chsdbacks Chapter 8: The Order of the Demon Extermination Bureau: Suppress the Demon!
Chapter 8: The Order of the Demon Extermination Bureau: Suppress the Demon!
The next morning, the county government's officers and soldiers were running around the city spreading the word.
With the Demon Extermination Bureau's token prominently displayed, all martial arts schools and families in the city received orders to fully cooperate in the investigation of the demon infiltration. Large numbers of martial artists were urgently conscripted and organized into patrol teams. Faced with the Demon Extermination Bureau's authority, no martial arts school dared to disobey in the slightest.
Zhang Ping didn't return to his residence until the early hours of the morning, and slept until the sun was high in the sky. After washing up, he pushed open the door and happened to bump into Li Fan returning from outside the martial arts gym.
This guy had huge dark circles under his eyes, his clothes were wrinkled as if he were wrapped in pickled vegetables, and there was a piece of grass covered in dew stuck in the seam of his boots. He kept cursing and swearing, spitting everywhere, which scared the other apprentices away.
Looking at him like this, Zhang Ping wondered: Wasn't this guy supposed to be having a good time at the Pleasure Pavilion? How did he end up in such a sorry state?
Li Fan spotted Zhang Ping at a glance, as if he had found someone to vent to, and rushed over in three strides: "Damn it! The Demon Extermination Bureau has gone mad, digging up the whole city looking for demons! They even shut down the Pleasure Pavilion! Those wicked guys dragged our whole house into jail, checking everyone's ancestors for eight generations before releasing us!"
He spat angrily, "If my old man hadn't gotten the news and personally gone to bail me out, I'd still be eating stale rice and vegetable scraps right now!"
"Looking for demons?" Zhang Ping's heart skipped a beat, realizing the crux of the matter.
"That's right! They say demons have infiltrated the city, and they've even conscripted people from various martial arts schools to patrol the streets... But," Li Fan curled his lip, his face full of indignation, "I think they're just some insignificant little demons. If they were truly powerful demons, those old foxes from the Demon Extermination Bureau would have packed up and run away long ago. How could it be our turn?"
He was clearly not afraid of the demons themselves, and only poured out his grievances to Zhang Ping, complaining about how dirty and smelly the prison was, and how he, the only son of the Li family, had never suffered such humiliation since childhood.
If it were any other force, he would have definitely urged his father to send someone to smash them back! But the other side was the Demon Extermination Bureau, and even the Sitong Martial Arts School obediently accepted the order. Who does the Li family think they are?
Zhang Ping, however, had no interest in listening to his complaints; his brows were furrowed tightly. Unlike carefree playboys like Li Fan, he knew all too well that demons were no child's play!
Since entering the martial arts school, besides burying himself in training, he has tried every means to explore the world.
He also obtained permission from Wang Dashan to enter the library, which was only accessible to formal disciples. People in this world didn't have the habit of writing history books, only various biographies. He sifted through those fragmented biographies, some genuine and some fake, and one word, like a shadow, followed him everywhere—
demon!
What exactly are demons? Where do they come from? No one can say for sure. But the deep-seated fear conveyed between the lines is undeniable.
From those scattered, blood-stained records, Zhang Ping glimpsed that many years ago, demons were few, the imperial court's iron hooves could still trample across vast territories, and martial artists could seize resources as easily as taking candy from a baby.
However, as time passed, the demon races grew ever more numerous, their appearances ever more bizarre, and their abilities ever more unpredictable. The imperial court suffered defeat after defeat, and its territory was lost inch by inch. Ordinary wild beasts, corrupted by the demonic energy, also transformed into ferocious and savage creatures—the magnificent one-horned red horse that the curator rode was one such beast.
These records weighed heavily on Zhang Ping's mind, making him never dare to underestimate the word "demon." Now, upon hearing that such a ferocious creature had infiltrated the city, a chill instantly crept up his spine.
Seeing Zhang Ping's serious expression and his indifference to his complaints, Li Fan also felt bored. He muttered a few more curses and dragged his feet toward his residence.
Damn the Demon Exorcism Bureau, they shut down the Pleasure Pavilion, I'll have to find another place to have fun...
Zhang Ping stood there for a moment, forcibly suppressing the surging thoughts in his heart.
"There's no use thinking too much. The most urgent thing is to improve my strength!" He shook his head vigorously, as if trying to shake off distracting thoughts, and turned to head straight for the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Wang Li had indeed not yet set off to shop. Upon asking, Zhang Ping learned that the daily shopping trip was before noon. With permission granted, Zhang Ping decided to accompany her.
The silver notes I received from Fu Huiying last night need to be exchanged for more readily available silver. Otherwise, how can an apprentice who started as an apprentice explain to others when he suddenly pulls out such large sums of silver notes? He trusts Wang Li because of his senior brother, but Wang Li is ultimately not his senior brother.
Furthermore, the news of the demons roaming the city was like an invisible whip lashing his back, creating a strong sense of urgency. If he didn't take this opportunity to leave the museum with Wang Li, who knew when he would be able to go out alone again! Heaven knows when those demons would be eradicated? This would completely disrupt his plans.
Outside the martial arts school, in the shadows of a street corner
"He's out! It's that kid!" A man with sunken eyes and bloodshot veins gripped a dagger tightly, staring intently at the entrance of the martial arts school. He immediately recognized Zhang Ping, who was following behind Wang Li.
