Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

The Demon King lowered his body slightly and glared at him fiercely: "Li Yuan? I've heard of you."

"I heard you killed a few demon kings in the Snow Peak Mountains. Do you think you're invincible now?"

It let out a terrifying roar, "This is Hexi, the territory of the Fire Demon King! You brat, I won't tolerate your insolence here!"

With his youthful appearance, Li Yuan single-handedly slew three demon kings, and his name had already spread throughout the world.

Now that he has met him, he is just a handsome young man. The Fire Demon King is very disdainful, thinking that he is probably just bragging.

"Fire Demon King, very well, then I'll use you as a sacrifice for my blade."

The moment he finished speaking, Li Yuan's figure transformed into a streak of light, instantly traversing several meters and appearing before the Flame Demon King.

A dazzling blade of light slashed straight down on its head.

"Hiss!"

The Flame Demon King had not expected Li Yuan to be so fast. In his haste, he could only cross his arms, urge his demonic power, and condense a thick layer of dark red scales.

The blade's edge slashed down.

"Snap—!"

Its scales shattered like thin ice, and the blade's edge cut through everything in its path, severing its arm at the wrist.

"Aaaaaah!"

Black blood spurted out.

The Flame Demon King let out a painful roar, staggered backward, and his eyes were filled with horror.

Its prized defense proved utterly vulnerable under Li Yuan's blade.

"you--!"

"Again!"

Li Yuan didn't give him a chance to speak at all, and slashed out again, aiming straight for its neck.

The Flame Demon King was so frightened that he no longer cared about saving face. He rolled on the spot and dodged the blade in a sorry state. The blade grazed his scalp and severed one of his horns, sending up a spray of blood.

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

The Flame Demon King screamed in terror, spewing out a ball of black flames as he plunged headfirst into the sand.

"Hmm? It's poisonous."

Just as Li Yuan was about to give chase, he discovered that the fire was poisonous, so he had to stop. With a flick of his long sleeve, the poisonous fire was instantly compressed into a ball and prevented from spreading.

Seeing that their king had fled, the lesser demons scattered and disappeared into the vast Gobi Desert in the blink of an eye.

Li Yuan did not pursue them. He was not familiar with the place and was alone. If the other party used a diversionary tactic, he would be in trouble.

He sheathed his sword, turned around and walked to Ji Fanghua's side. He checked her injuries and found that her left arm was indeed dislocated, there was a deep wound on her shoulder that exposed the bone, and several bloody scratches on her chest from sharp claws. Fortunately, none of them were fatal.

"Bear with it."

Li Yuan grabbed her arm, gave it a sharp push and a quick movement, and with a "click," the dislocated joint was put back in place.

Ji Fanghua groaned softly, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, but she gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound.

"Okay, give it a try."

Ji Fanghua stood up, stretched her arms, and nodded to Li Yuan: "It's alright now."

Li Yuan stood up and looked around the battlefield. Of the twenty cultivators, seven were dead, nine were seriously injured, and only four were slightly injured.

Most of the accompanying horses were also lost; some were bitten to death by the monsters, and the rest were frightened and scattered.

Li Yuan looked solemn.

He had just arrived in Hexi when such a big thing happened, and Ji Fanghua almost got into trouble. Was it a coincidence, or was someone deliberately trying to give him a hard time?

"Junior Sister Ji, are you alright?"

Wu Yu rushed over with his men and was horrified by the horrific scene before him.

"Damn it! These monsters are too arrogant, killing and robbing in broad daylight!"

Li Yuan waved his hand: "Take some men and clean up the mess, treat the wounded. Shi Yong, take a few men and search the surrounding area to see if there are any survivors."

"Yes."

The two agreed and got busy.

"Captain Zhou, that monster calls itself the Flame Demon King. Have you heard of it?"

Li Yuan beckoned Zhou Hai over.

"The Flame Demon King?" Zhou Hai nodded. "I know. It comes from the Demon Court and often raids the border."

"However, it doesn't usually come to the west bank of the river. Why did it suddenly come here this time? That's really strange."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan became even more suspicious. It seemed that there was something fishy about this matter, and it was aimed at him.

"By the way, is Suzhou always this unsafe? Although it's a remote place, it's still an official road. How can the demon race be so rampant here?"

Seeing Li Yuan's unyielding expression, Zhou Hai hurriedly explained, "These demons usually make their moves in remote areas and rarely appear outside the city. Today must be an exception."

"exception?"

Li Yuan's gaze sharpened. "Captain Zhou, with so many demons infiltrating Suzhou, didn't your Demon Suppression Division have any prior warning?"

"Please forgive me, sir. It was my incompetence. I will immediately have the defenses strengthened."

Zhou Hai's forehead was covered in cold sweat. This newly appointed inspector looked young, but he was imposing and not someone to be easily fooled.

"Go, increase patrols."

Li Yuan did not pursue the matter further. As a newcomer, he should not make enemies with the locals. Besides, this matter was most likely related to the military. They were responsible for border security and could not have allowed so many demons to break through the defenses without their knowledge.

Ji Fanghua's team set off this morning. Although the route was planned in advance, only a few people knew the exact departure time.

These monsters happened to ambush them on their only route, at just the right time, as if they had known all along.

This is by no means a coincidence.

"Take everyone back to Suzhou."

With too many wounded, they needed to be treated as soon as possible. Li Yuan led everyone back to the city, and on the way, he specifically asked Ji Fanghua about the situation.

"Have you told anyone about your itinerary?"

Ji Fanghua frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Last night, I sent someone to inform the Prefect of Suzhou. After all, we need to pass through the checkpoints, and they need to register. Other than that, I didn't tell anyone else."

"The Prefect of Suzhou?"

Li Yuan's face grew even more gloomy.

After arriving in Suzhou, he has not yet met with the local governor. Could it be him?

Upon returning to the Demon Suppression Office, Li Yuan immediately instructed Zhou Hai: "Captain Zhou, retrieve all the case files from the Suzhou Demon Suppression Office for the past six months and send them to my office."

Zhou Hai's expression changed slightly, and a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes: "Lord Li, there are quite a few case files, and I'm afraid we can't sort them out in a short time."

"How about you give me a few more days, and I'll send it over once I've finished preparing it?"

"No need to tidy up." Li Yuan's face darkened, his expression authoritative without being angry. "Just move in like this."

Zhou Hai opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but seeing Li Yuan's cold eyes, he hurriedly lowered his head and replied, "Yes, subordinate will take care of it immediately."

As soon as he turned around, Li Yuan instructed Xu Sheng: "Keep an eye on him and see who he's contacting."

"Does the master suspect him?"

"He may not have been involved in this attack, but given the chaos in Suzhou and his failure to report it, he probably already harbors ulterior motives."

"Yes, I'll go myself."

Xu Sheng immediately accepted the order and left.

Within half a day, Zhou Hai ordered someone to deliver the dossier, which consisted of three large boxes. Li Yuan asked Wu Yu and Zheng Yuan to help categorize the dossier, and sorted out the cases related to attacks on supplies and the interception of rescue cultivators.

Unexpectedly, the number was very large, with more than 30 incidents in half a year, averaging more than five times a month, and each incident resulted in very serious losses.

These case files are scattered among various cases, large and small, and may seem insignificant, but when put together, they are shocking.

In just six months, nearly two hundred cultivators lost their lives, and tens of millions of dollars worth of property were robbed.

This is only the situation in Suzhou. If we look at Zhangye, which is closer to Longyou Road, the situation is probably even worse.