I Am Jiang Yuechu

In the courtyard, seven or eight men crowded around a stone table, shouting and swearing as they gambled with feverish enthusiasm.

A fat, burly monk in a strangely ill-fitting robe hugged a wine gourd, his face flushed with laughter. A small pile of copper coins lay in front of him.

Across from him, a man with a face full of coarse features and a fierce gaze slapped the table and cursed.

At the other end of the courtyard, a young man in fine clothes held a long sword. He watched the gamblers with open disgust as he polished his blade, as though even associating with them sullied his eyes.

Jiang Yuechu's arrival drew little attention.

Only a man sitting in a corner, silently sharpening a short knife, lifted his eyelids to glance at her before lowering his head again.

Jiang Yuechu swept her gaze across the courtyard.

She didn't need anyone to introduce them. She could roughly match the troublemakers to the men Liu Chen had described.

She didn't speak at once, simply standing quietly at the entrance with her arms around her saber.

At last, the young man polishing his sword seemed to sense something. Frowning, he looked over.

When he saw that the person standing at the entrance was a slender young woman, confusion filled his eyes.

She was certainly pretty, but what had brought her here?

At the gambling table, the thickset man who had just lost money was already seething. Seeing Jiang Yuechu staring at them, he immediately took out his anger on her.

"Where'd you come from, little girl? Get lost. You're blocking your grandpa's view!"

The moment he finished speaking, the courtyard fell silent.

Every pair of eyes turned toward Jiang Yuechu.

"Amitabha..." The fat monk took a swig from his gourd and belched. "Young lady, have you perhaps come to the wrong place? This is an important post of the Demon Suppression Bureau, hardly a place for a delicate bodhisattva like you."

At that,

Jiang Yuechu only sneered. She ignored the man's insults and said, "Liu Ke, Chen Tong, Bujie—you're all here, right?"

Copper coins still lay scattered across the gambling table. The smile on the fat monk's face froze.

The thickset man also paused, then glared at her viciously. "Who the hell are you? How do you know our names?"

In the corner, the young man in fine clothes stopped polishing his sword.

Monk Bujie set down his wine gourd and said with a chuckle, "Miss, what business do you have with the three of us? Don't tell me you've come to beg alms at the Demon Suppression Bureau?"

At that, the others burst out laughing again.

But this time their laughter was noticeably weaker, edged with uncertainty.

Just then, a man in the crowd suddenly cried out, as if he'd remembered something, and slapped his thigh.

"Wait... I remember now! Isn't she the girl who pinned Old Zhao against a pillar and beat him up in the courtyard a few days ago?"

At his words, the courtyard fell silent once more.

"Which Old Zhao?"

"The one under Liu Chen. I heard he was a skilled fighter in the mid String-Hearing Realm, but he didn't even last one move against that girl!"

"Hiss..."

A chorus of sharp inhales went around the courtyard.

Many of those present hadn't witnessed what happened that day, but they knew how formidable someone in the mid String-Hearing Realm was.

Another man who knew the story lowered his voice and added, "That's not all! I heard General Wei personally picked her. Lord Xu said so himself!"

General Wei! Lord Xu!

Those two names changed the weight of the matter entirely.

The gazes that had been flippant and disdainful now shifted, tinged with uncertainty.

There was such a woman in the Demon Suppression Bureau?

But...

Even if she was one of them,

Even if she had connections and was a ruthless fighter, so what?

What did a woman want, barging into the territory of a bunch of rough men and calling them out by name?

Liu Ke slowly rose to his feet and slid his polished sword back into its scabbard. He looked at Jiang Yuechu with an arrogant air.

"So what if you're a fellow member of the Demon Suppression Bureau?"

"Miss, you've barged into our barracks without cause and called us by name. Don't you think that's a little too careless of the rules?"

Normally, dropping by one another's quarters wasn't a big deal.

After all, men from different teams often kept in touch privately.

But what kind of people were gathered here?

Men of the jianghu!

Men of the jianghu valued one thing above all.

Face.

An unknown woman barged into their territory and called them out by name.

If that wasn't provocation, what was?

Before Jiang Yuechu could react,

the thickset man had already snatched up the saber lying on the ground.

Clang—

A flash of steel burst into view.

He strode over to Jiang Yuechu in a few steps, the bright blade almost touching the tip of her nose.

"What the hell are you, daring to boss us around? Believe me, I'll crack your skull open right here!"

Everyone in the courtyard looked startled.

They knew Chen Tong had a short temper and would throw punches at the slightest disagreement.

But none of them had expected him to draw a blade on a fellow member inside the Demon Suppression Bureau barracks.

A few of them wanted to intervene, but they looked at the blade, then at Chen Tong's murderous face.

In the end, they didn't dare—and didn't have the strength—to stop him.

As for those who did have the strength...

The fat monk raised his gourd to his lips and took another swig, watching with amused interest.

The young man in fine clothes folded his arms around his sword and watched coldly, a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth.

Amid the crowd's startled, fearful, and entertained gazes,

Jiang Yuechu acted as though she hadn't even seen the blade pointed at her.

She paid it no mind, lowering her eyes to the speck of dust clinging to the toe of her boot.

Then her pale red lips parted, and she spoke in an even voice.

"Put the blade down."

Chen Tong froze, then flew into a rage.

"You bitch—"

Before he could finish, he twisted his wrist and swung the saber at Jiang Yuechu's face with a rush of wind!

But at that very instant,

Jiang Yuechu raised an eyebrow and tightened her grip on the saber in her arms.

The next moment,

she casually swung it, scabbard and all, into his shoulder.

A muffled thud.

Disbelief filled Chen Tong's eyes.

His whole body lurched out of control. Both knees slammed into the ground, cracking the flagstones beneath him!

Clatter.

His saber slipped from his hand and hit the ground.

He lay sprawled on the flagstones. Even with all his strength, the veins bulging in his neck, he still couldn't get up.

And the cause of it all was nothing more than the sheathed saber resting lightly on his shoulder!

"..."

The smile froze on the fat monk's face. His hand, holding the wine gourd, stopped in midair.

In the corner, the mocking expression on the young man's face turned to utter shock.

They all knew how strong Chen Tong was.

But now...

A seemingly frail young woman had pinned him to the ground with her scabbard, leaving him utterly helpless!

Chen Tong stared fixedly at the clean black boots before him. His eyes bloodshot, he struggled to glance up.

The young woman still wore the same calm expression.

She lowered her eyes and spoke evenly.

"I forgot to introduce myself..."

"I am Jiang Yuechu. From now on, I'm your team leader."

Bujie, Chen Tong, Liu Ke