Unconvinced?

Great Tang had stood for eight hundred years. Though its customs were no longer as harsh as those of the previous dynasty, and women could study, practice martial arts, even enter court as officials.

But when all was said and done, it was still a feudal dynasty.

Women were naturally frailer, with insufficient qi and blood. On the path of martial arts, they had already lost a step to men from the outset.

Ordinary martial sects might accept a few female disciples, but most were merely ornaments, or served some other purpose.

Much less the Demon Suppression Office, a place where men licked blood from the edge of the blade and gambled their lives against demons.

"Shut your mouth!"

Liu Chen's face darkened as he barked sharply.

"Captain Liu, I don't mean anything else by it."

"Which brother in our Xuan Camp didn't crawl out of a heap of corpses? This little lady's skin is soft and flesh delicate—are we supposed to take her along to fight demons to the death?"

"Are we sending her to her death, or letting her drag us down?"

Though his words were crude, they voiced the thoughts of most people present.

Jiang Yuechu glanced sideways and saw a burly man with a face full of brawn step out from the crowd.

Seeing her gaze land on him, he gave a low chuckle, his eyes full of provocation.

Liu Chen's face turned livid with fury, and he was just about to lash out.

But a hand gently settled on his shoulder.

Jiang Yuechu stepped past him, walked forward, and calmly looked at the man.

"Unconvinced?"

Zhao Hu froze for a moment, then broke into a wide grin, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Unconvinced!"

Seeing the tension between the two, the surrounding Demon-Suppression Guards stopped what they were doing and began discussing it.

"Th-this... are they going to fight?"

"Old Zhao is a mid-stage String-Hearing expert. With his Mountain-Splitting Fist, an ordinary strong man would suffer shattered tendons and broken bones from a single blow."

"Hey, it's good for a young girl to have spirit, but what a pity—her eyes aren't too good..."

Everyone spoke at once. Before they had exchanged more than a few words, a sharp sound tore through the air.

Whoosh—

The crowd hurriedly looked toward the sound, only to find that the girl who had been standing there had vanished into thin air.

Zhao Hu only saw a blur before his eyes. He shuddered in fright, and before he could resist, a tremendous force had already clamped around his neck.

The next instant, heaven and earth spun.

Boom—

A deafening crash rang out.

The towering Zhao Hu was actually lifted by that hand and brutally slammed into one of the courtyard's corridor pillars!

The pillar shook violently, knocking several black tiles from the roof.

Clatter—

The tiles fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

The sight also left the dozen or so men watching in the courtyard with their eyes nearly popping out, their faces filled with horror.

Like a painting hung on a wall, Zhao Hu was plastered against the pillar before slowly sliding down and collapsing limply onto the ground.

He was so terrified that his face had gone bloodless, unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

From beginning to end.

It had taken no more than the blink of an eye.

The courtyard fell silent as death.

Jiang Yuechu brushed the grime from her hands, her gaze sweeping over the crowd, who stood silent as cicadas in winter.

"..."

The men who had been jeering moments ago now lowered their heads one after another, wishing they could shove them into their trousers.

Such a huge commotion naturally alerted the others in the barracks.

"What the hell was that noise?"

"Fuck, which bastard is tearing down the house?"

Doors were violently flung open one after another, and a stream of hardened men filed out.

Before long, the crowd instinctively parted to either side.

A handsome young man in black robes, with red lips and white teeth, slowly emerged surrounded by the men.

He swept his gaze over the courtyard scene and frowned slightly.

"What happened here?"

The youth's voice was clear and gentle, making him seem utterly out of place among the rough men in the courtyard.

Yet the dozen or so men who had been watching the spectacle immediately bowed and clasped their fists when they saw him, their expressions respectful.

"Lord Xu!"

When questioned, however, the men looked at one another and stammered, unable to speak.

They could hardly say that more than a dozen grown men had been cowed by a newly arrived little girl, could they?

Seeing that no one answered, the handsome youth did not get angry. His gaze returned to Jiang Yuechu.

