Chapter 167

About several decades ago, a mutation unfolded silently, and then the style of this world became strange.

Now there are fierce people flying and escaping everywhere.

It is hard to judge what level the combat power of this world is at, but legends of top powerhouses shattering the void with their strength have been endless.

It is not a strange thing for demons to take human form and mingle in the marketplace.

Once discovered, they will be captured by the Divine Catcher Division and taken to the Heavenly Prison, where they will be tortured until their body and soul are destroyed. Chu Yang once encountered a scene of the Divine Catcher Division capturing a demon; the impact was widespread, and at least ten civilians were killed or injured.

What appeared here was the Divine Catcher Division, led by Zhuge Zhengwo, with the Four Great Constables under his command.

Although Chu Yang had been pretending to be a playboy all these years and didn't dare to ask about things outside for fear of the Emperor's suspicion, he was in the capital after all, so he knew a little bit about the affairs of the imperial court.

The current political landscape of the Ming Dynasty, apart from the increasingly weak civil official group, has six top forces that truly hold the power of life and death.

Two Marquises and one Gate.

Two Factories and one Guard.

The two factories and one guard are easy to understand; they are old acquaintances in the history of the Ming Dynasty: the Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, and the Jinyiwei.

Cao Zhengchun, the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot; Yu Huatian, the Superintendent of the Western Depot; and Zheng Dongliu, the Commander of the Jinyiwei.

The Jinyiwei is responsible for investigating officials, the Eastern Depot is responsible for investigating the Jinyiwei, and the Western Depot is responsible for investigating the Eastern Depot—a typical nesting doll behavior in the Ming government system.

The three-way balance is a situation deliberately created by the current Emperor. He just likes to watch the people below fight each other; it's a kind of bad taste, and he usually likes to pretend to be a grandson even more than Chu Yang.

Facing such a deep-thinking Emperor, it was thanks to Chu Yang's good acting skills that he hadn't been put on the other party's blacklist long ago.

Compared to the internal duties of the two factories and one guard, the two marquises and one gate are more focused on external affairs.

The two marquises refer to the aforementioned Zhuge Divine Marquis, Zhuge Zhengwo, and Tie Dan Divine Marquis, Zhu Wushi, who comes from the old Zhu family.

One is the Divine Catcher Division, and the other is the Dragon-Protecting Villa. The Divine Catcher Division is responsible for capturing demons hiding in the human world, while the Dragon-Protecting Villa is responsible for gathering relevant information, belonging to an intelligence agency.

Not only is there no conflict between the two, but they are actually complementary existences.

But the problem is that Zhuge Divine Marquis and Tie Dan Divine Marquis do not get along; they can even be said to be political enemies who want each other dead.

And the one that truly has a conflict of duties with the Divine Catcher Division is the Six Fan Gate among the two marquises and one gate.

The Divine Catcher Division is mostly responsible for eradicating demons, while the Six Fan Gate is responsible for capturing criminals. You must know that after the great changes in the world, those heinous criminals in the martial arts world have also become more fierce one by one.

It's as if the super-criminals in movies need superheroes to be successfully captured.

The Six Fan Gate is the "Avengers" of the Ming Dynasty and is very beloved by the common people. As the Chief Constable, Guo Juxia is a star among stars. By comparison, the Divine Catcher Division appears much more low-key.

Human hearts are made of flesh; over time, the Divine Catcher Division also covets the treatment of the Six Fan Gate, so from time to time, they will overstep their bounds and intervene in the work of the Six Fan Gate, calling it helping colleagues.

The conflict between the two sides unfolded from this, and the Four Great Constables of the Divine Catcher Division and the Four Great Divine Constables of the Six Fan Gate are often compared by busybodies.

Although the people below are making a lot of noise, Zhuge Divine Marquis and Guo Juxia have never been anxious in the imperial court; instead, they get along quite well because both of them know that it is that Holy Emperor who is stirring up the wind and clouds in the dark.

In short, the pattern of the two marquises and one gate and the two factories and one guard is about the same; the main point is that a triangle has stability. Chu Yang thinks that if his Imperial Brother were not an emperor, he would definitely be an excellent mathematician.

I don't know if it's because of deliberate blocking, but the capital is very closed off to news from the outside world. Outside, demons are rampant, but there, it is singing and dancing, and the civil and military officials are addicted to the gentle countryside all day long.

