Scripture of Days Past

Outside the relay station, Zhang Haizhu and Hao Xiangtong were still debating whether to go inside, but before they could make up their minds, the relay station was suddenly set alight from within.

The fire spread rapidly, and before long, the entire relay station was up in flames.

Zhang Haizhu and Hao Xiangtong were just about to rush inside to Chu Qiguang's aid when the door was kicked open from within by Zhang Jitian. His clothes were disheveled and covered in blood, but none of it seemed to be his.

Despite his bedraggled appearance, he appeared completely unscathed, and he was carrying someone on his back.

Chu Qiguang emerged from the relay station behind him, his clothes spotlessly clean and uncreased.

"What happened in there? Why did the place suddenly catch fire?" Hao Xiangtong hurriedly asked.

"The relay station was attacked by fiends, but they've all been killed by Zhang Jitian," Chu Qiguang explained. "During the battle, he lost control of his qi and blood a little and set all the hay in the relay station alight."

You're pinning the blame on me? It was you who set the place on fire! Zhang Jitian thought to himself in a disgruntled manner.

I bet it was Brother Chu, Chen Gang thought. The heat he releases while cultivating is intense enough to cook eggs in seconds. He must've accidentally set the place on fire.

The two of them exchanged a glance, and a mutual understanding was established between them.

"Who's that?" Hao Xiangtong asked, referring to the boy on Zhang Jitian's back.

"His name is Lei Yushu. He's the station official's son," Chu Qiguang replied with a smile.

Hao Xiangtong lifted Lei Yushu's hood to take a closer look. Earlier, he had concealed his features beneath his hood and intentionally put on a deeper voice to make himself sound older, but in reality, he was just a boy in his early teens.

Even though he was unconscious, there was still a look of lingering fear on his face.

Hao Xiangtong let out a sympathetic sigh, struggling to imagine what kind of ordeal the boy had suffered in that den of fiends.

"He must've been terrified by the fiends," she remarked.

"Even I was given quite a fright when I went in there," Chu Qiguang replied with a nod.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jitian was looking at Hao Xiangtong with a thoughtful expression.

Zhang Haizhu is from the Demon Vanquishing Department, but who's this woman? It seems like Chu Qiguang holds her in rather high regard. She is indeed quite the beauty, but wasn't Chu Qiguang with another woman during the battle on the second floor of the archive building?

With that in mind, he was immediately convinced that Chu Qiguang was some kind of womanizer who had romantic entanglements with women wherever he went. Of course, he had no idea about Hao Xiangtong's potential, so this was a natural logical conclusion.

"Let's bring the kid along with us for now," Chu Qiguang said. "Now that the relay station's burned down, we'll have to spend the night outside. Zhang Jitian, I'll leave it up to you to keep everyone warm."

Zhang Jitian groaned internally upon hearing this. Back at home, he had maidservants to warm his bed for him, but now, he was playing the role of a walking heater.

***

Five days after Chu Qiguang's group left, a convoy passed by Lake Mountain Relay Station, only to discover that it had burned to the ground. They immediately reported the matter to the authorities at the nearest county town.

Some bailiffs quickly arrived at the scene, and they were stunned to discover a collection of human and fiends bodies amid the burned wreckage.

However, all the leads had been incinerated, making an investigation impossible.

Later, it was said that a man from a nearby village had come to search the wreckage for anything of value, but the sound of sobbing in the dead of night sent him sprinting back home in a panic. He was bedridden with a fever for three days and three nights after the incident.

As a result, a rumor spread like wildfire, claiming that Lake Mountain Relay Station was haunted.

***

Chu Qiguang's group continued on their journey, regularly encountering more fiends and bandits along the way. There were even some followers of the Imperial Heavenly Dao who tried to recruit them, but Chu Qiguang and others killed them all without any hesitation.

Initially, Lei Yushu tried to run away, but Chu Qiguang easily captured him again.

"Stay away from me!" Lei Yushu cried frantically at the sight of Chu Qiguang.

"Brother Chu saved your life, Lei Yushu!" Hao Xiangtong said with tightly furrowed brows.

"He... He's a monster!" Lei Yushu yelled in horror. "He had black skin and white eyes, and... and... he killed all the fiends and burned down the relay station!"

"He must not be in his right mind after the trauma he experienced," Hao Xiangtong said.

"No! I'm perfectly sane!" Lei Yushu yelled. "He almost killed me as well."

Hao Xiangtong merely shook her head with a sympathetic expression, clearly unconvinced.

Meanwhile, Qiao Zhi was circling Lei Yushu with an intrigued expression.

This boy is a half-fiend! I can't believe one of the Eight Han Resurgence Generals has a human and a fiend parent! I wonder why he decided to fight against the fiends for the Great Han Empire...

We'll find out eventually, Chu Qiguang replied with a smile. Didn't you say he ends up being screwed over by some powerful officials and killed by the northern wolf fiends? If he's a half-fiend, then there's probably more to that story than meets the eye.

Lei Yushu still wanted to resist, but Chu Qiguang had already appeared behind him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"How long are you going to keep causing a scene?"

Lei Yushu shuddered in fear, and he abruptly changed his tune, conceding, "I... I must be misremembering things because I was too scared at the time. Brother Chu saved my life, he's no monster."

"Yong Province is too dangerous," Chu Qiguang said. "We're going to Shu Province, so you should come with us."

Lei Yushu nodded obediently, aware that he had no choice in the matter.

After another two weeks of travel, the group finally arrived at the Hibiscus Brocade Manor of Shu Province.

Before entering the manor city, Chu Qiguang patted Zhang Haizhu on the shoulder and said, "You go in first. I'll go in a day later. Don't tell anyone that you know me."

"Why?" Zhang Haizhu asked.

"You're in the Hunter Hand Faction, so you'll be welcome here, but I'm from the Fiend Assassin Faction, so I may not be as welcome," Chu Qiguang explained.

Sure enough, upon Chu Qiguang's arrival at Shu Province's Demon Vanquishing Department Office, he was left waiting for an entire day.

As night began to fall, the steward approached him and said, "Thousand-Man Commander Song won't have time to see you today. You can come back early tomorrow."

Chu Qiguang closed the Buddhist scripture he was reading, then stood up and said, "I won't be back to see him. He'll come to see me in the future."

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