Qianqiu County

Biodata

Geography and Locations

• County town — Enclosed by high walls with guarded gates and a gate tower. Its buildings are generally low, with sparse lights at night 25 33 38.
• Surrounding countryside — Contains mountain ridges, wooded hills, and former demon strongholds, including White Bone Mountain and Wild Boar Ridge 12 25 28.
• Northern route — Great River County in Four Lakes Commandery lies north of Qianqiu, roughly two counties away. Lu Guan estimates that a hard ride can take him there in one day 49.

Notable Sites

Government and Defense

Local Leadership

• Temporary administration: Before leaving, Lu Guan places county affairs in the hands of Wang Muzhi, Meng Shuo, and Li Fugui until his successor arrives 50.
• Local martial elite: During Yuan Guanshan’s blockade, Lu Guan, Wang Muzhi, Meng Shuo, and Li Fugui constitute the county’s four known True Qi Realm experts 39 40.

Demon Suppression Bureau

• Strength: Under Lu Guan, the county bureau has approximately one hundred captains and three chief bannermen 25.
• First Squad: Regarded as the bureau’s strongest unit, specializing in difficult assignments. Its members are aristocratic scions from Langya Commandery City gaining experience and merit before returning there 11.
• Collective combat: Officers use Gather Blood into a Blade to combine their Qi and Blood into enormous blood sabers, both to confront White Bone Mountain and to encircle Wild Boar Ridge 12 28.
• Local officer networks: Long-serving and retired officers have deep family connections. Elder Qi Guoshou retains considerable prestige, while Zhao Tielin can rally established local families to support Lu Guan 3 6.

Demonic Threats

Four Major Nearby Forces

The four publicly known demonic powers around Qianqiu are White Bone Mountain, Yellow Flower Ridge, Weasel Grave, and Wild Boar Ridge 15 26.

Other Threats

• Yin Soldiers Borrowing the Road — A demon whose repeated nighttime passages through town prompt the county’s curfew. Lu Guan believes it is stronger than Yellow Flower Ridge’s tiger demon and at least at the perfected True Qi Realm; its exact strength is not established 26.
• Black-wind ape demon — Retreats after hearing Lu Guan’s Azure Dragon Form, then later fights him and is killed. Its inherited Secret Method marks its killer for retaliation 27 32 33.
• Yin Shisan — A middle Gang Condensation Realm tiger demon that enters town to retrieve Yu Qianqian. Lu Guan kills it with his bare hands 37 38.
• Yuan Guanshan — An Inner Landscape Realm ape demon that seals the entire town to force Lu Guan’s surrender 39.

History

Zhou Kaishan’s False Peace

Under Zhou Kaishan, Qianqiu maintains an outward appearance of peace while residents periodically disappear and demons operate in the shadows. The bureau occasionally catches minor demons, but Zhou secretly deals with demonic factions throughout the surrounding area. Some residents report their suspicions to Langya Commandery City, without securing action for lack of evidence 7 21 22.

Zhou’s corruption also affects bureau appointments. When only one full officer post remains, his nephew Zhou Jie competes with Lu Guan for it. Lu Guan suspects that his assessment intelligence was falsified to send him against a much stronger demon than expected 3.

After Lu Guan kills Zhou Jie, Zhou Kaishan assigns him to the First Squad’s watch over White Bone Mountain, intending the assignment to become his death sentence 9 13.

Lu Guan’s Suppression Campaign

Lu Guan instead destroys White Bone Mountain’s demons and Yellow Flower Ridge’s tiger demon. The returning officers parade their remains through Qianqiu, drawing crowds and tears from residents whose relatives have died at demon hands 20 21 22.

At the bureau, Yu Qianqian publicly accuses Zhou Kaishan of supplying people to demons. Lu Guan kills Zhou despite Qin Tiannan’s attempt to take him into custody, then produces a stone inscription from the White Bone Demon King’s cave documenting Zhou’s crimes 22 23 24.

Wang Quan appoints Lu Guan acting commandant and orders him to clear the surrounding demons as compensation for violating procedure. Wild Boar Ridge is destroyed, while Weasel Grave’s demons flee. Within a few days, no significant local demon force remains 25 28 30.

Yuan Guanshan’s Blockade

Retaliation follows the death of the marked ape demon. Yuan Guanshan arrives outside the gates carrying a black coffin and seals Qianqiu with his presence, allowing no one to enter or leave. Lu Guan concludes that the ape is holding the residents hostage to pressure the bureau into surrendering him 33 38 39.

Wang Muzhi, Meng Shuo, and Li Fugui gather at the bureau and keep watch over Lu Guan during the crisis. Lu Guan obtains the Li Household’s Mountain-Moving Heart Method by trading Li Fugui a Gang Condensation Realm body-refining art 40 41.

Yu Qianqian brings Chen Jingchou to intervene. Chen prevents Yuan Guanshan from drawing on the forces of heaven and earth, and Lu Guan kills the ape with Celestial Person One Saber Slash 45 46 47.

Departure of Lu Guan

With the surrounding demons eliminated, Lu Guan joins the Demon-Slaying Envoys and gives up his commandant post. Before departing, he delegates local affairs to Wang Muzhi, Meng Shuo, and Li Fugui pending a replacement 49 50.

The three leaders do not know that Lu Guan personally killed Yuan Guanshan; they assume Chen Jingchou was responsible. Wang Muzhi nevertheless remains concerned that Lu Guan’s conflict with Ailao Mountain could bring another powerful demon to Qianqiu 50.

Daily Life

• Curfew: Vendors, taverns, and eateries close at night because of Yin Soldiers Borrowing the Road. Streets become deserted after closing 21 26.
• Street trade: Fruit, pastries, and children’s snacks are sold before curfew; breakfast stalls operate in the morning 21 50.
• Public support for demon hunters: Residents offer food to Lu Guan’s officers as they march against Wild Boar Ridge 28.
• Neighborhood gossip: Yu Qianqian’s stay at Lu Guan’s home becomes widely known, with neighbors circulating increasingly extravagant versions of their relationship 50.

Connection to Lu Guan

• First settlement after transmigration: Qianqiu is the county town where Lu Guan initially settles in this world 50.
• Family roots: The Lu Household has supplied officers for generations and maintains longstanding friendships with other local families 6 24.
• Early career: Lu Guan rises from probationary officer to acting county commandant before leaving as a Silver-Token Demon-Slaying Envoy 3 25 50.