Junior Sister is skilled in subduing demons.

Chapter 23 The Demonic Plague of Jiangxin Village

Jiangxin Village
A village of about 100 households at the foot of Sanqing Mountain is named Jiangxin Village because it is located between two rivers and looks like it is in the center of a lake. The village mainly relies on farming and fishing.

In the past two weeks, a river monster appeared in the river, and more than a dozen people lost their lives in the river. All the villagers dared not go into the river to fish, let alone cross the river, which caused the village to lose contact with the outside world.

Just a few days ago, several young men from the village risked crossing the river to invite some demon hunters to kill the river monster, but they were ultimately killed by the river monster, which enraged the monster and completely sealed off Jiangxin Village.

For the future of Jiangxin Village, the young people braved dangers to cross the river one after another and finally succeeded. They then went to Sanqing Palace for help, which led to the disciples of Sanqing descending the mountain.

After traveling for more than a day, Anzhi and Lingshe arrived outside Jiangxin Village.

The trees along the river are straight, and the willows sway gently in the spring breeze, like graceful young girls dancing.

Anzhi walked towards the crystal-clear riverbank, where fish swam around and several crabs crawled around on the bottom.

"Oh, I'm so thirsty, Master! So many fish!" The spirit snake was so thirsty that it jumped into the water on the shore.

Anzhi cupped a handful of water in his hands and drank it; it felt so refreshing.

Since it was his first time going down the mountain and he had no experience, Anzhi forgot to bring a water bag and had to pick up water to drink along the way.

After drinking a few sips of water and washing my face, I did my hair and makeup in front of the mirror-like surface of the water.

Looking across the river towards Jiangxin Village, one sees wisps of mist.

“Snake Treasure, that must be Jiangxin Village, right?” Anzhi asked.

The serpent, which was frolicking in the water, crawled toward the stone pier and said, "Yes, it should be. My master said that Jiangxin Village is in the center of the lake."

Upon hearing this, Anzhi was a little excited, feeling that it was finally his turn to show his skills.

"Let's go, we need to get into the village quickly."

