Sure enough, they were in league with demons too

Cui Lang followed Zheng Fengyun back into the city, but instead of returning to the county yamen, they went straight to Zheng Fengyun's home.

"Cui Lang, do you think your share of Blood Pills is too small? There are many demons, and they provide a large amount every month, but there are also many of us who need to divide the Blood Pills. It isn't as if I'm keeping them all for myself."

"Two people will be coming shortly. You should meet them as well. Then we'll discuss together how to resolve this matter."

Cui Lang sat in his chair. At last, he was going to meet the others who were colluding with demons.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, two men in official robes appeared before Cui Lang. Both looked somewhat surprised when they saw him.

Cui Lang looked at the two men before him. One was County Assistant Ding Xiong, and the other was Registrar Song He. He was not particularly surprised.

Only if all these people were involved could they possibly keep it hidden from County Magistrate Zhou Yafeng.

But there was another possibility: Zhou Yafeng was involved as well. Cui Lang would find an opportunity to test him.

Seeing the looks in the two men's eyes, Zheng Fengyun said directly, "Cui Lang is trustworthy. There's no need to keep hiding it from him. The demons working with us were all killed by those two cat demons. We must find and kill those two cat demons now, or we're all finished."

He knew exactly what the two of them meant. They wanted him to maintain a single line of contact with Cui Lang, so that if Cui Lang got into trouble, they would not be implicated.

At a time like this, they were still playing such petty tricks.

Ding Xiong glared at Cui Lang. "What the hell were you doing? Didn't you say you had soothed those fellows? You couldn't tell that the two cat demons were harboring treacherous intentions?"

"The officials from the prefectural yamen only left a few days ago, and now you've caused such a huge mess. Are you trying to get all of us killed?"

Cui Lang said blandly, "Lord Ding, I understand that you're anxious after what happened, but none of you noticed that the cat demons intended to turn against us for all that time. I only met them two or three times—how was I supposed to notice?"

"The most important thing now is to find the cat demons. The longer we drag this out, the greater the trouble will become."

Ding Xiong had not expected Cui Lang to dare talk back. Just as he was about to rebuke him again, Zheng Fengyun advised, "Lord Ding, put your grievances aside for now. The two cat demons must be dealt with today. Do you have any good ideas?"

Ding Xiong suppressed his anger and snorted. "You caused such a huge disaster, and in the end, don't you still have to rely on me?"

"What does Cloud Mountain County look like to those demons? A place they can come and go from whenever they please?"

"I have a way to track down those two demons. You can go deal with them, but this method will cost me dearly. Therefore, I want half of the remaining Blood Pills in the cat demons' possession this time."

Song He hesitated briefly, then nodded. "I have no objection."

Zheng Fengyun nodded in agreement as well. Ding Xiong looked thoroughly satisfied and did not even ask Cui Lang's opinion.

Ding Xiong pulled a small wooden box from his sleeve. Inside lay a golden insect.

"This is a Six-Winged Golden Cicada I have raised for many years, exceptionally precious. Just find some of the cat demons' fur and feed it a little. It will lead you to the cat demons."

Zheng Fengyun immediately closed the box. "Many thanks. I'll handle this matter properly. You two remain in the city, in case the cat demons sneak back in."

If the cat demons secretly entered the city again and harmed more commoners, then even if they killed the cat demons, the prefectural yamen would still punish them severely.

Ding Xiong patted the back of Zheng Fengyun's hand. "Don't worry. With us here, the cat demons won't dare enter the city. This matter will definitely be cleaned up properly."

As he spoke, he cast a covert glance at Cui Lang.

Cui Lang had only just joined them. Constable Li had said that Cui Lang had only been given one Blood Pill before. Could such a man truly be of one heart with them?

Better to take this opportunity and deal with him too, once and for all.

Zheng Fengyun said nothing. He turned and called Cui Lang to leave the city with him to slay the demons.

After riding out of the city, Zheng Fengyun took out the wooden box and opened it, feeding the Six-Winged Golden Cicada a tuft of cat fur. Moments later, the Six-Winged Golden Cicada beat its wings and flew high into the sky.

The two rode fast horses after it, kicking up dust all along the road.

Zhu Family Village had once been the hiding place of the pig demon.

Ever since the six demons had been slain there, the residence had remained empty. Even the nearby households had moved away, afraid that evil spirits might be drawn there.

At that moment, in the courtyard, the male cat demon was licking the female cat demon's wounds.

"How is it? The place I found is good, right? No one would ever think we'd hide here."

"They probably think we fled into the mountains. They may even be chasing after us at the foot of the mountain by now."

The male cat demon looked smug. "We'll hide here for a few days, recover from our wounds as quickly as possible, then we can try to condense our inner cores."

Working together and launching sneak attacks, not a single one of the other demons had lasted half a quarter-hour. They had all been killed and swallowed into the cat demons' bellies.

Devouring those demons was far more nourishing than the blood food they had eaten before. It could save them years of bitter cultivation.

The female cat demon nodded. "Let's hope so. You suffered too this time. You gave so much of the blood food to me."

"I hope our cubs will be as clever and brave as you in the future."

The male cat demon was about to say something when his pupils suddenly rounded. In shock, he saw a tiny insect fly into the courtyard.

He pounced like lightning, slapped the little insect down, chewed it to pieces, and swallowed it.

"Run. We've been found."

He had thought he was hiding very well, but he had not expected those people to be so cunning, raising a Six-Winged Golden Cicada.

Zheng Fengyun suddenly appeared atop the wall. "Where do you two think you're running?"

At the sight of the two cat demons, Zheng Fengyun's face was filled with venomous hatred.

The two cat demons' actions had ruined his grand plans. Originally, he would have been able to make a bid for the Core Embrace Realm next month. Now, who knew how long he would have to wait.

Moreover, he had been rushing about since early that morning. The sky was already dark, and it had been a long time since he had been this busy.

"Didn't I tell you the rules? Demons are not to slaughter one another. Stay obediently in the places assigned to you, and blood food will be supplied according to schedule."

"Why couldn't you follow the rules? Why did you have to play clever little tricks? Since you broke the rules, I must also follow the rules and clean you up."

Later, he could find a few demons willing to obey the rules and have them refine more Blood Pills, helping his strength advance another step.

The male cat demon stared warily at Zheng Fengyun. "You were the ones who broke the rules first. You killed the other brothers first, and now you want to clean us up too. You're tearing down the bridge after crossing the river."

"Since you wanted to clear out the other demons anyway, the two of us have finished clearing them out for you. Shouldn't you be thanking us?"

"Move aside now. We'll return to the mountains and never come to Cloud Mountain County again."

It seemed impossible to break through here. They had to return to the mountains immediately; otherwise, once the others arrived, it would be too late even to run.

Zheng Fengyun sneered. "Now that I'm here today, you still think you can leave alive?"

The two cat demons exchanged a glance and were about to flee when they suddenly saw Cui Lang appear atop the wall as well. At once, they abandoned the thought of escape.

It was still uncertain who would die today!