Night Pacification by the Imperial Demon Hunters

Ci Prefecture governed six counties and was also the seat of the Cizhou Branch Censorate.

Under Great Liang's official system, this place was guarded by a Recording Military Adviser from the Night Pacification Bureau and a Judicial Investigation Thousand-Household Officer from the Imperial Demon Hunters.

The county commandants usually only handled public order. When it came to beheading demons and capturing ghosts, the Night Pacification Bureau and the Imperial Demon Hunters were the ones to watch.

The Night Pacification Bureau contained cultivators who had pledged themselves to the imperial court.

The Imperial Demon Hunters were the court's own demon-hunting iron fist, cultivated from the ground up with roots straight and true.

The two regarded each other as rivals, yet also cooperated extensively.

Today, Shi Chibao, the Judicial Investigation Thousand-Household Officer of the Ci Prefecture Judicial Investigation Office, sent a subordinate to invite Adviser Liu from the Night Pacification Bureau over to discuss a matter.

The Thousand-Household Office's yamen was not large. Most of it lay underground, seven levels in all, suppressing all manner of demons and monsters. The aboveground offices were low and squat, displaying no particular majesty.

Shi Chibao possessed sixth-rank cultivation in the Confucian School. He had once studied under Yuelu Mountain, and his Imperial Map Sacred Judgment Art was exceptionally refined. Within the Imperial Demon Hunters, he was regarded as one of the rising talents most likely to break into the fifth rank.

He was not tall and wore a long beard. He usually favored plain blue robes, looking every bit like a middle-aged scholar, utterly unlike a harsh official who held the power of life and death over an entire region.

Behind the Thousand-Household Office's main hall hung a painting of the sun rising over the sea. Above it was a plaque made of dark yinwood, bearing the four words: "Patrol by Day, Roam by Night."

The hall was packed with bookshelves. A small area had been enclosed in the very center, where several Imperial Demon Hunters in qilin robes were reviewing case files and drafting reports.

Case files lay atop the heavy rosewood desk. Beside Shi Chibao sat a cup of freshly brewed Longjing tea. After savoring a mouthful of its sweet aftertaste, he asked the Hundred-Household Officer beside him, who was approving documents.

"Has the water monster captured a few days ago been interrogated under torture?"

"The water monster of Chen Family Village was seventh-rank. It masqueraded as a deity and demanded young boys and girls. Personnel were dispatched to capture it. It was a carp that had become a spirit through cultivating Buddhist methods, and it possessed a fragmentary divine register within its body. Its bones and soul have been locked. We received an official dispatch from Jiankang the day before yesterday ordering an execution on the spot. The sentence has already been carried out. The fragmentary divine register dispersed and returned to heaven and earth. We obtained one demon core and several other miscellaneous items, all of which have been placed in storage."

Shi Chibao nodded.

"Hundred-Household Officer Li, select a few capable men from among your Banner Officers and personally make a trip to Yongning County. A demonic cultivator is trafficking children and refining ritual artifacts. It appears to be the work of witchcraft and gu techniques. Be especially careful. Report to me immediately if anything changes."

The Hundred-Household Officer surnamed Li rose, clasped his hands toward Shi Chibao in salute, accepted the order, and departed.

The Imperial Demon Hunters had been established during the early years of the Liang dynasty's founding. Back then, the founding Emperor's command included an exceptionally elite guard.

In view of the declining age of humanity and the turbulent times, they had been reorganized into a force specializing in investigating and apprehending every kind of demon, monster, ghost, and fiend, while also handling intelligence gathering and information collation.

After operating for all these years, they had established the Northern and Southern Directorates in Jiankang City, as well as Judicial Investigation Thousand-Household Offices in every prefecture, secretly patrolling all incidents throughout the prefectures and counties.

They could be considered one of the Liang Emperor's most elite and loyal forces.

Shi Chibao's family had served in the Imperial Demon Hunters for generations. He had worked diligently in his post at the Ci Prefecture Judicial Investigation Office, and overall, he had kept any major upheavals from occurring within the region under his jurisdiction.

Yet today, something weighed on Shi Chibao's mind, leaving him unable to feel at ease.

The problem still lay with Guobei County and Shanyin County.

Early this morning, he had received two official dispatches. The first came from Shanyin County's commandant, while the other had been sent by Guobei County's magistrate.

