Shhk — shhk — shhk!

As the words drifted out, Hong Lei led the motion and countless Outer Division Commanders drew their sabers simultaneously.

Bright steel flashed in a continuous line.

No words needed. The killing intent settled over the entire Jingang School compound like a physical weight.

Disciples scrambled backward, staring in shock at the young man sitting casually on the stone steps. One sentence — and the Jingang School, which had been quietly approaching second-tier status, would simply cease to exist in Qingzhou?

Light finally appeared inside the pagoda.

The sealed doors were pushed open quickly. An old monk with a white beard hurried out wearing a kasaya, two closely-shorn young men bound tightly with rope behind him, both covered in injuries, faces white with despair.

Benjie — the Jingang School’s abbot.

As the pagoda doors opened, a child of perhaps ten years came charging down the steps, teeth clenched hard, eyes swollen red and full of hatred, running with everything he had.

Zhang Tuhu pushed quickly out of the crowd and caught him in both arms.

The boy pressed his face into that large, thick stomach, and all the fierceness finally gave way.

“Father — they — Mother—”

“I told you not to call me that—”

Zhang Tuhu patted the back slowly. This was already beyond what he’d dared to hope for.

The scene settled over the assembled crowd.

Whether the Commanders and Deputy Commanders around them, or Hong Lei and the Li siblings who knew Shen Yi better — every one of them had gone still.

All of this. The entire mobilization tonight. What had just been said from those steps.

It had all been to frighten the Jingang School into releasing one boy safely?

They looked at Zhang Tuhu differently after that.

Someone the Jingang School could grip at will — no meaningful strength or backing behind him. And yet he’d set the whole of Qingzhou city on edge in an evening.

The reason was simply that Commander Shen had taken it seriously. Which meant everyone else had no choice but to as well.

“You must be — Commander Shen, under General Chen’s command. This humble monk was blind to the obvious. My deepest apologies.”

Benjie moved quickly down the long steps and flung the two bound figures to the ground behind him.

Yuangang used his last reserves to force his eyes open, blood rattling in his throat, voice barely audible.

“Teacher.”

The old monk didn’t look at him. He bent toward the young man with carefully constructed humility.

“These two — three — miscreants are entirely at Commander Shen’s disposal. Beat them, kill them — the Jingang School will not raise a single objection. I hope this satisfies the Commander.”

Yuangang closed his eyes.

His teacher was one of the school’s most senior practitioners, the body-refinement method at Major Mastery, physical body equivalent to Jade Liquid Perfection. And here he was, trembling in front of the Division.

“Fine. Quite satisfying.”

Shen Yi nodded slightly and stood up from the steps, looking down at the old monk from above.

Hong Lei raised a hand lightly. Every Commander sheathed a saber.

Before anyone could exhale—

Shen Yi brushed off his clothing and said, without raising his voice:

“That was the private matter. Now the official business.”

“There’s — there’s official business as well?” The smile on Benjie’s face stiffened. He was asking what everyone else wanted to ask.

Shen Yi looked at him quietly, thin lips barely moving.

“Naturally. Your Jingang School’s collusion with demons.”

The Division’s people went still.

The only one who didn’t visibly react was Benjie. He allowed a relieved breath to ease through him and found a smile.

“Commander Shen is welcome to search the entire premises. If there is any trace connected to the demonic, every one of us will take our own lives on the spot. You won’t need to lift a hand.”

He raised his head, making his composure clear.

Even the experienced Deputy Commanders found that persuasive.

“You may have misunderstood — what I said was collusion with—”

Shen Yi smiled. He reached out and lightly patted the old monk’s cheek, the words falling without warmth.

“Demons.”

The Demon Suppression Division. Demon and magic. And the definition of what qualified as demon was vague enough to cover almost anything.

In plain terms — I say you are a demon, therefore you are a demon.

Benjie stumbled back several steps, eyes sharpening.

“Commander Shen — you’re not interested in being reasonable about this?”

Hong Lei stepped half a pace forward. Among Shen Yi’s closer acquaintances here, he held the highest rank. With both the Demon Suppression General and the General herself absent from Qingzhou, and the old grandmother Aqian, serving in their temporary absence, also strangely absent—

Playing around was one thing. If there was actual evidence, eliminating the Jingang School was entirely within the Division’s authority. But with these people’s attitude this cooperative, forcing the issue without grounds would come back on them when the General returned.

“And don’t forget — the prefect comes here next month to offer incense at the Buddha statue. If he were to hear about this—”

Benjie’s eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly closed his fingers.

“You said these three were mine to handle, yes?”

Shen Yi’s gaze shifted. He kicked one of the bound figures down the steps without ceremony.

“Check whether they’ve been cultivating the Bodhi Vajra Sacred Body.”

Several Commanders with relevant expertise started to step forward — and then realized the Commander’s eyes weren’t on them.

He was looking at the large man holding the boy.

“…”

Zhang Tuhu let go of the child, stood blank for a moment, and then his pupils shrank.

He reached out and began examining the disciple’s body. The further he went, the worse the look on his face became. By the end, he’d gone ashen.

The sensation was identical to what he’d felt years ago.

He looked slowly up at the figure above him, then gave a dull, stunned nod.

“Yes.”

Benjie seemed to realize something. He turned and started down the steps.

Shen Yi reached out and caught his arm.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The old monk’s focus fractured. He wrenched hard — a body-refinement master, nothing in Qingzhou should have been able to hold him without qi behind the grip.

But the hand at his arm didn’t move at all. Those long pale fingers closed around him with no apparent effort.

He looked at the hand — and saw a glow there that he recognized.

Whether it’s the Bodhi Vajra Sacred Body — do you really need someone else to check that for you?!

“No—!!“

The realization reached Benjie, and nearly two hundred years of life still left enough reflex. He let out a shout, spun, and drove his fist into the young man with full force.

A strike with the power to tear through demons.

Shen Yi didn’t change expression. His fingers ran up the arm, flipped, locked onto the shoulder, and the two forces met head-on — Benjie’s dissolving as if it had struck deep water, not a ripple in return.

He dropped the monk to the ground with one hand.

A deep, reverberant impact rang outward. Stone cracked along several hundred steps in both directions.

Benjie tried to push himself up. A straight dark blade was already at his throat. The thin killing edge reached him, and sweat broke out across his shaved head immediately.

Shen Yi held Erhei at an angle, robe settling around him. He looked down, his dark eyes carrying nothing but an absence of feeling.

In the middle of the noise and force of that moment, Zhang Tuhu’s hands were trembling as he continued his examination of the disciple. The further he went, the more his expression fell. Until finally, he raised his face — desolate.

The sensation was exactly the same as all those years ago.

He looked up at the figure standing on the steps and nodded with hollow certainty.

“Yes.”

(End of Chapter)