Rise of the Demon God

"Just a little longer, please be patient," She muttered as she stood up. She touched the mirror one last time before she turned back and left.

As she left, the shadow once again appeared in the mirror. It seemed as if the shadow was looking down.

****

The Old lady came out of the room in the back with a wine bottle and two glasses. 

She placed the wine bottle on Long Chen's table.

"Wine? Where is the food?" Long Chen inquired.

"Our chef is preparing the most delicious food. In the meantime, I decided to serve something to drink. You can drink; it won't cost extra," The Old lady told Long Chen as she looked at him.

Long Chen observed her expressions and noticed that she seemed somewhat excited. Even though she was trying to act calm, it was still visible.

He also noticed the lady lick her lips briefly.

"Mother, do you want to have a drink?" he asked Mi Liayi.

"Ah, no. I'm not thirsty," Mi Liayi repeated what Long Chen had told her to.

"W-why aren't you drinking it!" The old lady was visibly anxious as she heard Mi Liayi's unwillingness to drink, which made Long Chen even more suspicious.

"It's fine. My mother is not thirsty. As for me, I don't drink. I'm sorry for wasting your time. We'll just have the food," Long Chen told the old lady as he cheekily smiled.

"B-but it's our town's special drink. If you don't drink it, that wouldn't be fair. At Least take a sip," The old lady said, insisting again.

"It's fine. We will drink after food if it's really that important," Long Chen said as he nodded his head.

The old lady still looked a little stressed. She was about to say something, but before she could even open her lips, Long Chen stood up.

"On that topic, how long will it take for the food to be prepared? Can I have a look in your kitchen and meet the chef? I just need to tell him our preference," He said as he started walking towards the door where the old lady had come out of. 

"W-wait! Our chef doesn't like meeting anyone! You can't go in there!" The Old lady walked after him in an effort to stop him.

"It's fine. I'll only take a few seconds. I won't annoy him too much," Long Chen said as he refused to listen to her. He was sure that something was wrong with her, and the answers laid inside the room in the back since the woman was so anxious as soon as he talked about it.

He reached the door and opened it.

The old lady walked towards the table of the reception and pulled out something from behind it. She hid it carefully as she walked towards Long Chen.

Long Chen had just opened the door to look at what was on the other side of it. As soon as he saw what there was, his expression changed. The sight in front of him was so gruesome; if he hadn't seen so many deaths, he was sure he would be vomiting right now. 

There were pieces of the human body lying on the ground. Hands were in a different section of the room, and legs were lying separately. The heads were lying in another corner while the torsos were also placed together.

"It's a slaughterhouse for humans," Long Chen muttered as he sighed. 

"So that's why the town is so empty. Most of the citizens are lying here, dead," he added.

He already knew what the old lady was trying to go behind him because of his Divine Sense, but he wasn't in a hurry to turn back.

Even though he wasn't in a hurry, Mi Liayi was much more worried. She noticed the ax in the old lady's hand as she walked towards him.

"Chen'er, be careful!" She called out loud.

Long Chen didn't turn back, though. The old lady swung his ax towards his neck. 

"You know too much! Now die and become our food resource," the old lady said as he sighed. 

The old lady had already started celebrating and thinking that she was going to kill Long Chen even before the ax touched him, but her expressions changed suddenly. Her face turned pale.

Just as her ax was about to hit Long Chen's neck, something strange happened for her. She saw Long Chen disappear into thin air.

"G-ghost!" she stuttered as she thought that Long Chen was a ghost. She turned back to see if the lady who came with him was still here or if she had disappeared as well.

As soon as she turned back, she saw Long Chen standing in front of her.

"Looking for me?" Long Chen asked with a grin on his face. Before the old lady could even make sense of the situation, she saw a crystal blue sword coming towards her. 

*Slice*

Her right hand was sliced through. It was cut in half. It fell down on the ground along with the ax.

The ax fell down to the ground.

"Aaa!" the old woman screamed like she was dying as she held her shoulder.

"Stop screaming. I only cut one hand. You still have one hand and two legs more," Long Chen said as he caught the old woman's neck with his left hand.

She picked her in the air and carried her to the room.  

He made her face the room of Slaughter.

"Tell me what this place is! What did you mix in our drinks!" He inquired.

"W-we are innocent! We are just looking to survive!" The old lady told Long Chen as she started sobbing.

"Are you innocent?" Long Chen let out with sarcasm. "If this is innocent, then I would be the King of Heavens! Tell me the truth!"

"I-i am telling you the truth! We're just doing what we can to survive! Hunger makes you do anything! Even eating humans isn't wrong!" The woman said.

Mi Liayi heard her words and felt like vomiting. She couldn't even imagine the thought of eating humans.

"You eat humans? Why? Can't you grow vegetables or go hunt? You can even buy things from other towns, but to kill travelers and eat them? Are you even human?" Long Chen asked the old woman as he tightened his grip even more.

"L-listen first! We've been trapped! We can't leave!" the old lady said after much struggle.

"Trapped? What do you mean?" Long Chen asked in confusion.

"A few months ago, a person came here! He was unhappy with our town, and he used his War Spirit to curse the blood of all the citizens! We can't cross the parameters of the town and can't grow anything in this town. The only way to survive is to eat other humans! We used to kill unsuspecting travelers to feed ourselves until they also stopped coming. Having no choice, we started eating the people of the town! You must understand! We did this to survive!" the old lady said as tears filled her eyes.

"You idiot! Why didn't you tell a traveler to go inform the King about this? They could've found a way; instead, you ate them all!" Long Chen said in frustration.

"We did that! We told the travelers, and they left, never to return! No help came! It's obvious that no one believes us! Here they say that they do, but as soon as they leave the town, they forget us," the old lady said with a pained smile.

"I believe you. You suffered a lot, didn't you?" Long Chen sighed as he released her.

The old lady landed on the ground. 

"Will you help us?" She asked Long Chen. Long Chen looked like someone who had authority and strength. If he helped her, then everything could be solved.