In the Demon Suppression Division: Crimson Words Nurture the Blade, Slaying Demons to Prove the Dao

Upon hearing this, Wei Xuanfeng offered the bandit leader a bright yet cruel smile.

"If you mention the Gongsun family's name, I'll let you go. But if outsiders hear that, won't they think I'm afraid of them?"

As he spoke, he drew his knife and stepped forward.

The bandit leader retreated in panic, raising his broadsword.

"Brother, I have five beauties in my village, all virgins. Could you spare their lives?"

"Tsk..."

Wei Xuanfeng frowned. Why did everyone think of him as a pervert?

But just as he frowned, the bandit leader suddenly launched an attack, thrusting his broadsword straight at Wei Xuanfeng's lower body while shouting.

"This idea is tricky, let's all work together!"

Accompanied by a coded signal, two figures emerged from the ground on either side of Wei Xuanfeng.

They were in mid-air when their broadswords were already slashing at Wei Xuanfeng.

The three attacked from the top, middle, and bottom routes in a triangular formation.

Another figure darted out from the shadows, a cold glint in its eyes aimed at Jiao Yu…

As the bandit leader shouted, Wei Xuanfeng moved with his sword, attacking to the right.

He was incredibly fast; the thief on the right swung his broadsword, but could no longer find his target.

Before he could change his move, Wei Xuanfeng had already arrived, instantly unleashing three slashes.

The thief on the right had his door wide open.

Wei Xuanfeng unleashed a powerful attack, sending him and his sword flying.

He was struck by the blade, coughed up blood, and was utterly powerless to fight back.

The thief on the right was thrown back and crashed heavily into a tree, where he died instantly.

The bandit leader and the bandit on the left, wielding twin swords, finally arrived.

Seeing that the thief on their right had been killed in a single move, and realizing that their perfect ambush had been rendered useless, they became fearful and their movements inevitably slowed down.

Wei Xuanfeng was anxious and eager to fight, so he fought more and more fiercely. He used his long sword to make one clever move after another, killing the two villains until they were sweating profusely and struggling to defend themselves, unable to exert even half of their usual fighting power.

Finally, in a moment of confusion, he was killed simultaneously by a palm strike and a knife.

Meanwhile, Jiao Yu's men were still locked in combat with the thieves.

Even without internal energy, Jiao Yu's martial arts skills and eyesight remain.

She repeatedly escaped danger from the thieves' attacks.

"Boss, I'm here to help you!"

Fearing something might happen to her, Wei Xuanfeng dodged away.

With a single slash, the thief didn't even have time to react before his head flew high into the air.

The spurting blood dripped onto Jiao Yu's delicate face.

Bright red blood filled the scene; within a ten-step radius, the soil was almost entirely stained red. A dozen or so corpses lay before them, all victims of a path of no return.

"You'd better watch out next time, or you'll spray me in the face."

Jiao Yu felt somewhat annoyed that his subordinates had helped him.

But she couldn't get angry, so she could only glare at Wei Xuanfeng and angrily wipe it clean.

"Boss, you're injured." Wei Xuanfeng was immediately annoyed when he saw the bloodstains on Jiao Yu's chest.

Damn thief, where the hell are you swinging your sword?!

He quickly put the two women off him and then helped Jiao Yu up.

"A tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs. If I had internal strength, I could beat a hundred of these kinds of people!" Jiao Yu said dismissively.

"Ah, right, right, right!"

As Wei Xuanfeng spoke, he tore a strip of cloth from his body and then took off Jiao Yu's outer garment.

Perhaps because of the time they had spent together over the past few days, Jiao Yu had gotten used to it.

It wasn't until Yu Guangzhong noticed that Hu Murong and Wen Shihan were looking at him with the same gaze that he realized something was wrong.

"It's not like anyone will die, so there's no need to bandage me." She tried to push Wei Xuanfeng away.

But to Wei Xuanfeng, her soft and gentle strength seemed more like a coy attempt to resist.

"Boss, I think it's good that these thieves came." Wei Xuanfeng pried her hand away and continued bandaging. "Your injuries are quite severe."

"What do you mean? Did I give you a good eye-opening experience again?" Jiao Yu said sullenly.

"Hehe..." Wei Xuanfeng chuckled awkwardly, not refuting, "That's not all..."

"What other benefits are there?"

"Boss, I don't think you've figured out how to face Commander Wu yet."

Jiao Yu fell silent after hearing that.

"Since you haven't decided yet, why don't you pretend to be unconscious?"

"Um?"

"After we get back, let's take a ten-day to fifteen-month nap," Wei Xuanfeng said earnestly. "With this time to buffer, whether you stay or leave, it will be easier for both sides to accept..."

