"Standing shoulder to shoulder with the Demon Suppression Bureau, blades drawn across the mortal world, we scour all beneath heaven for demons and slay them!"
"We heed deployments, not summons, and take it upon ourselves to sweep the world clean of monsters and fiends-that is what it means to be a Demon-Slaying Envoy!"
Seeing Lu Guan's bewildered expression, Chen Jingchou feared the youth did not understand the weight those words carried and hastily added another remark.
Pride threaded his voice, as though the title itself were a gold-lettered signboard.
"Demon-Slaying Envoys..." Lu Guan had some vague recollection of the name.
They seemed to be another of Great Li's enforcement organizations, with experts as numerous as clouds and extremely high entry requirements.
But the particulars were far beyond anything his predecessor, a mere trainee commandant, could have discovered.
"Well? Would you care to join our Demon-Slaying Envoys?"
Chen Jingchou held a stiff smile on his face, clearly unaccustomed to assuming such a posture.
Within Great Li, those who wanted to join the Demon-Slaying Envoys were as plentiful as carp crossing a river. Since when had a Gold-Token Demon-Slaying Envoy like him needed to recruit someone personally?
Had the youth's talent not been so astonishing that he could not bear to see an uncut jade gather dust, he would never have lowered himself like this.
Of course, imagining the youth's future success and the tale of his own discerning eye recognizing a pearl being passed down as a celebrated story was also a tiny, insignificant selfish consideration.
Just as Chen Jingchou was striking while the iron was hot, a voice filled with shock and fury suddenly thundered from the end of the street:
"Chen Jingchou, who told you to kill it?!"
Sun Ying slowly emerged from the shadows, his flying-fish robe fluttering and snapping, his expression dark.
He glanced at the old ape's headless corpse, the corner of his eye twitching, and said through gritted teeth, "You fool! Do you really think Demon-Slaying Envoys can kill demons as they please?"
"This is You Province, not Li Province or Qian Province!"
"If you draw that old ape out of Fruitless Cave, you won't escape the blame, Chen Jingchou!"
The Pacification Commissioner's chest heaved violently. He was clearly furious.
He had endured again and again, forcibly suppressing his desire to kill Yuan Guanshan and allowing him across the border for the sake of the bigger picture.
Severing the old ape's arm with a single slash had already been the greatest act of resistance he could manage at the edge of the rules.
But this fellow had simply chopped its head off!
"Others might not know the situation in You Province, but how could you not know, Chen Jingchou?"
"The Governor-General has to guard against Ailao Mountain, while Fruitless Cave has remained secluded from the world. Only that has barely maintained this delicate balance in You Province."
In truth, however, this so-called balance was merely an illusion.
The whole of You Province was like a powder keg that would explode at a spark.
And its fuse was the Divine Treasury Realm ancestor in Fruitless Cave.
It was a sharp sword hanging over You Province's head. Beneath its blade, no one dared make the slightest reckless move.
Chen Jingchou remained calm and lifted his eyelids.
"Well, if it isn't Lord Sun. I'm not with the Demon Suppression Bureau, much less your subordinate. You have no authority to question me."
"Never mind you-even if your Governor-General came in person, my answer would remain the same."
"Do you even understand what 'heed deployments, not summons' means?"
The Demon-Slaying Envoys of every province answered directly to the emperor.
Heeding deployments but not summons meant that, when given an order, they could carry it out-but they could also refuse.
A general in the field need not obey every command of his sovereign.
If even the emperor's orders could be disregarded to some extent, what of anyone else's?
Even within the Demon-Slaying Envoys, where ranks were divided into bronze, silver, and gold tokens, there was no superior-subordinate relationship between them.
In other words, even a Bronze-Token Demon-Slaying Envoy could ignore an order from a Gold-Token Demon-Slaying Envoy.
These rules had been established by Great Li's founding emperor so that the Demon-Slaying Envoys could concentrate on slaying demons without interference from local authorities.
