Inside the small hall.
Zhou Jie had changed into a fresh set of clothes and stood with his hands at his sides, his whole body rigid. That downward slash from moments earlier kept replaying in his mind.
In that instant, he had truly smelled death. He could well be said to have taken a real trip to the gates of hell and back.
Precisely because of that, whenever he recalled the saber-wielding youth, he could not help feeling a chill in his heart.
"Idiot!"
At the furious rebuke, Zhou Jie shuddered. His knees buckled, and he nearly fell to them. With difficulty, he raised his head and met Zhou Kaishan's gaze.
"You went behind my back to contact those demons on White Bone Mountain. Do you really think Qianqiu County is a place where you can do whatever you please?"
"If anyone found out, not just you-even I would be hard-pressed to escape death. Do you realize you nearly brought a catastrophe down on my head?"
The more Zhou Kaishan spoke, the angrier he became. His eyes widened, and he could not stop himself from slapping Zhou Jie across the face.
Smack!
The blow was so powerful that Zhou Jie flew sideways, his back slamming into the wall.
He fell to the floor. Half his face instantly swelled, the corner of his mouth split, and blood with a sweet, metallic tang dripped down his chin.
But he had no time to mind the burning pain in his face. The panic in Zhou Jie's heart had already eclipsed even his fear of Lu Guan.
His deeds had come to light...
"Uncle! Uncle! I was possessed! It was my fault! But it's all that Lu Guan's fault. Wouldn't everything have been fine if he'd died? Why did he have to stay alive?!"
Zhou Jie scrambled and crawled back, flinging his arms around Zhou Kaishan's thigh. All ten fingers clutched tight, and tears and snot smeared his face.
"Uncle, please give me one more chance."
He tilted his swollen face upward, his eyes full of pleading.
"A chance?"
Zhou Kaishan looked down at his good-for-nothing nephew. The anger faded from his face, and he suddenly gave a cold laugh that was particularly chilling.
He bent down and helped Zhou Jie up himself, dusting off his clothes as he said gently, "Look how frightened you are. You're my own nephew. How could you not have another chance?"
"You do. Set your mind at ease."
Though Zhou Jie did not know why his uncle's attitude had inexplicably changed, the heart hanging in his throat finally settled a little.
If he was a petty traitor to humanity, then Zhou Kaishan was a major traitor through and through.
As far as he knew, Zhou Kaishan had ties to demonic factions large and small around Qianqiu County.
Whether demon kings entrenched deep in the mountain forests or fiends lurking in the shadows, every one of them had secret dealings with this commandant of the Demon Suppression Bureau.
He had even learned by chance that his uncle had attached himself to an extremely powerful demonic faction, working and risking his life for them, willingly serving as their running dog.
In other words, though Zhou Kaishan bore the name of a human, wore the official robes of the Demon Suppression Bureau, and drew a salary from the imperial court, he had long since become a demon in his bones.
What was the truth behind all the people who had gone missing in the county over the years?
Those woodcutters reported as having "gone into the mountains to gather herbs and never returned," those women who had "disappeared while visiting relatives," those children who had "wandered off while playing"...
In truth, this commandant charged with protecting the region had delivered every last one of them into the mouths of demons!
No wonder Zhou Kaishan was so shocked and furious. He feared that Zhou Jie's affairs would expose his own, condemning him beyond all redemption.
Zhou Jie believed it was his exposure to this traitorous uncle's influence that had led him, step by step, down the road of betraying humanity, a road of no return.
At heart, he was still good.
As for his uncle, he was a beast-and a vicious, ruthless beast at that.
Thus, Zhou Jie feared him greatly.
"Though I've settled this trouble for you, you can forget about becoming a full member. You can't even stay in Qianqiu County anymore."
Zhou Kaishan spoke impassively, having already arranged a way out for Zhou Jie:
"Commandant Wang in the neighboring county is a good friend of mine. Go seek refuge with him. I'll prepare the necessary paperwork for you. Once you get there, behave yourself and don't cause any more trouble."
Hearing this, Zhou Jie looked hesitant.
He knew of Commandant Wang too. The man was as great a traitor to humanity as his uncle. The two had colluded in villainy for years and could be called a pair of fox-and-dog friends.
Yet under another man's eaves, he would have to bow his head. How could staying with someone else compare to the freedom he enjoyed under his own uncle's protection?
