Dawn light, thin and pale. White mist curling through still air.

Outside the quiet county, more than ten carriages were lined up in a row.

The dark wood of the carriage bodies was carved not with auspicious patterns but with fierce beasts rendered in unsettling detail — the kind of thing that made people instinctively want to take a step back.

The horses were powerfully built, limbs long and muscular, coats uniformly black and standing half a head taller than any ordinary horse of quality. Their heads were covered in a layer of dark red fuzz, and when they raised their faces and showed their pupils — vertical, like a leopard’s — the nearest one directed a pointed snort toward the people beside it.

Niu Da clutched his bundle and shuffled hastily behind everyone else. “What kind of horse has eyes like that? Looks like a big cat.”

The beggar walked over and patted the horse’s neck gently. “It’s half-demon. Fast, smooth, works through the night — we’ll be in Qingzhou in two days at most.”

Half-demon meant livestock with demon blood mixed in — infected ancestry. If full sentience developed, they became proper demons. But under careful selective breeding across generations, the demonic nature diluted, and the likelihood of sentience developing dropped to nearly nothing.

With the horses settled, the beggar drifted back beside Li Xinhan and lowered his voice. “From what I can see so far — his learning is scattered. He has something resembling Jingang School body refinement, some bladework, and when he draws, the constables say there’s a clear demonic corruption in the qi.”

“Walking around he’s light on his feet — you can see the Serpentine Eight Strides underneath it.”

“Mm. All over the place. Doesn’t look like any single lineage.”

Body refinement, corruption bladework, Demon Suppression Division movement technique — just what was visible represented three completely unrelated paths.

The beggar sighed slightly. “And for all those wild methods, he put me on the ground in one move.”

The risk of scattered learning was well understood among practitioners. Life was finite. Dabbling in everything looked useful in a scrape, but every additional path consumed time that couldn’t be recovered.

“His natural talent probably isn’t weaker than yours. About the same age too. That’s likely the only reason his cultivation level is a step behind.”

Li Xinhan’s expression stayed level. “That’s fine.”

Scattered learning meant no proper lineage. Background would be clean.

“And — not the same age.”

Li Xinhan’s gaze moved to the figures approaching in the distance. “I’m younger by one year and six months. And two years ago, I was already at the Jade Liquid Realm. If it had been me at the door that night instead of you, he’d have been down in one move as well.”

He was clearly feeling something, and equally clearly trying not to show it.

The beggar stared at him. “If it had been Deputy Commander Lin opening that door, you wouldn’t last one move either,” he muttered. “It’s not even a settled thing yet. You really going to be jealous over air?”

Li Xinhan’s jaw twitched. He made a sharp sound, shook out his sleeve, and swung himself onto his horse.

“…”

Old Liu stretched, yawned, and had no interest in arbitrating.

They were all clean-background Qingzhou recruits from the same selection year. Li Xinhan’s talent was genuinely exceptional — he’d simply moved faster — but he didn’t put on airs around the group. Stabbing each other in the feelings was a regular pastime. Nobody held it against anyone.

He rolled out his neck, walked toward the newcomers. “Ready? Family members and attendants in the rearmost carriages.”

Chen Ji nodded and helped a slightly overwhelmed Chen Jinyu up into the carriage already filled with other family members.

Old Liu turned around and found himself looking at the considerable silhouette of Zhang Tuhu.

“Right. You get one to yourself.”

He led Shen Yi and Chen Ji to the first carriage.

At the front, Li Xinhan gave his reins a light pull, and without any coachmen involved, the demon-horses simply began to move in formation behind him.

“Work hard when you get to Qingzhou. You’re decent material — adding a cloud-band to your cuff isn’t impossible in time.”

Settled in the smooth-riding cabin, Old Liu offered Chen Ji an encouraging look first.

“Understood, sir.” Chen Ji returned the courtesy, knowing perfectly well the remark was diplomatic dressing for Shen Yi’s benefit.

“With you I’ll skip the formalities.” Old Liu turned to Shen Yi, rubbing his hands together. “What do you think — interested in working with us? Li Xinhan’s team has some very impressive young women, I’ll tell you that much. Not settled down yet, are you?”

Shen Yi lifted the curtain and looked outside.

Only Li Xinhan and the beggar were on horseback.

“Where’s everyone else?”

Old Liu exhaled. “Still in Baiyun County. Waiting for the internal division inspection team to come take over.”

“Internal division?”

Old Liu seemed mildly reluctant to explain this properly, until a pointed sound came from Li Xinhan outside the carriage. He gave in.

“The Qingzhou Demon Suppression Division has three branches. Aside from the section that handles new recruits — there are the Inner and Outer divisions.”

“The Inner division does the county rotation inspections. The rest of the time they stay in Qingzhou city, patrol the streets, drink wine—” he paused, “—they have a deep and sophisticated understanding of garrison strategy, and they very rarely leave the walls. Incredibly dull.”

“The Outer division, on the other hand — we have real standing. Both the General and Deputy Commander Lin came up through the Outer division when they were young. More freedom, and you spend your time out among rivers and mountains, seeing the world. Extraordinary life, honestly.”

Chen Ji listened with an increasingly uncertain expression and ventured quietly: “If you’re out in the wilderness a lot — don’t you run into a great many demons?”

“You—”

Old Liu stared at the young man, opened his mouth, and found he couldn’t quite finish the thought.

“Getting into the Inner division isn’t difficult either,” he pivoted, turning back to Shen Yi. “Li Xinhan could put in a word — his family is Qingzhou money, he has the connections for that kind of thing. And our team’s women, I’m telling you, they are genuinely—”

Shen Yi let the curtain fall.

The man sounds like a matchmaker.

A lifetime stationed somewhere safe, iron rice bowl in hand, no demons to worry about — a thing nobody in their right mind would refuse.

Except him.

Without demon lifespan to sustain everything, the “talent” he’d displayed would unravel immediately. His body’s true natural level was lifelong hard work producing a reasonably competent saber practitioner. No comparison to these Commanders — he couldn’t measure up to Chen Ji, honestly.

“The Outer division sounds right. Whatever the Commanders decide.”

Shen Yi settled back. He looked for all the world as if he’d taken Old Liu’s entire pitch at face value.

Outside the carriage, Li Xinhan’s expression remained exactly as it had been, but the hand gripping the reins eased slightly.

“I knew you had good eyes!” Old Liu slapped his knee, clearly delighted. “You could see right away that we’re going places.”

The Division was intensely results-driven and deeply competitive internally. For Li Xinhan to advance, he needed his own team behind him. Compared to units led by more established commanders, his youth and shorter record put him at a disadvantage when it came to recruitment.

Someone with Shen Yi’s ability — another experienced commander might not think much of it, but for Li Xinhan’s group, it was something worth fighting over.

“…”

Chen Ji sat quietly in his corner.

Both of them had come out of Baiyun County. He and the others were still anxious about what came next. And Shen Yi had already become something that the Demon Suppression Division’s Commanders were quietly competing to claim.

(End of Chapter)