The next day, at dawn.
In the Lu Household's ancestral residence, Lu Guan slowly woke.
Daylight had just begun filtering through the window. He turned his head and looked at the gleaming silver waist token on the table.
His eyes stirred, and he could not help recalling what had happened last night.
After Chen Jingchou announced that the Prince of Yan had broken through to the Divine Treasury Realm, Sun Ying froze at first.
Then, as if he had gone mad, his whole body shuddered, and he shouted, "Good, good! No more holding back! I'm going to slaughter those tiger cubs!"
He seemed to have grown decades younger, the gloom on his face swept clean away.
Without bothering about the dead old ape anymore, he pushed off with his toes, shot into the sky, and vanished into the boundless night.
And Lu Guan had naturally accepted the Demon-Slaying Envoys' offer to recruit him.
The most important reason was something Chen Jingchou had said:
"Now that the Prince of Yan has broken through, You Province's top fighting strength is no longer inferior to the demons in the slightest. A great war may be coming."
"If you're afraid, just keep cowering in the county town and carry on being a commandant."
It was a clumsy attempt to goad him.
So clumsy that after Lu Guan fell silent for a moment upon hearing it, even Chen Jingchou felt a little embarrassed. He coughed twice and looked away.
Lu Guan agreed.
Of course, it was not because he had been goaded. He had his own considerations.
The demons around Qianqiu County had now been wiped out, which meant a long stretch of peace lay ahead.
For the common folk living here, that was naturally a blessing as vast as the heavens.
After all, in a world thrown into chaos by demons, who would not yearn for a peaceful haven?
But for Lu Guan, this was very bad indeed-
His source of cultivation had vanished.
He knew full well that although his talent was strong, he still needed the panel to convert it, and cultivation was the key to everything.
Without cultivation, the panel was nothing but a dead object.
The Demon-Slaying Envoys, meanwhile, seemed practically tailor-made for him.
Seek out demons across the world and slay them-how sweet that sounded.
Besides, according to Chen Jingchou, a great war was coming. This was precisely his opportunity.
He would not even need to take the initiative to search for demons.
The stronger he became, the more demons he could kill; the more demons he killed, the stronger he became.
"Heh... what a perfect cycle."
Lu Guan rubbed his face before finally suppressing his irrepressible smile.
He tried to get up, but the moment he propped himself halfway upright, soreness surged through his entire body. From his back to his waist and abdomen, every part of him felt utterly depleted.
He was the only one left in the little courtyard.
Chen Jingchou had taken Yu Qianqian away during the night.
When the woman left, she clung to the doorframe and refused to let go, crying, "I'm not going back! I'm not going back!"
Only after Chen Jingchou flicked her forehead with a finger did she behave, following behind him in a sulk while clutching her forehead.
Before leaving, however, Chen Jingchou had also left him a pill.
It was called a Jade Dew Pill.
Used to treat injuries, the pill was round and smooth, coated with jade dew, and gave off a rich fragrance.
Lu Guan had taken it immediately. After a night spent absorbing its medicinal potency, his broken ribs had regrown, all his flesh wounds had scabbed over and shed their scabs, and his skin was fresh and new.
Aside from soreness throughout his body, there was almost nothing seriously wrong with him.
He rose and heated some water, bathed to wash away the blood and grime, and changed into a clean blue robe.
"What a treasure."
Lu Guan naturally coveted such life-saving pills.
But recalling Chen Jingchou's pained expression when handing it over, he knew that even this single pill had been given out of consideration for Yu Qianqian.
What a pity. If only he'd given me a few more.
This was the difficulty of building something from nothing. As someone with nothing to his name, all he had left was a life he dared to risk in battle and slaughter.
Lu Guan sighed, picked up the bronze mirror on the table, and examined his reflection.
The bronze mirror was blurry, and the figure it reflected was somewhat distorted, his features all squeezed together.
He tilted his head and looked at the side of his neck.
