Imperial Court Power Structure! Demons Attack!

About several decades ago, a mutation quietly began, and the style of this world gradually became strange.

Now, formidable people who could fly through the air and burrow through the earth were everywhere.

It was hard to judge this world’s overall martial prowess, but legends of top experts shattering the void through martial strength had never ceased.

Demons disguising themselves as humans and mingling among ordinary people was nothing unusual either.

Once discovered, they would be seized by the Divine Constable Department and thrown into the imperial prison, tortured until both body and spirit were destroyed. Chu Yang had once witnessed the Divine Constable Department capturing a demon. It affected a wide area, and no fewer than ten civilians had been killed or injured.

The Divine Constable Department was led by Zhuge Zhengwo, with the Four Famous Arresters under his command.

Although Chu Yang had spent all these years pretending to be a playboy and did not dare ask about outside affairs for fear that the Emperor might become suspicious, he was still in the capital and knew at least something about the Imperial Court.

In the current Great Ming Dynasty’s Imperial Court, setting aside the increasingly weakened Civil Official Group, there were six top forces that truly held the power of life and death.

Two marquises and one bureau.

Two depots and one guard.

The Two Bureaus and One Guard were easy enough to understand. They were familiar names from Ming Dynasty history: the Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Cao Zhengchun was the Director of the Eastern Depot, Yu Huatian the Director of the Western Depot, and Zheng Dongliu the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard monitored the hundred officials, the Eastern Depot monitored the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Western Depot monitored the Eastern Depot. It was a classic nesting-doll arrangement in the Great Ming Dynasty’s administrative system.

This three-way balance was deliberately created by the Emperor. He simply enjoyed watching those below him fight one another. It was a rather perverse amusement, and ordinarily, he liked pretending to be a nobody even more than Chu Yang did.

Faced with such a deeply calculating Emperor, it was fortunate that Chu Yang was a good actor. Otherwise, he would have long since landed on the other man’s blacklist.

Compared to the Two Bureaus and One Guard, whose responsibilities were mostly internal, the Two Marquises and One Bureau were more concerned with external matters.

The two marquises were Marquis Zhuge, Zhuge Zhengwo, whom he had mentioned earlier, and Iron Courageous Marquis Zhu Wushi, who came from Old Zhu’s family.

One was the Divine Constable Department, while the other was Dragon Guard Villa. The Divine Constable Department was responsible for capturing demons hiding among humanity, while Dragon Guard Villa was responsible for gathering related intelligence.

Not only did the two not conflict, they complemented each other.

But the problem was that Marquis Zhuge and Iron Courageous Marquis could not stand each other. They could even be called political enemies locked in a fight to the death.

The one among the Two Marquises and One Bureau whose duties truly conflicted with the Divine Constable Department was Six Doors.

Most of the time, the Divine Constable Department was responsible for exterminating demons, while Six Doors was responsible for apprehending criminals. After the great changes in the world, those heinous criminals in the Jianghu had become more formidable than ever.

Just like how the super-criminals in movies required superheroes to capture them successfully.

Six Doors was the Ming Dynasty’s "Avengers." They were deeply loved by the common people, and Guo Juxia, the Chief Constable, was a star among stars. By comparison, the Divine Constable Department seemed far more low-key.

Human Heart was only natural. Over time, the Divine Constable Department became jealous of Six Doors’ treatment, so they would occasionally overstep their bounds and interfere in Six Doors’ work under the pretext of helping their colleagues.

That was how the conflict between the two sides began. The Four Famous Arresters of the Divine Constable Department and the Six Doors Four Divine Arresters were often compared by people looking for excitement.

Although their subordinates fought fiercely, Marquis Zhuge and Guo Juxia had never lost their tempers with each other in the Imperial Court. On the contrary, they got along quite well, because both understood that the one secretly stirring up the Fengyun world was His Majesty.

In short, the structure of the Two Marquises and One Bureau and that of the Two Bureaus and One Guard were much the same. The key was that triangles were stable. Chu Yang felt that if his imperial brother had not become Emperor, he would definitely have become an outstanding mathematician.

Perhaps because the information was deliberately blocked, the capital was very cut off from news of the outside world. Demons ran rampant outside, yet here there was singing and dancing in peace, while civil and military officials indulged in pleasure all day long.

If not for this unexpected journey through the Jianghu, Chu Yang might not have known what the outside world was like until the day he died.

