Chapter 79: The Entire Assembly Are Demons

The change came suddenly; neither Mu Feng nor Hao Jingchuan had expected that, at such an official occasion where the prefect himself was hosting and officials of the entire commandery were present, these two young people would suddenly rise up and attack.

Before Mu Feng could even react, Sheng Yuanyao's blade had already struck his neck, while over there Lu Xingzhou's left hand drove a bone-anchoring nail into him, his right hand having long since discarded the wine jug, and his fist smashed into his dantian.

Mu Feng had no time to do anything; with a roar, his clothes were shredded, his muscles bulged, his entire body thickened greatly, and his form was covered in monster-like fur. Even his eyes turned red, and his fangs bared.

"Demon!" Many at the table, horrified, jumped up and retreated far away.

This was a transformation into his true form caused by unleashing all his demonic power, with no further concealment; in reality, it offered little help to the situation. Though a demon's physique is strong, it is not invulnerable to blades and spears. Sheng Yuanyao's blade had already cut into his neck, and Lu Xingzhou's fist power, an ice-and-fire spiral, struck heavily upon the location of his demon core.

Mu Feng's neck was already cut nearly in half, his unformed demon core completely ruined; he suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed in his seat: "You... you..."

Sheng Yuanyao knocked him unconscious with a single blow and grabbed him; subordinates of the Demon Suppression Bureau from the outer seating immediately surrounded them for protection. Sheng Yuanyao sighed, then sneered: "My lord, now that I say demons have emerged from within this commandery, am I wrong?"

Hao Jingchuan seemed about to move, yet forced himself to hold back, sighing heavily: "Since Young Lady Sheng, the City Lord, suspects the Commandery Vice-Prefect... Mu Feng, you should have privately informed this official. Why must you attack so violently at the banquet? Do you not trust this official?"

"My lord speaks too heavily," Sheng Yuanyao said calmly: "This humble official could not originally determine who it was, but after a little probing, it just so happened that this person could not keep his temper and exposed himself... I feared that if we waited until after, he might escape, so it was better to launch a sudden surprise attack while he was unguarded; it was easier to succeed. It is not that I do not trust my lord, nor was it my intention to cause trouble at my lord's banquet; please forgive the offense."

The words were flawless; Hao Jingchuan seemed to have nothing more to say, only sighing: "Very well. Since that is the case, this demon shall be left to the commandery for disposal. Young Lady Sheng, the City Lord, has merit in slaying the demon; this official will report it truthfully to the imperial court."

Sheng Yuanyao raised her willow eyebrows: "Left to the commandery for disposal?"

Hao Jingchuan said: "Since the demon was discovered at this official's banquet, it is naturally this official's responsibility and should be handled by this official."

Actually, under normal circumstances, handing it over to a superior for disposal was not unacceptable; the responsibility would be shifted, and one would avoid clashing with the superior. But Sheng Yuanyao did not care; she did not want to be this so-called City Lord anyway, and the Demon Suppression Bureau was directly managed by the imperial court; no matter how powerful the prefect was, he could not control it. Official courtesies and social pleasantries were one thing, but when it came to merit, she did not care about any prefect.

Especially since she still had a vague unease in her heart... Mu Feng merely had a poor mindset and, tricked by her words, leaked his demonic qi; this did not mean Mu Feng was the only demon here. Capturing Mu Feng and interrogating him thoroughly might yield other gains; handing him directly to Hao Jingchuan would, without a doubt, result in the matter being covered up with no further steps taken.

After all, since it was his Vice-Prefect who had caused trouble, Hao Jingchuan's responsibility was huge; how could he possibly continue to expand the investigation? Did he not want his official hat anymore... Moreover, this was not just his own official hat, but a matter that would make every official in the entire Dongjiang Commandery feel endangered.

"First, this is the responsibility of the Demon Suppression Bureau and has little to do with the City Lord or the Prefect," Sheng Yuanyao countered directly: "Second, from the investigation of clues to the on-site battle and capture of the culprit, the Xiazhou Demon Suppression Bureau handled everything single-handedly; why must it be handed over to the commandery for disposal? How would I explain this to my colleagues in the Xiazhou Demon Suppression Bureau!"

Hao Jingchuan sighed with a worried expression; the Chief Clerk beside him came out to advise: "Young Lady Sheng, by doing this, you are breaking the rules..."

"What rules?" Sheng Yuanyao asked, pretending ignorance: "Which law of the imperial court stipulates that demons captured by the Demon Suppression Bureau must be handed over to the prefect for handling?"

