"This..." Fuu Mingcheng and the others in the team looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
Songg Baige gritted his teeth. "To hell with it! Now that we’ve started the assault, there’s no turning back. Whether the Ministry of Justice gives us an explanation or not, I don’t care. I just can’t stand the Demon Sect’s Ministry of Justice and I’m taking this chance to vent!"
Everyone waited quietly, but no one from the Ministry of Justice appeared.
Li Qingxian took out his Communication Talisman Disc.
"Uncle Zhou, something’s not right. I originally thought the Ministry of Justice was tailing my uncle-in-law as simple revenge against me. But now, it seems it wasn’t about me to begin with. It might be about some major figure or event related to me."
"That’s right. But the Ministry of Justice’s delay in making a decision also shows they can’t reach an internal consensus. The longer this goes on, the bigger the matter must be. It might even be that most people in the Ministry of Justice don’t even know why they sent secret agents to tail your uncle-in-law."
"Perhaps a big shot at the Sect Leader Level of the Demon Sect made a move. This would lead to the various factions in the Ministry of Justice being unwilling to take responsibility, but also unable to offend a Sect Leader Level figure, so they can only stall."
"You can rest easy. This isn’t about you."
"Don’t try to comfort me. In the short term, this isn’t about me, but what about the long term?"
"Relax. As long as I’m here, no one can touch you."
Zhou Chunfeng’s voice was firm and decisive.
"Thank you, Uncle Zhou. Should I withdraw then?"
"You can withdraw, but I want to take this a step further."
"What are you going to do?"
Zhou Chunfeng did not reply for a long time.
Before long, groups of Patrol Bureau members began to leave the Assault Team.
The others watched in confusion as the Patrol Bureau’s Night Guards withdrew, completely baffled.
Everyone had come to help the Patrol Bureau and Li Qingxian, so why were the Patrol Bureau’s own people leaving first?
People tried to ask around, but they got no answers. Morale quickly dropped to a freezing point.
Just moments ago, everyone had been full of fighting spirit. Some had even been clamoring to break through the Sixth Hall and set a new record for a minor assault. Now, even the most belligerent ones had fallen silent.
The way some people looked at Li Qingxian became very strange.
The once orderly Assault Team gradually began to disperse, with people sitting on the broken walls and rubble, just chatting and shooting the breeze.
Some people grew drowsy.
Time passed slowly, and various rumors began to spread through the Assault Team.
"The Patrol Bureau is badass! They actually went to arrest people from the Ministry of Justice!"
"For real?"
"A lot of Ministry of Justice officials live near Ministry of Justice Street. My friend just saw the Patrol Bureau haul away a guy who was shouting that he was a Ministry of Justice official."
"The Patrol Bureau has more guts than the Night Guard. No explanation, huh? Then we’ll just start arresting people!"
"Now *this* is a real assault!"
The previously drowsy crowd quickly woke up.
After a while, Li Qingxian asked again.
"Uncle Zhou, how many people did you arrest?"
"All suspected of involvement with rebel factions. Hundreds of No Grade, sixty-four Lower Grade, twenty-four Middle Grade, and one Third-Grade Deputy Minister."
"This..."
Li Qingxian hadn’t expected Zhou Chunfeng to be so ruthless.
An official with "Deputy" in their title was equivalent to a Tributor or an externally hired protector, not an official position within the Imperial Court. However, they still enjoyed the treatment of a Vice Minister, and their Official Uniform and accessories were indistinguishable from a regular Vice Minister’s. Arresting a Deputy Minister was practically the same as arresting the fourth-in-command of the Ministry of Justice.
A moment later, the news spread throughout the Assault Team, and everyone became excited.
"The Beautiful Scholar is awesome! He had a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice arrested!"
"For real?"
"It’s just three streets away! The home of Vice Minister Fu, an Elder of Demon Transformation Mountain in the Ministry of Justice, was surrounded by the Patrol Bureau! Vice Minister Fu cursed a few times but didn’t dare to resist. He got into a carriage and was taken to the Patrol Bureau."
"Vice Minister Fu? Isn’t his name Fu Jianqi? I heard he was the one who shattered the Nether Mountain Sub-Branch and buried a bunch of Night Guards alive. Never thought this was waiting for him."
