Chapter 35 - 29: The Banshee is an Idiot
Having received Ran Qingshan’s promise, Jiang Mu immediately shut his mouth.
If the boss was offering a bonus, he had to show him some respect.
But as his gaze swept over Wang Ershang and the others, he suddenly remembered something and spoke up.
"Giving up ten of the snake demons is fine. But...
Wang Ershang and his men picked up a Demon Pill belonging to my subordinate, Zhang Daxie. Shouldn’t that be returned to its rightful owner?"
"?"
Wang Ershang and the others were dumbfounded.
Zhang Daxie, standing behind Jiang Mu, was also stunned.
’When did I lose a Demon Pill?’
But he reacted instantly. Lowering his head, he bit the bullet and played along. "Yes... that did happen. It’s one I risked my life to get."
"Bullshit!!"
Wang Ershang’s face flushed red with anger.
"Zhang Daxie, you only helped kill a single Tier Three Snake Demon! Where would you get an extra Demon Pill for us to pick up? This is extortion!"
The others chimed in with furious curses.
Jiang Mu sneered.
"Whether you picked it up or not, we’ll know as soon as you take out the Demon Pills you’re carrying and let me have a look."
"My subordinate, Zhang Daxie, has a habit. Every time he retrieves a Demon Pill, he makes a special mark on it. What’s the matter? Guilty conscience? Too scared to show them?"
"You—"
Wang Ershang choked with anger.
"Take them all out."
Seeing how certain Jiang Mu was, Wen He, who had been watching coldly from the side, started to have his doubts.
He was protective of his subordinates, but if they had really done something so dishonest, he couldn’t afford the embarrassment.
Seeing that their superior had spoken, Wang Ershang and his men, though feeling utterly wronged, had no choice but to resentfully pull out their Demon Pills.
"Come on, let’s go check."
Jiang Mu pulled the somewhat embarrassed Zhang Daxie over with him.
He first took the Demon Pill from Wang Ershang’s hand, pretending to inspect it carefully.
The instant his fingertips touched it, a strand of dark qi was drawn out.
BOOM—
The Demon Slot, which had been just a sliver away from being full, finally filled up after absorbing this last bit of pure Demonic Qi.
The next moment, his sea of consciousness trembled.
The dark, blood-red character for "demon" began to vibrate.
As demonic blood overflowed, a golden light surged from the bottom of the slot, quickly engulfing the dark red.
At the same time, the Demon Slot’s capacity doubled.
And next to the Demon Slot, a dim point of light appeared out of thin air.
’My cheat system leveled up?!’
Jiang Mu was ecstatic.
This meant his Demonic Qi storage limit had doubled, and he could now summon two Demon Shadows simultaneously to aid his cultivation.
’My cultivation efficiency is going to skyrocket again!’
Jiang Mu repeated the process, inspecting the Demon Pills from the remaining men one by one, sucking out every last wisp of Demonic Qi before tossing the pills back.
"Doesn’t look like there’s a mark. It seems I remembered wrong. Since it’s all a misunderstanding, let’s just forget about it."
Everyone: "..."
They had figured it out. The guy was doing it on purpose.
The lost Demon Pill, the special mark—it was all just to mess with them.
’How childish!’
Wen He shot Jiang Mu a fierce glare before leaving in a huff with his subordinates.
...
After everyone had left, Jiang Mu snuck into the Director’s room.
"Speak," Ran Qingshan said, sitting in a chair.
"Speak about what?"
"You brat, how did you break through again so quickly?"
Ran Qingshan sized up Jiang Mu, his face full of suspicion. "From the First Realm to the Second Realm... how long has it been? Fess up. Did you use some kind of shortcut Secret Technique from an evil cultivator?"
Jiang Mu replied with a solemn expression.
"Sir, my current Cultivation Level is purely the result of my own diligence and talent. I never take any shortcuts."
"If you don’t believe me, Sir, you are free to inspect my foundation."
Ran Qingshan stared into his eyes for a long moment before waving his hand in resignation.
