So it turns out I'm the demon!

Chapter 13 Two Silly Guys

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

The blade flashed like snow, stirring up bursts of cold light.

In the open space, Jiang Mu held the newly acquired horizontal sword, his figure moving nimbly as he practiced the "Eight Forms of Breaking the Heavens".

"No, the flow of this energy is still somewhat sluggish."

Jiang Mu stopped what she was doing, her brows furrowing slightly as she looked at the knife in her hand.

"Although this sword technique is called 'Breaking the Sky,' it emphasizes fierce and direct attacks, but when it is actually used, it requires extremely high control over the technique of exerting force and timing."

This booklet says that for those of average talent, it takes three to five months just to get started. To reach mastery, one would need at least ten years to even begin to grasp the basics.

Someone with mediocre talent like me might not even achieve perfection even if I practiced until I died. Alas, it seems I was never meant to cultivate.

Fortunately…

He smirked, "I have a cheat code, hehe!"

A thought crossed my mind.

The phantom image of the character "demon" quietly emerged in his sea of ​​consciousness.

At the same time, a somewhat illusory demonic figure appeared behind him, overlapping with his form.

Jiang Mu took a deep breath, rose again, and swung his sword.

The demonic figure behind him also danced, wielding a phantom longsword formed from black energy.

As the swordplay gradually unfolded, Jiang Mu clearly felt that his understanding of the movement trajectory and the key points of power generation was rapidly deepening, and the previously stagnant points suddenly became clear.

"As expected, relying on your father is still the most reliable."

Jiang Mu's spirits lifted, and he wielded the knife with even greater force.

……

Three days later, the independent office arranged by the department for Jiang Mu was finally completed.

Not far from Jiang's residence.

It is a standard two-courtyard house.

The front yard is spacious and flat, paved with bluestone slabs, making it suitable for drill practice.

The backyard contains several office rooms and storerooms. While not luxurious, they are kept clean and tidy, and quite elegant.

I heard that this used to be an abandoned branch of the patrol and inspection department.

As for the patrol area...

Ran Qingshan generously allocated both streets centered around this government office to the Eighth Hall.

Jiang Mu originally suggested that they simply set up their office at home to save themselves the trouble of traveling back and forth.

But Ran Qingshan firmly refused.

The reasons are quite valid:

Public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters. If the higher-ups find out that the Demon Slayer Division has set up a branch in a private residence, will he still be able to keep his job as the division chief?

That evening, to celebrate Jiang Mu's "opening of the government office," Ran Qingshan specially arranged a table at the best restaurant in the city.

Although most of the hall masters still harbored resentment towards Jiang Mu, who was a relative, and secretly looked down on him, they still couldn't refuse to give face to the head of the department, so everyone still attended.

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

As the main character, Jiang Mu naturally has to make a statement.

"Fellow colleagues, I am new here and have little experience. I am unfamiliar with many of the rules. If I do anything wrong in the future, please forgive me and give me your guidance."

Jiang Mu raised his glass in a toast to everyone present and said,

"I'll drink this one first as a sign of respect. If you're free in the future, feel free to come find me. I may not have much else, but I'll make sure you get plenty of good wine."

Having said that, he tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

The saying goes, "You can't hit a smiling face..." Regardless of what people really thought, they still responded politely on the surface, saying some meaningless platitudes.

However, just as the atmosphere was getting along well, Wen He, the third hall master, suddenly chuckled:

"Master Jiang, you're being too polite. You're a favorite of the General Headquarters, personally approved by them. From now on, we should be the ones currying favor with you and treating you to drinks often."

"If someone is ignorant and doesn't show proper etiquette, we can't afford to be treated unfairly."

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

The expressions on everyone's faces became somewhat meaningful; some lowered their heads to eat, while others looked on with amusement.

Many people in the Demon Slayer Division have opinions about Jiang Mu, but Wen He is the only one who is so openly prickly.