Anzhi walked out of the water and continued walking towards the ferry.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes were already fixed on them from the water not far away.

~~~~~~~~~~
Tongma Ferry Crossing

It is the location where the ferry to Jiangxin Village stops, and it is also the only way to reach Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital, and Fengcheng by land. It is very lively here, and due to the large number of people coming and going, it has formed a mini market.

Tea vendors, sesame seed cake vendors, noodle vendors—anyone who passes by their stall will call out their wares.

"There have been monsters appearing in Jiangxin Village across the river recently, so please don't go into the water."

"Wow, a bounty notice! Whoever can capture the river monster will get silver and have a monument erected! Yay!"

"What level of monster is this river demon? Should I give it a try?"

……

At the ferry crossing's notice board, a group of people were discussing the reward of five taels of silver offered to quell the river monster in Jiangxin Village. However, it was clear that everyone was just watching the spectacle and would continue on their way after a while, since they didn't have the ability to do so.

"Old man, are you from Jiangxin Village?" Suddenly, a young man put down his horse-slaying sword on the table, asked the question, picked up his wine gourd and took a sip of wine: "I don't want much, twenty taels of silver, I guarantee to exorcise the demon."

"What? Two, two, twenty taels?" The old man was so shocked by the number that he could barely speak. He knew that he could only earn less than one tael of silver in five days selling tea at the ferry, and that was only if he was lucky: "You're robbing me."

The young man, still savoring the aftertaste of his drink, said, "This is my price. You spent so much money hiring so many people, was it any use? You might as well give me all that money, and I'll provide a one-stop service, quality guaranteed."

The old man is an elder of Jiangxin Village and has been doing business at the ferry. Since the river monster appeared, he has not returned to Jiangxin Village. Now he wants to go back to the village to see if his family is alright, so he is a little anxious.

"Could you lower the price?" The old man genuinely couldn't afford that much money, but he saw that the man in front of him was a demon hunter of considerable skill. The young man said dismissively, "I am Kui Ran, a demon hunter of Wugong Mountain with six coins. You know Wugong Mountain, right? It's much more powerful than the Sanqing Palace behind you. So, this is the price. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to my horse-slaying sword, would it?"

The disciples of Wugong Mountain belong to the sword school.

Seeing that Kui Ran was fiddling with her demon-slaying weapon again, the old man wanted to ask her for help, but he really didn't have the money.

"As a demon hunter, it is your duty to rid the people of evil, but you use it as a means to make a fortune. I don't know what kind of sect your Wugong Mountain is?" Shen Anzhi sat down at the next table, somewhat disapproving.

Kui Ran found this intriguing. Judging from Shen Anzhi's attire, he was clearly a disciple of the Sanqing Palace. So she provocatively said, "Hehe, young lady, you just came down from the mountain, didn't you? You're so high and mighty, do you even know what being short of money means?"

Money is important, Shen Anzhi knew that of course. The disciples of Sanqing Palace also had some small income outside to subsidize the sect's expenses. Sometimes they would go down the mountain to catch some minor demons and collect a little money.

Before descending the mountain, Fan Jin reminded Anzhi that in addition to eliminating harm for the people, he should also collect some money sometimes, since the sect has hundreds of people and needs to make expenses, and if there are expenses, there must be revenue.

An Zhi said disdainfully, "Even if I'm short of money, I would never do such a despicable thing that disgraces my sect. You're asking for twenty taels right off the bat. It seems that your Wugong Mountain is so poor that you can't even afford to eat. If all else fails, you might as well eat tree bark."

Kui Ran was furious. She could talk about him, but she absolutely could not mention her own sect. Instantly, she condensed her spiritual energy into her finger, and the cup flew towards An Zhi.

At this moment, Anzhi was no longer the Shen Anzhi of the past. The moment the cup flew towards her, she had already sensed it and used her inner energy to create a protective shield, which immediately shattered the flying teacup with a "bang".

Seeing this, the old man hurriedly stepped forward and acted as a peacemaker, saying, "Hehe, you two, you two, we are all demon hunters, so there's no need to make things so tense. Our village doesn't have any industries, we just do some trading and fishing."

Seeing this, Anzhi comforted the old man, saying, "Uncle, don't worry. I'm not like some people who are obsessed with money and ask for twenty taels of silver right off the bat. Here's the deal: after the demon scourge is gone, just give me three taels of silver, hand over two taels, and I'll keep one tael for my hard work."

Anzhi still had a concept of money, especially during the year she spent on the mountain. Since she had no source of income, her monthly living expenses were only two coins. In addition, she had no money to bribe officials in many places, so she was barely scraping by.

Kui Ran was annoyed that someone was trying to steal her business, so she reminded her, "Miss, there are rules in every trade. Exorcising demons is risky. Are you really going to sell yourself for just a few taels of silver?"

"What do you mean by selling yourself? Three taels of silver is my standard." She finished speaking and laughed disdainfully.

Just then, the spirit snake crawled out of Anzhi's sleeve, and Kuiran rushed forward and grabbed it.

"Let me go, let me go, Master, Master!" The serpent began to struggle.

Seeing this, Anzhi strode forward, pushed Kuiran aside, snatched the spirit snake away, and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, snake baby, don't be afraid."

"Wow, a spirit snake! If this thing were soaked in my wine gourd, it would be a real remedy." Kui Ran said with drooling eyes, "How about this, I'll give you twenty taels of silver, can you give me this snake?"

"Get out!" An Zhi abruptly refused, placing the spirit snake in his arms.

"You, you're a young lady, you can bring a cat, a dog, or even a bird as a pet, but you brought a spicy snack? That's such a waste!" Kui Ran still didn't want to miss such a good opportunity and continued to pester him.

Anzhi found the man very annoying, so he immediately moved to another table.

“This thing needs to be cut in half and soaked in alcohol so that its spiritual energy can be extracted.” After saying that, Kui Ran gestured to her wine gourd: “How about it? Twenty taels.”

An Zhi angrily stood up, placed the Jade Flower Sword on Kui Ran's shoulder, and threatened, "I'm warning you, don't mess with the Spirit Serpent, or you'll die a horrible death."

Kui Ran: "Tch! A five-coin demon hunter is this arrogant. He'll pickle this snake sooner or later."

"Kid, I'm afraid you don't have the ability." Suddenly, the snake poked its head out from Anzhi's arms, and it actually looked fierce in a cute way.

"Yo yo yo yo." Kui Ran seemed even more excited. In his opinion, drinking the wine infused with this spirit snake would definitely increase one's power and spiritual energy many times over.

Shen Anzhi killed several fourth-tier demon spirits on the mountain, killed a cat demon with four lives, and digested these demon seals. Her current level has reached the fifth-rank demon hunter.

……

(End of this chapter)