Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1285 Submitting a Visiting Card

The mute slave didn't know much. He wasn't a real demon-suppressing official, but just someone who handled some daily chores here. Originally, there were several mute slaves here, but the demon-suppressing official always had to bring an attendant with him when he traveled, and now he was the only one left.

"Do you recognize me?" Lu Qingxu asked.

The mute slave nodded.

"How long has it been since the first demon-suppressing officer left?"

The mute slave gestured out the number sixteen.

"On the 16th..." Lu Qingxu returned the bamboo slips to the mute slave and said to Lu Ning, "This matter is strange."

"Within the sixteen days, all the demon-suppressing officials left due to important matters. It seems that someone has planned this." Lu Ning said.

"It's rare for the Demon Suppression Division to be short of staff, and it's even rarer for all of them to come out. According to the regulations of the various offices of the Great Wei, unless it's an extremely special situation, at least one person should be left on standby. It shouldn't be empty like it is now."

"There are evil spirits." Lu Ning put the booklet on the table and pointed to the last two pages. "In the suburbs of Chongyun, there is an evil spirit. Its voice is like a baby crying. People can't help themselves when they hear it. They want to go and see it, but they are eaten. The survivors pierce their ears to escape from danger. The ancient monster is named 'Zao Teeth'. Second, in the old palace in Xingyin, two palace servants walk out of the palace at midnight and noon every day, one in white and the other in green. The green-clothed person draws with a pen, and the white-clothed person holds a seal. The person whose name is printed by the seal must rush to the location in the drawing within the time limit, otherwise he will be killed. So far, it has killed more than a hundred people, and it is called 'Minggao'."

"These two evil spirits are probably the targets of the Demon Suppression Department."

Lu Qingxu frowned. Although he was not familiar with the affairs of the Demon Suppression Bureau, he had an instinctive fear of things marked as evil.

"But it's of no use now." Lu Ning said.

Lu Qingxu asked for a piece of paper, wrote down what he saw and heard in Daonan Mansion, and gave it to the mute slave. Apart from this, he had no other way. What he knew about the Demon Suppression Division was all thanks to his experience of dealing with demons once, otherwise he might not even know where the Demon Suppression Division was.

After finishing writing, the two had no choice but to say goodbye.

When we arrived at Zhenjian Villa, we had to wait for the birthday banquet to begin. There were still three days before the formal banquet began, and before that, we still had to hand in the visiting card.

After the two found an inn to stay, Lu Qingxu prepared the visiting card and asked Lu Ning for several dozen taels of silver. Lu Ning knew that the money was probably for the people on the road, so she divided the silver notes and small change and gave them to Lu Qingxu.

In the afternoon, Lu Qingxu took Lu Ning and started walking towards the villa.

It takes about an hour to climb up from the mountain village at the foot of the mountain to Zhenjian Villa. This time can be shortened for martial artists like Lu Ning, but for someone like Lu Qingxu who is only in good health, walking on the mountain road for an hour is tiring enough.

When they saw a pergola, they knew they had arrived at Zhenjian Villa.

All the major sects would set up many outposts outside. The village at the foot of the mountain was one, and so were the sheds on the mountain roads. There were a few people sitting in the sheds, and when they saw someone coming, they stood up to greet them.

"But you are here to attend the manor owner's birthday party?"

Lu Qingxu took a look at their clothes and bowed slightly: "That's right, we two are from Huailing Lu family, I wonder if you guys..."

After saying this, the person who started the conversation was stunned for a moment: "Huai Ling Lu Clan? Aren't your people here already?"

Lu Qingxu smiled slightly: "The people coming from my family are different from me. I wonder which one you are talking about?"

"The Huai Ling Lu Clan went there near noon. There were more than ten people in the team, and the leader was Lu Qingyun, the 'Sky Sword'. Do you know?"

"It's my cousin."

"Excuse me, are you tired from traveling so fast? You may rest here. Even if we go up the mountain later, I think the Lu family will not leave."

"No, no, just a sip of water. Little brother, are there any rules for going to Zhenjian Villa?"

As Lu Qingxu spoke, he had already walked into the shed to talk to those people.

Lu Ning did not follow. She stood on the mountain path, her body slightly tense and with a vague defensive attitude.

The Huailing Lu family is not a traditional family that started out as a scholar, but a new family that has dabbled in the fields of scholars, farmers, merchants and industrialists. As you can imagine, there are actually many factions within such a family, which come together because of common interests, but also have some grudges against each other.

Lu Qingxu naturally followed the path of the aristocratic family, and as the eldest brother of this generation, he became a censor in the capital, and he could be said to be the one with the most say in the aristocratic family. Now that he has suddenly lost power, it is unknown how the family will treat him.

