The next day, County Yamen Demon Catching Division.
Chu Jiang discovered that the Demon Hunting Office stipulated an eight o'clock start, yet people only gradually arrived in full by ten.
Seeing that Chu Jiang had arrived even earlier than them, the subordinates could not help feeling surprised.
"Your subordinate pays respects to my lord!" A burly, broad-backed man immediately took the lead in bowing.
The man was called Ma Han. Like Zhang Liancai, he was one of Chu Jiang's trusted aides and had been highly valued by the original owner of this body.
In Baishi County, whenever someone needed to play the white-faced role and handle practical matters for the people, Ma Han would be sent.
Whenever someone needed to play the black-faced role and do things that harmed others without benefiting himself, Zhang Liancai would be sent.
When the black-faced one could no longer control the situation, the white-faced one would step in to resolve the conflict.
They had been the original owner's Heng Ha Er Jiang.
"Mm."
Chu Jiang nodded slightly. Ma Han was someone he could use. Zhang Liancai handled all the usual evil deeds for him, while Ma Han counted among the relatively clean few in the Demon Hunting Office.
He had some conflicts with Zhang Liancai and ordinarily did not get along with him, but when it came to orders from his superiors, he carried them out firmly without a second word.
"Demon Hunting Office Second Squad has thirty-one men in total. Excluding the eight out on assignments, twenty-three should be present. Twenty-two are present." Ma Han's voice was loud and clear as he reported the day's attendance to Chu Jiang.
"Zhang Liancai didn't come?" Chu Jiang swept his gaze around and found that one person was indeed missing.
Ma Han stepped beside Chu Jiang and whispered, "Yesterday, Zhang Liancai was wandering around near a residence on East Street. I don't know what he was doing. When I asked, he only said it was a secret and told me to tell my lord to wait for good news from him."
Frowning, he continued, "By all rights, he should have returned by now."
As soon as Ma Han finished speaking, Chu Jiang was puzzled as well. What shameful business had that fellow gone off to do again?
Just then, a clamor rose outside the Demon Hunting Office. A cold-faced young man barged in, the long saber in his hand still dripping with blood.
He was also gripping a bloody human head in his hand, blood dripping from it without end.
Liu Guangwu's eyes brimmed with killing intent as he looked coldly at everyone.
"Constable Liu, what are you trying to do? Are you rebelling?"
"Men, quickly protect Lord Chu!"
Ma Han cried out in alarm, and more than a dozen Demon Hunters immediately drew their sabers and shielded Chu Jiang within their ranks.
"You actually killed Zhang Liancai, and now you want to raise your blade against Lord Chu? Have you gone mad?" Seeing the still-dripping head, Ma Han was badly startled.
How had Liu Guangwu dared?
No matter what, Zhang Liancai had been an official constable. Even if Liu Guangwu was a chief constable, he had no authority to kill him. And judging by this display, he now intended to kill Lord Chu as well.
He was utterly insane.
Did he not know Lord Chu's special standing in Baishi County?
If he died, Baishi County would descend into chaos again before long.
"Chu Jiang, you bastard!"
"Hand over my sister, or today, even if I have to stake this life of mine, I'll make your blood splatter on the spot!" Liu Guangwu looked at Chu Jiang, his eyes filled with contempt and fury.
While he had been away, Zhang Liancai had actually seized his sister to offer her to Chu Jiang as a bed-warming maid. Yet no matter what, Zhang Liancai refused to reveal where she was.
He said only Chu Jiang knew her whereabouts, and that killing him would be useless. That arrogant, overbearing expression on his face had practically said, What can you do to me?
In a fit of rage, Liu Guangwu beheaded Zhang Liancai and stormed into the Demon Hunting Office with fury blazing to the heavens.
He did not believe Zhang Liancai would have dared seize his sister without Chu Jiang's instructions.
"What?"
