The moonlight was cold and desolate.
Jiang Yuechu dragged Pei Changqing's corpse to a relatively flat mound and began digging with a horizontal blade.
After digging for half a day, she only managed to make a shallow pit.
Forget it.
In this desolate wilderness, being buried in the ground was already a decent farewell for him.
After finishing this, she turned back and walked towards the corpses of the Demon Suppression Guards.
When a person dies, they leave the world behind, but the things on their bodies can still be useful.
Suppressing her disgust, she began to search the bodies.
A few pieces of broken silver, some hard jerky, a leather water pouch.
Finally, her gaze fell on a corpse with a build similar to her own.
The person was very young, with a hint of innocence still on his face.
Jiang Yuechu paused in silence.
"...Forgive me, brother."
She whispered and began to strip off the black and red uniform from the body.
She couldn't continue wearing the prison clothes; they were a walking target wherever she went.
Wearing the Demon-Suppressing Bureau's uniform was equally dangerous.
But when weighing the two evils, she'd rather choose the identity that seemed more intimidating.
At least it could bluff people.
The clothes were stained with blood and torn, cold and stiff against her body.
She tied up her long hair, haphazardly making a ponytail from memory, and hung the horizontal blade at her waist.
There was no mirror, but she could imagine what she looked like now.
A complete mismatch.
Yet when her hand gripped the hilt of the blade, an inexplicable sense of calm washed over her.
Without lingering, she determined her direction and set off on the official road.
...
The official road was deserted, accompanied only by the solitary moon.
Jiang Yuechu walked silently, her mind racing with calculations.
Fortunately, the geography of this world's Great Tang wasn't too different from the history she remembered.
According to her memory, the Longyou Circuit she was in now roughly corresponded to the later Gansu region.
Since ancient times, Longyou had been a land of fierce people, bordering the Western Regions and the grassland tribes, always a strategic military location.
The Great Tang stationed heavy troops here, establishing a Protectorate to intimidate all sides.
Yet despite this, bandits and marauders still ran rampant, and with the added threat of demons, the common people's lives were far from easy.
The immediate priority was to solve the issue of household registration and travel permits.
According to the fragmented memories of this body, the Great Tang's household registration system was called the Household Register.
Issued uniformly by the Ministry of Household Affairs, it was distributed layer by layer through the prefectures, counties, and villages.
One register per household, detailing the head of the household, family members, ages, land holdings, and even a simple description of physical features.
This was the registration.
With household registration, one could apply for a travel permit from the government.
With a travel permit, one could travel unimpeded within the Great Tang, enter cities, pass checkpoints, and stay at inns.
Those without registration were black households.
Those without permits were vagrants.
If either were caught by the government, the consequences would be dire.
The original owner of this body was the only daughter of a high-ranking official in the capital, naturally possessing household registration.
But therein lay the problem.
With the Jiang family's downfall, her registration was branded with the mark of a criminal.
Before his death, Pei Changqing promised to restore her freedom.
He meant to erase this criminal mark for her.
Jiang Yuechu rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
Tsk...
Explore the extended edition on pawread.com.
What a mess.
Just as she solved the survival crisis, she fell into the trap of identity.
How to resolve it?
Though she had this golden finger, in this wilderness, killing some wild beasts and demons to gain cultivation, improve her strength, and live comfortably or even freely wasn't difficult.
But she didn't want to live as a savage.
Find a remote village and hide her identity?
Too risky.
The Great Tang's household checks were strict, and a stranger with no clear origin would eventually be questioned.
Forge household registration and travel permits?
Pure fantasy.
Where would a penniless young woman find such a path?
Thinking it over, every option seemed like a dead end.
Jiang Yuechu stopped, looking up at the solitary moon in the sky.
Forget it...
What else can I do?
Take it one step at a time.
Just as she thought this, a sudden rush of hoofbeats approached from afar.
Thud thud thud—
A dozen riders kicked up dust as they charged forward.
Jiang Yuechu's pupils contracted, instinctively gripping the hilt at her waist.
The horsemen drew closer, and the leader seemed to notice the solitary figure in the middle of the road, sharply pulling the reins.
