Assessment

When Wei Zhaoting slowly came to, it was already noon.

He looked around and found himself in a medical clinic.

Even struggling to sit up left him drenched in sweat from the pain.

Just then, Su Chenlu entered carrying a bowl of medicine.

"Zhaoting, you're awake. Come, drink your medicine."

Wei Zhaoting stared at his flower-like, jade-fair fiancée as scenes from that morning surged into his mind.

"Chenlu, explain this to me... cough, cough... Why did you come out of that beast Wei Xuanfeng's house?" He knew the answer, yet still clung to a sliver of hope.

"Zhaoting... let's drink the medicine first, all right..."

Faced with Su Chenlu's evasiveness, Wei Zhaoting refused to let it go.

"You bitch, did you give yourself to him?!"

"Zhaoting, you... what did you call me...?"

"I called you a bitch! Did you give yourself to him?!"

Grievance welled up in Su Chenlu's heart, and her eyes reddened.

"But I did it for you!"

"I'm asking you—did you give yourself to him?!" Wei Zhaoting roared. Even as his wound tore open and began bleeding again, he did not care.

"He forced me to!" Su Chenlu slammed the medicine bowl onto the tea table and covered her face with both hands.

"He wanted it, so you gave it to him? He wanted it, so you gave it to him?!" Wei Zhaoting's eyes bulged with rage as he pointed a trembling finger at Su Chenlu. "You bitch—what, you saw that Wei Xuanfeng could enter the Demon Suppression Directorate, so you were that eager to climb a higher branch?!"

"Bullshit!" Su Chenlu wiped away her tears, her gaze full of hurt. "Weren't you the one who told me to go find him?! He said he would only agree to trade if I gave him my body... I... I lost my purity for you!"

With that, she could no longer hold back her tears. Weeping like pear blossoms in the rain, she collapsed over the tea table and burst into sobs.

Su Chenlu was filled with grievance. She had thought her fiancé would understand her, but who could have imagined—

She had given so much, only to receive rebukes in return!

"You... you..."

Now that things had come to this, Wei Zhaoting no longer knew whose fault it truly was.

Yes, Su Chenlu had gone to find Wei Xuanfeng for his sake.

But when he thought of how his fiancée, whose hand he had never even held, had been devoured whole by that beast—

His heart twisted as if cut by knives.

Enduring the excruciating pain, Wei Zhaoting struggled out of bed, wanting to comfort Su Chenlu.

Yet the moment he sat beside her, before his hand could even touch her—

Su Chenlu instinctively dodged away.

Wei Zhaoting froze. So did Su Chenlu.

The two stared into each other's eyes, and the atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

"I only wanted to touch your shoulder, and you reacted like this..." Wei Zhaoting trembled with rage. The fury he had barely suppressed erupted again. "But he touched every part of you!"

"Zhaoting, don't misunderstand, I... I just..." Su Chenlu wanted to explain, but did not know how.

After all, instinctive reactions could not lie.

Even she could not explain why she resisted her fiancé's closeness so strongly.

"What is there left to say at a time like this?! You bitch, slut, filthy whore!"

Wei Zhaoting began hurling curses at her, his words growing ever more vicious and foul.

He even blamed her for the fact that he could not defeat Wei Xuanfeng.

But he failed to notice that the grievance in his fiancée's eyes...

Gradually turned into venomous hatred.

"That's right, I'm a slut! I'm a whore!" Su Chenlu screamed. "But if you're so high and mighty, then don't use my money! I paid for your apprenticeship fees, I paid for the herbs you used to temper your sinews and bones, and even the clothes on your back were bought by me! And what have you ever given me?!"

Her words left Wei Zhaoting stunned.

So he had been living off a woman all along...

"Since you despise me so much, why should I keep clinging to you? Wei Zhaoting, our engagement is hereby written off. But remember this: I, Su Chenlu, owe you nothing. So today, I am the one casting you aside!"

"Chenlu, are you really so mercenary? Are you really that impatient to go find that beast Wei Xuanfeng?!" Wei Zhaoting roared, his eyes full of unwillingness.

"Who would have thought that, after knowing each other since childhood, this is truly how worthless you see me?" Su Chenlu gave a self-mocking smile, then smiled as brightly as a flower. "Yes, I am that impatient. So what? Wei Zhaoting, let me tell you—one night with him brought me more joy than the more than ten years I spent with you!"

