A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

As Li De continued the chase, he gradually sensed something was wrong; the monster's trail didn't seem to have gone very far.

Could it be that he's planning to get back into form before going to have a final showdown with him?

With this question in mind, he continued to follow the orange-yellow silk threads until he passed through the muddy swamp and stepped into a range of mountains. Suddenly, he understood and guessed the monster's plan.

Nestled in the valley ahead lies a village, where crops in the vegetable gardens are growing vigorously, and wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys of every household, clearly indicating that many people live there.

So it turns out they were relying on the fact that the demon hunters wouldn't dare to indiscriminately slaughter ordinary people, and wanted to use these villagers as a shield to make him hesitate and back down?

But when Li De stepped into the village, he discovered that this monster was far more shameless than he had imagined.

In the open space in the center of the village, dozens of villagers knelt neatly in the mud. When they saw his figure appear at the village entrance, men, women, and children immediately erupted into chaos, with cries and shouts mingling together.

"Witcher, save us!"

"Master, please save my child..."

"Damn mutant freak! It's all your fault, otherwise we wouldn't be in this situation, come save me!"

……

The old woman stood at the back of the crowd, facing the direction of the witcher. Beneath her tattered iron mesh mask, her eyes churned with deep-seated hatred, mixed with a hint of the satisfaction of finally getting revenge.

"You've finally arrived, Witcher!"

Its voice was hoarse, like crumpled, withered wood: "Now, put down your sword, take off your armor, and come this way! Otherwise, these people's heads will roll to the ground like rotten fruit!"

Li De raised his hand and placed it on the hilt of the steel sword, his face showing no emotion whatsoever.

"You want me to lay down my weapon because of a bunch of complete strangers? Did that Alder blow you just took damage your brain?"

"Gagaga..."

The old woman let out a dry, grating laugh and swung her withered claws.

With a soft "plop," the man kneeling in the front row froze, his head shooting skyward. Warm blood splattered all over the faces and bodies of the surrounding villagers. His headless body crashed to the ground, twitched a couple of times, and then went completely still.

The screams instantly shattered the village's silence. The cries of women and children and the angry curses of men mingled together, and all the resentful gazes were fixed on the witcher.

"You madman! Put down your weapon!"

"It's all your fault! Do you want us all to die?"

Li De's gaze darkened completely. He slowly drew the steel sword from his back, the blade scraping against the scabbard with a sharp "whoosh," which was particularly clear amidst the cacophony of cries.

"Threatening me?"

He spoke in a low voice, his tone devoid of emotion, yet carrying a chilling sense of oppression.

If this monster had stayed put in the village and moved around in the houses, it might have actually had to consider the safety of the villagers and wouldn't have dared to make any rash moves.

But it insists on being clever and using these people's lives to control itself, so don't blame it for being ruthless.

After all, he's the kind of person who responds better to gentleness than force; the more he's threatened, the more his inherent killing instinct is ignited.

Li De gripped his steel sword and walked step by step toward the crowd. His steps were light, yet they struck the hearts of the crowd like heavy hammer blows.

A flicker of panic crossed the old woman's eyes, but she still forced a calm demeanor as she shrieked, "Put down your weapons! Take one more step forward, and I'll kill another one!"

The Witcher paid no heed, his pace quickening rather than slowing, the short cloak draped over his shoulders fluttering behind him.

The crowd was thrown into complete chaos, crying and cursing, but no one dared to stand up against the real monster. They only dared to vent all their resentment on the only one who might save them: the Witcher.

The distance was only twenty or thirty steps, and Granny Nian was truly panicked.

It has a pair of special eyes that can see through the colors of the soul: good is pure white, and evil is filthy black.

Unlike most people whose souls are a chaotic mix of black and white, this witcher's soul, though tinged with some black, is still predominantly white.

That's why it dared to take the risk and use the villagers' lives to blackmail this "good person".

But the witcher before him had no scruples whatsoever.

With thoughts racing through her mind, the old woman suddenly raised her hand, and a surge of magic swept over, causing a rusty, sharp knife to land with a clang in front of a burly man.

"Go, kill him!"

It shrieked, its withered claws pointing directly at the Witcher.

The man trembled with fear. Looking at the veiled woman's ferocious appearance and glancing at the approaching demon hunter, he finally gritted his teeth and picked up the dagger.

At first, his hand holding the knife trembled violently, but the more he thought about it, the more resentful he became, and his hand gradually became steady.

"The Witcher won't kill me, yes, he won't! So many lives in the village depend on him. If he doesn't die, everyone in the village will die! I'll die too! It's all his fault! If he had just laid down his weapons, things wouldn't be like this!"

"That's right! It's all the Witcher's fault..."

The cowardice in the man's eyes was gradually replaced by resentment and madness. His hand holding the knife became completely steady, and he roared as he charged towards Li De.

As the murmuring old woman watched the chaos in the man's soul being rapidly swallowed by darkness, her tense nerves relaxed slightly, and a sinister smile appeared on her lips, as if her scheme was about to succeed.

The two drew closer and closer, the sharp blade whistling through the air as it pierced the demon hunter's heart, the man's eyes filled with the ecstatic joy of success.

But the next second, Li De suddenly shifted to the side, appearing like a ghost beside the man. His steel sword flashed coldly, and after they passed each other, the sword pointed diagonally at the ground, and two drops of bright red blood slowly dripped down from the tip of the sword.

The man, his eyes filled with madness, staggered a couple more steps, then seemed to realize something was wrong. He touched his neck in disbelief, looked down, and saw his hand covered in bright red blood.

"Hehe..."

