Surviving in a world of demons and monsters to achieve martial arts sainthood

The Demon Suppression Division investigated the disappearance case for several days.

So far, only Li Wen has been found, and some clues have been obtained in the missing persons case, but Zhang Laosan has not yet been found.

Based on current clues, it is possible that the other missing persons, like Li Wen, came into contact with that kind of stone and underwent some kind of change, most likely developing blue scales on their bodies, just like Li Wen.

According to the old woman, Zhang Laosan's body underwent some kind of change, which was speculated to be the same as Li Wen's.

Under Zhao Shan's instructions, Sun Yan searched for the stone that Li Wen had lost in the moat. After searching for several days, he finally found the stone.

Just as Li Wen said, the stone would emit a pale blue light at night.

Upon finding the stone, Sun Yan immediately handed it over to the appraisal shop, asking Elder Xu to examine what it was.

Inside the authentication room, candles flickered.

Wearing reading glasses and holding a magnifying glass, Old Xu carefully examined the stone in his hand. This was the stone that Sun Yan had found in the moat. The stone was about the size of a fist, dark blue in color, and covered with fine lines on its surface.

Zhao Shan, the chief flag officer, and Chen Biao, Sun Yan, and other junior flag officers stood to one side, while Shen Lian, Chen Yun, and others stood behind them. Everyone held their breath and focused.

"This stone... doesn't seem to be an ordinary ore." Old Xu frowned, a chilling sensation emanating from the stone in his hand.

Zhao Shan asked in a deep voice, "Old Xu, have you found any clues?"

Old Xu put down the stone in his hand, got up and walked to the bookshelf by the wall, took out a copy of "The Record of Strange Things in the Nine Provinces", and quickly flipped through the yellowed pages.

After a moment, he stopped in front of an illustration of a strange rock, looked at it again and again, and finally shook his head.

Old Xu closed the book, walked back to the table, and said, "This stone is not among the 321 kinds of strange stones. I speculate that it may not have been formed naturally."

Zhao Shan frowned and said, "It wasn't formed naturally? Could it have been deliberately created?"

"That is indeed possible. Perhaps it was done intentionally by someone with ulterior motives, to plot something," Old Xu analyzed.

Zhao Shan said, "It seems that the recent disappearances in Qinghe County are more troublesome than I imagined. We must catch the culprit as soon as possible, otherwise more people will experience physical changes like Li Wen. We don't know what will happen to Li Wen later, so we must not let our guard down during this period."

Just then, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

A young Demon-Suppressing Guard rushed into the Forensic Center, panting, and knelt on one knee: "Reporting to the Commander! There's been a discovery in the south of the city!"

"To the south of the city!"

Zhao Shan made a decisive decision and led a group of demon-suppressing envoys to set off for the south of the city.

Half an hour later, Zhao Shan and his group arrived at the south of the city, where the scene had already been sealed off by the Demon Suppression Envoy who had arrived earlier.

"Commander-in-Chief!"

The group of demon-suppressing envoys all gestured to Zhao Shan.

"How is the situation?" Zhao Shan immediately asked.

A young demon-suppressing envoy quickly stepped forward and saluted: "Commander, half an hour ago, a fisherman found a floating corpse here, which has been pulled ashore. My initial examination reveals that the deceased was male, with a large number of bluish-black scales on his body, consistent with the scales found previously. I suspect it was the work of the missing person."

Zhao Shan looked solemn, waved his hand in acknowledgment, and then stepped forward.

A straw mat covered the ground beside the reeds, revealing a pale-faced corpse. The deceased's eyes were wide open, and his face, neck, and arms were covered with dense scales. There was a large, bowl-sized hole in his chest, as if he had been forcibly pierced by some sharp object.

"Is it Zhang Laosan?" Chen Yun asked in a low voice.

Wang Lin glanced at the corpse on the ground and shook his head, saying, "No, Zhang Laosan was a dockworker, with a robust physique, while the deceased was thin, which is completely inconsistent."

Zhao Shan said in a deep voice, "Find out the identity of the deceased. Also, carefully examine the surrounding area, especially the water's edge."

The group dispersed and acted separately.

Shen Lian walked to the riverbank and bent down to examine the footprints in the mud. They were exactly the same as the nine-inch footprints he had found at the blacksmith's shop and the moat. The footprints were extremely deep, indicating that the person was incredibly heavy. The footprints extended deep into the reeds and disappeared near the water's edge.

"Could the murderer have come from the water, killed someone, and then retreated back into the water?" Shen Lian wondered, looking at the shimmering river surface.

Chen Yun walked to his side and whispered, "Senior Brother Shen, was the deceased also mutated due to contact with the stone?"

Shen Lian nodded and said, "That is indeed possible."

"Brother Lian, I found this."

Li Hu's voice suddenly rang out. He emerged from the reeds and handed a dark blue fragment to Shen Lian.

Shen Lian took the fragment, which was about the size of a palm and was icy cold to the touch.

