In the courtyard.

Jiang Yuanhua rose and returned the bow, something genuinely curious moving in his eyes.

“General Shen — no need for formality. Please sit.”

As Qingzhou’s General, meeting one of his own Demon Suppression Generals for the first time — in any province, that would count as something worth remarking on.

Shen Yi glanced at You Longtao. You Longtao happened to be looking back at exactly the same moment.

“The bow can stay with you for now.” The General’s warm smile made clear he’d already read the thought.

“Thank you, General You.” Shen Yi found a seat.

Jiang Yuanhua exchanged a few pleasantries and looked the young man over while doing so.

Most of his understanding of Shen Yi had come from Lin Baixi’s praise — and then from yesterday’s reporting meeting. From disciple to demon-hunter to several Demon Suppression Generals, apparently everyone had something to say about this young man.

“I’m told you’ll be heading to the capital soon for the War Temple refinement. When you go, you can travel with Qiulan — she’ll show you around the capital’s War Temple.”

He said it, and the young woman under the tree showed no reaction whatsoever, looking quietly into the distance.

The General appeared to have long since accepted this as simply how things were. No one else in the courtyard seemed troubled by it either.

“Before you leave — could you do one more thing for me.”

With the travel arrangements dispatched, something faintly cold entered Jiang Yuanhua’s voice.

“My disciple may be unremarkable, but she’s not someone anyone can take advantage of without consequence. I’d considered sending Qiulan — but Shen Yi has just taken up the position. I’m wondering whether you’d be willing to go to Baiyun County and remind a certain fox that Qingzhou is not somewhere it can linger as long as it pleases.”

“It would also give the other Generals a chance to see what our newly appointed Demon Suppression General is capable of.”

A new general needed to establish themselves. Killing another core-nurturing demon lord wasn’t a realistic expectation — but forcing a wandering demon out of Qingzhou’s territory was a reasonable test of what a Demon Suppression General was made of.

You Longtao kept his usual mild manner.

With Teacher’s cultivation, he didn’t even need to leave the city — simply sitting here would make the old fox understand the gravity of its situation. The comment about letting other Generals observe was secondary. What Teacher actually wanted was to see for himself what this much-praised young General was genuinely capable of.

Perhaps because of a debt he felt toward Martial Sister Jiang, Teacher’s manner seemed to have softened considerably from before. But at the core, he was still the same person — the General who ran one province and believed only in his own judgment. No one’s word or actions would shift his decisions. Not even Jiang Qiulan’s guarantee.

“You leave for the capital in five days. Don’t miss the time.” Jiang Yuanhua gave a small nod.

“Understood.”

Greater standing brought better resources and techniques. It also brought greater responsibilities. That was fair.

Shen Yi stood, clasped his hands, and took his leave without ceremony.

He still remembered the small fox demon he’d cut down in Baiyun County with the Four Harmonies True Astral Force, all that time ago.

Even without the order — once he had a moment, he’d been planning to go back to the north cliff anyway.

After the young man left the courtyard—

You Longtao suddenly thought of something. “He didn’t ask about Martial Junior Sister once.”

Fang Heng’s head appeared from the kitchen doorway. “He didn’t, no.”

In the Deputy Commanders’ side courtyard—

Chen Jinyu came hurrying in, tapped lightly on a door. “Is Commander Shen here?”

The door opened quietly.

She instinctively held out the wolf-devouring-moon cloak. “You forgot—”

The words stopped.

She blinked and stared at the young woman standing in the doorway with some blankness.

The woman accepted the cloak without fuss, refolded it with practiced ease, and then said warmly: “Shen Yi isn’t here. I’ll pass it along for you.”

“Thank you.” Chen Jinyu remembered herself and quickly moved her gaze away from the pretty face — even in the Division compound, she’d never seen anyone this gentle-looking.

“It’s late — have you eaten? Would you like to join me?”