"Hahaha, worthy of being the Blood Scholar of old, a hero who killed demons! He really doesn’t coddle this bunch of Demon Sect bullies who are only good at fighting their own!"
"The Patrol Bureau is really better than the Night Guard! The Emperor is wise!"
"So satisfying! More satisfying than assaulting three halls!"
"Won’t give me an explanation? Then I’ll give *you* an explanation! Haha..."
The night wind blew. The battle was over, but everyone was too excited to feel the least bit sleepy.
After hearing the full story, Songg Baige sighed. "The guys who guarded the river are still the most ruthless. Ordinary officials don’t have that kind of grit."
"What about Uncle Songg?" Li Qingxian asked.
Songg Baige cleared his throat. "My dad has been staying put in Beichen City. He hasn’t gone anywhere."
Li Qingxian pursed his lips. Songg Baige had previously said Songg Yunjing had secretly returned to the Capital City to join the Assault Team. If he wasn’t mistaken, Songg Yunjing had probably also snuck off to the River Guard Army’s front lines to fight the Demon Race more than a few times.
The Developing Paper vibrated. Li Qingxian looked down at it.
Words from Squadron Leader Lur Yunyan appeared on it.
"Li Qingxian, what do you think we should do next?"
Li Qingxian thought for a moment, then, instead of using his will, he slowly wrote a sentence with his finger.
"Disciplinary Officer Lur, would you like the historical records to include this line about you: ’On that night, he shattered the Nine Palaces of the Ministry of Justice.’?"
Lur Yunyan did not reply for a long, long time.
Li Qingxian waited quietly.
’At a time like this, I can no longer play a decisive role.’
Just then, a young man walked out from the Prison Department. He wore an unembroidered tiger patch with no gold thread on his chest, marking him as a Junior Seventh-Grade Official.
Under the faint moonlight, the man’s eyes glowed green. His face was like jade, his skin translucent and full. He had no hair, no beard, no eyebrows, and no eyelashes. His scalp was covered in fine, white bone needles, each about an inch long.
He was barefoot. The nails on his hands and feet looked as if they had been brutally torn out, and in their place grew a thin membrane of flesh. Something squirmed gently beneath it.
His lips were sunken, resembling a chrysanthemum with faint black wrinkles.
Many people’s expressions changed slightly.
Li Qingxian’s heart skipped a beat. He asked in a low voice, "The Toothless?"
A few people nearby nodded slightly.
"An Evil Demon Child?"
Songg Baige and Fuu Mingcheng nodded slightly.
"I’ve heard of them, but I don’t know much," Li Qingxian said.
Songg Baige sighed. "Within the Evil Sect, they select certain Sincere to serve the Evil God and spread its filth. To become one of the Sincere, one must pass a series of harsh trials. The lowest is the ’Hairless’ trial. After reaching the Ninth Grade, they participate in the Hairless ritual, during which they cannot use any power. Before a Divine Statue, a Priest will pluck out all the hair on their body, tuft by tuft. Throughout the process, they must maintain a smile and a look of piety. If they cry out in pain even once, they fail and can never become one of the Sincere. After passing, they will receive a gift of filth from the Evil God. The bone needles on this person’s head, for instance, are such a Divine Gift."
"Once they become Hairless, every time they advance in Grade Level, they must endure a new trial. Failure means death. The trial for an Eighth-Grade Sincere is to have all the nails on their hands and feet slowly pulled out, one by one. The trial for a Seventh-Grade Sincere is to have all their teeth pulled out, one by one. In all these trials, they cannot use any external force or show any pain."
"As for the Evil Demon Child, that’s a product of collusion between the Evil Sect and the Demon Sect. Both sides send their most outstanding disciples to the other to simultaneously cultivate the powers of both sides. Although most die because they cannot handle cultivating both Evil Demon Powers at once, those who survive are all incredibly powerful. This Evil Demon Child should be one sent from the Demon Sect to the Evil Sect. Furthermore, he is a Sincere Evil Demon Child. He’s likely the one from the rumors a while back—the one with the strength to compete for this year’s Cyan Cloud Champion Scholar, with the title ’Bone Filth Child’."
"Is this person famous?" Li Qingxian asked.
"He’s the only Sincere Evil Demon Child to appear in the last five years. How could he not be famous?"