As Expected, No One is a Fool

As night fell, darkness enveloped the land.

Inside a rather exquisite courtyard in Yunshan County town, Lin Baichuan and the other five were brought over by people arranged by Liang Youtian.

At this moment, inside the room.

As soon as the yamen runners left, Lin Baichuan came out of the room, holding his saber. Liang Youtian was problematic; the man was clearly deliberately obstructing them from reaching the scene of the village massacre by demons.

When something out of the ordinary happens, there must be a demon. Since Liang Youtian was desperately trying to stop them, he absolutely had to go and see.

After all, this mission was his beginner's task, and it was related to his future promotion in the Demon Suppression Division. He dared not be careless in any way.

As soon as he stepped out of the room, Lin Baichuan was stunned.

He saw that the courtyard, which had been empty, now had five figures in it. They were Qin Qing and the other four, who were clearly drunk.

"What, you didn't think all four of us were drunk, did you!"

Seeing Lin Baichuan's stunned reaction, Niu Zhenye sneered disdainfully, "If we couldn't even see through such a simple trick, what right do we have to talk about subduing demons? We would have died a hundred, a thousand times over by now..."

"We had already sensed that the county magistrate Liang Youtian was suspicious and knew he wanted to get us drunk to delay us, so we played along with his plan."

Li Da smiled slightly at Lin Baichuan and said, "I didn't expect you, Baichuan, to have noticed this as well. For a newcomer to have such alertness is very rare."

"So that's how it is!"

Lin Baichuan nodded slightly, but inwardly he sighed.

As expected, he had underestimated everyone. How could Li Da and the others, who had become Demon Slayer Guards and had been thriving all these years, be incompetent fools who could be tricked by Liang Youtian's mere tricks?

It turned out they had seen through everything long ago and were just playing along.

To think he was still congratulating himself just now; he was truly like a frog in a well.

"Indeed, there are no fools in this world. It seems I need to be more cautious with these guys, otherwise, I might be tricked to death without even knowing it."

Lin Baichuan thought to himself, but on the surface, he shook his head slightly and said, "Captain, you flatter me. I only managed to detect some anomalies by chance. Unlike you, Captain, who already knew everything and seemed to have a detailed plan."

"Of course. If we didn't have a plan, are you saying we were actually counting on a rookie like you to complete the mission?" Before Li Da could speak, Niu Zhenye immediately sneered, "Kid, you're incredibly lucky to be following us."

Lin Baichuan's expression slightly stiffened, and a surge of killing intent rose in his heart.

This Niu Zhenye had targeted him again and again. If he didn't give him some retribution, wouldn't his second life be in vain?

However, Lin Baichuan also knew very well that now was not the time to act. The urgent matter was to complete the mission; all other matters could be postponed.

"Stop dawdling and let's hurry!"

Just then, Qin Qing suddenly spoke, saying impatiently before taking the lead towards the back door of the courtyard.

The front gate was guarded by Liang Youtian's men. They were trying to investigate without going through the county yamen, so going through the front gate was naturally out of the question. Thus, they had to use the back door.

Seeing this, Li Da and the others didn't waste any words and immediately followed.

Only Niu Zhenye gave Lin Baichuan a cold smile before following. Lin Baichuan's expression remained as usual, his killing intent concealed within, and he didn't bother arguing with the man, simply following at the rear of the group.

The six of them climbed over a courtyard wall from the back door and headed straight out of the city.

Outside the city gate, someone was already waiting for them – a very ordinary-looking young man. Lin Baichuan glanced at him and immediately deduced his identity; he was likely an intelligence operative from the Demon Suppression Division.

Because this person's appearance was too ordinary, so ordinary that if you lost him in a crowd, you would definitely not be able to find him. Such a person had great advantages in intelligence work.

"Shadow Gap, an Intelligence Officer of the Cangwu County Demon Suppression Division, greets all lords..."

As soon as Lin Baichuan and the other five arrived, the young man immediately bowed to all six of them.

The Demon Suppression Division, as a vast organization, naturally had a complete system. Not only were there Demon Slayer Guards responsible for combat, but there were also Intelligence Officers responsible for intelligence, as well as prison guards who suppressed demons.

In addition, there were even some more secretive and special positions.

Among these numerous positions, the status of the Demon Slayer Guards was undoubtedly the highest. That was why Shadow Gap bowed to Lin Baichuan and the other five and addressed them as lords.

"Mm, tell us the specific situation!"

Li Da waved his hand slightly and said in a deep voice, "What is the situation in Yunshan County, and where are those demons now?"

"The situation is dire!"

Shadow Gap shook his head slightly, his expression somewhat solemn, and said, "Before you lords arrived, another village was massacred. Also... after my subordinates' investigations these past few days, we discovered that these demons are connected to some people within Yunshan County."

"But who exactly it is, still requires further investigation..."

As soon as he said this, Li Da and the others' expressions changed, and they exchanged glances.

Lin Baichuan's brows also twitched, and a figure almost subconsciously appeared in his mind.

Yunshan County Magistrate Liang Youtian.

If someone in Yunshan County was colluding with demons, Liang Youtian was likely the biggest suspect.

However, it was all just speculation, and without concrete evidence, it was difficult to make a conclusion. Moreover, Liang Youtian was an official. Although he was only a Ninth Rank county magistrate, he was still an official appointed by the court. This concerned the court's reputation and required extreme caution.

"Take us to the most recently attacked village first," Li Da waved his hand slightly and said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

Seeing this, Shadow Gap naturally didn't waste any more words and turned to lead the way.

The group moved quickly along the official road. Although they were traveling on foot, their speed was not slow. After all, they all had cultivation. When traveling at full speed, although not as fast as a Unicorn Horse, they were considerably faster than ordinary horses.

After about half an hour, the group had left the main road. Led by Ying Que, they traveled along a rugged dirt path and finally arrived outside a small mountain village.

"My lords, this is Baixi Village. It was originally a large estate with nearly a thousand residents, but two days ago, it became like this overnight," Ying Que said, pointing to the somewhat desolate and chilling village before them.

Lin Baichuan glanced at Baixi Village, his brow furrowing slightly.

The village was eerily silent, exuding a bone-chilling aura. Most importantly, it looked incredibly desolate. It certainly didn't resemble a village that had been inhabited three days prior; rather, it looked as if no one had lived there for decades.

"Are you sure this village had people three days ago?" Wu Xiaoqi glanced at Ying Que and said in a deep voice, "This looks like it hasn't been inhabited for decades! You're not trying to trick us, are you!"

"How could I dare!"

Ying Que quickly explained, "Baixi Village did indeed have people three days ago. You can easily verify this by asking around, my lords. As for why it appears this way, we're not entirely sure ourselves. We only suspect it's related to that demon."

"Hmph... whatever it is, we'll know once we go in," Niu Zhenye scoffed dismissively. "Demons are strange, but most are just good at putting on a show and don't have much real power. We've killed quite a few demons, we've seen it all..."

"Don't let your guard down," Li Da waved his hand and said gravely. "However, we do need to go in and take a look. There might be some clues."

As he spoke, Li Da took the first step, walking into Baixi Village.