After he killed the old ape, the mark on his neck had darkened considerably again.
It had now turned deep brown, with a faint ring of black around its edges, like a scorched brand.
It seemed he had made it onto a priority blacklist. There probably were not many great demons of the Inner Landscape Realm even in Fruitless Cave.
"A blacklist is good. Let more demons come to kill me."
Lu Guan set down the bronze mirror, picked up the Demon-Slaying Envoy silver token beside it, and examined it.
The words "Demon-Slaying Envoy" were engraved on the front, while fine, closely packed patterns covered the back.
With a slight stir of thought, he tried channeling a wisp of Gang Qi into it.
The next instant, all sorts of noisy voices came flooding in, erupting in his mind.
"Location: Qing'an Commandery. I've found traces of a snake demon at the late stage of the Gang Condensation Realm. Looking for a colleague at the late stage of the Gang Condensation Realm. We'll split the merit evenly after killing it."
"Location: Shangyang County, Weiwu Commandery. My hands have been itching lately. All colleagues are welcome to come spar. Note: Inner Landscape Realm cultivators need not apply."
"Noob above, I'm already here. Open up!"
"Fuck! Did you dox me?"
Lu Guan wore an odd expression as he silently lurked.
According to Chen Jingchou, this identity token could receive messages sent by Demon-Slaying Envoys throughout the province, allowing them to exchange information and resources.
Besides that, after killing a demon, it could draw in a wisp of its lingering soul as proof of merit.
Yet he found that, apart from the first message he had heard, which was a serious one...
None of the others seemed particularly serious.
He suddenly recalled what Chen Jingchou had said... they obeyed deployments, not summons.
These Demon-Slaying Envoys were all ruthless people who feared neither heaven nor earth.
So their being a little out of tune... seemed perfectly normal, perhaps?
And so Lu Guan quietly sent a message:
"Newbie checking in. I'm introverted and afraid of verbal abuse. Are there any troublesome demons still unresolved... I'm good at killing demons."
Replies soon arrived:
"Who's this shameless bastard pretending to be new? Newbie checking in, my ass. Where the hell would You Province get a newbie?"
"Good at killing demons? How good?"
"Young man, don't be arrogant. The waters of demon-slaying run deep. You can't handle them. Let your uncle take care of it."
There were plenty of replies, but not a single useful one.
Lu Guan remained expressionless. The mysterious image of the Demon-Slaying Envoys in his mind had completely collapsed.
What kind of clowns were these?
He was just about to put away the silver token when a message made him perk up:
"...Damn it. I've been set up."
"Location: Five Li Town, Great River County, Four Lakes Commandery. Something's wrong with this river demon. We'd best get an Inner Landscape Realm big shot here!"
After this message appeared, the channel fell silent for a moment.
Then someone replied, "Are you still there?"
"Hey, hey, what's happening?"
"Inner Landscape Realm? Are you sure?"
The messages stopped. That Demon-Slaying Envoy never spoke again.
The channel fell silent for another moment before someone said quietly, "Four Lakes Commandery... that place hasn't been peaceful lately."
After that, nothing more followed.
Lu Guan licked his lips, put away the silver token, and tucked it into his robe.
A river demon?
At the thought of cultivation, his back stopped aching and his steps grew steady.
He walked to the wall, took down his long saber, and hung it at his waist, then tucked the silver token farther in to ensure it would not fall out.
He pushed open the door and went outside. The morning light shone through the leaves of the old locust tree in the courtyard, and fallen locust blossoms carpeted the ground beneath it.
Lu Guan took a deep breath. The morning breeze filled his lungs, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees.
Then he strode out of the courtyard.
Four Lakes Commandery, Great River County.
He remembered the place. It bordered Langya Commandery and lay north of Qianqiu County, roughly two counties away.
Riding hard and urging his horse on, he could reach it in a day.
Before going, however, he still needed to put all the affairs within Qianqiu County in order.