The document from Guobei County was simple enough: it was a report claiming merit from the magistrate. He said that under his governance, the county's various ghosts and spirits had greatly diminished, and that they had likely all moved elsewhere.

The county was now as calm as the sea and clear as the river. Aside from several old ghosts that had lingered for years and were still putting up a cornered struggle, there were no other issues for the time being.

However, the county's capabilities were limited, so he requested that the Imperial Demon Hunters assist them by conducting an on-site investigation to determine whether some other change had occurred.

Shi Chibao treated Guobei County's document as nothing but fart.

A sixth-rank Confucian School cultivator possessed the Son of Heaven Aura Observation Art. At close range, it could observe changes in aura and reveal a means to defeat an enemy; at a distance, one could observe changes in mountains, rivers, vegetation, clouds, and rainbows to deduce future developments.

Killing Intent soared across the sky above Guobei County, colored dark and profound. It was precisely the sign of yin qi gathering and the ghost path flourishing.

Most likely, several old ghosts in Guobei County had merely gone out to visit friends and relatives, and the Guobei County magistrate had claimed the credit for himself.

The entire document did not even state which vicious ghosts had been slain or which old ghosts had been driven away. He was plainly muddling black and white.

Shi Chibao had long since trained a pair of iron eyes through official correspondence, and with a single glance, he saw the problem within it.

The other letter came from Shanyin County.

This letter was one Shi Chibao had no choice but to take seriously.

First, Shanyin County's magistrate was not in the county. The letter was jointly signed by the county assistant magistrate, chief clerk, and county commandant.

That meant the matter had reached a point where the three of them had no choice but to submit a joint report. It had to be a major incident.

Second was the special identity of Shanyin County's commandant.

The Shanyin County commandant was surnamed Su and came from the Duling Su Clan.

The Imperial Demon Hunters had always been managed by the inner court. The newly appointed eunuch superintendent of the Imperial Stud Directorate was also surnamed Su. Shi Chibao had already heard that after serving for a few years, this man would likely advance another step to become the Seal-Holding Eunuch of the Imperial Stud Directorate, while also serving as Superintendent of the Imperial Demon Hunters.

This Commandant Su was one of their own whom he could not afford to offend.

If his identity was merely the prerequisite that forced Shi Chibao to take the matter seriously, then the contents of the new report drew even more of his attention.

The government treasury had been robbed by a great demon; treasonous words had suddenly appeared in an ancient temple within the county; ghosts and demons had joined forces with the intent to rebel.

Shi Chibao's first reaction was disbelief.

Any one of these matters was absurd enough. For all three to happen together was even more impossible.

Yet he could not simply disbelieve it.

Because every single matter in it was a major incident he could not ignore.

For this reason, he had repeatedly observed the situation around Shanyin County today. His conclusion was that Shanyin County remained the same old Shanyin County.

Either an expert had obscured the heavenly secrets, or someone within Shanyin County was playing tricks.

Shi Chibao now strongly suspected that the one playing tricks was the newly arrived Commandant Su.

But the problem was that Commandant Su was someone he could not offend.

So Shi Chibao ordered his men to summon the Night Pacification Bureau's leader in Jiangzhou, Assistant Commander Liu Yu, to discuss the matter together.

Whatever happened, they could discuss it and handle it together.

Otherwise, the Imperial Demon Hunters might treat a light matter as heavy and handle it as a top-priority case, while the Night Pacification Bureau might treat a heavy matter as light and regard it as nothing more than some wastrel young master in Shanyin County letting out a loud fart.

They would only make fools of themselves for others to see.

Shi Chibao felt it would be best for the two sides to confer and adopt the same stance.

"Reporting to Lord Thousand-Household Officer, Assistant Commander Liu Yu of the Night Pacification Bureau has arrived."

A Chief Banner Officer under his command announced from outside. Shi Chibao straightened his robes and walked out to receive him.

The Imperial Demon Hunters' Judicial Investigation Thousand-Household Officer and the Night Pacification Bureau's Assistant Commander were counterparts. They were of equal rank, so there was no reason for him to sit in the yamen and have Liu Yu come pay respects.

The moment he stepped out of the yamen, Shi Chibao saw Liu Yu, the Night Pacification Bureau's Recording Military Adviser, whose expression was unpleasant.

Heavy rain is falling in many places today. Everyone, please stay safe.

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