Xie An knew that the Demon Suppression Division was not like ordinary government offices; merits were not easy to earn.
Even a small merit required resolving a crisis of life and death for an entire county to obtain. For example, if a monster or a gang threatened a certain county, and Xie An eliminated them, that would be considered a small merit.
A medium merit, on the other hand, would require resolving the crisis of several counties, making it extremely difficult to obtain. Of course, the rewards would also be incredibly generous: including top-tier health cultivation techniques like the Muscle Transformation Classic, as well as longevity-enhancing pills, cultivation methods, and spiritual weapons, among other treasures.
It would also include an official promotion, reaching the rank of a Fourth Grade!
Previously, Xie An's assistance to Su Yuqing in destroying the Great Bronze Bell would have been considered a medium merit. However, Xie An had not yet joined the Demon Suppression Division at the time and missed out.
Fortunately, the Eldest Princess was righteous and compensated Xie An from other sources.
He never expected that a paper draft from Master Huang would directly earn him a medium merit!
Master Huang…
Xie An was growing more and more fond of this Master Huang.
However, Xie An did not get overly excited. Being in officialdom, he still had to put on an act.
“Thanks to the Eldest Princess's cultivation, I am where I am today. These are all my duties; how could I be greedy for a medium merit?”
Su Yuqing raised her hand in a gesture of mock elevation, “This is what you deserve. It's just that your qualifications are still shallow. If you were an official in the capital, or the chief of a prefecture, even giving you a great merit would not be excessive.”
“It's all thanks to the Eldest Princess's skillful guidance.”
Su Yuqing seemed to see through Xie An's insincere politeness and smiled faintly, “Between you and me, there's no need to be so formal. Although I represent the imperial court in Xuan Nan Prefecture and have the power to make decisions for the entire Nan Prefecture, I am also half a Jianghu traveler. Sincerity between us is the best approach.”
Xie An didn't dare to take it at face value, but said, “The Eldest Princess is right. Then I will respectfully accept your command.”
“Mm.”
Su Yuqing hummed in acknowledgement, “I will write to the Emperor and my master now. The letters should arrive in the capital in about three days.”
Three days to reach the capital?
Her handwriting was graceful and powerful, the ink penetrating the back of the paper, clearly the work of a great calligrapher.
She wrote two letters, rolled them up separately, and stuffed them into two small, bamboo-like metal tubes. She whistled, and a red bird the size of a hawk flew in from outside the door.
Su Yuqing tied the two secret tubes to the red bird's claws, then patted the red bird's head. The red bird nodded "chirp chirp," then flapped its wings and flew out the door, as fast as a wisp of smoke, disappearing into the twilight sky in the blink of an eye.
So fast!
Xie An had never seen such a fast bird.
Even if he used his full power to unleash the Bright Jade Skill, he couldn't catch up.
Su Yuqing explained, “This is a Blood Condor, also a type of monster. It can travel ten thousand miles a day, can feed itself and replenish its energy mid-flight, and possesses extremely high intelligence. The Demon Suppression Division and the government use Blood Condors to deliver urgent letters. However, the cost of raising Blood Condors is very high. There are not many in the entire Da Qian Dynasty. Ordinary letters still need to be delivered by fine horses.”
Xie An understood.
The fastest speed of swifts and ordinary falcons can reach over three hundred kilometers per hour. If they could fly continuously for twenty hours, that would also be over ten thousand miles. It's just that they can't sustain it.
But this Blood Condor was different. Its peak speed far exceeded that of falcons and swifts, so it could travel ten thousand miles a day. This was already quite exaggerated!
No wonder the Da Qian Dynasty could rule such a vast territory. It relied on monsters like the Blood Condor to complete emergency communications.
“The imperial court still needs to go through procedures. The imperial decree will come down in a little over half a month at the earliest, and several months at the latest. Be patient.”
“Thank you for the Eldest Princess's kindness.”