Go... stay...

Jiao Yu fell silent again.

After joining the Demon Suppression Division, he worked diligently and conscientiously.

However, she was schemed against by her superior, and almost caused the deaths of her three children.

She really didn't want to stay in the Demon Suppression Division any longer.

You can go...

Where can I go...?

Having spent half her life in the Demon Suppression Division, she subconsciously felt a strong aversion to the outside world.

"Alright..."

After much thought, Jiao Yu realized that Wei Xuanfeng was right.

Falling into a coma might allow both himself and Wu Santong to maintain some semblance of dignity...

Seeing that Jiao Yu agreed, Wei Xuanfeng immediately summoned Hu Murong and Wen Shihan.

After discussing it for a while, the four of them set off again.

This time, however, Wei Xuanfeng was even more exhausted.

Not only did he have to carry Hu Murong on his back, but he also had to hold Jiao Yu, who was pretending to faint.

Fortunately, Wen Shihan has a resilient personality and is still able to walk.

……

Wei Xuanfeng carried Hu Murong on his back and held Jiao Yu in his arms, with Wen Shihan following behind. The four of them finally entered the city gate of Kangcheng.

When the soldiers guarding the city saw the flying fish robes, they instinctively straightened their backs, but when they saw the disheveled appearance of the group, they couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Wei Xuanfeng ignored them, gave the four women some clothes, and then rented a carriage.

Driving the carriage, the group returned to the Northern Garrison before nightfall.

When his colleagues saw Jiao Yu being carried back, they all turned to look. Some wanted to go up and ask, but Wei Xuanfeng stopped them with a look.

Without stopping, he led the three back to his small courtyard, opened the door, placed Jiao Yu on the bed, and helped Hu Murong to a chair to lean against.

"You two stay put, I'll go get a doctor."

Wei Xuanfeng gave a brief instruction, then turned and left.

A moment later, he returned with a young female doctor carrying a medicine box.

The female doctor's surname was Zhao, and her given name was Xiaoya. She usually treated the wounded soldiers of the Demon Suppression Division.

Xiaoya took the pulses of the three people in turn, and then looked at their eyelids and tongue coating, frowning as she spoke.

"There are residual toxins in his body, not fatal, but he needs to rest. That Commander Jiao has external injuries, I have applied medicine, and he is fine."

Wei Xuanfeng thanked her and slipped her a silver ingot. Xiaoya declined twice but accepted it, leaving behind a few prescriptions before leaving.

After settling the three women in, Wei Xuanfeng changed into clean clothes, straightened his collar, and headed towards Wu Santong's signing room.

Wu Santong's office was located behind the main hall of the Northern Garrison Command, the third room on the left after passing through a moon gate.

Above the door hangs a black lacquered plaque with the two characters "Bing Zhu" (秉烛, meaning "holding a candle") written in a steady and restrained style.

Two guards with knives stood at the door. When they saw Wei Xuanfeng approaching, they looked him up and down but did not stop him. They just whispered something.

"Master Wu is inside, please go in."

Wei Xuanfeng pushed open the door and entered.

The room was small, with a black lacquered table in the center, on which were piled several stacks of files and a cup of tea that hadn't gone cold yet.

A bookcase stood in the corner, next to a low couch.

Wu Santong was sitting behind his desk, looking down at something, when he heard footsteps and looked up.

He didn't stand up; he simply placed the brush in his hand on the brush holder and gestured with his chin toward the chair opposite him.

"Please sit down."

Wei Xuanfeng bowed respectfully and then sat down.

He noticed that the window in the room was half open, and the light coming in from outside illuminated half of Wu Santong's face, while the other half was hidden in shadow.

Wu Santong's face showed no emotion, except that his eye bags were more prominent than they had been three months ago.

"Speak," Wu Santong said, picking up his teacup.

Wei Xuanfeng took a deep breath and laid out the words he had prepared.

He first talked about the situation in Chenjia Village.

When they arrived, the villagers and the soldiers had already been killed. The murderer was a member of the Black Flag gang and used some kind of mosquito. The dead bodies were shriveled up.

Then came Xiuhua and Qisha. Xiuhua jumped off a cliff, and Qisha was killed by Duan Hai.

He paused when he mentioned Duan Hai...

He knew the weight of the statement, "A traitor has emerged from among the centurions of the Northern Garrison."

"Duan Hai is a member of the Black Flag organization," Wei Xuanfeng said. "He colluded with that old man called Mo Lao to set a trap to steal the Spring Lotus."

Wu Santong's brow twitched slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

Wei Xuanfeng continued, "Before falling off the cliff, Xiuhua left behind words written in blood, which read 'Duan Hai'."

Wu Santong remained silent.

He picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then put it down.

Wei Xuanfeng continued talking about the Earth Immortal Spring Lotus, "I obtained the Spring Lotus. But Elder Mo's Black Water Mosquitoes were pressing too hard, and I didn't have time to bring it back. I was forced to destroy the Spring Lotus."

"Destroyed?" Wu Santong's voice was neither loud nor soft, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"I tore them up and threw them into the stream, where they were washed away." Wei Xuanfeng's tone was calm. "At that time, three of my comrades were poisoned and unconscious. I was carrying three people by myself, and saving their lives was my top priority."

Wu Santong remained silent.

It felt like half the air had been sucked out of the room.

Wei Xuanfeng could feel those eyes scrutinizing him, as if weighing every word he uttered.

But he did not look away, nor did he offer any further explanation.

After a long while, Wu Santong leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment.

"You can go now," he said.

Wei Xuanfeng stood up, and then he heard him say, "Wei Xuanfeng, you did a good job this time."

"It's my duty," Wei Xuanfeng said, bowing respectfully.

"Once you recover, I'll promote you to squad leader."

After saying this, Wu Santong waved his hand, indicating that he could leave.

Wei Xuanfeng turned around and pushed open the door to leave.

The light outside was much brighter than inside. He squinted and caught a glimpse of two centurions standing under the eaves, waiting for a reply. The two men were giving him the sidelong glances.

One had a smile on his lips, while the other had a calm expression and a scrutinizing look in his eyes.

"Wei Xiaoqi," the smiling centurion cupped his hands in greeting, "I heard this trip wasn't easy for you. Tell me about it sometime later?"

"I'll definitely do it another day." Wei Xuanfeng returned the greeting, and without lingering, strode towards the courtyard.

He could faintly hear whispers behind him; he knew it without turning around…

From a foot soldier to a captain, even if it's just a one-rank promotion, in this system, it means that others will look at you differently.

He pushed open the door and returned to the courtyard. Jiao Yu was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, Hu Murong was dozing off against the back of a chair, and Wen Shihan was taking the medicine pot off the stove.

Wei Xuanfeng walked to Jiao Yu's bedside, leaned down, and said in a low voice.

"Boss, I've dealt with everything. Wu Santong's side is about 70-80% convinced. I've been promoted to captain; we'll talk again once you're 'awakened'."

Jiao Yu's eyelids twitched, but she didn't open her eyes.

Wei Xuanfeng straightened up and clapped his hands.

"Let's go see if there's anything to eat in the kitchen. We're still hungry after this trip back."

Fox Murong opened his eyes and weakly stretched out his hand: "I want to eat dumplings."

"Okay, okay, dumplings."

He led Hu Murong and Wen Shihan through the corridor, and as they approached the kitchen, they could hear lively noises coming from inside...

The rhythmic clatter of chopping filling on the cutting board, the whooshing sound of steam billowing from the pot lid being lifted, and the chatter and laughter of several tall, burly men squatting by the door peeling garlic—it was like a New Year's celebration. Old Yang's voice came from the kitchen, his booming voice like a gong.

"Chop the meat finely! Add plenty of minced ginger to the filling, as Jiao Meiren dislikes the fishy smell!"

Wei Xuanfeng paused for a moment.

He saw Old Yang wearing an apron covered in flour, bending over and sprinkling pepper on a bowl of minced meat on the cutting board, humming an unknown tune, his whole body enveloped in the heat from the stove, his forehead covered in sweat.

A kitchen helper nearby looked up, saw the three people at the door, paused for a moment, then grinned and said:

"Hey! Xuanfeng's back! Little Murong's gotten so thin! Old Yang, look who's here!"

Old Yang looked up at the sound, still holding the basin in his hand.

A smile had just formed on his face when his gaze swept over Wei Xuanfeng, Hu Murong, and Wen Shihan...

The three people were standing, and there was no one behind them.

His smile froze for a moment, and he tilted his head to look behind the three of them, as if waiting for someone to emerge from the shadows.

"You little brats," Old Yang laughed and scolded, "are you trying to hog all the food? Why didn't you call your boss over too!"

Hu Murong's nose tingled, and his eyes reddened first.

She lowered her head and didn't say anything.

Wen Shihan also turned her face away and bit her lower lip.

Wei Xuanfeng opened his mouth, his voice somewhat muffled.

"Uncle Yang..."

The smile on Old Yang's face gradually faded, as if someone had splashed a bucket of cold water on his face.

The basin slipped in his hand but didn't fall, though his fingers seemed to suddenly lose strength and he left it on the cutting board.

"Xuanfeng," his voice suddenly became hoarse, as if his throat was stuffed with cotton, "You...your boss...what happened to her..."

……