Start slaying demons from the proficiency panel.

Qi Dong found the bodies of all the missing persons at the bottom of the large pit in the Blue Water River Gold Mine.

After Qi Dong and his men dug three feet into the ground, they were absolutely certain that all the missing people from Jinbian City were in this mine.

In this way, the mystery that had puzzled the people of Qidong and Jinbian City for many days was finally settled and came to an end.

Unfortunately, the culprit Wu Changyong was already dead, and Qi Dong could no longer use the criminal law to punish this guy who secretly harmed people, so he could only let him die so easily.

With many tasks still at hand, Ning Xiu left Jinbian City early the next morning without any delay. After saying goodbye to Qi Dong, he headed towards the next place where trouble might be brewing.

……

Longwang River is the largest tributary of the Huangjiang River flowing into the sea. It passes through Baisha Prefecture and Donghai Prefecture. Fish from the Huangjiang River often swim into Longwang River, allowing fishermen in Baisha Prefecture to catch a full catch.

Legend has it that on days when the Dragon King River is covered in pearls, torrential rains fall continuously, and the Dragon King appears from the depths of the river, bringing even more abundant fish to the Dragon King River.

A small number of fishermen have claimed to have seen the Dragon King in the rain, but due to a lack of credibility, few people are willing to believe it and treat it as just a legend.

Heavy rain, along the Longwang River.

“There have been continuous reports of fishermen being bitten by monsters in Donghai Prefecture. Now this has spread to the Dragon King River. We have been patrolling for so long, but we don’t know how much longer it will take before we can find the monster that is harming people.”

"It's been raining a lot near the Dragon King River lately, making it really difficult to observe. Even if a monster were to pass by underwater at this time, we probably wouldn't be able to detect it."

Along the Dragon King River, three Iron Horse Demon-Subduing Guards, dressed in straw raincoats and bamboo hats, patrolled and spoke.

However, because the rain was so heavy, even if you got very close, you might not be able to hear your companions' voices.

"Hey! Look over there."

Just then, the Demon-Subduing Officer, who was walking at the front, suddenly pointed ahead and shouted.

Looking over, the companion saw a woman holding an umbrella standing motionless on the riverbank not far away, holding a child's hand.

Due to the torrential rain, the water level of the Longwang River has risen to a very high level. Women and children could easily fall into the river if they are not careful.

It is common knowledge that the Dragon King River has a rapid current. Even skilled fishermen would not be able to withstand falling into the water under normal circumstances, let alone in the current situation.

"Hey! It's too dangerous for you to be standing there, come back!"

Three demon-slaying officers rushed over and shouted. The woman heard the shouts and turned around, but at that moment her foot slipped and she and the child fell into the water.

"not good!"

Three Iron Horse Demon-Subduing Guards rushed over. Their duty was to eliminate evil spirits and protect the people. They could not stand idly by when someone fell into the water.

However, when one of the Iron Horse Demon Slayers ran to the riverbank and was about to reach out to grab the woman and child, he suddenly discovered that the two had vanished without a trace.

Just as Fu Mowei was feeling puzzled, a pale hand suddenly burst out from under the river surface, grabbed Fu Mowei's ankle, and forcefully pulled him into the river.

Without any reaction, the demon-slaying officer had already fallen into the water, and his two companions who followed were horrified when they saw this.

They saw two white figures appear behind their companion in the water, directly entangle the body of the fallen Demon Slayer, and try to pull him underwater.

"Help! Help!"

"Hurry, hurry and think of a way to save him!"

The two demon-subduing officers standing on the shore were extremely anxious. Just then, they saw a tree branch on the bank. They quickly reached the branch into the water so that the demon-subduing officer who had fallen into the water could grab it, and then they pulled him back to the shore with all their might.

"what!"

Just as they were about to reach the shore, Fu Mowei let out a miserable scream, and red splashes appeared in the water.

With the forceful pulling of the two demon-slaying officers, the person who had fallen into the water was finally pulled ashore and fortunately survived.

"this!"

The two demon-slaying officers exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

The Demon-Subduing Officer who had fallen into the water had two thighs covered with open wounds, revealing white bone, and the teeth marks from being gnawed were very obvious.

"Quickly, get him to get treatment. His injuries are too serious."

Without thinking twice, the two quickly lifted their companion's body and left the area.

[086] Multiple Bronze Leopard Squads

Qiantang City is located next to the Longwang River, where water transport is well-developed. One-fifth of the iron and salt transported by the Shang Dynasty passed through here. It is also the capital of Baisha Prefecture and the largest city in the prefecture.