With that, Su Chenlu turned and left.

Hearing her words, Wei Zhaoting felt as though he had been struck by lightning. A man's innate sense of humiliation was magnified without limit in that instant.

Pfft!!

Wei Zhaoting spat out a mouthful of blood and fell stiffly to the ground.

Meanwhile, Wei Xuanfeng spent the entire morning submitting his resignation to the county magistrate, returning his weapons, and going around to bid everyone farewell one by one.

After all, these were connections. He could not let the tea go cold the moment he left.

Once the trivial matters were settled, he headed straight out of the city.

In every city of the Great Jin Dynasty, the Demon Suppression Directorate was divided into the Southern Pacification Bureau and the Northern Pacification Bureau.

The Southern Pacification Bureau's residence was located within the city. It monitored demons and monsters that had infiltrated the city, while also keeping an eye on court officials.

The Northern Pacification Bureau's residence, meanwhile, was located outside the city. It was responsible for resisting demons, patrolling the mountains, and protecting the villages beyond the city walls.

Simply put, the Southern Pacification Bureau held greater authority, while the Northern Pacification Bureau had more martial artists.

Naturally, Wei Xuanfeng intended to join the Northern Pacification Bureau.

After all, only outside the city would he have chances to kill demons and make coins explode from them.

What, you say the Northern Pacification Bureau made it easier to die at the hands of demons and monsters?

Give him a break. If Wei Xuanfeng had feared death, he would not have chosen a line of work that could cost him his head in his previous life.

So long as he could grow stronger, he did not care about danger.

After traveling more than ten li, Wei Xuanfeng finally spotted rows upon rows of official residences.

They were imposing. As he drew closer, he saw the three words "Demon Suppression Directorate" carved into the archway of the largest compound.

He handed his identity plaque to the guards. Once they confirmed it was genuine, Wei Xuanfeng entered the Northern Pacification Bureau's high-walled compound.

A short while later, inside a study.

"Wei Xuanfeng, ancestral home Kang City, descendant of loyal martyrs, eighteen years old, fifth level of the Martial Artist Realm." An old man sat behind the desk, squinting as he recorded the details in a register. "Young man, take a look. Is everything correct?"

Wei Xuanfeng stood to one side. After checking it over and finding no errors, he nodded. "Clerk Hong, it is correct."

"Good, good..." Clerk Hong replied indifferently. "As a descendant of loyal martyrs, you can indeed become a blade trooper of the Demon Suppression Directorate. But your cultivation is not bad, young man. Have you considered taking the captain's assessment?"

The difference between a blade trooper and a captain was like the difference between a temporary worker and a permanent employee in his previous life.

Their monthly salaries, authority, and cultivation resources were not even on the same level.

Within the Demon Suppression Directorate's system, only those ranked captain and above could be called demon slayers.

Through the original owner's memories, Wei Xuanfeng had long since made his choice.

"Clerk Hong, people climb ever higher. Naturally, I wish to take the captain's assessment," Wei Xuanfeng answered respectfully.

"Mm, not bad. Ambitious, with some fire in you." Clerk Hong first voiced his approval, then changed the subject. "However, the captain's assessment includes a live-combat test. One careless mistake, and people can die. And if you die during the assessment, there will be no death benefit."

"Perfect. I am alone in this world. If I truly die, I can even save the court a little silver."

"Open-minded enough. Then I'll register you. Report to the martial training grounds early tomorrow morning."

"Many thanks, Clerk Hong."

As he spoke, Wei Xuanfeng discreetly slipped a silver ingot into the old man's sleeve, then turned and left.

Watching his departing back, a trace of sorrow flickered through Clerk Hong's clouded eyes.

Alas, demons and monsters ran rampant these days, and the Great Jin Dynasty's national strength was weakening at the worst possible time.

Many martial artists had become watchdogs for the high and mighty. Fewer and fewer were willing to kill demons for the common people.

Among the Northern Pacification Bureau's active demon slayers, every death meant one fewer.

Better... to send these foolish young men of ordinary strength, who had yet to formally become demon slayers, to their deaths.

No matter how many died, those above would not feel a shred of heartache.