Leaving Overnight

Magistrate Wang's face filled with horror and fury. Staring at Jiang Dao, he said, "You... you are that Jiang Dao from the Jiang Family? You dare break into the county office at night, and you even dare kill constables? You... you don't value your life?"

Jiang Dao revealed a trace of mockery. "You're still putting on official airs at a time like this? If I wanted to crush you to death now, it would be as easy as crushing an ant. Do you believe that?"

Magistrate Wang shuddered and trembled all over. "You... what exactly do you want?"

He instantly thought of what had happened during the day.

During the day, he had sent people to intercept and kill the Jiang brothers. Now, it seemed Jiang Dao had come for revenge?

"Let our Jiang Family leave the city, and I'll spare your life. Otherwise, I'll crush you to death right now!"

Jiang Dao spoke coldly as he sat broad and imposing in a chair.

"Let you leave the city?"

Magistrate Wang's eyes widened. "This is not something I can easily handle. Orders came down from above—no one is allowed to leave the city!"

"Then hadn't you already let so many people go?"

Jiang Dao sneered. "Magistrate Wang, I've given you a chance. If you won't do it, I'll kill you. Staying in Hengzhou City means death sooner or later anyway!"

"You... fine, I'll find a way!"

Magistrate Wang's expression shifted as he said, "If you want to leave, you can only do so at night. At night, people won't notice. If someone sees it, I won't be able to answer for it either. Since there are few of you, you can leave during the day, but if there are many people, it has to be at night."

"Fine. We're leaving tonight!"

Jiang Dao's tone was icy.

Hengzhou City was growing more chaotic by the moment. Every extra moment they stayed meant another moment of danger!

If they could leave now, then naturally, leaving now was best.

"I'll issue your travel permit right away!"

Magistrate Wang trembled as he hurriedly took out the document, waving his brush as he rapidly wrote on it.

"Magistrate Wang, I heard that your imperial court has colluded with Malevolent Spirit organizations. Tell me—which organizations are involved? And where did that Sacred Artifact appear?"

Jiang Dao suddenly asked.

Magistrate Wang jolted in fright, nearly dropping the brush in his hand.

"You... how did you know?"

"Answer my question."

Jiang Dao's tone remained cold.

"Yes. I was only following orders in this matter. I didn't dare disobey the orders from above. So far, I only know of two factions. One is called the Spirit Child Palace, and the other is called the Corpse Dao Sect. Those above only told us to seal the city and do nothing else. They said the city would return to peace after some time, but as for that Sacred Artifact, I know nothing."

Magistrate Wang said.

"Corpse Dao Sect..."

Jiang Dao frowned.

He suddenly recalled the bizarre Malevolent Spirit he had encountered on the way here.

Could that have been a Malevolent Spirit from the Corpse Dao Sect?

"Didn't your imperial court send anyone here?"

"No. Faced with that kind of unknown, mysterious power, even the imperial court is powerless despite having the will."

Magistrate Wang gave a bitter smile.

"So you simply let them kill people and ravage Hengzhou City?"

Jiang Dao's face was full of ridicule.

Cold sweat streamed down Magistrate Wang's face, and he did not dare say more.

Before long, he had completely finished the travel permit. Holding it with both hands, he handed it to Jiang Dao.

Jiang Dao examined it carefully and confirmed that there was nothing wrong. Then, as he looked at Magistrate Wang, a cold glint suddenly flashed through his eyes, and he struck out with his palm.

With a bang, Magistrate Wang flew backward on the spot and smashed into the wall, turning into a puddle of mangled flesh. He was dead beyond death.

No matter what, Jiang Dao could not allow Magistrate Wang to live.

Given how ruthless the man was, it was not hard to imagine that Jiang Dao might face an army's siege the moment he left.

So the best course was to kill him!

Jiang Dao swept up all the banknotes and silver ingots on Magistrate Wang's desk, climbed over the wall under cover of night, and hurried back toward home.

Half an hour later.

Jiang Dao arrived at the Jiang Family with a large bundle of banknotes.

"Father, was everything all right earlier?"

"Yes, Dao'er. How did it go?"

