Night fell, and darkness enveloped the land.
Inside a relatively exquisite courtyard in Yunshan County, Lin Baichuan and the other five were brought by people arranged by Liang YouTian.
At this moment, inside the room.
As soon as the yamen officials left, Lin Baichuan walked out of the room, carrying his blade. Liang YouTian had a problem; that guy was clearly deliberately stopping them from going to the village where the demons had massacred everyone.
Unusual events often hide something sinister. Since Liang YouTian was desperately trying to stop them, Lin Baichuan absolutely had to go and see.
After all, this task was his beginner's mission, related to his future promotion in the Demon Suppression Division, so he dared not be careless.
As soon as he stepped out of the room, Lin Baichuan was stunned.
He saw that the previously empty courtyard now had five figures: Qin Qing and the four seemingly drunk individuals, including Li Da.
"What, you didn't think the four of us were actually drunk, did you?"
Niu Zhenye saw Lin Baichuan staring at them in a daze and immediately sneered disdainfully, "If we couldn't even see through such a small trick, what's the point of talking about suppressing demons? We would have died a hundred or a thousand times over these past years..."
Li Da, however, smiled slightly at Lin Baichuan and said, "We had already sensed that the county magistrate Liang YouTian had a problem and knew he wanted to get us drunk to delay time, so we played along. I didn't expect that you, Lin Baichuan, also noticed this. It's very rare for a newcomer to have such vigilance."
"So that's how it is!"
Lin Baichuan nodded slightly, his heart filled with emotion.
Indeed, he had still underestimated the people of this world. How could Li Da and the others, who had become Demon Slayers and thrived all these years, be incompetent fools who didn't know what was important, to be tricked by Liang YouTian's petty schemes?
It turned out they had seen through everything long ago and were just playing along.
He had just been smug, truly a frog in a well.
"Sure enough, there are no fools in this world. It seems I need to be even more cautious with these guys, otherwise, I might be tricked to death without even knowing it."
Lin Baichuan thought to himself, but on his lips, he slightly shook his head and said, "Captain, you flatter me. I just fortunately noticed some anomaly; unlike you, Captain, who already knew everything and seemingly had a detailed plan."
"Of course, if we didn't have a plan, would we really expect a greenhorn like you to complete the mission?" Before Li Da could speak, Niu Zhenye immediately sneered disdainfully, "Kid, it's your good fortune to be with us."
Lin Baichuan's expression tightened slightly, and a surge of killing intent rose in his heart.
This Niu Zhenye had targeted him again and again. If he didn't give him his comeuppance, wouldn't he have lived this life in vain?
However, Lin Baichuan also knew that now was not the time to act. The top priority was to complete the mission; other matters could be pushed back.
"Stop dawdling, let's go!"
Just then, Qin Qing suddenly spoke, saying impatiently before leading the way towards the back door of the courtyard.
Liang YouTian's men were guarding the front door. They were avoiding the county yamen to investigate, so going through the front door was naturally not an option. They could only use the back door.
Seeing this, Li Da and the others didn't waste words and immediately followed.
Only Niu Zhenye gave Lin Baichuan a cold smile before following. Lin Baichuan's expression was normal, his killing intent contained within, and he didn't bother to argue with that guy, simply following at the very back of the group.
The group of six climbed over a section of the courtyard wall from the back door and headed straight out of the city.
Outside the city gate, someone was already waiting: a very ordinary-looking young man. Lin Baichuan glanced at him and immediately deduced his identity; he should be an intelligence officer of the Demon Suppression Division.
Because this person's appearance was too ordinary, so ordinary that if you threw him into a crowd, you definitely wouldn't find him. Such a person had a great advantage in intelligence work.
"Shadow Que, Dark Guard of the Cangwu Prefecture Demon Suppression Division, greets all sirs..."
As soon as Lin Baichuan and the other five arrived, the young man immediately bowed to all six of them.
As a vast organization, the Demon Suppression Division naturally had a complete system. It not only had Demon Slayers who specialized in combat but also Dark Guards responsible for intelligence and prison guards who suppressed demons in the great prison.
In addition, there were even some more secretive and special positions.
Among these many positions, the Demon Slayers' status was undoubtedly the highest, which was why Shadow Que bowed and addressed them as sirs upon seeing Lin Baichuan and the other five.
"Hmm, tell us the specific situation!"
Li Da waved his hand slightly and said in a deep voice, "What is the situation in Yunshan County, and where are those demons now?"
"The situation is worrying!"
Shadow Que shook his head slightly, his expression somewhat grave, and said, "Before you sirs arrived, another village was massacred. Also... after my investigation these past few days, I found that these demons are connected to certain people within Yunshan County. But who exactly, still needs to be verified..."
As soon as he spoke, Li Da and the others' expressions changed slightly, and they exchanged glances.
Lin Baichuan also raised his eyebrows, and a figure almost subconsciously appeared in his mind.
Yunshan County Magistrate Liang YouTian.
If someone in Yunshan County was colluding with demons, Liang YouTian was probably the biggest suspect.
However, everything was just speculation. Without conclusive evidence, it was difficult to make a judgment. Moreover, Liang YouTian held an official position; although he was only a ninth-rank county magistrate, he was still an imperial official. This concerned the court's reputation, so even more caution was needed.
"First, take us to the most recently affected village to see."
Li Da waved his hand slightly and said in a deep voice.
"Yes!"
Seeing this, Shadow Que naturally didn't waste words and immediately turned to lead the way.
The group moved quickly along the official road. Although they were traveling on foot, their speed was not slow. After all, they all had cultivation, and at full speed, although not as fast as a Unicorn Horse, it was much faster than ordinary horses.
After about half an hour, the group had left the official road. Led by Shadow Que, they walked along a rugged dirt path and finally arrived outside a small mountain village.
"Sirs, this is Baixi Village. It was originally a large village with nearly a thousand people, but two days ago, it became like this overnight," Shadow Que said, pointing at the seemingly desolate and eerie village before them.
Lin Baichuan glanced at Baixi Village and couldn't help but frown.
The village was utterly silent, looking chillingly desolate. Most importantly, it appeared incredibly barren, not at all like a village that had been inhabited three days ago. Instead, it looked as if no one had lived there for decades.
"Are you sure this village had people three days ago?" Wu Xiaoqi glanced at Shadow Que and said in a deep voice, "This looks like it hasn't been inhabited for decades! You're not deliberately playing a trick on us, are you?"
"How dare I!"
Shadow Que quickly explained, "Baixi Village indeed had people three days ago. You sirs can easily verify this by asking around. As for why it looks like this, we don't understand either, but we suspect it's related to that demon."
"Hmph... whatever it is, we'll know once we go in."
Niu Zhenye snorted, looking nonchalant, "Demons are strange, but ordinary demons can only play tricks; they don't have much power. We have killed countless demons; what kind of scene haven't we seen..."
"Don't be careless."
Li Da waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "However, we do need to go in and see. There might be some clues."
As he spoke, Li Da had already taken the lead and walked into the Baixi Village before them.