High Martial Arts: Martial Soul Great Sage Equal to Heaven, crushing all races.

As the battle drew to a close, Yang Jinyun led his men to inventory the remains of the demonic beasts.

Fifth-tier demonic beasts piled up like a small mountain, with the corpse of the White Tiger Mountain Lord being the most conspicuous. Its unseeing tiger head lay on the ruins, still bearing the incredulous expression of its dying moments.

Feng Mo stood on the riverbank, his sharp eyes scanning the bottom of the river.

The catfish demon's true form was lying in the cave, its two long whiskers swaying leisurely, a smug smile on its lips.

"General Feng."

"explain."

"The real catfish is still at the bottom of the river; what it was just fighting was a clone. It's located in a cave about 300 meters west of the bottom of the Xinlan River."

Feng Qingyang glanced at the coordinates and sneered, "This old fox is good at hiding."

Before he finished speaking, he transformed into a sword beam and plunged into the river.

Inside the cave at the bottom of the river, the catfish demon was plotting its next move.

The destruction of the clones did take a toll on their strength, but compared to saving their lives, it was a worthwhile trade.

Once the people from the Demon Slayer Bureau have finished clearing the battlefield, they will leave, and it will move to another river basin to continue being its river god.

Just as it was thinking this, the river water above its head suddenly exploded.

A terrifying sword intent pierced straight down, shattering the defensive barrier like paper.

The catfish demon's pupils shrank suddenly. Before it could escape, a large hand formed from sword energy grabbed its neck and dragged it up from the bottom of the river like a dead fish.

wow-

Water splashed dozens of feet high.

Feng Qingyang burst out of the water and slammed the catfish demon hard onto the open ground in front of the ruins of Xinlan Town.

He landed with extreme casualness, still holding the wine gourd in one hand, and with the other hand he lightly pressed down on the catfish demon's head, causing the massive demon body to kneel down in the pile of rubble.

"Kneel properly."

The catfish demon trembled all over, its two long whiskers drooping limply to the ground, not even daring to raise its head.

Feng Qingyang took a swig of wine, not even glancing at the trembling monster at his feet, and instead looked at the Xinlan Town residents who had been gathered by the Demon Slayer Division soldiers in the distance.

"This is the river god you have been worshipping for two hundred years."

Thirty thousand townspeople were gradually led to the open space in front of the ruins.

They stared at the ugly catfish kneeling on the ground, their eyes filled with terror and confusion.

An elderly man with white hair squeezed out of the crowd and knelt down on the ground, trembling.

"Impossible...this is impossible! The River God will surely punish us, he will—"

"Shut up." Feng Qingyang kicked the catfish demon. "Tell me yourself, are you a god or a demon?"

The catfish demon trembled with terror, its fat flesh shaking violently. "Demon! Demon! Demon! I'm just a demon! I'm just a catfish spirit from the river, not some god!"

"Why build this temple?"

"I...I want to eat people...human blood and faith can help me cultivate..."

"What about those sacrificial festivals?"

"I made it up! The younger and more tender the child, the purer their essence and blood, the more helpful it is to my cultivation..." The catfish demon's mouth was suppressed by Feng Qingyang's sword intent, so he couldn't make up any lies. He could only utter the truth one sentence at a time, "Those boys and girls, I... ate them all."

"Have you eaten?" Feng Qingyang's voice was calm, so calm that it chilled the surrounding air. "How much did you eat?"

"I can't remember... one pair a year, two hundred years..."

"And what about these townspeople? Where did they come from?"

"I captured them from nearby villages! Their ancestors were captured by me and kept as livestock! I've let them live here generation after generation just so... so that there will be fresh people to eat every year..."

"And what about those wearing priestly robes?"

"It was I who gave them the cultivation techniques so they could manage these 'human sacrifices' for me! They're no longer human; they eat people too, and they've eaten even more than I have!"

That last sentence was like a knife, piercing the hearts of every town resident.

The piety on the white-haired old man's face crumbled inch by inch.

His mouth was open, and he was making a "hoarse" sound in his throat, as if someone was choking him.

The god he worshipped his whole life, the god who sacrificed his own granddaughter—was a man-eating monster.

His mud-covered hands gripped his own throat, his nails digging deep into his loose skin, leaving streaks of blood.

"My granddaughter... my granddaughter!"

He wailed and cried, his voice sounding as if it were being torn from his chest.

The surrounding townspeople also began to break down.

Some people collapsed to the ground and wept uncontrollably, some frantically pulled at their hair, and some tried to rush up and bite the catfish demon, but were stopped by the soldiers of the Demon Slayer Division.

Many more people collapsed to the ground, staring blankly ahead, their two-hundred-year-old faith shattered in that instant.

Feng Qingyang waited until they had finished crying before speaking calmly, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

No one spoke.

Only suppressed sobs echoed across the ruins.

Feng Qingyang drew the iron sword from his waist.

The catfish demon struggled in terror, crying, "My lord! My lord, spare my life! I'm willing to be your mount! I'm willing—"

A flash of sword light.

The catfish demon's head rolled to the ground.

Feng Qingyang wiped the blood off his sword and turned to the townspeople kneeling on the ruins. "From today onwards, you no longer need to worship any gods."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears: "You have to rely on yourselves."

Yang Jinyun stood at a distance, looking at the townspeople who were crying their hearts out, and then at the headless catfish demon's corpse. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "Killing demons is easy, but saving people's hearts is difficult."

Liu Yun glanced at him. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"It's nothing." Yang Jinyun turned around, his back to everyone, "Brothers, let's work harder and prepare some food for our compatriots first."

He strode away.

Liu Yun clearly saw him raise his hand and pull out a handful of his hair.

The crying on the ruins gradually subsided.

It's not that I've cried enough, it's that I can't cry anymore.

Thirty thousand people sat paralyzed in the ruins, some hugging their knees in a daze, some clutching the mud on the ground, and some repeatedly caressing the belongings left by their loved ones.

Most people just sit there blankly, not knowing what to do next or where to go.

An old man stepped out from the crowd.

The old man was hunched over with a full head of white hair, but his eyes were still quite clear.

Supported by his children and grandchildren, he walked to Feng Qingyang and knelt down shakily.

"Sir, how are we supposed to live from now on?"

A moment of silence fell over the surroundings, and all the townspeople in the vicinity turned to look in their direction.

Feng Qingyang looked at the old man, pondered for a moment, squatted down to look him in the eye, and did not use Mandarin.

He knew these people couldn't handle official jargon, so he only asked one question: "Old man, did the river god bring you a good life when you used to worship him?"

The old man's lips trembled. "The River God...is not here..."

"Have you grown enough food to feed yourselves all these years?"

"That's not enough... the best of it has all been sent to the temple..."

"And then what happens after it's taken to the temple?"

The old man could no longer speak.

Behind him, a middle-aged man gritted his teeth, swallowing those words, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Feng Qingyang stood up, his voice not loud, but loud enough for everyone on the ruins to hear clearly:

"The god you used to worship took away your food, ate your children, and made you live on your knees for two hundred years. Now that it's dead, you don't know how to live anymore? Continue living as before, continue raising your children, but from now on—you will eat the food you grow yourself, and cherish the children you raise yourself."

He pointed eastward, "The place we're taking you to is called Base City. There are no gods there, only people. Some people study, some work, some serve in the military, and some teach. You can live there just as well, and you can live better than here."