Within a few days, everyone in the Demon Suppression Bureau who was even a little well-informed knew that a newcomer had arrived in the Mysterious Battalion.
Normally, the Demon Suppression Bureau recruited new people every year, and old hands died every year, too. It was nothing out of the ordinary.
But this newcomer was different.
Not only was she a woman, but rumors had it that General Wei He had personally handpicked her.
Those who wanted to climb the ranks naturally spent every moment of their free time honing their martial arts and refining their cultivation, hoping to rise as soon as possible.
But most people knew their talents were nothing special. They lived each day as it came, figuring that surviving one more day was good enough.
And so, most people were talking about it.
In the Mysterious Battalion's barracks, several men huddled together over a plate of beans boiled in salted water, speaking in low voices.
"Is that true? Lord Wei would personally concern himself with a newcomer?"
"Absolutely! I heard it from Lord Xu himself that day!"
"Damn... Could she be the daughter of some big shot, sent here to gain experience?"
"Gain experience? At the Demon Suppression Bureau? Is she tired of living?"
They chattered among themselves, unconsciously speaking with a touch of reverence.
The Demon Suppression Bureau was, after all, a place where fists did the talking.
Just then,
footsteps sounded.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
Jiang Yuechu passed by the doorway, holding her Horizontal Blade.
She seemed not to notice the mood in the room. Without so much as a sideways glance, she walked straight ahead.
Only after her figure disappeared beyond the door
did everyone let out a breath of relief.
"Fuck... She scared the hell out of me."
"Did she just... look at me?"
"Look at you? Was she checking how ugly you are? Hurry up and eat your beans!"
The atmosphere inside was rather subdued.
Jiang Yuechu pushed the door open and swept her gaze around the room.
Aside from Liu Chen, the others all looked somewhat familiar, too.
In the crowd, a burly man with a face full of jowls immediately stood up when he saw her.
It was Zhao Hu, the man she had slammed against a pillar that day.
A few days had passed, and his injuries seemed to have mostly healed.
Thankfully, Jiang Yuechu had held back at the time. Otherwise, he might not even have been able to open his eyes now, let alone walk.
Seeing her again, the man forced a smile and actually stepped forward to greet her.
"Si... Sister Jiang."
"..."
Jiang Yuechu gave him a strange look.
Zhao Hu let out an awkward chuckle. "That day... That day I, Zhao Hu, was too blind to recognize Mount Tai and offended you. I hope you'll be the bigger person and not hold it against me."
Jiang Yuechu shook her head, not bothering to waste words on him.
Her gaze passed over Zhao Hu and landed on Liu Chen.
She had been in the Demon Suppression Bureau for several days, and she didn't know her way around. It had been a rough time.
At last, something was happening today.
When he saw her looking, Liu Chen nodded toward an empty seat. "Take a seat."
Jiang Yuechu sat down as asked.
The room was small, with a long table and a few benches. Seven or eight people made it feel rather cramped.
Liu Chen's gaze swept over everyone's faces before he finally spoke.
"Half a month ago, the Black River in Zhangye Prefecture, Ganzhou, flowed backward for three days. The water stank, and every fish and shrimp died. I'm sure you've all heard about it."
Everyone nodded, their expressions grave.
People in the Demon Suppression Bureau had naturally heard of such an unusual phenomenon.
"Earlier, Headquarters sent a squad from the Yellow Battalion to investigate, but we haven't heard from them since."
The room fell silent at once.
The Yellow Battalion specialized in reconnaissance, but its members were hardly helpless.
They might not be as good as the Mysterious Battalion in a straight-up fight, but when it came to stealth, tracking, and getting away alive, every one of them was skilled.
Even a gang of a hundred or so ordinary bandits wouldn't be able to wipe out an entire squad.
Clearly,
there was a good chance this had something to do with demons.
"Captain, is Headquarters only sending our squad?"
In the corner, an old soldier who looked to be the oldest there, around forty, couldn't hold back any longer.
"Captain Liu, I'm not trying to talk up the enemy and put ourselves down. We don't even know what we're up against or how powerful it is, yet Headquarters is sending us charging in headfirst. Are they just sending us to our deaths?"
At this, several people in the room instinctively nodded.
They weren't afraid to fight demons.
But no one could help worrying at the thought of going to their deaths without knowing anything.
Liu Chen shook his head, a bitter smile appearing on his face.
"Right now, the Regional Command is desperately short on manpower. Never mind all the demonic threats that have suddenly cropped up everywhere. Just the few places where Great Demons have appeared require plenty of people to keep them under control."
He sighed and explained the situation as it stood, leaving nothing out.
"And that's not even counting the important locations in every prefecture and province. We need people to patrol and guard them, to keep demons from exploiting any openings."
When he finished, the room sank into silence once more.
Longyou Circuit was remote and sparsely populated.
But the situation across the Great Tang was much the same.
Even the General Headquarters in the Capital City didn't have enough people to match the number of demons.
Jiang Yuechu said nothing, only listening quietly.
The others heard danger.
What she heard was something else entirely.
The more demons there were, the more Dao Cultivation she could reap from them.
The more Dao Cultivation she gained, the faster her own strength would grow.
Of course, for all the people in the world, living in an age overrun by demons was an unbearable hardship.
But as a saying from her previous life went:
Precisely because we understood that, in truth, we were powerless, we couldn't so easily let that powerlessness become reality.
Seeing everyone with long faces and sinking spirits, Liu Chen took a deep breath and slammed his palm on the table.
"The people of Zhangye are waiting to die, and the brothers from the Yellow Battalion haven't even had time to be buried. And we're just sitting here sighing?"
"Captain, that's not what we mean..." Old Wang sighed. "It's just... shouldn't we at least know what we're up against?"
"When do we leave?"
A cool voice suddenly rang out in the room.
Everyone froze and turned in unison toward Jiang Yuechu in the corner.
Liu Chen was also stunned. He opened his mouth, then forgot what he had been about to say.
Jiang Yuechu raised her eyes and looked at him calmly.
"If we're going, sooner is better than later. Wasting time here won't make the demons die on their own."
"..."
Liu Chen took a deep breath. "We leave at dawn tomorrow, at the Mao hour."
"Go back and get ready. Zhangye is a long way from here, so bring enough provisions and medicine. And... remember to leave a letter for your family."
Everyone reacted differently.
But that was simply the situation the Demon Suppression Bureau was in.
Even though they knew nothing about what kind of demon they were facing or how strong it was, they still had to grit their teeth and go.
If they stayed put just because the enemy's origins were unknown,
then what was the point of calling it the Demon Suppression Bureau?
Perhaps they would be lucky and run into only a few minor demons.
Or perhaps their lives would buy them the intelligence they needed—that a Great Demon had appeared there.
"...Yes!"
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