Chapter 236: 229 Power in Hand

After sending off the Town Guardian, Mai Shiyu officially became the big boss of the Xun City Land Inspection Division.

How should I put it? It feels pretty good.

After tossing the two Doctors out to search the whole city for the Demon Cave with a fake smile, Deputy Envoy Mai gathered the remaining members of the Land Inspection Division.

As the seat of Riyang Jun, the local Land Inspection Division in Xun City was full of talent. Although Deputy Envoy Mai only had half the people left, their strength was no lower than what Xing Ji had under his command back then. After all, in these past few years, the Gaoyuan Marquis's influence in Yunzhou had become more stable, and the construction of the Training Camp had become increasingly complete. The talents cultivated there were gradually coming to the fore, and the Land Inspection Division, which was directly under the Marquis, had ushered in a great development, almost on par with the administrative officials.

The Town Guardian did things very properly; he took away most of the old-timers and old foxes, leaving Deputy Envoy Mai with only the younger generation. Their strength might be slightly inferior, but they were all forces that Mai Shiyu could truly command.

Mai Shiyu did not gather everyone inside the house, but chose the courtyard. The original Xun City Garrison Commander was a fastidious person; the government office's courtyard was very large, planted with flowering trees, and had spring water winding around the buildings. In the spring season, the flowers were in full bloom and the fallen petals flew about.

"Do you know what the Town Guardian took the team to do?"

As soon as Mai Shiyu spoke, everyone was a bit stunned.

"Isn't it to deploy defenses at the Demon Cave according to the deductions of the Qingtian Temple Doctors?"

"Of course not."

Mai Shiyu said with a smile: "They have a more important mission—to wipe out the Demon Sect."

"The Demon Sect?!"

Everyone was stunned. After all, the base camp of the Holy Moon Sect was in the southwest, and it had only spread north in recent years, with their traces occasionally seen in Demon Caves. But their style was to come and go without a trace; the Land Inspection Division mostly engaged in passive defense, and active encirclement and suppression were extremely rare.

In fact, if one really looked into it, the duties of the Land Inspection Division did not include wiping out the Demon Sect. It should be handled by the Heaven-Walking Bureau, which was specially established by the Imperial Court to deal with the several major "Enemies of the Court."

However, the power of the Imperial Court had been declining more and more in recent years. The Land Inspection Division, rooted in the localities, could still be reorganized and re-edited by local lords and was still considered capable, but the large government offices in the center were a different story. The Tongming Hall was almost self-reliant, the Qingtian Temple was full of slackers, and the Heaven-Walking Bureau had fallen to the point where they couldn't even gather enough people. Therefore, the Demon Sect became increasingly powerful and difficult to control.

Everyone present was a native of Yunzhou; less than one in ten had fought against the Demon Sect, let alone wiped them out, so they were all a bit confused.

Mai Shiyu continued: "The Demon Sect? None of you have seen them, right? I have. The Demon Sect is extremely cruel and strange. In order to approach the Heavenly Demon, they stop at nothing, even turning themselves into something neither human nor ghost to gain powerful and strange strength. Wherever there is a Demon Cave, they go there to cause destruction. Now they have stretched their tentacles to Xun City again. If we don't wipe them out, we'll just be waiting for the Demon Cave to appear and for them to ambush us."

This was certainly correct, and everyone nodded one after another, expressing that they were irreconcilable with the Demon Sect. There were also a few old-timers who were worried: If the Demon Sect is this strong, will the Town Guardian be okay?

Not every Town Guardian is very good at fighting. The Town Guardian of Xun City was famous for his ruthless methods, seasoned experience, and old age... He had already been guarding Xun City before the Gaoyuan Marquis went north. He was also one of the few old members of the Land Inspection Division kept by the Marquis. He had been conscientiously guarding the city for decades, doing everything thoroughly, never making mistakes, and never having made any dazzling contributions. Moreover, it was said that he was old and his strength had declined.