Unfortunately, Lu Qingxu had never taught Lu Ning how the many factions in his family were divided. Perhaps in his opinion, these were completely irrelevant. But Lu Ning could still roughly judge that this Lu Qingyun was probably not from Lu Qingxu's faction.

In addition, she was also on guard against demons. After seeing the description of the old chariot, she didn't dare to say that she was in a safe environment. Since the old chariot appeared in front of the people involved in the incident, did it mean that the problem of demons was not over yet? Would they come again?

Soon, Lu Qingxu came out. He handed a kettle full of cold water to Lu Ning and whispered, "A Ning, let's continue up the mountain."

"That Lu Qingyun..."

"There is no conflict between my fourth brother and me." Lu Qingxu only said this.

This time, I didn’t walk too long before I saw the gate of Zhenjian Villa.

Between the red walls, an ancient wooden door opened, and six young men dressed in the clothes of the disciples of Zhenjian Villa stood in front of the door, with their heads held high and their eyes straight ahead. Lu Qingxu stepped forward, took out a wooden box from his bag, pulled out a visiting card, and said, "Huailing Lu Clan, Lu Qingxu greets you, and comes to congratulate the headmaster Luan on his birthday. Please send the visiting card in."

"It's Master Lu!"

A voice that was so enthusiastic that it even sounded a little fake immediately rang out. Then, a slightly fat man wearing the same disciple uniform of Zhenjian Villa turned out and bowed to Lu Qingxu with a smile on his face: "Master Lu, it's been a long time since we parted in Qingli. I heard that you have encountered some setbacks in your career recently. I see today that you are still in good spirits!"

"Brother Peng, you look more and more radiant. What's the good news?"

"Haha, a big deal. It's actually related to you, Lord Lu. Thanks to you. This person is..."

"Lu Ning, my adopted daughter."

"Oh, it's true that heroes emerge from youth. It's just right. Since I'm here, you two can just follow me in. I'll pass the visiting card in for you."

"Then I'd rather obey than be polite." Lu Qingxu walked into the door with a smile.

After they passed through a corridor and there were no people around, Lu Qingxu asked, "Brother Peng, is there anything wrong?"

"Master Lu, please follow me first."

They did not go to the main hall, but walked into a secluded room. The disciple of Zhenjian Villa lit a lamp on the wall, picked up a pinch of powder and sprinkled it on the wall, waited for a moment, and then sat down. "A Ning, this is Peng Yujian, the sixth disciple of Master Luan."

"Uncle Peng."

"Don't say too much, Lord Lu..."

"I am no longer in office, so we can just call each other brothers. Your birthday is coming up soon, is there something wrong?"

Peng Yujian nodded and said, "Brother Lu, now I can only beg you. Among the people I know, you are the only one who has experience in dealing with demons."

"You used the demon powder just now?"

"Don't mention it." Peng Yujian shook his head. "Brother Lu also knows that my martial arts skills are neither high nor low. What's more, the incident that happened that year made me realize that my talent is not enough to deal with monsters, so it's better to be more prepared. Fortunately, I have enough face, so I have channels to get things like the demon powder that mortals can use."

"Let me tell you first. To be honest with you, Brother Peng, I have encountered some demons along the way. But now I am alone and cannot mobilize troops like before." Lu Qingxu sighed.

“Manpower is not a problem!”

As Peng Yujian continued his narration, Lu Ning understood what had happened at Zhenjian Villa.

Peng Yujian had worked with Lu Qingxu to eliminate demons. He was good at making friends and had many connections in the martial arts world. He took part in the fight. As a result, he had been obsessed with demons since then, always worried that one would suddenly appear next to him. The demon powder was a good and cheap detection item. It seemed that other people could not detect the existence of demons like Lu Ning did with her cold perception.

Peng Yujian insisted on burning some demon-detecting powder around him every day to verify the safety of the surrounding area. Nothing happened so far. However, when he returned to Zhenjian Villa to prepare everything for Luan Tianyin's birthday, he found that a special fire was ignited after sprinkling the demon-detecting powder.

Blue-black, aqueous.

Peng Yujian reported the matter to his superiors immediately. However, even the big martial arts sects still lacked experience in dealing with demons. The old master was knowledgeable and immediately sent several groups of disciples down the mountain to ask for help. However, except for the people who went to the demon suppression department in the village at the foot of the mountain to ask, the rest of the disciples did not come back.

There was no one in the Demon Suppression Bureau, and they failed to invite anyone.