He desperately tried to cover his wound, but it was too late. He felt his vision getting darker and darker and his body getting colder and colder. Finally, he collapsed to the ground with a thud, and dark red blood spread beneath him.

The old woman's smile froze: "No, this isn't right, it shouldn't be like this... How could you kill him? Aren't you a good person?"

Li De continued walking: "Should good people be allowed to have knives pointed at them?"

He walked faster and faster, the air pressure around him dropped to an extreme low, and his killing intent almost solidified.

The moment he drew his steel sword, he had already prepared for the worst. If these villagers were truly swayed into attacking him, he wouldn't mind the bloodshed on the spot.

The old woman said he was a good person; perhaps he was.

He could exchange the bounty he earned through hard work for food and share it with refugees holding children by the roadside; he could also drive away a pack of wild dogs for a family of three at the foot of the mountain without taking a penny; and he could even single-handedly storm into a bandit's den and kill more than a dozen ruthless bandits to save a stranger who had been kidnapped by robbers.

But this doesn't mean he's a saint who cuts flesh to feed eagles. No matter how many good deeds he does, he's essentially a demon hunter who lives by killing and licking blood off a knife's edge.

Robbers, bandits, water ghosts, werewolves, stag spirits... half of those who died by his sword were humans and half were monsters. He chopped off more heads than anyone in the village had ever seen in their entire life.

"madman!"

The old woman, terrified, retreated hastily, screaming at the villagers, "Kill him! Quickly! Otherwise, you'll all die!"

The villagers stood frozen in place, their faces filled with fear and hesitation.

They witnessed the Witcher expressionlessly slit Finley's throat, his movements swifter than killing a chicken, just as rumored—cold-blooded, ruthless, and utterly indifferent to human life.

They were afraid of the Whispering Woman and the Demon Hunter, so no one dared to approach easily. They just stood there, staring at Li De with resentful and fearful eyes.

"Useless! All of you are useless!"

The old woman screamed in fury, and a piercing sound wave spread out, causing the villagers to suffer excruciating eardrums, convulse, and many to collapse to the ground.

Fear overwhelmed reason like a tidal wave, and finally someone stood up shakily, picked up stones and sticks from the ground, and rushed towards the witcher with red eyes.

Immediately afterwards, more and more people were swept forward, their shouts and footsteps mingling together like an out-of-control torrent.

Only a few women, children, and elderly people were huddled in a corner of the open space, holding their young children.

Li De's gaze swept across the crowd, a fleeting trace of pity flashing in his eyes: they feared the man-eating monsters, but not the demon hunters who could kill them.

He no longer hesitated; his brisk walk turned into a sprint, and he weaved through the chaotic crowd, like a gust of wind sweeping through a wheat field. The wind blows, and the wheat falls—it's that simple.

The old woman finally became frightened and stopped dreaming of revenge. She just wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible. Even if she had to live a miserable life in the wilderness, it would be better than being killed here.

The fate of the cook and the weaver is imminent; it doesn't want to die!

With a sudden shudder, the hunched body transformed once more into a large flock of black crows, flapping their wings as they prepared to soar into the sky and flee into the distance.

Just as the flock of crows was about to break through the sky, Li De pulled a bomb from his waist, lit the fuse with a spark from his fingertips, and threw it with all his might.

"boom!"

An explosion rang out, and silver powder mixed with magic-blocking gold powder scattered all over the sky. The flock of black crows was smashed down by the impact of the explosion, and their magic was forced to revert to its original form amidst the chaos.

The old woman fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of black blood. Her body convulsed uncontrollably, and she could no longer stand up. She could only lie on the ground, struggling to crawl backward while weakly waving her withered claws.

With the steel sword sheathed and the silver sword drawn, Li De slashed horizontally at the monster, severing its futilely waving claws. Then, with a vertical slash, the sword tip entered through the monster's shoulder and exited through its waist, the gruesome wound almost splitting the monster's body in two.

"Igni!"

But it wasn't over yet. The witcher formed a hand seal with his left hand, and blazing orange-red flames erupted, engulfing the monster's body. Its fur and skin were instantly charred, emitting a pungent, burnt smell.

Before it could break free from the flames, another Aard sign appeared, and a pale blue shockwave slammed into the monster, sending it flying several meters away before crashing heavily into an old locust tree.

The old woman spat out another mouthful of black blood, her body went limp and slid to the ground, completely powerless to struggle, only emitting hoarse gasps from her throat.

Li De slowly stepped forward, the flames extinguished at his fingertips, the silver sword pressed against the monster's neck, he leaned slightly forward, his voice low and cold, filled with undisguised disgust.

"You don't think I didn't notice, do you? Most of these villagers are deaf, and you're wearing an ear necklace. They're not your hostages at all; they're your slaves."

The old woman shuddered, a flicker of panic flashing in her cloudy eyes, followed by a deep sense of regret.

That's it, that's it! My plan was correct, it's just a pity that he saw through the flaw!

These villagers were originally playthings and food of the sisters for many years, used to spread the lie that "the Lady of the Forest can grant wishes," luring those with delusions to the swamp for them to enjoy, and occasionally collecting children who tasted even better for them.

In return, they sheltered the villagers from wild beasts and monsters.

"If only I had known... if only I had brought a group of people from somewhere else... that way, we definitely would have succeeded..."

The old woman lay on the ground, muttering to herself in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, filled with resentment and regret.

Li De shook his head and sneered, too lazy to listen to this nonsense anymore.

These monsters don't feel remorse when they're about to die; their only regret is that they didn't run fast enough.

chap!

A flash of cold light, swift and decisive.