"Damn it, that woman Wang Li is here too!" His accomplice spat, his scarred face twitching.
"What's the rush?" The scarred man lowered his voice, his eyes sweeping warily over Wang Li's burly figure with its bulging muscles. "This woman does the shopping for the martial arts school every day; her skills are top-notch, at least at the Flesh Refining Realm! Go find some help. If that kid keeps sticking to her, we'll have to let him go this time."
Zhang Ping followed Wang Li to the meat shop. This was the largest meat shop in Lingchuan County, controlling most of the meat trade in the town, and naturally, horse meat was also sold there.
Several fresh horse legs hung on iron hooks in front of the shop. Zhang Ping's gaze sharpened, and he walked straight forward, pressing his finger against one of the hind legs. The touch from his fingertip was cold yet elastic. The helper next to him wanted to stop him, but glancing at Wang Li standing beside him and the martial arts school's badge, he swallowed his words and turned back to his work.
Beast patterns, speed!
A faint, inexplicable instinctive feeling surged into my mind from my fingertips:
[Fanma] [Speed]
[Horse Leg Beast Pattern: Slightly increases movement agility, effect covers the lower limbs]
[Required: Two horse hind legs, gardenia fruit, morning glory vine, spring water, poria cocos]
"Fortunately, the materials aren't particularly rare, it's just this 'mountain spring water'..." He knew most of the materials needed for branding the beast patterns, but this mountain spring water was the only one troubling him. Was it water from an ordinary mountain stream? Or did it refer to some kind of spring with a special name?
Unable to figure it out immediately, he decided to gather the rest of the supplies first. He asked Wang Li to lend him money to buy two horse hind legs, promising to replace them as soon as he got back. Zhang Ping then went straight to the nearest bank and exchanged the conspicuous banknote for usable silver ingots and some loose silver. He then went to the herbal medicine shop and quickly bought gardenia, morning glory vine, and poria cocos.
"Shopkeeper, do you have any medicinal herbs here called 'mountain spring water'?" Zhang Ping asked tentatively.
The pharmacy owner stroked his beard, shaking his head: "Spring water? This old man has only ever heard of using spring water, well water, or rainwater to decoct medicine, never of any medicinal herb called 'spring water'."
Left with no other choice, Zhang Ping went to the most famous Zuixianlou restaurant in the city. Reluctantly, he spent a full thirty taels of silver to buy a small bottle of natural high-mountain spring water, which the waiter boasted was obtained with great effort from the cliffs of Qixia Peak, shrouded in mist outside the city.
The waiter, spitting as he spoke, patted his chest and guaranteed, "Sir, take a good look! Tea brewed with this precious water—the aroma, wow, it'll penetrate to your very core! I guarantee you…"
Zhang Ping weighed the light, small porcelain bottle sealed with a red paper strip in his hand, then looked back at the ornately decorated and bustling Zuixianlou restaurant, and couldn't help but wonder: "...Could we have been taken advantage of?"
Fortunately, we finally managed to gather all the other materials.
He shook his head. The materials for branding ordinary beast markings were indeed easy to obtain, but with his current abilities, he couldn't even come across the limbs of those powerful and ferocious beasts. Like the guild master's exotic dragon steed; if he could brand it with its markings, its power would be far beyond that of ordinary oxen and horses. He still had a considerable amount of silver left; perhaps… he could ask someone to keep an eye out for clues about materials for other beast markings?
His gaze swept across the bustling, noisy street.
The porters huffed and puffed as they carried heavy loads, their tattered hemp clothes soaked with sweat; a beggar with a broken leg crawled along the muddy ground, his rough hands supporting him; several sallow-faced, emaciated children with withered grass stuck in their hair stood blankly by the roadside, while their parents argued heatedly with a weasel-faced human trafficker.
Not far away, a few hooligans kicked over an old farmer's vegetable stall with menacing expressions, scattering green and yellow vegetables all over the ground. The old man pleaded bitterly, but the hooligans only wanted to demand money for the land. At the entrance of Zuixianlou Restaurant, the waiter who had been bowing and scraping to him just moments before was now standing with his hands on his hips, scolding and driving away a thin beggar who approached him wanting some scraps.
Tap tap tap tap—!
A series of rapid and chaotic footsteps suddenly rang out from the street corner, the dull thuds on the stone pavement carrying an undeniable air of menace!
Zhang Ping's heart skipped a beat, and he abruptly looked in the direction of the sound!
A group of seven or eight soldiers, each carrying a sword at their waist, rushed out from the alleyway around the corner! The leader, with a face full of scars and a hideous scar that ran across half his face, was none other than Scarface, the same man who had been spying outside the martial arts school earlier! He immediately spotted Zhang Ping and pointed in their direction.
The officers and soldiers changed direction instantly, the sound of their boots hitting the ground suddenly intensified, and they rushed straight towards Zhang Ping!
"Oh no!" Alarm bells rang in Zhang Ping's mind, and all the muscles in his body tensed up instantly!
The leading officer was the fastest, rushing forward in a few steps. His triangular eyes swept fiercely over the man's martial arts school uniform shorts, and without asking any questions, he roared:
"Martial arts school apprentice? Arrest him!"