If it weren't for this unexpected trip to travel the world, Chu Yang probably wouldn't have known what the situation was outside until he died.

After a long time of wild thoughts, Chu Yang turned his head and found that Guo Furong had fallen asleep, with tear stains on her face, as if she had cried until she was tired.

He was not worried about safety issues. There were no bad people in Tongfu Inn; with the courage of those people, they couldn't do anything like black-on-black.

It should be fine when the government officials come tomorrow morning.

After rushing around all day and tossing and turning for half the night, Chu Yang couldn't hold on anymore. His eyelids were fighting, and he tilted his head and fell into a deep sleep.

In the main hall, Tong Xiangyu and the others were discussing reporting to the government tomorrow when suddenly, a rapid knocking on the door sounded, giving them a fright.

"Zhantang, go open the door..."

Tong Xiangyu silently retreated behind the crowd.

"It's me again!"

Bai Zhantang looked miserable. He had already been scared out of his wits by the "Male and Female Duo of Evil" just now; who knew what it was this time? Complaining was complaining, but he also knew that he was the one with the highest martial arts here. If there was really danger, others going would be equivalent to sending food!

Bai Zhantang approached the gate tremblingly. These two years have not been peaceful; besides scum like the "Male and Female Duo of Evil," there are also demons causing trouble in the world.

Creak.

The inn door opened, and outside the door stood a constable in black, with shifty eyes, looking like a monkey.

"Old Xing, why are you back again? You scared us!"

Bai Zhantang excitedly dragged Xing Yusen in from outside the door.

"Old Xing, aren't you going back to the yamen?"

Tong Xiangyu felt that Old Xing was a bit wrong. Because he was afraid of the Male and Female Duo of Evil, no matter how they begged him just now, he wouldn't stay, but as a result, he ran back in a dejected manner.

"I'm sorry, Old Bai, and Manager Tong." Old Xing had cold sweat on his forehead, and he put his hands together and prayed, "Let me stay at Tongfu Inn for one night tonight!"

"Old Xing, you're really interesting. You don't stay in your own good home and come to stay in an inn?" Li Dazui teased with a silly smile, "Are you looking for freshness here?"

Old Xing immediately waved his hand, "I didn't mean that."

Lu Xiucai reminded in a low voice, "As a civil servant, it's not good to do messy things. Corruption starts from small things..."

Old Xing was shivering with anxiety and said angrily, "What are you talking about? Can you shut your mouths!"

Tong Xiangyu couldn't help but shout, "Old Xing, can't you just tell everyone what's going on?"

Old Xing gritted his teeth and said, "On the way back just now, I always felt like something was following me. I didn't dare to go back alone, so I thought I'd come here to hide..."

"Hide?" Tong Xiangyu was shocked and cursed, "You Xing Yusen, aren't you harming people? If you really brought something dirty here, what should we do?"

"Xiao Bei is still here, and she's just a child!"

Old Xing's expression changed several times, red and green, and finally he shook his head and sighed, "Then... I'd better go."

Seeing him like this, Tong Xiangyu couldn't bear it after all. "Forget it, everyone will squeeze together in the main hall later. There are many people and the fire is strong, so we don't fear dirty things."

A look of joy appeared on Old Xing's face.

The next second, Bai Zhantang seemed to think of something and shouted in horror, "Oh no, there are still two people in the backyard!"

Chu Yang, who was sleeping in a daze, felt someone licking his face. The moist touch was very real, reminding him of Miss Qingyue, the top girl of Hongxiu Pavilion.

Why is there a bit of a fishy smell?

Miss Qingyue didn't have this smell from head to toe...

Chu Yang woke up suddenly. What came into view was not Miss Qingyue, but a huge demon that looked like a snake but not a snake, and like a cow but not a cow, licking him with its tongue, just like licking a Wangwang crushed ice.

Looking at the other party's intoxicated eyes, it should have been a few days since it had eaten. If it were him, he would be willing to swallow shit if he were starving.

"No matter what, I smell better than shit. This is the end!"

At the critical moment of life and death, Chu Yang still had the leisure to tease. Even he himself was a bit surprised by this calmness; he thought he would be scared to the point of wetting his pants.

But on second thought, he had enjoyed all the wealth and honor in this life, so it wouldn't be a loss to die. What was there to be sad about? "I only have one request, can you brush your teeth before eating..."

