Chapter 13 Martial Law Declared in Danzhou, Trouble Brews...
On the eighth day of the seventh month of the sixteenth year of Tianchen, an autumn night in Danzhou City.
It was just past midnight, and night had fallen.
The moonlight illuminated the deserted streets, and an occasional cool breeze blew by, causing the nameless and unlit lanterns along the roadside to sway, creating a calm atmosphere tinged with a slight chill.
"Something's not right about Danzhou City. There's not a single person on the streets at this hour."
Qingyu recited, and all around was quiet and deserted, with only the faint sound of the wind. Wen Chuan led the horse, and Zhang Xuan carried the vegetables, and the three of them walked side by side.
Zhang Xuan touched the sleeping Cai Cai and said, "It should be the night market at this time, so why is Danzhou City like it's midnight?"
Wen Chuan: "If it weren't for the people from the Demon Suppression Pavilion, we probably wouldn't have been able to get in."
They had planned to enter the city during the day the next day, but the people from the Demon Suppression Pavilion received a message halfway there, saying that something had happened in Danzhou City. The group hurried along, abandoning their carriages, and arrived in Danzhou under the moonlight.
Seeing this, the three of them and the chicken quickened their pace and entered Danzhou City with the people from the Demon Suppression Pavilion.
“South Street is near the city gate, clearly within the night market area,” Qingyu said, looking around.
"What's going on in Danzhou City? Why is it under martial law to this extent?"
This was not a lie. When they entered the city at night, the city gates of Danzhou were tightly closed. The people from the Demon Suppression Pavilion showed their tokens before letting them in.
Upon entering the city, it was eerily quiet. What should have been a bustling night market was instead a scene of tightly shut doors in every household, at least on South Street where they were, making it seem like the early hours of the morning.
Wen Chuan: "Even if martial law is declared, it won't be the same all over the city. We can go and take a look at other neighborhoods."
Danzhou City is the center of a prefecture, so it's impossible for the entire city to be closed off and its markets shut down. Perhaps this particular area is special.
Zhang Xuan nodded and replied, "Judging from the appearance of the Demon Suppression Pavilion, there must be some demonic disturbance, but Danzhou City is so big, there must be somewhere to go..."
Before Zhang Xuan could finish speaking, they heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching from afar.
In the pitch-black night, echoes reverberated through the empty streets, as if the dust kicked up by horses' hooves had broken the slightly chilly evening breeze.
The three of them stood still. Cai Cai nestled in Zhang Xuan's arms and stirred a few times. Zhang Xuan gently soothed it. Wen Chuan, as always, was taciturn. He simply raised his eyes to look in the direction of the sound, his expression calm.
Qingyu stood in the middle, tilting her head slightly, looking relaxed. "Someone's here?"
"Whoa—"
The horse stopped under its master's control; it was a squad of soldiers dressed as city guards.
The young man at the head of the group nimbly dismounted and came to them.
The young man had a resolute face, was very tall and burly, and had a very imposing presence. He was wearing a suit of armor that looked similar to, but more sophisticated than, the armor worn by the soldiers at the city gate. His aura was sharp and powerful as he slowly walked up to the three men.
Seemingly hesitating a little over Wen Chuan and Zhang Xuan, the young man nodded slightly to Wen Chuan and Qing Yu, then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhang Xuan, who was holding a chicken, and said, "Shen Qi from Danzhou, on the orders of the Prefect, has come to welcome Young Master Zhang and his friends."
Qingyu and Wenchuan knew on the way that Zhang Xuan was no ordinary person, but they did not expect that even the governor would send someone to welcome him. However, the welcome was too timely.
Qingyu and Wenchuan exchanged a glance, then looked at Zhang Xuan.
Zhang Xuan didn't react much. He was still stroking Cai Cai's fur in his arms and said slowly, "Thank you for your kindness, Governor. I didn't mean to disturb you by entering the city so late at night, but I didn't expect you to be so well-informed."