However, if the Town Guardian wasn't up to the task, could this ridiculously young Deputy Envoy do it? She had only been here for a little over a year, had also made no contributions, and most people hadn't seen her strength, only her temper—which was indeed very big and not to be trifled with.

"But—do you think it will be fine just by wiping out the Demon Sect's base outside?"

Mai Shiyu raised her voice, held up two fingers, and said: "Two days, there are only two days left! Could it be that since the news of the Demon Cave appeared so long ago, all the Demon Sect members have been staying in the countryside, not infiltrating the city, just waiting to launch an all-out attack on the day the Demon Cave descends? There are no such stupid people. We have always focused on the Demon Cave, so there are inevitably loopholes in the city's defenses. I believe that more than one Demon Sect member must have already mixed into the city, disguised as commoners, waiting to ambush us when the time comes."

"Therefore, we must not only wipe them out outside the city, but also inside the city. We must catch all the Demon Sect members mixed in among the commoners!"

Her words were firm and the logic was self-consistent, and everyone was unconsciously persuaded by her. One person said: "Deputy Envoy, the Demon Sect people are very cunning, how do we identify them?"

Mai Shiyu said: "Good question, that is indeed a difficult problem. I have thought of a way. They, the Demon Sect, believe in some bullshit Moon God and don't believe in Dongjun, so we will make an issue of this."

"I have already called all the temple keepers of the Dongjun Temple over and instructed them to hold blessing ceremonies in the temple tomorrow and the day after. Tell the commoners that those who go will receive Dongjun's blessing and their families will be safe. Ordinary commoners will definitely be willing to go, and those who don't go are very suspicious."

The Land Inspection Division members nodded repeatedly at her words and said: "Then we arrest everyone who doesn't go?"

Mai Shiyu said: "We can't be so arbitrary either. Perhaps there are one or two who don't believe in anything and are just willing to stay at home. For those who don't go, we will go door-to-door to persuade them. How could ordinary commoners not be afraid when they see officials carrying swords coming to their doors? Whether they believe it or not, they will definitely go. Those who are still dragging their feet are the ones who truly have a problem."

"I think there must also be sect members who pretend to go. At that time, at the entrance, we will put up banners denouncing the Calamity Moon and the Heavenly Demon. Those who have strange expressions upon seeing them will also be suspects. Also, everyone will shout slogans to eliminate the Calamity Moon together; those who don't open their mouths inevitably have something to hide in their hearts, and also..."

She said several points in one breath, all with one idea: make everyone honestly go to the Dongjun Temple to participate in the ceremony; not going is not an option.

Everyone nodded. Although they felt it was inevitably a bit of a fuss, it seemed okay. Because although it was troublesome, there was no danger. Driving the commoners around would at most mean facing sporadic Demon Sect members. The people here were at least Heavy Swordsmen, so why would they be afraid?

Mai Shiyu said: "Everyone go and prepare. I also need to make further arrangements. We will take action this afternoon. Our focus this time is on the South City. The South City is full of commoners' homes, the houses are dense, and it is easiest to hide villains and thieves. When the time comes, everyone will gather at the Dongjun Temple. Everyone, work a little harder, search house by house again, and there must be no fish that slip through the net."

Everyone answered loudly and went their separate ways.

Mai Shiyu opened her hand, caught a peach blossom flying down from a branch, and a smile bloomed:

It seems it's going quite smoothly.

With the successive actions of the Land Inspection Division, a strange atmosphere gradually permeated the city.

Those with sensitive noses immediately sensed that something was wrong.

In a tiled house in the South City, several men and women were sitting and standing uneasily in the room.

One of the middle-aged men sat in the center, forcing himself to stay calm, but he couldn't help tapping the table with his hand and said: "Something is wrong."

A person opposite asked: "Flag Master, what have you noticed?"