The reason is simple.

After the Jiang family tragedy, the Demon Slayer Division sent people to hunt down the murderer, Jiang Yuexin, who had transformed into a demon.

Wenhe was one of the team leaders, and he was the first to catch up.

As a result, he not only failed to kill Jiang Yuexin, but was also humiliated by her.

According to rumors passed back by his subordinates at the time, when they found Wenhe, he was being swung upside down from a tree on a swing. To make matters worse, he was covered in animal dung.

This was an utter disgrace for Wenhe, who usually paid great attention to his image.

From then on, Wenhe hated Jiang Yuexin intensely.

She also couldn't stand the "murderer's brother," Jiang Mu.

Jiang Mu was unaware of the inside story, and even if she had, she might not have cared.

He ignored the sarcastic remarks and continued chatting with the others.

Wenhe felt embarrassed when he saw that he was being ignored.

Just as he was about to speak again, he met a cold glance from the host, Ran Qingshan.

Wenhe's heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He snorted coldly and tilted his head back to gulp down a glass of wine.

……

After the banquet ended and everyone was quiet, Ran Qingshan left Wenhe alone.

"Now that Jiang Chen's independent office has been officially established, we can't just let him be a commander without any real power."

Ran Qingshan cut to the chase, "Your Third Division has plenty of manpower. Send two people to him tomorrow. It would be good for them to run errands and do some routine patrols."

Upon hearing this, the chubby, fair-skinned Wenhe immediately retorted with displeasure, "Why must I be the one to provide the manpower?"

Ran Qingshan said calmly:

"No one would be happy to do this, so I chose you by drawing lots."

Of course, I won't let you suffer any losses. Once the resource allocation for the Eighth Hall is released, I will allocate some more to you as compensation.

Furthermore, this is also an opportunity to ease the tension between you and Jiang Mu. Why be confrontational? Besides, if Jiang Yuexin had truly wanted to kill you that day, you might not have made it back.”

Even now, Ran Qingshan still feels a little puzzled when the matter is brought up.

Since Jiang Yuexin had already murdered her parents and turned into a demon, her ferocity should have been at its peak. However, she only toyed with the demon slayers who were chasing her and never killed them, which was quite strange.

"Alright."

Although Wenhe was still annoyed, his expression improved somewhat when he heard about the resource compensation.

He snorted coldly:

"Giving him away is fine, but sir, don't expect me to become sworn brothers with that kid. He's not worthy."

"Whatever you say."

Ran Qingshan waved his hand, "But there's only one condition: if there are any collaborative missions in the future, you must not let personal matters interfere with official duties."

He's not a nanny; he has to take care of everyone's emotions.

As long as things appear to be going well on the surface, he doesn't care what's going on behind the scenes.

Moreover, to put it more deeply, he was actually pleased to see some subtle checks and balances and competition among the hall masters.

They would even occasionally try to sow discord between them.

After all, as the head of the department, he doesn't want his subordinates to be a monolithic group. If all the hall masters are in cahoots, then his position as head of the department will soon be usurped.

Moderate internal strife can actually be a way to manage subordinates.

After Ran Qingshan left, Wen He stroked his thick chin and muttered to himself:

"We need to select two people...who should we send over?"

Since the leader has spoken, anything too incompetent is unacceptable; that would be a slap in the face to the leader.

But he was reluctant to send his elite troops there, and he didn't want to give it to Jiang Mu.

After a moment's thought, Wenhe's eyes flashed, and he had an idea.

-

The next morning, two new faces arrived at the deserted eighth hall of the government office.

They are brothers who look about five or six points alike.

The older brother's name was Zhang Daxiao. He was about thirty years old, with a burly build and a calm face.

The younger brother is named Zhang Xiaokui. He is slightly thinner than his older brother, but his brows reveal a sharp and arrogant air.

"I never imagined that my brother and I would end up like this."

