Clearing Out the Trash

Su Qing was unaware that the person behind the Black Water Bodhisattva was already dead...

Even if she had known, she wouldn't have cared much. This was something she had anticipated, so there was no reason to be surprised.

The group sat in the carriage and left the temple to find a place to rest.

They didn't look for an inn. Instead, they drove the carriage out of town and found an open clearing to settle down for the night. As for sleeping, they simply made do inside the carriage.

Time ticked by, second by second.

The sky gradually darkened. They started a simple fire in the clearing and prepared dinner. After eating, everyone settled down to rest.

Although the space in the carriage wasn't massive, it was enough for everyone to sleep. Su Qing’s carriage was particularly large, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.

Su Qingyu didn't have a single complaint about sleeping in the carriage; she spent far more time sleeping in it than she did awake. As for the others, including that silly cat, they didn't say anything either.

Late into the night...

Ao Yiyi wasn't sleeping inside the carriage. Instead, she sat on the roof, gazing at the stars in the sky. She seemed lost in thought, perhaps still reflecting on the events from earlier.

Seeing her like that, Su Qing didn't disturb her. She prepared to head out alone to clear out the demons that had offended her today.

"Sister Su... do you want me to come with you?" Ao Yiyi suddenly asked just as Su Qing was about to leave.

Su Qing shook her head and said, "That won't be necessary. You're a practitioner of Buddhism; I can't have you just going around killing people, can I?"

Ao Yiyi shook her head. "I've been with you for so long, Sister Su. I'm not that rigid anymore."

Li Yichou watched from the side, blowing a stray hair away from her forehead. She didn't interject. Although she really wanted to go with Su Qing to see how she would crush her enemies, she knew Su Qing would likely find her a hindrance and refuse, so she didn't ask.

As for Ao Yiyi, Li Yichou wasn't sure what Su Qing would decide. After all, Ao Yiyi's strength was far greater than her own.

Su Qing smiled and asked, "Do you really want to come?"

"Could I be joking?"

"Why?"

"No particular reason..." Ao Yiyi looked at Su Qing with a determined gaze. "I just... want to go and see."

Seeing this, Su Qing sighed helplessly. "Fine, if you want to come, then come along!"

Ao Yiyi smiled at those words. "I knew you wouldn't refuse, Sister Su."

Su Qing pursed her lips and shook her head with a smile. "Let's go then!"

Ao Yiyi nodded and followed after Su Qing.

Watching them leave, Li Yichou smiled wryly. "Well, as expected! The Young Mistress really is as good to her as ever."

To be honest, she was a little envious. Between her and the Young Mistress, there was always a sense of formal hospitality. The Young Mistress was good to her, but never as close as she was with Ao Yiyi and the others. She was even closer to Jin Xin than to her, even though on the surface, Su Qing seemed to be constantly on guard against Jin Xin.

Li Yichou sighed helplessly and looked up at the moonlight.

After leaving the campsite, Su Qing sensed her magical tracking markers. She had previously used her spells to mark the positions of those minor demons, so she knew exactly where they were.

"They're still in town... that saves me a lot of trouble."

The corners of Su Qing's mouth curled slightly as she headed toward the location she sensed. As immortals, Su Qing and Ao Yiyi moved with incredible speed. In just a short moment, they arrived at the gathering place of the rat demons.

It was a large manor, but at the moment, it was exceptionally silent, as if no one was there. However, Su Qing knew the rats were all inside, gathered in one place.

Su Qing's smile widened. As a snake demon, she felt a strange, inherent excitement at the prospect of killing rats.

Ao Yiyi looked at Su Qing, about to ask how she planned to proceed, when she suddenly heard cries for help and screams coming from within the manor.

Both Su Qing and Ao Yiyi were startled.

Su Qing frowned. She instinctively wanted to catch their scent, but then she remembered she was using a clone, not her true body. The clone wasn't a snake demon.

Helplessly, Su Qing could only release her divine sense to investigate her surroundings.

Suddenly, she heard voices from within the manor.

"Hmph, you lot are useless! You can't even keep an eye on a few humans! You almost let tomorrow's human banquet escape. It's lucky I reacted quickly and caught him. If this fellow had escaped, not only would we be short a dish for tomorrow's human banquet, but we'd also be punished by the Great King. You lot are even more useless than those failures who got scared off by a mortal today!"

Hearing this, Su Qing's eyebrows shot up.

"A human banquet?"

Su Qing muttered to herself, "A feast of human flesh? I thought these demons didn't eat people in this town. It seems I overestimated them. It's not that they don't eat people, they're just more discreet and restrained about it?"

Ao Yiyi was also stunned by Su Qing's words. "Sister Su, you mean..."

"Yes. If I'm not mistaken, that scream just now was from a person who tried to escape and was caught," Su Qing nodded. She didn't withdraw her perception but instead locked onto the positions of the two minor demons. "But I'll have to see the specific situation for myself... Well, since I know where they are now, use an invisibility spell and follow me inside to take a look!"

Ao Yiyi remained silent for a moment before nodding.

She followed Su Qing into the rat demons' manor. Once inside, Su Qing caught a thick, pungent smell of rats. The sensation was... well, quite nauseating.

Su Qing exhaled a breath of turbid air and applied a breath-holding spell to herself before continuing with Ao Yiyi. The two rat demons who had caught the person were taking them back to the holding area, so Su Qing simply followed them to find where the mortals were being kept.

Su Qing followed the two minor demons into a dungeon. They threw the captured mortal into a cell with a rough shove. As they were heading back, one of the minor demons said, "Why do I feel like something terrifying is staring at my back? Hiss... it's awfully cold."

