Ancient Demon Slayer Chapter 1

The first day of February, the fourth year of Taiyuan in the Jin Dynasty, in Xiangyang.

The snowstorm came suddenly, sweeping across this ancient city overnight. The cold wave froze the few remaining bright lights in the city, leaving only the rustling sound of snow and the crackling of charcoal in the red clay stove.

Outside the city, 200,000 Qin troops surrounded the city, waiting for the final decisive battle with the Jin army defending the city.

Leo Chen was now in the dark and very anxious. Why did he choose to come at this time instead of earlier or later? After trying his best to sneak into Xiangyang City, he still had to look for someone like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even if he found someone, how would he get out of the city tomorrow morning?

Xiangyang City had been under siege for a full year. By this time, the city was out of ammunition and food. The soldiers were too hungry to fight, and the people were too hungry to flee, but they still had the energy to curse. For a while, the people in the city were in turmoil, and everyone was making trouble.

After entering the city, Leo finally found Graham, the governor of Liangzhou who was in charge of defending the city. He revealed his identity, but before he explained his purpose, the governor quickly summoned all his military advisors and generals. In an instant, the whole hall was filled with people, some standing and some sitting, waiting for Leo Chen to speak.

"Say it again, in front of everyone, what are you?" Graham asked.

Leo, dressed in a black robe, sat in front of him and answered seriously: "Qi Yi Qu, Mu Oh Demon, Master."

Graham said to the crowd: "He said he was a magician."

"Not a wizard." Leo explained patiently, "It's an exorcist. This is the third time I've said it."

The lights in the main hall of the Governor's Mansion were bright, illuminating his face. Leo was wearing all black, which made his skin look fair. He was wearing a Han Dynasty robe with dark-patterned brocade, holding a small gilded hand warmer, a small medicine bag on his waist, and a pair of cloud-covered boots.

There was a black cloth covering his eyebrows and eyes, revealing his pure and beautiful rosy lips and high nose bridge - he was a blind man.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Leo." The young man continued, "I am the 481st generation descendant of the Shenzhou Exorcist, and the only great exorcist in the world. I am sixteen years old, seven feet nine inches tall, and one hundred and thirty pounds. I am from Hanzhong, and I am the successor to the great cause of exorcism. I have come to Xiangyang on official business, and I hope that Lord Graham will assist me. Here, look, this is the document issued by Lord Wesley Xie, the Minister of Personnel of the Jin Dynasty."

Inside the governor's mansion, the hall was filled with people. Military advisors were whispering to each other, and countless generals under their command were all looking at this uninvited guest with suspicion.

"Master Xie?" Everyone passed around the handwritten letter submitted by the young man. Graham almost couldn't breathe and asked, "Where are the reinforcements? I asked Wesley for reinforcements, and he sent me a magician. What does this mean?"

Leo said sincerely: "I don't know about that. Let me reiterate, I'm not a mage either."

The discussion stopped for a moment, and the governor Graham's heart beat faster, and he asked the question that had been lingering in his mind.

"Can you help me drive back the army outside the city?"

Leo scratched his neck, thought for a moment, and replied, "It's hard to say. It depends on the situation. I think it's probably impossible to withdraw."

"Exorcist." A lieutenant general observed for a long time and said, "Can you turn beans into soldiers?"

"No." Leo answered neatly.

"Have you ever observed the celestial phenomena at night?" Graham asked, "Can you call the wind and rain to help the entire city of Xiangyang escape from the current danger?"

Leo: "???"

Leo pointed at his blindfold. "You want me to watch the night sky? I have to be able to see it too!"

"Boy! Do you know any magic or tricks?" Another general said, "Even if you can show off your skills in front of the people, it will be fine to give them confidence in defending the city!"

Leo showed an innocent expression on his face and replied, "Throwing beans and turning them into soldiers is just a lie written in books. There is no such magic in the world, at least not yet."

"Why---"

Governor Graham and everyone in the hall were all deflated.

"Sir Governor." Leo said again: "The purpose of my trip is to find someone."

The people in the hall dispersed one after another. Graham thought he had found a life-saving straw, but immediately became bored and replied, "Who is it?"

"For me, this is the destined person." Leo said seriously: "My guardian martial god is in Xiangyang City. This person is very important to me and to the whole world."

Graham looked at Leo with confusion.

Leo explained: "This destined person appeared in my dream three times, each time clearer than the last. Until the last time, I was sure that this person was in Xiangyang City. As long as I found him, I would..."

Zhu Xuru saw a glimpse of hope, and his heart rose to his throat again.

"Can you help me defeat the Qin army?"

Leo explained sincerely: "No... I have to leave quickly. Everyone is very busy and I dare not delay your battle."

Graham: ...

"Please gather all the able-bodied men in the city together." Leo added, "Let me taste them...let me select this guardian martial god. I guarantee you that this matter concerns the well-being of the land of China for a thousand years, and you will not regret it."

