Lesser Yao Province.

This was an unnamed village under the jurisdiction of Nanyao City, one of the four administrators of this piece of land. The name (Nan/South) naturally stands for which section of the Lesser Yao Province the city was responsible for.

Obviously, this was not the Earth Nick originated from, but a completely new world.

From a quick glance, it has a major similarity to Ancient China by judging on their dress code, building design, and lifestyle. If Nick were to guess, the current timeline here is somewhat around the warring states period, recorded in the spring and autumn records.

Well, that's how it looks to Nick, at least.

As someone who lived on Earth for thirty-six years and recently spoke with a mysterious voice before waking up in this place, Nick fully understood that he was Isekai-ed into a different world instead of reincarnated.

But the question is...

(What kind of world is this? Cultivation? Magic? Or apocalypse?)

He then gently touched the fatal wound on his chest, which was now healed. It was a surprise that no scar was left, considering how wide and clean the cut was.

"HEY!" a stranger shouted at Nick after coming to his side.

"Lift your head up for me to have a look. And answer me, are you a human or a demon?" he asked. He sounded concerned with Nick's well-being but somewhat maintained his vigilance.

His carefulness can be seen from the sword in his hand, positioned beside Nick's main artery. If Nick behaves suspiciously, all it takes him is a swing to separate Nick's head from his neck.

"I - I..." Nick wasn't sure if the stranger could understand his words. But nevertheless, he still lifted his head and silently stared at him. The current him was smeared with dirt all around him, with blood-soaked clothing thanks to lying in the puddle of blood for a while.

All of these likely happened in the aftermath when this body's true owner was stabbed in his chest. He could be struggling for a while before succumbing to the sword wound.

In this situation, keeping his mouth shut is possibly Nick's best choice if he wishes to stay alive.

It took the stranger a few minutes to determine whether Nick was a human or a demon. But the relaxing expression on his face quickly gave Nick his answer. Apparently, he was a fellow humankind, just like the stranger.

This was understandable. After all, the appearance of a demon greatly differs from human.

For starters, it was their appearance. A demon was usually born with an oni-like horn growing around its forehead. The number of horns would also increase according to their age and strength to a maximum of nine horns.

Furthermore, the skin tone of a demon was much darker, with a tint of violet, verdant, crimson, blue, or grey.

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Nick appeared filthy, but it couldn't cover the tint of yellow-orangish skin tone that only humankind could have. Added to the lack of a "horn" on his forehead, there's no reason for the stranger to mistakenly assume him to be a part of the "demonkind."

"It's alright..." the stranger no longer insists Nick on answering him. After all, he might be the only survivor of this burning village. And as long he verified that Nick was not a demonkind, that would be more than enough.

"How did it go, Yong Cheng?" the captain of this group asked while coming over on his horse. He should be the leader of this group, judging from the iron-scale armor he's wearing.

After all, it was a piece of protective gear that only an officer could have. And apparently, this stranger's name was Gu Yong Cheng, a member of the Nanyao City's Gu Family. He was also a part of the Gu Family Punitive Army, responsible for patrolling and security around this Southern Demonic Forest.

"All clear, captain. This boy here is the only survivor of this village. The rest of them, a total of two hundred and fifty-five people... Are all dead..." Gu Yong Cheng answered after he returned his sword to the sheath.

Obviously, this village was suspected of being attacked by demonkind not long ago, with all the villagers massacred. As Gu Yong Cheng said, Nick was the only one who survived the attack.

A few soldiers that came after the captain were naturally curious about how he survived this ordeal, but nobody went forward with their curiosity. At this moment, Nick also noticed they were speaking the same language as him.

Or perhaps, he was hardwired with the language pack in his head after taking over this body.

Because he wasn't a part of the Punitive Army, they naturally wouldn't ask him to help with the aftermath. And sitting in a corner also allowed Nick to eavesdrop on what they said and roughly understand what was happening here.

Apparently, based on the state of the burning logs, the lack of food on the table, and how the dead villagers dressed, it is safe to assume that the attack happened around midnight when security was lacking.

Although the smoke signal calling for help eventually reached the Punitive Army, they were still a step too late. The attack had already long over by the time they arrived.

To Nick's surprise, the soldiers ran around the village collecting dead corpses. And since he got nothing to do, Nick made a headcount and noticed fifty-one people in this Punitive Army if the captain was included.

They then gathered around the two hundred and fifty-five villagers' corpses piled together.

"All the dead villagers are here, captain. We're ready for the next step." said Gu Yong Cheng.

After Gu Yong Cheng's statement, the captain pulled a yellow talisman out of his pocket and imbued some magical energy into that magic paper. He appeared to be very experienced in this matter while being on horseback.

"Demonic Vanquishing Talisman!"

"Activate!"

The captain shouted and pointed his finger at the pile of corpses.

A pillar of flames immediately followed and ignited the corpses in a flame pillar. In less than five minutes, the fire and the bodies were extinguished. There was nothing to be found here except the sign that a cremation process once happened on this spot.

"Alright. The purification process is over. Let us return to Nanyao City." said the captain.

"Gu Yong Cheng." the captain added afterward.

"Yes, captain." Gu Yong Cheng immediately responded to the captain's call.

"You'll be responsible for the boy until we house him in one of the orphanages in the city. Of course, he's more than welcome to join the Punitive Army if he wanted to." the captain continued.

After saying what he had in mind, the captain turned his horse around and led everyone back to Nanyao City.

The trip back to Nanyao City took them slightly more than an hour. This explains why it was already too late by the time the Punitive Army arrived at Nick's village.

After all, the preparation from discovering the signal to marching would take them close to an hour to get ready. Added to another hour of traveling time, it is obvious that everything was proceeding a little too slowly.

"So... What was your name? Since you no longer have a place to go to, maybe you want to consider joining our Gu Family Punitive Army? We could use a helping hand, you know?" Gu Yong Cheng said. Obviously, he was trying to recruit Nick into their Punitive Army.