wrapped around his waist and carried a large knife on his shoulder, looking exactly like a notorious bandit.

As this person appeared, the five men, including Uncle Ga Zi, showed expressions of fear. The wandering swordsman standing by the pillar twitched his eyelids slightly but did not open them. As for the young master and maid, the maid seemed to be afraid and hid behind the young master.

Upon seeing the reactions of the group, the newcomer revealed a playful smile in his slanted eyes. "In this desolate wilderness, this dilapidated temple has been abandoned for who knows how many years. I've never seen so many people before. I guess you all came here because the Zhishui County authorities are cracking down hard, preventing you from entering the city or getting on the road."

"Some of you might be fugitives, some might be undocumented immigrants, and some might even be demons!" The burly man's tone seemed to carry a deeper meaning when he said the last two words.

Upon hearing this, the five men who had evaded corvée labor turned pale.

Strictly speaking, could they also be considered fugitives?

Also, could there be demons among them?
this.
The five men trembled with fear, their faces as pale as paper in the firelight. Then the burly man laughed heartily.
"Look how scared you are."

Having said that, the burly man, carrying his knife, walked directly to the nearest pillar. His slanted eyes looked down at the wandering swordsman, who had a sword across his lap and didn't even open his eyes. He grinned maliciously and shooed him away.

"Get out of my way! I've got my eye on this place. If you know what's good for you, get out of here." His tone was extremely arrogant.

The man in black, who appeared to be about thirty years old, placed his hand on his sword, finally opened his eyes, a cold glint in them, and said, "You've messed with the wrong person!"

He spoke coldly, and as soon as he finished speaking, a metallic clang rang out as his longsword was drawn, a flash of cold light piercing the dim, dilapidated temple.

next second.

"when"

A clang of metal striking metal.

The black-clad swordsman stood up, thrusting his longsword across the fire, aiming straight for the burly man's throat, but the tip of the sword was stopped by the blade of a long saber.

The black-clad ranger opened his eyes, a look of astonishment on his face.

But the next moment, the burly man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. He flicked his long sword, deflecting the sword tip, and then slashed with his other hand from a distance.

The sound broke through the air.

Then, the black-clad ranger was sent flying backward as if struck by a heavy blow, crashing into the flimsy pillar and breaking it. His longsword also lost its footing and fell to the ground.

"puff"

The black-clad ranger coughed up blood, his face turning extremely pale. He struggled to his feet and looked at the burly man with a bandit-like air through the firelight.

"Are you from the government? Did you come here specifically to arrest me?"

Upon seeing this, the burly man chuckled, "Oh ho, you guessed right, there really is a fugitive."

"Die!" The black-clad ranger completely lost his previous aloofness, enraged and embarrassed. He flicked his sleeve, and a handful of white powder flew out from his sleeve, spraying towards the burly man about ten feet away, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound.

This person sprinkled white lime, darted forward, and took the opportunity to break through the collapsed roof.

"Ding Ding Ding"

Amidst the billowing white mist, several crisp, clattering sounds rang out.

Suddenly, a streak of fire shot up from the white smoke and dust, heading in the direction the person had just left.

"boom"

"what"

A scream.

Then, a large hole was smashed in the roof of the dilapidated temple, and the man fell down, landing on the ground unconscious, like a limp rag.

However, it still has gas.

At this moment, the white smoke dissipated, and the burly man was seen inhaling the smoke into his nose. At his feet, several broken willow-leaf throwing knives lay scattered.

The burly man glanced at the black-clad man sprawled in a heap of mud, snorted coldly, and a hint of disdain flashed in his slanted eyes.

Damn it, this guy is acting all high and mighty, I thought he was the target those adults were looking for.

The burly man spat out a word, then turned to the side, his back to the five men who were preparing to escape through the door, and spoke jokingly.

"Don't even think about escaping. If you go out this door, you'll all die."

“A true god is angry above me. If he lets you go, I’ll be in trouble. Listen to me, if you don’t want to die, sit down obediently.”

After saying that, the burly man looked through the firelight and the acrid smoke from the dilapidated temple at the sickly young master and the pure and lovely maid with fear in her eyes below the temple platform!
He pointed his long sword at the young master who was coughing and covering his face with a handkerchief. Then, after a pause, the tip of the sword slowly pointed at the maid behind the young master, who was trembling with fear.
At that moment, the burly man suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He slashed with his long sword, and a blade of light flashed through the white mist and flames, heading straight for the maid.

However, before the blade arrived, he suddenly felt a pain in his chest. The burly man looked down and saw a black tentacle piercing his chest, covered in sharp spikes and looking quite grotesque.

A furious roar erupted from the burly man, whose body swelled up, and his skin bristled with sharp, blue hairs. In no time, a gigantic demon wolf, four zhang tall, rose up and smashed through the dilapidated temple.

It turns out that this burly man was actually a Xuan-type demon!
The demon wolf, after revealing its true form, endured the excruciating pain and fled towards the dark mountains outside.

Then, wriggling black tentacles flew out from the dilapidated temple, following closely behind.

In a corner of the dilapidated temple, five men stared in horror at what they had just witnessed.

It turned out that the burly man who barged in was himself a demon.

But what was that other monster that terrified them so much they nearly died of fright?

Beneath the shrine, the once pure and lovely maid had transformed into an extremely ferocious monster.

It had the head of a beautiful woman, but its body rapidly sprouted tentacles that flew out of the house, while the young master was just an empty shell.

Those hideous, writhing tentacles, like vines, shot out rapidly.

Some of them shot towards the five men who were so frightened they collapsed to the ground.

Just then, the rain began to fall outside the dilapidated temple.

"jingle"

"jingle"

A series of clear, crisp bell sounds rang out.

A golden light pierced the night amidst the rain-soaked mountains and forests.

Then, outside the temple, a towering, striped tiger strode in, upon which sat a figure in blue armor, three mountain-chopping banners fluttering in the wind and rain behind it! (End of Chapter)