Peng Yujian was panicking now. If he hadn't had a suitable reason, he would have wanted to run away overnight. Now that he heard that Lu Qingxu was coming, he was naturally overjoyed. At least Lu Qingxu's command was not wrong back then, and he successfully eliminated a demon.

"You haven't found the demon yet?" Lu Qingxu asked.

"After that day, no matter how it burned, the flame never changed color. But, but this demon will not leave easily. Brother Lu, I still have to ask you to save my life. If you can get rid of this demon, Zhenjian Villa will definitely treat you as a guest of honor!" Peng Yujian pleaded.

Lu Qingxu was not anxious, but asked again: "There should be many martial artists coming here these days. Isn't there anyone among them who has some skills? There are many hidden talents in the martial arts world, and it is not impossible that some of them really have some Taoist skills."

"In the past few days, my fellow disciples have asked some of the sect leaders, but they also know very little about this. If there really is a capable person, we can't tell him apart."

"The most important thing right now is to determine where the demon is." Lu Qingxu glanced at Lu Ning, who nodded slightly.

"This... We don't have any other good methods except the Demon Revealing Powder. If the consumption is too large, what we have in hand..."

"No need. Aning, what do you think?" Lu Qingxu asked.

"Then I'll have to trouble Uncle Peng to take me for a walk in the villa." Lu Ning said.

Peng Yujian was stunned, then looked at Lu Ning and said, "Niece, what are you doing..."

"A Ning has some ability to sense demons, so she should be able to help. Of course, Brother Peng, please don't tell anyone else."

"I know, I know." Peng Yujian nodded repeatedly, "Then you two wait for a moment, I will make some arrangements and take you to the villa right away... for a tour!"

After saying that, he hurriedly pushed the door open and went out.

"Do you allow me to participate in this kind of thing?" Lu Ning asked.

"The storm is coming, which is not a good thing." Lu Qingxu said seriously, "I didn't allow it at first because there are very few demons and monsters, and you would be in danger if you got involved. However, the situation in the past few days is not uncommon. In this case, if you can't avoid it, you must face it head-on."

"How trustworthy is this Uncle Peng?"

"Peng Yujian has a good reputation in the underworld, and his credibility can be guaranteed. However, when you travel the underworld in the future, you cannot rely on others to keep secrets. After the birthday banquet is over, I will try to find some other means for you to protect yourself." Lu Qingxu said.

"If you have any means, you should use them on yourself first. After all, you don't have any martial arts, and it would be dangerous if the world were to fall into chaos," Lu Ning said.

Lu Qingxu looked up at Lu Ning and smiled with relief: "A Ning, don't worry. In my opinion, your situation is more likely to be dangerous. When a knight breaks the law with his martial arts, he may not just break the rules set by humans."

Not long after, Peng Yujian came back. He took two people and bypassed the front yard where the most people were, and first went to the backyard where he found the wrong fire.

"The demon appeared in water form here. But Zhenjian Villa is in the mountains, and we don't know how we provoked the water demon." Peng Yujian pointed to a courtyard and said, "I was here at the time, lighting a brazier, checking the account books, and casually sprinkled some demon-revealing powder in. In just a moment, the flame turned blue-black. Don't be afraid of you two laughing at me, I ran out faster than I ever did when I practiced Qinggong in this life."

Lu Ning walked into the yard, but did not feel the familiar chill.

"It seems...not here anymore," she said.

"The demon would hide, I don't know what its intention is." Peng Yujian said quickly.

Lu Qingxu walked around and then said to Peng Yujian, "Starting from this, we have to go through the entire Zhenjian Villa. By the way, Brother Peng, I don't know much about some of the old stories in the martial arts world. Which magic sword did Zhenjian Villa obtain during the Qiu Weishuang crackdown?"

"It is the 'Que Yue' used by Sheng Changyou, the northern envoy of the Demon Cult." Peng Yujian answered casually.

"Is the demon sword still suppressed here?" Lu Qingxu asked again.

"With the master personally supervising, there shouldn't be any mistakes," said Peng Yujian.

Lu Qingxu nodded, and took Lu Ning with him to continue walking through the villa with Peng Yujian.

When passing by a group of low houses, Lu Ning suddenly stopped. A chill rose from the bottom of her heart, but it was less than the chill caused by the Daonan Prefecture government office and the old chariot. She looked towards the group of houses. Peng Yujian also stopped and asked, "Is it here?"

"You can find out by trying the demon-revealing powder. What is this place?" Lu Ning asked.

Peng Yujian took a small lamp from his waist, lit it, sprinkled in the demon-illuminating powder, and replied, "This is one of the disciple rooms. All the outer disciples of Zhenjian Villa live here."