Chapter 44: The Demon Lord Loves to Smile—Is That Reasonable?

A Demon Lord, what is a Demon Lord?

Is he someone from the Demonic Path?

No.

Lu Yuan is called a Demon Lord not because he belongs to the Demonic Path.

Rather, it is because he is a demon incarnate.

There are two reasons.

The first reason is his methods of slaughter, which are far too cruel. Over two thousand disciples of the Qingcheng Mountain died tragically at his hands, making him intolerable to the righteous path and earning him the condemnation of Demon Lord.

The second reason is Lu Yuan's personality.

Lu Yuan has a dual nature.

One side of him is human, while the other is demonic.

His human side is friendly, kind, compassionate, and helpful. His reputation in Wuyou County is praised by everyone. You can even place your unconditional trust in Lu Yuan, because whenever you encounter danger, Lu Yuan will appear right behind you in an instant, shielding you from the storm and obliterating any intruders.

This is on the condition that you are a resident of Wuyou County.

Lu Yuan's demonic side is cold, merciless, cruel, and indifferent to life.

He knows no pity, let alone mercy.

Once you are classified into the enemy camp, what you will face is Lu Yuan's merciless fists.

Pleas for forgiveness? Useless.

He will ignore your pleas and then beat you to death with a single punch.

Because, if he believes you deserve to die, you must die.

Who you are, what your status is, how many people are backing you, and so on.

None of this matters at all.

He simply wants you dead.

It is precisely because of this that he was crowned with the title of Demon Lord.

"Chief Constable, those are hundreds of thousands of human lives!"

Constable Sun said weakly.

"Old Sun, you are being far too saintly."

"Hundreds of thousands, is that a lot?"

"In the tenth year of Tianling, the Red Pill Case erupted. The Emperor was furious and ordered a strict investigation. In the end, over a million people were implicated."

"And what was the result?"

"Over a million people, all executed."

"He didn't even blink an eye when he slaughtered over a million people."

"The Water Transport Gang only has a few hundred thousand. What does that even count for?"

"In life, you must be firm when you need to be firm, and soft only when you need to be soft."

Lu Yuan gently patted Constable Sun on the shoulder.

Then, a smile crept up the corner of his mouth as he turned and walked toward the lackeys of the Water Transport Gang.

"Chief Constable, save me!"

A constable cried out for help. Suddenly, Lu Yuan appeared behind one of the lackeys and reached out to grab his head.

"Who is it?"

The lackey of the Water Transport Gang was terrified. Before he could even turn his head, a crushing pressure descended upon his skull.

With a crisp snap.

His head was crushed.

Red and white matter splattered all over the ground.

Lu Yuan tossed the headless corpse aside and shook the red and white residue from his hand.

"Step back, all of you."

"Leave the rest to me."

Lu Yuan raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a terrifying smile.

At least, this smile appeared extremely terrifying in the eyes of the Water Transport Gang members.

It was like a devil smiling.

"Focus your attacks and hack him to death!"

"Hurry!"

Although Lu Yuan's strike had been sudden, the members of the Water Transport Gang did not take it to heart.

This big guy possessed formidable lightness kung fu and excelled in external martial arts, but that was the extent of it.

After all, there were many of them.

Dozens of men, each striking with a blade, could easily chop him into mincemeat.

No matter how fast his speed was, could he outpace their blades?

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The blades landed on his body, but Lu Yuan did not move at all, quietly watching them as they charged forward with their weapons.

"Your blades are not enough."

"Not fast enough, not forceful enough, and not sharp enough."

"A blade is used like this."

Lu Yuan smiled as he drew his own saber, simply stepping forward and delivering a horizontal slash.

In an instant, blade light flashed.

The men right in front of him, along with their weapons, were sliced clean in half at the waist, yet Lu Yuan's blade remained completely unstained by blood.

This was not due to any superlative saber technique; on the contrary, Lu Yuan knew no saber techniques and did not even know how to wield a blade properly.

