Pacification Commissioner Xiao Yungui

Demon Slaying Division, Mission Hall.

Lu Jun leaned against the bluestone doorway and watched Li Tuo jog over from the distance.

"Have you chosen a mission?"

"What kind of demon are we preparing to kill this time?"

Lu Jun spoke up.

Li Tuo nodded. "The demon we're dealing with this time is called the Skin-Peeling Ghost."

The Skin-Peeling Ghost was a relatively weak demon, but it was highly adept at concealment and very difficult to detect.

Although Lu Jun's strength was not bad,

Li Tuo still wanted to give him some time to adjust, taking things step by step. That was why he had planned to choose a demon that would be relatively easy to deal with from the start.

Luckily, their luck was good. As soon as they entered the Mission Hall, they found a mission to "slay the Skin-Peeling Ghost."

Li Tuo was afraid someone else would snatch it away, so he immediately plucked it down after seeing it.

However, there was one thing that puzzled Li Tuo: when he accepted the mission, the member responsible for the mission board had given him a strange look.

"The Skin-Peeling Ghost?"

Lu Jun muttered.

He had never killed a Skin-Peeling Ghost before.

"What are the specific details of the mission?" Lu Jun asked.

"Heh heh, let me take a look." Li Tuo picked up the mission slip in his hand and examined it, muttering to himself, "Surely, killing a Skin-Peeling Ghost shouldn't be too difficult."

He then began reading the contents of the mission slip aloud to Lu Jun.

"More than half a month ago, Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner Xiao Yungui led five hundred soldiers up the mountain to suppress the bandits of Black Cloud Stockade. He subsequently rescued a woman named Xu Xun."

"Not long afterward, Xiao Yungui took Xu Xun as his equal wife."

"However, Xiao Yungui's principal wife, Yu Yun, saw Xu Xun shed her human skin in the middle of the night and devour a heart and liver. She then reported this intelligence to the Demon Slayer Envoy."

"Mission requirements: ascertain whether Xu Xun is a Skin-Peeling Ghost... If she is a Skin-Peeling Ghost, she may be slain!"

By the end of the reading, Li Tuo's voice had grown increasingly quiet and even carried a slight tremble...

Li Tuo finally understood why no one had accepted a mission that merely involved finding and killing a Skin-Peeling Ghost.

As it turned out, such a huge pit had been waiting for him!

Investigate the equal wife of Xiao Yungui, a fifth-grade military official and Pacification Commissioner of the imperial court.

And if she turned out to be a demon, kill her on the spot...

Wouldn't that offend the Pacification Commissioner Xiao Yungui to death?

Li Tuo gave an awkward smile. "Well... Lu Jun, this mission is a little troublesome. How about we switch to another one..."

Lu Jun raised his brows slightly. "Troublesome? What's troublesome about it?"

"Isn't it just finding a demon and killing it?"

Li Tuo's gaze turned complicated. "This is different..."

Lu Jun's brows furrowed slightly. "How is it different?"

"What, are you afraid of offending that Pacification Commissioner Xiao Yungui?"

Li Tuo's eyes wandered, and he avoided Lu Jun's gaze, which amounted to an admission.

Lu Jun spoke softly, his voice calm and cold.

"So what you told me before was a lie?"

"The Demon Slaying Division kills demons first and reports afterward. We have imperial authority. As long as anyone, any faction, or any official of the imperial court shows even the slightest sign of involvement with a demon, a Demon Slayer Envoy need not report to their superior and may investigate directly. Anyone who violates this is to be killed without mercy!"

"Was that a lie?"

Lu Jun's voice rose slightly despite himself.

Li Tuo fell silent.

What he had said was indeed true.

The Demon Slaying Division truly possessed such authority.

However, most people treated it as nothing more than a pretty slogan.

Most people joined the Demon Slaying Division to become officials under the protection of its privileges.

And what was the principle of being an official? To blend into the crowd and be kind to others.

The jianghu wasn't about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and worldly wisdom.

They were all colleagues in the imperial court, coworkers from the same place. Who would offend someone to death for no reason?

Even Li Tuo had not expected Lu Jun's personality to be so... stubborn?

"Er... It's true, of course... but..." Li Tuo said in a small voice.

Lu Jun said calmly, "Since it's true, then there's no 'but.' Let's go."

Lu Jun took the mission slip in front of him and walked toward the stables.

"Ugh..." Li Tuo's eyes twisted with conflict. After pondering for a long while, he followed.

The two rode horses, and since the Xiao residence was inside Yunzhou City, they did not delay. They soon arrived at the entrance of the Xiao residence.

"Who goes there?"

When the two soldiers at the gate saw them, they immediately stopped them.

"We're handling a case for the Demon Slaying Division. Sorry for the trouble, but please inform Pacification Commissioner Xiao," Li Tuo said.

The two soldiers' expressions shifted when they saw them. They then spoke up. "Please wait, my lords."

They immediately jogged into the residence.

After the soldiers entered,

Li Tuo continued repeatedly advising Lu Jun, "Lu Jun, once we go inside, you absolutely must not act on your own!"

"Let me take the lead in everything!"

Still worried, Li Tuo added, "Don't worry. The demon is yours. I definitely won't fight you for it!"

Lu Jun nodded without speaking.

His eyes merely turned slightly toward the residence, while the silver mark between his brows flickered.

Within Lu Jun's field of vision,

a strand of green demonic aura mixed with malicious intent was spiraling upward above the incomparably luxurious residence before him.

The corners of Lu Jun's lips rose, and his eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Looks like there really is a demon here."

"The Demon Slaying Division's intelligence is truly useful."

Soon, the residence's main gate opened.

A tall young man who looked to be no more than twenty walked out.

The young man wore a close-fitting black martial robe that accentuated his imposing figure. His handsome face bore a genial smile, making him easy to take a liking to.

When the young man saw Lu Jun and Li Tuo, he gave them the appropriate courtesy between colleagues and peers.

"Fellow colleagues, I am Xiao Yungui. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Li Tuo hurriedly returned the salute, while his favorable impression of Xiao Yungui deepened further.

Li Tuo was a bronze-clad officer of the Demon Slaying Division, which made him a sixth-grade military official of the imperial court.

As for Lu Jun, he was still a reserve member, equivalent to a recommended candidate for the civil service. He did not even count as a ninth-grade official.

Yet the Xiao Yungui before them was a Pacification Commissioner. Despite his young age, he already held a fifth-grade office, and his prospects were boundless.

Not only had he personally come out to welcome them, but he had also not performed an official's salute. Instead, he had shown them the courtesy of equals, lowering his own posture and giving them ample face.

Li Tuo could not help feeling flattered.

Lu Jun, on the other hand, felt nothing in particular. He had a modern soul and had only transmigrated a little over a month ago. Besides, he had spent most of that time in Huang Family Village, so he was utterly unfamiliar with this feudal officialdom.

Xiao Yungui smiled and immediately made a welcoming gesture.

"Fellow colleagues, please come in."