In the courtyard, seven or eight Men were crowded around a stone table, shouting and drinking, gambling with intense fervor.
A Fat Monk wearing an incongruous monk's robe was clutching a wine gourd, laughing until his Face was flushed red, with a small pile of copper coins stacked in front of him.
Opposite him, a Man with a Face full of flab and fierce eyes was slapping the table and cursing.
At the other end of the courtyard, a Young Man dressed in brocade robes and holding a long sword was looking at the group of gamblers with a disgusted expression, wiping his sword to himself as if associating with this group would dirty his eyes.
The appearance of Jiang Yuechu did not attract much attention.
Only one Man sitting in the corner, silently sharpening a short blade, raised his eyelids, glanced at her, and then lowered his head again.
Jiang Yuechu's gaze swept across the courtyard.Without needing an introduction, she could roughly match those troublemakers with Liu Chen's description.
She did not speak immediately, just stood at the doorway, clutching her blade.
Finally, the Young Man in brocade robes wiping his sword seemed to notice something and looked over, frowning.
When he saw that the person standing at the doorway was actually a slender young girl, his eyes were full of confusion.
"This woman is certainly pretty, but why come here?" At the gambling table, the Man with the flabby Face who had lost money was full of rage.
Seeing Jiang Yuechu staring at them, he immediately vented his anger on her.
"Where did this little wench come from? Get lost, don't be an eyesore to your grandfather here!"As his voice fell, the courtyard instantly quieted down.
Everyone's gaze fell squarely on Jiang Yuechu.
"Amitabha..." The Fat Monk took a gulp of wine and burped, "This female benefactor, have you perhaps come to the wrong place? This is a restricted area of the Demon Suppression Division, not a place for a delicate female Bodhisattva like you."
Hearing this, Jiang Yuechu merely sneered, ignoring the Man's cursing. She said to herself, "Liu Ke, Chen Tong, No Abstinence, are you all here?"
The copper coins were still scattered on the gambling table, and the smile on the Fat Monk's Face froze. The Man with the flabby Face was also stunned, then glared at her viciously, "Who the hell are you? How do you know our names?"
In the corner, the Young Man in brocade robes who had been wiping his sword also stopped his movements.
No Abstinence put down the wine gourd and said with a chuckle, "Female benefactor, what business do you have with the three of us brothers? Could it be... that you've come to beg for alms at our Demon Suppression Division?"
Upon hearing this, the crowd burst into laughter again. But this time, the laughter was noticeably weaker, carrying a hint of probing.
Just at this moment, a Man in the crowd suddenly let out an "Ah," as if he had remembered something, and slapped his thigh.
"Wait... I remember! Isn't she that girl who pinned Old Zhao to the pillar and beat him up in the courtyard a few days ago?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the courtyard fell silent once more.
"Which Old Zhao?"
"The one under Liu Chen. I heard he was a Hearing the String mid-stage expert, but he didn't even last one move in that girl's hands!"
"Hiss..." A sound of gasping for air.
Many people present hadn't seen the scene that day, but they knew the weight of a Hearing the String mid-stage expert.
Another knowledgeable Man lowered his voice and added, "That's not all! I heard that she was personally selected by Great General Wei, and Lord Xu said it himself at the time!"
Great General Wei! Lord Xu! Once these two names were mentioned, the weight of the situation was completely different.
The gazes that were originally a bit flippant and disdainful instantly changed, filled with more suspicion and surprise.
There was actually such a woman in the Demon Suppression Division? But... even if the other party was also from the Demon Suppression Division, and a tough character with some background and means, so what?
A woman running to the territory of these rough Men, calling them out by name—what exactly was she trying to do?
Liu Ke slowly stood up, returned the wiped-clean long sword to its scabbard, and looked at Jiang Yuechu with an arrogant expression.
"So what if you are a colleague from the Demon Suppression Division?"
"Young lady, barging into our barracks without reason and calling us by our names, isn't that disregarding the rules a bit too much?"
Originally, visiting each other like this wasn't a big deal. After all, brothers not in the same squad often kept in touch privately. But who were the people present? Jianghu people!
What do Jianghu people value most?
Face.
A woman of unknown origin barging into their territory and pointing them out by name—if this wasn't a provocation, what was?
Before Jiang Yuechu could react, the Man with the flabby Face had already picked up the waist saber he had thrown on the ground.
~Clang~
the blade flashed.
He strode to Jiang Yuechu's front in a few steps, the gleaming blade edge almost touching the tip of her nose.
"Who the hell do you think you are, daring to boss us around? Do you believe that I'll crack your skull open today?!"
The complexions of everyone in the courtyard changed. They knew that Chen Tong had a violent temper and would start a fight at the slightest disagreement. But no one expected that he would dare to draw a blade on a colleague in the barracks of the Demon Suppression Division.
A few who wanted to intervene looked at the blade, then at Chen Tong's Face, which was full of Killing Intent. In the end, they didn't dare, nor did they have the strength to intervene.
And those who had the strength to intervene... the Fat Monk just brought the gourd to his lips and took another gulp, his eyes filled with the amusement of watching a spectacle.
And the Young Master in brocade robes stood with his sword, watching coldly with a sneer on his lips.
Amidst the gazes of the crowd, whether shocked, fearful, or amused, Jiang Yuechu acted as if she didn't see the blade pointed at her. She turned a blind eye to it, just lowered her eyelids, and looked at a speck of dust on the tip of her boots.
Then, her thin red lips parted slightly, and she said in a flat voice, "Put the blade down."
Chen Tong was stunned, then flew into a rage, "You motherf..." Before he could finish, he flipped his wrist, and the waist saber whistled through the air, slapping toward Jiang Yuechu's Face!
However, at that very instant, Jiang Yuechu raised an eyebrow and gripped the waist saber she was holding.
The next second, she lightly smashed it, along with the scabbard, onto the other party's shoulder.
~Bang!~
A dull thud.
Chen Tong's eyes were full of disbelief. He was unable to control his body, his knees smashed hard into the ground, cracking the bluestone slabs!
~Clang.~
The long saber slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
He lay on the ground, and even using all his strength, with the veins on his neck bulging, he still couldn't get up. And the cause of all this was merely that waist saber, still in its scabbard, resting lightly on his shoulder!
"..." The smile on the Fat Monk's Face froze, and the hand holding the wine gourd stopped in mid-air.
In the corner, the sneer on the Young Man in brocade robes turned into deep shock.
They all knew Chen Tong's strength. But now... he had actually been forced to his knees by a seemingly frail girl using just a scabbard, with no power to fight back!
Chen Tong stared fixedly at the pair of clean black boots in front of him, his bloodshot eyes struggling to look up diagonally.
He saw that the girl still had that calm, unruffled expression. She lowered her eyelids and said in a flat voice.
"I forgot to introduce myself..."
"I am Jiang Yuechu, and from now on, I am your Squad Leader."