Jiang Dalong asked.

"I got the travel permit. We leave now!"

Jiang Dao said.

"Leave now?"

Jiang Dalong said in surprise, "But we haven't packed our things yet!"

"Forget them. Leave everything behind. We can buy more once we reach Fengzhou. There are more and more Malevolent Spirits in Hengzhou City. Every extra moment we stay means another layer of danger!"

Jiang Dao said.

"Good, good. I'll notify everyone right away!"

Jiang Dalong hurriedly nodded.

He immediately instructed Pang Lin and Fang Biao to summon the various concubines and daughters, as well as all the servants, waking every last one of them.

It was the dead of night. When the concubines heard that they were leaving immediately, they were greatly startled and hurriedly began packing.

Jiang Dalong stamped his foot in fury and roared, "Stop packing! Throw it away, throw it all away! Just take the gold, silver, and valuables!"

"But what about all this family property?"

Second Consort Liu Hongyan asked in shock.

"Forget it, leave it all!"

Jiang Dalong roared.

The concubines trembled in fright and hurriedly packed valuables such as gold and silver.

The remaining servants busied themselves harnessing carriages and leading out horses.

Some even carried armfuls of silk quilts and stuffed them into the carriages.

Without exception, they were all top-grade silk, immensely valuable. A single bolt could fetch several thousand taels of silver, and there were also countless sable and fox furs, each worth a fortune.

"Throw them away! Throw all of it away! Take only gold, silver, valuables, food, and water. Hurry, move faster!"

Jiang Dalong roared.

Suddenly, he remembered something. His face changed, and he hurriedly said, "Dao'er, that weapon you wanted forged still hasn't taken shape."

"Forget it for now. Once we reach Fengzhou, we'll find someone to forge it again!"

Jiang Dao said grimly.

After all, he had just obtained at least a million taels of silver from the county office.

Once they reached Fengzhou, what could they not buy?

Though these silks, furs, porcelain, and the like were expensive, compared to those millions of taels of silver, they were far too insignificant. What needed to be abandoned had to be abandoned.

Besides, he had killed Old Daoist Changbai, and Old Daoist Changbai had possessed several hundred thousand taels of silver as well.

After a round of packing, more than an hour had passed.

At last, everyone was ready.

Jiang Dao mounted a tall horse and rode at the very front, galloping toward the residence gates.

Pang Lin, Fang Biao, Wang Xing, and other experts guarded both sides of the convoy.

More than two hundred members of the household, high and low alike, all set off through the night.

The night wind blew.

It wailed through the streets.

Trash swirled through the air.

A faint stench of rot seemed to appear out of nowhere.

All the servants involuntarily felt their hearts rise into their throats. Their hair stood on end, goosebumps covered their skin, and terror filled them.

Everyone now knew that night was when they were most likely to encounter Malevolent Spirits. Leaving under cover of darkness was more than ten times as dangerous as usual.

Yet how could they know that leaving in daylight would be even more difficult?

Because if they left during the day, others would inevitably follow suit in a mad scramble. The city would instantly descend into chaos, and what followed would surely be the army's forceful suppression.

As the convoy moved onward, the surroundings seemed to grow darker and darker, while the stench of decay in the air thickened.

Suddenly, waves of harsh, eerie laughter rang out from an alley to one side.

"Heh heh heh..."

Like the croaking of frogs, it made everyone's hearts leap into their throats.

Jiang Dao's eyes flashed like lightning as he swept his gaze toward the alley.

There, within the alley, stood a Malevolent Spirit reeking of decay, with green eyes that glowed with eerie terror. It let out that heh-heh laughter, its body concealed in darkness so that only two ghastly green eyes could be seen.

Jiang Dao's heart sank.

"Don't mind it. Keep moving!"

He pulled on the reins and stopped, staring fixedly at that Malevolent Spirit, prepared to personally bring up the rear.

The Jiang Family convoy sped past him at tremendous speed.

Everyone trembled, terrified beyond measure.

Only Jiang Dao sat astride his horse, his entire body poised to strike, one hand clamped tightly around the steel saber at his waist.