Chapter 92: It Said It Would Venture into Human Society

Over there, Zhu Dongfeng returned to the Six Gates with the corpses of Su Bing and Lin Shuang.

The Six Gates constables were greatly frightened when they saw Lin Shuang’s pale corpse.

“Junior sister?”

“Master of the Gate, didn’t the junior sister go on a mission with Su Bing? How come—”

“Su Bing... this isn’t Su Bing’s corpse, is it?!”

Zhu Dongfeng had the two of them cleaned up and covered them with a white cloth.

“Who would have thought—this trip turned out to be a final farewell.”

Su Bing had been a newcomer the Six Gates valued quite highly; he got along well with others.

The junior sister was an adored presence among the Six Gates. When everyone learned of the pair’s tragic fate, they were grievously saddened.

Zhu Dongfeng let the others send the two off and then returned to his room.

Zhu Xifeng quietly entered his elder brother’s room:

“I already know what happened. Who did this?”

The younger brother’s arrival finally made Zhu Dongfeng reveal the killer of Lin Shuang and the other:

“The Mountain Lord.”

Hearing this, Zhu Xifeng’s expression changed:

“The Mountain Lord? Why would the Mountain Lord kill them?!”

Zhu Dongfeng shook his head wordlessly.

Seeing this, Xifeng’s face clouded and he asked:

“What will you do about it, brother?”

Zhu Dongfeng sat in his large chair and pondered for a long time before saying:

“These past two years, although demonic incidents in the prefecture had broken out from time to time, most were mere skirmishes. True large-scale troubles were handled by the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring, so I had grown lax.”

Zhu Xifeng remained silent.

Although the Six Gates sometimes dispatched people to hunt demons, they mainly dealt with disturbances caused by humans.

When it came to demon-hunting, the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring held the real authority in the Great Qian Dynasty.

Because the organizations’ responsibilities differed, the Six Gates naturally did not devote themselves too seriously to demon-hunting.

But from Zhu Dongfeng’s words, it seemed the Su Bing and Lin Shuang incident had made him rethink the demonic trouble in Yongzhou.

Zhu Dongfeng tapped his chair and said:

“I am preparing to carry out a large-scale sweep of the persistent demonic troubles within Yongzhou’s borders.”

A cold light flashed in Zhu Dongfeng’s eyes:

“I will make those rampant demonic beasts understand that this Great Qian belongs to us humans; this Yongzhou belongs to us humans.”

“Even dragons must coil in the sea for me; even tigers must nest in the mountains for me.”

“Anyone who dares to strike at us humans, I will pull out their teeth and cut off their claws, so they will never dare to prance before us again.”

“We humans are the masters of this world. Demons? Hmph!!”

Though Zhu Xifeng knew his brother’s temperament, he was still taken aback by his boldness.

For a moment he could not tell whether Zhu Dongfeng had been enraged into impulsiveness by the Su Bing and Lin Shuang affair, or whether this plan had already been brewing in his mind:

“To launch a large-scale extermination in Yongzhou will consume a great deal. Moreover, demon-extermination normally falls under the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring; if we rashly propose such an operation—”

The Six Gates’ master waved his hand:

“I know what you’re thinking. My decision was not made in blind fury; this extermination campaign was already part of my plan.”

“As for overlapping functions with the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring, I will notify the Yongzhou branch and strive for joint cooperation.”

“After all, to carry out an extermination across all of Yongzhou, the Six Gates alone would be insufficient.”

Zhu Xifeng exhaled:

“That’s good. The Bureau of Heaven Monitoring is about to replenish personnel; during the period of adding people and integrating resources, their strength will actually dip somewhat.”

“Before that transition period arrives, clearing out some demonic beasts in the prefecture to let the Bureau’s handover proceed smoothly should match their aims; they will not refuse our proposal.”

“I’ve noticed the subordinates have been a bit lax lately. Using this operation to properly drill them will be good—without going through blood and rain, who can make a name for themselves?”

The two immediately held detailed discussions about coordinating with the Yongzhou branch of the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring and the Six Gates for the prefectural extermination.

Convincing the Bureau to act together would be easier with a solid plan.

They gave the operation the codename “蝗虫” — “Locust.”

When locusts passed, no grass survived.

......

Having completed the master-and-disciple double-kill achievement, Mo Lin could not find the Mountain Lord or Zhu Dongfeng, so he went to the Black Wind Stronghold.

The Black Wind Stronghold, which Mo Lin had thoroughly stirred up before, had been emptied at that time, but Mo Lin had not killed everyone; some bandits had escaped the chaos with their lives.

They were fugitives without homes, even with bounty posters on the court’s lists.

With nowhere else to go, a few had the courage to return to the Stronghold.

Although no one lived there before, most of the Stronghold’s infrastructure remained intact; with some repairs it could be reused.

Two years had passed, and a sparse population had returned to the Black Wind Stronghold.

Though the old prosperity was gone, it was barely enough to keep them fed.

Those remaining ruffians could no longer carry out highway robberies; the government troops naturally had no free time to come and eradicate them again.

—After the last Black Wind Stronghold disturbance, the soldiers had come once to scour the place clean of valuables. These remaining bandits could hardly yield any more spoils; what reason would there be for another suppression?

They were soldiers, not modern cadets or conscripts—soldiers needed to eat.

Therefore, when Mo Lin returned to the Stronghold, he felt as if he had stepped back into yesterday.

Of course, he could not find Xu Jiaren there—after all, he had been the one to fail to show up, and not for a day or two but for a full six months.

Because of that, the previously promised Earth Vein Yin Marrow was gone.

Mo Lin pondered what to do.

From what he knew, aside from the human authorities, only the Mountain Lord and Xu Jiaren possessed the Earth Vein Yin Marrow.

Although the Mountain Lord had just fought, his realm was still above Mo Lin’s; trying to snatch it from his jaws would be risky.

Cooperate with the Mountain Lord?

Mo Lin shook his head.

He did not know what the Mountain Lord wanted or how to cooperate with him.

From their brief prior contact, the Mountain Lord had been a sovereign of the survival-of-the-fittest; if Mo Lin approached and it demanded he become its subordinate, he would have to abase himself—and Mo Lin had no interest in groveling.

As for Xu Jiaren...

Mo Lin thought for a while.

Although he had broken his appointment with Xu Jiaren, if he remembered right, Xu Jiaren had mentioned being a guest of Dong Li, the chairman of the Yongzhou Chamber of Commerce.

His Earth Vein Yin Marrow had originally been intended to be procured from Dong Li.

Mo Lin’s mind stirred.

Although he did not know where Xu Jiaren had gone, the Yongzhou Chamber of Commerce was a major human merchants’ association and would be easy to find. He only needed to capture a couple of humans to ask for directions.

Now that he was at least of the Lower Earth rank, he had some self-protection; even human society was not entirely off-limits.

After all, Earth-rank and Heaven-rank beings were not so common as wild dogs by the roadside.

Perhaps he really could go to the Yongzhou Chamber of Commerce and see if he could find a way to obtain some Earth Vein Yin Marrow.