Chapter 882: Draped in Fur, Devouring Its Flesh

Li Feng didn't know exactly what had happened, but he knew this stranger seemed very powerful. The Earth God, who was underground, was astonished as the demon's aura was dissipating, indicating that the demon had likely been severely wounded, if not killed, by at least one strike.

At the end of the street behind Li Feng, the Golden Armor, who had been standing there for some time, simply glanced at the dim, murky night at the street's edge before turning and leaving.

Zuo Wuji maintained the posture of pointing with his staff for two breaths before slowly retracting it. With a gentle flick, a streak of demon blood was shaken off. He then transferred the staff to his left hand, threw it behind him, and it landed with a clang back in its original corner of the room.

"Hey... where's the demon?" Li Feng asked cautiously. Zuo Wuji turned to look at him, a confident smile on his face.

"Nothing powerful, it's already dead." Zuo Wuji had initially thought of saying it was just a creature hiding in the shadows, but he opted for simpler words, preferring to keep his explanation brief.

As Zuo Wuji finished speaking, the oppressive darkness around them dissipated, and the light from the stars and moon made the street visible once more.

Li Feng looked towards Zuo Wuji, and past him, he could see a large beast lying a few steps away, with a fan-shaped pool of blood spreading towards the opposite corner.

"Is that a big dog?" Although Li Feng had been genuinely flustered moments ago, he was, in fact, quite brave. He now walked over to Zuo Wuji, curiously gazing at the corpse on the ground.

"It stinks..." Zuo Wuji looked at Li Feng intently. In truth, the demon's corpse didn't smell bad in the conventional sense, but Li Feng could discern the demon's aura, which was truly foul even among demons. Zuo Wuji himself had practiced for quite some time to differentiate such scents so easily.

"It's not a dog, it's a wolf."

"A wolf? This is my first time seeing a wolf, and a demon one at that..." Li Feng was both scared and curious. He walked around Zuo Wuji to the side of the wolf's corpse, only to find that its head looked as if it had been smashed by a heavy hammer. The sight was both gruesome and nauseating, startling Li Feng into quickly retreating behind Zuo Wuji.

"Hahahahaha..." Zuo Wuji burst into laughter, a more normal laugh this time. He walked over to the demon's corpse, bent down, and grabbed its neck, lifting it. Without a second thought, he slung the demon's body over his shoulder, its blood trickling down his shoulder and along the seemingly rain-resistant cloak on his back.

"What... what are you doing?" Li Feng's eyes widened. Was he really going to carry something so foul-smelling on his back?

"I'm going to deal with it. You, you can go home now." With that, Zuo Wuji carried the demon's corpse and headed deeper into the alley. Seeing Zuo Wuji leave, Li Feng felt a pang of unease and instinctively took two steps forward to follow him.

"Hey, hey! Weren't you going to escort me home? Where are you going?" Zuo Wuji waved his free left hand behind him.

"You don't need my escort. Someone has been protecting you all along." As he spoke, Zuo Wuji stomped his foot on the ground. The Earth God had almost intervened earlier, and Zuo Wuji had sensed his aura.

Thus, if Zuo Wuji had previously suspected that the "Mr. Ji" Li Feng mentioned was the person he knew, he now felt more confident in that assumption. Moreover, with the demon dead, Li Feng's journey home would naturally be without danger.

Zuo Wuji walked quickly, while Li Feng hesitated in his pursuit. With this difference in pace, Zuo Wuji soon vanished from Li Feng's sight.

Li Feng stood rooted for a moment, then looked left and right before finally choosing a path home and hurrying off.

Zuo Wuji continued carrying the demon's corpse, moving faster and faster through the alleys until he finally leaped over the city wall. He then walked in one direction outside the city until he found a sheltered spot in the forest where he stopped. Throughout the entire process, the small paper crane high above had been watching Zuo Wuji.

The small paper crane recognized Zuo Wuji, though he had been just a child when it last saw him. Now, he was so powerful.

Zuo Wuji surveyed his surroundings, nodded, and set the demon's corpse down. With a shake of his shoulder, his cloak rippled, and the bloodstains on it were instantly shed.

Zuo Wuji then circled the area, gathering a large pile of firewood. He took out his flint and tinder, lit a bonfire, and then sat beside it, beginning to skin the wolf with his bare hands.

