Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1306: The Bottom of Jianghu

Do you want to be a demon-suppressing officer for fun?

Ning Ke chuckled. Apart from Lin Xiyin and other members of the Lin family, probably no one else would dare to say such words.

"As far as I know, this is not a position that is... very suitable for me." Lu Ning chose her words carefully.

Lin Xiyin was not annoyed: "It is true that the role of demon suppressor is not for ordinary people. Those demons with no special abilities can be dealt with with brains and a little courage. But if you encounter a big demon or above, you really can't deal with it without some Taoism skills."

She took two steps to the side, as if observing the traces left when Lu Ning killed the head.

"It just so happens that you are the one who, by chance, has obtained the innate purple qi. If you can practice well, you can also slay demons and monsters."

"Do you two have any too?" Lu Ning asked.

Lin Xiyin grinned: "It's a family heirloom. As for where Ning Ke got it from, I don't know and I haven't asked."

"Not everyone in the Demon Suppression Division has innate true qi. In addition to the Lin family's family practice method, only the royal family has a secret method, and the rest depends on chance. The Demon Suppression Division can suppress demons and monsters, relying on other skills." Ning Ke did not hesitate to dispel the situation, "Therefore, don't think that the Demon Suppression Division can provide you with much help. In addition to the Lin family's practice method, there is no established way to practice innate true qi. Even the Lin family is far from the true way of seeking the Tao and asking the immortals."

"Hey, Ning Ke, aren't you just trying to push people away?" Lin Xiyin glared at her. "The Demon Suppression Division isn't that bad, is it? At least you can find owners of any kind of innate true qi there."

"In other words, innate true qi is not actually a particularly precious thing?" Lu Ning asked.

Lin Xiyin kicked the broken ice on the ground, felt its hardness, and then said: "It's not rare, but hard to obtain. You can get this strand of innate purple qi, even if it goes against your practice, it is better than nothing."

"I already know that it goes against my skills, but there is no other way at the moment," Lu Ning said.

"But I still sternly warn you not to interfere in this matter. You were able to kill that head only because of a coincidence." Ning Ke stared at Lu Ning, "You should try to interfere in the affairs of demons when you are strong enough."

"Ning Ke, what you said is not right." Lin Xiyin waved her hand. "Except for the demon-suppressing officials trained by the Demon-Suppressing Division, how many of those we recruited from outside are prepared to face demons? Aren't they all people who were accidentally dragged in and could never get out? This person at least is prepared. After entering the Demon-Suppressing Division, even if he can't become a general like us, he won't have to start from the lowest official position."

"Lin Xiyin!" Ning Ke raised his voice, "The demon-suppressing officer should not involve innocent people, especially when there are multiple demons involved."

"That's right, but the Demon Suppression Officer needs people, especially those whose minds are not corrupted by fame, wealth and power." Lin Xiyin began to stand firm at this time, "Ning Ke, if I want to change the current situation, I must gather more helpers and reorganize the people at all levels of the Demon Suppression Officer from top to bottom!"

"You think too far ahead." Ning Ke shook his head, "And as long as you are still under the system of the Demon Suppression Officer, you can't change the current situation of the Demon Suppression Officer."

"How can you be so sure..."

"In short, Lu Ning, you don't need to get involved in the subsequent affairs, especially those related to demons. If Teng Liuyun also asked you to go into the mountains to investigate the location of the tribes in the mountains, it's easy. Lin Xiyin can tell you all the locations of the mountains in just a moment."

"Wait, Ning Ke, you mean not only will she not join us, but I will also have to work for her?"

"Teng Liuyun's commission is also a military priority. It is also the duty of our demon-suppressing officers to cooperate with the army when necessary."

"Why do you know all this so well?" Lin Xiyin said unhappily, then blew a whistle, and a red shadow crossed the sky.

"We can't stay in the southern border for too long." Ning Ke said, "Demons are everywhere. Although they haven't become a threat yet due to the lack of demon generals, if a demon general or demon king is born, it will turn into a disaster in an instant. Zhenjian Villa is an example. We need to obtain enough evidence and ask the Demon Suppression Bureau to take action."

"Ask the Demon Suppression Department to help? Ning Ke, we two Si Yi, we don't know how many people we can ask for help." Lin Xiyin snorted coldly, "What evidence do you want? Even if we kill the Demon King, it's just a credit, not evidence."

