The pavilion doors swung slowly open.

You Longtao walked out in silence to stand beside his fellow generals.

He genuinely could not understand why General Shen held such a pronounced bias against divine spirit cultivators. Grandmother Aqian could go. Elder Wu Feng could go. And yet here he was, deemed unfit again.

“Now, perhaps, I may be told?” Jiang Yuanhua steadied his breathing and looked through the doorway at Aqian with a flat expression.

“Guard your Qingzhou.”

Aqian rolled her eyes and walked out through the crowd.

You Longtao distributed a set of pre-prepared letters to the other Demon Suppression Generals — the contents were simple enough: exercise greater caution in holding their respective prefectures during this period, and do not be drawn away from their posts.

Then he stepped in front of his master and murmured a few words.

The matter was settled, so there was no reason to keep it from him. Aqian simply had no interest in dealing with him herself.

“…”

Jiang Yuanhua slowly closed his eyes.

He understood perfectly well why they had kept him out.

They were afraid that if he learned of this, he would force Qiulan to leave Qingzhou and go after the Junior Demon King himself.

The General’s expression remained utterly still.

He let out a long breath.

When he opened his eyes and looked at the young woman in the doorway again, something in his gaze had dimmed.

Being seen that way by people — it left a bitter taste on the tongue.

What made it worse — what genuinely turned his stomach — was that he had thought it over carefully, and found that he really would have done exactly that.

“…”

He said nothing about staying safe.

She would not have found any warmth in it. It would only have turned her stomach too.

He gave Jiang Qiulan a single nod, then turned and left.

Since these people had already made their plans, he had his own preparations to make — keeping his attention on the Howling Moon, and readying himself for the possibility that the ambush failed and the demons struck back.

Shen Yi walked out of the Division yamen at an unhurried pace.

He glanced back at the others.

Inside the pavilion, they had exchanged information freely.

Aqian was the most senior Gold-bell demon-hunter in Qingzhou — he had suspected she was younger than she looked, but he had not expected her to be older than even old man Chen. The memory of her calling him “big brother” surfaced unbidden, and Shen Yi’s hand closed into a fist without quite meaning to.

She was a Core-Nurturing martial cultivator, feeding her inner core with qi and blood — a fairly conventional path. She had broken through the second threshold some time ago, and her path embryo had accumulated well. A true path infant was still some distance away.

Wu Feng was somewhat behind her — his path embryo had formed, but had not yet fully matured.

Shen Yi realized, with mild surprise, that even setting aside his body refinement techniques, in terms of realm and cultivation alone he had already pulled ahead of these veterans.

Progress was moving along.

Beyond those two, it was Jiang Qiulan who constituted the real fighting strength. She might have her shortcomings, but purely in terms of killing power, she stood second to none in Qingzhou save the General himself.

“Do you need a mount?”

Aqian looked at Jiang Qiulan. Demon-hunters might not be the most formidable fighters, but their qi-concealment, illusion techniques, and movement arts were all exceptional.

Chen Qiankun’s red horse was probably still waiting at the Division gate.

But a creature that fine made a great deal of noise when it ran. It felt less like going to an ambush and more like sending advance notice to the demons.

“No need.”

Jiang Qiulan looked calmly at Shen Yi.

He had already promised her.

Wu Feng clicked his tongue. What exactly did that mean — were they planning to ride General Shen over?

Shen Yi stopped walking and reached back to grab Jiang Qiulan by the collar.

“…”

Jiang Qiulan stared at him, reached up and patted the back of his hand, then glanced pointedly down at her own waist.

Shen Yi was not one for fussing. He wrapped an arm around the young woman’s slender waist, then dissolved into a breeze and vanished, heading in the direction Aqian had indicated.

“Oh my.”

Aqian blinked. This boy had some nerve.

Never mind his demon-slaying abilities for a moment — he had gotten a hold of the most beautiful woman in Qingzhou without making a single sound.

She looked over at Wu Feng.

“Old woman.”

Wu Feng rolled his eyes. He had no translocation technique, but his movement arts were extraordinary — he moved like a bolt of lightning, and was barely slower than Shen Yi.

“Hmph.”

Aqian clicked her tongue dismissively and followed.

Beyond Qingzhou’s borders, this was land the Division had no jurisdiction over.

No towering walls. No cooking smoke rising from rooftops. Only green mountains and clear water in every direction.

The deeper they went, the harder it became to name any landmark.

“Technically, we’ve already left the Great Qian dynasty.”

Jiang Qiulan leaned against Shen Yi, a rare trace of something like longing in her clear eyes.

“You seem a little tense.”

Shen Yi glanced sideways. Both of them ran cool by nature, and the black armor between them left no trace of anything improper — but there it was.

“Once I kill it, I can leave.”

Jiang Qiulan’s lashes fluttered. For just a moment, her breathing was unsteady.

In Qingzhou, there was no master and disciple who shared a surname.

What existed was one person who transmitted knowledge, and another who carried out orders.

Qingzhou’s sharpest blade — it was, in its way, an apt description.

She was simply a weapon Jiang Yuanhua had picked up. She had been forged for killing, from the very beginning. Only once this was done could she stop being a blade and become a person again.

Then she could leave this place and begin her own life.

Everyone assumed she bore her master a grudge.

She did not.

Because she had never recognized him as a master in the first place.

From the moment her old friend left, Jiang Qiulan had understood with perfect clarity what she was in Jiang Yuanhua’s eyes.

The bond she had cherished most — to him, it had simply been a tool. Useful for tempering her, for teaching her a hard lesson.

He had not even harmed her old friend. He had given it techniques and weapons, had simply chosen not to stop it from seeking revenge.

He had left her without even the grounds to resent him.

To survive in this world overrun by demons, she needed techniques and resources. And the General had no interest in the kind of loyalty that flowed between master and disciple — only in a blade sharp enough to deal with the Junior Demon King.

She would do her utmost. Even at the cost of her life, if it came to that. Nothing more.

But she was very tired.

Even the sharpest sword needed a scabbard — somewhere to rest, even briefly.

Jiang Qiulan looked down at the arm around her waist. She had never once let her guard down like this in front of another person. It was a strangely novel feeling.

“We’re here.”

Shen Yi landed quickly and released Jiang Qiulan.

This was the meeting point Aqian had arranged in advance.

He scanned the surroundings. Even this far outside the Great Qian dynasty, it was not the demon-infested wilderness he might have imagined.

Golden light gathered in his eyes — the Mountain-Seeking Qi-Gazing Method, combined with the golden eagle ability.

Far ahead, beyond a distant ridge, a dense red mist was rising. Compared to that surging tide of demon qi, even the old flood dragon he had killed looked diminished.

But there was only one presence.

Where was the ambush?

Shen Yi’s brow tightened slightly.

Could it be that the Qi-Gazing Method had no effect on the Howling Moon Demon King?

(End of Chapter)