Sun Ying understood that, of course, but it was precisely why he was so furious.
"You're acting on your whims without any regard for the consequences!"
"Hah! You kill a demon and walk away, but isn't it still our Demon Suppression Bureau that has to clean up after you?"
"I'm telling you, I'll report this to the Governor-General!"
Hearing this, Chen Jingchou answered with a smile.
"Suit yourself."
"Oh, and one more thing. I wasn't the one who killed this demon."
"Strictly speaking, one of your own people from the Demon Suppression Bureau killed it."
He raised a hand and pointed at Lu Guan's flying-fish robe. "There. The Commandant of Qianqiu County. He hasn't joined our Demon-Slaying Envoys yet, so he's still a genuine member of the Demon Suppression Bureau."
Sun Ying's brows knitted tightly. He followed Chen Jingchou's pointing finger, and his pupils abruptly contracted.
Lu Guan wiped the blood from his face and offered a warm smile.
The moment he saw Sun Ying emerge, he understood who had severed the ape demon's missing arm.
Strictly speaking, this Pacification Commissioner had been of some help to him.
Severing that arm had reduced the ape demon's fighting strength by thirty percent. That was tangible help.
Of course, this man was also clearly the one who had let the demon in.
He had probably been treated as a disposable pawn.
Putting himself in the other man's shoes, had he occupied that position, he probably would have let the demon in too.
But this feeling of having no control over my own fate really does leave a bitter taste...
Anyone would feel some resentment upon being abandoned.
After all, he was no great saint.
The two exchanged a look across the distance.
Moonlight spread a deathly pale patch across the ground between them. The old ape's corpse lay across its center, cutting the moonlight in half.
One half shone on Sun Ying; the other illuminated Lu Guan.
A trace of shame flashed through Sun Ying's eyes. He immediately understood that Lu Guan was the target of the old ape's vengeance, but quickly suppressed it.
He turned his head and instead mocked Chen Jingchou.
"What, so this is how an esteemed Gold-Token Demon-Slaying Envoy shifts the blame onto a mere commandant?"
"You dare act but won't own up to it? What, are you afraid I'll drag you before the Governor-General to answer for your crimes?"
"You?" Chen Jingchou smiled disdainfully. "I could give you a one-handed handicap, and you still wouldn't be my match."
"I have no reason to lie to you about this."
"I've always acted openly and aboveboard. I have no desire to swallow up young friend Lu's credit."
At this point, Chen Jingchou turned to Lu Guan with a smile.
"Young friend, have you thought it over?"
"Given your performance tonight, if you join the Demon-Slaying Envoys, you'll start with a silver token."
As he spoke, Chen Jingchou reached toward his waist, and a gleaming silver waist token engraved with "Demon-Slaying Envoys" appeared in his palm.
Moonlight fell upon it, lending its silver surface a cold sheen.
At the sight, Sun Ying's expression changed abruptly.
His gaze lingered on the silver token for a moment, then shifted to Chen Jingchou's face before finally settling on Lu Guan.
Could it be... that Chen Jingchou was telling the truth?
Had this youth really killed that Inner Landscape Realm greater demon?
Standing in the moonlight, Sun Ying slowly closed his eyes and said heavily:
"Whoever killed it, You Province's calamity... has arrived."
A long sigh sounded, and the Pacification Commissioner seemed to age decades in an instant.
The old ape was dead. Arguing over right and wrong was now meaningless.
"Has it? Not necessarily."
Chen Jingchou laughed aloud.
"You should say... the calamity of You Province's demons has arrived."
Sun Ying's eyes snapped open, and he looked over as though staring at an idiot.
Had Chen Jingchou gone mad?
Otherwise, why would he have killed the old ape from Fruitless Cave and then stood here spouting such wild boasts?
Chen Jingchou ignored him and continued on his own.
"The Prince of Yan-has broken through to the Divine Treasury Realm!"