Shen Qi accepted the gift and smiled sheepishly, saying, "Young Master Zhang, you flatter me. Recently, there has been chaos in Danzhou City, the South Street market has been closed, and the city's security has been strengthened."
He paused for a moment, then looked at the three men with a righteous air and said, "The governor is also worried about the safety of Young Master Zhang and your friend. It is already late at night, so why don't you come with me to the governor's mansion first?"
Zhang Xuan lifted his eyelids slightly, not looking at Shen Qi in particular. He raised his chin slightly, looking every bit the noble young master.
Qingyu and Wenchuan remained silent. Qingyu glanced at the sky; it was indeed getting late. They didn't know if they could find an inn if they continued wandering around the city.
She moved her fingers, and Cai Cai in Zhang Xuan's arms seemed to be awakened by something. She wriggled a few times in Zhang Xuan's arms, and her mouth almost poked Zhang Xuan's hand.
Zhang Xuan inwardly grimaced, but didn't show it on his face.
"In that case, please lead the way, Lord Shen."
...
Guest room in the governor's mansion.
Qingyu sat on the tatami by the window, rummaging through her bag, looking for the things she needed.
She slowly flipped through the pages, her head down, and casually asked, "Zhang Xuan, does the Prefect of Danzhou know your father?"
Zhang Xuan himself had no official rank, so the governor must have been doing this out of respect for his father. However, such thoughtfulness was rather strange.
Zhang Xuan was leaning against a pillar wiping his knife when he heard this, he frowned and said, "I'm not too sure either. Governor Shen of Danzhou has been in Danzhou for almost twenty years. Even if he knew my father, that was twenty years ago, before I was even born."
He held the knife in his left hand and a clean cloth in his right, slowly wiping the blade as it gleamed. Zhang Xuan sighed softly as the silver light flashed. "But my father said before he left that we should be quiet when we arrived in Danzhou. That's how it was when my sister and I came here. I didn't expect to trouble the governor on the way back to the capital."
Wen Chuan: "We entered the city at night and were welcomed in less than a quarter of an hour. Perhaps the governor knew your whereabouts before, but just didn't care about you. This time, it's probably because the chaos in Danzhou has been too severe recently."
Qingyu looked at Wenchuan, who was sitting at the table, leisurely drinking tea, while Caicai was fast asleep next to him.
She said softly, "Who knows? Let's talk about it tomorrow."
After saying that, she lowered her head and fiddled with her bag again, taking out a handkerchief, some food, and some rouge, muttering to herself, "Where are my clothes? Where is my handkerchief...?"
Zhang Xuan craned his neck to look at her, his eyes wide with surprise. "How can your bag hold so much stuff?"
He had only seen Qingyu carrying this small bag all the way. He had only seen her take out food from it one by one before, but he had never seen her take out so many things at once. The bag was so small, where did it get so much space?
"Oh, it's a spatial spell."
Qingyu lowered her head and replied to Zhang Xuan's words. After searching for a long time, she finally found the large green handkerchief.
She stood up, grabbed a large green handkerchief, and quickly stood next to the table, placing the handkerchief on the vegetables to smooth them out.
Wen Chuan sat opposite her, and couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the green blob on the table. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "What... is this?"
“The blanket, I made it specially,” Qingyu said with an expression that said, “Isn’t it obvious?”
Before Wen Chuan could speak again, Zhang Xuan rushed over excitedly, sat down in a chair, and looked at Qing Yu, "Aren't you an array cultivator? You also know this rare spatial technique?"
In the past, there were indeed many spiritual artifacts in this world that could store things, because of the enhancements provided by spatial cultivators. However, the path of cultivation is now extremely mysterious, and there has been very little news of spatial cultivators over the years. Most of these storage spiritual artifacts are now passed down from the past and collected by various families.