"This looks like the shell that has fallen off something?" Shen Lian frowned.

Chen Yun asked, "Can you tell what it is?"

Shen Lian shook his head slightly and said, "No, let's trace upstream first and see if we can find anything else."

"good!"

Shen Lian and the others followed the moat upstream to investigate.

After tracking for several miles, the group stopped to observe their surroundings.

Chen Yun pointed to a patch of grass to the right and said, "Senior Brother Shen, there are drag marks here. Come and take a look."

Shen Lian walked over, the grass was crushed and covered with blood.

"It seems the deceased was attacked and killed here, and then swept downstream to the reeds by the river," Shen Lian analyzed after squatting down and taking a look.

Lin Feng used his knife to part the grass, frowning as he said, "There's something here!"

It was a tattered piece of gray cloth, as if torn from clothing, with a few words scrawled on it in crooked blood: "Underwater...cave...hole..."

Shen Lian looked up at the river and said, "It seems he wants to tell us that the murderer is hiding in an underwater cave."

Chen Yun frowned and said, "This section of the moat is only about ten feet deep, and it doesn't look like there are any caves in it at all."

"It might not be a natural cave," Shen Lian said, standing up. "It could be a cave that was carved out by humans for hiding purposes."

The three continued on their way, and after walking another half mile, the terrain along the riverbank gradually rose, with vines covering the cliff face and the river below appearing bottomless.

"Behind the cliff," Shen Lian pointed to the densest part of the vines ahead, "there's a hollow echo there, and the sound of the flowing water is different too."

Lin Feng used a knife to cut through the vines, revealing a hole about half a person's height. The hole was mostly submerged by the river, with only a small gap visible above it. There were obvious signs of artificial carving.

"I'll go in and take a look." Shen Lian took off his outer robe and tied his long sword behind his back.

"This is too dangerous!" Chen Yun grabbed him. "If the killer is inside, it won't be easy to get away."

"That's precisely why we must go in," Shen Lian said firmly. "If it really is the killer's lair, we must investigate thoroughly while they are off guard. You will provide backup outside. If I haven't come out after an incense stick has burned, immediately send a signal for help."

Chen Yun wanted to persuade him again, but Shen Lian had already taken a deep breath and plunged into the water.

The icy river water instantly enveloped his entire body. He circulated his qi and blood to resist the cold and swam forward with the help of the faint light coming through the cave entrance.

After passing through a tunnel, Shen Lian surfaced. He wiped the water droplets from his face, looked around, and found himself in a natural cave.

Stalactites hung from the cave ceiling, the walls were damp, and some bones were scattered on the ground.

He quietly went ashore, crouched behind a boulder, and stared intently at it.

A faint, low whimpering sound could be heard from deep within the cave.

Shen Lian dared not be careless. He held his breath and moved forward, bypassing several stone pillars.

The sight before him made his pupils shrink. The depths of the cave were empty, with more than ten dark blue stones piled in the center, just like the ones Sun Yan had found in the moat.

Three people were huddled beside the rock, their bodies covered in scales, their hands and feet bound by rough vines, completely unable to move.

One of them was Zhang Laosan, who had been missing for many days. Scales had spread from his face to the corners of his eyes, his eyes were cloudy and lifeless, and his body was trembling slightly.

But the most unsettling thing was the dark figure standing in front of the pile of stones.

It was a giant man nearly nine feet tall, shirtless, with his body covered in bluish-black scales, a row of sharp bone spurs on his back, and his five fingers turned into claws. He was facing away from Shen Lian, fiddling with something.

Shen Lian's gaze fell on the ground at his feet, where several mutilated corpses lay scattered, their bodies bearing signs of being torn apart.

He's eating people!

Shen Lian was greatly alarmed and slowly retreated.

Just as he stepped back, he accidentally stepped on a dry bone, and a soft 'crack' sound echoed in the cave.

The giant suddenly turned around, and a hideous face came into Shen Lian's view. The giant's eyes were blood red, and his face was covered with scales, making him look extremely creepy.

"New prey?"

The giant grinned and laughed. He threw away the severed limb in his hand, took a step forward, and was in front of Shen Lian in the blink of an eye, his sharp claws slashing down on his head!

Shen Lian was prepared. He quickly turned his stance and narrowly avoided the claw. The claw grazed his shoulder and left five deep marks on the stone wall.

"Such speed!" Shen Lian's heart skipped a beat, his long sword trembled, and he unleashed a 'Wave Slash' diagonal slash, heading straight for the giant man.

clang!

The longsword struck the giant, whose scales were extremely hard. Shen Lian's full-force strike only left a shallow white mark on the giant's body.

The giant roared and attacked Shen Lian again. Shen Lian dodged and slashed diagonally with his longsword, aiming straight for the giant's ribs, where the scales were less dense.

Shen Lian forced the giant man back with a single strike, and he fought and retreated simultaneously.

