Warriors had not yet arrived.

A massive wave erupted in the river. The creature of darkness was swept away by the golden dragon’s tail, and Thousand Lions Bridge remained unharmed.

The golden dragon let out a long cry and darted like lightning into the Great River. At once, the water boiled violently. Two enormous shapes thrashed and twisted in the depths, locked in a fierce struggle. Countless demons flying nearby were struck by calamity for no reason at all; the shockwaves shattered their bones and snapped their sinews, sending them crashing from the sky.

Scholar Hu had no time to speak to them now. He stared ahead with complete concentration, golden light blooming in his eyes, while the brush in his hand traced swift lines and points through the air from time to time. It was obvious that he was commanding the golden dragon in battle.

Ping Luan-shan said in shock, “This scholar is incredible...”

Teng Zhi said, “To release inner force for an attack with this kind of power, he must be at least at the fourth chain of the body-light realm!”

Jiang Feng agreed, but that was not the issue at hand. In a low voice, he said, “There are twelve demon lairs in the city. This is only one of them. If one is already this fierce, what about the others?”

Ping Luan-shan and the others also grew grave. After a moment of thought, Jiang Feng said, “You three stay here. Don’t rush into the fighting, and don’t cause trouble. The key is to observe the demons and analyze their strengths and weaknesses.”

Teng Zhi asked, “What about you?”

“I’m going to the provincial office! Right now, no one should know better than they do what Taicang City is really like and what preparations we should make!”

The others nodded. Ping Luan-shan reminded him, “Old Jiang, the city is in chaos right now. You have to be careful!”

Jiang Feng smiled and patted his back. “Don’t worry. I’m much more reliable than you are!”

Ping Luan-shan did not take offense. He only grinned.

The provincial office was on the western side of Taicang City, connected to the martial cultivation district in the south.

At present, everyone on Thousand Lions Bridge had their attention fixed on the demons, and no one paid any heed to the young boy. Jiang Feng quickly crossed the bridge and headed toward the provincial office.

This area was far livelier than the east side of the city. City defense troops came and went along the streets from time to time. Clearly, they had already been assigned their targets in advance, and they moved with great speed.

The provincial office was impossible to miss. Before long, Jiang Feng saw the two giant stone lions at the gate. They seemed to be enlarged versions of the ones on Thousand Lions Bridge, with a strikingly similar design. Jiang Feng looked at them and a thought stirred in his mind.

At such a critical time, the guards at the gate were even stricter than usual.

With a flicker of thought, Jiang Feng did not waste words with the guards. He found a concealed spot, activated the Nameless Ring directly, and slipped inside unnoticed.

The provincial office was large. If it had been an ordinary day, Jiang Feng might have gotten lost. But in moments like this, one could tell the function of each department simply by observing the movement of people.

In no time, he had infiltrated the most important area of the provincial office and heard the sound of heated argument from within.

Jiang Feng crept to the window. It was propped open, and he silently peeked inside.

The Nameless Ring was indeed formidable, but in this world powerful martial cultivators were nearly omnipotent. He still had to be especially careful.

There were twelve people seated in the council hall. Wen Liangji, Wang Scholar, and Gao Scholar were all there. Seated at the head was a short, stout old man wrapped in the robes of a provincial prefect: none other than Lou Hanmo, the prefect of Yushui Province.

Jiang Feng had heard his name before and thought it sounded quite refined. He had never imagined the real man would look like this.

Lou Hanmo was speaking with another military official. “The news has been sent out for two days now, and there has been no reaction at all. What do you expect me to do?!”

“An incursion from a demon lair is a major event wherever it happens. How could they possibly ignore it?”

“You ask me? Then who should I ask? That’s just how it is. We’ll have to make other plans!”

Wen Liangji sat with his fingers interlaced on the table, his expression placid and unmoved, his attitude distant and indifferent—completely unlike the elder’s friendly demeanor he had shown Jiang Feng before. He tilted his head and said, “Second Uncle, it would be better if you explained the situation here.”

Only then did Jiang Feng notice that the Second Master Chong was seated beside Wen Liangji. Wen Liangji’s own brilliance was so dazzling that it had all but made the man vanish from sight.

Second Master Chong nodded with smug composure and said lightly, “The Chong clan is trying to contact the martial sects of the nearby Bright Heaven Kingdom and Flame Heaven Kingdom, asking them to come at once and help seal the demon lairs.”

Lou Hanmo asked eagerly, “What about the Thousandfold Army? I heard it appeared in Heluo County not long ago. Could it be brought here to lend support?”

A flash of jealousy crossed Second Master Chong’s eyes. He snorted coldly. “The Thousandfold Army answers only to my sister-in-law and the Sick Young Master. I can’t command them!”

His tone was full of disdain. Both Wen Liangji inside the room and Jiang Feng outside frowned at the same time.

Lou Hanmo sighed. “What a pity. With the Thousandfold Army here, what would we have to fear from a demon lair?”

Second Master Chong cast a frivolous glance at Wen Liangji, his voice strange and taunting. “Isn’t there still a former thousand-man commander from the Demon-Subduing Army right here? One thousand-man commander can slaughter ten thousand demons. What are a few demon lairs to him?”

Wen Liangji’s voice remained calm. “If there comes a time when I am needed, I will naturally go to battle. Would Second Master Chong care to accompany me then?”

Chong was blocked by that retort and immediately fell silent.

Jiang Feng’s brow furrowed even more deeply.