"It's just your imagination..." the other minor demon replied. "It's definitely because you haven't eaten human meat in too long, so you're hallucinating from hunger."

"Probably... but since we messed up, will we still get a share of tomorrow's human banquet?"

"Don't worry, there'll definitely be a share for us." The demon patted the other's shoulder. "Alright, let's go! We'll stand guard at the entrance. I don't believe this guy can escape a second time!"

"Right!"

As they spoke, the heads of the two rat demons fell off...

The one who had struck was not Su Qing, but Ao Yiyi.

Su Qing glanced at Ao Yiyi. "Your method of deliverance is quite direct..."

"I learned it from you, Sister Su..." Ao Yiyi shook her head and then recited a short scripture for the dead. "In your next life, do not be reincarnated as an evildoer."

Su Qing blinked, unsure exactly what Ao Yiyi meant—was she telling them not to be reincarnated at all, or just not to be evil? She decided it wasn't worth asking and simply said, "It's rare to see you strike before me."

"I... have to grow up eventually, don't I?" Ao Yiyi said. "Besides, even if I hadn't acted, wouldn't you have killed them anyway, Sister Su?"

"That's true..."

"So regardless of who did it, the result is the same. It's just a different person taking action."

"I've been lectured, it seems." Su Qing laughed and squeezed Ao Yiyi's hand. "But let me handle the rest... If you're not used to killing, don't force it!"

After a moment of silence, Ao Yiyi let go of her sword and nodded.

Su Qing smiled and then slashed open the cell door with her sword. "Alright, let's save them! After we get them out, we'll ask about the situation."

Ao Yiyi didn't say anything, answering Su Qing with her actions. There were six people locked in the dungeon—men, women, young, and old. Judging by their clothes, they were all poor people from the fringes of society. It was clear that while these demons ate people, they chose those who wouldn't be easily missed or those for whom reporting to the authorities would be useless. Consequently, few people knew that people were disappearing from the town. Even if someone noticed a person was missing, they wouldn't care much, as they were 'unimportant' people.

Su Qing shook her head helplessly. "It seems I really have to clear them all out! These demons aren't like the half-demons I've trained... these are man-eaters!"

Soon, Ao Yiyi had released everyone and fed them water mixed with recovery pills.

"Thank... thank you, Miss... thank you for saving us." The woman who had been caught earlier looked at Su Qing and spoke weakly. "Benefactor, please leave quickly! This place is full of demons. Miss... you are no match for them."

Su Qing looked at the woman and said, "Don't worry, I will kill them all! We are divine emissaries of the Azure Spirit Sovereign; those demons are no match for us."

The woman looked at Su Qing and suddenly remembered how the two of them had appeared here out of thin air... For a moment, she believed Su Qing's words. She only asked, "But... why would the Azure Spirit Sovereign save us?"

"Well, because she saw your bravery... so she felt you were someone who could help her spread her faith. That's why she sent us to save you," Su Qing lied smoothly after a moment's thought.

Hearing this, the woman fell silent for a moment. Then she lowered her head, her thoughts unknown. Ao Yiyi glanced helplessly at Su Qing, marveling at how her Sister Su never missed an opportunity to proselytize... but she didn't bother to criticize her. After all, her purpose for coming out was to help spread the faith.

To Su Qing, this was her real business.

Seeing the woman stop talking, Su Qing didn't bother to say anything more. She simply stretched and said, "Alright, I'm going to clear out the trash here... Ao Yiyi, I'll leave the rest to you."

As Su Qing spoke, she winked at Ao Yiyi, her meaning clear: Su Qing would handle the killing, while Ao Yiyi would handle the preaching... and the healing.

Ao Yiyi understood Su Qing's meaning. With a slight sigh, she nodded. "Then be careful, Sister Su."

Su Qing pursed her lips and nodded with a smile, then walked out of the dungeon.

Although Su Qing wanted to tell Ao Yiyi that she had nothing to be careful of, it was a kind gesture, so it was better to just accept it. Once she left the dungeon, Su Qing began her one-sided slaughter. For an Earthly Immortal to kill a group of low-level demons was beyond 'bullying'; it was like crushing ants. The only reason it took any time was that Su Qing didn't want to make too much noise. Otherwise, a single spell could have leveled the entire manor.

There were no particularly powerful demons in the manor; most were just minor demons who hadn't even reached the Divine Immortal realm. Thus, in very little time, Su Qing had sent all of them to reincarnation. The only slight surprise was the leader of the manor, who was actually a Divine Immortal realm great demon. Dealing with him cost Su Qing a little bit of effort—mainly because she wanted to leave him alive to ask some questions. However, because the fellow resisted so fiercely, Su Qing ended up sending him for deliverance anyway.

As for how to get the information she wanted, that left only one method: Soul-Searching. This spell was extremely malicious and harmful to the natural order, so Su Qing rarely used it. However, she wasn't someone who couldn't adapt; when it was necessary, she didn't care about the natural order. As long as she got the information she needed, that was enough.

Through Soul-Searching, Su Qing quickly obtained some of the information she wanted. But the information she received... left her more than a little shocked. Su Qing released the worthless soul, letting it go to reincarnation on its own.

Once the surrounding spirits had departed, Su Qing rubbed her chin and thought with a slight headache, "I thought this country was a bit rotten, but I didn't expect it to be rotten to the core. Even the Prime Minister at the Emperor's side is a demon."

Su Qing was somewhat speechless. She had assumed the person behind these rats was that Black Water Bodhisattva, but she hadn't expected it to be the current Prime Minister—an Earthly Immortal realm great demon.

It truly was rotten through and through, rotten to the core.