"Taoist Zhang, what's the matter?"

Eunuch Yin stopped and asked with clasped hands.

He knew Zhang Kui was not one for idle chatter, so calling out to him suddenly must mean something important.

Zhang Kui gave a hearty smile, strode forward, and rolled up his sleeves as he walked, "I'm a bit tight on money lately; I wonder how much Merit Silver I can earn today."

"Merit Silver?"

Eunuch Yin was stunned, listening with complete bewilderment.

By now, Zhang Kui was already close by. Just as Eunuch Yin was about to inquire, he saw Zhang Kui glaring with tiger eyes and shouting like thunder:

"Demon, reveal yourself!"

As he spoke, his right hand emitted the Geng Metal Evil Light, shaping it into a claw as he sent a fierce gust of wind forward.

Zhang Kui's aura was already terrifyingly fierce, and with that dreadful golden evil light, even Eunuch Yin felt his breath catch in his chest, terror-stricken and frozen.

Why does he want to kill me?

Eunuch Yin was horrified, the thought barely crossing his mind when he saw Zhang Kui rushing past him amid a violent wind.

He quickly turned around and saw an underling transforming into a shadowy figure, fleeing towards the forest path, with Zhang Kui chasing closely behind, suddenly pulling out a giant sword and hacking away viciously.

The Profound Guard abruptly turned around, his whole body radiating a living black light, colliding fiercely with Zhang Kui's giant sword.

Boom!

The shockwave dispersed, and the Profound Guard stood on the spot with a grim face, while Zhang Kui was knocked back, dragged nearly ten meters along the ground with his great sword.

Eunuch Yin's pupils contracted—he instantly understood the situation and shouted sternly:

"Quick, sound the alarm!"

Up front, Zhang Kui sneered, "So you're at the Grain Avoidance Realm."

The Profound Guard didn't reply, gave him a hard look, then turned to flee.

Though powerful, being here at the Astronomical Bureau headquarters meant certain death without swift departure.

"Stay!"

Zhang Kui shouted angrily, stomping down, the ground's snow exploding, and he shot out like a sharp sword, then pointed ahead, "Stabilize!"

Fortune was on his side, it worked in one go; the black-clothed Profound Guard froze, with the Demon-slaying Skill's Geng Metal Evil Light appearing behind him in an instant.

Boom!

Another shockwave, Zhang Kui was knocked back again, but finally saw the black light clearly—it was an ancient, plain bronze candlestick.

"An Ancient Artifact..."

Zhang Kui chuckled, "I see this Ancient Artifact is not that rare. Why does every demon have one?"

The Astronomical Bureau acted swiftly; by now, a large number of black-clothed Profound Guards had heavily surrounded the area, crossbows and talisman arrows densely aimed at the opponent.

The demon, seeing the situation, ceased fleeing, and with a cold expression, asked, "Where did I expose myself?"

Zhang Kui gently stroked his long sword, chuckling:

"You're just unlucky."

He was merely bluffing, after all, it was hard to explain, yet the person sighed up at the sky.

"I truly am unlucky, or I wouldn't have ended up like this."

As he spoke, his face convulsed rapidly, sprouting thick black hair, while his body swelled rapidly, transforming into a giant, black rat the size of a cow, saturated with the aura of death.

The Mouse Demon's eyes were cold and indifferent; it placed the candlestick Ancient Artifact in its mouth and puffed out its cheeks fiercely.

Zhang Kui's pupils contracted; he shouted loudly:

"Back away quickly!"

But it was too late; a surge of blazing flames spewed from the Mouse Demon's mouth, growing with the wind into a hundred-meter-long fire dragon that swept side to side.

The nearest black-clothed Profound Guards immediately suffered, seven or eight of them ignited at once, screaming while being dragged into snowbanks by their companions to extinguish the flames.

Unfortunately, the flames clung like grease, not extinguishing even when splattered on the snow, hissing and crackling.

The black-clothed Profound Guards who caught fire soon stopped moving, while the Mouse Demon seemed to have gone mad, continuously spewing flames as if trying to ignite everything in sight.

Zhang Kui snorted coldly, employed the Sitting Fire Skill and the Golden Light Skill, advancing against the flames, preparing to slay the demon.

Just then, the surroundings suddenly dimmed, and in the sky, a pair of eyes covering half the sky appeared, with dual pupils, extremely bizarre.

Zhang Kui was fine, feeling nothing unusual, but the Mouse Demon suffered, stopping its flame spewing, squeaking and scratching its head with claws until blood flowed.

"Illusion Skill?"

