Chapter Summaries

Su Fei, Hu Jing, and Qiu Xu arrived in Hu Family Village to investigate the disappearances and questioned village chief Hu Guangnian. Hu Guangnian began recounting how the missing villagers’ cases started, leaving the full scope of the disappearances unresolved.

• Su Fei and his companions rode through Hu Family Village, where frightened villagers watched them and hurried to finish their work before dark.
• Su Fei introduced himself to village chief Hu Guangnian and promised the Demon Suppression Bureau would investigate the disappearances and eliminate the demon.
• Hu Guangnian showed Su Fei and his subordinates a ledger of missing villagers, then told them that Old Man Zhang had vanished after leaving a friend’s house two months earlier.
• Hu Guangnian explained that villagers began disappearing every five or six days, including eighteen-year-old tofu seller Zhang Erya.

Hu Guangnian told Su Fei that dozens of Hu Family Village residents had vanished without a trace, leaving the Demon Suppression Bureau with no clear leads. Su Fei began organizing a systematic investigation, and the chapter ended as the villagers gathered to be questioned.

• Hu Guangnian described how villagers including the tofu seller, Pockmarked Chen, and Li the Second disappeared, and said he believed a demon was responsible.
• Su Fei concluded that the disappearances shared no clear pattern and that Hu Guangnian's account offered no direct clues.
• Su Fei asked Hu Guangnian to gather villagers who had heard strange noises and arrange guides to take the investigators to the disappearance sites and nearby areas.
• Su Fei instructed Hu Jing and Qiu Xu to question villagers about strange figures, unusual sounds, and the missing people's behavior, while watching for evasive answers.
• Hu Guangnian returned with a dozen or so frightened villagers, who gathered around Su Fei, Hu Jing, and Qiu Xu.

Su Fei and the Demon Suppression Bureau questioned Hu Family Village’s residents and followed several clues to an old well and the northern spirit fields. After finding no clear evidence at either site, Su Fei sent Hu Jing and Qiu Xu to continue investigating while he remained near the old locust tree.

• Su Fei had Hu Jing and Qiu Xu question and record the villagers’ accounts while he watched for suspicious behavior.
• Qiu Xu reported clues about knocking near the western old well, a large black shadow by the northern spirit fields, and a figure seen near the old locust tree.
• Su Fei asked Village Chief Hu to provide guides, then led Hu Jing and Qiu Xu to inspect the old well.
• Su Fei found no obvious tracks or living aura in the well, but sensed its air was unusually cold and sinister, and refused to send anyone down.
• At the northern end, Su Fei examined the old locust tree and found no unusual tracks or marks before assigning Qiu Xu to search the grass and Hu Jing to question the field workers.

Su Fei and his guards followed fresh demonic traces from Hu Family Village’s northern spirit fields into the mountain forest, where they discovered a cave that appeared to be the demon’s lair. Su Fei left Hu Jing and Qiu Xu on guard and prepared to investigate alone.

• Qiu Xu found crushed grass and cold, foul-smelling black stains, which Su Fei identified as traces left by a demon.
• Su Fei told Hu Guangnian to send the villagers away from the northern spirit fields and ordered Hu Jing and Qiu Xu to help follow the traces.
• Su Fei, Hu Jing, and Qiu Xu tracked the increasingly strong stains and odor from the spirit fields into the mountain forest.
• Qiu Xu spotted a concealed cave entrance marked by black stains, crushed trails, and scratches, and Su Fei identified it as the demon’s lair.
• Su Fei ordered Hu Jing and Qiu Xu to guard the entrance while he entered the cave alone.

Su Fei, Hu Jing, and Qiu Xu searched the demon’s old cave but found neither the demon nor fresh traces of the missing villagers. They returned to Hu Family Village, where Su Fei began organizing the Demon Suppression Guards to protect the village and its spirit fields.

• Su Fei searched the cave and found old signs of a demon lair and tattered garments, but no demon or villagers.
• Su Fei concluded that the demon had left its former lair but likely remained active near Hu Family Village.
• Su Fei, Hu Jing, and Qiu Xu searched around the cave, found no fresh tracks, and decided to return to the village and set up defenses.
• Su Fei returned to the village entrance and assembled the Demon Suppression Guards of the Ninth Barracks.
• Su Fei ordered the hundred guards to divide into ten groups, each with a Squad Leader and Demon Suppression Bureau distress fireworks.