After letting his thoughts run wild for a while, Chu Yang turned around and found that Guo Furong had fallen asleep. Tear tracks still marked her face; she seemed to have cried herself out.

He was not worried about safety. What bad people could there be in Tongfu Inn? With those people’s courage, they would never dare pull something like robbing robbers.

Everything should be fine once the authorities arrived tomorrow morning.

After traveling all day and then being put through half the night, Chu Yang could no longer hold on. His eyelids were drooping, and with a tilt of his head, he fell into a deep sleep.

In the main hall, Tong Xiangyu and the others were discussing reporting the matter to the authorities tomorrow when urgent knocking suddenly rang out, startling them.

"Zhantang, go open the door…"

Tong Xiangyu silently retreated behind everyone else.

"Me again?!"

Bai Zhantang looked miserable. He had already been badly frightened by The Genderless Duo earlier. Who knew what this would be?

Complaints aside, he knew that he had the highest martial arts among them. If there really was danger, sending anyone else would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths!

Bai Zhantang trembled as he approached the door. These past two years had been anything but peaceful. Aside from scum like The Genderless Duo, demons had also been wreaking havoc among humanity.

With a creak, the inn’s front door opened.

Outside stood a constable in black clothes, with shifty eyes that made him look like a monkey.

"Old Xing, why are you back again? You scared us half to death!"

Bai Zhantang excitedly dragged Xing Yusen inside.

"Old Xing, weren’t you going back to the yamen?"

Tong Xiangyu felt that something was off about Old Xing. He had been so frightened of The Genderless Duo that no matter how they begged him earlier, he refused to stay. Yet now he had come running back in disgrace.

"Sorry, Lao Bai, shopkeeper Tong." Cold sweat covered Old Xing’s forehead. He pressed his palms together and pleaded, "Let me stay at Tongfu Inn tonight!"

"Old Xing, you’re really something. You’ve got a perfectly good home, but you came to stay at an inn?" Li Dazui grinned foolishly and teased, "Looking for something new?"

Old Xing immediately waved his hands. "That’s not what I mean."

Lu Xiucai softly reminded him, "As a public servant, you shouldn’t be getting involved in such messy affairs. Corruption always starts with small things…"

Old Xing trembled with anger and snapped, "What nonsense are you talking about? Can you shut your mouths?!"

Tong Xiangyu could no longer bear it and shouted, "Old Xing, can’t you just tell everyone what happened?"

Old Xing gritted his teeth. "On my way back just now, I kept feeling like something was following me. I didn’t dare go back alone, so I thought I’d come here and take shelter…"

"Take shelter?" Tong Xiangyu was horrified and immediately cursed, "Xing Yusen, you bastard! Aren’t you bringing trouble to us? What if you really brought some filthy thing here? What are we supposed to do then?"

"Xiao Bei is still here! She’s just a child!"

Old Xing’s expression changed several times, turning red and then green. In the end, he shook his head and sighed. "Then… I’ll go."

Seeing him like that, Tong Xiangyu ultimately could not bear it. "Forget it. We’ll all squeeze together in the main hall later. There’s strength in numbers. We won’t be afraid of any filthy thing."

Joy appeared on Old Xing’s face.

The next moment, Bai Zhantang seemed to think of something and shouted in horror, "Oh no! There are still two people in the backyard!"

Half-asleep, Chu Yang kept feeling something licking his face. The moist sensation was extremely real, reminding him of Qingyue, the top courtesan of Red Sleeve Pavilion.

Why did it smell a little fishy and foul?

Qingyue had never smelled like this from head to toe…

Chu Yang abruptly woke up. What entered his vision was not Qingyue at all, but a huge demon that was neither snake nor cow, licking him with its tongue as though he were an ice pop.

Judging by its intoxicated expression, it had probably not eaten for quite some time. If it were him, when hunger got desperate enough, he would even be willing to swallow shit.

"At least I smell better than shit. I’m completely screwed now!"

Even at the brink of life and death, Chu Yang still had the leisure to joke. Even he was surprised by this calmness. He had thought he would be scared enough to wet himself.

But on second thought, he had already enjoyed every luxury and privilege in this life. Dying would not be much of a loss, so what was there to be sad about?

"I only have one request. Could you brush your teeth before eating me…?"

Suddenly, the demon stopped. It looked strangely at Chu Yang for a moment, then moved its head toward Guo Furong.

This time, Chu Yang’s expression finally changed.

"Are you sick? With that tiny body of hers, she’s barely enough for dessert. You might as well eat me first."

