Little Shoes Minus One

Gu Qingfeng carefully observed the important figures, particularly focusing on Li Qianren, the Heaven-rank Demon Eliminator. He noticed that Li Qianren was quite handsome, just slightly less attractive than himself.

With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, along with a chiseled, resolute face, Li Qianren looked like he was in his twenties despite being nearly forty. The only flaw was his shadowy eyes that slightly diminished his appearance, adding a gloomy quality to his presence, much like a venomous snake hiding in the jungle.

"What do you make of this situation?" Li Qianren suddenly spoke.

A nearby Earth-rank Demon Eliminator pondered briefly: "This aura, it's undoubtedly from the Mirror Demon."

Another Earth-rank Demon Eliminator excitedly added: "Indeed, it's the Mirror Demon. I can't believe he didn't die two hundred years ago, and now he's been killed by our Wutong Prefecture Demon Suppression Bureau. When we report this to the imperial court, our bureau will surely become famous!"

"Famous? Hmph." Another Earth-rank Demon Eliminator sneered: "More like embarrassing. How shall we report this? Tell the imperial court that one of the Seven Demon Generals who killed several grandmasters two hundred years ago was defeated by a martial artist at the fourth level of Qi Gathering? Would the imperial court believe that? Wouldn't they charge us with deceiving the emperor?"

"But... these are the facts. No one knew that external martial arts would be the Mirror Demon's weakness."

"You believe it was external martial arts just because he said so? In that battle two hundred years ago, several grandmasters who had trained in external martial arts died at the Mirror Demon's hands! If grandmasters with external martial arts training couldn't defeat the Mirror Demon, how could a mere fourth-level Qi Gathering martial artist do it? Have you considered this?"

Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng was startled. Damn, was his lie about to be exposed right then and there?

At this moment, Li Qianren raised his hand to stop the Earth-rank Demon Eliminators' debate, his shadowy eyes turning toward Gu Qingfeng.

"Gu Qingfeng, what do you have to say?"

At this point, Gu Qingfeng could only stubbornly stick to his lie: "Everything I reported is true. I did defeat the Mirror Demon using external martial arts."

Li Qianren didn't immediately question Gu Qingfeng's claim, but instead calmly examined him for a moment, his snake-like eyes seeming to pierce through him.

Gu Qingfeng maintained his composure while meeting his gaze, having already decided that if anything unfavorable happened, he would take immediate action. With his Vajra-like invincible body and various abilities, even if he couldn't defeat a grandmaster, he should at least be able to protect himself.

"Recount the entire incident from beginning to end," Li Qianren suddenly said.

Just as Gu Qingfeng was about to speak, Li Qianren added: "You, the fat one, you tell it."

"Huh?" Wang Fatty was stunned for a moment, looking left and right before realizing he was the fattest person in the room and that Master Li was addressing him. He hurriedly stepped forward, both nervous and excited to recount the events.

Wang Fatty was nervous about speaking before the highest-ranking official, but also excited for the same reason.

Why did Master Li ask me to tell the story instead of Master Gu? Could it be that he finds me special and appreciates me?

Wang Fatty collected himself and began his narrative.

Li Qianren was calculating internally - among these three, this fat one seemed the most timid, and timid people were most likely to reveal flaws when lying, making him the best choice for recounting the story.

"Yes...yesterday, on Master Gu's first day in office, we were assigned to Black Water Village..."

Wang Fatty stuttered at first but soon found his rhythm and began to tell the story smoothly.

He showed good judgment, knowing Gu Qingfeng was petty, so he didn't dare say anything negative about him and instead painted everything in the best possible light.

He transformed the story of Gu Qingfeng being tricked into destroying a village and one of the Seven Demon Generals into a tale of Gu Qingfeng's dedication to the common people, his devotion to duty, and his willingness to brave Black Water Village at night and venture into the Skeleton Forest, cleverly battling a Demon General for the sake of peace.

"Our Master Gu, finding no clues during the daytime investigation of Black Water Village, resolutely decided to stay in the village overnight to protect the villagers from demons. After dark, strange things indeed began happening in Black Water Village. A candy-gourd seller, three children, and the village chief mysteriously disappeared before our eyes. Master Gu, concerned for the villagers' safety, went door to door, breaking them down if necessary to check on the people's welfare.

To our surprise, the entire village had vanished. At this point, Master Gu told us that Black Water Village was under his jurisdiction, and he had a duty to protect its villagers. He insisted on finding them, dead or alive, even if it meant venturing into the Skeleton Forest at night.

In the Skeleton Forest, we discovered all the villagers had become zombies. Under Master Gu's leadership, we fought valiantly, battling back and forth seven times, fighting for several hours before finally destroying all the zombies.

Later, we were pulled into the Shadow Realm by the Mirror Demon."

At this point, Wang Fatty suddenly remembered that the next part of the story was about how Master Gu had recklessly looked into a mirror and entered the Mirror Space. He couldn't tell that part as it would make Master Gu look foolish and surely lead to future trouble, so he changed the story:

"In the Shadow Realm, over five hundred villagers pursued us with mirrors. Master Gu, to protect us, bravely stood in front of us and was consequently trapped in the Mirror Space...

After that, Master Gu defeated his mirror copy, killed the Mirror Demon, and rescued us. As the Shadow Realm collapsed, five hundred spirits chased us. Once again, Master Gu stepped forward, ordering us to escape while he held them back. I, Wang Shan, am no coward who fears death, so how could I abandon Master Gu?

But Master Gu, determined to protect us, cursed and drove us away.

Finally, under Master Gu's heroic leadership, we all escaped with our lives."

Gu Qingfeng listened in astonishment, feeling his face grow warm for no apparent reason.

Was this really about me? Was I really that great?

It seems I've misjudged Wang Fatty before - this guy has talent. I'll go easier on him in the future.

After hearing Wang Fatty's account, Li Qianren and the others couldn't help but look repeatedly at Gu Qingfeng, thinking that even if half of what the fat one said was exaggerated, Gu Qingfeng would still qualify as an upright, brave, and competent Demon Eliminator.

Subsequently, Li Qianren and the others asked the three about specific details but found no major inconsistencies.

At this point, one Earth-rank Demon Eliminator suddenly spoke up: "Hmph, no matter how perfectly you've crafted this story, I will never believe that a fourth-level Qi Gathering martial artist could defeat one of the Seven Demon Generals using external martial arts. If that were possible, wouldn't all those grandmasters who practiced external martial arts have died in vain two hundred years ago?"

The other Earth-rank Demon Eliminators found this reasoning sound, as it was based on undeniable facts. How could they explain why grandmasters who practiced external martial arts couldn't defeat the Mirror Demon, yet a mere fourth-level Qi Gathering practitioner could?

Wasn't this complete nonsense?