…
Xie An returned to the main bedroom in the central courtyard, lit the oil lamp, and took out Master Huang's paper draft to read it again twice.
After confirming that nothing was missing, Xie An put away the paper draft and stored it carefully.
Then, Xie An brewed tea and leaned back in the Drunken Weng chair to rest.
Master Huang earned him a medium merit with a little bit of writing.
Just thinking about it made him feel very happy.
Comfortable!
“Next time, I'll ask Master Huang if there's a Demon Emperor inside the Demon Court… But Master Huang might not know either. According to Master Huang, the Five Old Demons grew slowly over many years by relying on the Demon King's essence blood. That is to say, when the Five Old Demons grew strong, the Demon King had already died for many years. Master Huang probably pieced together these information from the Demon King's corpse and the items left behind before his death.”
Thinking of this, Xie An suddenly had an idea: It would be great if he could go to Five Old Peaks to see the Demon King's remains. He was a appraiser, skilled at identifying old objects, and might be able to discover details that Master Huang hadn't noticed. And thus obtain more information!
At this thought, Xie An could no longer remain calm and got up to pace around the room.
Once impulse is born, it's difficult to suppress it.
If he went to Five Old Peaks, he might indeed discover more secrets of the Demon Court.
But Five Old Peaks was dangerous. Even a powerful demon like Master Huang was half-killed.
Dangerous as it was, the rewards were also great. Should he ask Su Yuqing to go with him?
Even Su Yuqing might not be able to handle the Five Old Demons. Wasn't it said that… Master Huang in his prime was at least a Fourth Grade Grandmaster, with strength similar to the Eldest Princess.
“Unstable, all unstable…”
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Xie An: What if he brought Su Yuqing's master?
If the Azure Dragon Martial Saint came, then there would definitely be no problem.
Slap!
Xie An suddenly slapped his forehead, “Xie An, ah Xie An, you're getting carried away. How could you summon the dignified Azure Dragon Martial Saint just because you wanted to?”
At this point, Xie An had to painfully give up the idea of going to Five Old Peaks for the time being.
“In any case, confirming the existence of the Demon Court provides a glimmer of possibility for the Immortal Fate. Moreover, there's the Azure Dragon Martial Saint sitting in the capital. He must know a great deal of information. It would be great if I could sit down with the Azure Dragon Martial Saint for a cup of tea and chat about this.”
Imagination was beautiful, but reality was cruel.
Xie An knew that he was far from qualified to sit down and chat with an Azure Dragon Martial Saint.
He was only able to get along so well with a Martial Dao Grandmaster like Su Yuqing because of good luck. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to get in touch with someone like Su Yuqing.
In these chaotic times, strength and status were what mattered in the end.
As long as one's strength was sufficient, it wouldn't be impossible to sit down and discuss Taoism with the Azure Dragon Martial Saint, or even venture into Five Old Peaks alone.
“No hurry, take it slow. This old man has plenty of time. I can endure it.”
Xie An cleared the distracting thoughts from his mind, then sat down cross-legged, focused his energy, and began to temper the Tiger Form Qi Gong.
…
The next day, Xie An got up early, had breakfast, and went out.
Since Li Hao came down, he had been strictly enforcing discipline. Anyone who left early or arrived late would be recorded, their salary deducted, and reported to the prefectural department.
For Xie An, who had 120,000 taels of silver in his hands, deducting some salary was not a concern. However, reporting to the prefectural department would only cause unnecessary trouble. He still needed to be more diligent.
As soon as he went out, he saw Master Huang standing at the door, holding a small white fox in his arms.
Since Xie An revealed his identity, Master Huang stopped pretending and chose to keep the white fox by his side. Because this white fox was so beautiful, its fur as white as snow, it attracted many onlookers.
“Chief Xie.”
“Master Huang.”
After exchanging greetings, Xie An welcomed Master Huang to the east wing to drink tea.