Chu Jiang was dumbfounded. He had been sitting at home, yet a black pot had fallen from the sky onto his head.
He had never even seen Liu Guangwu's sister. How could this be pinned on him?
"Stop playing dumb with me. Zhang Liancai said it himself. Only you know." Liu Guangwu pointed his long saber straight at Chu Jiang. He was thoroughly enraged.
Chu Jiang was actually still putting on an innocent face. Damn it, how could he commit every evil under heaven, then act as though he knew nothing at all?
Making himself look truly innocent.
"Liu Guangwu, I truly have never seen your sister, and I don't know where she is." Chu Jiang's response remained calm, revealing neither joy nor anger.
For Liu Guangwu to be driven into killing Zhang Liancai, it seemed his sister really had gone missing.
If Zhang Liancai had not died, there might still have been a chance to find her.
But now that Zhang Liancai was dead, could Chu Jiang conjure a person out of thin air?
"Good. Good. Good!"
Liu Guangwu looked at Chu Jiang, who stubbornly refused to admit it, and fury surged within him. He gripped the bloody head tightly in his hand, pouring all his rage into it before hurling it viciously away.
The head traced a bizarre arc through the air, then smashed heavily onto the ground, spraying dust and blood.
The bloody scene made everyone around them suck in a cold breath, but Liu Guangwu did not care in the slightest.
His steps quickened as well. Like an enraged tiger, he suddenly charged three steps forward.
"You dare!"
With an angry shout, Ma Han led a group of men to block him outside.
More than a dozen steel sabers slashed toward Liu Guangwu at once, their silvery gleams flashing and chilling the soul.
Though Liu Guangwu had reached the Ninth Level of Body Refinement, facing the combined assault of more than a dozen Demon Hunters, he could only defend passively and was forced back step by step. It was already impossible for him to free a hand to deal with Chu Jiang.
"Lord Liu, we're here to help you!"
Liu Guangwu had fewer men than Chu Jiang, only around twenty in total, and seven or eight had come today.
More than twenty Demon Hunters from the Demon Hunting Office erupted into a chaotic brawl, and the scene swiftly descended into confusion.
Just then, Liu Guangwu spotted an opening and abruptly changed his move, breaking through the defensive ring.
A long saber hacked down toward Chu Jiang, sending everyone's hearts into their throats. Lord Chu was in the Blood Refining Stage of the Body Cultivation Realm—how could he withstand an enraged strike from someone at the Ninth Level of Body Refinement?
It was too fast. At the very least, this strike would sever an arm.
"Protect my lord!"
Ma Han rushed forward, but he was still one step too late.
"Hmm?" Chu Jiang raised an eyebrow slightly. A trace of surprise flashed through his eyes, but he quickly returned to calm.
He looked at Liu Guangwu before him and said slowly, "Your momentum isn't bad. I just wonder... how much strength you have behind it?"
With that, Chu Jiang extended the index finger of his right hand and gave it a light flick.
In an instant, an indescribable force surged from his fingertip like a roaring flood and swiftly gathered upon that long saber.
Then, that immense force traveled down the blade at a startling speed, reaching Liu Guangwu's hands gripping the hilt in the blink of an eye.
Liu Guangwu felt as though a mountain had slammed into him. The web between his thumb and forefinger throbbed with unbearable pain, while his arms felt as if countless steel needles had pierced through them all at once.
The next moment, the long saber was sent flying several meters away.
His hands trembled, and his pupils contracted violently.
And this had only been a light flick of Chu Jiang's finger.
Liu Guangwu stared fixedly at Chu Jiang. He did not understand. His body had nearly reached the level of Marrow Cleansing, yet at this moment, he had no strength to resist at all.
How could Chu Jiang be so powerful?
For so many years, he had been known for arrogance and domineering ways, and he had been rather lax in cultivation. He had remained in the Blood Refining Stage of the Lower Three Levels without the slightest progress. Could it all have been an act?
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