Chapter 8: Wind and Thunder Scripture

Walking through Baiyun County’s streets, Shen Yi carefully inquired after each girl’s home address.

He dismissed the other constables mainly because he found their reputations too tainted to accompany him.

Even so, passersby avoided him as if he were a plague demon.

Shen Yi shook his head and knocked on the broken wooden door before him.

The door opened to reveal a woman with tear-blurred eyes; seeing the young man with a sword at his side, she instinctively tried to shut it.

Shen Yi reached out to block it, shifted his body aside, and a little girl immediately flung herself into the woman’s arms, sobbing hoarsely, breathless: “Mother!”

The woman stood frozen for a long while, blinking her swollen red eyes as if unable to believe it, then her nose tightened with grief as she clutched the frail body tightly: “My child! Those damned, vile constables!”

Her voice cut off abruptly; she stole a glance at the tall figure ahead and realized she had spoken wrongly.

Yet Shen Yi acted as if he had heard nothing, turned, took two sacks of rice and flour from Chen Ji, plus a slab of pork, and bent to place them beside the woman’s feet.

“The child has been hungry for a long time and was frightened—go cook her some pork porridge to restore her strength.”

Chen Ji, shouldering the rice and flour, showed a flicker of surprise in his gloomy expression.

The ever-cold-faced Lord Shen now bowed his hands in apology, wearing a gentle smile, then quietly closed the door behind the mother and daughter.

This is absurd!

This scene repeated six more times in succession.

Only after delivering all the girls home did Shen Yi return to the street and forcefully rub his stiffened mouth: “...”

Watching this motion, Chen Jinyu couldn’t help but smile faintly, finding it oddly amusing.

He clearly had no skill in human interaction, let alone in apologizing; despite his calm exterior, his entire body was rigid.

“Brother, is this your new superior from the government office?”

Hearing this, Chen Ji cast a silent glance at his sister: “No—he is Shen Yi.”

Upon hearing the name, Chen Jinyu instinctively covered her red lips; though she had never met the man, it was only because her brother had always protected her—she had long heard of his infamous reputation.

“Stay away from him.”

Chen Ji whispered the warning, yet his thoughts grew increasingly complex.

Not only did Shen Yi’s transformation baffle him, but there was also a more pressing matter to resolve.

Now that the girls have been returned, how do we deal with those old apes?

By the appointed time, what will Shen Yi present to satisfy his superiors?

“Lord Shen.”

Chen Ji approached slowly; Shen Yi snapped back to awareness and glanced at him casually: “The rest is for your sister—take it all home.”

“I didn’t come to talk about that!”

Chen Ji gritted his teeth in frustration, unable to understand why the man always dodged the subject.

The dog demon earlier behaved the same way—does he think ignoring these problems makes them vanish?

Under Chen Ji’s stare, Shen Yi stood with hands at his sides, then spoke softly after a pause: “I don’t know.”

These four simple words turned Chen Ji’s face pale: “Are you joking with me?”

Shen Yi regarded him calmly.

He spoke the truth.

Present-day Baiyun County was already teeming with peril—far beyond what a single wicked man’s repentance could fix.

The black-skinned dog demon who attacked him suddenly at the Liu household, the Huang Lao Liu couple living in the village, and the increasingly demanding ape demons—

All were trampling the unspoken rules once agreed upon with the Baiyun County office.

This meant either the constables’ retreat had emboldened the demons, or the demons had learned of the impending arrival of the Demon-Suppressing Office and feared the office would turn against them, so they sought to vent their fury before the end.

Shen Yi was merely a low-ranking clerk, with no access to communicate with the Demon-Suppressing Office, and thus no power to mediate the situation.

Either hand over the entire county’s people to the demons to ravage at will, or shed this uniform early and prioritize his own survival.

【Remaining lifespan: one year】

He turned his head, gazing at the cold text on the panel.

Preserving his own life was meaningless; to survive, he could only hope this place held some profound martial art capable of extending his lifespan.

Whether through the panel’s deduction or by seeking within the Demon-Suppressing Office, both paths required slaying demons and purging evil.

The only thing Shen Yi could rely on was the long knife in his hand.

“Let’s go.” He stepped forward.

“Where?” Chen Ji followed closely.

“To your place for a meal—I’m hungry.”

“...”

Clearly, Chen Ji was deeply reluctant to let Shen Yi enter his home.

But after today’s events, though he disliked it intensely, he silently accepted the situation.

The siblings lived in a house assigned by the office.

There was only one bedroom, reserved for Chen Jinyu; behind it lay a small woodshed, tidied into Chen Ji’s sleeping quarters.

“Brother, come in and sit.”

“No. Go cook.”

Chen Ji lowered his head and led Shen Yi into the woodshed, dragging out two small stools.

“Isn’t this a bit excessive?” Shen Yi raised an eyebrow, staring at the one-foot-high stools—what difference did they make from sitting on the ground? “Your sister’s room is spacious enough. I’m no thief—why are you guarding against me?”

“Make do.” Chen Ji walked to the bed, lifted the straw mat, and pulled out a yellowed sheet of paper.

He closed his eyes, hesitated long, recalling Shen Yi’s shoulder-clasping, dog-demon-stabbing scene, then contrasted it with the smile on his face when returning the girls.

“I don’t care whether you truly have no solution or simply refuse to explain to me—I can’t help you in any way.”

Chen Ji opened his eyes and handed the paper over: “Take this.”

“What is this?”

Shen Yi took it, glanced briefly, and his expression gradually changed.

Before Chen Ji could answer, the panel had already provided the answer.

【Wind and Thunder Scripture, Upper Volume (Uninitiated）】

“The Demon-Suppressing Office’s Captain once sought me out alone, saying I had considerable talent; besides the three martial forms, he personally wrote these seventy-eight characters of true words for me.”

“This is a medicinal cultivation method—four major thresholds of tendons, bones, skin, and flesh; once perfected, it reaches the peak of mortal flesh.”

Chen Ji gave a self-deprecating laugh: “The Captain’s keen eyes missed you alone—perhaps he saw through your nature from the start. Too bad, after three years, I haven’t even broken through the first threshold.”

“I’m giving it to you now—it probably won’t help much, but I have nothing else to offer... study it slowly. I’ll go help with the cooking.”

Hearing this, Shen Yi suppressed his joy, merely waving his hand: “Go on, go on.”

Chen Ji’s words made sense—no matter how profound the martial art, cramming at the last moment would yield little.

But for him, it was entirely different.

【Remaining demon lifespan: one hundred ninety-nine years】

Good thing he held back this morning.

Shen Yi steadied his breath, followed his usual routine—first, ten years.

Ten years of demon lifespan instantly flooded into the Wind and Thunder Scripture; several lines of text quietly appeared.

【Year One, you thoroughly studied the medicinal cultivation method, nourishing your body’s great tendons with the essence of heaven and earth】

【Year Three, with no medicine available, you could only extract minuscule essence through diet—progress was painfully slow】

【Year Seven, you faintly sensed the threshold breaking; your great tendons coiled like dragons, yet lacking essence, you could only advance gradually, accumulating strength before unleashing it】

【Year Ten, you shattered the tendon threshold—Wind and Thunder Scripture, Upper Volume, entered】

…

(End of Chapter)