Scripture of Days Past

In a small courtyard, Jiang Longyu was chopping his hand through the air over and over again, constantly reflecting on how he had been defeated by Chu Qiguang.

”We have to go, Young Master,” a servant interrupted. ”Don’t think too much about it. Chu Qiguang only won because the rules of the martial examination favored him. If weapons had been allowed, and if the battle hadn’t taken place on a platform, then there’s no way he could’ve matched you. Besides, as one of the Eight Han Resurgence Generals, your future achievements will surely far surpass his. Why get hung up on such a trivial setback?”

”Shut up! I don’t need you to tell me that!” Jiang Longyu snapped.

Right at this moment, there was a knock on the door. The servant opened it to find an official sent by the imperial court, carrying an official document to present to Jiang Longyu.

After opening the official document and reading through its contents, a look of surprise appeared on Jiang Longyu’s face.

They want me to travel to Jade Face Mountain in three months to take part in the Demon Vanquishing Department’s selection trials?

***

After returning to Azure Sun County, Chu Qiguang was naturally showered with praise and congratulations. He paid a visit to the Wang Clan Village, and thanks to his newly earned status as a wusheng, which exempted him from taxes and forced labor, he was able to purchase ten acres of land for his mother.

He also took the opportunity to ask Fine Silk and Fish Egg whether Ergou’s sister had kept her promise and remained tight-lipped. Unsurprisingly, she had indeed kept her promise and hadn’t told anyone about the talking cat fiends.

That night, Chu Qiguang took Ergou’s sister outside, then began, ”Sanmei, I have something to ask you.”

”Please call me Zhou Yujiao,” Ergou’s sister corrected with a serious expression.

”Alright, Zhou Yujiao it is then. Zhou Yujiao, I have something to ask you,” Chu Qiguang said. ”If I told you that there were many other animals that can speak just like Fine Silk and Fish Egg, would you be interested in seeing them?”

Zhou Yujiao’s eyes lit up with excitement. ”Really? Where?”

”I can take you there if you want, but before that, we have to make some preparations.”

He collected a blood sample from Zhou Yujiao, and Qiao Zhi assessed it, determining that she also had an affinity for cat blood. The Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique was then performed on her. Before long, she had taken on a semi-fiendified form, gaining several feline features, including cat ears and a tail.

Zhou Yujiao stroked her own ears and tail in amazement and excitement, and she became even more astonished when Chu Qiguang also adopted his fiend form.

She threw her arms around him and began stroking his silver fur incessantly as she exclaimed, ”Such a big kitty! Can I cut off some of your fur to play with?”

”No! Stop plucking my fur! You’re going to give me a bald patch!”

Chu Qiguang took Zhou Yujiao to the rear mountain, where they set off for Hidden Fiend Village on the backs of Chitter and Chatter.

Looking at the pair of massive Chongming Birds, Zhou Yujiao immediately began drooling.

Chu Qiguang slapped her on the head and scolded, ”Don’t get any funny ideas! These birds are not for you to eat, do you hear me?”

Upon arriving in Hidden Fiend Village, Zhou Yujiao was even more amazed at the sight of all of the toiling fiends, and she quickly began making a fuss over everything she saw.

Just as Chu Qiguang had expected, innocent children were much more accepting of fiends. Not only was Zhou Yujiao not horrified or disgusted by the sight of this village of fiends, but she was extremely excited to see them.

”Big Bro, are these fiends?”

”That’s right, but they’ve learned how to work.”

”Oh, so they’re good fiends, then!”

Right at this moment, an altercation broke out up ahead. Chu Qiguang and Zhou Yujiao made their way over, and they were greeted by the sight of Jin Ji arguing with a wolf fiend.

”Master Omniscient isn’t here anyway, so why can’t I slack off a little?” the wolf fiend yelled. ”Not only am I going to slack off, but I’m going to go steal food! It’ll take forever to get food through farming. I can get food much faster by taking it from others!”

”What if you get caught?” Jin Ji countered furiously. ”What’s wrong with being self-sufficient?”

”That wolf fiend is new here, and he’s not very obedient,” Qiao Zhi said. ”He’s constantly trying to convince the other fiends to steal food with him.”

Ultimately, the altercation ended on unpleasant terms, with neither side able to convince the other.

Jin Ji stormed away in a fit of anger, while the wolf fiend gathered six other fiends and continued rallying others to leave the village and plunder food with him.

Chu Qiguang turned to his sister and asked, ”How do you think we should convince the fiends to be content with staying here to farm and provide for themselves?”

”Maybe we can repeat it a few times?” Zhou Yujiao suggested.

Chu Qiguang was speechless.

”What else?” Chu Qiguang asked. ”Why don’t you try putting yourself in their shoes?”

Zhou Yujiao considered the question for a moment, then her eyes abruptly lit up with an idea.

She skipped over to the wolf fiend and his companions, then asked, ”If you’re going to steal food, then why not steal from this village?”

”The fiends here are too much of a pain to deal with,” the wolf fiend explained. ”The humans outside are much easier to overpower.”

”How about this? Let’s pretend to work hard so we can earn the trust of the fiends in this village, and once we accomplish that, we’ll be able to go anywhere in the village that we please!” Zhou Yujiao proposed. ”We’ll be able to freely visit the fields, the trenches, and eventually, even the food storehouses.”

The wolf fiend’s eyes instantly lit up.

”I like that idea! What do we do after that?”

”After that comes the most important step,” Zhou Yujiao said with a serious expression. ”As long as we work in the village, the fiends here will split us some of their food. As long as we keep pretending, they’ll keep giving us food, and they won’t even know that they’re being robbed!”

All of the other fiends’ eyes also lit up, but the wolf fiend immediately saw through the ruse.

”Don’t try to trick me! What you’re describing is becoming a tenant farmer!”

”But if we want to steal food from them, we’ll have to wait for them to grow the food first, right?” Zhou Yujiao countered. ”We can help them out so there will be more to steal, and in the process, they’ll share their food with us, and we’ll also be earning their trust! Doesn’t that sound like a great plan?”

Hesitant looks appeared on the fiends’ faces, while Chu Qiguang looked on with a nod of approval. Given Zhou Yujiao’s talents, she could begin working in Hidden Fiend Village right away.

Qiao Zhi took a sympathetic glance at the fiends, and he could only wish them the best.

Chu Qiguang called over the designated chicken farmer of the village, Song Baishi, then took him to keep an eye on the wolf fiends, but didn’t directly confront them himself. He was confident that his ideological education would be enough to sway the fiends and rid them of all of their bad habits.

With that in mind, Chu Qiguang decided to hold one of his lessons there and then, but his condition didn’t flare up this time.

It must be because the audience isn’t big enough, he concluded to himself.

The next day, Chu Qiguang returned to his courtyard in the county town, where he received the same official document from the imperial court, ordering him to travel to Jade Face Mountain to take part in the year-long Demon Vanquishing Department training and selection trials.