A Mission Gone Awry

The desolate graves of the mass graveyard lay scattered about, while waist-high wild grass rustled in the wind.

The moment Wang Lei came to a stop, his expression changed slightly. Frowning, he sniffed the air, then closed his eyes and focused for a moment. His brow furrowed even deeper.

"Something's wrong, Brother Xu." He opened his eyes and lowered his voice. "The Yin energy here is far too mixed. Aside from that cold Night Charm aura, there's another, far more vicious presence. Its rank is definitely above mixed-blood, but I can't identify it."

Xu Jin raised his eyes toward the depths of the mass graveyard. As far as he could see, there were only layers upon layers of deserted tombs, and he could not sense the slightest trace of demon aura.

He had never been particularly sensitive to foul Yin auras. That was his weakness.

"Can you tell roughly where it is?"

"Only approximately. The Yin energy is strongest in the direction of the underground cave deep inside." Wang Lei gave a bitter smile. "But that vicious Sha Qi is too intense and interferes badly. If we go farther in, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it out clearly. We could easily step into a pitfall. I think we shouldn't rush in blindly. Let's circle around to Willow Family Village and ask the locals about the details first, lest we fail to eliminate the demon and get done in by it instead."

After a brief silence, Xu Jin nodded. "All right."

The two retreated half a li, then followed a forest path around toward Willow Family Village.

Along the way, Xu Jin casually said, "Your ability to distinguish auras is quite useful."

Wang Lei scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. "I honed it while scrambling around the mountains as a child. My family lived on the southwestern frontier, where the mountains were full of demons. My nose was sharper than most people's from a young age—I could smell beasts and demon auras. After joining the Bureau, I learned some basic aura-reading methods from the senior sorcerers of the Containment Faction. I can follow demon aura to determine a direction and roughly gauge its rank."

"But the shortcomings are obvious too," he admitted frankly. "When pure foul Yin Baleful Qi surges up, it easily throws me off. Against demons above the minor demon level, my accuracy gets much worse—I can only get a general direction. And I mainly cultivate Bedrock Force, with all my points put into defense. My ability to break through tough opponents is very weak. If we run into something truly hard to chew, I'll have to rely on you, Brother Xu."

Xu Jin glanced sideways at him.

Over the course of this journey, from preparing supplies in advance, to investigating the case beforehand, to proceeding steadily without rashness now, Wang Lei's sense of measure and reliability had been far better than Xu Jin had expected.

"You've done well." Xu Jin's tone was calm, but his approval was genuine. "Scouting and tracking happen to make up for my weaknesses. If you have no other arrangements in the future, we can partner up for missions long-term."

Wang Lei abruptly lifted his head, his eyes lighting up. He nearly stumbled. "Really? Brother Xu, you're willing to take me along?"

"Yes." Xu Jin nodded faintly. "You know your boundaries and you're dependable. You're less trouble than finding people whose depth I don't know."

A surge of excitement rose in Wang Lei's heart. He hurriedly suppressed it and nodded heavily. "Don't worry, Brother Xu! I'll definitely follow your command and never hold you back!"

He had originally only wanted to tag along on one mission and learn something. He had never expected to earn a place on a long-term team outright.

Following a Special Grade A big shot, he would no longer have to worry about resources or experience in the future. This was far better than squatting in the Containment Faction's laboratory and grinding through his days.

Before long, they circled around to the rear of Willow Family Village. Beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance squatted an old man wrapped in a padded jacket, clutching a dry tobacco pipe in his hand. He was the village's night watchman.

Wang Lei stepped forward and displayed the bronze badge at his waist, his tone friendly. "Demon Suppression Bureau. We'd like to ask you something, old sir."

At the sight of the bronze badge, the old watchman hastily rose to his feet, fear written across his face. "Ask away, sir. I'll tell you everything I know."

"Nothing much. We just want to ask whether anything unusual has happened around the mass graveyard these past half month." Wang Lei handed him a small piece of broken silver. "For example, any sounds in the middle of the night, or anyone going over there?"

Clutching the silver, the old watchman's mouth immediately opened like a floodgate. Squatting by the tree roots, he rambled on, "Unusual? It's been downright wrong! Ever since Li Er had his accident half a month ago, the nights haven't been peaceful. Over by the mass graveyard, a cold wind always blows in the latter half of the night. Sometimes you can even hear clanging sounds, like the crisp rattle of armor scales striking together. Creepy as hell!"