After some small talk, Master Huang asked when the mirror would be returned. Xie An said that he had already sent a letter to the capital to verify the information, and was only waiting for a reply. If there were no mistakes, the mirror would be returned.
In fact, Xie An had already verified almost all the information from Su Yuqing, but for the sake of caution, he still needed to wait for a reply from the capital. In addition, Xie An also wanted to spend more time with Master Huang.
If he could convert him and develop him into a friend, he could help him break the Five Old Demons in the future and earn more merit. The Second Grade official position and the Duke title still depended on this Master Huang.
Since Xie An began to get involved in officialdom, he had not obtained many treasures, but Master Huang was definitely a great living treasure.
Master Huang did not object to the reason given by Xie An, but rubbed his hands, “Then can you let me play with the precious mirror first?”
In order to stabilize Master Huang, Xie An agreed, “You can.”
Xie An painfully took out the Spirit Communication Mirror, holding it in his hand with great reluctance. Finally, thinking of the Second Grade official position and the Duke title, plus the Immortal Fate and the Demon Court… he still painfully gave it to Master Huang, “Master Huang, take it carefully.”
Master Huang took the precious mirror, playing with it in his hands, feeling great, as if the depression of the past few days had been swept away, and from time to time let out hearty laughter.
“After polishing it smooth, it is indeed much more exquisite. Back then, in order to take away this batch of treasures, I was almost killed by the other four old things, and they even sent monsters to chase me thousands of miles. Alas, for this precious mirror, I almost lost half my life.”
As he spoke, Master Huang's eyes became wet.
“Master Huang, that's about enough, I still have to go to the Demon Suppression Division.” Xie An felt that if he didn't remind him, Master Huang might play with it for a whole day.
Master Huang was very reluctant, “Can I play with it here for a day? Chief Xie, don't worry, I won't go anywhere today.”
Xie An didn't expect Master Huang to be so obsessed with this mirror.
But thinking about it, he could understand. In order to take away this Demon King's mirror, Master Huang was almost beaten to death by the other four demons. Naturally, he valued the precious mirror more than his life.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Xie An.
Wasn't this mirror Master Huang's biggest weakness?
Xie An feigned displeasure, "Master Huang, we agreed before that I would return the mirror to you after I verified it."
Master Huang, knowing he was in the wrong, lowered his stance, "I'll just take a look at it in the Chief Supervisor's residence, just a look. If the Chief Supervisor is worried, he can have Ling Zheng supervise me. With Ling Zheng here, are you still afraid I'll play tricks?"
Although he said that, Master Huang thought to himself: Playing tricks? Can you outsmart me?
Xie An still wore a troubled expression, indicating that he was still at a disadvantage.
Master Huang sensed that Xie An was showing signs of relenting, and seeing hope, he pretended to be aggrieved and said, "You also know that a reply from the capital will take at least half a month, or even more than a month. It's too long. I worked so hard to write down the paper manuscript for you, you should at least let me hold it first."
Xie An pointed at the white fox on Master Huang's shoulder, "Unless you hand over the white fox to me for safekeeping, I won't be at ease."
Ga ga.
The white fox immediately stood up alertly, bared its teeth at Xie An, and then shook its head repeatedly at Master Huang, indicating that it didn't want to go with Xie An and would suffer.
Master Huang also felt a pang of heartache, but in the end, he couldn't bear to part with the Spirit Mirror in his hand, so he said to the white fox, "Little White, bear with it for a day. Go with him. Be good, or you'll suffer."
Ga ga.
The white fox cried out wildly, shaking its head frantically.
Master Huang turned around heartlessly, holding the precious mirror, "It's all your fault, you have to pay some effort, or you won't grow."
No matter how the white fox cried, there was no response. In the end, the white fox's eyes were filled with tears, looking very pitiful.
Xie An picked up the white fox in his hand, glared at Master Huang, "Master Huang, then I'll take Little White away?"