Suddenly, the demon stopped, looked at Chu Yang with a strange expression for a while, and then moved its head toward Guo Furong.

Now Chu Yang's expression finally changed.

"I'm asking you, are you sick? With her small frame, she's barely enough for a dessert after a meal. You'd better eat me first."

Seeming to feel Chu Yang's urgency, the demon raised the corners of its mouth and actually revealed an anthropomorphic, playful smile.

"Son of a bitch, playing with me!"

Chu Yang finally realized that the demon was teasing him. The other party really liked this feeling of playing with him, just like a cat playing with a mouse.

Next, no matter how Chu Yang cursed, the demon ignored him and stretched out its tongue to lick Guo Furong's face.

Guo Furong's body couldn't stop trembling.

She had woken up long ago, but she had been pretending to sleep, fearing that she would disturb the demon.

She had heard every word Chu Yang said just now, and thinking of the trouble she had caused him along the way, she felt extremely ashamed.

"Senior Brother, we are really going to die here today..."

Guo Furong wept in a low voice.

"Don't cry! The more you cry, the happier it will be. Even if we die, we can't let it have its way. Don't disgrace Master's prestige!"

Chu Yang couldn't think of any other way to comfort Guo Furong, so he could only say this.

He was desperately trying to find a way to break the situation, but unfortunately, his martial arts cultivation was too poor, and everything was in vain.

Guo Furong gradually stopped crying, and her face became resolute. Senior Brother was right; her father was Guo Juxia, and she couldn't lose face for her father.

Having lost its source of happiness, the demon's eyes became fierce, and it opened its big mouth to bite down hard.

At this moment.

"Sunflower Acupoint Hand!"

A white shadow flashed rapidly in front of the demon, so fast that it couldn't see the person's movements at all. The demon was stunned for a moment and stood still.

"Hahaha, Old Bai, you're really good!"

"Zhantang, you're amazing!"

Tong Xiangyu, Lu Xiucai, and the others didn't dare to go over and could only cheer from the passage between the main hall and the backyard.

Old Xing, as a constable in black, looked at the huge demon, his whole body trembling. He gritted his teeth and pulled out his sword and walked over.

Bai Zhantang stood with his back to the demon, clapping his hands spiritedly, "It's been many years since I made a move. I didn't expect that my blade is still sharp!"

Old Xing, who was about to reach Bai Zhantang, suddenly changed his expression.

Bai Zhantang was shocked. Just as he was about to turn around, he suddenly felt his waist being hit hard by a heavy object, instantly losing consciousness, and his whole body smashed into the firewood pile by the wall.

The demon's snake tail swept again. Old Xing prepared to block with his sword, but as expected, he was swept away and landed in front of Tong Xiangyu and the others! Everyone's faces were pale, and a sentence popped into their minds in unison.

It's over!

Bai Zhantang, who had fallen into a daze, looked at the demon and muttered, "Human acupoints don't work on it. I'm really stupid..."

The demon lowered its head greedily, intending to eat everyone in the courtyard into its stomach.

Tong Xiangyu and the others hugged each other and cried.

"I told you to run quickly, but you guys insisted on coming to the backyard. Now look..."

"Manager, wasn't it you who said to come?"

"I said to come, so you come? I usually ask you to work hard, and none of you listen to me. Why are you so obedient now!"

"Manager, you're being a bit unreasonable."

"I'm about to die, what reason are you talking to me about!"

"Xiangyu, don't cry. I have something I've been hiding in my heart that I want to tell you."

"Zhantang..."

Just as the two were mourning and lingering, they suddenly heard a roar from behind the demon.

"I told you to eat me first. Don't you even know who the main course is? This broken inn looks like it's poorly managed, and the manager and staff are all thin and malnourished. What's good to eat here?" "You guy are so unappreciative; you must be a low-class character among demons, right?"

The demon's body paused, and it slowly turned to stare at Chu Yang. This human had been trying to anger it, and at this moment, he had clearly succeeded.

"Junior Sister, I'm sorry. Consider it Senior Brother pitting you once. After this dog thing eats me, it will probably be your turn next."

"It's okay, Senior Brother. I'm not afraid. It's enough to buy time for these people to escape."

Chu Yang smiled with relief. Guo Furong, who shouted all day about wanting to be a hero, finally had a shadow of a hero at the moment of death.

The demon opened its mouth and almost swallowed Chu Yang's whole body.