Su Fei organized the Demon Suppression Guards into ten groups to patrol Hu Family Village and prepare to respond if the demon returned. The guards settled into their posts, while Su Fei, Hu Jing, and Qiu Xu lodged at Hu Guangnian’s home as night fell.

• Su Fei assigned ten groups of Demon Suppression Guards to watch the village, its spirit fields, and the wooded hills, and ordered them to signal for help and converge if the demon appeared.
• Su Fei, Hu Jing, and Qiu Xu planned to stay at Hu Guangnian’s home so they could quickly respond to distress fireworks.
• The guards took up posts throughout Hu Family Village, easing the villagers’ fears and encouraging them to return to cultivating their spirit fields.
• Su Fei told Hu Guangnian that the demon’s former lair was empty and asked him to reassure the villagers and warn them against going out late at night.
• Hu Guangnian arranged rooms for the three officers and hurried off to notify the villagers as Su Fei surveyed the village at nightfall.

After fifteen days without a demon attack, Su Fei suspected it was hiding and devised a plan with Hu Jing and Qiu Xu. He pretended to Hu Guangnian that the Demon Suppression Guards had been ordered away and that the demon had left, while Hu Guangnian pleaded with them to stay.

• Su Fei, Hu Jing, and Qiu Xu guarded Hu Family Village overnight, and villagers returned to their spirit fields the next morning.
• Over fifteen or sixteen days, the village recovered and no one disappeared, but Su Fei grew suspicious that the demon was hiding from the guards.
• Su Fei concluded the demon was likely waiting for the guards to leave and secretly instructed Hu Jing and Qiu Xu on a plan for the next day.
• Hu Jing and Qiu Xu passed Su Fei's instructions to the Demon Suppression Guards in each group.
• Su Fei told Hu Guangnian that an urgent order required the Ninth Barracks to leave and claimed the demon had already fled, asking him to reassure the villagers.
• Hu Guangnian worried the demon would return and grabbed Su Fei's sleeve, urging him to stay and investigate further.

Su Fei led the Ninth Barracks out of Hu Family Village after fifteen days without a demon attack, reassuring the villagers that they could report any new trouble to the Demon Suppression Bureau. Several dozen li from the village, he stopped and prepared to split the guards into two groups to wait for the demon.

• Su Fei refused Hu Guangnian's request to keep the guards in Hu Family Village and ordered the Ninth Barracks to depart.
• Hu Guangnian gathered the villagers, who thanked Su Fei, Hu Jing, Qiu Xu, and the Demon Suppression Guards and gave them provisions.
• Su Fei addressed the villagers, mounted his horse, and led the Ninth Barracks out of the village as its residents waved farewell.
• After the guards had traveled several dozen li, Su Fei stopped and Hu Jing asked whether they should split into two groups and hide to wait for the demon.

Su Fei set a trap around Hu Family Village, expecting a demon to return after the Demon Suppression Guards appeared to leave. As night fell, Hu Laosan stayed alone in the spirit fields to earn money for his son’s wedding, while a disguised guard watched anxiously nearby.

• Su Fei sent disguised Demon Suppression Guards into Hu Family Village and positioned Hu Jing, Qiu Xu, and other guards in the forests to ambush the demon.
• Su Fei hid on an earthen slope with two guards and waited for the demon to appear.
• As darkness fell, the villagers remembered Su Fei’s warning and left the spirit fields for home.
• Wang Si urged Hu Laosan to leave, but Hu Laosan chose to keep working so he could save more for his son’s wedding.
• A disguised Demon Suppression Guard watched Hu Laosan from the grass, readying his distress firework but remaining hidden to protect Su Fei’s plan.

A Demon Suppression Guard fired a distress signal when the Jackal Demon attacked Hu Laosan, bringing Hu Jing, Qiu Xu, Su Fei, and their forces to the northern spirit fields. The Jackal Demon fought off the first assault, but Hu Jing’s arrival completed the encirclement, leaving it surrounded by the Demon Suppression Guards.

