Scripture of Days Past

After hearing the rumors espoused by the fiends, Zhang Jitian immediately realized that someone was targeting Chu Qiguang.

"Who spread these rumors? They're clearly trying to get you killed!"

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Chu Qiguang said with a faint smile. "Jitian, go and find Qiao Zhi and the others. I'm sure they're still nearby. Once you find them, tell Qiao Zhi to come and see me first. You can keep Chen Gang and Hao Xiangtong company for the time being."

Following Zhang Jitian's departure, Chu Qiguang turned to the demonified Chaotic Heavens King and Yaksha Wraith and beckoned to them. The two obediently made their way over and knelt before him.

Behind them were around a dozen other demonic creatures, all of which also knelt before Chu Qiguang.

The Demon Refinement Technique could only control demons with qi and blood circulation. Generally speaking, only around a third of the demons created through demonic tainting released from the Ring of Ignorance would still retain qi and blood circulation.

Fortunately, both the Chaotic Heavens King and the Yaksha Wraith had retained their qi and blood circulation after undergoing demonification, allowing Chu Qiguang to control them.

There were still over a hundred other fiends at the scene, but none of them dared to resist. Those who had attempted to flee or fight back had all been torn to shreds by the demons under Chu Qiguang's control.

Furthermore, the dark and supernatural power that Chu Qiguang had displayed had convinced many of the fiends that he had already reached the Dao Comprehension state.

In the eyes of the remaining fiends, Chu Qiguang may as well have been the devil incarnate, and to resist the devil would surely spell certain death.

As Chu Qiguang swept his gaze over the remaining fiends, they all instinctively lowered their heads in fear.

"I will be traveling to the Ba Manor to assume my official position, and my job will be to eradicate fiends and demons," Chu Qiguang declared. "However, I have no intention of killing any of you as long as you're obedient to me. From now on, the humans of the Ba Manor will remain under the imperial court's jurisdiction, but I will be the one to call the shots when it comes to fiends and demons.

“I will appoint a leader for all of you, and you will follow his orders whenever I'm not around."

Chu Qiguang then turned to Lei Yushu with a warm smile and praised, "You did very well. From this day onward, I officially accept you as my disciple."

Chu Qiguang's acceptance made Lei Yushu feel even more like a human, and she nodded vigorously with an overjoyed expression.

Shortly afterward, Qiao Zhi arrived, and Chu Qiguang instructed the demonified Chaotic Heavens King and Yaksha Wraith to follow his orders.

"Lei Yushu and I will be leaving now. I'll leave these fiends to you for the time being, and I'll also send some fiends from Hidden Fiend Village to support you."

The two Chongming Birds had accompanied Chu Qiguang on this trip, and they were still circling overhead.

Their tremendous speed allowed them to make a round trip between Shu Province and Hidden Fiend Village in a single day. Hence, Qiao Zhi could quickly bring over a few fiends from Hidden Fiend Village to help him manage the fiends and demons in Shu Province.

"All these fiends are going to need a lot of food," Qiao Zhi said with a concerned expression as he observed the army of fiends and demons before him.

"It's fine," Chu Qiguang reassured him. "There are fewer than two hundred of them left. If you ration their food carefully, their supplies should last for half a month. After that, I'll find a way to get more food for you from the Ba Manor."

***

A couple of hours later, Liu Yao's group arrived at the scene, by which time Chu Qiguang, Qiao Zhi, and the fiends and demons were already long gone.

They were all astonished by the scene of absolute carnage laid out before them.

"Why are there so many dead fiends here? What happened?" one of the martial artists in Liu Yao's group exclaimed in shock and horror.

"I've always heard that fiends are abundant here, but surely this can't be a common occurrence even in Shu Province," Liu Yao said grimly. "There have to be at least two to three hundred dead fiends here... Were they killed by the Demon Vanquishing Department?"

The more they took in the horrific scene around them, the more unsettled they felt.

"For so many fiends to have been killed in a single battle... Could the provincial thousand-man commander of Shu Province have personally led the attack?" Liu Yao speculated.

All of a sudden, he noticed a particularly grotesque corpse on the ground.

"This is a demon!"

Upon closer inspection, he discovered many demonic bodies strewn among those of fiends, and it appeared that the two sides had been locked in battle against each other.

"These fiends must've encountered a demonic tainting!" Liu Yao exclaimed.

"Demonic tainting? What kind of demonic tainting incident could've killed so many fiends?"

A collective chill ran down everyone's spines. The thought that the effects of the demonic tainting might still be lingering in the area instantly set them all on edge.

"We have to get out of here!" Liu Yao yelled urgently. "Go!"

Everyone frantically whipped their horses, desperate to get away from this terrible place as quickly as possible and terrified that they might also fall prey to the demonic tainting.

Hao Xiangtong must've passed through this place before me. I wonder if she encountered the demonic tainting here, Liu Yao thought with a concerned expression.

They traveled to the Ba Manor at a frantic pace, but instead of immediately setting off in search of Hao Xiangtong, the first thing they did was visit a Daoist temple to have exorcisms performed on themselves.

***

Around five kilometers north of Ba Manor City was the Demon Vanquishing Department's hundred-man commander office.

The previous hundred-man commander had perished in battle a year ago, and since then, the deputy hundred-man commander had filled in on an interim basis.

The deputy hundred-man commander's name was Ning Chigong, and it had taken him over thirty years of toil in the Demon Vanquishing Department to reach his current position.

He had thought that it wouldn't be long before he was instated as the official hundred-man commander of the Ba Manor, but over a month ago, he had been informed that someone by the name of Chu Qiguang would be taking over the position instead.

However, Ning Chigong didn't appear bothered by this at all. At this moment, he was sitting on a reclining chair, sipping wine and snacking on peanuts with a carefree look on his face.

When his servant asked him about Chu Qiguang, Ning Chigong smiled and said, "There are many mountains and fiends in Shu Province. I fear Chu Qiguang may end up dead before he even gets here. If that happens, then it'll once again fall to me to defend the Ba Manor. Let me tell you something. Being an official is all about picking the right side. Only by choosing the right backers and allies can you continue to prosper.

"Remember how arrogant Hundred-Man Commander Zhang was back when he was alive? I was basically an ant as far as he was concerned, but now, he's dead, while I'm still alive. Chu Qiguang is a mere fourth-state martial artist and a member of the Fiend Assassin Faction, yet for some reason, yet for some reason, he chose to come to Shu Province. How could things possibly end well for him here?"

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