"What if there is evidence of the creation of demons?" Ning Ke asked.

"What did you say?" Lin Xiyin was shocked.

"Although it's sensational, I have some clues." Ning Ke said, "Behind this matter, there may not only be demons, but also people helping."

"People? What good is there in betraying people?"

"Lin Xiyin, I don't need to understand the reasons of these lunatics. I just want to chop off their heads." Ning Ke said, "But if there is someone behind, you can ask this person to help investigate."

"You agree to this again?"

"The rules of the Demon Suppression Bureau state that matters concerning humans and demons are divided into..."

"Okay, okay, you don't have to recite it." Lin Xiyin waved her hand quickly, "I agree. But after dealing with the things in the mountains, I have to check what you said first. I also know the rules. In addition-"

She pulled out a piece of yellow paper from her sleeve, held it between her fingertips, whispered something, and then handed the paper to Lu Ning.

"This is the map. As for Teng Liuyun's intention to do something that would harm his virtue, we don't care. But if he is cursed and becomes a demon one day, I will kill him to prevent him from causing harm to the world."

"I'll pass it on." Lu Ning took the yellow paper and saw that the location of the mountain stronghold in the Hengling Mountains was depicted in black and red lines. "Keep my words. This matter is over. If you really want to be a demon-suppressing official, you can use this as a token and find me at the Beijing Town Demon Division. With my status, I can still arrange a suitable position for you. Don't waste your talent." Lin Xiyin narrowed her eyes and looked at Lu Ning, "And don't die in some unknown place."

"Thank you. I will."

Lin Xiyin smiled, reached out and grabbed Ning Ke's shoulder. A black wind surged up, carrying the two of them into the sky.

  =

The early morning in the mountains, with its damp scent of rain, makes people feel comfortable.

Lu Ning still felt a little tired. On the one hand, she had an uneasy sleep in the mountains, and on the other hand, the sudden use of the innate purple qi yesterday put a burden on her body.

Obviously, Ning Ke and Lin Xiyin didn't have the innate purple energy to practice, let alone solve her problem. As Lu Ning encountered more and more problems with the monsters, she had to use this power and solve the problem as soon as possible.

As for exploring the mountain, she was still willing to follow suit. Although most of the demons she saw yesterday were new, any few of them could kill her. Exploring in such a dangerous mountain was not in line with her current goal. It would be best to get what she needed from Teng Liuyun as soon as possible, and then make plans.

After making up her mind, Lu Ning started to return. With the demon eyes, as long as she didn't want to come into contact with demons or humans, basically nothing would happen.

When she arrived near Lingying Mansion, she found a piece of paper and copied the pattern on the yellow paper. Then she went to Teng Liuyun's camp and explained her purpose. Soon, a fair-faced man with a scholarly demeanor came out.

Teng Liuyun was not in the camp.

Although it was rare for the commander to be absent, such a situation did occur. Lu Ning did not care whether Teng Liuyun was there or not. After learning that the person who came out was a military officer beside Teng Liuyun, he handed the rubbing to the other party. After the other party looked at the picture, he quickly ordered the soldiers to bring what Lu Ning asked for.

Lu Ning didn't want to stay here any longer, so he hurried on his way and arrived at Lingying Mansion at noon.

After returning to the rented courtyard, Lu Ning took a good rest and slept until the evening. She suddenly opened her eyes and got up from the bed. Feeling the internal force filling her body, she knew that she could finally continue to practice the Senluo Jiuzhuan Heart Technique in depth.

At the same time, she also felt hungry. She grabbed two pieces of preserved fruit she had bought earlier and stuffed them into her mouth, then picked up her purse, long sword and other things and walked out the door.

Just as he reached the entrance of the alley, Lu Ning was suddenly stunned.

It was almost dusk, and under the dim sunlight, there was another ball of light parked across the alley. Although people were coming and going outside, they all seemed to avoid that area unintentionally - the old chariot was parked there, but unlike before, a man wrapped in a tattered gray robe was sitting on the chariot, holding the reins in his hands, and slightly tilting his head, as if looking at her.

There was no human face under the gray robe, but a deep space, and in the depth, a dim light was swaying.