Among the numerous files Ning Xiu received, this was the most serious of all. After traveling for four or five days from Jinbian City, passing through several villages and towns to resolve the evil spirit incidents, Ning Xiu finally arrived at his destination.

With the recent occurrence of the Moonlit Tide in Donghai Prefecture, many incidents of demons harming people have happened one after another. Some demons have even traveled along the Yellow River to Baisha Prefecture, causing harm to Qiantang City and several other cities.

If this problem is not resolved quickly, it will greatly affect the stability of Baisha Prefecture and Donghai Prefecture.

Ning Xiu came to Qiantang City this time because the area he was assigned to in the dossier was this city, while the other cities were handled by other Copper Leopard Squads.

Not long after Ning Xiu rode his Iron-Eating Beast into Qiantang City, he saw a Demon-Subduing Guard wearing black silver chainmail walk out of a clinic on the street. Judging from the style of the black silver chainmail, he was undoubtedly a Iron Horse-class warrior.

"Which Bronze Leopard Squad are you from, and what brings you to Qiantang City?" Seeing that there were other squads of Demon-Subduing Officers here, Ning Xiu became curious and took out his Bronze Leopard Token to ask the man.

Generally speaking, a local command will only deploy one squad at a time; deploying more than that would be a waste of manpower. The presence of other Bronze Leopard squads is enough to indicate that the situation in this area is more serious than average.

Although Ning Xiu was not wearing the Xuanyin Chainmail at the moment, after he took out his token to prove his identity, the other party immediately confirmed Ning Xiu's identity and walked over to bow and say, "Greetings, sir. I am Liu Yan, from the 271st Team of the Bronze Leopard. Not long ago, we received a temporary assignment from Tianmu Tower to come to Qiantang City to investigate the whereabouts of the demons."

"There's a sorcerer in Qiantang City?" Ning Xiu was taken aback. He hadn't expected this place to be plagued by misfortune after misfortune.

With demons harming people in the past and demons appearing in the future, no matter their motives, there is definitely more to this than meets the eye.

"Yes, it is said that several people in Qiantang City died mysteriously, and their corpses were surrounded by evil spirits after death, which was the work of a sorcerer. However, after we arrived in Qiantang City, no strange incidents have occurred. On the other hand, a member of the Copper Leopard Team 175 was injured recently, so I came to buy medicine for him."

"Two Bronze Leopard Squads..." Ning Xiu pondered. It seemed that Qiantang City had been quite lively lately. Including himself, there were now three Bronze Leopard Squads gathered here, which was very rare under normal circumstances.

“Take me to your lodgings, and I’ll stay here for a while,” Ning Xiu said.

"Alright, sir, please follow me."

Basically, every prefecture within the Great Shang territory has a mansion purchased by the Demon Subduing Division, specifically for the Demon Subduing Captains to reside in. The Elegant Garden in Nanjiang City, Yunze Prefecture, was such a mansion.

In Qiantang City, it was an inn.

When Ning Xiu followed Liu Yan through the back door of the inn, he saw that the stables in the backyard were already full of horses, and the Iron-Eating Beast could only stay in a corner of the courtyard for the time being.

Walking through the back door of the kitchen into the inn's lobby, one sees several Iron Horse Demon Slayers sitting at a table eating noodles or steamed buns. When they see Liu Yan bringing in a stranger they've never seen before, they all stop what they're doing and look at Ning Xiu with puzzled eyes.

"Everyone, this is Ning Xiu, the leader of the Bronze Leopard Squad 432. He has also come to Qiantang City on a mission." Liu Yan introduced him briefly.

Upon learning that the visitor was actually a Bronze Leopard Demon-Subduing Officer, everyone stood up and bowed to Ning Xiu.

"Greetings, Lord Ning."

"Greetings, Lord Ning."

Ning Xiu nodded and said, "No need to be polite, please continue eating, don't worry about me."

Following Liu Yan up to the second floor, they heard that a few days ago, several demon-slaying officers were dragged into the river and bitten by water ghosts while patrolling the Dragon King River. If their companions hadn't pulled them out in time, they would probably be dead by now.

After learning about this from Liu Yan, Ning Xiu decided to go and visit him to find out more about the situation, since his purpose in coming to Qiantang City was to investigate clues about the demon.

On the second floor of the inn, Liu Yan pushed open the door to the third guest room on the left corner. Immediately, a strong smell of medicine wafted out. Ning Xiu walked into the room and saw a man lying on the bed with weak breath and a pale face.

