Scripture of Days Past

The Ba Manor presided over ten counties with a combined population of around four to five hundred thousand.

The Demon Vanquishing Department’s hundred-man commander office was situated outside the manor city and was known as Earth Gate Fort.

It had its own training ground, barracks, agricultural fields, and other facilities. It was essentially a miniature military base.

However, as Chu Qiguang’s group approached the gates of the fort on horseback, they saw soldiers dressed in official uniforms tending to the fields, all of whom appeared weary and dispirited.

The soldiers stationed at the gates of the fort were also malnourished and listless, almost having to lean against the walls for support. Only after Chu Qiguang presented his official documents and seal did the two guards feebly welcome him inside.

These were not encouraging scenes for Chu Qiguang. The soldiers here were completely incomparable to those on Jade Face Mountain. They looked more like peasants than soldiers!

Ning Chigong was quickly informed of Chu Qiguang’s arrival. Even though he was very much taken aback that Chu Qiguang had actually made it here in one piece, he still put on a friendly smile and warmly greeted his new superior.

Behind him were two platoon commanders, each of whom was supposed to have five captains under their command, with each captain presiding over ten soldiers.

The two platoon commanders, ten captains, and a hundred soldiers amounted to a total of one hundred and twelve people.

Chu Qiguang cupped his fist in a salute toward the trio, then said, ”I’m sure there will be much for me to learn on the job, so I’ll be counting on all of you for guidance. Take a seat.”

The two captains didn’t move an inch, as if they hadn’t heard Chu Qiguang at all.

”Did you not hear Master Chu? Sit down!” Ning Chigong snapped, and only then did the two platoon commanders oblige.

”Don’t mind them, Master Chu. These two idiots are still used to following my orders,” Ning Chigong said as he turned to Chu Qiguang with an apologetic smile.

Chu Qiguang offered no response. Instead, his attention was focused on the five tentacles extending from Ning Chigong’s shadow and the words that had appeared before his Dao pursuer eyes: ”Disguised double agent.”

Interesting.

”It’s fine, Brother Ning,” Chu Qiguang said with a faint smile. ”It’s good to see that you have such loyal subordinates.”

The two of them briefly exchanged pleasantries, after which Ning Chigong suddenly said, ”To tell you the truth, Master Chu, it’s been a truly difficult year looking after the fort on my own, and I’m in desperate need of some rest. Now that you’re here, I’ll hand the fort over to you.”

”Thank you for your hard work,” Chu Qiguang said with a smile. ”May I ask where I can find the fort’s master seal, account books, and household registers?”

With those three things, Chu Qiguang would have control over all the fort’s soldiers, money, and food, but Ning Chigong was not so eager to comply.

”The account books have always been managed by the accountant, so I don’t know where they are. As for the master seal, it disappeared along with the previous hundred-man commander.”

”What about the household registers?” Chu Qiguang asked.

”There was a fire in the fort a few days ago, and all the household registers were burned,” Ning Chigong said. ”I’ve instructed my subordinates to compile them again, and I’m sure that won’t take too long. My apologies, Master Chu, but I really must get some rest now. I’ll leave everything in the fort to you.”

With that, Ning Chigong stood up with a hand pressed against his head, feigning a headache as he began making his way out of the room.

The two platoon commanders immediately rose to follow him, but he suddenly wheeled around with a furious expression as a burst of intense heat erupted from his body, putting his cultivation base as a fifth-state martial artist on full display.

”Are you two deaf?! Master Chu is the one calling the shots in the fort now, so why are you following me? Are you too stupid to follow orders, or are you blatantly going against them?!”

Ning Chigong then instantly regained his composure. Turning to Chu Qiguang with a smile, he said, ”I’ll be going now, Master Chu. I leave the fort in your capable hands.”

After leaving the hall, Ning Chigong set off on horseback for his residence in the manor city, accompanied by his personal servant.

”What do we do if he goes to the accountant office to ask for the account books?” a servant asked quietly.

”Didn’t I already tell you? Don’t give him the account books, the master seal, the household registers, or anything else!” Ning Chigong harrumphed coldly. ”That little brat is in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can just waltz into Shu Province and take over as hundred-man commander!”

***

Elsewhere, deep in the mountains, Qiao Zhi sat atop the head of the demonified Chaotic Heavens King and yawned. ”How much further is your lair? We’ve been walking for an eternity!”

”It’s just up ahead! We’ll be there soon!” the fiends around him hurriedly replied, practically clambering over one another in their efforts to please him.

”You’ve already said that over ten times!” Qiao Zhi said in exasperation.

These fiends were completely uneducated, so they had no understanding of concepts such as units of distance and time.

However, this time, the fiends were finally telling the truth. After climbing over another mountain, Qiao Zhi spotted a cave up ahead. A group of dog fiends was stationed at the entrance, and they were all extremely alarmed to see the demonified Chaotic Heavens King.

The fiends inside the cave were quickly filled in by the other fiends, and after Qiao Zhi took over their lair, he discovered an altar in the deepest part of the cave.

The altar was surrounded by many blotches of dried blood, as well as torture devices and prison cells. Qiao Zhi could see skeletons inside the cells, some belonging to humans, and others to fiends.

In the cells within the cave’s innermost depths, Qiao Zhi saw five demons.

Why are there demons in this cave?

Intrigued, he summoned the three remaining fifth-state fiends in the group and asked them about the demons.

The fifth-state fiends were far more intelligent than their lesser companions, but the innermost part of the cave had always been reserved solely for the Chaotic Heavens King and was off-limits to all the other fiends. Hence, none of them had any idea what the area was being used for.

All they knew was that the Chaotic Heavens King would periodically capture humans or fiends and hold them captive in that part of the cave, but none of the fiends had ever seen anyone emerge from their alive.

The fact that the Chaotic Heavens King had been keeping demons there was news to them as well.

One of the three fifth-state fiends was a rat fiend, and a thought suddenly seemed to occur to him.

”Oh, I just remembered something! The Chaotic Heavens King used to entertain guests here once every two to three months. Maybe this has something to do with that?”

Upon hearing this, a possibility occurred to Qiao Zhi.

Could it be that the Chaotic Heavens King was working with some cult? Now that I think about it, this looks like the type of altar the Tribulation Religion uses to create demons. How did the Chaotic Heavens King get involved with them? I don’t want anything to do with those madmen!

After some consideration, Qiao Zhi ordered the demonified fiends to kill the demons in the cells and destroy the altar.

He then ordered the fiends to transport all their food supplies outside. Once that was done, the entire cave was burned down, and preparations soon began for a relocation.