Start slaying demons from the proficiency panel.

【Mahavairocana Sutra: Eighth Layer (0/4000)】

After breaking through three realms in a row, Ning Xiu's internal energy in his dantian instantly became profound and powerful, at least three times stronger than before.

If this internal force were combined with the Pure Yang Fist, Ning Xiu simply couldn't imagine what kind of power it would unleash.

"Although I can only stay in the Demon Suppression Prison for two days, with my current strength, I can barely manage to leave the mountain," Ning Xiu thought to himself.

After these two days of improvement, Ning Xiu felt much more at ease about carrying out the task in the letter Su Qianqian had given him.

After bidding farewell to the head jailer, Ning Xiu left the Demon Suppression Prison.

……

The fact that the Marquis of Wuyi's mansion was surrounded by the Demon Subduing Division shocked the Shang Dynasty's royal family the most.

The thirty-six kings and marquises of the Shang Dynasty all held hereditary titles. They all traced back to the earliest clans when the founding emperor established the empire, and each of them was a member of the royal family.

Although the title has been passed down to this day, Marquis Wuyi's personality changed drastically after the death of his wife, Lady Han, which displeased many members of the royal family, who were unwilling to associate with him anymore.

But royalty is royalty after all, and face must be preserved. How could a noble family's mansion be surrounded in broad daylight?

Although the Demon Subduing Division is the most powerful weapon in the Shang Dynasty, it cannot act in this way.

Within a day, many members of the royal family went to the Demon Subduing Bureau to inquire about the situation, and at the same time, they wanted to see if they could get the Demon Subduing Bureau to lift the siege of the Marquis of Wuyi's mansion.

But when they learned from the Demon-Subduing Officer the truth about why the palace was surrounded, they were all speechless with shock.

Everyone knows that Chunmange was a brothel founded by Marquis Wuyi after Lady Han's death. Now that it has been discovered that a large number of evil spirits are hiding in this brothel, who can believe that it has nothing to do with Marquis Wuyi?

When the Shang Dynasty emperor established the Demon Subduing Bureau, he granted it the highest authority in order to combat evil spirits. As long as something was related to evil spirits, the power of the Demon Subduing Bureau would be able to crush everything, even the imperial power.

If the emperor colludes with evil spirits or is bewitched by demons, and does anything that harms the people or the country, the Demon Suppression Division has the right to execute the evil emperor and establish a new one.

The fact that they merely surrounded the Prince's residence without immediately arresting Marquis Wuyi and bringing him back to the Demon Subduing Division for interrogation already shows that the Demon Subduing Division was being very considerate of the Shang Dynasty's royal family's reputation.

In this situation, Wu Gai, one of the Thirty-Six Marquises, took the initiative to invite Qin Daorong, and the two went to the Marquis of Wuyi's mansion to ask Wu Huanian for the truth.

If the other party truly falls into depravity halfway, then even if they are a king or nobleman, they will be executed without hesitation, showing no mercy whatsoever.

The Marquis of Wuyi's residence.

Wu Huanian sat calmly in the main seat. When he saw Qin Daorong and Wu Gai walk in from outside, he immediately put on a carefree and playful smile and went to greet them: "Brother, Lord Qin, the Demon Subduing Division surrounded my manor yesterday. Why are you only arriving today? I was so worried. Those people wouldn't let me out, nor would they let my servants out. What kind of situation is this?"

Qin Daorong glanced at Wu Huanian, who showed no sign of panic. It was unclear whether he was innocent or just pretending.

If it's the latter, then Marquis Wuyi's acting skills are truly remarkable.

"Your Highness, I won't waste my breath on you today. I'll just ask you one question: are you aware that evil spirits are being harbored in Chunman Pavilion?" Qin Daorong asked directly.

Wu Gai looked at Wu Huanian with a solemn expression. The world had been plagued by evil spirits for hundreds of years. Since the establishment of the Demon Subduing Division, the Great Shang Dynasty had always regarded the eradication of evil spirits as its national purpose.

If any of the thirty-six princes were to fall from grace halfway through their careers, it would truly be a disgrace to the royal family.

"What? Lord Qin, are you kidding me? Spring Pavilion is harboring evil spirits?! I had no idea about this at all," Wu Huanian exclaimed, somewhat dumbfounded.

“Huan Nian, Chun Man Ge is your property. As the manager, you should at least have seen what it looks like inside,” Wu Gai said.

"No, no, no, brother, you don't know. Although Chunman Pavilion is my property, how could I, a dignified Marquis of Wuyi, manage a brothel? Wouldn't that be a disgrace to me? I have already handed over all the affairs of Chunman Pavilion, big and small, to Manager Chu below. Apart from distributing the money, I know nothing about the affairs of Chunman Pavilion."

