"Easy to invite a god, hard to send one away — I hope the Inspector understands our position."

Madam Lin cupped her sword in a salute. "If there's anything the Implement Sect's disciples can do to help, please say the word without hesitation. We wouldn't dare be the slightest bit remiss."

Qingqiu's foxes made a point of offending nobody. Whether dealing with the Thousand Demon Den or Great Qian, they invariably presented the face of easy harmony.

And with their fingers in every kind of craft and knowledge.

When the Implement Sect had first invited the fox over, they'd never imagined it would cause trouble.

Until this time, when it sent a letter to Qingzhou using the Implement Sect's name without authorization... the specific reason remained unclear, but the whole thing didn't feel like it had any good intentions tucked inside it.

"Understood."

Shen Yi nodded and saw her out of the central offices.

With only this much information, it was difficult to guess what Qingqiu's fox was actually after.

But he wasn't particularly worried about it.

Knowing that Lizhou's Implement Sect had a worthwhile sum of demon lifespan on hand was enough for now.

Situations like Song Prefecture's were rare.

In provinces with any real strength behind them, governance was generally managed well enough — Shen Yi had spent so many days waiting, had even gone out of his way to ask several Demon Suppression Generals directly, and still hadn't turned up anything promising.

Generals like Jiang Yuanhua, keeping a constant eye on the demon king every moment of the day, were the exception rather than the rule.

Most Martial Immortals at the mid-tier and above only needed to sit in the General's residence — their reputation for violence alone was enough to keep the demons in check.

For Shen Yi's purposes, this was far from ideal.

But he didn't feel particularly put out by it. Situations as dire as Song Prefecture's were better kept to a minimum, all things considered.

"Let's go."

Shen Yi brought Lin Baixi out of the central offices, and found the carriage parked at…