At those words, everyone noticed the silver bell still hanging at his waist.
Several demon-hunters instinctively tucked their own bells further into their clothing. Something about wearing the same bell as General Shen felt vaguely inappropriate.
A conversation between two Demon Suppression Generals wasn’t something the others could insert themselves into.
Xiao Qiangwei thought back to what she’d seen when she left — half of Xitai Mountain’s range collapsing. She looked at Shen Yi now, and the two images finally aligned in her mind.
When General Jiang had returned to the ruined temple, the first thing she’d done was treat Shen Yi’s injuries.
The one who had actually killed the White Deer Demon Lord that night wasn’t who she’d assumed.
That also explained why, after returning to Qingzhou, he’d simply and naturally been appointed a Demon Suppression General.
No wonder — slaughtering young tiger demons, the toad lord, three peacocks, the White Deer — through all of it, Shen Yi had never shown any sign of anxiety, always completely unhurried. Because he was genuinely one of Qingzhou’s strongest.
Xiao Qiangwei let out a quiet, helpless breath. Her earlier thoughts felt a little absurd in hindsight.
“Please come in, General Shen.”
You Longtao turned and went back into the teahouse, resuming his seat.
He looked at the gold bell in his hand, then crushed it.
The Red-Maned White Jade Rabbit’s illusion technique was something even he hadn’t seen through. He’d guessed the identity only by knowing that Senior Yang would never behave so frivolously, combined with his knowledge of the rabbit demon’s innate ability.
But he’d still half-believed in the bell.
Demon-hunters of that cultivation existed only in groups of three across all of Qingzhou. He couldn’t afford to gamble on probabilities.
Which was exactly why the rabbit demon had been so openly brazen — appearing right in front of him.
The young man had walked in and moved without hesitation. He must have seen through the false bell immediately. Probably one of his many inexplicable capabilities.
You Longtao felt something quietly move in him at the thought.
He raised the teacup and took a small sip. The familiar bitterness spread across his tongue, and something like satisfaction settled into his eyes.
Qingzhou had suddenly gained a Demon Suppression General with almost nothing to criticize.
He hadn’t felt ease like this before.
You Longtao made a quiet sound and looked at his martial junior sister.
“I still need to talk with General Shen for a while. If you have something to say — say it. Don’t hold it in.”
Lin Baixi, who had been biting her lip, finally broke into a happy expression and moved quickly toward the two of them, ready to speak.
Then Shen Yi glanced over at her calmly, and his gaze came to rest on her right arm.
“…”
Lin Baixi blinked, and something warm moved in her eyes. She said quietly, “They’re minor injuries.”
You Longtao caught his martial junior sister’s expression. He raised an eyebrow.
When the elder martial brother asked one question, it was so long-winded. When this General Shen looked once, she went immediately into that expression.
The arm was turning toward someone quite obviously.
“You—” Lin Baixi glanced at her martial elder brother and Xiao Qiangwei beside her, found both watching her, and instinctively wiped a corner of her mouth where there was nothing to wipe. Something felt hard to say out loud. She finally managed, a little awkwardly: “Never mind. You deal with the important things first. We’ll talk tonight.”
You Longtao’s expression became noticeably peculiar.
Xiao Qiangwei gripped the tip of her sleeve with two fingers and looked at her shoes.
“Sure.”
Shen Yi didn’t read anything into it. From Baiyun County to Qingzhou city, he and Lin Baixi had barely ever seen each other during the day.
“General Shen’s methods have genuinely broadened my understanding of what’s possible.”
You Longtao moved the topic along. He meant it — he’d seen practitioners with overwhelming combat methods, seen movement arts that dominated Qingzhou, had fought demons with physical bodies that put human practitioners to shame. But someone who combined all of these in one person—
He’d genuinely never encountered that before.
Even someone with talent as extraordinary as his martial junior sister would put everything toward one path, pushing for a higher breakthrough as fast as possible. And someone with average aptitude like himself simply couldn’t manage this many methods simultaneously.
Someone like Shen Yi — a complete practitioner — seemed almost to have been made for killing.
Never mind anything else. Even if he’d faced the White Jade Rabbit himself, he absolutely couldn’t have done it with that particular combination of simple and brutal.
“I’d originally asked Senior Yang here to discuss dealing with some demons—”
You Longtao’s expression carried some self-reproach. “I hadn’t expected the three demon lords to intercept him. The information leak was almost certainly from my side.”
A gold-bell demon-hunter hadn’t come. A Demon Suppression General had.
“It’s fortunate General Shen was here to act.”
He glanced at the rabbit demon’s body on the floor with a slightly complicated expression. “Looking at it now — there probably isn’t anything left to discuss.”
Three core-nurturing demon lords had become two. You Longtao’s pressure had eased considerably.
Xiao Qiangwei had been looking back toward the conversation.
You Longtao was a core-nurturing practitioner cultivating the divine spirit path, with the constraints of accumulated faith — he couldn’t do what General Jiang did, moving through demon territory with complete ease after leaving Qingzhou.
She was glad he’d finally let go of that dangerous idea.
And she found herself glancing at Shen Yi again. Wherever he appeared, difficulties seemed to resolve themselves. He had a way of making everything feel manageable.
Then the young man’s voice finally joined the conversation.
“Actually — we could still discuss it a bit more.”
Shen Yi looked up. The Nine Transformations and the Heaven-Devouring Art both needed feeding. He was genuinely short on resources.
One core-nurturing demon lord’s core was nowhere close to satisfying.
“…”
You Longtao looked at Shen Yi’s serious expression — clearly not joking — and felt a flicker of surprise. “Does General Shen know that the demon lord you just killed was the Howling Moon Demon King’s wife?”
“I’m not suggesting cowardice — but I would still recommend General Shen stay somewhere in Qingzhou for the time being. At least somewhere within reach of the General’s messages.”
The Howling Moon might not particularly value the rabbit demon. But any response warranted maximum caution regardless.
“Thank you for the warning.”
Shen Yi nodded thoughtfully.
No wonder she was weaker than expected. Not one of the demon king’s generals — just a consort.
Xiao Qiangwei exhaled again at the young man finally showing some reaction—
“But if they were all kept here — would anyone actually know?”
The voice was level. But everyone nearby went still at once.
“General Shen is really—” You Longtao drew a slow breath, unsure exactly how to characterize the reasoning.
It does genuinely make sense, though.
And with his help, the probability of success was actually not small.
He felt something rise, and smiled broadly. “In that case, I am naturally—”
“General You has misunderstood.”
Shen Yi stood. “I only wanted to know how you’ve been tracking the other two demons. General You has a prefecture to guard. No need to trouble yourself.”
He had no intention of bringing You Longtao along. Leaving aside what would happen if the demon got killed by someone else — if things went sideways like at Xitai Mountain and they walked into an ambush, he had the Unfettered Wind-Riding Art — capable of fighting or running. General You would become something of a liability.
“…”
You Longtao’s half-raised hands froze in midair.
Something faintly embarrassed settled into his expression.
The reasoning was entirely valid. But this particular feeling — of being turned down with such calm certainty—
He’d genuinely never experienced this before.
(End of Chapter)