Azure Cloud County Magistrate Ye Qingshan! Blackbird Guard!

"Ah!"

The Second Head lay on the ground, feeling the searing pain on his face. Bloody tears mingled together and slowly ran down his cheeks onto the ground.

Feeling power far beyond the Flesh Refining Realm, how could the Second Head not understand that his opponent had been deceiving him all along?

"Junior Brother, seize him! He has seen through our identities!"

"We'll take him hostage..."

Just as the Second Head was about to utter his final sentence, he suddenly fell silent.

Because he saw his junior brother being pinned to the ground beneath the other man's foot.

The Third Head's skull had been forcibly driven into the hard earth, with a great deal of bright red blood still splattered nearby.

The Second Head's body trembled instinctively. Staring fearfully at the figure before him, he stammered incoherently.

"You, you, you..."

"Are you human or a ghost?"

His junior brother was a martial artist at the peak of the Bone Refining Realm, yet he had died just like that—trampled to death beneath a single foot.

Seeing the other man walk toward him, the Second Head hurriedly begged for mercy.

"Don't kill me! If you kill me, my master will never let you go! My master is the Black Wind Stronghold Chief, a Blood Refinement Realm expert."

"My master is in the Lofty Mountain Range..."

Afraid that Lu Xuan would not believe him, the Second Head even revealed his master's exact location in an attempt to threaten Lu Xuan.

The next moment, the Second Head's head exploded, red and white matter scattering all over the ground.

Lu Xuan silently memorized the location of their master. His eyes gazed indifferently toward the distant horizon, no one knowing what he was thinking.

Liang Cheng, standing to one side, was dumbfounded and unable to calm down for a long while.

County Office!

Behind the County Office lay a secluded, elegant enclosed courtyard guarded with great vigilance.

It was the place where the County Magistrate Sir, the parental official of Azure Cloud County, conducted his affairs.

At that moment, a hurried figure appeared outside the courtyard gates. After the yamen runners stationed there confirmed his identity, they let him through at once.

Because the visitor was Chen Shi, the County Office's Chief Constable!

After striding into the courtyard, Chen Shi appeared extremely familiar with the place.

He walked directly into an ordinary-looking room. The room was steeped in the fragrance of books, its furnishings ancient and elegant.

However, Chen Shi paid no attention to any of that. His weathered face was grave as he raised his head to look ahead.

A broad wooden desk stood there, carved with all manner of exquisite patterns.

Various books were neatly arranged atop the desk, and seated before it was a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man exuded a refined and scholarly air, appearing very easygoing.

Yet he was the most powerful man in all of Azure Cloud County.

The Azure Cloud County Magistrate—Ye Qingshan!

Chen Shi cupped his fists and bowed respectfully to Ye Qingshan.

"My lord, this subordinate has received word that the County Magistrate emerged from seclusion yesterday."

Ye Qingshan set down the book he had been reading. Without the slightest ripple on his face, he spoke in a gentle tone, "Old Chen, go on."

"However, this County Magistrate has made no move. Instead, he has remained at home all this time, seemingly unconcerned by Huang Xuanjie's death."

After Chen Shi finished, a faint ripple appeared on Ye Qingshan's face. He seemed somewhat surprised by Chen Shi's words.

"Forget it. There is no need to concern ourselves with him."

Ye Qingshan changed the subject and said to Chen Shi, "Old Chen, I summoned you here today because of the matter you mentioned last time."

"People from the Prefecture have arrived. If nothing unexpected happens, they will reach Azure Cloud County today. Old Chen, go greet them at the city gates on my behalf."

The matter Ye Qingshan spoke of was the bandit-suppression campaign in the Lofty Mountain Range, when he had sent Chen Shi with the County Town's soldiers to eradicate the bandits.

Unexpectedly, an unforeseen martial arts expert had appeared among those bandits and driven Chen Shi back.

The other man's appearance and formidable strength had not only shocked Chen Shi, but also allowed him to discern his identity.

The Black Wind Stronghold Chief—Fang Sheng!

Having served as a yamen runner for most of his life, Chen Shi had recognized the man at a glance. He was Fang Sheng, chief of the Black Wind Stronghold, who had been wanted with a bounty by the Prefecture for many years.

Back then, the Black Wind Stronghold had been renowned far and wide. Its chief, Fang Sheng, was a Blood Refinement Realm martial artist of formidable strength, a figure who inspired dread from afar.

Upon learning the man's identity, Chen Shi had been filled with fear and immediately withdrawn with the County Town's soldiers.

Even if the man was injured, he was still not an enemy Chen Shi could handle.

