Chapter 133: How to Seek an Audience with the Princess

"It's fine."

Xueju patted her chest and tilted her little head, saying triumphantly, "Even without identification papers, I can still get you into the city."

Cheng Feng felt she was not quite reliable and asked with some doubt, "What method do you have?"

"Don't worry, just follow me!" Xueju said with full confidence. "I used to be a servant to the Princess and frequently entered and exited the city gates. The guards outside all know me, and they usually let me through. Just stick close to me!"

Cheng Feng had no other choice but to trust her for now, so he followed Xueju toward the city gate.

In front of the gate, the ghost samurai guards wore identical oni masks, clad in domaru-style armor, with gleaming black katanas hanging at their waists.

When the two appeared, a ghost samurai blocked their path, demanding to see their travel permits. Upon seeing that one of them was Xueju, he agreed to let her pass.

The ghost samurai's attention fell on the "vampire" beside Xueju. After looking him over, the guard asked, "Where are your papers?"

Cheng Feng did not speak, knowing that Xueju would handle it.

Xueju took Cheng Feng’s arm and gave a playful smile. "This vampire is my friend. We forgot to bring his papers when we left. Could you please let him in too?"

The ghost samurai hesitated. Under normal circumstances, he could not easily let a monster without a permit pass; letting Xueju through was already a breach of duty. However, thinking that Xueju was a servant to the Princess, he decided it would be worth doing her a favor. He stepped aside and said, "Fine, go on through."

Cheng Feng breathed a secret sigh of relief, surprised at how simple it was. Just as Xueju was pulling his arm to walk through the gate, another ghost samurai stepped up.

"Wait a moment. Are you really a vampire? Why do you look so different?"

Cheng Feng stopped in his tracks and looked at him. "Is there a problem?"

"Of course there is... I have never seen you before." The ghost samurai blocked their path, his voice sounding muffled from beneath the oni mask. "What is your name? State it, and I will investigate its authenticity."

This guard was one of the subordinates under Ghost Shura, having long since received orders from his superior to stand guard at the gate and deny entry to Xueju and her accomplices.

Cheng Feng knew the situation had turned sour; this ghost samurai was clearly looking for trouble, and stating his name would be useless. He maintained a calm exterior while thinking rapidly of a countermeasure.

Xueju, however, did not have such composure. Her face was visibly panicked, and she swallowed hard, glancing at Cheng Feng beside her.

Just as Cheng Feng was running out of options and preparing to pull the City Lord’s token from his pocket to resolve the situation, a deep, resonant voice sounded from the side.

"What is going on here?"

Another ghost samurai appeared, but the armor he wore was exceptionally fine—not the domaru-style armor of the lower-ranking soldiers—and the katana at his waist was longer. He did not look like an ordinary ghost samurai. He was a Ghost Commander, one of the leaders of the ghost samurai.

Seeing his subordinate blocking two figures at the gate and recognizing one of them as Xueju, the Ghost Commander’s face darkened behind his oni mask as he approached.

Cheng Feng asked in a low voice, "Xueju, who is he?"

"It’s the Ghost Commander," Xueju whispered. "He used to work under the Princess. He’s very familiar with me and is a monster who stands on the Princess's side."

The blocking ghost samurai looked toward the approaching commander. "Reporting, Commander. This vampire has never been seen before, and I believe he must be investigated."

The Ghost Commander ignored his explanation and waved his hand. "Let them pass."

"But..." the ghost samurai started to protest.

The Ghost Commander said impatiently, "I will take responsibility for any issues. Let them pass."

"Yes." The ghost samurai dared not ask more, bowed slightly, then cleared the path and returned to his post.

"Commander..." Xueju stepped forward, eager to say something, but the Ghost Commander stopped her. "Xueju, I know what you want to say. Come with me; this is not the place to talk."

The Ghost Commander knew that when Xueju had left the city a month ago, it was at the private request of the Princess. Although he did not know the nature of the mission, it had to be vital. Over the past month, the Princess had remained in the palace without once appearing, while Ghost Shura had seized control of the government, announcing that the Princess was severely ill and could not see anyone.

