Chapter 240 - 125: Catching a Female Ghost
’That Lord Chief probably wanted to see me—the troublemaker who had utterly disgraced him—least of all right now.’
Jiang Mu didn’t care.
About an hour later, they arrived at a designated rendezvous point outside the city.
An inconspicuous farmhouse courtyard.
Tian Wenjing was already waiting in the courtyard, standing in the middle with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression serious.
"Elder Tian."
Jiang Mu dismounted and cupped his fist in greeting. "Where are Old Yan and the others?"
Tian Wenjing pointed into the distance:
"I assigned them a task with Master Wen: to clear out a few low-threat demon nests. I’ve personally scouted the area. There are no signs of any Great Demons around, so they should be more than enough to handle it."
Xu Fu moved closer and asked, "Elder Tian, what about us? Are we going too?"
Tian Wenjing shook his head and handed a report to Jiang Mu:
"I plan to give you two a special mission: to catch a ghost."
"Catch a ghost?"
Jiang Mu was taken aback; he subconsciously recalled the mission Ran Qingshan had previously given him to catch a mole.
But after he opened the report and read it carefully, he realized this time it was literally about catching ghosts.
The report stated that a little over ten li to the south, there was an abandoned temple called Meiruo Temple.
A powerful Tree Demon had taken up residence there, keeping a host of seductive specters. It particularly enjoyed luring and killing young men who passed by.
Especially handsome young scholars.
During the chaos in Yan City, many commoners passed that way to escape the disaster, but most of them never returned.
After the rebellion was quelled, the Tree Demon and its host of specters went into hiding.
They still emerged occasionally to cause trouble.
The Yan City Demon-slaying Bureau had dispatched teams to surround and destroy it several times.
However, the Tree Demon was highly skilled at concealment. It always sensed their approach and escaped, which is why it has yet to be eradicated.
"That Tree Demon is an early-stage Tier Five Demon."
Tian Wenjing said slowly, his gaze falling on Jiang Mu’s face,
"That beast has a taste for men. I plan for you, Xiaojiang, to disguise yourself as the young master of a fallen family fleeing the recent troubles. Your job is to act as bait, to see if you can lure out the Tree Demon and its retinue of ghosts.
After all, Xiaojiang, that face of yours is certainly appealing."
"As for Xu Fu..."
Tian Wenjing glanced at Xu Fu beside him and said flatly, "You’re too ordinary-looking, so you can pose as Xiaojiang’s personal servant."
Xu Fu: "..."
He clutched his chest, a wounded expression on his face:
"Elder Tian, that’s just cruel. I’m handsome too, you know? Back in my village, I was a handsome young lad, famous in all the surrounding hamlets!"
Tian Wenjing ignored him. He took two Talismans from his robes, handed them to the pair, and gave Jiang Mu a warning:
"Be careful. These are two high-tier Breath-concealing Talismans. Once activated, they can completely mask the fluctuations of your Star Power, making it difficult for even a Tier Six Great Demon to detect you. They’re effective for six hours.
Remember, that Tree Demon has a special Divine Ability. As long as there are woods within a five-li radius, it can sense a Cultivator’s aura.
That’s why we can’t lie in wait too close. We’ll have to wait from far away.
When the time comes, do your best to keep it tied down. The moment you’ve engaged it, send up the signal flare. Of course, killing it outright would be even better. You have that kind of strength now, after all, Xiaojiang."
Jiang Mu took the Talismans, feeling a little speechless.
’Who would have thought my first official mission in Yan City would be to act as bait to seduce a female ghost?’
’This is ridiculous!’
’But on second thought, it’s all just slaying demons to charge my ’cheat.’ What difference does it make how I do it?’
He put away the Talismans and asked, "Do we leave now?"
Tian Wenjing shook his head. He produced two thick dossiers and handed them to Jiang Mu and Xu Fu:
"No rush. We’ll go tonight when the yin energy is thick. There’s something else we need to do for now. These are the detailed files on all personnel in the Yan City Demon-slaying Bureau, which I requisitioned from the General Office.
You two go through them and circle anyone who seems suspicious."
Jiang Mu casually flipped one open and found the records inside to be extremely detailed.
It covered everything from their place of origin, personality, and preferences, to the date they joined the Demon-slaying Bureau, their achievements, and their family members’ situations.
Nothing was left out, no matter how trivial.
Jiang Mu frowned and looked up to ask, "You requisitioned these from the General Office?"
Tian Wenjing nodded lightly, his expression grave:
"That’s right. I made a special trip to the General Office to retrieve them before I left.
The situation here is unique. It’s impossible to know what’s in a person’s heart, so no one dares to trust their back to a colleague who could be either friend or foe.
While it will be difficult to identify the mole using just these dossiers, it will at least give us a baseline. We won’t be flying completely blind."
Xu Fu pursed his lips and said dismissively:
"If we don’t trust them, why don’t we just work separately? We can just avoid going on missions with them. Why all this hassle?
If you ask me, we could even petition the General Office to suspend everyone here in Yan City pending an investigation. After all, plenty of us came as reinforcements, more than enough to handle those Demon Fiends."
"Nonsense!"
Tian Wenjing snorted coldly and glared at him,
"Do you think this is child’s play? That you can solve problems just by flapping your gums?
If we really suspended everyone, who do you think would clean up this mess in Yan City? And that’s not even the main problem. The act itself would send a chill through the Demon-slaying Bureaus in every other province!
We all put our lives on the line for this. If you tar everyone with the same brush, who will be willing to genuinely serve the Court in the future? Everyone will just be trying to protect themselves. How am I supposed to lead a force like that?"
He paused, his tone growing a little deeper:
"What’s more, the Demons won’t just let this go. There will likely be a second, more ferocious wave of attacks.
The Red Umbrella Sect led the rebellion in Yan City; the Demons were only supporting them. Now that the rebellion is over and the Red Umbrella Sect has gone underground, the Demon Fiends have become the main force.