Wu Huanian explained very seriously that Qin Daorong had been observing his expression but had not noticed anything unusual.

Furthermore, he did not detect any evil energy in Wu Huanian, so it was really hard to judge whether the other party had fallen into depravity halfway.

Wu Gai said, "Huan Nian, are you telling the truth? You haven't lied to me."

"Brother, do you think I would have the guts to harbor evil spirits in Chaotiandu? That would be courting death."

Qin Daorong said, "Marquis Wuyi, I will believe you are innocent for now, but you must stay in the palace and not go out during this period. Only after we have investigated and found out the real culprit who is secretly harboring evil spirits in Chunman Pavilion can we clear your name."

"Alright, alright, then you must hurry up with the investigation. I can't stand staying in the Prince's mansion all the time."

"Farewell." Qin Daorong clasped his hands in a fist salute and left with Wu Gai.

After the two people walked away, Wu Huanian's expression suddenly changed, becoming completely different from before.

“One hundred people. As long as we can drag out another one hundred people, Wan’er can be resurrected. Then I can take Wan’er and leave this Chaotian Capital. No one, no one can stop me at this time.” Wu Huanian sat back in his chair and whispered coldly.

【016】Wendeng County

Twenty miles north of Chaotiandu lies Wendeng County, situated at the intersection of four post roads and adjacent to the Changxia River, a tributary of the Chaotian Canal. The influx of merchants, fleets, and escorts from the north and south greatly boosted the county's economy.

Therefore, while other industries in Wendeng County were unremarkable, inns, brothels, and wineries remained evergreen, eventually becoming the three major local specialties.

Recently, a resident of the county reported to the local government that half a month ago, a waiter at a local inn accidentally fell into the Changxia River. By the time bystanders pulled him out, the waiter had already died.

This was originally just an accident, but the strange things that followed made some people in Wendeng County feel uneasy.

When the waiter's family heard the news, they rushed to collect the body and temporarily placed it in the courtyard of their home. However, the body disappeared one night.

The family searched the entire Wendeng County but found nothing, and in the end, they had no choice but to let the matter drop.

However, in the days that followed, a number of strange things happened in the county. Many people fell into the Changxia River and drowned when they passed by it at night. The number of victims was as high as seventeen.

After the county constables intervened in the investigation, they learned from the companions of several drowning victims that the victims had not accidentally fallen into the Changxia River, but rather that a strange person in the water grabbed their ankles and dragged them in.

The magistrate of Wendeng County realized that this must be the work of evil spirits. He knew that his manpower and resources were insufficient to handle the matter, so he wrote a letter and sent it to the Demon Subduing Division.

We hope that the Demon Subduing Bureau can send someone to resolve this issue and eliminate any future troubles.

This is the letter that Su Qianqian gave to Ning Xiu.

Since joining the Champion Camp, Ning Xiu has never left Chaotiandu. This time, he was ordered to go to Wendeng County, which can be considered as a chance to broaden his horizons and gain some experience.

In the champion camp, in addition to teaching martial arts techniques, horsemanship is also one of the essential skills that apprentices must learn, with training sessions every seven days. Therefore, Ning Xiu is somewhat skilled at riding horses.

After borrowing a fine horse from within the Demon Subduing Division, Ning Xiu immediately rode away from Chaotian Capital.

The location of Wendeng County is actually easy to find; just follow the post station outside Chaotiandu and you will easily arrive.

After a day of eating and sleeping outdoors, the outline of the city wall of Wendeng County came into Ning Xiu's view.

This is a small but exquisite county town. Many large red lanterns are hung at the city gate, with wind chimes attached to them. Whenever someone passes by, you can hear the tinkling sound.

Ning Xiu did not wear the black silver chainmail he received from the Demon Subduing Division this time, as he felt that his attire was too eye-catching.

Not to mention ordinary people, even evil spirits would know you are the Demon-Subduing Commander after seeing you. This feeling of the enemy being in the dark while I am in the light is not what Ning Xiu likes.

As it turned out, this choice was correct. When Ning Xiu rode his horse into the city, no one paid any attention to him.

Upon arriving in Wendeng County, the first thing to do was naturally to report to the yamen (government office) so that he could obtain more information not written in the letter, thus facilitating Ning Xiu's investigation.

Upon arriving at the county government office, before the two guards could even ask any questions, Ning Xiu took out his Iron Horse Demon Subduing Officer token and said, "The Demon Subduing Division sent me to your county to investigate. Take me to see the county magistrate."

