Volume One: The County of Changshui and Its Menial Laborers, Chapter Ninety-One: Harmony Without Uniformity

The low-ranking laborers of the Demon-Slaying Office in Changshui County truly did not know what to choose.

On one side stood the superior they knew so well; on the other, the Demon-Slaying Office of Anxi Prefecture.

To these laborers, the deputy director of the prefectural office was already a figure far beyond anything they could have imagined.

“Everyone, don’t mind me,” Zhong Zhengming said, lowering his head. “In the end, I have brought all of you down with me.”

“Heh, Zhong Zhengming, there’s no need for false charity,” the director surnamed Song sneered. “With so many roads before you, you chose this one. Why? Wasn’t it just to make these laborers throw away their lives and block us?”

“Even at a time like this, you can still speak so nobly. In terms of hypocrisy, I really do admire you.”

Once those words were spoken, the laborers from Changshui County truly did calm down.

Just moments ago, they had indeed wanted to stand at Zhong Zhengming’s side and help their leader.

Even if they could not beat the people opposite them, a crowd at least looked imposing—perhaps it might even scare the other side.

But with Director Song’s words, they all began to suspect.

Could it be that Director Song was telling the truth?

Had Zhong Zhengming really intended to use them as cannon fodder, to block those martial experts who had entered the ranks?

“Orders from above are clear: Zhong Zhengming must be eliminated,” Bai Yuan said. “If you are sensible, I will overlook this matter today. You may still return to the Demon-Slaying Office in Changshui County as laborers.”

“But if you still wish to throw in your lot with Zhong Zhengming, then don’t blame me for showing no mercy. The people of Changshui County must die.”

Bai Yuan’s voice was icy.

Hundreds of lives were nothing more than a number in his eyes.

What did it matter if a few died?

They were only laborers, after all.

Those who had not even entered the martial ranks were mere ants!

“I never wished to drag you all down,” Zhong Zhengming sighed. “This matter is my fault. I have wronged everyone. You should leave as soon as possible.”

The laborers looked at Zhong Zhengming, not knowing what to say.

Some of them truly wanted to leave.

Zhong Zhengming had indeed treated them fairly well in the past, but only fairly well. There was no need to give his life for him.

Moreover, most of these laborers had wives, children, and elderly parents.

If they died, the whole family would collapse.

By then, someone else would be living in their home, their wife sleeping with another man, their children beaten every day by others.

Just thinking of it was enough to make one feel a chill.

Others truly wanted to charge forward and stand beside Zhong Zhengming.

But seeing that most of the people around them remained rooted in place, they too began to hesitate. They kept overturning the thoughts in their minds, and in the end forced themselves to endure.

“See that? Zhong Zhengming, what use is all your kindness to these ants?” the Demon-Slaying Envoy Song seized every chance to belittle and mock him.

“Go on, go on! Why lose your little lives for Director Zhong?” At last, Lu Jiuzhang, who had remained silent for a long while, spoke to the laborers of the Changshui County Demon-Slaying Office.

These people were merely cannon fodder; they could not affect the battle in any way.

Rather than choosing sides now, it would be better to withdraw from the struggle early. Perhaps there would still be a sliver of hope for survival.

“Demon-Slaying Guard Lu, Director Zhong has treated us well...” someone choked out in protest.

“No matter how well he has treated you, is it worth more than your lives?” Lu Jiuzhang said slowly.

Everyone fell silent.

Human nature had always been like this; there was nothing more to say.

Besides, weighing the pros and cons, such a choice was indeed the most sensible.

“Tsk tsk tsk, young man, not bad. What is your name? If you wish, you may come to South Crow County in the future. I can give you a post as a Demon-Slaying Envoy,” Director Song said with a smile.

“I am Lu Jiuzhang.”

Lu Jiuzhang said slowly, “My elder brother, Lu Huaigu, was plotted against and killed. Afterward, the mastermind behind it set their sights on me and wanted to use the Demon-Slaying Office to remove me.”

“This...” Director Song was momentarily speechless. He had not known of this matter.

But thinking carefully, such things were hardly uncommon.

What of the Demon-Slaying Office?

The factional struggles within it were no less vicious than anywhere else.

With the slightest carelessness, death would be the least of it; one might even drag along one’s wife, children, and elders.

How formidable had Zhong Zhengming once been?

The Zhong family was an enormous clan. Now that the tree had fallen and the monkeys scattered, none of the Zhong family members would meet a good end.

“Rest assured. The upper ranks of the Changshui County Demon-Slaying Office have been wiped out today. No one can threaten you anymore. Come to South Crow County and join under me. As long as I have meat to eat, you’ll have broth to drink.”

Director Song began poaching him right in front of Zhong Zhengming.

After all, Zhong Zhengming was already in a situation from which death was inevitable; he did not take it to heart.

“No. The mastermind who killed my elder brother and wants my life is not in Changshui County. The person behind this may be in Anxi Prefecture, may be in Northern Ridge Commandery, or may not even be from the Demon-Slaying Office at all.”

“The Demon-Slaying Office is only the knife in their hand.”

Lu Jiuzhang said slowly, “So I cannot go to South Crow County. I must ask Zhong Zhengming to make it clear who it is.”

The moment those words were spoken, the whole scene was stunned.

“Have you gone mad?”

The black dog did not understand.

Under such circumstances, why still help Zhong Zhengming?

Was he not tired of dying quickly enough?

The black dog spoke in human words, yet this caused no surprise among the others.

At a time like this, no one would bother to pay attention to a large black dog.

“Indeed. I like your character. It also means you will die very quickly,” said Bai Yuan, deputy director of the Anxi Prefecture Demon-Slaying Office, casting a cold look at Lu Jiuzhang as though at a dead man. “Only at the ninth rank of martial cultivation, and yet you speak with such arrogance.”

Lu Jiuzhang walked toward Zhong Zhengming, each step striking the hearts of those laborers.

“Demon-Slaying Guard Lu!”

The laborers of Changshui County cried out one after another.

“Go on, go on!”

Lu Jiuzhang waved to them, then came to stand beside Zhong Zhengming.

“It should be Yuan Wufeng!” Zhong Zhengming said with a bitter smile. “Now that you know the answer, are you satisfied? You can leave now. Standing beside me is the same as courting death. With your potential, you will surely shine brilliantly in the future; by then, you may well be able to uncover the true mastermind behind this.”

“I have always suspected the black hand within the Changshui County Demon-Slaying Office,” Lu Jiuzhang said. “Chen Xuanfeng has a twenty percent chance, you a thirty percent chance, and Yuan Wufeng a fifty percent chance.”

Director Xue and Zhong Zhengming were on the same side.

So Lu Jiuzhang did not mention him, and counted everything under Zhong Zhengming instead.

“Then go,” Zhong Zhengming said with a sigh.

“A gentleman harmonizes without conforming.”

Lu Jiuzhang did not hesitate, remaining steadfastly at Zhong Zhengming’s side.

Perhaps he had seen too many people who treated human life as worthless.

Lu Jiuzhang thought he had grown numb, but now that he thought about it, heat and blood still often rose in his heart.

“I don’t understand. I think there’s a hole in your head,” Zhong Zhengming said.

“I think there’s a hole in your head too,” the black dog agreed.

Yes.

Perhaps there really was a hole in it.

It was too late to regret now.

Having spoken so many lofty truths, he at least had to stand firm.

The young were most afraid of acting on impulse.

Lu Jiuzhang gripped the blade in his hand tightly and looked toward the martial practitioners on the other side, those of the eighth and even seventh ranks.