Back in Tingyang Prefecture, they requisitioned more than twenty carriages from the local Division post.

Top-grade demon-horses, with remarkable stamina.

Three days, and everyone had arrived in Tingyang City.

As the prefecture’s main city, it was nearly the size of Qingzhou city — prosperous in every direction. Among all its buildings, the most commanding presence was not the prefect’s compound but the Demon Suppression General’s residence: broad and imposing, with a weight that settled things in the air around it.

The carriages drew up to the entrance.

Two Deputy Commanders at the gate swept cold eyes over the approach, and relaxed slightly when they identified the vehicles as familiar.

Xiao Qiangwei stepped out.

When they recognized her, both faces warmed, and they came forward at an unhurried pace. “Didn’t expect you’d have time to stop by. The General’s been thinking of you.”

Unlike their easy smiles, Xiao Qiangwei’s brow was beginning to gather. “Why are you two in Tingyang City at all? Standing gate duty? Did something happen in the city?”

Not every Demon Suppression General had a reputation like Jiang Qiulan’s — where simply sitting in the main city kept the surrounding demon lords in check. General You normally stayed in the field. He rarely came back to the city to recover unless it was necessary.

“Hss—”

The two Deputy Commanders looked at each other with pained expressions and lowered their voices. “Someone broke in.”

Saying it out loud made their faces cramp.

The Demon Suppression General’s compound. Not attacked by a demon lord. Robbed by a thief.

Xiao Qiangwei blinked, then something clicked. “Yan Xingkong?”

“That dog!” The Deputy Commander’s teeth were audibly grinding. He looked ready to eat bones raw. “Couldn’t bother the Prince’s wine collection — had to come stir up trouble in Tingyang Prefecture. Someone needs to cut his legs off.”

He was venting. Everyone knew it. The man was the Thief King of Pingsha Valley, one of the first-tier forces’ most ungovernable elements — free to operate in Tingyang Prefecture or Qingzhou city with equal impunity.

Yan Xingkong — traveled eighty thousand li, never left empty-handed.

“Settle down. He knows his limits.”

Xiao Qiangwei waved it off. The Thief King had survived this long not just because of his movement art — the one that made him untouchable throughout Qingzhou — but because he never pushed things too far. He returned things, technically. What he returned in exchange for what he took was a different matter.

What was certain: he never touched what he shouldn’t.

The two Deputy Commanders sighed and let it go.

After General You had come back and looked things over, he’d seemed unbothered by the scope of the matter. For the people under him, though, it was an open-handed slap to the face.

Moving past it—

They looked with mild curiosity toward the carriages. Xiao Qiangwei had leaned to the window and said something in a quieter tone than was strictly necessary. Both of them felt a small ripple of surprise.

Given her standing, and in her own territory, who exactly required that kind of courtesy?

Then a young man in dark clothing stepped down from the carriage.

When they saw the silver bell at his hip, about a third of the confusion resolved.

A demon-hunter this young with a silver bell — that was, arguably, worth the deference.

“Didn’t you always keep that inside your sash?”

Xiao Qiangwei glanced sideways at Shen Yi in mild puzzlement, then went briefly still.

Oh.

Black Stone Deep had been Division business. At the General’s compound, it became demon-hunter credit.

Truly — nobody got to ask any questions.

Unlike the relative ease around them, every Commander and Deputy Commander from the carriage had gone pale. They’d assumed General You was out of the city. The delay might have bought them time. Instead they’d walked straight into it.

Then Liu Bin fell out of the carriage onto the ground.

The two gate guards stared. It took a long moment before recognition came.

“Old Liu?”

The man who had carried himself with such authority — looking like this?

“Save the catching up for later.”

Xiao Qiangwei’s expression settled into something serious. “Go tell General You that a demon-hunter has urgent business to report.”

One of them started to say something about how there was no need for announcements when she was practically family — then caught her face and immediately adjusted.

“Right away.”

She turned back and was about to say something to Shen Yi — suggest he soften the edges a little, even just perform the appearance of approachability. General You Longtao was genuinely easy to deal with. Making a good impression early would serve the young man well later.

She stopped.