Upon hearing this, Chen Shi was overjoyed and hurriedly asked, "My lord, who are the people coming from the Prefecture?"

Anyone whom the Prefecture would send to deal with Fang Sheng, the Black Wind Stronghold Chief, could not possibly be an ordinary person.

"No, Old Chen, you are mistaken. These people were not sent by the Prefect Lord. Rather, the Prefect Lord passed this matter on to the Great Xia Blackbird Guard."

Upon hearing the name Ye Qingshan mentioned, Chen Shi could not help crying out in shock, his eyes filled with astonishment. "The Blackbird Guard!"

The Great Xia Blackbird Guard was an organization directly under His Majesty. They held lofty authority, could execute first and report afterward, and wielded the power of life and death!

Chen Shi had heard something of the Blackbird Guard's formidable reputation.

It was said that every Blackbird Guard was a martial arts prodigy selected from across the land and cultivated with every effort, before serving His Majesty by sweeping away all forces that endangered the foundations of the imperial dynasty.

"That is right. The people arriving this time are the Great Xia Blackbird Guard!"

"That Black Wind Stronghold Chief had been pursued by the Blackbird Guard for many years."

"However, the Black Wind Stronghold Chief later used some unknown method to escape from the Blackbird Guard's hands, and his whereabouts remained unknown ever since."

"Now it seems that the Black Wind Stronghold Chief had been hiding deep within the mountains and old forests all along. No wonder he was able to survive the Blackbird Guard's pursuit until now."

After learning the visitors' identities from Ye Qingshan, Chen Shi intended to head to the city gates and wait. "My lord, since the Blackbird Guard has arrived, this subordinate shall go wait for them at the city gates."

"Mm."

Just as Ye Qingshan nodded to signal Chen Shi's departure, a graceful figure suddenly appeared outside the door and walked in.

The newcomer was a young and beautiful woman. She wore a plain white long dress dotted with many small floral patterns, and her long hair cascaded like a waterfall.

After entering, the woman immediately said, "Father, Uncle Chen, I want to go too!"

"As it happens, Yanran is leading the Blackbird Guard coming to Azure Cloud County this time."

The newcomer was Ye Qingxuan, daughter of Ye Qingshan, the Azure Cloud County Magistrate.

If Lu Xuan had been here, he would have roughly recognized this woman.

She was the woman he had encountered at the Drunken Immortal Inn in Ten Mile Town, the one whose face had been veiled with white cloth.

After seeing who it was, Chen Shi's stern face finally showed a trace of a smile.

"Oh, so it's Little Xuan. You have traveled such a long way back to the County Town. Why not rest for a few more days?"

"Leave the matter of waiting at the city gates to Uncle Chen."

It turned out that Ye Qingxuan was also a member of the Blackbird Guard. She had returned from the Prefecture to the County Town this time to visit her father, Ye Qingshan, whom she had not seen for a long time.

What she had not expected was that she had barely returned to the County Town when she learned that Fang Sheng, chief of the Black Wind Stronghold, was hiding outside Azure Cloud County.

After the Blackbird Guard in the Prefecture received the news, they dispatched people to Azure Cloud County to capture and execute Fang Sheng, the Black Wind Stronghold Chief who had been on the run for many years!

The Blackbird Guard leading the team was Ye Qingxuan's superior, Li Yanran, a Yellow Rank Blackbird Guard!

The ranks of the Blackbird Guard were Heaven and Earth, Yellow and Black, then Human!

Human Rank Blackbird Guards were martial artists above the Marrow Refining Realm.

Yellow Rank Blackbird Guards were martial artists above the Blood Refinement Realm.

Profound Rank Blackbird Guards were martial artists above the Inner Qi Realm.

As for the Earth Rank Blackbird Guards and Heaven Rank Blackbird Guards beyond them, Ye Qingxuan did not know.

In any case, Ye Qingxuan only knew that in the vast Prefecture, there was only one Profound Rank Blackbird Guard, who commanded all the Blackbird Guards in the Prefecture.

As for Ye Qingxuan, her father Ye Qingshan had recommended her to join the Blackbird Guard the previous year. She was merely an ordinary Blackbird Guard member.

Not yet eighteen years old, Ye Qingxuan was already a martial artist at the peak of the Flesh Refining Realm, with extraordinary martial arts talent.

Even among the Prefecture's Blackbird Guard, she was a martial arts prodigy who ranked among the best.

"Very well, Xuan'er. Then go with your Uncle Chen to wait at the city gates."

Seeing his daughter's determined expression, Ye Qingshan could only let her have her way.