Jiang Yuechu was also looking at him, meeting his probing gaze directly without the slightest evasion.

"..."

Liu Chen was the one who finally braced himself and broke the silence.

He stepped forward and clasped his fists toward the youth. "The brothers are used to sparring in their daily lives. They lost control for a moment and disturbed you, my lord. It's nothing serious."

"Oh... so she is the woman Lord Wei mentioned?"

The moment those words fell.

The men who had just rushed out of the rooms all wore bewildered expressions.

But those who had originally been in the courtyard felt their hearts skip a beat, and everything became crystal clear at once.

No wonder!

No wonder this little girl looked so young, yet her methods were so ruthless!

So she was someone General Wei had personally approved and sent in!

Liu Chen nodded. "It is indeed Miss Jiang."

The handsome youth nodded, his gaze indifferent as it settled on Jiang Yuechu once more.

"The Demon Suppression Office does not ask about one's origins, only one's abilities. Since Lord Wei thinks highly of you, you must possess something extraordinary. Do not waste your talents."

Seeing how respectfully the men around them treated this youth, and even Liu Chen stood with lowered head before him, Jiang Yuechu already had her answer.

She gave a slight bow, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Thank you for your guidance, my lord."

"Mm."

The youth answered, seemingly too lazy to say more, and waved a hand.

"Since there is nothing else, disperse."

As he spoke, he cast an unobtrusive glance at the corridor pillar that had been cracked by the impact.

"Damage to public property shall be compensated at full price. Deduct the repair costs for that pillar from the monthly salaries of those two."

After saying that, he did not spare the crowd another glance. With his hands behind his back, he turned and left.

"..."

Jiang Yuechu's mouth twitched.

Fine.

On her first day at work, she had already had money deducted.

Had she known, she might as well have thrown that man onto the ground.

As the handsome youth departed, the oppressive atmosphere in the courtyard dissipated as well.

Liu Chen instructed several men to carry the limp Zhao Hu to the infirmary.

Only then did the people in the courtyard gradually disperse.

Liu Chen turned to Jiang Yuechu, his face carrying a trace of apology.

"Now that you've entered the Demon Suppression Office, we'll be brothers and sisters who stir the same ladle in the same pot and trust one another with our lives. Zhao Hu's mouth is a little foul, but he isn't bad at heart. You'll understand later. You... bear with him, and don't take it to heart."

Jiang Yuechu nodded, her tone even. "I'm not that petty."

"That's good, that's good."

Liu Chen let out a breath of relief and made an inviting gesture. "Come. I'll take you to collect some things."

The two headed one after the other toward the storeroom.

Inside, a one-eyed old man was dozing against a chair. Hearing the movement, he opened his eyes impatiently.

Liu Chen handed over the document. The old man gave it a glance, then slowly rose and took down a small white porcelain bottle from a nearby shelf, tossing it over.

Liu Chen explained from the side, "This is a Blood Potential Pill. The central office refines it from demon flesh and blood, supplemented by dozens of spiritual herbs. It can strengthen the qi and blood of martial artists in the String-Hearing Realm and even the Bone-Chiming Realm. As a Ninth-Rank Demon Suppressor, you may receive one bottle each month according to the rules."

As he spoke, a trace of hesitation appeared on Liu Chen's face, as though he were weighing something.

"By rights, every newly inducted Demon-Suppression Guard may go to the Scripture Repository and collect a basic demon-slaying martial art for self-defense, but..."

He looked at Jiang Yuechu, then ultimately shook his head.

"But I can see that your saber technique has already formed its own path. The basic martial arts of the Demon Suppression Office likely would be of little use to you."

Jiang Yuechu nodded. She did not particularly care about it.

She knew exactly what she was capable of.

Without the Hundred Demons Register, if she truly had to learn those martial arts on her own, even the most basic ones might take her until the Year of the Monkey and the Month of the Horse to master.

Besides, since she had a golden finger, why waste time studying such things herself?

She had to be stuffed to the gills to do that.