"The second one to have an accident, Watchman Zhang, wasn't attacked in the village either." He lowered his voice. "That day, he said he saw a black shadow drifting toward the graveyard. He grabbed his clapper and chased after it. When he came back, his face was white as paper, and within two days he was bedridden. And Liu the peddler, who was transporting goods last month—when people last saw him, he was heading toward the mass graveyard too. After that, he vanished without a trace. His family even thought he'd run off with the goods!"

Xu Jin listened from the side. The crisp clatter of armor scales. Every victim had approached the mass graveyard of their own accord. The peddler had disappeared in the direction of the graveyard.

This was not a Night Charm wandering into the village to commit crimes at all. Something deep within the mass graveyard was luring people over.

A single Night Charm could never accomplish something like this.

After bidding the old watchman farewell, the two walked into a secluded forest outside the village.

Wang Lei immediately took out the mission booklet he carried with him, flipped to a page holding a sheet of coarse paper, and handed it over. "Take a look, Brother Xu. Before setting out, I asked a senior on the team to copy this from the Western Suburbs Annual Record of Yin Afflictions. It was compiled internally by the Containment Faction—ordinary trainees can't get their hands on it."

Xu Jin lowered his head to look. The writing on the yellowed coarse paper was neat, recording old cases of Yin afflictions throughout the western suburbs.

When he turned to the page on Willow Family Village Mass Graveyard, the entry was clear: At the end of the previous dynasty, remnants of the Western Pacification Army fled here after defeat. The entire army was wiped out, their bodies buried on the spot, their accumulated resentment turning into Baleful Intent;

Thirty years ago, the lingering souls of Yin soldiers caused trouble, injuring more than ten villagers. The Demon Suppression Bureau's centurion at the time personally came to suppress them, sealing the entrance to the underground cave and erecting a stele to suppress the Baleful Intent.

"So that's what it was." Wang Lei suddenly understood. "The lingering souls of an entire defeated army are buried below, carrying the Sha Qi of soldiers. The seal must have cracked from years of disrepair. The Night Charm slipped inside and cultivated by borrowing the Yin Baleful Intent, which is why it injured three people in only half a month and its cultivation rose so abnormally."

Xu Jin's fingertip traced across the words "lingering souls of Yin soldiers," and he nodded to himself.

Without this record, if he had charged in recklessly and headed straight for the Night Charm, only to be wrapped up by the lingering souls of Yin soldiers like filling in a dumpling, then even if he could win, it would take quite a bit of effort.

The Demon Suppression Bureau's century-plus accumulation of records truly was something independent cultivators could not compare to.

Joining the establishment was not merely about resources and pills. This accumulated intelligence and experience was what was truly most valuable.

Closing the booklet, the two assessed the risks where they stood.

"The situation is clear now." Wang Lei pointed to the underground cave marker in the record. "The entrance is at the deepest point of the mass graveyard. The seal has loosened. Inside, there is first the Night Charm cultivating by borrowing Baleful Intent, and second, the lingering souls of Yin soldiers that have been stirred awake."

"Under normal circumstances, the Night Charm will definitely remain on the outskirts, harassing us with guerrilla tactics. Once we go deep into the underground cave, the lingering souls of Yin soldiers will be alarmed and attack from front and rear." His expression was grave. "Those lingering souls carry military Sha Qi and are far more troublesome than ordinary Yin afflictions. Ordinary Yang fire cannot even burn them; only pure Yang astral energy can restrain them. And there are definitely quite a few of them. If they really swarm out, we'll be in serious trouble."

"My suggestion is that we act at noon, when Yang energy is at its strongest." Wang Lei laid out his plan. "At noon, Yang energy reaches its peak and Yin Baleful Intent is at its weakest. We fight fast and end it quickly—kill the Night Charm first, then assess the seal. If we can repair it, we repair it. If we can't, we return to the Bureau and report it. We absolutely do not linger in battle. If we drag this out until night, when Yin energy rises, I'm afraid neither of us will make it out."

Xu Jin strongly agreed.

His Molten-Gold Sword Aura was Yang-aligned and more than sufficient against an ordinary Night Charm, but military Baleful Intent and Yin souls were not ordinary Yin afflictions. Taking them head-on would definitely put him at a disadvantage.

Acting at noon would maximize his own advantage.

"We'll do as you say." Xu Jin rose to his feet and looked toward the mass graveyard, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. "At noon, we'll smash their nest."

Wang Lei also tightened his grip on the saber at his waist, both nervous and excited.

This was no ordinary Grade C minor demon mission. They had stumbled into a compound incident involving a loosened seal.

Following Xu Jin, he had been thrown straight into a hard battle from the very start.