His hand was already resting quietly on the scabbard.

She thought of the Turtle-Breath Method at full Perfection.

“…” She let out a quiet, resigned sound. Fine. Say less.

He clearly had no interest in using this as a chance to build social capital with a superior.

“…”

Shen Yi was still not entirely comfortable standing next to a target he couldn’t match in a fight. Aqian had been the same way. General You Longtao was the same now.

Even knowing they were on the same side didn’t quite remove it.

A simple enough thing to fix, really — once he outpaced them, it would resolve on its own.

Several Commanders came quickly to escort them in.

Through the compound and into a side courtyard.

A middle-aged man with a straight bearing rose to meet them. Blue jacket. A face with clean, firm lines — not sharp, exactly, but composed, with a certain scholarly quality. His voice was clear and warm.

He clasped his hands genuinely. “Thank you both for your efforts.”

Xiao Qiangwei returned the gesture. “General You.”

After a few breaths — no sound from beside her.

She looked sideways. Shen Yi’s expression was level. Looking at General You — and finding his gaze equally level, directed not at the silver bell on the right side, but at the hand resting on the scabbard at the left.

Xiao Qiangwei moved quickly to explain. “That’s just how Shen Yi is. Nothing directed at the General.”

You Longtao came back to himself, smiled easily. “You misread me, Auntie Xiao. Though from what you said, it sounds like you two have become quite familiar.”

Xiao Qiangwei instinctively pressed her lips together, caught herself, and raised an eyebrow. “Getting bold enough to tease me now, are we?”

She rarely saw him make this kind of joke in the middle of official business — but they’d already come this far, and holding the formality was pointless. Half the Division already knew how she and You Longtao stood with each other.

One offhand comment from the General, and the atmosphere had shifted from compound to something closer to a living room.

“Shen Yi — no need for ceremony. Please, sit.”

You Longtao smiled, and there was nothing performed about it. For a core-nurturing stage practitioner, he genuinely appeared to carry no particular sense of rank.

Shen Yi clasped his hands without particular deference or anxiety. “Shen Yi, greeting General You.”

He was fairly certain — from the moment he’d walked in, the General’s attention had been on the dark blade. Not on any behavior. Just the blade itself.

The reason wasn’t clear. But since the General had chosen not to raise it, Shen Yi saw no reason to either. The knife had come from the ape demon in Baiyun County. It wasn’t stolen.

A few more exchanges of courtesy.

Xiao Qiangwei moved to the matter at hand and laid out Liu Bin’s three absences and the reason behind them.

You Longtao listened carefully, considered for a moment, then raised his eyes toward the old man being held in the distance. His voice stayed warm.

“Old Liu has done a great deal for Qingzhou. It wasn’t nothing — all those years. I’ll see that he’s given a dignified end.”

Liu Bin stared at that composed, scholarly face in silence. The eyes, already clouded, went unfocused. The mouth with no tongue moved soundlessly, opening and closing.

After a moment, he lowered his head as if accepting what was coming.

You Longtao closed his eyes briefly. In the space of a breath, something passed through the courtyard like a light wind.

Liu Bin’s body dropped. No sign of life remained.

At the same moment, every Commander and Deputy Commander from Black Stone Deep hit their knees, sweat already through their clothing, not a single one of them attempting an explanation. The courtyard was so quiet that a dropped needle would have been audible.

You Longtao opened his eyes and looked at them. He seemed to be giving each decision genuine, careful thought.

After a moment, he nodded.

“Remove your badges and cloud-pattern uniforms. Salary suspended. Find honest work in the city. Guard this location on the Division’s behalf for ten years. No credit, no demerits. After that, go or stay as you choose. If you earn credit during that time and wish to return to the Division, you may start again from ordinary Commander.”

“And if you lose your discipline in the meantime and make another mistake—”

The middle-aged man went quiet.

Every single Commander immediately drew their own saber and held it across their own throat, voices cracking:

“We will end ourselves on the spot! Not a moment’s hesitation!”

You Longtao shook his head very slightly. “That won’t be necessary. Killing people is one of the few things I do competently. No need for the assistance.”

(End of Chapter)