Perhaps sensing Chu Yang’s urgency, the demon’s lips curved upward, revealing a humanlike, teasing smile.

"You bastard, you’re playing with me!"

Only then did Chu Yang realize that the demon was toying with him. It thoroughly enjoyed this feeling of playing with him, like a cat teasing a mouse.

No matter how Chu Yang cursed afterward, the demon ignored him and extended its tongue to lick Guo Furong’s face again and again.

Guo Furong’s body would not stop trembling.

She had woken up long ago, but had been pretending to sleep, terrified of disturbing the demon.

She had heard every word Chu Yang said just now. Thinking about all the trouble she had caused him along the way, she felt deeply ashamed.

"Senior Brother, are we really going to die here today…?"

Guo Furong wept softly.

"Don’t cry! The more you cry, the happier it gets. Even if we die, we can’t let it have its way. Don’t tarnish Master’s reputation!"

Chu Yang could not think of any other way to comfort Guo Furong, so he could only say this.

He desperately tried to think of a way out, but his martial arts cultivation was too poor. Everything was futile.

Guo Furong gradually stopped crying, and her face became resolute. Senior Brother was right. Her father was Guo Juxia. She could not disgrace him.

Having lost its source of amusement, the demon’s gaze turned vicious. It opened its massive mouth and was about to bite down hard.

Just then—

Sunflower Acupoint Strike!

A white figure flashed rapidly past the demon. It was so fast that the demon could not even see the newcomer’s movements clearly. The demon froze for a moment, standing still.

"Hahaha, Lao Bai, you really did it!"

"Zhantang, you’re amazing!"

Tong Xiangyu, Lu Xiucai, and the others did not dare approach. They could only stand at the passage between the main hall and backyard and cheer.

Old Xing, the black-clothed constable, was trembling all over as he stared at the enormous demon. Gritting his teeth, he still drew his blade and walked over.

With his back to the demon, Bai Zhantang smugly clapped his hands. "I haven’t made a move in years, but it seems this old blade hasn’t dulled!"

Old Xing, who was nearly at Bai Zhantang’s side, suddenly went pale.

Bai Zhantang’s heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to turn around, he suddenly felt as though a massive weight had smashed violently into his waist. He instantly went numb and flew into the pile of firewood beside the wall.

The demon’s snake tail swept out once again. Old Xing raised his blade to block, but was sent flying without surprise, landing right in front of Tong Xiangyu and the others!

Everyone’s faces turned deathly pale, and the same words arose in all their hearts.

It’s over!

Bai Zhantang, dizzy from the fall, stared blankly at the demon and muttered, "Human acupoints don’t work on it… I’m such an idiot…"

The demon greedily lowered its head, intending to devour everyone in the yard.

Tong Xiangyu and the others clutched their heads and cried.

"I told you to run, but you all insisted on coming to the backyard. Happy now…?"

"Shopkeeper, weren’t you the one who told us to come?"

"I told you to come, and you came? Usually when I tell you to work properly, none of you listen! Why are you so obedient now?!"

"Shopkeeper, you’re being a little unreasonable."

"I’m about to die! Why should I reason with you?!"

"Xiangyu, don’t cry. There’s something I’ve kept in my heart that I want to tell you."

"Zhantang…"

As the two shared a mournful, lingering moment, they suddenly heard a furious shout from behind the demon.

"I told you to eat me first! Don’t you even know who the main course is? This crappy inn is clearly badly run. The shopkeeper and staff are all yellow-faced and skinny from hunger. What could possibly be tasty about them?"

"You’re so bad at recognizing good food that you must be a lowly nobody even among demons, right?"

The demon paused, then slowly turned to stare at Chu Yang. This human had been trying to provoke it all along, and now, he had clearly succeeded.

"Sorry, Junior Sister. Consider this Senior Brother dragging you down for once. After this bastard eats me, you’ll probably be next."

"It’s alright, Senior Brother. I’m not afraid. As long as we can buy these people time to escape, that’s enough."

Chu Yang smiled in relief. Guo Furong, who shouted all day about becoming a great hero, finally had a little of a great hero’s bearing in the face of death.

The demon opened its mouth and nearly swallowed Chu Yang’s entire body.

Guo Furong cried out hoarsely.

Watching Chu Yang sacrifice himself for righteousness, Bai Zhantang and the others were too shocked to say a word.

In an instant, the entire world froze!

