There Were No Children

Chen Chong nodded, turned, and beckoned to a county yamen runner. "Come here."

Chen Bin immediately cut in:

"You go yourself. That's the only way to make things clear. You must get there before dark.

"As for what happened, just say that you and I killed the Ghost Servants together."

"But... is that all right?" Chen Chong asked, a little embarrassed. After all, it seemed the Demon Suppression Division's credit was about to be shared with the county yamen.

"You're my uncle. There's plenty of credit to go around here."

Chen Bin spoke earnestly. "You wouldn't want your subordinates to come all this way and get nothing out of it, would you?"

Chen Chong nodded again and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and turned back. "My horse can't keep up. I probably won't be back in the county until dark."

"Take my horse." Chen Bin waved a hand, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Chen Chong left, but before he went, he made a point of telling his men, "Do whatever Lord Chen says."

"Yes, sir!" The runners wouldn't dare disobey.

The battle they had just witnessed had shown them how formidable Chen Bin was. They knew full well who was truly strong enough to lead them.

"Stay here and keep watch." Chen Bin gave the runners his orders. "I'm going to look around the village. If anything happens, shout as loud as you can. I'd better be able to hear you."

"Yes, sir." Chen Bin turned and headed toward the village houses.

To his surprise, as his realm improved, the range of the map he sensed seemed to have expanded as well.

He passed each house, carefully studying every corner. Only after finding no Red Name markers did he go inside to search.

Yet every house was empty. Not a single person was in sight.

Where had the children gone?

Wanbao County Town.

A swift horse galloped into town through a billowing cloud of dust, heading straight for the Demon Suppression Division.

A runner at the division's entrance stopped the newcomer.

Chen Chong was something of a well-known figure in the county. Whenever the county yamen called on the Demon Suppression Division for help, he was involved.

The gate guard naturally recognized him and was just about to greet him. "Constable Chen..."

Chen Chong was frantic with worry and had no time for pleasantries. He shouted, "A major case! Nanxi Village has been massacred. I need to see Captain Wang!"

At the words "village massacre," the guard froze. A moment later, he turned around. "Come with me!"

The two hurried deeper into the Demon Suppression Division.

Wanbao was a large county, but the highest-ranking commander in its Demon Suppression Division was only Wang Sheng, a Captain at the Meridian Opening Realm.

Inside the Captain's office,

Chen Chong gave him a rough account of what had happened, embellishing it as he went.

"Ghost Servants possessed the entire village, and they've all been killed? The children are the only ones you haven't found?"

The more Wang Sheng heard, the tighter his brow furrowed. His expression grew increasingly grave.

"Yes." Chen Chong barely dared to breathe. He stiffened his neck and nodded firmly.

Wang Sheng shot to his feet and swept a hand through the air. "Have Little Banner Kang bring his men to see me."

The blazing sun slowly sank in the west.

The horizon was dyed a brilliant orange-red, its afterglow spilling across the land.

Dusk fell.

Chen Bin searched every house in the village carefully, but he still couldn't find the slightest trace of the children.

He knew that the only place they were likely to be now was the lair of the South Mountain Lord.

The thought of the South Mountain Lord filled Chen Bin with wariness. That was a great demon at the Aperture Opening Realm, and with his current strength, he had no chance of standing against him.

He wasn't foolish enough to charge straight up there and get himself killed.

With no other choice, he decided to return to the Threshing Ground first.

Before that, he went to the stream. Its water was crystal clear.

He slowly waded in and used the stream water to wash away the traces of blood mist clinging to him.

After bathing, he changed his clothes and headed for the Threshing Ground in Nanxi Village.

When he returned, he saw that the runners had already built a bonfire.

It wasn't completely dark yet, but the fire nevertheless lit the Threshing Ground brightly.

The runners saw Chen Bin approaching and hurried to their feet, welcoming him with respectful expressions.

Chen Bin gave them a slight nod, his gaze sweeping over the group.

Only then did he notice that each runner held a wooden stick with a bun, chicken, or piece of pork skewered on the end. They had clearly been gathered around the fire, roasting food.

"Where did you get the provisions and roast chicken?" he asked.

The runners exchanged glances. Then an older runner stepped forward. Looking nervous, he lowered his head slightly and explained, "They're all dead, so the things in their houses naturally became ownerless.

"We... we just took a little to fill our stomachs."

Following the old runner's gaze, Chen Bin saw row upon row of mangled skins that had been hacked apart.

Those runners really had some nerve. They had even gathered up every last skin.

The skins were arranged neatly in another empty part of the Threshing Ground, like rows of dried radishes. Their faces, with their features all slumped together, looked especially eerie and terrifying in the firelight.

Chen Bin looked at the fuel beneath the bonfire. It was all things like door panels and fences. Clearly, the runners had torn down the villagers' houses to make a fire.

He considered it to himself. Indeed, if they couldn't find the children, perhaps these things really could be considered ownerless.

When Chen Bin fell silent, the county yamen runners grew nervous. They didn't dare breathe too loudly, afraid that this Demon Suppression Division officer might suddenly draw his blade.

Just then, Chen Bin snatched the roast chicken from the old runner's hand. A smile appeared on his face. "Perfect, I'm hungry! But there's nothing wrong with the food, is there?"

"Don't worry, sir. We tested it for poison, and we've eaten some ourselves. It's completely safe," the old runner said.

That put Chen Bin at ease. He tore off a chicken leg and began gnawing at it.

Seeing this, the county yamen runners finally breathed a sigh of relief. Smiles spread across their faces, and the tense atmosphere instantly turned warm and cheerful.

As Chen Bin ate, he asked, "Aren't you afraid?"

"With an expert like you here, sir, we're not afraid," the old runner promptly replied.

Clip-clop, clip-clop! A rush of hoofbeats came from the distance, drawing nearer beneath the glow of the setting sun.

Chen Bin and the county yamen runners all rose to their feet. More than a hundred fierce steeds surrounded the entire Threshing Ground, hemming them in on every side.

The horses slowly parted, and a figure dressed in the uniform of a Little Banner officer of the Demon Suppression Division rode out from the crowd.

Chen Bin recognized him at a glance. It was the Red Name Little Banner officer, Kang Ronghao.

Chen Bin hurried forward and clasped his hands in the formal salute of a subordinate greeting a superior. "Chen Bin, a runner under Captain Tian Jie, pays his respects to Captain Little Banner Kang."

The county yamen runners quickly followed Chen Bin and saluted as well.

But Kang Ronghao ignored them. His gaze went straight to Chen Bin, who wore the uniform of a runner of the Demon Suppression Division, and he called out, "Chen Bin."

"Yes!" Chen Bin answered at once.