"Whoa—"
The dozen strong horses came to a halt.
The torchlight dispelled some of the darkness, illuminating the faces of the newcomers.
They were a group of warriors in tight-fitting clothes, each looking travel-worn and anxious, with swords and sabers at their waists.
The leader was a middle-aged man with a square face, a full beard, and sharp eyes.
He was initially on guard, but when the torchlight revealed Jiang Yuechu's black and red uniform, his expression changed dramatically.
The man dismounted swiftly, taking a few quick steps forward, clasping his fists and bowing.
"May I ask... are you a lord from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau?"
Jiang Yuechu's heart skipped a beat.
Damn!
What you fear always comes true.
She had planned to wear this outfit temporarily, until she found a safe place to change.
But she hadn't expected to run into people in the middle of the night in this wilderness.
And it seemed they mistook her for an official from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
Her gaze quickly swept over the group before her.
Each was full of vigor, clearly not ordinary people.
They all rode fine horses; trying to kill them all without letting one escape was impossible.
Her mind raced, but Jiang Yuechu's face remained impassive.
Act!
She had to keep up the act!
The less said, the better; the highest level of coolness was silence!
She didn't answer, just looked coldly at the man.
This silent pressure made the man even more respectful.
After a long pause, Jiang Yuechu finally spoke in a muffled voice, "What is it?"
Though she deliberately lowered her voice, being a young girl, it sounded somewhat amusing.
The man was also a bit surprised.
So young?
And a woman?
Moreover, how could a member of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau be alone in such a remote place?
It was known that the Demon-Suppressing Bureau had Bureau Chiefs in each circuit, but no distribution in the prefectures and counties below.
And the nearest Demon-Suppressing Bureau was far away in Liangzhou.
Could it be...
He shook his head, dispelling the stray thoughts.
"Please allow me to report! I am Chen Qingyuan, the master of the Soaring Eagle Sect in Guangwu County. We are here on the order of the Guangwu County Magistrate, rushing to aid Shangpan Village overnight."
"Shangpan Village?"
"Yes!" Chen Qingyuan's face was full of urgency. "Three days ago, a group of wolf demons invaded the village, slaughtering the people and occupying the village! We received the magistrate's request for help and intended to eliminate them, but those demons were unusually fierce, and we lost seven or eight good men from the Soaring Eagle Sect..."
As he spoke, a hint of guilt appeared on his face.
"We really have no other way. We were about to return to the county to report to the magistrate and think of another plan... but unexpectedly, we encountered you here!"
"The Demon-Suppressing Bureau is renowned. Since you are here, you must be pursuing a major case, but the hundreds of people in Shangpan Village are in imminent danger. We earnestly request your assistance to save the people from disaster!"
With that, Chen Qingyuan knelt on one knee.
"We earnestly request your assistance!"
The dozen men from the Soaring Eagle Sect behind him also dismounted in unison, kneeling on one knee, creating a grand scene.
"We earnestly request your assistance!"
Jiang Yuechu: "..."
She was completely stunned.
Alright, alright...
Heavens, is this how you want to play with me?
Then what's the point of living?
She was about to give up.
Seeing her remain silent for so long, Chen Qingyuan couldn't help but feel anxious.
He knew that people from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau often had eccentric personalities.
But the dire situation in Shangpan Village left him no time to ponder this lord's thoughts.
Initially, they thought it was just ordinary demons passing through, harassing the people.
But when they charged in, they found the situation far more complicated.
Those beasts had taken over the village and refused to leave!
They kept the surviving people like livestock in the ancestral hall, dragging out a few each day to be devoured alive in front of everyone.
Men were disemboweled, and women and children were reduced to playthings.
The county magistrate's soldiers numbered barely over a hundred, enough for bandit suppression, but against such demons, it was akin to sending them to their deaths.
And Guangwu County's nearest prefecture was Lanzhou Prefecture.
Even with fast horses, a round trip would take at least ten days to half a month.
By then, Shangpan Village would have long become a dead village.
In other words...
The lord from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau before them was their only hope.
Proofreader: Peter Pan