Ah, Right, Right, Right!

With the Demon Suppression Guards dispersed and the matter seemingly resolved, Xiao Hong's face remained devoid of a smile.

He felt like his heart was bleeding.

He didn't care much about the Purple Flame Crystals; he had a mine at home anyway.

But those two Blood Spirit Pills were something he had painstakingly acquired. They were his personal assets, not belonging to the Purple Flame Hall.

After glaring fiercely at Kong Wu, Xiao Hong led him inside.

In Jin Hefeng's study, Xiao Hong, heartbroken, handed over a white jade porcelain bottle.

Jin Hefeng took the bottle and gave it a shake. A smile curved his lips, and he quickly instructed someone to prepare tea.

Having gone through that ordeal, Xiao Hong had lost all desire for tea. He got straight to the point: "I need your help with something."

"Please, just name it, Senior Xiao!"

As the person in charge of the Demon Suppression Division in Purple Flame County, Jin Hefeng had frequent dealings with the Purple Flame Hall.

Having accepted Xiao Hong's favor, he now respectfully bowed as a junior, his tone incredibly gentle, as if the person who had just sternly reprimanded Xiao Hong at the entrance was someone else entirely.

Seeing his demeanor, Xiao Hong snorted in annoyance, "Your Demon Suppression Prison must still be holding quite a few demons, right?"

Jin Hefeng nodded, unsure of Xiao Hong's intentions.

"My junior here is kind-hearted and can't bear to see those demons suffer. I want to help them escape their misery. Make the arrangements."

Jin Hefeng picked up his teacup and blew on the floating tea leaves, not agreeing immediately.

He was rapidly contemplating Xiao Hong's true motives.

While drinking his tea, he glanced sideways at Kong Wu, who sat there expressionlessly.

For this person, this old man was even willing to make an enemy of the Demon Suppression Division.

What was it about Kong Wu that made Xiao Hong willing to pay such a price?

What was the purpose of going to the Demon Suppression Prison?

Was it related to the recent anomalies within the Purple Flame Hall?

Questions flashed through his mind, but none had a definitive answer.

Therefore, he decided to test the waters.

"Senior Xiao, the demons held in the Demon Suppression Prison possess crucial intelligence that cannot be easily extracted. We can't just let them go. This favor... it might be difficult..."

Seeing his hesitant expression, Xiao Hong immediately understood.

This scoundrel wanted to extort him further.

What crucial intelligence? Demons below the Golden Core stage could barely speak coherently, so what important information could they possibly have?

As for those evil cultivators, if they had truly vital intelligence, they would have already been sent to the prefecture city for soul-searching. Did he think Xiao Hong knew nothing?

So, Xiao Hong smiled, "I heard that the various Hundred Household Offices of the Demon Suppression Division are undergoing evaluations. Captain Jin, your work this year doesn't seem to be going very smoothly, does it?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Hefeng cursed the old fox inwardly.

As Hundred Household Offices dispatched from the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Division's Thousand Household Office, they were required to undergo an annual evaluation.

The Demon Suppression Division's duty was to slay demons and protect the populace, so they had annual quotas.

However, demons were incredibly cunning and difficult to find once they went into hiding.

Therefore, whenever they failed to meet their annual quotas, they would request the disciples of the Purple Flame Hall to help search for demons within and around the county.

After all, as the largest cultivation sect in the area, it was much more convenient for them to handle many matters than for the Demon Suppression Division.

Now, Xiao Hong had caught him by the balls, and he had no choice but to comply.

Jin Hefeng gritted his teeth, putting on a show of great difficulty. "Since Senior Xiao has made a request, even if this matter goes against regulations, I will bear the consequences."

With that, he summoned a Minor Banner and instructed them to lead the way.

Xiao Hong gestured for Kong Wu to follow, then remained seated, picking up his teacup and taking a sip.

Jin Hefeng was somewhat surprised by this.

Looking at Kong Wu's tall figure gradually receding, he pondered.

Initially, he had thought Xiao Hong had acquired some new secret technique that required demonic beasts for cultivation.

But now, it seemed the primary focus was Kong Wu.

Could his exceptionally robust physique require the blood or souls of demons for cultivation?

At this moment, Xiao Hong was also contemplating the same question.

Otherwise, he couldn't explain Kong Wu's strange request.

However, he had heard that the cultivation methods of the ancient Barbarian tribes involved hunting demonic beasts, using their blood to draw totems, connecting with the power of heaven and earth to enhance their physical strength.

But Kong Wu had no tattoos or similar markings on him.

After a long period of thought, neither of them could figure it out.

And seizing this rare opportunity, Jin Hefeng began to probe Xiao Hong.

"Senior Xiao, I heard you recently recalled all your disciples from outside. Have you encountered any troublesome matters? Is there anything the Demon Suppression Division can help with?"

Xiao Hong, now restored to his usual benevolent old man demeanor, shook his head and said, "It's nothing major. My hundredth birthday is approaching, and my son wanted to prepare some things for me in advance."

A hundredth birthday?

Is he trying to fool a child?

Didn't he just celebrate his hundredth birthday last year?

And the year before that, and the year before that...

How many hundredth birthdays has he had?

Jin Hefeng was unwilling to give up and tried to probe a few more times, but the answers he received were all the same, offering no valuable information. He was so angry he could grind his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.

Not long after, Kong Wu returned.

Xiao Hong stood up, exchanged a few pleasantries with Jin Hefeng, and then left with Kong Wu.

"Go down and take a look!"

Just now, Jin Hefeng had smelled a faint scent of blood on Kong Wu. He figured that the suffering demons and fiends in the Demon Suppression Prison had all been freed from their torment.

Upon arriving at the Demon Suppression Prison, Jin Hefeng saw that there wasn't a single demon left in the row of cells. Each of them had a small hole in their forehead.

He beckoned a nearby jailer and asked, "Recount the scene that just happened to me, detail by detail, without omitting anything!"

From the jailer, he learned that after Kong Wu came down, his eyes lit up when he saw the demons and evil cultivators.

But after walking around, the disappointment on his face was hard to hide. Then, he picked up the peanuts from the jailers' table and walked past each cell. With a flick of his finger, each peanut caused the inmates' heads to explode.

Jin Hefeng frowned, resting his chin on his hand as he pondered.

While it was impressive that he could do all this with just his physical body, after witnessing Zhang Hao's miserable state, he wasn't surprised.

However, based on the jailer's account, Kong Wu seemed to be killing these demons and evil cultivators randomly, without any strange actions or bizarre rituals.

Could it be simply because he hated evil and didn't want these fiends to exist in the world?

How could that be possible?

"Why is that impossible?"

On the main road outside the Demon Suppression Division, Kong Wu said with a righteous expression, "I, for one, absolutely detest those harmful demons and evil cultivators. I have a strong hatred for evil, you understand?"

To this, Xiao Hong nodded perfunctorily, his expression clearly conveying his thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"