Chapter 40: The Three Steps of Slaughter

The face of the Yellow Weasel twisted, its features squeezing together, making its appearance all the more ferocious. “Quick, tell me—do I look human or not?”

It seemed to grow impatient waiting for Zhou Bai’s reply; changes began to creep across its body, the human parts dwindling, and a haze clouding over its eyes.

The Yellow Weasel seemed poised to rush past its stall toward Zhou Bai, but as its true form began to emerge, its strength ebbed away as well.

The other demons wore expressions of gloating schadenfreude, some even opening their mouths in grotesque laughter.

Just then, a deep voice sounded beside Zhou Bai. “You do, of course you do.”

As the words fell, the Yellow Weasel’s face lit up with joy, and the fading human features returned once more.

Zhou Bai turned in surprise, and saw a monk standing beside him—taller by half a head even than Lin Danian—draped in a robe of intersecting saffron and crimson, stretched taut over bulging muscles.

Yet the monk’s face was unusual: pale and bearded, with a scar running from the corner of his mouth, and a tattoo of the character ‘Flame’ emblazoned on his forehead.

What unsettled Zhou Bai most was that he hadn’t sensed this man’s approach at all. He was no longer the novice he once was; having stepped onto the path of cultivation, he should not have missed any movement nearby. How could he have failed to notice the monk’s sudden appearance?

Seeing Zhou Bai’s wary gaze, the monk offered a gentle smile, then spoke with knowing calm, “Venerable from the Bureau of Dark Rites, where mercy is possible, show mercy.”

Unable to tell friend from foe, Zhou Bai retreated several paces, watching him with suspicion.

The monk’s presence shattered the market’s uneasy silence. The gathered demons eyed him with open hostility, their breath heavy with animosity.

Zhou Bai, seeing this, unfastened the butcher’s blade from his back, narrowing his eyes at the monk, who quietly explained, “I am the abbot of Panshan Temple outside Hangdu, here for an appointment. My secular name I have long forgotten—you may call me...”

He touched the tattoo on his forehead, a little sheepishly. “Just call me the Monk of Three Flames.”

“So that temple is yours,” Zhou Bai remarked. Through his Yin-Yang Eyes, he saw the monk was no monster or demon, merely eccentric and difficult to fathom.

He had once considered visiting that unremarkable little temple when he encountered the Five Ghosts, but had chosen Clearwind Monastery instead.

The near exposure of its true form had driven the Yellow Weasel to madness. It clambered atop its stall, glaring with bloodshot eyes and grinding its teeth as it growled, “I hate those wretched baldies the most! Either buy all the meat from my stall, or you’ll stay here to be my drinking snack tonight.”

“And what about my livestock? Why not buy one?” the wild boar chimed in, drooling, its breath foul enough to suffocate.

The Monk of Three Flames ignored the demons and turned to Zhou Bai with a smile. “I’ve heard the Bureau of Dark Rites excels at slaying demons and exorcising evil spirits?”

“It’s all right, I suppose. But I’ve never heard of your Buddhist order tending to the wounds of monsters and demons.”

The monk laughed. “How can I let death go unchallenged? It’s just a trifle—if it comes to it, I’ll kill it again.”

Neither spared the Yellow Weasel a glance, and the slight filled it with rage.

With a howl, it transformed into a nearly two-meter-long weasel and leapt at the nearest target—Zhou Bai.

The market erupted into chaos. The demons bared their fangs, abandoned their stalls, eager to tear the two intruders to pieces.

Zhou Bai laughed and kicked the Yellow Weasel squarely, sending it crashing through its own stall with a cry. Human flesh scattered in all directions.

“Bold fiend! Repaying kindness with malice—you deserve death! Great Dragon of Might, Supreme Law Incantation, Mami Mami Hong!”

The Monk of Three Flames grabbed his robe and launched himself into battle with a fox demon, his fists radiating golden light. With each blow, another dent appeared on the fox’s body.

“I might not become a butcher after all, but…”

Zhou Bai unslung his cleaver. Gripping it with both hands, he sidestepped a series of attacks that narrowly missed him.

He deliberately faced the snarling wild boar, a smile playing on his lips as countless butchering techniques flooded his mind.

“It’s been too long since I gave in to my itch for slaughter.”

The powerful boar lumbered forward like a moving brick wall. Any ordinary man would have been scared witless by now.

But not Zhou Bai. Even if this demon were dozens of times stronger, he would feel not a trace of fear; the instinct to kill pigs was rooted deep in his bones.

The boar hesitated, its heart quivering. The man before it did not exude menace, yet for some reason it felt a creeping dread, and its movements grew sluggish.

Zhou Bai turned his fist into a palm and struck the boar’s back. “Good meat—worth five coins per tael.”

The boar was stunned, but anger soon surged up within it.

It gripped a spiked mace from who knows where and swung it at Zhou Bai with full force.

Had it landed, even stone would be reduced to powder.

But just then, a flash of cold light gleamed at the boar’s side.

In an instant, Zhou Bai had moved several paces away.

The wind howled as the mace struck the ground, sending shards of stone flying and momentarily blinding the boar.

“Heh heh… The first step in butchery is…”

“Draining the blood!”

The cleaver in Zhou Bai’s hand became a streak of white light, moving faster than the eye could track. When he stopped, the blade was beaded with blood.

The boar clutched its neck as blood gushed through its fingers.

The cut was perfectly placed—not fatal, but if the boar struggled, its blood would be gone in minutes.

Zhou Bai vaulted into the air, pushing off the ground, as a bear demon’s blade swept just beneath his feet.

He landed, rebounded from the blade, and darted straight at the boar.

In Zhou Bai’s hands, the heavy cleaver was weightless. He slid past the boar in a flash.

The massive demon had felt uneasy from the start, and now, gravely wounded, escape was impossible.

“The second step, then, is…”

“Severing the tendons!”

The boar froze in despair as fresh wounds appeared at the joints of its limbs, blood spurting forth.

This only triggered its bestial fury. Ignoring its wounds, the boar charged at Zhou Bai.

But as it drew near, it realized Zhou Bai was not caught off guard—he was waiting for it.

“The third step in butchery—usually, I…”

“Sever the head!”

The words had barely left his lips before a cold flash burst forth and a boar’s head thudded to the ground.