His legs were wrapped in white cloth, but blood could still be seen seeping from the wounds, staining the white cloth.

"Zheng Lu, a bronze leopard-level expert has come to visit you," Liu Yan said, placing the medicine he had bought on the table.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

When Ning Xiu walked to the bedside, the wounded man lying on the bed spoke in an extremely weak tone.

"Have you already seen the best doctor in Qiantang City?" Ning Xiu asked.

"We've seen several doctors, but they're all helpless. We don't know what bit Zheng Lu; the wound contains a toxin that's difficult to treat. Even cutting flesh won't heal it, and the bleeding is extremely heavy. Currently, we can only use hemostatic medication to suppress the bleeding."

"However, we have already sent out the Demon-Subduing Owl to request assistance from various places in Baisha Prefecture. If any skilled physicians receive this message, they will immediately rush to Qiantang City to treat him," Liu Yan said.

Ning Xiu used his Qi Observation Technique on Zheng Lu and saw that the Qi lines on this person's body were also shrouded in a gray mist, based on what he had seen on Wu Changyong and others last time.

When the line of destiny is shrouded in gray fog, it is a sign that a person is about to die.

"Unwrap the bandage and let me see," Ning Xiu said immediately.

Some demons possess malevolent poisons that leave wounds that are difficult to heal with ordinary methods. If the poisons are left to fester in the body, the victim's body will continue to rot and eventually lead to death.

Zheng Lu is in this situation right now. Without a doctor to treat him, he probably won't live more than two or three days.

At Ning Xiu's request, Liu Yan took a knife and cut off all the bandages on Zheng Lu's feet, exposing the numerous wounds on his legs.

It was a horrifying and gruesome sight. Both legs were covered with pitted bite marks, oozing purple, blue, and yellow pus. The moment the bandages were removed, a foul stench wafted out.

The smell was comparable to rotten meat left to sit in the rain for several days and then exposed to the sun; it was utterly nauseating.

"This water ghost bit me quite deeply," Ning Xiu muttered to himself, feeling the malevolent poison emanating from the wound.

As he spoke, he circulated his internal energy and pressed his palm onto the wound on Zheng Lu's leg.

The Burning Sun Supreme Scripture is a pure Yang cultivation method, and the internal energy cultivated from it is naturally upright and scorching, making it perfect for dispelling evil poisons.

"Ah!" Zheng Lu cried out in grief, his whole body trembling violently. In his mind, Ning Xiu's palm was like a branding iron, so hot that Zheng Lu felt as if the flesh on his leg was about to be cooked.

Wisps of black gas drifted out of Zheng Lu's wound, a sign that the evil poison was being expelled. Once the evil poison was removed, Zheng Lu's wound would no longer fester and would recover completely with proper care.

After Ning Xiu used his internal energy to heal Zheng Lu, all the wounds on his legs were successfully detoxified, and the color of the wounds returned to normal.

"How are you feeling now?" Ning Xiu asked, wiping the thick juice off his hands with a rag.

"Thank you, sir. I feel much better now." Zheng Lu, covered in sweat, couldn't help but let out a relieved smile.

Before the evil poison was eliminated, he could feel countless ants gnawing at his legs with every breath; the bone-eating, flesh-pecking sensation was excruciating.

Now that Ning Xiu has used his internal energy to remove all the evil poison, Zheng Lu feels as if he has been reborn, and he is incredibly relaxed and at ease.

"My lord, you've come just in time. We've tried many methods, but none of them could remove the evil poison from Zheng Lu's body," Liu Yan said with a smile.

"That means he's not meant to die. Let him heal properly." Ning Xiu got up, washed his hands in a basin in the room, and then went outside.

Demons, water ghosts, and the very monsters he was ordered to investigate—behind the seemingly peaceful city of Qiantang lies considerable trouble.

According to Ning Xiu's understanding, excluding himself, there are currently four Bronze Leopard Squads in Qiantang City, each handling their own missions. When they return to the inn, they share the intelligence that their respective teams have gathered during their outings.

However, many days passed and none of the Bronze Leopard Squads made much progress on their missions. In addition, Qiantang City was located near the Dragon King River, and the constant heavy rain made everyone feel very depressed.

Ning Xiu stepped out of the room and was greeted by a Bronze Leopard Demon-Subduing Officer who happened to be walking out of the next room. The two immediately came face to face.

"Captain Ning, you've come to Qiantang City too."