Accepting a mission, Moon Ancient Village

"Brother Chu, Boss, it's me, me."

A slightly plump Demon Suppression Guard called softly, blinking repeatedly at Chu He. It was Lu Feng, who had delivered clothes to Chu He and shown him the way a few days earlier.

As it turned out...

He had been rather lucky. The cultivation technique suited him well, and he already had a little foundation. After breaking through to first grade, he had gone to the Demon Suppression Prison and killed an ice rat, successfully joining the ranks.

He had thought he would never get to follow Chu He, but to his surprise, Chu He's talent was this formidable. How could he not be excited?

Lu Feng?

Chu He's gaze settled on the little fatty. He pointed at him, then picked out four more Demon Suppression Guards with relatively imposing presences.

"We, Lu Feng, Zhao Guang, Tai Shan, Bai Tianyu, and Fang Zhou, pay our respects, sir. We stand ready to follow your commands."

Lu Feng and the other four cupped their hands and bowed to Chu He.

None of them were unwilling. The Demon Suppression Guards maintained a strict hierarchy. Once your superior became dissatisfied with you, you were absolutely finished.

Although...

The Demon Suppression Bureau forbade its members from killing one another, there were far too many ways to kill someone. For bottom-rung members like them, any stumbling block tossed down from above could cost them their lives, with nowhere to seek redress.

Such things happened from time to time throughout the Demon Suppression Bureau. The higher-ups turned a blind eye, too. After all, their ranks were simply too low.

Only Demon Suppression Guards of fourth grade or higher qualified to catch the attention of the bureau's upper ranks and count as true talents worth nurturing.

"Steward, we'll take our leave."

Chu He cupped his hands to the steward, then turned and led Lu Feng and the other four out of the hall in long strides.

As for...

The mission hall on the right side of the main hall, he did not go to look. The missions posted there were not ones they could accept. At the very least, they required a fourth-grade Demon Suppression Guard.

"You're saying that Chu He has already broken through to late first grade and joined Zhang Wei's command in the Third Battalion of the Third Army?"

Inside the main room of a camp!

A thin man with a cold, sinister face sat at the head of the room, his brows tightly furrowed and his right hand tapping the table incessantly. He was Sun Feng's backer, Hundred Household Commander Sun.

"Yes, sir."

A Demon Suppression Company Commander before him nodded and answered:

"This man previously made an enemy of Young Master Sun Feng, embarrassing him in public. Clearly, he has long been a loyal subordinate of Zhang Wei."

However...

Hundred Household Commander Sun showed no reaction to Sun Feng's name. At his position, he would never make an enemy of a prodigy over his nephew. That was the idiotic behavior of a moronic villain.

If...

These had been ordinary times:

For a prodigy like Chu He, even if he had fallen out with Sun Feng, Hundred Household Commander Sun would have done him a favor.

But!

Things were different now. The opening of the Heavenly Mansion Pool was fast approaching. To suppress Zhang Wei, he absolutely could not let Chu He live.

His gaze chilled. "You needn't go on the Moon Ancient Village mission. I'll have the Thousand Household Commander assign it to Zhang Wei."

"Sir, Moon Ancient Village cost us an entire squad of elite Demon Suppression Guards. Its rating has already risen to level two."

"Both company commanders under Hundred Household Commander Zhang are out on missions, and his elite squad commanders aren't at headquarters either. He has no one to send."

The Demon Suppression Company Commander spoke in puzzlement.

He more or less understood his commander's intentions: to put this mission into Chu He's hands so he would die in Moon Ancient Village.

It was not that he sympathized with Chu He. Rather, no matter what, a level-two mission would never be assigned to a newly formed squad like Chu He's. The assignment would most likely be rejected.

"Heh, level two!"

Hundred Household Commander Sun picked up the tea on his desk and took a sip. "The increased rating hasn't been reported yet. Conceal our squad's deaths for now and keep it at level one. Meanwhile, all of you are to head out on missions over the next two days."

"Yes!"

The Demon Suppression Squad Commander bowed in acknowledgment.

At the same time, he felt sorry for Chu He, whom he had never met. But if anyone was to blame, it was Chu He for following the wrong man. No one cared about a fallen prodigy.