Of course, it was an unwritten rule of the official world; did you really want to knock off everyone's official hats... Hao Jingchuan's expression was very ugly; how could he say such a thing in public?

Meeting a young lady whose father was a first-rank grand official, these tacit understandings of the system no longer worked. Hao Jingchuan truly did not know how to argue this with Sheng Yuanyao and sighed helplessly there.

The one speaking was only the Chief Clerk: "A guest follows the host's wishes; since the demon was captured here, the commandery's will is the rule!"

"Oh, so it is a personal rule. I wonder, when you say 'the commandery,' do you refer to Prefect Hao or you, Chief Clerk Xie?" Sheng Yuanyao scoffed: "When I am being polite to you, I call you Chief Clerk; when I am not being polite, who are you? What kind of thing is your rule?"

Chief Clerk Xie trembled with anger: "You!"

"We are leaving!" Sheng Yuanyao led the group backward.

Do not think that because she spoke so boldly, she was not a bit nervous inside; this was ultimately someone else's territory. If the commandery officials ignored everything and forcibly detained them, it would indeed be difficult to handle.

However, looking at Hao Jingchuan's worried and sighing appearance, this matter indeed seemed to have little to do with him.

"Young Lady Sheng, wait a moment," Hao Jingchuan finally spoke: "May I borrow a moment to speak privately?"

Sheng Yuanyao instinctively glanced at Lu Xingzhou; Lu Xingzhou nodded almost imperceptibly, signaling that she could listen to what he had to say.

Sheng Yuanyao inexplicably trusted Lu Xingzhou's judgment, so she handed the demon over to her subordinates to surround and protect, while she herself followed Hao Jingchuan a few steps to the outside of the side corridor.

Hao Jingchuan spoke in a low voice: "Young Lady Sheng, although Chief Clerk Xie's words were unpleasant, this matter... sigh, indeed makes the entire Dongjiang Commandery look very bad. How about we both take a step back? Let this incident be handled by our Dongjiang Commandery; we can say the Dongjiang Commandery discovered that Vice-Prefect Mu was a demon, so our commandery avoids punishment; and on the Xiazhou side, we can say the clues were provided by the Xiazhou officials, and the final capture of the demon was a desperate victory by the Xiazhou officials. How does that sound?"

He spoke with extreme sincerity. Using "Young Lady" instead of "City Lord" was even more of a plea based on personal friendship.

To be honest, Sheng Yuanyao's impression of this superior was actually quite good; at least he did not act like a superior, seeming a bit like an old good-natured man, and this kind of muddling-through solution was a routine operation for such old officials, nothing strange.

But this matter truly could not be handled this way... Sheng Yuanyao also put away her attitude of confronting Chief Clerk Xie just now and said very sincerely: "My Lord Hao, this matter is not about how to weaken responsibility and share merit in official matters; it means that the Dongjiang Commandery may still be hiding other demons. My lord's method, though seemingly pleasing to all, actually fails to solve the root problem."

Speaking to this point, her heart stirred slightly.

Did her father ask her to visit the prefect more often because he already knew there was something strange about this matter and wanted her to learn how to compromise and yield? Even when it was known that other demons remained unfinished?

How could this be allowed...

Hao Jingchuan was asking: "Then, in Young Lady Sheng's opinion, is there any other way to turn the situation around?"

Sheng Yuanyao said: "If Prefect Hao is willing to preside over a thorough investigation of the Dongjiang Commandery to root out all demons, then this matter can be left entirely to Prefect Hao's responsibility, and this humble official will only assist. As for so-called merit... it is actually not that important."

Hao Jingchuan was silent for a moment, then finally nodded, sighing deeply: "Young Lady Sheng has a public heart; how could this old man not be moved? Let us proceed as Young Lady Sheng says."

Sheng Yuanyao sighed, turned, and returned to the hall. If the commandery was truly willing to conduct a thorough investigation, that would naturally be the best; it was far more than what she, a mere City Lord of Xiazhou, could do.

It seems the prefect is just an old slickster, but his nature is acceptable...

Just as she was thinking this, the Demon-Detecting Stone she had been holding tightly in her hand began to vibrate violently; Sheng Yuanyao was horrified in her heart, and an incredible thought flashed through her mind—

The prefect behind her, who seemed like an old good-natured man, was actually a demon too?

And a third-grade great demon!

He was the source of all demons in the Dongjiang Commandery; he hid very deeply...

"Bang!" A pair of palms silently struck Sheng Yuanyao's back. Sheng Yuanyao knew she could not dodge and was just waiting to die when a sword light silently shot out from the shadows behind the corridor, piercing toward Hao Jingchuan's back of the neck!