Guo Furong cried out hoarsely.

Watching Chu Yang's act of sacrificing his life for righteousness, Bai Zhantang and the others were too shocked to speak.

In an instant, the whole world froze!

Soul Palace.

Ming Chu Yang opened his eyes. The demon disappeared from his sight, leaving only a few strange people tinkering with instruments he couldn't understand.

"I told you this wouldn't work. These two bloodlines are too far apart and have no compatibility!"

"What if a mutation occurs? We have to try!"

"Betting on probability is not science; that's metaphysics!"

"It doesn't matter, I'm a European!"

"Get out of my laboratory, you African chief."

After arguing for a long time, they realized that there was one more person in the palace.

"Are you okay? You look like you've been quite frightened. Your situation before coming here wasn't very good, right?"

Jujutsu Chu Yang smiled and helped Ming Chu Yang up, joking, "You'll get used to it. Before I came here, I was almost killed by a cursed spirit."

The moment the two touched, the synchronization was completed.

Ming Chu Yang immediately understood the identities of these people and this mysterious palace.

"Your world is quite interesting." Jujutsu Chu Yang said curiously, "What exactly are these so-called demons? They don't feel like simple demon creatures."

Ming Chu Yang shook his head and said, "I don't know. I haven't seen them many times. I only watched from afar before. This is the first time at close range. It feels very disgusting to me, even more disgusting than cursed spirits."

Others also synchronized Ming Chu Yang's memories one after another and taught him some experience.

A moment later, Ming Chu Yang returned to his world.

The frozen world moved again.

Guo Furong was still crying.

Tong Xiangyu and the others had not yet left.

The demon's body suddenly erupted with a brilliant light.

Under their shocked gazes, it exploded with a bang!

A massive thunderbolt roared and exploded, illuminating the entire backyard of Tongfu Inn, as if divine punishment had descended upon the world.

"My God, why is there thunder!"

"Mom, my ears are going to be deafened!"

"Manager, Manager, I can't see anything."

"Close your eyes and rest for a while, and it will be fine."

"Where is that demon?"

"It was smashed by lightning! Heaven really has eyes, and the gods are protecting us!"

Surviving the disaster filled everyone's faces with smiles, except for Guo Furong. She rushed toward the demon's remains like a madman, wanting to find Chu Yang from the pile of charred meat.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you accompany me to travel the world!"

"If it weren't for me, you would still be enjoying life in the capital right now..."

Guo Furong was on the verge of collapse. She should have let the demon eat her first, so Senior Brother wouldn't have died.

Tong Xiangyu slowly approached her.

Even though the staff held Tong Xiangyu's hands tightly, she was still walking toward Guo Furong's position.

Li Dazui shouted hurriedly, "Manager, don't, those are the Male and Female Duo of Evil!"

Tong Xiangyu was furious and said, "Didn't you see what happened just now? They risked their lives to save us, and you're still calling them the Male and Female Duo of Evil. It's clearly us who misunderstood!"

Lu Xiucai shook his head and said subconsciously, "Not necessarily. As the saying goes, when a person is about to die, their words are good..."

"Shut up!"

The crowd retorted angrily.

Lu Xiucai shrank his neck and became quiet.

Tong Xiangyu lifted her skirt, ran to Guo Furong's side, and helped her look for Chu Yang in the pile of meat.

Seeing this, others hurried up to help.

Old Xing stood aside with a miserable face, feeling that the scene was a bit disgusting. Just the burnt smell of the meat made him want to vomit.

"Old Xing, why are you still standing there?!"

Tong Xiangyu looked up at him coldly, "They saved your life. Don't forget who brought the demon here!"

"Alright, alright, stop talking!" Old Xing felt that his conscience had been greatly hurt, so he didn't care about the disgust and dived into the pile of meat to rummage around.

"Sigh... I'm here..."

Hearing the familiar voice, Guo Furong was ecstatic. She rushed toward the sound and dug Chu Yang out from a pile of bloody filth.

Chu Yang was fine, just disgusted enough.

When he returned from the Soul Palace, he had already been swallowed into the demon's stomach. In a hurry, he activated the Thunder Spirit Power, which was the most powerful among the five spirit powers.

An explosion occurred in the confined space. Although it caused fatal damage to the demon, it also blew out all the filth inside the other party's body.

This almost suffocated Chu Yang, and his brain crashed instantly.