The Demon Subduing Division was an independent force separate from the imperial court. Even the Iron Horse Demon Subduing Captain held an incredibly high rank, so the guards dared not be negligent and immediately led Ning Xiu into the yamen.

Soon, in the study of the county government office, Ning Xiu met Dong Fu, the magistrate of Wendeng County.

This was a bloated fat man whose face was so fleshy that his eyes were squinting. It was clear that he had a lot of delicacies in his daily life, which showed just how good the economy of Wendeng County was.

"Who are you?" Dong Fu put down the book "The Golden Lotus" and asked, puzzled, looking at the unfamiliar young man.

The guard quickly went to his side and whispered an explanation in his ear. Dong Fu then stood up and said with a very simple and honest smile, "I did not know that you were coming, sir, and I failed to greet you properly. I hope you will forgive me."

"No need to be polite. Bring me all the files you have related to the drowning case so I can see them. Let's try to resolve this as soon as possible to prevent any more innocent people from being harmed," Ning Xiu said calmly as he sat down in the mahogany chair in front of the desk.

"Yes, yes." Dong Fu immediately took a large stack of files from the bookshelf behind him and placed them in front of Ning Xiu.

Taking advantage of this moment, Ning Xiu couldn't help but glance at the book "The Golden Lotus" that Dong Fu had been reading earlier.

The book was about two fingers thick, with an apricot-yellow cover. The cover featured a vivid picture of a man and two women, all dressed in only 5% clothing.

The general posture is that the man is sitting on the edge of the bed, a woman is behind him with a head pad, and another woman is washing her face with face cream in front of him. It's really hard not to suspect that this is an erotic book.

When Dong Fu came over carrying a stack of files, he saw Ning Xiu's curious look and immediately smiled and said, "If you like it, sir, please take a look. This book is quite good."

“How could I, Ning, read such a book? I read the Spring and Autumn Annals,” Ning Xiu said politely.

What a joke! In my past life, I had never even read "Bai", "Shao", or "Men". How could I possibly read your erotic novel today?

Ning Xiu took the files that Dong Fu had laid out and began to examine them carefully.

Including the waiter who drowned in the Changxia River, a total of eighteen people have drowned in Wendeng County in the past half month.

These files record the identities, family backgrounds, and daily lives of the eighteen individuals.

“People have been accidentally drowning in the Changxia River. Since some people say that something in the river is pulling passersby into the water, have you conducted more detailed inquiries, such as whether anyone saw the thing that pulled people into the water, and what it looked like?” Ning Xiu looked up at Dong Fu and asked.

Dong Fu scratched his fleshy chin and said, "Sir, someone did see him, but you might not believe it. That person said the one in the water was Li Ming."

"Li Ming?"

"It's that waiter who drowned and whose body disappeared later."

Ning Xiu fell into deep thought. The waiter was already dead, so how could he have dragged someone into the water? There was only one explanation: the guy had become an evil spirit after his death.

After reviewing all the files compiled by Dong Fu, Ning Xiu stood up and said, "Alright, I have a general understanding of the matter. I'm going to Changxia River to take a look now."

“Yes, sir.” Dong Fu looked at the guard who had led Ning Xiu into the room and said, “You will accompany the sir. If the sir needs anything, you must do your utmost to fulfill it and not be negligent.”

"No need, I'm used to doing things alone," Ning Xiu refused, and then walked out of the study.

After Ning Xiu left the study and disappeared from sight, Dong Fu sat back down in his chair, picked up "The Golden Lotus" from the table, and muttered, "Spring and Autumn Annals? What kind of book is that? Is it even more exciting than mine?"

……

Since the series of accidental drownings in the Changxia River, apart from laborers working at the ferry, ordinary people rarely dare to approach the Changxia River anymore.

People were terrified of being dragged into the water by the legendary drowning ghost and losing their lives in vain. Therefore, the banks of the Changxia River are now exceptionally deserted.

The case file stated that the seventeen victims were all killed at night, so Ning Xiu booked a hotel room in Wendeng County and did not go out to Changxia River until after nightfall.

Upon arriving at the riverbank, Ning Xiu used his Spiritual Eye Observation Technique. If there were indeed drowning ghosts in the river, he could spot them at a glance.

However, no matter how Ren Ningxiu examined it, the Changxia River appeared perfectly normal, with nothing amiss at all; it was just an ordinary river.

With no other option, he could only continue walking along the riverbank.

Cuckoo!

After walking along the river for half an incense stick's time, a large number of bubbles suddenly appeared on the originally calm lake surface, and these bubbles quickly swam towards Ning Xiu.

"Hmm!" Ning Xiu's senses are much sharper now than before. When he heard the sound of water, he immediately noticed it.

Could it be that a drowning ghost has appeared?