Refugee Quarter, Demon Qi Feng

Steward Zhu looked at the young Demon Suppression Envoy before him.

The person appeared to be in his early twenties, with striking features.

At least among the young people Steward Zhu had seen, he was in a league of his own.

Steward Zhu had actually heard of this young man before.

He had heard the story of him straying from the path and returning.

What good fortune.

Steward Zhu sighed.

He too had once been obsessed with the Dao.

He had even stood before that sect, but unfortunately, he lacked the aptitude for cultivation.

Of course.

Steward Zhu paid attention to the other person partly because they were both from the same place.

"Steward Zhu!"

"I am Song Chengan, sent to handle the matter of demons harming people here."

"Please tell me about this person in detail, Steward Zhu."

Steward Zhu said, "Lord Song, please come in and sit down first. I will tell you everything."

Song Chengan nodded.

Steward Zhu poured Song Chengan a cup of tea. "I heard your father is from Sanjiao Prefecture?"

"May I ask which part of Sanjiao Prefecture?"

"Heard?" Song Chengan was a little confused by this.

"You can hear about me here, Steward Zhu?"

Steward Zhu smiled. "Previously, I naturally wouldn't have known."

"But that day, when Lord Song publicly executed that demon who was harming people on the street, your name spread throughout Lingqiu."

"And so, some gossips recounted all of Lord Song's past deeds one by one."

"For example, how Lord Song strayed from the path and returned, or how you stumbled upon a Daoist scripture and embarked on the path of cultivation."

Song Chengan was speechless.

These gossipy people.

Straying from the path and returning.

What was there to stray from and return to?

Why did Buddhism say that turning back was the shore? It was precisely because it was difficult to turn back.

Would anyone really believe that a gambler could turn over a new leaf?

"So that's how it is."

"My father is from Tiancui County."

"Tiancui County, Song?" Steward Zhu said.

"Could it be that Lord Song is from the Tiancui Song Family?"

"The Tiancui Song Family?"

This time, it was Song Chengan's turn to be confused.

Song Cui had said that his parents were indeed from the Song Family of Tiancui County.

But judging by Steward Zhu's reaction, the Tiancui Song Family seemed quite famous?

"It is indeed the Tiancui Song Family."

"Does Steward Zhu know the Tiancui Song Family?"

Steward Zhu cupped his fists. "It seems I, Zhu, have failed to recognize your eminence."

"I didn't expect Lord Song to be from the Tiancui Song Family."

"But judging by your demeanor, Lord Song, you don't seem to know much about your own family?"

Of course, he didn't know much.

He had never been to the Song Family's home.

And from his memories, neither his father nor his mother had ever mentioned going back to acknowledge their ancestors.

They hadn't even brought it up.

It was as if that Song Family didn't exist.

Could it be that his parents disagreed with his father marrying his mother, so his father ran away from home with his mother?

This thought couldn't help but pop into Song Chengan's mind.

In those storybooks, wealthy young masters who believed in love above all else would elope with their beloved women.

This is commonly known as elopement.

But that doesn't seem right either.

Even if it was an elopement.

They might have been hiding at first.

But after three to five years, or even ten years, they would at least go back to take a look, wouldn't they?

To see their parents.

To see their relatives.

After all, time flies, and how many three-to-five-year periods are there?

How could they have remained out of contact, or even never mentioned them?

Could there be some hidden reason?

Perhaps they were deeply hurt back then.

Song Chengan's mind conjured up a dramatic scenario.

That's right.

My sister seemed to have mentioned that our parents had some grievances with the family back then.

Song Chengan said, "To be honest, Steward Zhu, my father had some disagreements with his family back then."

"Disagreements?"

Zhu Gui said, "It's probably just some minor issues from the past. What kind of grudges last between relatives? Moreover, young master Song has now embarked on the path of cultivation, making him a promising young descendant. As long as you go back and explain things to the elders of the family, any grievances will be resolved."

Song Chengan nodded.

That made sense.

But the problem was, his own father never mentioned this Song family at all. It was clear he held a lot of resentment towards them.

If he, as his father's son, were to eagerly seek to rejoin the clan just because the Song family was so powerful, his father would probably die of anger even in the afterlife.

"May I ask what the background of this Song family is?"

Song Chengan was somewhat curious about his parents' family.

Zhu Gui's expression turned respectful.

"The Tiancui Song Family."

"They originated in Tiancui County, Sanjiao Prefecture. Their ancestors produced a great cultivator who was a Half-step Nascent Soul."

"And now, the son of the current Song Clan Leader, Song Yuanjiao, is ranked ninth among the younger generation, a prodigy expected to reach the Golden Core stage within a hundred years."

"Half-step Nascent Soul?"

Song Chengan clicked his tongue.

Was his father's background that significant?

If he remembered correctly.

The founding emperor of Chen Kingdom was merely a Nascent Soul realm cultivator.