Soul Palace.

Great Ming Chu Yang opened his eyes. The demon before him had vanished, leaving only several strange people tinkering with incomprehensible instruments.

"I told you this wouldn’t work. These two bloodlines are far too different. They aren’t compatible!"

"What if they mutate? We have to try, don’t we?"

"What kind of science is gambling on probability? That’s mysticism!"

"It’s fine. I’m European!"

"Get out of my laboratory, you unlucky bastard."

After arguing for quite some time, they finally noticed that there was another person in the palace.

"Are you alright? You look like you got quite a scare. Before coming here, your situation wasn’t very good, was it?"

Jujutsu Chu Yang smiled as he helped Great Ming Chu Yang up, joking, "You’ll get used to it. Before I came here, I nearly got killed by a cursed spirit."

The moment the two touched, synchronization was complete.

Great Ming Chu Yang immediately understood these people’s identities, as well as the nature of this mysterious palace.

"Your world is pretty interesting." Jujutsu Chu Yang spoke with considerable curiosity. "What exactly are these so-called demons? They don’t feel like ordinary demon beasts."

Great Ming Chu Yang shook his head. "I don’t know. I’ve only seen them a few times. Before, I only saw them from far away. This was my first time seeing one up close. It felt disgusting—more disgusting than cursed spirits."

The others also synchronized with Great Ming Chu Yang’s memories one after another and passed some of their experience on to him.

A moment later, Great Ming Chu Yang returned to his world.

The frozen world began moving again.

Guo Furong was still crying out.

Tong Xiangyu and the others had not yet left.

The demon’s body suddenly erupted with dazzling light.

Before their shocked eyes, it exploded!

A thunderous blast erupted with overwhelming force, illuminating Tongfu Inn’s entire backyard, as though heavenly punishment had descended upon the mortal world.

"Oh, my heavens, why is there thunder too?!"

"Mother! My ears are going deaf from that!"

"Shopkeeper, Shopkeeper, I can’t see!"

"Just close your eyes and rest for a while."

"Where’s the demon?"

"It was blasted to pieces by lightning! Heaven truly has eyes—immortals have blessed us!"

Surviving the disaster filled every face with smiles, except Guo Furong’s. She charged madly toward the demon’s remains, wanting to find Chu Yang among the pile of charred flesh.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"

"I’m sorry, I never should have made you roam the Jianghu with me!"

"If it weren’t for me, you’d still be living comfortably in the capital right now…"

Guo Furong was on the verge of breaking down. She should have let the demon devour her first. Then Senior Brother would not have died.

Tong Xiangyu slowly approached her.

Even though the staff desperately held onto Tong Xiangyu’s hands, she still kept moving toward Guo Furong.

Li Dazui hurriedly shouted, "Shopkeeper, don’t! That’s The Genderless Duo!"

Tong Xiangyu flew into a rage. "Didn’t you see what just happened? She risked her life to save us, and you’re still calling her The Genderless Duo? We were clearly mistaken!"

Lu Xiucai shook his head and instinctively said, "Not necessarily. As the saying goes, a dying man’s words are kind…"

"Shut up!"

Everyone snapped at him.

Lu Xiucai shrank his neck and fell silent.

Holding up her skirt, Tong Xiangyu ran to Guo Furong’s side and helped her search for Chu Yang amid the pile of flesh.

Seeing this, the others hurried over to help as well.

Old Xing stood off to the side with a miserable expression. He found the scene rather nauseating; the charred aroma of meat alone was enough to make him want to vomit.

"Old Xing, what are you still standing around for?!"

Tong Xiangyu raised her head and glared coldly at him. "He saved your life! Don’t forget who brought the demon here!"

"Fine, fine, stop talking!" Old Xing felt a tremendous blow to his conscience. Ignoring his disgust, he plunged into the heap of flesh and started rummaging around.

"Sigh… I’m over here…"

Hearing the familiar voice, Guo Furong was instantly overjoyed. She rushed toward it and dug Chu Yang out of a pile of bloody filth.

Chu Yang was fine. He was just disgusted beyond belief.

When he returned from the Soul Palace, he had already been swallowed by the demon. In his desperation, he activated the most powerful of the Five Spirit Power—Lightning Spirit Power.

The explosion inside that enclosed space had dealt the demon fatal damage, but it had also blasted all the filth from inside its body outward.

The stench had nearly killed Chu Yang. His brain instantly shut down.