"Go, go. Just don't bully Little White."
As a series of miserable cries gradually faded away, Xie An left with the white fox.
Only then did Master Huang turn around and look in the direction where the white fox disappeared, tears streaming down his face, "Alas, Little White, it's not that I'm being cruel. It's just that my injuries haven't fully healed yet, and this precious mirror can help me speed up my recovery. Once I recover from my injuries, I won't be afraid of a fourth-rank grandmaster at all. I also want to recover as soon as possible so I can protect you. After all, protecting you is my greatest responsibility."
Master Huang showed a very bitter smile.
Although the drop of Martial Saint's essence blood had a good effect, it had been too long after all.
However, Master Huang was already very happy that it could help him initially recover from his injuries. Next, he could gradually recover on his own.
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Sweeping away distracting thoughts, Master Huang sat down cross-legged and placed the precious mirror on his chest.
Without knowing what Master Huang did, the other shore flower pattern on the back of the precious mirror actually emitted a faint light, slowly flowing into Master Huang's body.
"Ugh, so comfortable!"
"Before, my injuries were too severe to activate this precious mirror, but now I can barely activate it."
… …
"Ga ga!"
On the way to the Demon Suppression Division, the white fox expressed its dissatisfaction to Xie An.
Slap.
A finger hit its forehead hard, making a "dang" sound.
The white fox's head went numb with pain.
"Ga ga ~"
It continued to resist.
Ugh!
Its belly was flicked, and the white fox felt another wave of numbness all over its body.
The white fox was still stubborn, and then it suffered "inhumane" treatment. For example, pulling its cheeks, prying open its eyelids, pulling out its whiskers, tugging its ears…
This person is so annoying!!
I knew it, following him would be a big loss!
The white fox's mentality was finally on the verge of collapse. Knowing that this person was not easy to provoke, the white fox also learned to be good, choosing to be obedient on the surface, while slandering and cursing in its heart to vent its dissatisfaction.
Xie An enjoyed it, completely treating the white fox as a tsundere little pet, "What's your relationship with Master Huang? Brothers?"
The white fox drooped its head, not answering.
Hiss!
Xie An suddenly pulled out its whiskers, and the pain was unbearable for the white fox.
Finally, the white fox glared fiercely at Xie An, shaking its head to indicate that they were not brothers.
"Father and son?"
The white fox shook its head.
"Strangers?"
The white fox continued to shake its head.
Xie An was curious.
The white fox didn't look very old, and Master Huang was almost four hundred years old.
It didn't seem like they had any blood relationship.
"Master and disciple?"
This time, the white fox fell into deep thought, tilted its head and thought about it, and finally nodded reluctantly.
Xie An had a rough judgment: Master Huang must have encountered this white fox by chance, and then brought it with him to cultivate it. As time passed, the feelings between the two deepened.
Although the white fox could understand human speech, it was a pity that it couldn't speak. Otherwise, he could have extracted some information.
Compared to Master Huang, the white fox was obviously not as intelligent, making it easier to get information out of it.
When they arrived at the seventh floor of the Demon Suppression Division, Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran were still not there, so Xie An had to sit down with Chen Tie for tea. Chen Tie was immediately attracted by the white fox, "Old Brother Xie, where did you buy the white fox? It's so beautiful."
Xie An casually said, "It's a friend's, I borrowed it to play with for a few days."
The white fox immediately bared its teeth to express its dissatisfaction, thinking that it was not a toy and could not be played with casually.
Regarding the white fox's rebuttal, Xie An flicked its forehead again, causing the white fox's head to buzz.
Chen Tie saw it in his eyes, "This white fox can understand human speech? So spiritual, it must be some kind of spirit fox variant."
Chen Tie came from a wealthy family in the capital, so he naturally knew a lot. It was not uncommon for some martial artists to keep demon beasts and tame them for their own use.
