Demon, come and cultivate for me.

Zhou Chu closed the door and lifted the red cloth on the tray.

On the tray were some loose silver pieces and silver ingots, estimated to be around 170 taels.

Zhou Chu immediately understood that the innkeeper was returning all their expenses from the past few days, as well as the fifty taels of silver that Zhou Chu had just given him.

They also gave an extra hundred taels of silver, which was more than double the amount they had been given.

The white fox jumped onto the table, sniffed the silver ingot, and exclaimed excitedly:

"With so much money, I can buy new clothes tomorrow!"

"I'm not buying!" Xie Ning pushed the tray to Zhou Chu. "Consider this money as my repayment to you. Consider the extra silver as travel expenses for your trip to Baiyue."

The white fox jumped off the table and circled around Zhou Chu, calling out, "I'm going to Baiyue too, take me with you!"

Zhou Chu didn't want to bring any of them.

If you bring two burdens along, what can you possibly accomplish in the remote mountains?

"We'll talk about it later. I'm going back to sleep now." Zhou Chu left without taking the money, yawning.

Zhou Chu made up his mind that once he was registered as a martial artist, he would sneak away when they weren't paying attention.

When he returned to the door of his room, he saw Fan Li knocking on the door.

"Senior Fan, what brings you here so late?" Zhou Chu asked as he approached.

"You're really lucky, kid. You were just thinking about getting citizenship and the opportunity came along!" Fan Li said.

Fan Li recounted to Zhou Chu the entire story of Zou Jin, the Prefect of Wuyang, visiting him overnight.

After listening to him, Zhou Chu suddenly understood why the villagers were surprised rather than pleased after he killed the mountain demon that day.

What they fear is that if the old ones are killed, the younger ones will come.

The smaller ones are more numerous and more harmful than the older ones.

In just a few days, hundreds of villagers have been harmed by evil spirits.

Regardless of the circumstances, this matter originated from me, and I cannot sit idly by, neither morally nor logically.

Fan Li said he had already recommended Zhou Chu to Prefect Zou Jin.

Zou Jin agreed that if the demon-slaying mission was successful, she and Fan Li would jointly recommend Zhou Chu for citizenship.

Zhou Chu was naturally happy with this. If he could become a registered martial artist based on his own abilities, he wouldn't have to owe Xie Ning a favor or spend money to bribe her.

Furthermore, slaying demons and collecting their souls can provide resources for one's future cultivation techniques.

Why not do something that's perfect for both of you?

The two hit it off immediately and set off for Guniu Mountain.

Zhou Chu and Fan Li were both alone, so they didn't need to prepare anything and could leave whenever they wanted.

It was already past midnight, and the moon in the night sky was veiled by a thin layer of gauze, indicating that either rain or a strong wind was about to blow.

The two hurried to the city gate, where ten warriors, who had received orders from the prefect, had prepared horses and were waiting for them.

After meeting, everyone mounted their horses, except for Zhou Chu, who remained standing in place.

Everyone was puzzled and looked at Zhou Chu.

"This kid can't ride a horse," Fan Li noticed his predicament and addressed the others.

"Let's go first."

He knew that Zhou Chu was faster than a horse when he ran, so he wasn't worried.

"drive!"

The group rode away with a whoosh, the clatter of hooves on the stone path fading into the distance.

Zhou Chu left his horse where it was, circulated his inner energy into his legs, and galloped towards Guniu Mountain.

When Fan Li and the other warriors dismounted at Baishi Village, Zhou Chu had already caught up with them.

Everyone was secretly surprised when they saw Zhou Chu's hair, which was a little messy from the wind.

A young martial artist carrying a sword walked up to Zhou Chu, looked him up and down, and asked the question everyone wanted to ask:

"Brother, did you run all the way here?"

"Exactly." Zhou Chu straightened his hair, his breath coming in short gasps and his expression unchanged.

"Wow, bro, you're amazing! You can run faster than an animal..."

As soon as he said it, the young man realized he had misspoke and immediately corrected himself:

"What I mean is, you're better than livestock, no, livestock aren't as good as you..."

The crowd burst into laughter and shouted:

"Hey, you foul-mouthed Xu, shut up! Your mouth looks like it's covered in horse manure."

"Yeah, if this guy wants to beat you up, we won't stop him."

The young man, nicknamed "Stinky Mouth Xu," looked embarrassed.

"Um... I'm not good with words, I'll treat my brothers to drinks when I get back to apologize."

Zhou Chu realized that the kid didn't mean any harm; he just didn't know how to speak properly.

He didn't argue with Xu Yuan, patted him on the shoulder, and walked towards Fan Li in front.

Fan Li took the gourd tied to one end of the long stick and hung it on his waist.

He then took two sharp spearheads from his waist and attached them to both ends of the long stick.

Fan Li raised one hand, gestured to the crowd, and slowly walked into the village.

Apart from Zhou Chu, who was unarmed, the other martial artists all took out their weapons and followed closely behind.

The village was eerily quiet, with a faint smell of blood in the air.

The group cautiously surveyed their surroundings and moved forward slowly.

"You're too late, the wolf demon just left." A weak voice came from the alley next door.

Zhou Chu recognized the voice; it belonged to Xu Kun, the young man from the same village who had hit him with a stick on the day of the mountain god's sacrifice.

Zhou Chu followed the sound into the dark alley and saw Xu Kun covered in blood, barely breathing, clearly seriously injured and near death.

"Zhou Chu, you saved my brother and me last time... cough cough... we haven't had a chance to thank you yet..."

Xu Kun took out a jade disc from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Chu:

"This was left to me by my master... Here you go... help me save my sister..."

Zhou Chu nodded solemnly, took the jade disc and held it in his hand. The jade disc was about the length of a palm and shaped like a key.

"Kill the wolf demon, save my sister Xu Yao... take care of her for me... please..." With that, his arm fell limply to his side.

Zhou Chu sighed, reached out and stroked his eyelids, closing his eyes.

He put the jade disc into his bosom, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

If he hadn't traveled through time on the day of the mountain god's temple sacrifice, he and his sister would have already died at the hands of the mountain demon.

She had traveled through time to save them, but unexpectedly, they were harmed by evil spirits again in just a few days.

Is this fate?

No, Zhou Chu didn't think so.

Screw fate.

It's all because of evil spirits! They deserve to die!

"We're a step too late." Zhou Chu returned to Fan Li's side.

Fan Li nodded and said, "There's still demonic energy in the village. Follow me."

Having said that, he led the group to continue on their way.

The largest building in the village is the Zhou Clan Ancestral Hall, located in the very center of the village.

Fan Li stopped at the entrance of the Zhou Clan Ancestral Hall.

He pointed the tip of his spear at the ancestral hall, and two warriors stepped forward and knocked on the door.

咣 咣 咣!

The two knocked on the door several times, but there was no response from inside, so they decided to kick it down.

To everyone's surprise, the door didn't budge at all after several kicks; instead, the two men's legs went numb from the impact.

The two wooden doors of the Zhou Clan Ancestral Hall are not much better than the wooden doors of ordinary people's homes.

This wooden door was practically made of paper to the two mid-level martial artists; they could kick it into pieces with a single kick.

"Something's strange." Fan Li stepped forward to stop the two who were about to kick down the door.

He reached out and pushed it, then took a few steps back, looked around the ancestral hall, and then a look of realization appeared on his face.

"A formation!" Fan Li explained, "Someone has set up a formation around the ancestral hall to protect the entire hall. I wonder which expert set it up."