Graham wanted to ask, "Are you kidding me?" But the boy didn't seem to be lying. If he really wanted to have fun with him, he wouldn't have come into the city at this critical moment. To be honest, Graham didn't even know how he got into the city. Maybe he didn't have many days left to live, or maybe the phrase "a thousand years of happiness" touched Graham. Anyway, his hope was getting slimmer day by day. At least he had the documents from the Ministry of Personnel. Graham suddenly had an idea and wanted to see what this boy was up to.

"All the able-bodied men have been sent to the army." Graham said coldly, "Look for him in the army and we'll talk about it after you find him."

An hour later, all the remaining 12,200 officers, soldiers and militiamen in the city were called over and assembled urgently in the field outside the governor's mansion, many of them still yawning.

It started to snow lightly at dusk. A couch was placed in front of the governor's mansion, and Leo sat on the couch, facing the dark crowd below. There was a lot of discussion below. For many months, everyone had been hungry since the winter. When the army gathered together, they seemed to have an outlet to vent and began to clamor.

"Quiet! Quiet!" the leading general immediately began to shout.

Graham saw that the situation was not good and that he might be killed if it continued like this, so he hurriedly said, "Hurry up and start."

Leo: ...

Leo's hands trembled slightly, and he raised them slightly, then put them down again. A military advisor in the governor's mansion noticed this detail and whispered, "You seem a little nervous?"

"I'm not nervous at all." Leo immediately denied the malicious accusation.

Not among these people, Leo waited for a long time, but the guidance he expected did not appear. He listened carefully, but in the endless darkness, there was only the rustling sound of snow.

Xindeng, hurry up... hurry up and tell me where the guardian martial god is? It's almost too late!

There was a lot of noise and the soldiers below began to curse angrily. Some began to ask for rations. Suddenly, in the darkness brought by the blindfold, a flash of light appeared in the distance.

Found it! Leo immediately stood up and walked quickly towards the flash.

"Hey! Hey!" The generals guarding Graham and others hurriedly asked, "Where are you going?!"

Leo walked through the first row of officers and soldiers and walked quickly to the east side of the parade ground. Graham had to go down the stairs and follow him. Then the generals dismissed the soldiers and drove them back. Seeing that it was another farce, everyone uttered helpless sounds, cursed a few words, and went back home.

After leaving the parade ground and entering the governor's mansion, Leo looked around and came to the west side of the mansion.

"Where is this?"

Graham and a group of soldiers hurried over with torches, all looking at Leo.

"Dungeon." Graham said.

A white light suddenly illuminated the front and was getting closer.

"Open the door." Leo said seriously.

"You can't go in! That's..." A general was about to stop him, but Graham gestured to open the door.

Leo walked blindfolded through the dark corridor lit by oil lamps under the governor's mansion, turned a corner, and went straight into the deepest part of the dungeon. The light in front of him flickered in and out, like a heartbeat, suddenly the room was bright and bright, and suddenly everything was silent and dark, flickering continuously in the deepest part of the cell.

Deep in the dungeon, the cells on both sides were filled with white bones and wailing prisoners. At the end of the corridor, in the iron cell, a low cry like that of a dying trapped animal could be heard.

Chen Zhen stopped outside the last cell and stood quietly behind the iron bars.

The prisoner was a man, tied up with iron chains, curled up on the ground, with only ragged shorts hanging around his waist. In front of him was a moldy wooden basin, and the sink had already run dry. It was obvious that there had been no food or water for several days. Now that the army was besieging the city, even the good people in the city had a hard time surviving, let alone taking care of the food and drink of a prisoner.

The man had disheveled hair, was so skinny that his ribs were protruding, and his body, legs, and back were covered with whip marks. In the deepest part of this moldy and damp cell, he was already so sick that he could only breathe out but not in. Although he was half dead, when he curled up, you could still see that he was tall, but his face was dirty and his facial features could not be distinguished.

"Please open the door." said Leo.

"No!" The chief clerk stopped him, "Boy! You don't know this man's origin! You can't let him out!"

Leo said seriously: "Xin Deng chose him."

"Bullsh!t!" A general finally couldn't hold back and started to curse: "Liar! Sir, this man is a liar!"

Graham did not say anything, but gestured to open the cell door.

Leo walked into the cell and knelt in front of the man. The man was very quiet and motionless. Then, Leo took off the black cloth covering his eyes, revealing his clear eyes, and observed the man.

Everyone: ...

Leo said to the man: "Are you still alive?"

The man closed his eyes tightly, his forehead was burning, but he was shivering from the cold, his lips were blue and purple, and the cell was filled with a rusty smell from diarrhea. He had not eaten for many days and his whole body was exhausted. He was on his deathbed, and when Leo poked him, he began to gasp like crazy.

Leo immediately knelt on one knee and pressed his forehead with one hand. Then, the man opened his eyes, his lips trembled slightly, and finally he closed his eyes and fainted.

Leo immediately signaled his men to open the chains and picked up the man. He found that although he was hungry and sick and had long been extremely thin, his body was still very heavy. He was nearly nine feet long, so he could not be carried horizontally, so he could only be carried half on his back and half on his back...

"Please lend a hand!" Leo frowned.

Governor Graham and everyone else looked at Leo with confusion.

"He is pretending to be blind!" said the chief clerk. "He is pretending to be blind! What a liar!"