• A Demon Suppression Guard spotted the Jackal Demon sneaking up on Hu Laosan and fired a distress firework.
• Hu Jing and Qiu Xu mobilized their Demon Suppression Guards, while Su Fei rode toward the northern spirit fields with two guards.
• The Jackal Demon struck Hu Laosan and approached him as he lay injured in the spirit field.
• Qiu Xu and his guards arrived and attacked the Jackal Demon, but its iron-hard hide and speed let it break through their encirclement.
• The Jackal Demon taunted the guards and threatened to eat them, then Hu Jing arrived with forty guards and helped seal off its escape routes.

Hu Jing and Qiu Xu led the Demon Suppression Guards in an attack on the jackal demon, but its speed and defenses overwhelmed them. Su Fei arrived and prepared to face the demon himself.

• Hu Jing ordered a guard to take the injured Hu Laosan to safety as the Demon Suppression Guards surrounded the jackal demon.
• Qiu Xu and Hu Jing led the guards in attacking, but their weapons could barely harm the jackal demon, which wounded several guards and disrupted their formation.
• Qiu Xu and Hu Jing ordered the guards to tighten the encirclement and hold on until Centurion Su arrived.
• Su Fei galloped into the spirit fields, saw his wounded men, and challenged the jackal demon.
• Su Fei told the guards to step back and make room for him to fight the jackal demon.

Su Fei struck the jackal demon with a powerful saber blow, leaving it badly wounded but alive. As it charged at him, he unleashed the second strike of the Three Saber Strikes of the Avici Path, and the blade light raced toward the demon.

• Su Fei's first saber strike blasted the jackal demon into a crater and tore open its abdomen.
• Qiu Xu, Hu Jing, and the Demon Suppression Guards marveled at Su Fei's strength and assumed the demon had been killed.
• The wounded jackal demon climbed from the crater, roared at Su Fei, and charged at him.
• Su Fei decided to strike again and drew his saber with black netherworld mist coiling around it.
• Su Fei unleashed the Hungry Ghost Path, sending a blazing, netherworld-infused blade light toward the charging jackal demon.

Su Fei killed the Jackal Demon and ordered the Demon Suppression Guards to treat the wounded and clear the battlefield. When his quest did not register as complete, he realized another demon might be hiding in Hu Family Village and headed for the Crimson Flame Horse King.

• Su Fei split the wounded Jackal Demon in two with a second strike and killed it.
• Qiu Xu, Hu Jing, and the Demon Suppression Guards praised Su Fei, who ordered them to care for the wounded and dispose of the corpse.
• Hu Laosan collapsed in relief after learning the demon was dead.
• Su Fei waited for his quest completion notification, but the system did not respond.
• Su Fei suspected the quest remained incomplete because another demon was in the village, possibly near the old well, and hurried to the Crimson Flame Horse King.

Su Fei rushed to the old well in Hu Family Village and discovered a water snake demon lurking there. He killed it with his perfected Three Saber Strikes of the Avici Path, while Qiu Xu and Hu Jing arrived at the aftermath.

• Su Fei rode to the village’s western old well after suspecting another demon was hiding there.
• Su Fei struck into the well with his saber, wounding the demon inside and forcing it to emerge.
• A water snake demon climbed from the well, and Su Fei realized it was the second demon behind the village’s troubles and his unfinished mission.
• Su Fei unleashed his perfected Three Saber Strikes of the Avici Path, cleaving the demon’s steel fork and tearing apart its body.
• Qiu Xu, Hu Jing, and several Demon Suppression Guards arrived at the well and saw the demon’s remains.

Su Fei killed the Water Snake Demon at Hu Family Village’s old well, completing the village disappearance mission and earning a Divine-Grade Sensing Technique and 230 years of cultivation. The next morning, he returned with the Demon Suppression Guards and ordered Hu Guangnian to gather every villager, leaving the reason unexplained.

• Hu Jing, Qiu Xu, and the Demon Suppression Guards witnessed Su Fei kill the Water Snake Demon and praised his strength.
• Su Fei received a system notification that he had solved the Hu Family Village Villager Disappearance Case and earned a Divine-Grade Sensing Technique and 230 years of cultivation.
• Su Fei ordered the Demon Suppression Guards to rest nearby and return to Hu Family Village the next morning.
• Su Fei led the guards back to the village and told Hu Guangnian that he had killed the Water Snake Demon as well as the Jackal Demons.
• Su Fei instructed Hu Guangnian to gather every villager at the clearing at the head of the village without explaining why.