Zhang Kui was surprised, but didn't hesitate, his figure flashed, and Lu Li's sword, glowing with golden light, slashed fiercely at the Mouse's head.

This might have been his easiest slaying of an Old Demon; with a splash of blood, the enormous mouse head rolled to the ground.

Zhang Kui breathed a sigh of relief; that thing in the sky was clearly the work of the National Guardian True Man—not someone to let steal his thunder.

Sure enough, after the Mouse Demon's death, the surrounding anomalies vanished immediately, and a beautiful woman in purple palace dress descended slowly from the sky, casting a playful glance at Zhang Kui.

Zhang Kui immediately recognized her, cupping his fists, "Junior greets Master Huoyu."

Huo Yu, famous for over a hundred years, originally a common songstress, but due to her rare dual pupils, was taken under the wing of a warlock and became skilled in Illusion Skill, eventually becoming a National Guardian True Man.

The woman in purple nodded, then looked around, "How did this demon infiltrate the Grand Profound Lake? Conduct a thorough investigation immediately!"

...

"Liu Zesheng, born in the 23rd Year of Qian Xiansheng, intelligent from a young age, entered the Astronomical Bureau ten years ago..."

After Yin Bai finished reading the file, Master Huoyu shook her head calmly, "These must be fake. I need to know if he was behind the Dissection Workshop case and what his purpose was in infiltrating."

Eunuch Yin was a bit embarrassed; having just been transferred, he knew nothing and could only read from the roster.

Zhang Kui suggested, "Search his residence and see if you can find any clues."

Yin Bai nodded, soon brought over the skull Zhang Kui had seen, and presented it.

Master Huoyu examined it closely, frowning as she did so.

It was the first time Zhang Kui saw such bones with human-demon features and curiously asked:

"Senior, what is this?"

Huo Yu squinted slightly, "I've heard of an Evil Skill that combines secret medicine with human-demon to produce multiple aberrant Infant Spirits. By using a special refining method to take their skulls, they can establish long-distance communication."

"Spirit ... Little Spirit Connection?"

Zhang Kui was first puzzled, then a strong disgust flashed in his eyes, "Truly a demonic and evil method."

"The problem is this Evil Skill..."

Master Huoyu suddenly looked up, her gaze sharp as she waved a hand towards the Mouse Demon corpse; it split open, revealing the spine, and an object dangling with flesh flew out.

She didn't mind the dirt, lifted it to take a look, and her eyes narrowed, "Indeed, the Demon Star Pavilion!"

"How is that possible..."

Huo Yu mumbled and instantly flew off towards Lake Heart Island.

What is happening...

Zhang Kui was baffled, looking at the similarly shocked Yin Bai, "Have you heard of this Demon Star Pavilion?"

Yin Bai took a deep breath and said in a steady voice:

"Taoist, do you know what led to the fall of the previous dynasty?"

Zhang Kui nodded, "It fell to demon chaos."

Yin Bai's brow furrowed tightly, "That's the word among the people. I've seen the internal government documents; in the late Great Yu Dynasty, the rearing of demons became popular, and even demonic beings stood in the court."

"Because of the turmoil from the court to the people, the Emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty established the Demon Star Pavilion, using extremely bloody evil methods to transform people into demons. Although their power was limited to the Grain Avoidance Realm, they could be produced in large numbers."

"The scariest thing about these Half-Demons is that they appeared perfectly normal but transformed in battle to activate their Demon Bones. Merchants, peddlers, laborers… you'd never know who around you might be a Half-Demon of the Demon Star Pavilion, leaving everyone on edge for centuries."

"After Emperor Qianyuan re-conquered the land, these Half-Demons were still active, and it took the Astronomical Bureau decades to finally annihilate them."

"So that's it..."

Zhang Kui looked thoughtfully at the demonic corpse on the ground.

"The Dog Demon I slew dressed as an ordinary watchman; this Mouse Demon also appeared as an unassuming Profound Guard. They're indeed difficult to guard against."

"It seems Xiahou Jie's death and that Gu Plague are all related to these guys."

Yin Bai smiled bitterly, "Now it's really troublesome. No wonder the National Guardian True Man searched the Capital City thoroughly and found nothing out of the ordinary; who knows how many Half-Demons of the Demon Star Pavilion are lurking."

"Odd, back then, the Half-Demons of the Demon Star Pavilion were killed to the last, the transformation skill was banned, and the Great Yu Dynasty has been extinct for nine hundred years. Could these people have jumped out from the Underworld?"

The Underworld?

Zhang Kui's pupils shrank, clenching his fists tightly...

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