Lin Baixi smiled, fingers moving lightly across the wolf-devouring pattern on the cloak. Even freshly washed, it still carried the faintest trace of demon blood.

That seemed about right for what she knew of him.

“I — I—” Chen Jinyu gripped her sleeve, then heard footsteps behind her. She shook her head with a flustered expression. “My brother is waiting for me.”

She turned and stole a quick glance at the black-armored figure, then bolted from the courtyard in mild panic.

“What was that about?”

Shen Yi looked briefly at the retreating figure, then walked through the door.

He unclipped the crimson cape. Lin Baixi took it with practiced ease and pulled out a chair.

“She came to return your clothes. Sit — I’m hungry too.”

On the table: a steaming basin of braised lamb ribs.

He sat and looked at her with some curiosity. “I heard you failed the core condensation?”

“…”

Lin Baixi rolled her eyes, picked up a piece of lamb with her chopsticks, and dropped it into his bowl.

“Three months apart and you’re still this terrible.”

This time, without all those eyes.

Shen Yi finally had the chance to properly taste the meal that had been somewhat interrupted during that last evening in Baiyun County.

Just as he remembered.

“Stop staring at me.” He took a sip of the broth.

“I’m not staring.” She looked away, though she had quite a few questions pressing to get out. Dinner first.

Both of them moved their chopsticks efficiently. When the basin was empty, only a little broth remained.

Lin Baixi wiped the corner of her mouth contentedly and rubbed her stomach.

“I thought once you were a general, your tastes would get more sophisticated.”

“Just appointed. Haven’t had time to develop them.” He moved to the edge of the bed and sat.

“So how did it happen?” She finally let the curiosity and surprise come through. She could guess that Li Xinhan wouldn’t have let Shen Yi soak in medicinal baths — but even entering as a Commander, reaching Demon Suppression General in this amount of time was something else entirely.

“Same as before.” He said it evenly.

At those words, Lin Baixi’s mind went straight back to Baiyun County — out at dawn, back at dusk, robes always carrying demon blood, a faint tiredness at the brow.

She had a reasonable sense of what he meant. Killed demons. Got promoted. Said out loud it sounded very simple. But how many demons, and what kinds, before Old General Chen would raise something this extraordinary — and before even Martial Elder Sister Jiang trusted him without question.

Behind that offhand phrasing was almost certainly an uncountable number of moments where things could have gone wrong.

And for the other Generals to have noticed him at all — none of what he’d killed was ordinary.

This speed of cultivation advancement — no wonder the Yangyang General had wondered aloud whether Shen Yi was a demon in disguise.

Then she thought of herself.

A small deflation.

“I wasted a very precious opportunity—”

She didn’t show anything around the martial siblings. But here, beside Shen Yi, some of the loneliness appeared on her face — he’d seen her at worse moments.

“Aptitude issues. That’s how it goes.” He shook his head, offering what he meant as genuine consolation.

Having something take longer because of aptitude limitations — that was something he understood from personal experience.

“…”

Lin Baixi stared at his earnest expression.

She rubbed the corner of her eye. Her mood, oddly, lifted.

She didn’t take it as mockery. Shen Yi wasn’t the type to waste time on something pointless like that. If aptitude was the objective reality, then the only response was to do what needed to be done.

“So what’s the great general planning next?” She settled back with recovered composure.

Shen Yi took off the black armor and lay down on the bed.

“Going back to Baiyun County.”

At that, Lin Baixi realized something and looked up in surprise. “Teacher is using the old fox as your test? Its cultivation doesn’t quite reach core-nurturing level, but it trained at the Qingqiu school — its methods are unpredictable.”

“If Martial Elder Sister Jiang went in person, it would probably leave out of respect for her.”

“But you just took up the position. It might not give you the same courtesy—”

At that, Shen Yi folded his arms behind his head and said nothing in disagreement.

He hadn’t been planning to intimidate the fox into leaving with the black armor anyway.

(End of Chapter)