Senior, give me a chance

White Cloud Ridge, Flying Tiger Mountain, inside a hidden but very spacious cave.

"Is everyone here?"

The Demon King of White Cloud Ridge was a tiger demon blind in one eye.

The demon race in this area basically all followed his orders, respectfully calling him Boss Hu.

The title of Demon King here was just a moniker, not the same concept as the Demon Kings in the Great Wilderness.

Boss Hu's cultivation was only at the Soul Tempering Realm.

Boss Hu's single eye swept across the cave, seeing that all the major active demon factions in White Cloud Ridge had gathered.

There were snakes, bulls, and wild boars.

"Word has already come from the county. We all need to lay low for a while. The Inspector from the commandery has arrived."

The leader of the bull demons was dismissive.

"What Inspector? When have they ever come without just going through the motions and putting on a show? These officials are pampered and spoiled; they wouldn't be used to venturing into the mountains. Am I right, everyone?"

The group of demons burst into loud laughter, the atmosphere becoming quite lively.

Boss Hu said solemnly.

"The person in the county said that the Inspector this time is different. This guy named Zhang Miao is meticulous in his work; he won't let any corner of White Cloud County slip by!"

The laughter in the cave diminished significantly.

An Inspector coming down from the commandery city would have a martial arts cultivation of at least the Golden Body Realm.

These demons entrenched in White Cloud Ridge were no match for him.

Boss Hu stood up and fiddled with the armrest of his stone chair, turning it left and right in what looked like a rather complex sequence.

"Rumble..."

A section of the cave's inner wall opened up, revealing a pitch-black, deep passage.

"For the next period of time, until that Inspector leaves, we'll hide in here."

Looking at the dark and damp underground passage, the group of demons showed bitter expressions.

Even though they were demons, a wild race that roughed it out in the barren mountains and wild ridges, it didn't mean they enjoyed staying in a place devoid of the light of day.

Helplessly, under Boss Hu's urging, they could only line up and enter the passage, heading toward the underground karst cave deep within.

"Rumble..."

Boss Hu walked at the very front. The stone wall behind the demons slammed shut after they had all entered.

Suddenly, a bull demon walking at the very back stopped in his tracks, his bovine ears twitching.

"It seems someone is coming?"

Boss Hu turned his head.

"Have the Inspector's people arrived so quickly?"

"Doesn't sound like the Inspector..."

"It's fine. No matter who it is, they won't be able to discover this secret cave."

Old Bull heard footsteps in the outer cave, as well as the sound of someone talking to themselves.

"Why do you care what I'm doing here? I'll go wherever I want!"

"Rush, rush, rush! All you know is to rush me all day to find some crappy earth vein. Aren't you annoying?"

"Do you really want me to shout three times, 'The number one evil artifact of all time is right here'?"

Old Bull pressed his ear against the rock wall; he felt that this person's footsteps were getting closer and closer to them.

He lowered his voice and spoke to the demons in the passage.

"Boss Hu, something's not right. This person seems to be approaching this rock wall..."

Boss Hu remained confident.

"It should just be a passerby casually looking around the cave. The mechanism here was custom-made according to the mountain's structure by a human master of mechanisms I kidnapped. It borrows the momentum of the earth; no one can break it open..."

"Bang!!!"

Before Boss Hu could finish his sentence.

A fist glowing with golden light smashed the rock wall open with a single punch!

Huge rocks shattered and flew in all directions!

The golden light from outside the passage shone in, giving the demons the illusion that a deity had arrived!

Boss Hu cursed "shoddy construction project" in his heart, then immediately issued an order.

"Kill him!"

The demons charged out one after another from the passage leading to the underground cave.

They bared their fangs and brandished their claws, their faces ferocious, unleashing a wide variety of demonic arts.

Chen Yi didn't even look at them directly, just busy arguing with the Myriad Soul Banner.

At the same time, he extended a finger, continuously releasing the "Star-Shattering Ripple Finger" at the charging demons.

"Pew! Pew! Pew!"

