People from the Prefectural Yamen Have Arrived

Song Family Village.

In the rear courtyard of a grand residence, two cat demons were engaged in a fierce argument.

"I already told you, Pig Old Six and the others are dead. No matter what they had planned before, now that they've caused such a huge commotion, they'll never let us live. Hurry and come back to the mountains with me."

"There may be enemies in the mountains too, but at least we can hide there. Here, we're nothing but living targets."

"Don't bother packing anything. Come with me now. I'll protect you."

The other demon flung away his paw. "Protect me? How are you going to protect me?"

"If you could really protect me, would we have fled from the mountains all the way here?"

"Besides, I'm carrying your cub now. Won't you think of the cub? If we go back to the mountains and hide forever, unable even to eat our fill, we might be able to run when our enemies come, but can the cub survive?"

"Pig Old Six and the others broke the rules. They suddenly gathered together, and that's why they were killed by that Li fellow."

"You should leave too. Go back to your own home. If someone sees you and learns about our relationship, that'll be truly dangerous."

She did not want to leave. How wonderful it was here—food and drink every day, people waiting on her hand and foot. All she had to do was spend a bit of effort helping refine some Blood Pills; she did not need to worry about anything else.

She wanted to stay here and wait until her cub was born and grew a little before considering returning to the mountains.

Just as the two demons were arguing, they suddenly looked toward the top of the wall at the same time.

"Oh, you two are both here. Perfect, that saves me a trip."

Cui Lang climbed down from the wall with a smile and stood before the two demons.

They were two cat demons. Judging by the patterns on their bodies, they were probably not of the same breed. Cui Lang had not known they were a pair before; Constable Li probably did not know either.

The male cat demon's fur bristled as he stared warily at Cui Lang. "What do you want?"

Cui Lang raised a hand in reassurance. "I imagine you've already heard the news about those friends of yours dying. But there's no need to be nervous. Our cooperation will continue."

"They died because they broke the rules. You two should be the rule-abiding sort, right?"

The female cat demon nodded frantically. "We absolutely follow the rules. We only met today because we were frightened. There was no other meaning to it."

As she spoke, she flicked a claw, sending a small bottle flying toward Cui Lang. "These are my Blood Pills for this month. I can hand them over early."

Cui Lang caught the bottle, opened it, and took a look. "It seems you're quite sensible. But you're pregnant. Will you still be able to refine more Blood Pills in the future?"

"Magistrate Zheng said that although there are fewer of you now, the number of Blood Pills cannot decrease. It must even increase."

The male cat demon flew into a rage. "What? Increase them?"

"There was already one more this month. If they keep increasing, how can we refine them that quickly?"

They were cooperating, not being enslaved! Did they not need to cultivate and improve themselves after spending every day refining Blood Pills?

"So you don't want to continue cooperating? That would be breaking the rules."

The two cat demons crouched low to the ground, threatening growls issuing from their mouths.

The male cat demon shot the female cat demon a resentful look. I told you to leave, but you refused to listen. Now look at the trouble we're in.

Fortunately, the one who had come was only Cui Lang. If it had been anyone else, they would have been doomed.

"What, do you want to make a move? Even if the two of you kill me, do you think Magistrate Zheng and the others will let you leave alive?"

"If you won't think about yourselves, you should at least think about the child in your belly."

"If the Blood Pills increase, naturally your share of blood food will increase as well. But you'll need to wait."

"This matter has grown too big. The Prefectural Yamen will certainly send people to investigate, so all of you need to hide yourselves obediently. During this time, you cannot harm anyone—not servants bought for the household, nor passing outsiders."

"Once we send away the people from above, our cooperation can continue. Perhaps by then, other companions will have joined us, and you won't need to work so hard."

"Remember this: behave yourselves during this period. Whoever draws the Prefectural Yamen's attention will be dealt with personally by the adults, with no mercy shown."

The two cat demons exchanged a look and nodded helplessly.

Previously, there had been many demons, and they lived rather scattered apart. They had believed the county officials would not dare move against them, fearing that they would make matters worse.

But now that their numbers had been cut in half, if a real fight broke out, there would be no good outcome.

Cui Lang was very satisfied with the two demons' attitude and left with a smile.

Over the course of one night, Cui Lang visited six places. He gave every demon the same instructions, and not a single one dared object.

Several demons even secretly considered whether they should find an opportunity to send word to the mountains and invite some friends to Cloud Mountain County. Then everyone's workload could be reduced, and their friends could come enjoy themselves properly in human territory.

It was not until dawn that Cui Lang rode back toward the city.

As he passed a patch of woods, he dismounted to relieve himself and heard something swiftly dart through the forest, heading toward the county seat.

"Sure enough, Zheng Fengyun still doesn't trust me. He sent someone to keep watch on me."

Before Cui Lang came, he had considered how he could satisfy Zheng Fengyun when sent to pacify those demons while also making them temporarily stop harming people.

He had pondered this line of reasoning for a long time as well. Using the Prefectural Yamen's investigation as an excuse, even if Zheng Fengyun was dissatisfied, he would not blame him. After all, compared with fewer Blood Pills, Zheng Fengyun was more afraid of the Prefectural Yamen discovering the matter of the Blood Pills.

"Zheng Fengyun is unwilling to pass on movement technique martial arts to me, but that person just now definitely knew movement technique martial arts. It seems he still doesn't trust me."

"But after today, that trust will surely increase by a few degrees, won't it?"

This time, he had not merely pacified those demons. He had also collected the Blood Pills from two of them ahead of time. When he handed them over to Zheng Fengyun, could Zheng Fengyun possibly be unhappy?

Once he gained more of Zheng Fengyun's trust, he could find out everyone involved. Then he could use the Prefectural Yamen's hand to wipe out all those evil people.

As for those demons, there was no need for the Prefectural Yamen's people to trouble themselves. Naturally, he would kill them personally.

That way, he could also harvest more demon blood essence and increase his own strength.

It was not only for condensing true essence; his body-tempering cultivation technique required even more demon blood essence.

He had also deliberately hinted that the demons could invite friends to come share the burden, hoping they would truly do so. That would save him the trouble of seeking out more demons himself.

After giving himself two shakes, Cui Lang pulled up his trousers, mounted his horse, and hurried back to the county seat.

The moment he entered through the city gates, he saw Zhao Changshan blocking his path.

How strange. Zhao Changshan always reported for duty at the appointed time. Why was he here so early today, waiting specifically at the city gate? Did he know Cui Lang had left the city last night?

"Constable Cui, someone from the Prefectural Yamen has arrived. Magistrate Zheng told you to hurry over."