Chapter 31

Creak~

Closing the wooden door of the academy.

Su Qin held Li Xiang's hand and walked slowly toward the center of the village, in the direction of the ancestral hall.

"Little ghost, you are quite clever."

"Thinking of your teacher at this time."

Su Qin stroked his goatee, his eyes sweeping over the martial artists of the Demon Slaying Division around them.

At this time, the village was very chaotic; the people from the Demon Slaying Division seemed to have turned the entire village upside down, questioning every household.

On the road, the two also saw people from the Demon Slaying Division pressing many villagers toward the ancestral hall.

"How can they handle a case like this, forcing questions on every household, disturbing the villagers so that not even chickens or dogs are at peace."

"This Demon Slaying Division is a bit too overbearing."

Before long.

The two saw the ancestral hall from afar on the road.

At this moment, a large group of people had already gathered in front of the ancestral hall.

Shen Lian and Jin Yichuan were reporting in front of a person wearing a green robe.

Beside them, two other officials were escorting many villagers.

Counting them scattered, there were actually dozens of people.

His own father, the old Village Chief, and several thin-looking villagers with pale faces were all in the ranks.

"Hmm?"

"Why did they catch so many people?"

Li Xiang was a bit astonished.

Before he could think further, he saw people from the Demon Slaying Division not far away catching a few crying children.

These children had strings of beast teeth hanging around their necks—all teeth from the demons Li Xiang had killed yesterday, strung into necklaces and worn around their necks.

This Demon Slaying Division!

How could they not even spare the children?

In front of the village chief's house, more than a dozen Demon Slaying Division officials were coldly guarding these villagers.

Dressed in long black robes and standing with swords at their waists, they were truly imposing.

In front of Garrison Commander Lu, another person was holding a large bronze bell, waiting for Garrison Commander Lu's summons.

This person was none other than Zhang Wu of Shihe Village.

Unlike three years ago, Zhang Wu now had a long scar on the corner of his eye, looking very fierce.

Li Xiang had a deep impression of him; when he was born, it was this fellow who almost chopped him.

If it weren't for his own descent, which had caused a drastic change in the future direction of the entire world.

Attracting heaven and earth anomalies, this fellow might have really chopped down with a firewood knife.

He had thought that such a vast heaven and earth anomaly would attract some elders from sacred lands or sects.

Or Bodhisattvas and Arhats from the Southern Sea Buddhism, or even some tricky cultivators from the Demon Sect to explore.

At the very least, a few loose immortals might come, like Nezha who worshipped under Yuding Zhenren upon birth, making him a second-generation immortal with backing.

But for some reason, it was as if nothing had happened at all.

Continuing to repeat a dull, monotonous life.

It was as if some existence had forcibly erased the existence of this event, which was mind-boggling.

However, Li Xiang didn't think too much about it; the logic of a transcendent world cannot be inferred by common sense.

So he stopped thinking about it.

Speaking of this Zhang Wu, he hadn't made things difficult for his family in the past few years.

When his father was in trouble, he even led people up the mountain to save him; he was also a village chief with a conscience.

In front of the ancestral hall.

Zhang Wu held the Demon Suppression Bell, looking anxiously at Garrison Commander Lu.

"My lord! These are all villagers from our village; how can you take them all to Tianhe Prefecture!"

"It is currently the autumn harvest; if the village is missing so many people, if we encounter a heavy rain and cannot harvest on time or sow on time."

"Next year, the people in this village will die, my lord!"

"People will starve to death next year!"

Zhang Wu held the shattered Demon Suppression Bell, standing in front of Lu Jianxing, his expression very anxious.

This Demon Slaying Division was actually preparing to send everyone detained here to Tianhe Prefecture and let Scholar Liu Rui verify their identities!

This Scholar Liu was a Righteous Scholar in Tianhe Prefecture who had already cultivated the Wisdom Eye.

Under Haoran Qi, all demons have nowhere to hide; inviting him to verify the identities of these villagers was indeed most appropriate.

Only...

This place is extremely far from Tianhe Prefecture; going back and forth would likely take at least two months.

It is currently the busy farming season; if all these people in the village are detained to Tianhe Prefecture.

As the Village Chief said, next year, the women, children, and elderly of the entire village would likely starve to death here.

"My lord!"

"My lord!!"

Zhang Wu pleaded bitterly.

He could never have imagined that although the Demon Slaying Division came to investigate the case and investigate the demon incident, it had developed to this point.

Even if no demons attacked, they would die because of man-made disasters.

How could he not be anxious!

Holding that Demon Suppression Bell, he wished he could smash it on the ground to vent his anger.

"How the Demon Slaying Division acts, why do you need to ask?"

"Presumptuous!"

Lu Jianxing frowned, reached out a hand, and lifted the Demon Suppression Bell from Zhang Wu's hands.

Looking at the Demon Suppression Bell in front of him, he spoke coldly.

"This Demon Suppression Bell is a Yellow-grade second-rank treasure; the cost alone is three thousand taels of silver."

"Even if you tied all your heads together, it wouldn't be enough for a fraction of this Demon Suppression Bell."

"Now that the Demon Suppression Bell is shattered, the Demon Slaying Division must have an explanation for those above."

"If you dare to block us again, you will be executed on the spot!"

Lu Jianxing looked coldly at Zhang Wu, an aura erupting that pressed him so he couldn't stand up.

"Big brother, this, do we really have to escort these villagers to the prefecture city?"

Shen Lian spoke out of turn, and Jin Yichuan beside him also frowned.

Shen Lian, Jin Yichuan, and Lu Jianxing were sworn brothers, and their relationship was usually very good.

Only now, it seemed that the two brothers also felt that their big brother's approach was somewhat inappropriate.

"Big brother! We only need to escort Li Ping'an to the prefecture city; why involve these innocent villagers?"

"These people only cut some scraps of meat from the demons to use as food, and these children only took some broken teeth to make necklaces; I just checked them with the Demon Revealing Mirror, they cannot be demons!"

"Big brother, our actions like this, disregarding their life and death, what is the difference between us and those demons..."

"Presumptuous!"

"Shen Lian, you have great courage; is it up to you to decide for the Demon Slaying Division now?"

Lu Jianxing snorted coldly, interrupting the two.

For a time, the atmosphere between the three was somewhat cold.

After a long while, Lu Jianxing looked at his two younger brothers and sighed deeply.

He called the two over and whispered in a low voice:

"Second brother, your wife is still drinking flower wine with guests in the Wenwu Building, selling her looks; can you bear to let her continue receiving guests like this?"

"Third brother, how many more years can the old illness in your body last? Do you really intend to die in the line of duty in your twenties and then finish your life's affairs?"

Speaking of this, two cold glints flashed in Lu Jianxing's eyes.

Like a greedy wolf, he stared at Shen Lian and Jin Yichuan.

"You two, do you really intend to spend your whole life in such a frontier town!"

"We three brothers have no money and no connections; we rely on opportunities. When an opportunity comes, if you catch it, you can turn your life around!"

"Now the opportunity has arrived; how can you let it pass?"

The three frowned and said nothing.

"Big brother..."

Shen Lian seemed to want to persuade him again.

"My mind is made up; say no more!"

"Better to kill by mistake than to let one go; this case involves a heavy treasure theft case of the Nether Sect from a hundred years ago. If we can't find it, a Demon Slaying Division inspector will come to take over next month!"

"Unless you can find a Righteous Scholar right now to verify their identities on the spot, otherwise, say no more about this!"

(End of chapter)