Suzhou Prefecture

North of Suzhou City.

The Demon Suppression Regional Office headquarters.

Inside the main hall.

Seven or eight figures sat gathered.

A huge map hung on the wall, densely marked with red and black dots.

Red marked human cities; black marked places occupied by demons.

At a glance,

the black had spread like wildfire, dividing and encircling the red dots.

A middle-aged man in black robes stood before the map, hands clasped behind his back.

He was not imposing—rather, he was somewhat thin. Frost touched his temples, and weariness lined his eyes.

He was Lu Jingchun, commander-in-chief of the East Riverlands Regional Office.

"Lord Lu."

A clear voice rang out from below.

The speaker sat at the head of the left-hand row.

He was young, barely in his early twenties.

He wore a plain white Daoist robe without a speck of dust, and a wooden hairpin held his hair in a topknot.

Holding a cup of tea, he looked utterly composed, at odds with the anxiety filling the hall.

Yet

not one person in the hall looked at him with disdain.

If anything, their gazes held a measure of wariness.

Zhang Daoxuan, the young Celestial Master of Dragon-Tiger Mountain.

At just twenty-seven, he had reached Ink-Point Perfection and possessed Dragon-Tiger Mountain's secret arts. Even among the Great Tang's younger generation, he ranked at the very top.

He had descended the mountain this time to aid Suzhou.

Zhang Daoxuan spoke slowly. "Though that wretch was wounded, the injury didn't strike at its roots. Now it's hiding deep in Taihu Lake, using those eight hundred li of water to heal. If we can't force it out..."

Lu Jingchun turned and let out a long sigh.

"Celestial Master Zhang, I know that as well as you do. But Taihu Lake is a thousand feet