It made the Ghost Commander suspicious—how could the Princess, who had always been perfectly healthy, suddenly fall so ill that she could not be seen? Connecting this to the Royal Selection Tournament for the throne beginning in two days, he could easily guess that this was likely a scheme by Ghost Shura to seize the throne.

Thinking this way, he realized that Xueju returning to Red Moon City at this critical moment with a mysterious companion must be important and might even bring a turning point to the current situation.

The Ghost Commander looked at Cheng Feng. "A siren soldier reported the situation to me earlier. May I ask, why do you have the City Lord’s token?"

Seeing that the commander already knew about the token and was on their side, Cheng Feng replied simply, "I am a friend of a friend of your City Lord. It was given to me by him."

The friend of the late City Lord, Tamamo Yuki, was Black Yaksha, and Cheng Feng was a friend of Black Yaksha, so the logic held up.

The Ghost Commander was slightly surprised but did not ask further. He led the two into the city and arranged temporary accommodations for them.

Passing through the gate, Cheng Feng followed into Red Moon City. Along the way, he could not help but gaze curiously at the environment of the monster world. He realized that most of the buildings in the city were designed in an antique style.

Flying monsters darted through the sky, the streets were bustling with traffic and crowds, and there were many neatly planned shops along the road. Everywhere he looked, the pedestrians were all sorts of monsters—some aesthetically pleasing, others bizarre and grotesque, and there were even ghosts drifting about.

One hundred years ago, when Tamamo Yuki founded Red Moon City, she based the social style on the human system, so the monsters' way of life was very similar to that of humans. This monster society maintained basic order, but the public security was naturally not as good as in human society, and various forms of fraud and deceit were not uncommon. Monsters often got into conflicts, but they would not fight savagely on the spot; instead, they would go to arenas provided for monster duels.

The Ghost Commander arranged for the two to stay in a monster-style apartment. In the living room, Xueju asked impatiently, "Commander, how is the Princess now? During the time I was away, was there any new news?"

The Ghost Commander sighed. "No. It’s been almost a month and she hasn't appeared. I am also very worried about the Princess's safety."

Cheng Feng analyzed their conversation and roughly understood the situation. "Is there any way to enter the palace to see the Princess?"

"Yes," the Ghost Commander thought for a moment. "As long as I inform General Zhuque, there should be an opportunity to have an audience with the Princess."

"Brother Shen!"

"Hmm!"

Shen Changqing walked along the road, nodding or exchanging greetings with those he knew. But regardless of who they were, no one had any extra expression on their faces, as if they were indifferent to everything.

Shen Changqing had grown accustomed to this. Because this was the Demon Suppression Division, an organization tasked with maintaining the stability of the Great Qin, its primary duty was to slay demons, ghosts, and monsters, though it also had other side responsibilities.

It could be said that everyone in the Demon Suppression Division had blood on their hands. When one becomes accustomed to life and death, one becomes indifferent to many things. When he first arrived in this world, Shen Changqing was somewhat unaccustomed to it, but as time passed, he became used to it.

The Demon Suppression Division was vast. Those who could remain there were powerful experts or those with the potential to become one. Shen Changqing belonged to the latter.

There were two main professions in the Demon Suppression Division: Guardian and Demon Slayer. Anyone who entered the Division started as a low-level Demon Slayer and then climbed the ranks step by step, hoping to eventually become a Guardian.

The predecessor of Shen Changqing had been a trainee Demon Slayer, the lowest level among them. Possessing the memories of his predecessor, he was very familiar with the environment of the Demon Suppression Division.

Not long after, Shen Changqing stopped in front of a pavilion. Unlike other areas of the Demon Suppression Division that were filled with an aura of slaughter, this pavilion stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens, presenting a different kind of tranquility amidst the bloody atmosphere of the Division.

At this moment, the doors of the pavilion were wide open, with people occasionally entering and exiting. Shen Changqing hesitated for only a moment before stepping inside.

Upon entering the pavilion, the environment changed abruptly. A scent of ink mixed with a faint smell of blood rushed toward him, causing his brow to furrow instinctively, though it soon smoothed out. The bloody scent on everyone in the Demon Suppression Division was almost impossible to wash away.