A New Demon Calamity

Within days, anyone in the Demon Suppression Office with their ear to the ground knew that Xuan Camp had taken in a newcomer.

Ordinarily, the Demon Suppression Office recruited new members every year, and old members died every year. It was nothing out of the ordinary.

But this newcomer was different.

Not only was she a woman, rumor had it that General Wei He had personally selected her.

Those who wished to climb higher naturally spent their breaks diligently honing their martial arts and tempering their cultivation, striving to rise as soon as possible.

But most people knew their own talents were ordinary. They lived each day as though merely surviving one more day was enough.

And so, most of them were talking about this matter.

Inside Xuan Camp's barracks, several men huddled together over a dish of salt-boiled beans, discussing it in low voices.

"Is it true? Lord Wei personally involved himself in a newcomer's affairs?"

"Absolutely true! I heard Lord Xu say it himself that day!"

"Hiss... Could she be some great figure's young daughter, sent down here to gain experience?"

"Gain experience? Coming to our Demon Suppression Office for experience? Is she tired of living?"

The men chattered away, their words unconsciously carrying a trace of awe.

The Demon Suppression Office was, in the end, a place where fists did the talking.

Just then.

Footsteps approached.

Everyone instinctively looked up.

Jiang Yuechu passed by the doorway with a horizontal saber in her arms.

She seemed not to notice the atmosphere here. Without looking aside, she walked straight ahead.

Only after that figure vanished beyond the door—

did everyone finally let out sighs of relief.

"Fuck... scared the hell out of me."

"Did she... just look at me?"

"Look at you? To see how ugly you are? Hurry up and eat your beans!"

The room's atmosphere was somewhat stifling.

Jiang Yuechu pushed open the door and swept her gaze across the room.

Aside from Liu Chen, the remaining few also looked somewhat familiar.

Among the crowd, a burly man with a face full of flesh immediately rose to his feet the moment he saw her.

It was Zhao Hu, the man she had hurled into a pillar that day.

After several days, his injuries appeared to have healed for the most part.

Fortunately, Jiang Yuechu had held back somewhat at the time. Otherwise, let alone getting out of bed and walking, whether he could even open his eyes right now would have been another matter.

Now that he saw her again, the man forced a smile onto his face and actually came over on his own.

"Jiang... Sister Jiang."

"..."

Jiang Yuechu gave him a strange look.

Seeing this, Zhao Hu let out an awkward chuckle. "That day... that day, I, Zhao Hu, failed to recognize Mount Tai and offended you. You are magnanimous, so please don't lower yourself to my level."

Jiang Yuechu shook her head, too lazy to waste words on him.

Her gaze passed over Zhao Hu and landed on Liu Chen.

She had spent several days in the Demon Suppression Office already, unfamiliar with both the people and the place. It truly had not been easy.

Today, there was finally some news.

Seeing her look over, Liu Chen nodded and gestured toward an empty seat. "Sit first."

Jiang Yuechu sat down as instructed.

The room was not large. A long table and several benches accommodated seven or eight people, making it feel rather crowded.

Liu Chen swept his gaze over everyone's faces one by one before slowly speaking.

"In Zhangye Commandery of Gan Prefecture, half a month ago, the Black River flowed backward for three days. The river water stank of blood, and every fish and shrimp died. I presume you have all heard of this."

Everyone nodded, their expressions grave.

People of the Demon Suppression Office had naturally heard of such an ominous phenomenon.

"The Office previously sent a squad of brothers from Yellow Division to investigate, but there has been no word from them since."

The room instantly fell silent.

Although Yellow Division specialized in investigation, its members were not people too weak to truss a chicken.

They might not match Xuan Camp in a head-on fight, but every one of them was skilled at concealment, tracking, and escaping with their lives.

Even a hundred or so ordinary bandits could not keep an entire squad behind.

Clearly.

There was an eighty or ninety percent chance that this matter involved demons.

"Chief, the Office is only sending our squad?"

From a corner of the room, an older veteran who looked to be around forty could not help speaking up.

"Captain Liu, it's not that I, Old Wang, am bolstering others' ambitions while dousing our own prestige. We don't even know what the other side is, or what realm it's at. Sending us charging in headfirst like this—is the Office trying to send us to our deaths?"

As soon as he said this, several people in the room unconsciously nodded.

They were not afraid to risk their lives fighting demons.

But being sent to die without knowing why made anyone uneasy.

Liu Chen shook his head, a trace of bitterness appearing on his face.

"Right now, our command is stretched thin. Setting aside the demon calamities suddenly erupting everywhere, several places where great demons have appeared alone require considerable manpower to suppress."

He sighed and laid out the current situation, point by point.

"Not to mention that key locations in every prefecture and city need people to patrol and guard, lest demons exploit a gap and slip in."

When his words fell, the room once more sank into dead silence.

Although Longyou Circuit was remote and sparsely populated—

the situation across the entire Great Tang was much the same.

Even Capital Headquarters did not have nearly enough manpower when compared to the number of demons.

Jiang Yuechu said nothing, merely listening in silence.

What others heard was danger.

What she heard was an entirely different sight.

The more demons there were, the more cultivation she could reap.

And the more cultivation she gained, the faster her strength would rise.

Of course, for the common people under heaven, living in an age where demons ran rampant was naturally a misery beyond bearing.

But as a saying from her previous life went—

precisely because one understood that one was actually powerless, one must not so easily allow that powerlessness to become reality.

Seeing everyone wearing long faces and their morale low, Liu Chen drew a deep breath and slammed a palm onto the table.

"The people of Zhangye are waiting to die, and our brothers from Yellow Division have not yet gone cold. Are we just going to sit here sighing?"

"Chief, that's not what we mean..." Old Wang sighed. "It's just... we at least need to know what kind of thing we're dealing with, don't we?"

"When do we leave?"

A cold, clear voice suddenly rang out in the room.

Everyone froze, then turned in unison toward Jiang Yuechu in the corner.

Liu Chen was also stunned. He opened his mouth, only to forget what he had been about to say.

Jiang Yuechu lifted her eyes and looked at him calmly.

"Since we're going, the sooner the better. Sitting here and wasting time won't make the demons die on their own."

"..."

Liu Chen drew a deep breath. "At dawn tomorrow. We leave at the Hour of the Rabbit."

"Go back and prepare. Zhangye is far away, so bring enough dry provisions and medicine for wounds. And... remember to leave a letter for your families."

Hearing this, everyone wore different expressions.

But this was the Demon Suppression Office's situation now.

Even without knowing what kind of demon the enemy was or how strong it might be, they still had to grit their teeth and go.

If they remained still whenever an enemy's origins were unknown—

then why call it the Demon Suppression Office at all?

Perhaps they would be lucky, and encounter only minor demons and petty monsters.

Or perhaps their lives would be used to buy intelligence—there was a great demon haunting this place.

"...Yes!"