After Lu Ning felt dizzy and blinked her eyes violently, the old chariot had disappeared. Instead, a familiar yellow robe squeezed through the crowd and hurried past.

"This guy is back too? Didn't he swear at that time that he would find out the truth in the mountains before coming back?" Lu Ning was a little surprised, and then followed him. On the way, he bought a bag of sugar cakes and ate them while walking.

Xuan Yangzi was seen strolling around, not looking like a cultivator, but rather with a shifty look in his eyes. He looked left and right among the crowd, and walked through most of the city before turning into a sparsely populated road. At the end of the road was a temple, which seemed to have been deserted for a long time. Xuan Yangzi stepped over the threshold and entered the temple.

Lu Ning bit a candy biscuit and jumped onto a tree outside. It was dark, so she used the skills she learned from Xuan Yangzi to hide herself, and no one could find her.

Xuan Yangzi walked into the temple, dug out a copper furnace from the small courtyard outside, stuffed two handfuls of dead branches and leaves into it, lit a furnace, and then sneezed several times because of the smoke. Several people also came out of the temple. Lu Ning looked at them intently and could barely see their faces with the help of the firelight.

A beggar walked out alone, leaning on a cane, with a cramped leg, untidy beard, dirty patchwork clothes, and a skinny body. Behind him came a man and a woman with two children. The man was tall and strong, the woman was pretty, and the two children were also smart. Although their clothes were not very good, they were neat.

The two who came out from the other side made Lu Ning frown slightly. They were young men who looked to be about 20 years old, with a dirty face and only a mouthful of white teeth sticking out. The young man was also skinny, but his eyes were drooping, making him look cunning and vicious. The young man was holding a little girl, who looked younger than the other two children, but in Lu Ning's eyes, the little girl was full of black air. Her originally cute face kept changing, and it looked like three different faces kept switching back and forth.

In the demon's eyes, this little girl was simply a ball of black air. The black color was not included in the five elements of demons, so it was obvious that there was something wrong with this little girl.

But Lu Ning didn't need to think about it. When Xuan Yangzi saw the little girl, he immediately raised his head and grabbed the young man, who begged for mercy. Xuan Yangzi said in a tone of disappointment: "Six Fingers! What did I teach you? Why are you doing such a disgusting and shameful thing again?"

“Ouch, ouch, old Taoist priest, old Taoist priest, let go, let go…” The young man named Liuzhi begged for mercy while waving his hands to stop the girl who was about to pounce on him, “Listen to me, don’t pull my ears, they are going to break, they are going to break…”

Xuan Yangzi loosened his hand, but still made a gesture on his other hand. After his six fingers were loosened, he rubbed his ears and complained to the other two groups: "Why don't you come to help me persuade them..."

As soon as he muttered this, he saw Xuan Yangzi picking up his Taoist robe and about to kick him. He quickly jumped back and said, "Old Taoist, I saw this girl from the north of the city. That day, when I was walking on the road at night, I happened to hear crying in the yard, so I took a closer look. That family had just drowned a girl, and a wisp of her soul was staying in the yard, looking stupid and foolish. I went in and arrested a servant to ask, and then I learned that the master of this family had an affair with the maid, and the lady in the backyard also knew about it. The family only wanted a boy, so if a girl was born, they drowned her and buried her in the garden, and no one in the deep house knew about it."

"Don't lie to me! Are you a girl?"

"Oh, old Taoist, the third one has been drowned. I searched their souls and found these infant spirits. Even if the people in the compound suppressed them, they couldn't become demons. They wandered around stupidly all day. We might as well gather them together and refine them into little ghosts. They will have intelligence instead." Six Fingers begged for mercy and said, "I didn't want to raise little ghosts in the first place, but I took them in because I felt sorry for the three infant spirits. Nannan is honest. With me watching over her, she won't cause any trouble."

"Bullshit!" Dan Yangzi kicked him. "Don't I know what you are like, Six Fingers? What's the matter with the evil spirit of this ghost girl? How many people has she killed? Do those little ghosts you raised before know how much effort I, the Taoist priest, put in to get rid of them?"

"Old Taoist." The old beggar spoke up, "Six Fingers wasn't talking nonsense. He just let the little devil kill everyone in that family and didn't disturb anyone else."

After hearing this, Danyangzi almost vomited blood.