Huanglong Prefecture was originally dominated by the Divine Mansion Sect. But now that Ling Province has become the top province in Shuofang, Huanglong Prefecture’s status has also risen considerably.

If you didn’t count Dong Wanjun, there were now more than ten factions in Huanglong Prefecture that were overtly stronger than the Divine Mansion Sect.

And that was only counting the people they had sent to Huanglong Prefecture.

Bai Yuan had already ordered his sect members to keep a low profile and avoid trouble as much as possible.

Any force daring to meddle with the interests in Ling Province would naturally have a powerful background.

Bai Yuan had a good relationship with Yang Fangyu, and by extension, the connection between the Divine Mansion Sect and the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office was extremely close. As a result, they were unlikely to run into any major problems within Huanglong Prefecture’s territory.

Of Yang Fangyu’s friends, only Zhu Ji was still in Huanglong Prefecture; the others had all returned to Ling Province.

It was just Zhu Ji’s luck that his Nine Sword Sect was the weakest...

As one of the top five Jianghu Great Sects in the Northern Territory, the Nine Sword Sect had deep foundations. While it couldn’t compare to the Celestial Profound Sect, it was by no means weak.

It just fell a bit short compared to the powerful outsiders in Ling Province.

So, rather than getting nothing at all in Ling Province, it was better to settle for second best and choose Huanglong Prefecture.

These factions had poured into Ling Province partly because they saw its long-term strategic value and partly to do business.

Now the Court had ordered the residents of Dingzhou to be evacuated to Ling Province. Although Dingzhou had suffered from the ravages of war, its foundations remained. With the two provinces merging, there were naturally plenty of profits to be made.

Not to mention, many people from Qingzhou and Yu State had also moved to Ling Province.

"Over seven hundred factions, large and small, in Huanglong Prefecture, and fifteen Martial Artists..."

Yang Fangyu felt a headache coming on as he looked at the series of numbers.

Such a terrifying concentration of power would be more than enough for an entire province, yet it was all crammed into the small prefecture of Huanglong. As the Prefect, he naturally had a headache.

Huanglong Prefecture’s strength had now multiplied several times over, making it exceptionally difficult to manage.

Even Yang Fangyu felt immense pressure.

"Younger Brother Bai, you can’t just leave your big brother to fend for himself."

Yang Fangyu said, looking at Bai Yuan, who was sipping his tea on the side.

He was very glad now that he was on good terms with Bai Yuan. The Divine Mansion Sect had been established in Huanglong Prefecture for a thousand years, its roots reaching into every corner. Although they might not be stronger than the newcomers, a local powerhouse always had its own unique advantages.

It was precisely with the help of the Divine Mansion Sect that he was able to manage the county towns with ease.

"Oh, right, Younger Brother Bai, there’s news about that Demon."

Bai Yuan, who had been half-reclining, straightened up slightly.

He was indeed very curious about the situation with the Wolf Demon boy.

Yang Fangyu said, "I got a tip from a brother in the Northern Garrison Army. Not long ago, a pack of Wolf Demons crossed the defense line and slipped into Ling Province. I suspect that Wolf Demon boy is one of them."

"I see."

Bai Yuan nodded.

’The Northern Great Wall is sturdy, but the defensive line stretches for a thousand li. It’s impossible to completely secure such a long front. It’s only normal for a few to slip through.’

Bai Yuan could only marvel at how full of strange and wonderful things the world was.

’I can’t believe something like switching between human and wolf at will is actually real. Does this mean vampires and zombies are real too?’

’Maybe when I get stronger, I’ll actually run into them.’

Since their origins had been clarified, Bai Yuan didn’t worry about it too much anymore.

The official roads in Huanglong Prefecture were now heavily guarded, and the grain transport teams were escorted by experts. No major disasters were likely to happen.

...

"Sect Leader, a village near Qinghe County has been found massacred. It seems to be the work of Wolf Demons."

Yu Hui reported respectfully.