Shen Lian quickly retreated to the water's edge, with nowhere else to go.

The giant lunged at Shen Lian, but Shen Lian's mind raced. He kicked away the rubble on the ground and, taking advantage of the obstructed view, leaped into the water.

"Trying to escape?" The giant chased after him into the water without hesitation.

Underwater visibility was poor, so Shen Lian held his breath and lay in wait, sensing the giant's movements.

The giant was an excellent swimmer; his speed increased rather than decreased after entering the water, and he rushed towards Shen Lian like a swimming fish, quickly closing in.

Shen Lian dared not be careless. He suddenly spun around, using the water's force to accelerate, and unleashed a series of three consecutive "Wave-Slicing" slashes towards the giant man.

The long sword cleaved through the giant's scales, the blade penetrating deep into flesh, blood spreading in the water and emitting a strong smell of blood.

The giant, in pain, roared and slapped Shen Lian's head with his claw.

The two fought for several rounds in the water.

The giant had an advantage in the water, and Shen Lian knew he couldn't fight in the water for long. He glanced towards the cave entrance, then used all his strength to force the giant back with a single strike, before turning and swimming towards the cave entrance.

The giant pursued relentlessly, letting out a roar and striking Shen Lian with his palm.

clang!

The giant slapped the longsword, forcing Shen Lian to retreat.

"Brother Shen!"

Chen Yun and Lin Feng, who were waiting outside, were shocked and rushed forward.

Shen Lian shouted urgently, "Retreat! Send the signal!"

Lin Feng immediately took out a communication firework and set it off. A red light shot into the sky and exploded in the night sky.

The giant burst out of the water and charged toward Shen Lian and his companions at an incredible speed.

Shen Lian, Chen Yun, Lin Feng, and the others surrounded the giant man and launched a frenzied attack on him, their long swords slashing at him repeatedly.

Although the giant was strong, he was still severely suppressed by the combined attack of Shen Lian and the others, who did not give him any chance at all.

A short while later, Zhao Shan, Sun Yan, and others arrived.

"Surround him!"

Zhao Shan shouted, and more than ten demon-suppressing envoys surrounded the giant man.

The giant surveyed his surroundings, a flicker of struggle in his eyes, before suddenly letting out a long howl, punctuated by indistinct human speech: "Kill...me..."

He suddenly turned around and crashed headfirst into the cliff face!

Click!

The sound of skull shattering was clearly audible. The giant slowly fell to the ground, and the scales on his body visibly receded, revealing his original human body.

He was a rugged-looking man, about thirty years old.

Zhao Shan walked to the corpse, examined it for a while, and shook his head, saying, "It seems he was also affected by the stone, which is why he turned out like this."

Sun Yan led his men into the cave and rescued the three bound men. One of them was Zhang Laosan, and the other two were a carpenter's apprentice from the north of the city and a scholar from the south of the city who had disappeared half a month ago. All three of them had mutated after picking up the dark blue stone.

According to them, the giant's real name is Shi Yong. He was originally a fisherman in the moat. He was the first to pick up the stone three months ago. He was the one who mutated the most and was the first to lose control.

He was initially still conscious and threw the stone into the river, but for some reason, Li Wen picked it up. Later, Shi Yong completely lost his humanity and began hunting other mutants, consuming the remaining stone energy in their bodies to maintain his own mutation.

"What exactly are those stones?" Chen Yun looked at the dozen or so dark blue stones that were carried out of the cave and felt a chill run down her spine.

Old Xu squatted beside Shi Yong's corpse, inserting a silver needle into the wound to extract a small amount of dark blue-green viscous fluid. After examining it intently for a long time, his expression changed drastically. "This...this isn't demonic energy, nor is it a strange object created through evil arts. This is 'Xiao Stone'!"

Zhao Shan asked in a deep voice, "Xiao Shi?"

"Ancient texts record that in ancient times there existed a strange race called 'Water Demons,' who were inherently ferocious and could refine 'Demonic Stones' from their own blood essence. When mortals came into contact with them, their bloodlines would be gradually altered, eventually turning them into half-human, half-demonic monsters," Old Xu said, his voice trembling. "The Water Demon race should have been wiped out long ago..."

Shen Lian frowned and said, "Could it be a human-demon hybrid?"

"No, it's even more terrifying than that," Old Xu shook his head. "This is forcibly replacing human blood with alien blood. The reason Shi Yong wants to devour his own kind is because the Xiao Shi energy is insufficient, and he needs to plunder the remaining essence and blood in other people's bodies to maintain the mutation. If he devours nine people, he will probably completely transform into a true 'Water Xiao,' and at that time... even a sixth-level martial artist might not be able to subdue him."

A chill ran down everyone's spine.

Zhao Shan immediately ordered: "Seal all the demon stones and send them back to the appraisal workshop for strict guard. Conduct a city-wide search immediately to see if anyone else has come into contact with similar stones."

"yes!"