Purging wraiths at year's end

On the last day of the year, the heavy snow finally cleared.

Several days of intensified patrols had at last brought Anping County safely through the year's end.

Amid the festive glow of countless household lamps and the crackle of firecrackers, Chu Bai requested leave from the office. Taking advantage of this rare respite, he mounted a swift horse and hurried back to Chu Family Village.

Before he reached the village entrance, he spotted a crowd gathered beneath the old locust tree in the distance.

Chu Bai was no longer the impoverished scholar who had ventured into town to make a living. He was now a Principal Ninth Rank "Demon-Slaying Token," renowned for a hundred li around.

Especially in the villages surrounding Chu Family Village, who had not heard that the Chu Household had produced a Prodigy who slew false gods and commanded government troops?

"Look, it's Lord Chu!"

"Greetings, Lord Chu!"

Cheers and reverent gazes surged toward him like a tide.

The villagers crowded around him, some carrying home-cured pork, others holding dried fruit, their words brimming with flattery and pride.

Though Chu Bai was no master of social maneuvering, he put on no official airs before these simple, honest clansmen and neighbors. Smiling, he exchanged pleasantries with the clan elders, observing every courtesy before the crowd escorted him to his courtyard gate.

He pushed the gate open. The low, dilapidated mud-and-thatch house of his memories was gone.

Thanks to the salary and rewards Chu Bai had earned over the past six months and more, the Chu Household's old home had been completely renovated.

With its blue bricks, broad roof tiles, and soaring eaves, it looked particularly grand and imposing amid the countryside. The courtyard had been swept spotless, and red spring couplets hung neatly in place, radiating the