Bai Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’Not long ago, I learned from Yang Fangyu that a pack of Wolf Demons had crossed the Great Wall and entered Huanglong Prefecture.’

’Since one has already appeared, the others are probably in Huanglong Prefecture as well. It’s possible those Wolf Demons are the ones who wiped out the village.’

’After that great battle, those Wolf Demons are extremely powerful. Even Yu Hui would have trouble fending them off.’

He mulled it over for a moment, then decided to tell Yang Fangyu about the matter.

’It’s always better to be safe.’

Yang Fangyu was a man of swift and decisive action. After hearing the news from Bai Yuan, he immediately brought his Demon Slayer Guards and Zhu Wu to the Divine Mansion Sect.

"Younger Brother Bai, is the news reliable?"

Bai Yuan shrugged. "It’s too much of a coincidence. We’ll have to go see for ourselves to know for sure."

Yang Fangyu nodded.

The reason he was taking action personally was to prevent another attack like the one on the grain transport team from happening again.

To that end, he had even called on Zhu Wu to help.

Zhu Wu, on the other hand, looked excited. "I’ve been wanting to see what those Northern Demons look like for a long time."

...

「Two days later.」

Three middle-aged men dressed as peddlers appeared in Qinghe County Town.

These three were, of course, Bai Yuan, Yang Fangyu, and Zhu Wu in disguise.

The demons were highly intelligent. The Divine Mansion Army and the Demon Slayer Guard would cause too much of a stir. To avoid alerting the prey, they decided to first go to Qinghe County to scout out the situation, while the Divine Mansion Army and Demon Slayer Guard lay in wait outside.

"Lao Bai, is this your hometown?"

Yang Fangyu said, gazing at the simple and unadorned Qinghe County Town.

Bai Yuan’s records were clean, and as the Prefect, it wasn’t difficult for him to know such things.

Bai Yuan looked at the familiar sights of Qinghe County, feeling a wave of nostalgia.

A few years ago, he was just a young hunter scraping together money to join a Martial Arts Hall. Now, he had become a formidable figure in his own right.

’I wonder how Old Xue and the others are doing.’

Bai Yuan planned to visit the Huwei Arts Hall after the Wolf Demon matter was settled.

Back in Qinghe, he couldn’t help but think of Sister Qiao.

Sister Qiao would send him a letter every so often, but how could a simple letter possibly soothe his longing?

Bai Yuan reined in his thoughts.

He expertly led Yang Fangyu and Zhu Wu to a steamed bun shop.

The owner of this bun shop was a woman named Aunt Liu. When he was training at the Martial Arts Hall, this was his favorite place for breakfast.

Bai Yuan ordered a steamer of cabbage and pork buns and a steamer of ’three-delicacy’ buns.

The buns in the Northern Lands were completely different from those in the south. They were shockingly large, yet the price was still reasonable.

An ordinary strong man would be stuffed after half a steamer, so it was only because Bai Yuan and the other two were martial artists that they could finish two whole steamers.

Although Yang Fangyu and Zhu Wu were both from wealthy and powerful families, they had often roamed the Jianghu and weren’t averse to the common marketplace.

As the three of them ate their buns, they overheard the loud conversation of the diners at the next table.

"Did you guys hear? Everyone in Xiaoshuihe Village was killed! Their blood flowed all the way into the Qinghe River. Don’t drink the water from the Qinghe lately."

"For real?!"

"I heard about it too. My uncle-in-law is a constable at the Patrol Office. He said when they got to the Xiaoshui River, they couldn’t even piece together a single complete body. It was horrible."

"That’s terrifying."

"I heard the wounds look like they were bitten to death by wolves."

"..."

The men chimed in one after another, their stories growing more and more fantastic until they were even bringing up the Mountain God.

Zhu Wu, however, was quite interested in these tales of ghosts and monsters and listened with great enthusiasm.

Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu continued eating their buns, their minds long since drifted from the men’s conversation.

Bai Yuan was a Qinghe native himself. Back in Baisha Town, he’d heard these kinds of stories so often his ears had grown calluses.