At the same time, a mirror light flared behind her; it was Lu Xingzhou, who had been prepared in advance, having earlier summoned a high-grade Mirror Light Talisman that acted upon Sheng Yuanyao's back.

Hao Jingchuan, suddenly subjected to an unexplained attack, naturally had his strike on Sheng Yuanyao weakened. The mirror light shattered with a bang, and Sheng Yuanyao also had time to react; she quickly flashed away and emerged completely unharmed.

Sheng Yuanyao looked at the sword light that had saved her and found it was also a familiar face.

She had seen him in Jingcheng; Huo Family's patron, Yang Dechang, was now fighting Hao Jingchuan... for a moment, they were evenly matched.

People from the Hu Family... how could they have been lurking here to save her in time?

Right, Lu Xingzhou's ambiguous identity... Sheng Yuanyao glanced at Lu Xingzhou, unable to think further, and rushed back into the hall, shouting sternly: "Quickly take the demon and leave!"

In an instant, the officials in the hall and the guards outside surrounded them directly; that Chief Clerk Xie laughed sternly: "Now that things have come to this, do you think you can still leave?"

Sheng Yuanyao's heart grew cold, and the people of the Xiazhou Demon Suppression Bureau could not believe it either. Up until now, including Hao Jingchuan, no one had revealed their true demon form; looking at them, they all still appeared to be a group of human bureaucrats, yet the demonic qi was already overflowing, and the jade stone in her hand was almost vibrating numb...

This tiny Dongjiang was actually full of demons! Everyone had been living under the rule of demons for so long, yet knew nothing!

No wonder even Lu Xingzhou had previously hinted to her that it was best not to investigate this matter further... Did he have predicted such a situation from the very beginning?

Dozens of demons rushed toward the Demon Suppression Bureau team in unison; Lu Xingzhou fanned out a stack of talismans like shuffling poker cards.

Several Demon-Suppressing Talismans, Slowing Talismans, and Force-Deflecting Talismans fell precisely upon the demons in the front line.

At the same time, sword lights suddenly erupted outside the Prefect's residence.

Zhang Shaoyou and others from the Tianxing Sword Sect who had recently joined, appearing as if they were reinforcements deployed by the Demon Suppression Bureau, slashed the guards outside the gate with a few sword strikes and broke through the door to enter.

Zhang Shaoyou sought out Hao Jingchuan at the first opportunity, flanking Yang Dechang from both sides.

The two exchanged a glance, something a little odd in both their eyes… A day ago, they had been on the same side, had even chatted a few words at the Incense Fragrance Pavilion; a day later, they were on the same side again, only the camp had changed. Truly, the affairs of the world are inconstant.

While the two here were cherishing each other's company, Hao Jingchuan was practically going mad.

He had deliberately led Sheng Yuanyao around to an outside corner, planning only to secretly snatch her and have a demon under his command take her face—then everything would be solved. Who could have expected two third-grade sword cultivators to pop out of nowhere and ruin everything, both of them this strong!

And where did the Xiazhou Town-Demon Bureau get so many strong cultivators all of a sudden… Isn't this Zhang Shaoyou one of the Incense Fragrance Pavilion's people? Why is the Incense Fragrance Pavilion not attacking the Heaven-Traveling Sword Sect, but coming after me instead?

"Bang!" In the hall, Sheng Yuanyao and the demonized Vice-Prefect Xie exchanged a strike; unable to hold the force, she retreated several steps, and just then Lu Xingzhou was also shaken back by someone, the two of them bumping back-to-back together.

Sheng Yuanyao caught her breath a few times, and said softly: "Thanks… You, when you really do cooperate, are honestly so reliable it's astonishing."

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "Even those few times you felt I was screwing you over, in fact I never actually let you suffer any real loss."

Sheng Yuanyao gave a "tch": "So you're saying you've actually been quite good to me?"

"A person like you… shouldn't be the one to suffer a loss." Lu Xingzhou suddenly yanked Sheng Yuanyao aside, just barely dodging Vice-Prefect Xie's demonic claw thrust.

Sheng Yuanyao slashed a blade toward Vice-Prefect Xie's throat: "There are troops in East Jiang, and who knows how many of them are demons. If the fighting breaks out in a place like this, we're bound to be at a disadvantage. Do you have any other sneaky ideas?"

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ps: Ten-thousand-character chapter complete, another one at 0:00! Begging for monthly tickets~

(End of this chapter)