Su Fei suspected that a villager from Hu Family Village had tipped off the Jackal Demon about the Demon Suppression Guards’ movements, so he arranged to question the villagers and identify the traitor. The questioning began with the injured Hu Laosan, whom Su Fei doubted could have colluded with demons.

• Su Fei explained to Hu Jing and Qiu Xu that the Jackal Demon’s appearance after the guards pretended to leave suggested a villager had revealed their movements.
• Su Fei ordered Hu Guangnian to gather the villagers and had the Demon Suppression Guards watch them while they were brought in for questioning one at a time.
• Su Fei assigned Hu Jing and Qiu Xu to ask each villager about contact or collusion with demons while he used the God-tier Insight Technique to judge their reactions.
• Hu Laosan, still wounded from the Jackal Demon’s attack, was brought in first, and Su Fei privately doubted that he could be the traitor.

Su Fei and his men questioned every villager in Hu Family Village but found no signs of deception, until Qiu Xu reminded him they had not questioned Village Chief Hu Guangnian. When Hu Guangnian denied having contact with demons, Su Fei noticed subtle changes in his expression.

• Hu Laosan said a Jackal Demon had attacked him, and Su Fei judged his account to be genuine.
• Hu Jing and Qiu Xu questioned the villagers while Su Fei used the God-tier Insight Technique, but none appeared to be lying.
• After questioning everyone over the age of ten, Su Fei wondered whether he had mistaken coincidence for a traitor's work.
• Qiu Xu pointed out that they had not questioned Hu Guangnian, and Su Fei ordered the village chief brought in.
• Hu Guangnian insisted he had never contacted demons, but Su Fei noticed his smile stiffen and his eyes flicker at the question.

Su Fei exposed Hu Guangnian as the village chief who had colluded with demons and caused the disappearances in Hu Family Village. After Hu Jing beat him, Hu Guangnian confessed that he had done it to conceal grain stolen from the village granary, and he ended the chapter begging the Demon Suppression Bureau to spare him.

• Su Fei noticed Hu Guangnian’s panic when Qiu Xu asked whether he had colluded with demons.
• Su Fei confronted Hu Guangnian, whose composure broke as Hu Jing and Qiu Xu realized he was the traitor.
• Hu Jing punched Hu Guangnian and demanded that he confess to colluding with demons and killing villagers.
• Hu Guangnian admitted that he had stolen grain and arranged the attacks to reduce the harvest and hide the granary shortage before an inspection.
• Hu Guangnian kowtowed and begged the Demon Suppression Bureau for mercy as Su Fei stood silently in the courtyard.

Su Fei and the Demon Suppression Guards exposed Hu Guangnian as the traitor who had colluded with demons and caused the villagers’ deaths. After the villagers vented their anger, Su Fei promised Hu Family Village would be safe and led the guards back to the Ninth Barracks with Hu Guangnian in custody.

• Hu Jing stopped beating Hu Guangnian and bound him to take him back to the Demon Suppression Bureau for judgment.
• Hu Jing told the villagers that Hu Guangnian had colluded with demons and was responsible for the missing villagers.
• The furious villagers beat Hu Guangnian until Hu Jing ordered them to stop and said the Bureau would punish him.
• Su Fei assured the villagers that demons would no longer threaten Hu Family Village and that Hu Guangnian would face an impartial judgment.
• Su Fei ordered the guards to return to the Ninth Barracks with Hu Guangnian bound on a Crimson Flame Horse.

After the Hu Family Village case, Su Fei collected his rewards and advanced to the Nirvana Realm eighth level. The next morning, Zhang Bo summoned him after reading the mission report, and Su Fei went to meet him.

• Su Fei ordered Hu Guangnian imprisoned and assigned Hu Jing and Qiu Xu to handle the case’s follow-up and report.
• Su Fei claimed the mission rewards, gaining the Divine-Grade Sensing Technique and two hundred and thirty years of cultivation.
• Su Fei used the cultivation to advance from the Nirvana Realm fourth level to the Nirvana Realm eighth level.
• The next morning, Xiao Ma told Su Fei that Thousand-Man Commander Zhang Bo wanted to see him after reading the Ninth Barracks’ report, and Su Fei followed him to Zhang Bo’s hall.