Tea splashed in all directions, soaking the hem of You Longtao's robe.

He'd traded away his old dark armor for the long gown he liked best when at his ease.

After his master's departure, You Longtao had taken over the whole of Qingzhou's accumulated faith, ascending in one leap to the station of Martial Immortal.

Brother Shen had left him a stable, peaceful Qingzhou.

He'd thought he would never again have to endure the pressures his master had once faced, never again have to give anything up — that he could simply be a General living just as his heart pleased.

Until, half a month ago, this fox demon had swaggered into Qingzhou City.

In the instant he laid eyes on it, You Longtao had jolted awake from the joy of breaking through to Martial Immortal.

That vast, overwhelming pressure was more terrifying even than facing the Howling Moon demon king back when he'd been at the Core-Nurturing realm.

The Qingqiu fox demons had, in the end, come looking.

You Longtao had long anticipated this, but he'd never been able to work out how the death of a single Condensate-realm fox demon could implicate an existence this formidable.

Letters begging for aid were sent to the Imperial Capital, one after another.

He received only a reply from the Demon Suppression Division's head office, which said the Inspector was away handling business and had, for the time being, no spare capacity to oversee Qingzhou as well.

Beyond that, the letter faintly hinted that Great Qian faced some other crisis besides.

The one thing to be thankful for was that this fox had, for now, no intention of making a move — it only humiliated this crowd of old Generals over and over, trampling these men of arms who slew demons and warded a whole commandery underfoot, grinding their dignity to dust.

Demon Suppression Generals, reduced in the end to running dogs doing a demon's bidding.

"Go on."

You Longtao turned slowly, soothing everyone's mood with as steady a voice as he could manage.

He truly was a clumsy sort of man.