Ping'an County.
The top floor of Spring View Pavilion.
A towering White Ape sat cross-legged in a grand armchair, surrounded by a group of beautiful courtesans dressed in revealing clothes.
Some sang and danced, some massaged his shoulders and back, and some fed him fresh fruit.
White Ape reclined in the chair with his eyes half-closed. One hand roamed over a voluptuous beauty in his arms, whose clothes left little to the imagination, while the fingers of his other hand lightly tapped the armrest. He swayed his head gently to the rhythm of the singers.
Life was truly blissful.
"Master Ape, Crimson Lian is dead!"
Just then, a sharp-featured servant entered the room, knelt on the ground, and reported the news.
"What?"
"Crimson Lian actually died?"
"How is that possible?"
"She was at the peak of the Spirit Concealment Realm Second Pass. Her Shapeshifting Technique and Charm Technique were one of a kind. On top of that, the Demon Race Physique was naturally stronger than the Human Race's. Even a Human Race Martial Artist at the Spirit Concealment Realm Third Pass would have a hard time killing her, wouldn't they?"
"There are only a handful of beings in Ping'an County who could kill her. Who was it?"
White Ape opened his eyes, a hint of malice flashing within them. His hand squeezed the beauty in his arms harder. She trembled all over, pain appearing on her face, but she bit her lip tightly, not daring to make a sound. She could only endure it in silence.
"It was the person who offered Five Pairs of Boys and Girls to hire her for a private matter. We don't know exactly what the job was. You know how Crimson Lian was, Master Ape—she was too proud to discuss such things with people like us."
The sharp-featured servant explained.
Although Crimson Lian was a demon like them, she was only Master Ape's partner, while they were his subordinates.
In her own mind, she stood on equal footing with Master Ape, so she naturally disdained mixing with his lackeys.
"Heh, heh."
"I always wanted her to join Spring View Pavilion and work for me. She could've been the madam of this place—wouldn't that have been wonderful? But she just had to get mixed up with that person. Now she's finally been set up and killed, hasn't she?"
"Five Pairs of Boys and Girls. That person certainly spared no expense."
"If Crimson Lian had really pulled off the job, it wouldn't have been impossible for her cultivation to advance even further. What a pity. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
"Forget it. I'm in a foul mood. All of you, get out."
White Ape exhaled a scorching breath, scooped the beauty into his arms, and headed straight for the bed.
The other courtesans saw this, and a trace of pity and panic flashed across their faces. They bowed and withdrew one after another.
Soon, cries of pain rang out from the room. After a long while, they grew fainter and fainter. Half an hour later, Master Ape threw the beauty's corpse out of the room.
Her body was twisted, her entire form drenched in blood. A look of horror lingered on her face, and her eyes were wide open, unseeing.
"The Human Race really is frail. That wasn't satisfying at all!"
"Send me two more!"
Master Ape's voice came from inside the room.
Early the next morning.
Wang Chao arrived at the Jinyiwei Baihu Office Barracks bright and early. As soon as he arrived, he heard that a snake demon had infiltrated the Baihu Office.
"Brother Chen Fan, I heard a snake demon slipped into your room last night?"
Wang Chao asked Chen Fan, who had come to report for duty.
"That's right."
"The snake demon thought I was easy prey, so it let its guard down. I struck first and killed it with Two Slashes!"
Chen Fan replied in a low voice.
"Well done."
"This time, you've turned misfortune into fortune."
"Not only did you survive a brush with death, but your cultivation has also advanced by leaps and bounds. Give it a few more years, and you'll have no trouble becoming a Xiaoqi Officer."
Wang Chao patted Chen Fan's sturdy shoulder and smiled.
"Then I'll take your kind words to heart, Wang Tou!"
Chen Fan said with a smile.
"Our Ninth Squad just lost four brothers. The Zongqi Officer hasn't assigned us any duties for now, so today we'll take care of our four brothers' funerals together."
"The compensation for the four brothers came through yesterday—fifty taels of silver each. It isn't much, so I went to the county and pleaded with them. The county waived ten years of Corvee Tax for each of their families."
"Fifty taels of silver and ten years without Corvee Tax."
"The lives of our Jinyiwei brothers really aren't worth much, are they?"
"In the end, it's because I'm not capable enough as their big brother."
Wang Chao gave a self-mocking smile and spoke with a trace of sorrow.
"Wang Tou, don't blame yourself. You've done all you could. That's just the way the world is. There's nothing we can do."
Chen Fan spoke with a heavy heart.
The Jinyiwei in Ping'an County earned a base salary of roughly ten taels of silver a year. With mission rewards, holiday bonuses, and other benefits, their yearly take-home pay came to around twenty or thirty taels.
Yet the county had given the families of their four brothers, who had died fighting demons, only an amount equivalent to two years' salary as compensation. It was truly chilling.
"Alas!"
"This wretched world!"
"Forget it. Let's not talk about it."
Wang Chao took the six remaining members of the Ninth Squad and went from house to house, helping each family arrange the funerals. They each left one tael of silver with the families, while Wang Chao left two taels at each home.
With that money, and the protection of the Jinyiwei behind them, the four families would not have too hard a time in the future.
"Brother Chen Fan, please wait."
After they had finished arranging the funeral for the last brother and were about to leave, his wife called out to Chen Fan.
"Brother Chen Fan, stay behind and see if Sister Zhao needs any help. We'll head out first. After all, Zhao Jia was closest to you in life."
Wang Chao patted Chen Fan's shoulder and spoke with a strained smile.
"All right."
Chen Fan nodded.
"Is there anything you need me to do, sister-in-law?"
One Xiaoqi Officer served as the captain of their Ninth Squad. Of the ten Jinyiwei members under him, only Zhao Jia had joined the Jinyiwei in the same year as Chen Fan. Zhao Jia was three years older, but they were close in age, so the two had been the closest of friends.
Zhao Jia had already been married before joining the Jinyiwei. The year before last, his wife had given birth to a son. Now, only his widow and young child remained in the Zhao family.
"Zhao Jia and the other three were all murdered."
"You survived that disaster, but you still have to be careful. That person won't let you go."
Sister-in-law Zhao pulled Chen Fan into the courtyard. After checking that no one was around, she spoke with conviction.
"Sister-in-law, did Brother Zhao tell you something?"
Chen Fan was taken aback, then remembered the snake demon from the previous night. His expression suddenly turned grave.
"He didn't tell me anything, but he left this behind."
Sister-in-law Zhao took a Cloth Fragment from a Flying Fish Robe out of her clothes. A few bloody characters were written on it: "Whoever harmed me, fuck—"
The message was unfinished, but the person who had given them the urgent patrol assignment was Huang Chengyue, the Jinyiwei Zongqi Officer.
It was supposed to be an ordinary patrol outside the city. But, by some twist of fate, the five of them had run into an extremely powerful Toad Demon. They hadn't even had the strength to fight back before it killed them.
By rights, such a powerful Demonic Creature shouldn't have appeared outside the city. The stronger a Demonic Creature was, the more territorial it tended to be. Who would set up their territory so close to the county town?
"Jinyiwei Zongqi Officer Huang Chengyue?"
"Why did he collude with demons to kill us?"
"Was it simply to deliver five meals to the demons, or did he want to silence us?"
Chen Fan wondered to himself.
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