Xie An said, "It can understand some, but its temperament is too arrogant and needs to be disciplined."
The white fox sighed secretly at its own misfortune.
Not only was it being played with casually, but it was also being arbitrarily labeled and labeled.
However, the white fox also behaved well, and didn't refute anything, quietly lying in Xie An's arms, opening its mouth several times, wanting to bite Xie An somewhere, but in the end, it still resisted.
Soon, Chen Tie asked, "Old Brother Xie, can you let me play with the fox for a while?"
"Of course."
In this way, the white fox fell into Chen Tie's hands in a very collapsed mood, and was played with, kneaded, etc. again.
After this incident, the white fox became extremely disgusted with humans.
Each one is more hateful than the other!
Fortunately, Chen Tie lost interest after playing with it for a while, and put the white fox next to the long table, then drank tea and chatted with Xie An. They chatted for most of the day. The white fox yawned repeatedly, thinking: Is this the human way of life? How boring!
If it weren't for the red fox's orders, it would have couldn't help but run out to play.
"By the way. Cao Fu and his son have finished their survey and returned to Qingwu County. Li Hao personally went to visit them." Chen Tie talked about the canal.
Xie An had long known that the imperial court had sent Cao Fu and Cao Bin to survey the construction of the canal.
He didn't expect it to be over so quickly.
"What were the survey results?"
"I heard that Cao Fu is very optimistic about it and has already reported it to the imperial court. The imperial decree to excavate the canal is estimated to be issued soon. Alas, at that time, our Demon Suppression Division will be busy."
Xie An also had a headache.
The four-hundred-mile canal, once multiple points start construction at the same time, the main responsibility for guarding and patrolling will fall on the Demon Suppression Division. After all, it is close to the Great Yin Mountain, and co-defense against demons is important.
At that time, I'm afraid Xie An won't be idle either.
After eating lunch, Xie An didn't go to the seventh floor to drink tea, but took the white fox to his southeast courtyard.
Closing the door, Xie An sat down cross-legged, intending to practice the Bright Jade Skill.
The white fox followed Xie An, and also ate a big meal at noon. This was the most sumptuous meal the white fox had eaten since its escape. From this point of view, the white fox felt that Xie An was not without merits.
He looked much more pleasing to the eye.
The white fox lay on the long table, watching Xie An sit cross-legged and close his eyes, while it yawned repeatedly, then curled up and lay down, preparing to take a nap.
Just then, Xie An suddenly opened his eyes, scaring the white fox so much that it shivered, suddenly raised its head, opened its eyes and looked at Xie An.
Xie An's face was solemn, "Come over here."
The white fox stood up, but instead of going over, it took a step back.
Woo hoo!
Soon it was grabbed by Xie An's hand. It also struggled with its four claws at the same time, but its strength was useless in front of Xie An.
It felt extremely wronged in its heart. If it weren't for the red fox telling it to listen to this person, it would have slipped away long ago.
It felt that it was already being very obedient, so why was it still suffering a big loss.
"Don't shout, I'm just touching you a little." Xie An loosened his grip a little, and the white fox calmed down.
It wasn't that Xie An intentionally wanted to tease it, but just now the white Dao Talisman in his mind vibrated, vaguely flashing white light. This detail made Xie An suddenly remember that when he first met the white fox, the Dao Talisman also fluctuated.
Could this be some kind of exotic beast?
Was it sensed by the Dao Talisman?
After a long period of research on the second-level fate, Xie An discovered that exotic beasts are different from great demons. When facing Master Huang, the Dao Talisman didn't vibrate, but it reacted when facing the white fox.
Only then did Xie An decide to try.
Sure enough, as Xie An grabbed the white fox and gently stroked its soft fur, the white Dao Talisman in his mind vibrated more and more violently, and the white light emitted became brighter and brighter.
Finally, a line of words appeared:
【Sensed Exotic Beast: Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox!】
Spirit Fox?
Spirit…
