When Situ Bei mentioned this matter, Shen Changqing was visibly invigorated.
His own strength had reached a bottleneck, and to break through in the short term, he needed to rely on Slaughter Value. The source of Slaughter Value could only come from dealing with Demon Evils.
"According to the intelligence report, over twenty miles east of Lin’an City, there is a village where all the inhabitants died overnight. The preliminary judgment by the Heavenly Inspection Guard is that it is the work of a Demon Evil," Situ Bei said, pausing for a moment. "However, after a thorough investigation, the Heavenly Inspection Guard didn’t find any traces of the Demon Evil in that village. Hence, I suspect that the Demon Evil has already left in search of its next target. Right now, the Heavenly Inspection Guard has spread out in pursuit. I believe it won’t be long before they can accurately locate the Demon Evil’s whereabouts."
Demon Evils are not fixed in one place. Although Demon Evils can possess certain objects, they can use the environment to confuse others, causing them to unwittingly take the Demon Evil away. Indeed, powerful Demon Evils can even leave their original possessed items and move to other locations to find new objects to attach to. Therefore, it is not strange to be unable to find traces of a Demon Evil in a place suspected of being afflicted by one.
"To have the ability to decimate a whole village, that Demon Evil’s strength is not ordinary. If it uses an Illusory Realm to bewilder people and thereby carry its true body away, then that is still manageable. What I fear is that the Demon Evil has left on its own volition—" Shen Changqing’s expression became solemn as he spoke the last part.
A Demon Evil capable of moving on its own must at least be above Ghostly Level. Although he was already an Innate Martial Artist, confronting a Resentment Level Demon Evil did not leave him with much confidence.
Situ Bei shook his head. "Based on our judgment, that Demon Evil should still be within the Ghostly Level. If it were Resentment Level, the Heavenly Inspection Guard would have received some news about it. As for anything above Resentment Level, that’s even less likely. Guangyuan Prefecture has a Defender Envoy present; any Strange Monster above Resentment Level would definitely be dealt with by the Defender Envoy!"
"Hmm." Shen Changqing nodded.
The Defender Envoys of the Demon-Subduing Division, unlike other Demon Hunters, are typically stationed in specific locations. Each of the nine prefectures of Great Qin has a Defender Envoy. Besides that, some important cities also have Defender Envoys. But a small city like Lin’an City wouldn’t have a Defender Envoy; after all, the number of Defender Envoys in the Demon-Subduing Division is limited.
Demon Evils of Fiend Level and above, each one could be deemed a disaster-level entity, easily annihilating entire cities or regions. Once a Demon Evil of such a level appears, all local Defender Envoys will act immediately to utterly exterminate the Demon Evil.
"We must act swiftly to locate that Demon Evil. Since it has wiped out one village and left, it must be heading towards another. We cannot delay for long, for the more Essence Blood it absorbs, the more difficult it will be to deal with."
Shen Changqing’s expression was grave. He had a suspicion that the Demon Evil was somehow related to the emergence of the Demon’s Essence Blood. After all, strictly speaking, an area twenty-odd miles from Lin’an City was still under Lin’an’s jurisdiction. First, there was the Demon Evil from Guyue Village, and now another from somewhere else. To be honest, Lin’an City is just a small town, so it is peculiar for Demon Evils to appear one after another. There must be something attracting those Demon Evils, or perhaps an entity behind them is subtly manipulating the situation. If it’s because of the competition for the Demon’s Essence Blood, that’s one thing, but if there are other motives, that will be something to watch for! The Eternal Alliance wanted to foster a Fiend Level Strange Monster in Lin’an City, but I thwarted their plan; they must have received news about this. A force controlled by a Demon Evil from behind the scenes would hardly be benevolent. Not to mention, if I were in their shoes and someone had foiled my plan, I certainly wouldn’t let the person who disrupted it get away with it. Therefore, the Demon Evil that suddenly appeared might have come for the Demon’s Essence Blood, or it might have come for me. No matter the possibility, I will not let the other party live. Shen Changqing’s gaze grew deeper.
"Lord Shen, rest assured. At most, in a day or two, we will be able to find the location of that Demon Evil."
"Hmm, also, there is no need to pass this message to the Demon-Subduing Division for now. After all, the Demon-Subduing Division is short-staffed as well, so let me handle it," Shen Changqing added after a moment of thought. He did not want other Demon Hunters to come and compete with him for the Demon Evil. Besides, the Demon-Subduing Division was indeed too short-staffed to help right now.
Situ Bei nodded and replied, "The Heavenly Inspection Guard reported the news of the Demon Evil to the Demon-Subduing Division at the first opportunity. But if Lord Shen is willing to take on this Demon Evil, then the Heavenly Inspection Guard can relay that back to the Demon-Subduing Division. In this way, the Demon-Subduing Division won’t send another Demon Hunter to deal with this matter."
"Then I will count on you."
Shen Changqing stood up and left. After leaving the Yongfu Pawnshop, he headed toward the Yamen. Having received the appointment, he was already the County Magistrate of Lin’an City; even if it was only temporary, he was still the County Magistrate. As the County Magistrate, he naturally should reside in the Yamen. Shen Changqing was also pleased to finally escape the awkward situation of living in an inn.
「At the entrance of the Yamen.」
Two Government Officials stood guard there. Most of the Government Officials were surrounding the Zhao Family, so not many remained to guard the actual Yamen.
"Lord Shen!" Seeing Shen Changqing arrive, the two men’s expressions changed, and they hurriedly bowed their heads in greeting.
"Is the Principal Clerk here?"
"The Principal Clerk is inside the Yamen, handling affairs!"
"Have him come to the inner hall of the Yamen to see me; I have something to tell him," Shen Changqing instructed and walked straight into the Yamen. The two men did not dare to block him in the slightest.
The inner hall was still the same inner hall. Zhao Fang’s body had been properly dealt with, and all traces of blood had been completely cleaned up, leaving no sign that someone had died here.
Having just sat down for a short while, Shen Changqing saw a corpulent, anxious-looking middle-aged man quickly walking in.
"Greetings, Lord Shen!"
"Are you the Principal Clerk of the Yamen?" Shen Changqing closely observed the person in front of him. When he first came to the Yamen, this man had been following Zhao Fang, so they had met once before. But at that time, Shen Changqing did not know that the man was the Principal Clerk of the Yamen.
"Indeed!" The Principal Clerk nodded nervously.
"Take a look at this." Shen Changqing took out the appointment letter and passed it to the man.
The Principal Clerk accepted it, carefully opened and read the appointment letter, and then his expression changed again. Quickly, he handed the letter back and bowed deeply, "Shi Qingsheng greets you, Lord County Magistrate!"
"There’s no need to mention the title of County Magistrate. I am only temporarily acting as the County Magistrate, awaiting the appointment of a new County Magistrate in the future."
"But for the time being, Lord Shen, you are the County Magistrate of Lin’an City!" Shi Qingsheng offered a smile.