The three of them made their way over to the house under the constant chatter of Yawen. Even though she had already talked with Peng Mu all the time while they were strolling over the market square, she was far from finished.

Jing Yi was a bit astonished at first but then again, the two of them hadn’t seen each other for almost three weeks. And he probably shouldn’t wonder about this considering that Qiu Ling was also able to talk nonstop. And that was even when they spent every day together. Maybe there just were people that would be able to talk all the time without running out of anything to say.

Yawen’s house wasn’t very big. It also looked like it could use some repairs. There was a small courtyard in the back that they entered through with a little coop at the side from where the cackle of hens sounded.

Jing Yi looked over and wanted to ask when there suddenly was a thump behind him. He flinched and turned around only to see Liu Cheng jump over from who knows where.

Peng Mu let go of the groceries, making the vegetables roll over the ground while Yawen screamed and hid behind him.

Liu Cheng furrowed his brows and unsheathed his weapon, pointing it in her direction. "It’s over now, demon."

Peng Mu also furrowed his brows and spread out his arms, hiding Yawen behind him. "Are you mad? What demon are you talking about? You better go now!"

Liu Cheng scoffed. "Step out of the way. I’m not here for you." Anyway, after watching that Peng Mu himself for a while, he was pretty sure that he wasn’t a demon. Maybe he had actually helped her but that was nothing he had to determine. The local authorities could deal with that after he had taken care of the demon.

Peng Mu tensed even further when he heard that. He didn’t understand but he at least understood that this man was here because of Yawen. His heart thumped faster and he looked around for some kind of weapon. He didn’t think that just talking with this person would solve anything. Obviously, that guy was a madman! Nothing good would come out of reasoning with him.

While Peng Mu was still trying to find a way to protect Yawen, Jing Yi rushed over and grabbed Liu Cheng by the arm. He was the one who had tried to find out more for him and apparently, he had also been the one to lead him over here. But, after watching for so long, he was sure that Yawen couldn’t be a demon. Liu Cheng must’ve gotten it wrong. There was no way she could have killed as those people. "Martial brother Liu, please stop this. Obviously, Yawen isn’t the person you’re looking for. Why don’t you go back and investigate some further?"

Peng Mu turned to stare at Jing Yi. "What’s the meaning of this? Do you know him?"

Jing Yi didn’t think to hide anything. He hurriedly nodded. "Yes, he’s a demon hunter that the merchant hired. I met him when I was staying at the estate of the merchant."

Peng Mu didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t suspect that Jing Yi actually had something to do with this and just thought that he must have clued in on what this man had said earlier than him because he knew who he was. Anyway … "Yawen certainly isn’t some kind of demon! I don’t know what kind of demon hunter you are, but you’d better go look for your demon somewhere else. Yawen has nothing to do with whatever happened to make you come here."

Liu Cheng once again scoffed and then pushed off Jing Yi, waving his sword at Peng Mu. "I do not injure humans unless they get in my way. You’d better step to the side now or you will get wrapped up in this. Do you really want that?"

Yawen clung to Peng Mu, her voice that had previously sounded so happy now having a hint of panic in it. "Brother Peng!"

Peng Mu reached behind him and patted her hand, trying to calm her down just as much as himself. "Don’t worry about it. I’ll protect you, Yawen! I won’t let anything happen to you." He stepped back, pushing her further away from Liu Cheng. He probably couldn’t contend with him but maybe he would be able to stall him for a while so that Yawen would be able to run away. That was the best he could hope for.

He once again glanced around and finally saw a wooden plank lying in the corner. He had previously left it there, promising Yawen that he would repair the coop when he came by again because he had seen that it wasn’t holding up quite as well anymore.

He gritted his teeth and then pushed Yawen in the direction of the house. "Run away!" At the same time, he rushed to the plank and picked it up, swinging it at Liu Cheng’s head. Demon hunter or not, good intentions or whatever, he wouldn’t let this person hurt Yawen!

Liu Cheng frowned but easily evaded the attack, swinging his weapon to cut the plank in half and then swept the other part out of Peng Mu’s hand. "You’re wasting your time here and actually helping a demon. You should be ashamed of yourself!" He kicked his leg, making Peng Mu collapse to the floor and then went up to Yawen.

Jing Yi’s eyes widened and he rushed after him, once again trying to hold him back himself. "Martial brother Liu! I’m sure that there will be a good explanation for this. Please don’t hurt brother Peng and sister Yawen."

Liu Cheng turned to him with an annoyed expression but just when he wanted to open his mouth, the half of the plank that had been flung away before when he halved it with the sword made a heavy impact to his head, making some blood trail down.