"Slick-tongued."
"Talk until you’re blue in the face; it won’t change the fact that you all deserted your posts."
Yu Duchuan sat back down, his expression thunderous. "If every constable in the Demon-slaying Bureau is as cowardly as you," he said coldly, "how am I supposed to carry out the Demon Cleansing of Demon Mountain? How will I avenge the juniors of my family who were murdered?"
At his words, the expressions of the Vice Generals in the room shifted slightly.
Ruan Changfeng glanced up and said suddenly, "The Mountain God is right. All of you, come over here. Just wait until we’re back in Anren Prefecture. I’ll show you how I deal with you then."
"As you command."
Chang Yi stood, and with his head bowed, he led the other constables to stand behind the Vice General.
The Vice General’s simple words brought a sigh of relief to everyone.
Reward or not, at least they were alive.
After all, if the intention was to execute them, there would be no need to take them all the way back to Anren Prefecture, where all their families lived.
"Calm your anger, Mountain God."
Ruan Changfeng then turned to Yu Duchuan, whose expression had stiffened, and said lightly, "The Demon-slaying Bureau will deal with these constables. As for the matter of the Demon Cleansing of Demon Mountain, however, I will not be participating."
"What do you mean?"
The corner of Yu Duchuan’s eye twitched.
He did his best to keep his voice steady, but the anger within was still audible. "You dare back out now?"
"Sss." Ruan Xiangling shot him a sideways glance, an odd expression on her face as she interjected, "Mountain God, our orders were to investigate the whereabouts of several Immortal Descendants. At the cost of Xu Zhonglin’s life, we’ve already done that, have we not?"
"Though the Moon-Devouring Demon General has only just risen to prominence, his power is unfathomable, and his nature is treacherous."
"Now that he has gone into hiding within Demon Mountain, he is difficult to track. We will, of course, add him to the Demon Slayer List and await further orders from our superiors."
Here, her tone shifted. "However, we received no orders to perform a Demon Cleansing of Demon Mountain. Besides, for so many Demon Generals to congregate in a Border Region controlled by the Mountain God’s Immortal Family... that’s rather unexpected."
Ruan Xiangling’s last sentence carried a hidden, sarcastic undertone.
These Immortal Descendants of the Yu Family were all formidable.
Take Yu Duchuan, for example. He received tribute from over ten Earth Cities. After so many years, his Magical Power was at the Late-stage Core Formation realm at the very least, and possibly even higher.
If he hadn’t spent all his days sitting high and mighty in the City Lord’s Mansion, and had instead spared a little time to manage Demon Mountain, things would never have gotten this bad.
Now the Demons were a plague, their power already immense.
This Mountain God had summoned the Demon-slaying Bureau, yet he remained sitting comfortably within the pass, expecting to eradicate a deep-seated, chronic problem with just a few words.
He clearly didn’t see them as people at all.
"In my judgment, the situation at Demon Mountain in the Border Region is a major demon scourge, one that requires a Demon-slaying General to handle personally. I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait patiently, Mountain God."
Having said her piece, Ruan Xiangling stopped looking at the ugly expression on Yu Duchuan’s face in the main seat. Instead, she turned to size up the stern-faced young man behind her with great interest.
As her voice fell.
The nine Vice Generals were all still seated, but their differing expressions showed they had subtly split into two factions.
Four of them were led by the Ruan siblings, while the other five were led by Hong Wei.
"Brother Duchuan," one said, "I think this Vice General has a point. Waiting for a Demon-slaying General to arrive before properly dealing with Demon Mountain would certainly be much safer."
Several of the adult Immortal Descendants of the Yu Family rose unhurriedly, preparing to leave.
Yu Duchuan’s face was so dark it looked like ink might drip from it.
’Safer?’
’First of all, who knew when any of the Demon-slaying Generals would be free to come?’
’And even if a General did come, the Demon Cleansing of Demon Mountain would be accomplished solely by the Demon-slaying Bureau. What would that have to do with him?’
"Sit back down, all of you!"
Yu Duchuan suddenly roared, slamming something onto the table.
His discourteous tone immediately angered his clansmen of the same generation.
They turned back with hostile expressions, ready to curse him out, but their gazes fell upon the square, golden Small Seal on the table. "The Mountain God’s Token? Does Uncle Qiheng intend for you to take control of the Array that protects the Mountain God Mirror?"
This was the most precious Small Seal in Yongzhou Pass; only two or three existed in total.
The bearer of the Mountain God’s Token could enter the heavily guarded Array and would have the opportunity to approach the Mountain God Mirror.
Of course, that in itself wasn’t a huge deal.
After all, being able to approach it didn’t mean one could take it. The Treasure Mirror’s purpose was to guard the Border Region; no one could claim it for themselves.
The Mountain God’s Token was more of a status symbol, proof that its bearer held a position second only to Yu Qiheng!
"..."
Yu Duchuan gave them a noncommittal look.
’According to Uncle Qiheng, this was supposed to be my reward for resolving the demon scourge.’
’Yongzhou Pass had over a hundred Earth Cities and nearly ten of his peers. A leader had to be chosen from among them.’
’He was taking it out now, ahead of schedule, intending to force them into submission and see the matter through.’
In an unnoticed corner.
Lin Shu’s expression remained impassive as he casually glanced at the Small Seal.
’For some reason, seeing it made him feel a strange, nagging discomfort.’
He withdrew his gaze and looked across at Chang Yi, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes.
’That was a really impressive performance.’
’He had originally thought that if worst came to worst, he would have no choice but to have Yu Sheng step in and forcibly bail him out.’
’This saved a lot of trouble.’
’This young man, whose head used to be filled with wild fantasies, had grown at an astonishing rate after learning what happened to Gu Nanzhi.’
’He had successfully defused the situation and even earned the favor of a Vice General.’
’Once he returned to Anren Prefecture, what awaited him wouldn’t be a "dealing with," but more than likely a promotion.’
’Having an acquaintance in the Demon-slaying Bureau meant another door was open to him.’
"Heh. We’d like to see just what kind of trouble you plan on stirring up."

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