Unconvinced?

Great Tang had stood for eight hundred years. Though its customs had long ceased to be as harsh as those of the previous dynasty, and women could study, practice martial arts, and even enter official service,

at the end of the day, it was still a feudal dynasty.

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

Ordinary jianghu sects that took in female disciples mostly did so as ornaments, or for other purposes.

Much less a place like the Demon Suppression Office, where people licked blood from the blade's edge and fought demons with their lives on the line.

"Shut your mouth!"

Liu Chen's face darkened as he barked sharply.

"Captain Liu, I, Old Zhao, 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 all soft skin and tender flesh—are we really supposed to take her with us to fight demons?"

"Are we sending her to her death, or letting her hold us back?"

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

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

When he saw her gaze settle on him, he merely gave a low chuckle, his eyes brimming with provocation.

Liu Chen's face turned livid with anger, and he was just about to flare up.

But a hand lightly pressed down on his shoulder.

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

"Unconvinced?"

Zhao Hu froze, then bared his teeth in a wide grin, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth.

"Unconvinced!"

Seeing the tension between them, the Demon Suppression Guards nearby stopped what they were doing and began to talk among themselves.

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

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

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

The crowd chattered all at once, but before they could say much more, a sharp sound tore through the air.

Whoosh—

Everyone 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, an immense force had already seized his neck.

The next instant, the world spun around him.

Boom—

A deafening crash rang out.

The towering Zhao Hu was actually lifted by that one hand and viciously hurled against a corridor pillar in the courtyard!

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

Clatter—

The tiles hit the ground and shattered to pieces.

The sight also startled the dozen or so men watching from the courtyard until their eyes nearly popped out, their faces filled with terror.

Zhao Hu hung against the pillar like a painting, slowly sliding down before collapsing limply on the ground.

His face had gone pale with fright, and he could not even muster a shred of resistance.

From beginning to end,

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

The courtyard fell deathly silent.

Jiang Yuechu patted 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 all lowered their heads, wishing they could stuff them into their pants.

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

"What the hell was that?"

"Fuck, which bastard's tearing the house down?"

One door after another was violently thrown open, and sturdy, battle-hardened men streamed out in single file.

Before long, the crowd voluntarily parted to either side.

A handsome young man dressed in black robes, with red lips and white teeth, slowly emerged amid the surrounding men.

He glanced over the scene in the courtyard and frowned slightly.

"What happened?"

The young man's voice was clear and gentle, utterly out of place among the rough men in the courtyard.

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

"Lord Xu!"

When questioned, they looked at one another, hemming and hawing, unable to say a word.

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

Seeing that no one answered, the handsome young man did not grow angry. His gaze returned to Jiang Yuechu.

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

"..."

Liu Chen was the one who finally hardened his resolve and broke the silence.

He stepped forward and cupped his fists toward the young man. "The brothers are used to sparring in their daily lives. They got a little carried away and disturbed you, my lord. It is nothing serious."

"Oh... so she is the woman Lord Wei spoke of?"

The moment those words fell,

the men who had just rushed out of the rooms were all utterly bewildered.

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

No wonder!

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

So she was someone personally approved and sent here by General Wei!

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

The handsome young man nodded slightly, his indifferent gaze settling on Jiang Yuechu once more.

"The Demon Suppression Office does not ask about one's origins, only one's capabilities. Since Lord Wei thinks highly of you, you must possess qualities beyond the ordinary. Do not waste these abilities of yours."

Seeing how respectfully the surrounding men treated this young man—even Liu Chen stood beside him with his head lowered—Jiang Yuechu already had her answer.

She bowed slightly, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Thank you for your guidance, my lord."

"Mm."

The young man responded as though he could not be bothered to say more, then waved a hand.

"Since there is nothing else, disperse."

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

"Damage to public property shall be compensated at cost. Deduct the repairs for that pillar from those two's monthly pay."

With that, he did not spare the crowd another glance. He turned, clasped his hands behind his back, and left on his own.

"..."

Jiang Yuechu's mouth twitched.

Well then.

On her first day at work, her pay had already been docked.

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

As the handsome young man departed, the oppressive atmosphere in the courtyard dispersed with him.

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, a hint of apology on his face.

"Once you enter the Demon Suppression Office, you're brothers who stir the same ladle in the same pot and would lay down your lives for one another. Zhao Hu's mouth is a bit foul, but he isn't bad by nature. You'll understand in time. You... try to bear with him. Don't take it to heart."

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

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

Liu Chen let out a breath of relief and made a welcoming gesture. "Come on. I'll take you to collect a few things."

The two headed one after the other toward the treasury.

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

Liu Chen handed over the document. The old man gave it a glance, then slowly got to his feet, took a small white porcelain bottle from a nearby shelf, and tossed it over.

Liu Chen explained from the side, "This is Blood-Submerging Pill. The headquarters refines it from demon flesh and blood, supplemented by dozens of spiritual herbs. It improves qi and blood for martial artists from the String-Hearing Realm to the Bone-Chiming Realm. As a ninth-rank Demon Suppression Guard, you may collect one bottle each month according to regulations."

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

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

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

"But from what I've seen, your blade technique has already formed its own path. The Demon Suppression Office's basic martial arts likely would not be of much use to you."

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

She knew exactly how much she was capable of.

Without the Hundred Demons Register, if she had truly been made to learn those martial arts on her own, even the most basic ones, who knew whether she would have had to practice until the year of the monkey or the month of the horse.

Besides, since she had a golden finger, why waste time researching these things herself?

What a pointless thing to do after eating one's fill.