Chapter 57

The days of peace and prosperity for the villagers?

Qin Shaoyou sighed inwardly.

Could peace and prosperity be achieved just by killing a few demons?

Apart from the demons, there were corrupt officials at the local level, heavy taxes and levies imposed from top to bottom, and officials in the imperial court who were only concerned with their factions and not the well-being of the people...

And then there were those nobles who, for some inexplicable reason, used 'favor' to manipulate others into doing their dirty work.

And the emperor, who was solely focused on cultivating immortality, demanding tributes of alchemical materials from all over, and stirring up factional strife to consolidate his power...

As long as these people were around, the prospect of peace and prosperity was bleak.

This Great Xia Dynasty was rotten from top to bottom. Unless there was a complete overhaul, the common people would never truly be at peace.

Such matters were beyond the concern of a mere flag officer.

What Qin Shaoyou could do now was only to eliminate the demons and help reduce the oppression and exploitation of the villagers.

But he was hesitant.

His current mission was to escort the children, who had been turned into dogs, to the Jade Emperor Temple.

With nearly a hundred children in the convoy, he dared not cause any additional trouble, let alone take unnecessary risks!

The Night Watchmen in the convoy were also divided into two camps at this moment.

One camp believed that they should not meddle in unnecessary affairs and should focus on completing the escort mission first.

As for the demon trouble here, they could report it to Xue Baihu in the morning.

The other camp believed that slaying demons and protecting the people was the duty of the Night Watchmen, and the very reason the Demon Suppression Bureau existed.

If they ignored this today, even if they could eventually defeat the Mountain Lord, the abducted children would surely be lost forever.

From the previous two failed demon extermination operations, it was clear that the Mountain Lord was very cunning. Once it sensed the Night Watchmen investigating, it would immediately hide.

So even if Xue Baihu sent people over, the operation would likely end in failure, just like the previous two, and the villagers would suffer.

But they were different.

From the moment they left Mianyuan County, the Su sisters had used talismans to conceal their aura.

This was to protect the children.

The children, who had been turned into dogs, were filled with despair, fear, and anxiety.

To many demons, they were delicious.

With their aura concealed, even if the Mountain Lord was good at sensing auras, it would not recognize them as Night Watchmen and would only see them as a regular caravan.

So the Mountain Lord might ignore their group and continue its rent collection.

This was a good opportunity to find and eliminate it!

However, the opposing camp had their reasons.

A flag officer frowned and said, "Have you considered what if the Mountain Lord is very powerful? It doesn't matter if we die; we are all risking our lives. But if we die, what about the children in the convoy? If anything happens to them, we will be held accountable even in death! Don't forget, there is the direct grandson of Attendant Zhang in this group!"

Hearing this, many in the convoy fell silent.

Some who had initially supported the extermination of the Mountain Lord began to waver.

Though slaying the Mountain Lord would be a great achievement, if the children in the convoy were harmed, it would not only be a failure but a major offense.

At that time, not only would they suffer, but their families would also be implicated.

Zhu Xiuzai calmly analyzed, "The Mountain Lord's strength is not too great; otherwise, when the flag officer and the Night Watchmen came to search for it, it would not have been scared into hiding."

The flag officer questioned, "What if the Mountain Lord was not afraid but just didn't want to cause the Demon Suppression Bureau to come after it by killing the Night Watchmen?"

Zhu Xiuzai did not agree with this speculation.

"With the Mountain Lord's hiding skills, why would it care about the Demon Suppression Bureau's retaliation?

It could hide in the mountains where even the army couldn't find it. We in the Demon Suppression Bureau are not as numerous as the army, and even with mystical items to help us find demons, it would be difficult to locate it.

Moreover, its practice of collecting small rents monthly and large rents every six months doesn't suggest it fears the Demon Suppression Bureau."

The other Night Watchmen in the convoy, after discussing, generally agreed that the Mountain Lord's strength was not great, but it was good at hiding and moving around, making it hard to track.