Qingyu blinked a few times as she watched Zhang Xuan blink a few times in return.
Qingyu's gaze shifted to Wen Chuan, who was leisurely drinking tea across from her, and Zhang Xuan followed suit.
Zhang Xuan: "Why are you looking at Wen Chuan?"
Qingyu: "..."
Zhang Xuan: "You still haven't answered me—"
"Can array cultivators also practice spatial magic?"
"I'm a swordsman, is it a bit difficult for me to repair this?"
"I want to fix it too, is it possible?"
"Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?"
Qingyu frowned and held out her palm to him, telling him to stop asking questions. The young master is making too much noise.
"Stop—this is what Wen Chuan taught me. Ask him, and if he says it's okay, then it's okay."
Wen Chuan was examining the green handkerchief on Cai Cai's body, trying to calculate in his mind how big the handkerchief would be to completely wrap up Cai Cai.
Upon hearing this, he looked at Zhang Xuan and said gently, "...It's just a minor spell that can store inanimate objects. It doesn't matter what kind of cultivator you are. The specific size of the space depends on your aptitude."
Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up instantly, and he was about to speak when Qing Yu interrupted them, "The one who's eager to learn can learn tomorrow. It's so late and I'm so sleepy."
Zhang Xuan frowned: "How come you get sleepy so easily? Aren't you a cultivator?"
Qingyu smiled, "What's wrong with cultivators?"
Zhang Xuan: "Cultivators are physically stronger than mortals," he said, counting on his fingers as an example, "Mortals can fast for three days, while cultivators can fast for five days; mortals live to be sixty, while cultivators live to be over a hundred..."
Qingyu: "Oh, so you can endure longer, huh?"
Zhang Xuan: "..." What she said makes sense, but something just feels off to him.
Wen Chuan stood up and patted Zhang Xuan, who was deep in thought. "Alright, it's getting late. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
Wen Chuan didn't know whether Qing Yu was sleepy or not, but he was definitely sleepy.
Zhang Xuan pursed his lips, and the two said goodbye to Qing Yu before leaving the room.
Even after walking away, it seemed as if one could still hear Zhang Xuan's incessant chatter and Wen Chuan's occasional gentle replies.
...
At the end of Hai hour (9-11 PM), the night air was cool.
Moonlight pierced the window, spilling a silvery river across the ground.
The silver light flowed and gradually gathered into a thin layer of white-gray protective shield, enveloping the bedside, like a dream.
Qingyu sat cross-legged on the bed. The girl was only wearing a white dress, her black hair was like a waterfall, and her body was filled with black energy.
Upon closer inspection, the girl's hair was gathered at the ends with only a single blue flower ornament. As she circulated her breath, the tiny petals shimmered with light, and wisps of black energy gathered and swirled around her.
Concealed by a white and gray mist, pure demonic energy spreads everywhere. Under the cover of darkness, blue and white flowers bloom in a deserted place.
Qingyu slowly opened her eyes. The black mist had already seeped into the floral decorations, and the blurry white-gray mist around her gradually dissipated.
This mermaid demon was nearly a great demon in her previous life. She probably came ashore out of boredom to steal food and didn't want to get entangled with the human soul for many years. In the end, she also gained the strength of a great demon. It's just a pity that the human and demon souls fought for so many years in her body and couldn't stir up trouble at sea. She lacked some of the killing intent.
Thinking of this, Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief. She looked out the window. After these days of refinement, she had completely absorbed the demonic energy of the mermaid demon. Now she could be called a great demon among the demon race, but it was still not enough, not enough.
Qingyu got up and opened the window.
She stood still, the girl's figure slender, her hair fluttering lightly, her white dress bathed in the cool moonlight, letting the night breeze caress her.
A cool breeze silently crushed the girl's whispers in the darkness.
"Danzhou is plagued by demons, but there are clearly no demons in Danzhou."
After saying that, she smiled softly again.
"That's... a person."
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