There was no need for thanks between Xiao Qing and Xiao Bai.
They both understood that perfectly well.
"This is terrible! The Imperial Advisor has been killed by a demon!"
Only then did the soldiers controlled by the Imperial Advisor's spell regain their senses. It was not as though they had lost their memories; their thoughts had merely been influenced by the spell. Now that the Imperial Advisor was dead, they had broken free of his control, and every one of them looked at Xiao Qing with fear.
To these ordinary people, the Imperial Advisor had been the Tang Dynasty's shield, slaying demons and eliminating monsters so that Great Tang would not be threatened by demons.
All along, while the Demon Race had been filled with hatred for the Imperial Advisor, ordinary people saw his slaughter of demons as protection—as the extermination of evil and defense of the righteous path.
Although there truly were kind demons like Xiao Qing and Xiao Bai among the Demon Race, most demons were evil, and it was not uncommon for them to treat humans as food.
To a certain extent, although the Imperial Advisor had done it for his own cultivation, his demon-slaying deeds had indeed been beneficial to ordinary people.
Take Snake-Catching Village, where Xu Xuan lived. The court's increased taxes had made life unbearable for the villagers, while the Imperial Advisor had provided another way to offset those taxes: catching snakes.
Though it was dangerous, it gave these commoners a way to survive, keeping them from being crushed beneath harsh levies and taxes.
At the very least, aside from Xu Xuan, the other villagers were still extremely enthusiastic about catching snakes.
After all, the Imperial Advisor had not forced them to catch snakes. They did it purely for profit, and that was