Qingzhou. Demon Suppression Division.

Two carriages stopped at the side entrance.

“Miss — should we take the young master home?” Little Er jumped down, concern in his face.

“These are all surface wounds. Take him to Senior White — his medicine is good. No scarring.”

Li Muqing knew her brother. What he couldn’t stand, more than anything, was having people point at his achievements and trace them back to the Li family’s support — even when that support was, in fact, real. Without their parents quietly managing things in the background, his habit of charging ahead without enough preparation would have gotten him killed any number of times.

The more people talked about it behind his back, the harder he pushed to prove himself. The harder he pushed, the more impulsive he became, and the more mess the Li family had to clean up afterward.

This situation with the river demon, for instance — several Commanders already missing, a bloodstained identity token arriving as warning, clearly not enough people, and he’d refused to ask another Deputy Commander for support. Just pushed forward, hoping to find an opening.

Without Shen Yi as an unpredicted variable, he might have gotten everyone killed at Shuiyun Township.

Coming away with only physical injuries was practically a miracle.

“He earned a month in bed. Some reflection would do him good.”

Little Er sighed and offered an explanation. “The young master was more measured before. First Commander Fang Heng was chosen by the General as a disciple — and then what happened in Baiyun County rattled him. That’s what made him start pressing.”

As he said it, his gaze slid briefly to the figure ahead.

He had to admit — whatever had unsettled the young master, it hadn’t come from lucky connections with Deputy Commander Lin. With that actual ability behind him, given time, this was going to be another practitioner on Fang Heng’s level.

Both of them had come from nothing. Fang Heng had caught the General’s eye by going alone against a late-stage Jade Liquid Realm demon and surviving. That was how he’d become a three-band Commander.

By comparison, Shen Yi’s target had been depleted — but his cultivation level was far below Fang Heng’s. Measured against the gap, what he’d done was more alarming, not less.

Little Er shook his head, gave the bandage-wrapped Li Xinhan a sympathetic look, and went inside to get people to carry the injured in.

“After you, Constable Shen — time to collect what’s owed.”

Li Muqing stepped aside with a gesture of mock ceremony.

She led him to the External Affairs Hall.

Commanders who had been moving briskly through the corridors slowed involuntarily as they noticed the dense demonic blood-energy clinging to the young man, their eyes following him with something between respect and contemplation.

A two-band Commander coming out of the Hall stepped to the side and offered a clasped-hand bow. “Congratulations on returning with victory.”

The attention of that many people at once was something Shen Yi found faintly uncomfortable. He nodded. “Thank you.”

He followed Li Muqing inside.

A smooth, lacquered counter ran across the near wall. Two people stood behind it — a man and a woman, same ink-black uniforms, though the embroidery at the shoulder was different. Where the Outer Division wore a fierce golden wolf, these two wore a golden eagle with bright, keen eyes.

The wolf roams a thousand li. The eagle watches all four directions.

More or less what Liu Xiujie had described. Both of them wore their polite smiles while exuding a quality the Outer Division people outside distinctly lacked — a refinement that spoke of better upbringings.

Li Muqing pushed a ledger across the counter. “The Commanders sent to observe the ceremony are all dead. A Jade Liquid Realm demon was involved. Both eliminated.”

The woman behind the counter showed no grief at the news — if anything, her smile became more genuine. She clearly knew the Li siblings.

“Xinhan’s going to make Deputy Commander,” she said warmly, not mentioning the dead. “I’ll have to call him sir when I see him.”

Several Outer Division Commanders nearby gave her a flat look and left without comment.

Li Muqing’s expression remained level. She had no interest in pleasantries.

“You’ll be waiting a few more months for that. Please look carefully at the ledger.”

The man beside her picked it up and flipped it open. Faint puzzlement crossed his face. “First-credit citation — Shen Yi?”

It wasn’t unheard of for a squad leader’s credit to be outranked by a subordinate’s, but it was rare. And given that Li Xinhan needed exactly one more first-credit citation to make Deputy Commander—

This was difficult to make sense of.

He kept reading. His pupils narrowed slightly.

“You eliminated the river deity of Shuiyun Township?”

He looked up, and for the first time let his attention settle properly on the quiet young man standing behind Li Muqing.

After a moment, he smiled. “Your qi-concealment technique is excellent, friend. Another expert the old Li patriarch found somewhere. By procedure, we bump you up one grade — do you want martial arts or medicinal pills as your reward?”

Something Shen Yi had actually been waiting to discuss.

He stepped forward, entirely clear on what he wanted. “The Thunder-Wind Solar-Fusion Scripture.”

The two behind the counter went briefly silent. They looked at each other, and something close to awe moved across their faces before they could suppress it.

Requesting that internal art — so he really is at the Threshold Realm?

They’d assumed he was there to smooth the path for Li Xinhan, perhaps collecting a nominal credit. The implication of what he’d actually done landed differently now.

What kind of background does this person have…

They composed themselves quickly and went inside. About the time it took to burn a stick of incense, they returned with a fresh black uniform, a handwritten copy of a martial text, and a medicine bottle.

“Leave the old uniform when you’re done with it — we’ll have someone collect it. The copy was prepared in advance by someone else, saves you the trouble. As for the medicine—” the woman smiled, “—new recruits are normally entitled to ten years of medicinal baths, but I imagine that’s not what you need. We’ll convert it to Qi-Gathering Pills.”

The man reached into his sleeve and produced an additional bottle. “Those are the official allocation. This one is a small personal gift — just a token.”

Li Muqing turned slightly and looked elsewhere.

Shen Yi collected the official items, left the extra bottle on the counter, and said with complete calm: “Thank you for the gesture. I appreciate it.”

Not making a performance of refusing. Not giving the impression he thought himself above it. Just leaving it.

He turned and walked out.

Li Muqing followed. “You’re that careful about getting tangled up with Qingzhou families?”

Shen Yi slowed his pace and turned. “Their connections are useful enough. I just worry that if I use them too much, I’ll end up having to change my surname.”

Like just now — ten years of medicinal baths converted to Qi-Gathering Pills. That was technically something the rules provided for, but only if someone raised it. Nobody had to.

The uniform that would be collected. The copy prepared in advance.

With the right backing, the small frictions of life just smoothed themselves away — invisible hands doing the work before it became work.

Nobody disliked being made comfortable. But nothing was ever truly without a price.

“Why draw such hard lines?” Li Muqing stretched her arms overhead and blinked. “Xinhan’s already talking about making you a family guardian and marrying off his sister — you might end up family anyway.”

Shen Yi looked at the brightness in her eyes, considered for a moment, and said with more seriousness than usual: “That’s exactly why it’s better to keep things clear.”

“So boring.” Li Muqing put her hands behind her back and moved ahead of him. “Come on — I’ll show you the quarters. The others will probably be stuck in the infirmary for a while, so you’ll have the place to yourself.”

She turned as she said it, voice unchanged — still the same light, unbothered tone. But her eyes had narrowed, just slightly.

(End of Chapter)