Chapter Forty-Seven: Interpreting the Prophecy, Wandering Freely

Interrogation Room.

Yang Jinsong's face was blank and dazed.

In front of him sat a woman of almost unearthly allure. Her fiery figure, every smile and frown, seemed capable of drawing out a person's very soul.

Baili Feihong lounged with one leg crossed over the other, sipping water repeatedly.

The outcome of the interrogation was just as Magistrate Gongyang Yan had predicted.

The River Transport Gang was exploiting maritime routes to smuggle opium into the Great Yuan Empire. The so-called Fairness Town was merely a supply point, meant to curry favor with the local gentry of Dongbin City. The real profits lay in shipments destined for the imperial capital.

Tens of thousands of tons of opium each year brought in boundless wealth, which then flowed overseas.

To the Lafa Empire.

They were but one among many involved.

The Great Yuan Empire, hailed as the Empire of All Nations, occupied the heart of the world. In the eyes of foreign lands, it was a realm paved with gold.

The emergence of opium marked a crucial stage in the plundering of the Great Yuan’s national fortune through the sale of narcotics.

Baili Feihong dared not be careless. She wrote out the confession and hurriedly presented it to Gongyang Yan.

“Opium is a great evil. The nobles indulge in it, intent on corrupting the very elite of the empire,” Gongyang Yan said through gritted teeth.

The case involved such vast interests that even Gongyang Yan felt uncertain.

“My lord, it begins with blood. But what if ‘blood’ is not literal blood, but a metaphor for opium?” Baili Feihong suddenly remarked, as if struck by inspiration.

“What did you say?” Gongyang Yan sprang to his feet.

“My lord, to destroy the Great Yuan Empire, not even the most fearsome demon could accomplish such a feat. If such a monster did possess that power, it would not be merely our calamity, but a catastrophe for all mankind,” Baili Feihong spoke softly, lowering her head as she gave voice to her thoughts.

“You mean—?”

“The prophecy is itself layered with hidden meaning.”

“What is blood? It is the wealth of the empire, the vigor of its people. If our riches are plundered, our strength will wane. If our people are poisoned by opium and lose their spirit, they become nothing but sheep to the slaughter.”

“These bricks of opium are vampires feeding on the lifeblood of the empire, draining its very fortune.”

“This is but my humble opinion.”

“After all, should our national destiny remain strong, no demon or fiend could possibly threaten us.”

Having spoken, Baili Feihong stood aside, her heart in turmoil.

Her memories turned to the Opium War of her previous life. That war had all but bled the Chinese nation dry. Had it not been for great leaders who restored the nation’s fierceness, the dream of resurgence after a hundred years would have remained just that—a dream.

If a nation loses its fighting spirit, if a people are drained of their blood and passion, then that nation and people are truly doomed.

“Perhaps ‘it begins with blood, Dongbin falls, and Great Yuan perishes’ is not about literal demons or monsters, but about the human heart, about opium—monsters of a different kind working their evil.”

Though Baili Feihong’s tone was gentle, Gongyang Yan could hear the deep-seated hatred for opium behind the words.

Demons may be immortal.

But opium must be destroyed!

Gongyang Yan fell silent.

Perhaps, from the very start, she and the Demon Suppression Bureau had been searching in the wrong direction. If a terrifying demon did appear and throw the world into chaos, that would not be truly frightening—for at least the enemy would be visible.

What was truly fearsome was an enemy that corrupted from within, undermining the very foundation of the empire, all while the empire itself remained oblivious.

This could not be allowed to continue unchecked. It would serve as a crucial lead to pursue.

“The Night Demon case is yours. I grant you unrestricted authority within the Bureau,” Gongyang Yan said, tossing her own token to Baili Feihong.

“To see this token is to see me.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

For reasons she could not explain, Baili Feihong found her mind filled with the image of the beguiling demon-woman. If she could bring that woman under her control, the case would be much easier to solve.

Yang Jinsong was but a pawn—a piece on the chessboard placed in Dongbin City.