The middle-aged man shook his head slightly and said: "The wind has been blowing the wrong way recently, and I always have a bad premonition."

A premonition is just a blind guess, which meant he hadn't noticed anything, and everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief.

An old man stood up from the side and said: "Everyone, let's not keep scaring ourselves. They all say the Yunzhou Land Inspection Division is powerful and we should be doubly careful, but we have already been careful enough. We have been lurking in Xun City since two months ago, back when the trash at Qingtian Temple hadn't even calculated the date of the Demon Cave. For these two months, we have been disguised as a normal family, living our lives, and have become familiar with our neighbors. There are no flaws at all, and we won't be exposed."

"Qingtian Temple..." The middle-aged man was suddenly alerted and said: "That's right! Qingtian Temple has long been a bunch of trash. Our Holy Moon Sect hasn't even calculated the specific location of the Moon God's descent, so how could they deduce it? And they are making a big show of leaving the city to deploy defenses; it's clear there's something fishy! They... they are aiming for the branch!"

The crowd was in an uproar, and they all stood up and said: "Really? Let's send the news back quickly!"

The middle-aged man waved his hand and said: "Wait—it's too late. They set off early in the morning. Moreover, we are the deepest dark pieces buried here, and we can only strike when the Demon Cave descends. This is the Incense Master's order, and we must not act rashly."

He made up his mind first, then said:

"Don't be anxious. I heard that the one leading the team is the Town Guardian, and the woman surnamed Mai didn't go. Don't I know the one surnamed Feng? In terms of character, he's not a good thing, and in terms of strength, he's just an old dog with no teeth. How many years has it been in Xun City? Who doesn't know who? And he has quite a few of our people under his command; I'm afraid they have already sent the report long ago. When the time comes, the branch will wait for them to tire themselves out, and it will also have the advantage of the home field, plus the Incense Master presiding over it. When the time comes, his subordinates will turn their backs and strike, and the Incense Master will chat with him about the past. Maybe those troops will even become our strength. Perhaps after this battle, there will be no more Land Inspection Division in Xun City."

Everyone nodded, seeming a little more at ease, but not completely at ease.

Suddenly, there was a rhythmic knocking at the door.

This was the pre-arranged secret signal.

And it was the secret signal for an emergency contact.

Everyone's hearts rose again. The middle-aged man suppressed the crowd and signaled the white-haired old man to open the door.

As soon as the white-haired old man opened the door, he said in surprise: "Why is it you..." After saying that, he stepped aside, and a person wearing a single layer of clothing came in. The old man closed the door tightly behind him.

The middle-aged man also stood up, recognized the person, and said unhappily: "Why did you come? Wasn't it forbidden to come directly? Why didn't you transmit the message in the prescribed way?"

That person said hurriedly: "It's too late, it's an emergency. I just came out of the government office, took off my coat, and came straight here. Listen to me, the one surnamed Mai is going to conduct a major search for the Holy Moon Sect in the South City..."

He hurriedly repeated what Mai Shiyu had said to everyone in the morning. When he mentioned the various methods of slandering the Moon God and testing the Holy Moon Sect, everyone was furious and cursed Mai Shiyu as a bitch who deserved to die.

That person said: "In short, everyone should prioritize the overall situation. In order to welcome the great event of the Moon God, we will endure the humiliation for a moment."

Everyone nodded with ugly expressions. That person said: "Then I'll put my clothes back on and go back. There will be action in the afternoon..."

At this moment, they heard someone outside say: "Wait, don't put it on yet. The Land Inspection Division's uniform is not for people like you to wear—"

The crowd jumped up, and before they could speak, they saw Thunder Light flickering outside the window; immediately after, the window lattice shattered, and a mass of Thunder Light, like a ball of lightning fallen from the sky, rolled into the room and exploded with a boom!

In the sky, the youth bearing blue-and-white wings on his back stood with his hands behind his back, watching the tiled house below burst into lightning-colored fireworks.