Cloud Fir Commandery, Golden Buddha Temple

Outside Qingzhou City, a company of men and horses stood ready to depart.

Yang Xiao wore the azure robes of a Deputy General of the Demon Suppression Division, with a black cloak draped over his shoulders.

A nine-foot Army-Breaking Spear rested across his back, and he rode a Half-Demon Horse.

He had chosen the Half-Demon Horse from the Demon Suppression Division's stables. Black as ink from head to hoof, it had a steady bearing. Descended from Demon Horses, it far surpassed ordinary warhorses in speed and endurance.

Behind him, hundreds of Captains stood at attention in dark fitted uniforms, sabers hanging at their waists.

Old Saber stood on the left with his long saber over his shoulder. Dark-faced Zhao Kui stood on the right, while Lu Mingchuan, dressed in brocade robes, stood among the ranks. The remaining Captains lined up behind them.

The force's bearing alone was enough to cow any petty troublemakers along the road.

"Move out."

At Yang Xiao's command, he urged his horse forward.

More than a hundred Captains mounted in unison behind him. Hooves thundered and dust billowed as the company swept toward Cloud Fir Commandery.

Xiuling County was known far and wide because it was home to Golden Buddha Temple.

Once a poor, lifeless little county, it now had crowded streets lined with restaurants and inns, all packed with travel-worn visitors.

If those visitors had one thing in common, it was the strange light in their eyes.

At a roadside teahouse.

"I heard that rich landowner Zhang's wife took all the family's money and gave it to Golden Buddha Temple as incense offerings."

"Why would she do that?"

"To pray for peace at home and a flood of riches, of course. I hear nothing's gone right for the family lately, so his wife believed what