"Uncle... do I really have to leave?"
"As I see it, since we've already shut Lu Guan's mouth with an official captain's post, no one knows about this besides the two of us."
"I... still want to stay by your side and fulfill my filial duties."
Zhou Jie licked his cracked lips, making one last struggle.
"That's why I called you an idiot."
Zhou Kaishan spoke coldly, looking at Zhou Jie with disappointment, as though hating iron for failing to become steel.
Ever since meeting Lu Guan, he had found this nephew increasingly unworthy of regard.
That youth was eighteen or nineteen, yet when he stood with saber in hand, his imposing presence was already fully formed.
His eyes were impossibly calm, his attacks decisive, and he sheathed his saber with composure.
He was clearly only a trainee captain, yet he had more killing aura than many veterans of the Demon Suppression Bureau.
How wonderful would it be if the two could trade identities, and Lu Guan became his nephew?
With such an outstanding junior, why would he need to betray humanity and toil like an ox or horse for demons?
He could simply lie flat.
"A young man's hot blood-with a sharp blade in hand, the urge to kill rises of its own accord."
"You intended to harm him. Do you think he has no intention of killing you?"
As a commandant of the Demon Suppression Bureau, he had climbed step by step to his current position.
In his youth, he too had waded through demonic corpses and bones, crossed mountains of blades and seas of fire, and survived nine deaths to find one chance at life. What kind of killing intent could he fail to recognize?
Naturally, the killing intent in the youth could not escape his eyes.
And it was by no means merely a thought. That was someone who truly dared to act.
For a moment, the room fell silent, with only their clearly audible breathing remaining.
Once again, Zhou Jie involuntarily recalled that slash, and he spoke in a trembling voice:
"Having failed once... would he really dare try to kill me again?"
"This is inside the county town! Could that Lu Guan really be so unbridled, so brazenly reckless?!"
At this point, he himself froze.
How was that Lu Guan even more vicious and ferocious than a traitor to humanity like him?
After his words fell, Zhou Kaishan merely looked at him in disappointment. Only after a long silence did he speak:
"Entrusting your life to another person's passing whim-is that all you've learned over these years?"
So naive it was laughable.
"Get out." Zhou Kaishan turned his face away, no longer looking at him. "Pack your bags and leave tomorrow."
Zhou Jie was utterly despondent, as though his spine had been pulled out, completely at a loss. He stumbled out through the gates of the Demon Suppression Bureau, tripped over the threshold, and nearly fell flat on his face.
In an entire county, there was not even a place for him.
Watching Zhou Jie's retreating figure disappear, Zhou Kaishan's eyes filled with disdain. He opened his mouth and spat out a single word:
"Good-for-nothing."
A small residence on Green Tile Street.
Lu Guan pushed the door open and entered. It was a single-courtyard residence with gray tiles and white walls. An old locust tree stood in the courtyard, its bare branches stretching toward the sky.
Though small, it was the foundation on which generations of the Lu family had established their lives in Qianqiu County.
The courtyard was empty, with only him there.
Lu Guan stood in the courtyard, the corner of his mouth twitching:
"Both parents dead, all alone in the world. After transmigrating here, I got to enjoy the protagonist treatment too."
He shook his head and stepped into the bedroom.
He took off his shoes, undressed, lay down, and pulled up the covers, all in one smooth sequence. The bedding was thin and carried a stale dampness, but he did not notice it at all.
Lu Guan closed his eyes, putting aside the troubling events of the day.
The sun set, and the moon rose.
Heaven and earth were pitch-black, with only moonlight spilling down, leaving the ground a snowy white.
On the bed, the motionless figure suddenly opened his eyes.
His eyes were bright, as though moonlight had spilled into them, without the slightest haze of someone newly awakened.
Lu Guan rolled over and sat up, walked to the table, picked up the scabbard, and drew his saber.
Half a blade emerged into the moonlight. The break was clean, as though some sharp weapon had severed it in a single strike.
The edge reflected the moonlight, its cold gleam like water, casting a long, narrow streak of icy light onto the wall.
He lowered his head to look at the broken half-saber, his face expressionless.
"Though only half remains..." Lu Guan slid the saber back into its scabbard. "It's enough to kill him."
The youth left home with his saber.
The night was dark and the wind high-just the right time for killing.