Fox Demon Disturbance in Liu Family Village

In the northeast corner of the Demon-Suppression Office stood an unassuming side hall. Its gray tiles were mottled, and it exuded an air of age and decay.

This was the archives room, where records of every case involving demons or cultivators in Anping County over the past several decades were kept.

After the two offices merged, it had become an even worse disaster zone.

Old files brought over from both the Patrol Law Bureau and the Demon Slaying Office, together with a fresh backlog of case records, were piled so high there was nowhere to set foot.

Ordinary constables avoided it like the plague. Unless a superior gave a direct order, no one wanted to set foot inside.

The heavy wooden door swung open, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Chu Bai stepped inside, and a strange smell of mildew and aged paper rushed to meet him.

Behind the counter, an elderly clerk in a gray cloth robe dozed over the desk, his head bobbing and a thread of drool hanging from his mouth.

At the sound, he did not even lift his eyelids. He mumbled indistinctly:

"Don't bother me unless you need something. If you're looking for a file, find it yourself. The register's on the left..."

Chu Bai walked up to the counter and tapped the desk lightly.

Only then did the clerk reluctantly raise his head and glance over with bleary eyes.

The young man was unfamiliar. Though he wore a black official uniform that marked his rank, the clerk had spent decades in this office. What kind of official had he not seen?

At that age, the newcomer was probably some wealthy family's son sent here to gild his name, or a fresh recruit who did not know the rules.

"Well, if it isn't the new