From Lou Hanmo’s words, he had already sent requests for aid to the surrounding regions. The messages had clearly been delivered, yet there had been no response. Reinforcements did not know when they would arrive.

On the Chong clan’s side, another Second Master Chong was plainly showing discord.

The battle had not even officially begun, and internal chaos had already surfaced. If this continued, collapse would only be a matter of time.

Jiang Feng found a corner and revealed himself. He looked around and just happened to see a servant hurrying past.

He strode forward and tapped the servant on the shoulder. The servant turned alertly and, seeing an unfamiliar face, asked, “Who are you?!”

Jiang Feng was not yet sixteen. He had not fully grown and still looked like a youth. He smiled faintly, took out a sheet of paper, and handed it to him. “Would you mind delivering this to Scholar Wen inside?”

The servant said, “They’re discussing important matters. How could I just go in?”

Jiang Feng said, “As long as Scholar Wen sees this, he’ll naturally speak up for you.”

The servant eyed him suspiciously. He was used to taking orders, and thinking this was the provincial office, where nothing could possibly go wrong, he nodded. “All right. I’ll deliver it.”

What Jiang Feng had him carry inside was the invitation from the artifact master. It had been personally delivered to the Refracting Jade Pavilion by the Artifact Master Association, and it bore a distinctive mark. Jiang Feng had not yet had a chance to go there himself.

Once Wen Liangji saw the invitation, he would know who was looking for him.

Sure enough, not long after, Wen Liangji came out. At the sight of Jiang Feng, he asked in surprise, “Jiang Feng, so it really is you. What do you need from me?”

Jiang Feng said, “Find a quiet place first. I have something to tell you!”

Wen Liangji nodded and led him to a secluded corner. With a sweep of his hand, a thin flash of golden light flickered and vanished, and the surrounding area immediately fell silent.

Wen Liangji said, “Go on. Even if someone were standing beside us now, they wouldn’t hear what we’re saying.”

He seemed to suddenly remember something and looked Jiang Feng up and down. “By the way, are you all right?”

Jiang Feng asked bluntly, “Do you know what happened to me before?”

Wen Liangji gave him a long look. “You acted on a moment of compassion, were lured by a little girl to the back streets of Taicang, and there encountered a demon. Your master, Hua Su, rescued you and killed the demon. However, it had been lying low for years precisely to open a demon lair in Taicang City. Though it is now dead, its scheme has still succeeded.”

Jiang Feng and Hua Su were the first people to witness the fox demon Huang Gui. By rights, both should have been detained until Jiang Feng woke and the matter had been fully questioned. Yet clearly, both of them were still free. Who had intervened was obvious without saying.

Jiang Feng nodded. “Broadly speaking, yes. But there are two more things I need to tell you.”

He held up two fingers and folded down one. “First, the little girl who lured me over, A Miao, was being instructed by someone. The fox demon Huang Gui was hiding in the back streets of Taicang and had been acting as an assassin. Someone paid him fifteen hundred gold coins to kill me.”

Wen Liangji let out a soft laugh. “Fifteen hundred gold coins? Your price is rather high.” Then his expression turned serious. “Do you know who the buyer was?”

Jiang Feng nodded. “I do have some suspicions, but I still need further proof. For that, I’ll need Scholar Wang and the others to help.”

Even the three scholars of the Clear Mind Society had to be brought into it. Wen Liangji could not help saying, “You really do have a lot going on, don’t you...”

Jiang Feng shook his head and sighed. “I only want to prepare for the grand examination in peace...”

He told Wen Liangji everything about Qin Hu and the others. Wen Liangji took it to heart and decided he would go question the scholars in a moment.

Wen Liangji asked, “Without evidence, who is your suspect?”

Jiang Feng asked in return, “Do you remember the incident at the entrance to the Refracting Jade Pavilion, when I clashed with that man?”

That had been Jiang Feng and Wen Liangji’s first meeting, not long ago, so of course he remembered. His expression changed slightly. “You mean... Li Ming? He’s a trusted aide of Fu Liu Jun. Would he really have contact with the demons?”

Jiang Feng shook his head. “No. To be fair, the one who had a conflict with me and wanted me dead was not him.”

“Then who?”

“His disciple, the son of the Jiang clan’s patriarch of Lu Ming Jiang—Jiang Huai-ming!”

Now was not the time for false modesty. Jiang Feng quickly explained his connection with the Lu Ming Jiang clan, especially the conflict between the two sides.

In Wen Liangji’s eyes, someone as minor as Jiang Huai-ming was not worth noticing. Had Jiang Feng not mentioned him, he would not have remembered at all.

Only then did he suddenly realize. “Right, there was indeed another young man then. You were mainly arguing with him... You think he bribed those ruffians, and that he also bought off that demon?”

Wen Liangji drew a deep breath, his gaze turning cold. “Matters within your clan are not something outsiders should interfere with. But since this involves demons, that is a different matter altogether...”

Jiang Feng nodded. “Yes. But I’ve lived in the Jiang clan for more than ten years, and I don’t believe they would have such ties to the demons. So I think there is still one thing we need to figure out: if Jiang Huai-ming did not know it himself, then who told him of Huang Gui’s existence?”

Thanks to Moonlit Softness, Dreamlike Bamboo Tears, and Westward Lord for their gifts. Thanks to Fat Fox 911 and Red Sand for their daily support. Thank you all for the encouragement you have given me in the review section.