Scripture of Days Past

Inside the study of the thousand-man commander sat a tall and imposing middle-aged man with five scars on his face.

”Is he still waiting?” the man asked with a smile.

”He’s gone now, but he waited an entire day,” the steward replied. ”He didn’t eat or drink. All he did was read the entire day. However, when I told him that you wouldn’t be able to see him today and that he would have to come back tomorrow, he immediately left. Before leaving, he said...”

”What did he say?” Thousand Man Commander Song asked.

”He said that he won’t be coming to see you again, but that you’ll be the one to go and see him,” the steward replied.

Thousand-Man Commander Song faltered slightly upon hearing this, then erupted into laughter.

”A single day is all he was willing to wait? That’s not much of a show of sincerity, is it? Those bastards from the Assassin Fiend Faction are as rude and pompous as ever.”

As he spoke, he read through Chu Qiguang’s file, learning about his fourth-state cultivation base, his mastery of the Primordial High Zenith Qigong, and his results in the monthly examinations on Jade Face Mountain.

”What are those old geezers from the Fiend Assassin Faction thinking, sending a fourth-state brat here?” Thousand-Man Commander Song wondered aloud.

He turned to his deputy, Han Jueyong.

Han Jueyong was a very refined-looking, clean-shaven man, the polar opposite of Thousand-Man Commander Song in terms of physical appearance. He looked much more like a scholar than a deputy thousand-man commander of the Demon Vanquishing Department.

”Maybe the people from the Fiend Assassin Faction heard something, and they’ve sent him here as a pawn to do some probing,” Han Jueyong speculated.

”If he wants to see me, then he’ll have to survive first,” Thousand-Man Commander Song chuckled coldly.

***

Chu Qiguang returned to the relay station outside the city and saw Lei Yushu sitting at the entrance.

Qiao Zhi was laying on his head and meowing at him.

As soon as he caught sight of Chu Qiguang, Lei Yushu’s entire body stiffened in fear, but only for a moment. He immediately jogged over to Chu Qiguang with a fawning expression and said, ”You must be tired, Brother Chu. I’ll fetch you some wine and hot water.”

”Did you try to run away again?” Chu Qiguang asked with a faint smile.

Lei Yushu immediately stopped cold in his tracks, while Qiao Zhi said, He tried to run away again while you were gone, but I caught him. By the way, there’s something I have to tell you about him...

After hearing what Qiao Zhi had to say, Chu Qiguang beckoned to Lei Yushu and said, ”Come, let’s have a good chat tonight.”

Lei Yushu knew that escape was impossible, so he could only follow uneasily behind Chu Qiguang.

What is he going to do with me? Does he know that I’m actually not Lei Yushu at all? The station official and his son have already been eaten by those fiends!

”Lei Yushu” immediately began sweating profusely at the thought.

He didn’t know who his parents were, nor did he have a name.

For as long as he could remember, he had been an underling to more powerful fiends. Due to his status as a half-fiend, he was seen as expendable and often sent out on scouting missions.

He had never felt truly accepted by anyone. He was ostracized by the fiends and unable to integrate into human society.

Before the attack on the relay station, he had run into the real Lei Yushu. At the time, he was posing as a human boy who had gotten lost, and his mission was to infiltrate the relay station and poison everyone before the fiends attacked.

However, he was taken in by Lei Yushu and his father, who bathed and comforted him. Moved by their kindness, he was ready to tell them everything.

I hate fiends more than anything else in this world! They don’t create anything. All they do is eat, kill, and destroy. I want to be a human.

Unfortunately, before he had a chance to come clean, the snake fiend barged into the relay station with the monkey fiend and the pig fiend.

They had grown tired of waiting for him to poison everyone, so they decided to simply take over the relay station by force.

After that, everyone in the relay station was eaten, including Lei Yushu and his father.

It was the same abhorrent scenes that ”Lei Yushu” had witnessed far too many times. The fiends laid waste to everything in their path, and ”Lei Yushu” only came to resent them more and more.

After taking over the relay station, the fiends ordered him to pose as Station Official Lei Yi by wearing a hood and putting on a deeper voice, or to reveal his true appearance and pose as Lei Yushu. That way, he would be able to lure passing humans into the relay station.

Over time, he came to accept Lei Yushu as his real name, and the rare occasions when he communicated with other humans as Lei Yushu were the only moments that brought him joy, as he truly felt like a human.

As Chu Qiguang led him into the nearby forest, the surrounding light grew dimmer and dimmer, and he suddenly thought to himself, If only I really was Lei Yushu. I really want to live out his dream for him and go north to join the military.

Right at that moment, Chu Qiguang grinned and asked, ”You real name isn’t Lei Yushu, right?”

”Lei Yushu’s” heart skipped a beat at the question, but he maintained a facade of composure and said, ”I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

”Let me ask you this then. What was your father’s former official position?”

”Lei Yushu” was speechless.

”What was your mother’s name?”

”Lei Yushu” remained silent.

”Also, Lei Yushu was a human boy, while you’re a female fiend, isn’t that right?”

”Lei Yushu’s” composed facade was finally torn apart upon hearing this, and she looked up at Chu Qiguang with a stunned expression and asked, ”How do you know that?”

Chu Qiguang merely smiled and offered no response.

”Is she really going to be one of the Han Resurgence Generals?” Qiao Zhi asked with a skeptical expression. ”Maybe something changed in this chapter of history as well?”

”We’ll find out soon enough,” Chu Qiguang replied. ”If she really is one of the Eight Han Resurgence Generals, then her aptitude will shine through eventually.”

All the while, ”Lei Yushu” looked on with a puzzled expression, clearly perplexed by the contents of Chu Qiguang and Qiao Zhi’s conversation.