Unsheathed

The Locust Flower Nation was a small and barren nation in the north, and everyone in the imperial court, from the top to the bottom, was poor. In fact, they were so poor that the emperor couldn't even dispatch officials to worship and give offerings to the mountain gods of the Five Mountains on time. Because of this, there eventually arose the saying that officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue didn't enter the mountains.

Perhaps due to the imperial court showing a lack of respect for the Five Mountains, with this problem being exacerbated by the lack of temples and shrines and worshippers in the regions, there were often demons and fiends causing trouble in the mortal cities and towns of the Locust Flower Nation. This led to many spiritual masters and eminent monks from different nations travelling around the Locust Flower Nation to rescue its citizens from catastrophe and hardship.

However, these capable individuals who were especially popular in the regions never entered the residences of true nobles and officials in the nation. In the end, they decided to directly avoid the capital of the nation altogether, lest they be treated poorly and given the cold shoulder.

On this day, a scholar in white and wearing a bamboo hat handed over his passport and entered the city located on the border of the Locust Flower Nation and the Silver Screen Nation. After wandering around the city for a while, he sat down on his bamboo case on a bridge located near a market, munching down on a spring onion pancake that he had purchased just then. Along with the local residents and some traveling merchants engaging in small business, he listened to a storyteller recount tales about weird and fantastical matters.

The storyteller was quite old, appearing to be in his seventies, but he was unexpectedly filled with energy and vigor, with his voice booming as his spittle flew everywhere. He said that an incredibly vicious great demon had appeared at Ornate Headpiece Prefecture a while ago, staying at the mountain top and transforming into a cloud of black smoke that snuck into the prefectural city whenever night fell. This great demon especially targeted young maidens, and the local government was completely powerless to stop it.

In the end, the prefectural overseer recruited the help of an elderly spiritual master, with the latter setting up an altar and performing a ritual to summon thunder and lightning. The night sky was initially clear, with the moon bright and the stars twinkling, yet there was suddenly booming thunder and a torrential downpour. With a loud crack, a bolt of lightning directly crashed into the lair of the great demon, which was located in a mountain full of miasma.

Afterward, a brave woodsman entered the mountain and navigated to the area of commotion, and he saw a large snake as thick as a well that had been brutally smashed to death by the ferocious bolt of lightning. However, it was a shame that none of the unfortunate young maidens could be saved, with skeletons littered around the mountain pass.

The audience gasped upon hearing this, with a cold chill running down their spines as their hairs stood on end.

The traveling scholar wearing a snow-white robe also gasped in astonishment like everyone else.

There was the clinking sound of money as a member of the audience stepped forward to tip the storyteller, after which a number of other listeners also walked forward to toss some copper coins in the large white bowl. The elderly storyteller stroked his beard and smiled as he glanced at the copper coins in his bowl. This was enough to buy two pots of wine.

Afterward, the elderly storyteller claimed that there were also demons and fiends causing trouble at Ritual Baton Prefecture, acting impudently as they wreaked havoc in the area. However, it was a shame that the prefectural overseer was a miserly person, having no networks and relationships and not willing to spend good money to recruit the help of a spiritual master or esteemed immortal to vanquish the demons either.

As a result, the pitiful residents of Ritual Baton Prefecture could only suffer the fate of being relentlessly disturbed by the demons. Thankfully, these demons didn't possess high cultivation bases even though they were wanton and unrestrained. They were far weaker than the snake demon that had been killed by lightning atop the mountain at Ornate Headpiece Prefecture, or else a truly great tragedy would have taken place at Ritual Baton Prefecture.