The small paper crane descended to the top of a large tree above, looking down at Zuo Wuji. It couldn't help but feel bewildered: Zuo Wuji wasn't going to burn the demon's corpse?

Zuo Wuji had a smile playing on his lips. Although his staff strike had shattered the wolf demon's skull and obliterated its core, the wolf hide itself was incredibly tough and hadn't shattered. Its gruesome appearance earlier was merely due to the internal cranial damage, which caused part of it to collapse; in reality, the entire wolf hide was perfectly intact.

"Rip... rip..." Soon, Zuo Wuji had completely peeled off the wolf hide. He then fashioned a makeshift frame from a broken tree branch, using grass rope to secure the hide in various places, stretching it flat. He placed it by the fire, while the remaining wolf meat was skewered directly onto a thick branch over a wooden rack and began to roast.

"Ah, roasting this at a temple would surely be a great disrespect," Zuo Wuji muttered to himself. "Though I don't follow Buddhism, I still have to consider the feelings of those monks. Out here, it's fine." As he continued to talk to himself, Zuo Wuji used a small knife to cut into the wolf's flesh, frequently sprinkling salt from his pouch into the cuts and all over the meat. After some time, the aroma of roasting meat began to waft through the air, but Zuo Wuji remained focused, meticulously preparing the wolf meat and continuously applying seasonings.

Clearly, this wasn't Zuo Wuji's first time doing something like this, and he could tell that the meat wouldn't be cooked quickly. Indeed, the outcome was slightly more time-consuming than Zuo Wuji had anticipated. The wolf roasted for most of the night and still wasn't completely done, but its aroma grew increasingly tempting. Zuo Wuji couldn't bring himself to give up, deciding he wouldn't mind staying out all night if necessary.

By the time Zuo Wuji returned to the temple, it was broad daylight the next morning. As he walked from outside the city back in, he occasionally rubbed his stomach. He had eaten the entire large wolf by himself, even cracking its bones to suck out the marrow.

Eating demon meat occasionally was quite beneficial for Zuo Wuji's physique. When he first tried it, he hadn't quite grasped the right amount and felt a bit "intoxicated," as if he'd had too much alcohol. Furthermore, a single meal like this could sustain him for quite a while; he wouldn't feel too hungry even if he didn't eat for several days.

Zuo Wuji arrived at the entrance of Mud-Dust Temple and found the gate open. The tall, thin monk from yesterday was just about to come out and met Zuo Wuji face to face.

"Good morning, Master!" Zuo Wuji bowed, and the monk returned the greeting with his palms pressed together.

"Namo Amitabha. Benefactor, since you are staying as a guest, why did you not return last night?"

"Haha, I ran into a small matter!" Seeing that Zuo Wuji didn't want to elaborate, the monk glanced at the wolf fur scarf now wrapped around Zuo Wuji's neck before speaking.

"Young Master Li from the Li family is waiting for you. I'm going out to collect alms now. Please help me close the temple gate, Benefactor."

"Alright!" Once the monk had left, Zuo Wuji casually closed the temple gate and returned to the monk's cell where he was staying. Sure enough, he saw Li Feng sitting outside, waiting.

"You're back?"

"Mm." Zuo Wuji walked over, simply grunted in response, and went inside. He then pulled out his bedding, spread it out, and immediately lay down to sleep.

"Hey, Mr. Zuo, Senior Zuo—"

"Sleeping..." Zuo Wuji mumbled in a low voice and then ignored Li Feng's continued calls from outside. Soon, steady breathing sounds emerged from him.

"Hoo... chuh... hoo... chuh..." Zuo Wuji didn't snore, but his breathing sounded like gusts of wind. Li Feng, standing at the doorway, could feel currents of air moving.

'This person is truly amazing!' It could be said that besides Ji Yuan, Zuo Wuji was the most formidable person Li Feng had ever met. He had also inquired with the temple monks and learned that Zuo Wuji was also a stranger from a very distant land. This sparked a strong interest in the otherwise disheartened Li Feng.

Now, all Li Feng knew was that this person was called Zuo Wuji, and his martial arts were incredibly powerful, far beyond anything Li Feng had ever conceived.