You, Go Bring Him Back

Liu Wei's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. "Mountain Lord coming down the mountain? Little Banner Kang, does he truly dare?"

"You..." Kang Ronghao was taken aback.

"How many sons does he have left now?"

Liu Wei fixed his gaze on Kang Ronghao and continued, "Come on, which of his sons came down this time?

Tiger Two, or Tiger One?

That old tiger's teeth are almost all gone. Four hundred Ghost Servants were lost at his hands. I'd wager even his essence was damaged!"

Liu Wei's words made Kang Ronghao's face turn red, then white. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

"But the problem is!" Ding Jun said gravely, "we have no idea where that dog came from."

Everyone knew that the "dog" Ding Jun referred to was the Wolf Demon hanging outside.

Wolf Demons had not appeared around Wanbao County for a long time.

Fox Mountain lay northwest of Wanbao County; Mountain Lord held sway to the south; Shili Town, the county's wharf, lay ten miles to the east; and to the north ran the official road to Dongyang.

Yet no traces of Wolf Demons had ever been heard of in any of those directions.

"When soldiers come, we'll hold them off; when water comes, we'll dam it with earth; when demons come, we'll hack them down with our blades." Liu Wei spoke with conviction. "Since we've slain the monsters, we deserve our reward."

"Have the monsters' corpses been spoken for?" someone asked.

"Yes." Ye Ming, the officer in charge, smiled faintly. "Their heads will be presented to the Hundred Households Office to record our merits, while Wan Dao Commercial Firm has already reserved their bodies."

"All right." Wang Sheng raised a hand to quiet everyone. "Demons should be rewarded for killing. Everyone who took part in this operation gets a share.

"Since Chen Bin contributed the most, give him three tenths of the silver. Let the others divide the remaining two tenths!

"As for the other five tenths, Ye Ming, you know what to do."

"Yes, sir!" Ye Ming cupped his hands and accepted the order.

The five tenths would naturally be divided among the leaders.

"General Banner!" Liu Wei cupped his hands. "Captain Chen Bin is highly capable. I'd like to transfer him to my command."

"You know the rules," Wang Sheng replied.

At that, Liu Wei turned to Kang Ronghao. Transfers between subordinates required the approval of their direct superior.

"No!" Kang Ronghao immediately rose to his feet. He shot Liu Wei a cold look. "He's one of my men. I don't like people trying to steal what's mine."

With that, Kang Ronghao turned and strode toward the door.

"Little Banner Kang," Wang Sheng suddenly called out, "I received word that three more people have died in the south.

"Can you explain that?"

Kang Ronghao's steps abruptly halted. He wondered to himself who had betrayed him.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, and said, "I'll take care of it!"

"See that you do!" Wang Sheng said. "The Hundred Households Office still hasn't sent an Official Document about the incident in Nanxi Village, but if anything else goes wrong, I won't be able to protect you!"

"Don't worry. Nothing like this will happen again!" Kang Ronghao said. "Captain Chen Bin has rendered outstanding service. I'm planning to send him south, so there's no chance of anything like this happening again!"

After saying that, he walked out of the office without looking back.

"Sir, we'll take our leave as well." Ding Jun and the others bowed, then filed out.

Only five people remained in the office: Wang Sheng, Liu Wei, Ye Ming, Wu Jingchuan, and Wang Yun.

"He's obviously doing this to get back at us," Liu Wei said, frowning.

"And what can we do about it?" Wang Sheng clutched his chest and coughed several times. "My injuries haven't healed yet."

The other four all looked downcast at his words.

Captain Qian of the City Guard Division was Kang Ronghao's brother-in-law. The City Guard Division had to help defend Wanbao County and Shili Town; otherwise, the Demon Suppression Division would struggle to withstand the demons' attacks.

That was why Kang Ronghao dared to act with such impunity. He was a local strongman.

All five of them—Wang Sheng and the others—had been transferred from the Hundred Households Office, and they had long been at odds with these local strongmen.

"Chen Bin is a talent. I hope he makes it through this safely," Wang Sheng said with a long sigh.

"But he's only at the Jade Marrow Realm..." Liu Wei sighed softly.

Wang Sheng knitted his brows, still deep in thought.

Ye Ming, the officer in charge, looked toward the General Banner. "He's a talent. If we can save him, we may be able to bring him into our fold."

Wang Sheng's expression eased. He looked at Liu Wei. "Go gather the men and bring him back."

"Yes, sir!" Liu Wei accepted the order and left.

Training Ground.

Chen Bin, a Jade Marrow Realm cultivator in front of everyone, waited until he finally saw his direct superior, Kang Ronghao.

Around seventy people in all—Captains, runners, and civilian runners—stood in a loosely formed square.

Kang Ronghao stood before them and spoke loudly. "I called you here today for one thing.

"The tiger cubs from South Mountain have come down from the mountain. We're going to drive those tigers out of Ertang Village."

His words set the crowd buzzing like a pot coming to a boil. Everyone hurriedly whispered among themselves, their faces full of shock and unease.

"You may not want to do this, but trouble has already struck. We have no choice."

Kang Ronghao furrowed his brows and announced loudly once more, "Move out!"

Chen Bin was about to turn around when he realized that the sixty or seventy people had crowded around him, hemming him in like an invisible wall. They weren't letting him leave.

They'd planned it together.

Kang Ronghao soon pushed through the packed crowd and came to stand before Chen Bin, a trace of cruelty on his face. "Captain Chen, please."

Chen Bin didn't waste time with pleasantries. He strode straight toward the gate.

At the Demon Suppression Division's gate, civilian runners had already brought the horses over.

Some lowered their heads to lick the ground; others flicked their tails gently.

"Mount up! Move out!" Kang Ronghao swept his hand forcefully through the air.

Everyone quickly swung into the saddle. A troop of fifty or sixty riders surged toward the South Gate.

The black horses swept down the long street like a tide, their hoofbeats making the ground tremble faintly.

The townspeople saw the imposing sight and scattered in fright, ducking into corners along the street, their eyes filled with fear.

After passing Ertang Village, the Demon Suppression Division's men didn't slow down. They continued onward.

Only when they reached Nanxi Village did the troop finally come to a stop.

The threshing ground in Nanxi Village lay utterly silent. Blackened clumps still littered the earth, remnants of the battle two days earlier.

A faint, putrid stench drifted through the air, making anyone who caught it want to retch.

"Sir!" Luo Junfeng called out respectfully, his hands clasped in salute.

"Go, send up a signal!" Kang Ronghao ordered, turning to him.

"Yes!" Luo Junfeng immediately pulled a long tube from his clothes and swiftly fired it into the sky.

In an instant, a blood-red signal shot upward like a meteor, stark against the deep blue sky.

The moment the signal rose, a tiger's roar rang out from the distant mountain forest, deep and earthshaking.

Hearing it, Chen Bin narrowed his eyes slightly and instinctively rested a hand on his saber.

At the same time, a stir ran through the crowd. Fear showed on everyone's faces.

That didn't sound like a Body Tempering Realm Tiger Demon!

"How could this be? How could there be a Qi Gathering Realm Tiger Demon?"

Everyone looked from one another to the next, their eyes full of fear and hesitation. Some even began edging backward without realizing it.