Compatriots

Leaving the Great Sun Kingdom and entering the border of the Great Jing Dynasty.

Shen Che slowed his horse, appreciating the local customs and traditions that were vastly different from the Great Sun Kingdom.

As he approached a small village, waves of suppressed crying drifted over with the wind.

He urged his horse into the village.

Beneath the large locust tree at the village entrance, four or five simple coffins were laid out. A group of villagers, clad in mourning white and with filial piety attire, surrounded the coffins, weeping.

An elder, his face a mask of wrinkles, squatted on the ground, puffing on a pipe with a mournful expression.

Shen Che dismounted and walked over.

"Elder, what has happened in the village?"

The elder looked up at him and sighed.

"Young man, you must be from out of town."

"Don't go towards Yellow Wind Mountain ahead. There are evil creatures in that mountain!"

According to the elder, in the past few days, all the birds and beasts in Yellow Wind Mountain had mysteriously died out.

A few brave hunters from the village had ventured into the mountain together to investigate.

As a result, not a single one returned.

When the villagers found them, all of them had turned into mummified corpses, their blood completely drained.

"Their deaths are exactly the same as the villagers who were killed by demonic beasts before."

The elder's voice was filled with fear.

"We have already reported it to the authorities. The Demon Suppression Division from the county has also sent an envoy, who has already gone into the mountain to investigate."

Demonic beasts at work?

Shen Che's heart stirred.

He didn't have much Time Value left, so it was a good opportunity to check it out. It would be a way to eliminate harm for the people and also replenish his Time Value.

He asked the elder for the direction of Yellow Wind Mountain, tied his horse to a tree at the village entrance, and entered the mountain alone on foot.

The mountain path was rugged, and the trees were dense.

Halfway up the mountain, he saw three figures ahead.

All three were dressed in black, with sabers at their waists, their attire quite similar to that of the Demon Suppression Division personnel.

The other party also noticed him and immediately became vigilant.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

A stern middle-aged man at the lead shouted fiercely.

Shen Che didn't waste words and directly took out the token of the Cangyun City Demon Suppression Division from his embrace.

"Cangyun City, Probationary Demon Suppressor, Shen Che."

Upon seeing the token, the three men's defensive posture eased considerably.

"So, we're on the same side."

A plain-looking young man in green walked forward. He sized Shen Che up for a moment before suddenly recalling something.

"Shen Che? Are you the Shen Che who killed Yan Hong in Cangyun City?"

"I am."

A hint of surprise appeared on the face of the young man in green, Liu Tianqi, which then turned into enthusiasm.

He introduced Shen Che, "This is Lord Qian Jing, from the Imperial Capital Headquarters. He's a Gold Medal Demon Suppressor and a powerful expert ranked fifty-fourth on the Earth Ranking."

He then pointed to the man beside him who had remained silent.

"This is Jin Wen."

Shen Che cupped his hands in greeting towards Qian Jing.

Qian Jing nodded slightly in return.

"Since we are colleagues, let's investigate the case together," Qian Jing's voice was steady and powerful.

Shen Che agreed.

The four of them continued their search deeper into the mountains.

It wasn't until dusk that the sky began to darken.

Jin Wen, who had been silent, suddenly twitched his nose twice.

"There's a stench of decay."

He pointed towards a small grove of trees to the front left.

The four of them immediately hurried over.

Pushing aside the grass that was half as tall as a person, a newly dug earthen pit appeared before them.

In the pit, various animal and human corpses were piled up, all of them dried husks with their blood drained.

Just then, Qian Jing moved.

He shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, charging toward the small grove of trees not far away.

There, a dark figure was stealthily dragging a corpse, preparing to throw it into the pit.

How fast were the experts on the Earth Ranking?

Before the dark figure could react, Qian Jing had already grabbed it by the neck and pinned it to the ground.

It was an ugly man who, even after being caught, was still defiant.

"Sirs, I was just passing by. I don't know anything!"

Qian Jing snorted and kicked away the grass beside him, revealing a hunter's corpse that had just been drained of blood.

"Passing by?"

The ugly man, Yuan Le, turned deathly pale.

"I'll give you one more chance."

Qian Jing's voice was devoid of any emotion.

Seeing Yuan Le still hesitating, Qian Jing drew his saber and severed one of his arms with a single slash.

"Ah--!"

Yuan Le let out a pig-like scream.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

"It... it was my master! He told me to come and deal with these 'materials' for his cultivation!"

"My master is Yuan Shou. I don't know where he came from, but he's the one who ordered me to do this!"

Yuan Le wailed, tears streaming down his face, begging for mercy.

"I'll take you to him! Please don't kill me!"

He lowered his head, and no one saw the fleeting look of malice flash across his face.

Yuan Shou?

Qian Jing and Liu Tianqi exchanged glances, seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

They had never heard of this person in the martial world.

He probably wasn't a congenital expert; his strength was likely in the Primordial Qi Realm.

Led by Yuan Le, the four of them entered an inconspicuous dark mountain cave at the foot of Yellow Wind Mountain.

The cave twisted and turned, and the air was filled with a strange smell, a mixture of earthy and rotten odors.

Oil candles were lit at intervals along the cave walls. The dim candlelight flickered, casting distorted shadows that danced like specters.

The further they went, the colder it became, as if they were entering an ice cave.

Before long, the path opened up into a spacious stone hall, about half the size of a basketball court.

In the center of the hall, more than a dozen heavy nanmu coffins were neatly arranged, each as black as ink.

"My master is inside..."

Before Yuan Le could finish speaking.

Two dark figures lunged out from the shadows on either side of the hall without warning. They had no breath, no heartbeat, like two stones being thrown.

Qian Jing reacted the fastest.

"Careful!"

His long sword was drawn from his waist, leaving a blur of motion. The sword light split into three, striking faster than the incoming figures, precisely severing the necks of the two dark shadows.

Pfft!

Two heads flew into the air.

They were two dried husks, their blood drained.

The moment Qian Jing acted, a triumphant sneer appeared on Yuan Le's face.

He suddenly charged toward a stone wall at the end of the hall and slammed his hand against it.

Rumble--!

The sound of heavy mechanisms turning echoed.

The passage they had entered through, and the exit at the other end of the hall, were both sealed by two incredibly heavy steel gates that descended from above, crashing down onto the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The four of them were completely trapped in the hall.

"Hahaha! You fools from the Demon Suppression Division, become nourishment for my master!"

Yuan Le hid behind the gates, revealing his venomous face through a narrow window cut into the metal.

"Master! I've brought them to you!"

He shouted respectfully into the depths of the dark passage.

A hunched figure slowly emerged from the darkness, appearing behind the window.