The fact that he could cleave people in two while leaving his blade pristine was purely a result of his overwhelming stats.

Brute force breaks all techniques, overpowering ten thousand methods with sheer strength.

The beauty of sheer stats is precisely this pure, unadorned simplicity.

"Oh no."

"He's an expert."

"Young Master, run!"

"He is definitely no ordinary person."

Among the group, the strongest gang member instantly recognized the terrifying power contained within Lu Yuan's blade stroke.

This person was an expert.

Furthermore, his strength was no lower than the Fourth Rank.

Damn it, disaster was about to strike.

With his Fifth Rank strength, he might not be a match for this big guy in front of them.

His own death was of no consequence.

However, the Young Master must not die.

The Young Master was the Gang Leader's only male heir; he absolutely could not perish here.

If the Young Master died, the Gang Leader would go mad.

If the Gang Leader went mad, no one could predict what kind of atrocities he might commit.

"You few, cover the Young Master's retreat!"

"Boss, what are you talking about? He is just a single man, what is there to fear?"

"He doesn't even possess true qi."

"Even if he's a wolf in sheep's clothing, what of it?"

"Does he dare to offend our Water Transport Gang?"

The subordinates refused to accept this, as they fundamentally did not believe Lu Yuan could stir up any major trouble.

Because this was Hangzhou City.

And they were the Water Transport Gang.

The true master of Hangzhou City was the Water Transport Gang.

No matter how fierce a dragon crossing the river might be, once it arrived in Hangzhou City, it had to obediently lower its head.

"You don't know a damn thing."

"This person is different."

"Didn't you see his eyes?"

"When he kills, there isn't a trace of emotion in his eyes. He is completely a madman."

"Can you expect a madman to abide by the rules?"

"Shut up, say no more, and get the Young Master out of here!"

"I will hold him off, quickly!"

The sub-leader roared.

Then, his gaze locked firmly onto Lu Yuan.

He watched as Lu Yuan ruthlessly hacked down the gang members blocking his path, one by one.

Lu Yuan's expression remained completely unchanged from beginning to end.

A faint smile lingered on his face the entire time.

The more Lu Yuan acted like this, the greater the terror growing within the sub-leader's heart.

The man before him was undoubtedly a madman.

A bloodthirsty madman.

A normal person—let alone killing a human—would experience emotional fluctuations even if they slaughtered a mere chicken.

Yet the big guy in front of him possessed emotions that were overly steady, steady to the point of being terrifying.

It felt as though he were not taking lives, but simply strolling leisurely through the streets.

"His blade is too fast."

The gang member who charged forward realized that he hadn't even managed to clearly perceive Lu Yuan's movement before death claimed him.

Desperation.

As a dignified Ninth Rank martial artist, could he not even catch a glimpse of the attack?

This pugilistic world was truly dull.

"The Eighteen Towpath Songs, The Sentimental Saber."

Slash after slash, like surging waves upon a river, connected endlessly without a pause.

The sub-leader made his move.

He had been hiding within the crowd.

Having finally seized a fleeting opening in Lu Yuan's defense, he unleashed his absolute strongest strike right from the start.

"Clang..."

The sound of metal shattering rang out.

A fragment of a short blade flew backward, grazing the sub-leader's cheek and leaving a fine trail of blood. The sub-leader's expression contorted in terror as he stared at Lu Yuan in utter disbelief.

He had clearly struck home.

Why had his own blade broken?

His weapon was no ordinary arm; it was a prized blade.

It was a supreme treasure bestowed upon him by the Gang Leader.

Combined with his cultivation, this strike should have at least heavily injured a Fourth Rank expert, let alone failing to scratch the surface.

Why was the fellow in front of him completely unharmed?

And why had his own weapon snapped instead?

The sub-leader stared at Lu Yuan's neck—the exact spot where his blade had landed had only left a faint white mark.

This...

He could not comprehend it.

He simply could not understand—

How could such a bizarre thing exist in this world?

Was this fellow even human?

Was any of this reasonable?