The flag officer was convinced but still had some concerns: "But we must ensure the safety of the children in the convoy..."

"No problem."

Su Tingyu interjected at this point.

"We have already used talismans to conceal the children's auras. To both humans and demons, they are just a group of dogs.

The Mountain Lord and its demons have no interest in dogs.

Otherwise, the dogs in this village would have been drained of their life force like their owners, and they wouldn't be so lively."

Zhu Xiuzai added, "Even if we go to kill the Mountain Lord, we won't all go. We will leave enough people to protect the children. This way, even if the situation changes, we can handle it calmly."

The flag officer, who had been opposed, was thoroughly convinced.

However, this decision was not his to make.

He looked at Qin Shaoyou, waiting for him to decide.

Qin Shaoyou listened to everyone's discussion, weighing and considering the options.

He felt that, as Zhu Xiuzai said, while protecting the children, there was a chance to eliminate the Mountain Lord and bring peace to the people, and perhaps even get some new recipes and ingredients for himself.

But he had one concern.

"We want to follow the ghostly tax collector to find it, but that might not be easy.

If we just lose it, that's one thing, but if we are discovered by the tax collector, it could bring retaliation on the villagers."

This was indeed a problem, and everyone frowned.

After a moment, Zhu Xiuzai suggested:

"Why don't we send two people to replace the children? This way, we can leave signals along the way, follow from a distance without losing them, and avoid exposure.

When the time comes, we can have someone inside to coordinate with us."

This was a good idea. It could save the innocent children from being harmed in the battle or used as hostages by the Mountain Lord, and ensure better tracking of the tax collector to find the Mountain Lord.

But...

Qin Shaoyou looked at Su Tingyu.

Zhu Xiuzai and the others also looked at her.

The male child was easy; there were many men in the convoy.

But for the female child... there was no one else besides Su Tingyu.

Su Tingyu, who wanted to eliminate the Mountain Lord for the people, did not hesitate and immediately agreed:

"I have no problem with it. I can replace the girl, and my sister and I are spiritually connected. Even without leaving marks, she can find me."

"That's great!"

Everyone was pleased.

Only Su Jianqing was unhappy: "There are two women here. Why are you only looking at my sister? Am I not a girl?"

"This..."

Everyone was speechless.

You look like a girl, but you're not human!

Seeing no one respond, Qin Shaoyou had to speak up: "Daoist Su, have you forgotten that you are a ghost cultivator? The Mountain Lord's tax collector probably wouldn't be willing to take a fellow ghost back to report."

"Sorry, I forgot about that."

Su Jianqing stuck out her tongue, feeling a bit embarrassed, and quickly changed the subject: "We have the girl, but who will be the boy? Who among you will go?"

Qin Shaoyou turned to look at Zhu Xiuzai.

Zhu Xiuzai shrugged: "Sir, you know me. How could I still be a boy?"

The other Night Watchmen in the convoy also chimed in:

"I'm not a boy anymore."

"I'm a boy today, but I doubt the Mountain Lord would want a one-day boy."

"Don't look at me, I'm not either..."

Qin Shaoyou couldn't help but marvel: Good grief, do the Night Watchmen have such active nightlife? Not just killing demons, but also...?

He could only look at Ma Heshang.

To his surprise, before he could even speak, Ma Heshang said with a shy expression: "Sir, I'm sorry, I'm not a boy either."

"Damn!" Qin Shaoyou was truly shocked.

A monk not being a boy? No wonder he left the monastery; he must have been a womanizer!

Zhu Xiuzai and the others looked at him with curiosity.

Ma Heshang quickly explained: "It was all before I became a monk, and I was the passive one..."

"Oh oh oh~"

Everyone became even more interested; there was a story here.

But they didn't press for details, knowing the urgency of the situation.

Zhu Xiuzai looked at Qin Shaoyou.

The three flag officers in the convoy also looked at him.

"Sir (Qin Flag Officer), are you... still a boy?"