However, the so-called filth was not things like shit and urine, but the demon's unique source of power, similar to blood, but more important than blood.

Normal people who come into contact with it will likely be alienated into the next demon.

"Senior Brother, is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?" Guo Furong touched Chu Yang all over in a hurry, "If there's a problem, you must say it."

"Are you blind?" Chu Yang brushed off the dirty things on his body and cursed angrily, "I'm already in this state, and you're still asking me where I feel uncomfortable? You try getting this stuff on you, and you'll know if it's comfortable or not."

Guo Furong looked aggrieved. She was clearly caring for Chu Yang, but the other party didn't appreciate it at all.

"Young lady, you'd better let your Senior Brother take a bath first. If he stays any longer, he'll be soaked in the smell!"

Bai Zhantang reminded kindly while retching.

"Dazui! Hurry up and pour some hot water from the kitchen. Give this young hero a rinse first, ugh..."

Tong Xiangyu started vomiting as she spoke.

Her vomiting was like a chain reaction, and a group of people followed suit.

"Senior Brother, ugh... you'd better go first... ugh..."

"Alright, you'd better finish vomiting before you talk!"

Chu Yang shook his head helplessly. Without waiting for Li Dazui to pour hot water, he entered the room first, closed the door, and washed his whole body with Water Spirit Power.

A moment later, he was brand new inside and out.

"Well... Young Hero, you can sleep in Dazui and the others' room tonight. Your Junior Sister will sleep upstairs with me. Don't worry."

Tong Xiangyu's voice came from outside the room.

"Thank you, Manager."

"No, no, we should be the ones thanking you. Then you should rest early."

After some pleasantries, Tong Xiangyu's footsteps went further and further away.

It wasn't like he could sleep for long; dawn was almost breaking, but Chu Yang still chose to doze off for a while.

There was no fatigue on his body, but his spirit had been tossed quite a bit, and the existence of the Soul Palace also gave Chu Yang quite a shock at this moment.

The chickens raised in the backyard were scared to death by the demon, so Chu Yang didn't hear any crowing early the next morning.

Instead, there was a rapid knocking on the main door of the hall, waking Tong Xiangyu and the others, who hadn't slept well at all, from their dreams.

"Are you trying to kill us! Who is knocking on the door so early in the morning!"

"Tongfu Inn is not open today!"

"Before my morning temper explodes, I advise you to leave immediately!"

Because Chu Yang occupied Li Dazui and the others' room yesterday, they were sleeping in the main hall with Bai Zhantang, and the knocking sound scared the three of them quite a bit.

They cursed for a long time until Tong Xiangyu stood on the second floor wearing a thin gauze dress, frowning and saying, "Zhantang, go open the door."

"Alright!" Bai Zhantang immediately stopped talking and opened the door happily before he had even put on his clothes properly.

A middle-aged man stood outside, wearing an official uniform, a black gauze hat, a lean figure, and sharp eyes.

"Oh my god! Manager, Magistrate Lou is here!"

Bai Zhantang retreated in surprise. When he turned his head, Tong Xiangyu was no longer on the second floor.

Magistrate Lou walked into the inn with a square step, like a big turtle, and behind him stood many constables.

Old Xing followed Magistrate Lou into the inn.

"Why aren't you serving tea to Magistrate Lou yet! Magistrate Lou is here specifically to issue a reward order for your Tongfu Inn."

Old Xing winked and smiled from ear to ear. His joyful appearance showed he had been rewarded.

Demons are rampant in the Ming Empire, and the Divine Catcher Division alone is not enough to quell the chaos of demons in the world, so they encourage folk heroes to participate, which is why there is a reward order.

As long as the common people participate in eradicating demons, they have a chance to obtain a reward order, which is a symbol of identity, can fight for some privileges, and can also make requests to the imperial court, provided it is not too excessive, otherwise the reward order may be taken away.

Hearing about the reward order, Bai Zhantang's pupils shrank. This thing could completely clear his past criminal record, and from then on, he could appear in front of the world openly.

In an instant, his whole body trembled with excitement.

"Old Bai! Be calm!" Old Xing stepped forward and patted Bai Zhantang on the shoulder, laughing in a low voice, "It's just a reward order, look at your inexperienced appearance."

That's what he said, but when the reward order came down this morning, Old Xing almost fainted, much more excited than Bai Zhantang.

(End of chapter)