After finishing the two steamers of buns, the three of them got up and headed for the Qinghe County Magistrate’s Office.

Since men from the Patrol Office had already been to the village called Xiaoshuihe, the most convenient thing to do was to question them directly.

...

Before long, the three arrived at the County Magistrate’s Office.

The officials at the entrance saw the three men and were about to shout at them, but Yang Fangyu didn’t even give them a chance to speak, raising his hand to show a token from the Huanglong Prefecture Magistrate’s Office.

Upon seeing the token, the officials went silent in an instant, like ducks with their necks being squeezed.

Quickly, the head official put on a fawning expression. "So it’s a lord from the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office. This way, please."

With the token in hand, the three met the County Magistrate without any obstruction.

’If they had been common folk, they probably would have been fleeced just trying to get through the door.’

Bai Yuan had seen such situations far too many times before.

"My lords, may I ask what business you have with this humble subordinate?"

A lean, middle-aged man stood respectfully beside Yang Fangyu.

The County Magistrate of Qinghe County had been replaced. He had heard that Magistrate Zhang had retired to his hometown to become a village elder, and the current County Magistrate was a Blood Refining Martial Artist, who had single-handedly raised Qinghe’s overall strength by a level.

But a higher rank is a crushing weight. Facing someone from the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office, he didn’t dare cause offense.

Although Yang Fangyu didn’t reveal his identity as the Prefect, the token in his hand was no ordinary official’s waist plaque, but a unique token belonging to an Inspector.

That was why a dignified County Magistrate was being so subservient.

Yang Fangyu got straight to the point. "What’s the situation in Xiaoshuihe Village?"

Hearing the name "Xiaoshuihe Village," the County Magistrate cried out inwardly in distress. He never expected this matter would have alerted the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office.

He chose his words carefully. "Wolf Demons came down from the mountains and ravaged the common people. This humble subordinate has already dispatched the Patrol Office to search the mountains."

Yang Fangyu: "Bring me the forensic doctor’s report."

The County Magistrate immediately had a nearby official fetch the forensic doctor’s report.

Yang Fangyu took the report and read it carefully for a long time. Finally, he said lightly, "You are not to tell anyone I was here."

"This subordinate understands."

The three of them came and went quickly.

Yang Fangyu walked straight out of the County Magistrate’s Office, holding the autopsy report.

Bai Yuan: "Old Yang, you even know the methods of a forensic doctor?"

He had just seen how seriously Yang Fangyu was reading, as if he were an expert.

Yang Fangyu: "Mr. Dong taught me."

"..."

Bai Yuan didn’t press the matter further.

Now that it was confirmed to be the work of Wolf Demons, the next steps were much simpler: find the Wolf Demons, kill the Wolf Demons.

After discussing it, Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu decided to go to Xiaoshuihe Village to check the situation first, and then decide whether to conduct a large-scale search of the mountains.

As a local, Bai Yuan had some memory of Xiaoshuihe Village.

Xiaoshuihe was ten li from Baisha Town, a small village of only about thirty households.

Bai Yuan knew the way, so he led Yang Fangyu and Zhu Wu out of Qinghe City and they headed in the direction of the Xiaoshui River.

...

In a secluded, dense forest, a loud wolf howl suddenly echoed through the trees.

It was normal for there to be wolves in the forest, especially in a dense wood rarely trodden by humans.

But what was chilling was that the wolf howl had come from a woman.

Not even a skilled vocal mimic could produce such a realistic sound—unless she was a wolf to begin with...

A rustling sound soon came from the thicket, and several massive wolf heads emerged from the woods.

One of them, an old wolf with a scar over its right eye, spoke in human language. "Have you found the ones who killed Ah San?"

The woman replied, "I have. They should be arriving at that village soon."

The old wolf said, "Very good."

Its eyes glinted with a bloodthirsty light, ready to pounce and devour someone at any moment.

They killed its companion, so they must repay the debt in blood.