"Forget it. Whether you’re exceptionally gifted or have a special constitution... as long as you can increase your strength, it’s a good thing for our Demon-slaying Bureau."
Jiang Mu breathed a silent sigh of relief.
He then remembered the ten snake demons he’d been forced to give up and took the initiative to remind him, "Sir, about those fifty-odd snake demons... we really did kill them all. We didn’t steal any from them."
"Alright, you don’t have to remind me. You’ll get your compensation."
Ran Qingshan said, exasperated.
He took a wooden box from a hidden compartment under his desk.
Opening it, he took out a Talisman glowing with a faint cyan halo and handed it to Jiang Mu.
"This is a high-grade Protective Talisman made by the Nine Bends Dao Sect. It’s for you."
Jiang Mu accepted it with both hands.
The Talisman felt fine and warm to the touch, not like ordinary paper, but more like some kind of specially treated animal hide.
"This Talisman is extremely precious. Once activated, it can block a full-power attack from an expert at the Fifth Realm or below."
Ran Qingshan instructed,
"But remember, the Spiritual Power within is only enough for three activations. After the third time, it becomes a useless piece of paper. Don’t use it rashly unless it’s a matter of life and death."
Jiang Mu was inwardly stunned.
’What a treasure!’
’It can block an attack from a Fifth Realm expert. This is like getting three extra lives!’
’And my newly upgraded cheat system is full of Demonic Qi. When I get back, I can try infusing it into this Talisman to see if I can strengthen it.’
However... ’Why would Ran Qingshan suddenly give me such a valuable life-saving trump card? Is it really just compensation for those ten snake demons?’
Jiang Mu’s eyelid twitched. He asked in a low voice,
"Sir... Master Wen isn’t that petty, is he?"
Ran Qingshan was startled for a moment, then understood what he was implying and couldn’t help but laugh.
"What are you thinking? While there may be strife within the Demon-slaying Bureau, we absolutely do not permit colleagues to harm one another. That’s the bottom line.
Besides, if he really wanted to harm you, this single Talisman wouldn’t be enough to stop him."
"That’s true."
Jiang Mu knew he had gotten it wrong.
"However, I did have another concern in mind when I gave you this Protective Talisman."
Ran Qingshan’s gaze turned distant.
"That Great Immortal Huang... we’ve found some leads. This demon’s Cultivation Level is considerable. It has six children, and the Huang Silang you killed was its most beloved son."
"Last month, the old demon was stirring up trouble around Yunzhou City and was severely wounded by Director Xia of the Yunzhou Demon-slaying Bureau. It’s currently hiding somewhere to recuperate, so it probably won’t have time to come for revenge personally anytime soon."
Jiang Mu frowned. "Is that supposed to be good news?"
"Neither good nor bad, I suppose. After all, it’s harder to find something that’s hiding."
Ran Qingshan said, "However, its eldest daughter, ’Huang Dalang,’ has been active in Yan City."
Huang Dalang?
Jiang Mu was taken aback. The name sounded like someone who sells baked cakes.
’This banshee must be sizzling hot.’
"Her Cultivation Level is around Tier Four. Although not as strong as her father, she excels at bewitching people’s minds and is full of tricks."
Ran Qingshan said in a low, serious voice,
"She and a group of other demons are the ones instigating the recent civil unrest in Yan City. She has always doted on her younger brother, Huang Silang.
Although we have been trying to track her, the situation in Yan City is chaotic, and the Demon-slaying Bureau there has its hands full, making it difficult for them to provide effective assistance.
There’s no guarantee that Huang Dalang won’t sneak into our Hu State territory..."
Jiang Mu understood.
"Sir, are you afraid that Huang Dalang will come to take revenge on me?"
"That’s right."
Ran Qingshan nodded lightly. "So you must be extra careful during this time. This Talisman is for your protection."
"Understood, Sir. I will be careful."
Jiang Mu nodded solemnly.
"Also..."
Ran Qingshan tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, pondering for a moment before speaking.
"I plan to assign you a mission. This one is rather special, and top secret."
"What kind of mission?"
"I need you to go catch a ghost."