How vast was the network of interests tied to opium across the Great Yuan Empire? Baili Feihong could not say for certain.

But she understood that her enemies were not just within the empire—they were the foreign nations who devoured its wealth and drained its people's spirit. They were the true monsters, orchestrators of all evil.

The Lafa Empire was distant, separated by mountains and seas, now locked in battle with Great Yuan across the Devil’s Strait. Even if the imperial court guessed their intentions, there was little they could do.

Yet Yang Jinsong had mentioned another country—the Sakura Kingdom.

Once a vassal state, sending tribute year after year, it had turned into the most vicious of hounds after following the Lafa Empire’s lead over the past century.

Ships would dock in the Sakura Kingdom, where Great Yuan’s own people would trade, then the opium would be shipped back by sea to the heart of the empire.

Yang Jinsong was just a functionary—a man who did as he was paid, not the mastermind.

There was once a tale of a man who lost a sheep, and in searching for it, scoured the whole world.

Now, the Night Demon case was Baili Feihong’s sharpest blade—the pretext she needed.

Leaving Gongyang Yan’s office, she felt that she had finally deciphered the prophecy.

The opium case would be tackled through the Night Demon.

The River Transport Gang was the key player in the trade.

Who made their leader Zhang Fu order the Night Demon?

“Night Demon, you must live a long, long time,” she mused, weighing the token of the Chief Suppressor in her hand.

Baili Feihong smiled.

At last, she could act freely, unrestrained, to pursue her own agenda.

“Baili Feihong, do not let me down.”

“It begins with blood, Dongbin falls, Great Yuan perishes.”

“You are right—the vampires who feed on the empire’s fortune, opium is but one of them.”

“But it is not the most terrifying.”

“Steel your will, and you can move mountains.”

“The true parasites draining the empire are the noble clans, the powerful families, the great houses, the religious sects, the officials—and only then, the demons and foreign powers.”

“His Majesty seeks reform, but he cannot avoid compromise with these bloodsucking fiends.”

The Demon Suppression Bureau is the blade of the empire. Their duty: to slay monsters and eradicate evil, to instill dread in all who would do wickedness.

Evil is not always monstrous in form; the formless, shapeless evils are fiercer than any tiger.

Baili Feihong arrived at the front desk.

The Demon Suppression Sixfold Canon detailed many supernatural abilities, but these required breaking the first shackle of body-forging before they could be unlocked.

For now, martial techniques were the best way to compensate for her shortcomings.

“Miss Yan, I’d like to exchange for a movement technique,” Baili Feihong said, producing a rank D merit medal and handing it to Yan Ruyu.

“Also, with this new rank C merit medal, I’d like to exchange for a Marrow-Cleansing Pill.”

Bone-shedding and marrow cleansing.

After forging the bones comes the cleansing of the marrow.

Once the copper bones were perfected, one could proceed to marrow cleansing. The subsequent iron, steel, golden, and jade-gold bones were not within everyone’s reach.

The Demon Suppression Sixfold Canon was easy to practice but difficult to master.

For Baili Feihong, though, none of this was a problem. With experience points and skill points, her cultivation could leap forward in short order.

“What kind of movement technique do you want?”

“The most difficult to master, the strongest,” Baili Feihong replied.

Yan Ruyu gave Baili Feihong a peculiar look. But seeing the confidence radiating from her, she felt a stirring of interest.

She was quite curious about Baili Feihong—curious how she had won Gongyang Yan’s favor.

“There is a movement technique unique to the Dongbin City Demon Suppression Bureau.”

“Oh? Which technique?”

“The Carefree Wandering Steps. But a rank D medal isn’t enough—you need at least a rank C. I’m only making an exception for you, so don’t tell anyone else,” Yan Ruyu said quietly.

“Is this the technique the first Chief Suppressor created after observing the Kun Demon?” Baili Feihong asked in a hushed, excited tone.

“That’s right.”

“I’ll take it.”

“And your Marrow-Cleansing Pill…”

“I’ll exchange for it when I’ve earned more merit.”