And.

Ever since the previous Daoist sect leader passed away, Chen Kingdom had not had anyone achieve the Nascent Soul stage in a hundred years.

"Lord Song is so young and accomplished; you will surely be able to return to your ancestral clan in the future."

Song Chengan did not take the bait.

He had no intention of returning to his ancestral clan whatsoever.

Even if this Song family was incredibly powerful.

Song Chengan no longer wished to continue this topic.

"Steward Zhu is also from Sanjiao County, isn't he?"

Song Chengan asked.

"That's right, I'm from the neighboring Shangnan County."

"We suffered a flood back then."

"A flood?"

Song Chengan was curious.

"Steward Zhu, did you witness that great flood back then?"

Even though many years had passed, Zhu Gui's face still held a look of terror: "The heavens and earth seemed to collapse, and the land was filled with suffering."

He waved his hand: "Let's not talk about that."

"Lord Song, you've come about the matter with Qi Feng, haven't you?"

"That's right."

Song Chengan nodded.

Qi Feng was the person mentioned on this mission scroll.

"Steward Zhu, please tell me more about him in detail."

Song Chengan only then remembered that he was here to deal with a demon harming people, not to reminisce with Steward Zhu, who was practically a fellow townsman.

"This person was originally a good-for-nothing in my quarter."

"He was too lazy to work and loved to eat."

"If he had food, he'd spend the day fishing. If he didn't, he'd wander the streets daily, gambling with other loafers."

"He's over forty and still doesn't have a woman."

"The incident started because of this lack of a woman."

"He was gambling on the street, and somehow got into an argument with someone, apparently over someone refusing to pay their gambling debts."

"That person then used this to curse him, saying he'd die without descendants."

"So Qi Feng got into a fight with that person."

"When it was brought to me, I gave them both fifty lashes and sent them away with a warning."

"But who would have thought, a few days later, someone saw a woman appearing at Qi Feng's house."

"Later, I heard that Qi Feng had somehow gotten a woman from somewhere."

"You know, when there are too many strangers staying in the quarter, I naturally have to investigate and report it to the authorities."

"So I went."

"Unexpectedly, when I went, I found a dead body inside Qi Feng's house."

"It was that scoundrel who had argued with Qi Feng over gambling."

"A life was lost, and I didn't dare to be careless. I immediately sent people to find Qi Feng."

"Why didn't you report it to the officials?" Song Chengan asked, confused.

He knew that this dock was very close to Lingqiu City, and nominally, it was directly governed by Lingqiu County.

Zhu Gui shook his head. "His Excellency has always been annoyed by the Refugee Quarter and dislikes dealing with its affairs."

Song Chengan understood immediately upon hearing this.

If the Refugee Quarter was like a clan, Then Steward Zhu was the clan leader.

Lord Xiong Huaiyi preferred to save trouble, letting the Refugee Quarter solve its own problems.

"Then did you find Qi Feng?"

Zhu Gui shook his head.

"To be honest, in this quarter, everyone from all walks of life, even scoundrels, gives me, Zhu, some face. But that's the strange part."

"I mobilized almost everyone, turning this Refugee Quarter upside down, but I just couldn't find Qi Feng."

"That's not all. Qi Feng seems to have gone mad. In the past few days, he's killed several more people, all of whom had grudges against him."

"Then how did you discover he was a demon?"

If it were a normal person committing a crime, the county yamen would handle it; it wouldn't be transferred to the Demon Suppression Division yamen.

Since it was transferred to the Demon Suppression Division yamen, the only possibility was that someone had confirmed Qi Feng had completely turned into a demon.

"It was during Qi Feng's last crime."

"He killed a guy who had occupied half an acre of his land."

"That person was a butcher on the street. He was usually fierce. Years ago, he took advantage of Qi Feng being alone and occupied half an acre of his land."

"Qi Feng killed both him and his wife."

"But their child escaped and said that Qi Feng had turned into a monster."

"We learned from that child that Qi Feng's upper body was human, but his lower body had turned into a fish tail?"

"Upper body human, lower body fish tail?"

"Precisely."

"As soon as we heard that, we knew this person had turned into a monster. We immediately ordered people to go to the Demon Suppression Division yamen to report it."

"It seems he was contaminated by demonic blood and demonized."

"Take me to see that child."

"Officer!"

"Officer!"

"Qi Feng killed my parents!"

"You must avenge my parents!"

The adjacent house.

Song Chengan saw the child who was being watched.

"Don't rush, first tell me what Qi Feng looked like?"

"He must be killed!"

"He's the worst!"

"Don't rush."

Song Chengan finally left.

He hadn't gotten any useful information. The child had been cursing Qi Feng with all sorts of vicious words and demanding that Qi Feng avenge his parents.

"Take me to see the bodies of those people, then go to Qi Feng's house."