Looking at the empty courtyard, Zhang Daxiao gave a bitter laugh, his tone full of self-mockery.

"Oh shit!"

Zhang Xiao Kui, the younger brother, kicked a pebble away, clenched his fist, and said angrily:

"That bastard Wenhe did it on purpose! Isn't it because we brothers didn't know the proper etiquette and didn't give him any money as a bribe? Isn't it because he ruined his plans last time? That's why he kicked us into this godforsaken place!"

Zhang Xiaokui grew angrier as he spoke, his anger flaring up.

Although he is young, he has already reached the second realm of cultivation, and is only one step away from the third realm.

His elder brother, Zhang Daxiao, is even the "Bronze Sculpture Demon Slayer" of the third realm.

But now, he has been assigned to work under a spoiled young master who only has a cultivation level of one realm.

How could he possibly tolerate this?

Born into poverty, he struggled to get to where he is today through diligent cultivation, and he despises young masters like Jiang Mu who rely on their family background.

"I quit!"

Zhang Xiaokui turned to leave.

"If they won't keep us here, there are plenty of other places that will! At worst, we'll go and join a martial arts sect. With our skills, we can make a living anywhere. Why put up with this humiliation!"

"stop!"

Zhang Daxiao grabbed his younger brother and scolded him sternly, "What nonsense are you talking about! You get so discouraged by the slightest setback. When will you ever change your temperament?"

Martial arts sects? Are they easy to get along with?

"As demon slayers, we are paid by the emperor, protected by the court, and supplied with cultivation resources. Once you become a commoner in the martial world, your life is over; you'll never amount to anything!"

Zhang Xiaokui retorted angrily, "That's still better than being a dog under a spoiled brat!"

"How do you know he's just a spoiled brat? I heard he killed a demon the other day."

"What's so special about slaying a demon?"

Zhang Xiaokui spat dismissively, "We've killed at least eighty or a hundred demons in the past few years."

"you--"

Just as Zhang Daxiao was about to reprimand him a few more times, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure walking towards the courtyard gate out of the corner of his eye.

It was Jiang Mu, dressed in the robes of a hall master.

Zhang Daxiao quickly tugged at his younger brother's sleeve, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully.

"This humble servant is Zhang Daxiao, and this is my younger brother Zhang Xiaokui. We have been ordered to report to the Eighth Hall and await Lord Jiang's orders."

Although Zhang Xiao Kui was unwilling, under his brother's stern gaze, he could only suppress his anger, stiffly cup his hands, and mutter:

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

"You two need not stand on ceremony."

Jiang Mu's gaze swept over the two brothers, a smile on his face.

"Thank you both. I may not be here often, so please take care of the daily operations at the office. If there is any urgent business, you can come to my house nearby, as I'm sure you know."

Is this what it means to be a hands-off manager?

Zhang Daxiao was taken aback for a moment, then clasped his hands and said, "Yes, sir. This subordinate understands."

Jiang Mu glanced at Zhang Xiao Kui, who remained silent with a sullen face, but said nothing. She nodded and left the courtyard.

Watching Jiang Mu's dashing departure, Zhang Xiaokui finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"See that, bro? This is our new leader!"

He pointed to the door, trembling with anger, "They can't even be bothered to save face. They just show their faces and run back to enjoy their lives."

Can't you see how the higher-ups treat him? He's just a figurehead!

If we stay here, we can forget about taking on any decent missions again. Without missions, there are no achievements, no resources. How will we cultivate? How will we break through?

Zhang Xiao Kui turned around, staring at his brother with red eyes:

"Brother, think it over carefully. Either we leave now and find another way out, or... we just stay in this quagmire and rot away with that spoiled brat!"

After saying that, he stomped his foot heavily, turned around angrily, and walked away.

Zhang Daxiao stood alone in the empty courtyard, watching his younger brother's angry back, then turning back to look in the direction Jiang Mu had left, his expression conflicted.

Is there really no hope left if we stay here?