However, this so-called filth was not something like feces or urine. It was the demon’s unique source of power, similar to blood, yet more important than blood.

Any normal person who came into contact with it would most likely be mutated into the next demon.

"Senior Brother, do you feel unwell anywhere?" Guo Furong anxiously felt him all over. "If something’s wrong, you have to tell me."

"Are you blind?" Chu Yang brushed the grime off himself and snapped irritably, "I look like this, and you’re asking where I feel unwell? Try getting this stuff all over yourself, then you’ll know whether it feels good."

Guo Furong looked aggrieved. She had clearly been concerned about him out of kindness, yet he did not appreciate it at all.

"Young lady, you should let your senior brother take a bath first. If he stays like this any longer, he’ll be marinated through!"

Bai Zhantang dry-heaved as he kindly reminded her.

"Dazui! Hurry and bring out some hot water from the kitchen. Let this young hero rinse off first, blegh…"

Tong Xiangyu began vomiting before she finished speaking.

The moment she threw up, it was like some sort of chain reaction. Everyone else started vomiting too.

"Senior Brother, blegh… you should go first… blegh…"

"Forget it, finish vomiting before you talk!"

Chu Yang shook his head helplessly. Before Li Dazui could bring the hot water, he entered the room first, shut the door, and used Water Spirit Power to wash himself clean.

A moment later, he was spotless inside and out.

"Um… young hero, you can sleep in Dazui and the others’ room tonight. Your junior sister will sleep upstairs with me. Don’t worry."

Tong Xiangyu’s voice came from outside.

"Thank you, Shopkeeper."

"No need, no need. We should be thanking you instead. Get some rest early."

After exchanging pleasantries, Tong Xiangyu’s footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

There was not much time left to sleep anyway; dawn was already approaching. Still, Chu Yang chose to rest with his eyes closed for a while.

His body was not tired in the slightest, but mentally, he had been through quite an ordeal. The existence of the Soul Palace had also greatly shaken Chu Yang.

The chickens in the backyard had been scared to death by the demon, so the next morning, Chu Yang did not hear a single crow.

Instead, a rapid knocking came from the front door of the main hall, jolting Tong Xiangyu and the others—who had barely slept at all—awake.

"Are you trying to get yourselves killed?! Who starts knocking this early in the morning!"

"Tongfu Inn isn’t open today!"

"I suggest you leave before my morning temper erupts!"

Because Chu Yang had taken over Li Dazui and the others’ room last night, they had slept in the main hall with Bai Zhantang. The knocking thoroughly frightened the three of them.

They cursed for quite a while, until Tong Xiangyu appeared on the second floor in a thin gauze robe and said with a frown, "Zhantang, go open the door."

"Right away!" Bai Zhantang immediately shut up and eagerly ran to open the front door before he had even finished dressing.

A middle-aged man stood outside. He wore an official’s robe and a black gauze hat, with a lean frame and sharp eyes.

"Oh my god! Shopkeeper, Lord Lou is here!"

Bai Zhantang backed away in shock. When he turned around, Tong Xiangyu had already disappeared from the second floor.

Lord Lou strode into the inn with the stately gait of an official, waddling like a giant turtle, while several constables stood behind him.

Old Xing followed close behind Lord Lou into the inn.

"Why aren’t you serving Lord Lou tea already? Lord Lou has come specifically to issue a Reward Order to Tongfu Inn."

Old Xing winked and grinned from ear to ear. His jubilant appearance made it obvious that he had received praise.

Demons were ravaging the Ming Dynasty. The Divine Constable Department alone was not enough to quell the demonic chaos throughout the land, so the government encouraged extraordinary people among the common folk to take part. That was how the Reward Order came to be.

Any commoner who participated in exterminating demons had a chance to receive a Reward Order. It was a symbol of status that could secure certain privileges, and its holder could also make requests of the imperial court, provided they were not excessive. Otherwise, the Reward Order might be confiscated.

At the mention of the Reward Order, Bai Zhantang’s pupils contracted. This thing could completely clear away his past criminal record, allowing him to appear openly and honorably before the world from then on.

In an instant, his whole body trembled with excitement.

"Lao Bai! Calm down!" Old Xing stepped forward and patted Bai Zhantang on the shoulder, chuckling in a low voice. "It’s just a Reward Order. Look at you, acting like you’ve never seen the world."

Though he said that, when the Reward Order had arrived that morning, Old Xing had nearly fainted. He had been far more excited than Bai Zhantang.