The demons were shattered all over the ground.

"See, what did I tell you? There's a bunch of demons here, right?"

"Buddy, you've got a dog's nose! I didn't even sense them! But then again, this broken main body of mine isn't even a spirit artifact right now, which really affects my performance."

"Stop making excuses for yourself. If you suck, practice more."

"Waahhhhh... You're pissing me off!"

While Chen Yi was killing, the Myriad Soul Banner was absorbing the demon souls.

While this guy was absorbing souls, it was also muttering to itself.

"I'll take you first, then you, and then you! Yes, yes, yes, just you bunch of demon souls! The situation is completely under my control! It'll be your turn to enter the banner right away; I have no reason to make you wait any longer!"

The passage to the underground cave was quite narrow, only wide enough for two or three demons to walk side by side.

The demons in front charged out, only to be poked to death by Chen Yi's finger without even a chance to grunt.

The demons in the back thought their brothers in front were fighting desperately. Shouldn't they go out and lend a hand?

Thus, they advanced wave upon wave.

It wasn't until they rushed out of the passage and saw Chen Yi's appearance of killing demons without blinking an eye that they realized.

An absolute monster had arrived!

When Boss Hu entered the passage, he walked at the very front.

Therefore, he was the last one to rush out.

"Little ones!! This person has seen us, we absolutely cannot let him leave!! Follow me..."

Boss Hu slammed on the brakes, stopping ten paces away from Chen Yi.

One man, one tiger, three eyes looking at each other.

Boss Hu looked at the shattered corpses all over the ground.

"They... they're all dead..."

Chen Yi spoke unhurriedly.

"Big Tabby Cat, do you know that our Great Qian has a Demon Suppression Pagoda?"

"I know of it, Senior."

"As far as I know, this Demon Suppression Pagoda is used to imprison those demons who, although they have committed evil in the past, are willing to provide intelligence and assistance to the Demon Slaying Division. Although life inside isn't easy, at least they won't die."

"That is correct."

"Do you want to go to the Demon Suppression Pagoda, or fight it out with me?"

"I have always yearned for the Demon Suppression Pagoda. The demons inside are all senior experts, and they speak so nicely. I absolutely love it in there. Please give me a chance, Senior."

Boss Hu was now as docile as a cat.

He walked upright like a human, but had the fur, fangs, claws, and tail of a tiger.

The big guy, over three meters tall, now stood in front of Chen Yi, looking exactly like a pet cat standing up to act cute.

"Do as I say, and I won't kill you. I'll let the Demon Slaying Division send you to the Demon Suppression Pagoda to retire."

"Yes, sir!"

...

A few days later.

White Cloud County City.

The Baling Commandery Demon Slaying Division Inspector delegation, led by Zhang Miao, entered the city.

The officials of the county magistrate's office and the county Demon Slaying Division prepared a grand welcome banquet for Zhang Miao and the others.

Zhang Miao did not attend.

The local gentry and prominent families sent various gifts to the posthouse where Zhang Miao was staying.

Zhang Miao did not accept them.

As the night fell, Shen Qingshan, who had been busy all day, passed by the county posthouse and saw the pile of rejected gifts at the door, unable to help but sigh with emotion.

"I didn't expect this Lord Zhang to truly be a man of such strong principles."

A voice suddenly appeared behind Shen Qingshan.

"Then let us give this Lord Zhang a hand."

Shen Qingshan was startled and shivered. Turning around, he saw Chen Yi, carrying a longsword and a spear on his back, and immediately revealed a look of joy.

"Fourth Brother, you have finally returned. Your third sister has been nagging me about you every single day, so much that my ears are practically growing calluses."

Chen Yi produced a letter detailing the hideouts of all the demons across Baiyun Ridge.

Of course, all that remained in those places now were mangled corpses that would be incredibly difficult to piece back together.

"Brother-in-law, I have a plan to expose the collusion between the officials and the demons in Baiyun County. I wonder if you would be interested in joining me?"

A certain gleam lit up in Shen Qingshan's eyes...