The Demon Suppression Guards' garrison!

The Third Army's Third Battalion was called a camp, but it was nothing more than an enclosed office compound covering over a thousand square meters.

The Yun Province Demon Suppression Bureau was divided into three armies. A squad commander commanded five Demon Suppression Guards, a company commander commanded ten squad commanders, a hundred household commander commanded two company commanders, and a thousand household commander commanded ten hundred household commanders. One thousand Demon Suppression Guards made up an army.

In other words, Yun Province had three thousand Demon Suppression Guards in total.

Of course, that was the official figure. Deaths among Demon Suppression Guards below company commander were so common that the numbers fluctuated greatly, though they generally stayed between twenty-five hundred and thirty-five hundred.

"Demon Suppression Squad Commander Chu He, reporting for duty."

Chu He walked straight into the camp. Led by a Demon Suppression Guard, he reached the central room, cupped his hands outside its door, and called out.

"Enter."

A calm voice came from within.

Bang!

Chu He opened the door.

The room covered a little over a hundred square meters and looked much like a government office. Twenty-two chairs lined the two sides. At the head of the room, Zhang Wei was reviewing various documents in his hands, occasionally making a check mark.

He looked up, saw Chu He, and beckoned.

"Come, sit."

Chu He did not stand on ceremony. He sat directly in one of the chairs and looked up at his immediate superior, Zhang Wei.

He saw that Zhang Wei was reviewing scrolls. The battalion was the Demon Suppression Bureau's smallest independent unit, and as a hundred household commander, Zhang Wei had no shortage of matters to handle.

At the same time...

Since he frequently went out on missions, whenever he had time, he came to the camp to deal with the accumulated miscellaneous affairs.

An incense stick's worth of time later!

Zhang Wei set down his documents and said:

"Getting impatient?"

"I really didn't expect you to break through to late first grade so quickly. Luckily, I spoke to the Demon Suppression Hall's steward ahead of time."

"When do you intend to start taking missions?"

Chu He stood and replied, "The sooner, the better."

Under the Demon Suppression Guards' rules, he still had half a month to familiarize himself with his subordinates, but he was unwilling to wait.

"Full of drive, just as expected." Zhang Wei smiled, picked up two documents from the desk, and handed them to Chu He.

"These are our battalion's current missions. However, I recommend you choose the first. There may be something wrong with the second."

Then!

Zhang Wei explained where the mission had come from, speculating that it might be a scheme, a trap laid by Hundred Household Commander Sun.

Something wrong?

Chu He accepted the two documents.

The first was to patrol Trial Mountain and kill any monster spirits that had broken through from ungraded to graded.

The second concerned a demon incident in Moon Ancient Village. An early-first-grade Demon Suppression Guard had already died there.

"Sir, I choose the second."

Chu He did not hesitate in the slightest.

He was taking missions to kill demons and increase his strength. Even if Trial Mountain had any demons, there would only be one or two that had just entered the grades. They would be utterly useless to him.

Besides...

Moon Ancient Village was on the edge of Green Mountain Commandery, and his home was there too. He had been away for so long; it was time to go back and have a look.

As for Hundred Household Commander Sun's scheme, he would simply shatter it with sheer strength.

"Very well."

Zhang Wei nodded, then added, "But if there's any danger, retreat immediately. Whatever happens, the Third Battalion will shoulder it together."

"Thank you, sir."

Chu He cupped his hands in salute. After a little more conversation, he took the detailed mission brief and left the Third Battalion.

"Sir."

At the camp entrance, Lu Feng and the other four quickly gathered around him. At their rank, they could not enter the camp without business and could only wait outside.

Chu He said in a low voice:

"Go back and pack. We leave tomorrow."

"Yes!"

Lu Feng and the other four nodded excitedly.

This would be their first mission outside. They were nervous, but excited too, their blood surging.

After all, how many men had never dreamed of slaying demons, earning glory, and even becoming kings or ministers?

For the Demon Suppression Bureau, this was no mere legend. Great Qian's current West-Pacifying King had once been one of the bureau's higher-ups. And back when he had been granted his royal title, applications to the Demon Suppression Bureau throughout Great Qian had surged severalfold.