"Hmph, quite a bit of the drug had been administered. It was just that this genius elite disciple of Lingbao Temple seemed to have concealed his cultivation. I sensed that his mana had been tempered to an exceptionally pure degree.
"If I was not mistaken, this brat was at least at the third layer of Qi Refining. In particular, he cultivated lightning arts, so he had strong immunity to my Soul-Losing Azure."
"Still, the more outstanding he was, the better. Once we seized their..."
Jia Song spoke in fits and starts until he suddenly stopped, falling silent as though his mind had abruptly snapped.
After a while, a strange gurgle finally came from his throat, as if that breath had been reconnected.
Then he slowly exhaled a breath carrying an abnormally putrid stench. The entire room instantly grew cold, grim and chilling, while a thin layer of white frost swiftly formed over the table, lamp, and everything else.
Qin Qing, the Young Daoist priest kneeling on the floor, turned incomparably terrified. He opened his mouth, then covered it in panic before crawling out of the room, which was like an ice cellar.
"Deputy Commander Jia is becoming less and less human. Tomorrow, more townsfolk will probably be found missing..."
Panic churned within him, and he regretted his own cowardice and weakness. Just now, he had not dared to give that outstanding disciple of Lingbao Temple even the slightest hint.
Right then, he only wanted to rush back to his room, lock the doors and windows, then kneel in worship and recite the name of Dao Lord Lingxiao Miaozhen Dongyou Yinyang Rensheng to feel even a shred of safety.
As Qin Qing fled in panic, icy yin energy continuously seeped from the windows and door cracks of the room, drifting throughout the Youdao Division before spreading across the entire town.
At last, a sound rang out from inside, as though a window had opened and something had flown away.
Side courtyard wing.
Li Qingyun sat cross-legged in meditation, studying the Illusionary Spirit Technique imprint behind the Dao image in his sea of consciousness.
Wave after wave of spell insights surged through him like the tide, filling him with delight.
Although the faint spell markings had only recently condensed on the dark wall, he already felt as though he had comprehended and practiced them for half a year or even a full year. Their applications and transformations all lay within his grasp.
At that moment, the oil lamp on the table suddenly dimmed.
The temperature in the room also plummeted, growing ever more cold and sinister.
"This Youdao Division is abnormally cold!"
Li Qingyun opened his eyes, seeming to gaze through the room's walls toward the source from which that icy chill was coming.
The intent of lightning trembled around him, dispersing the cold.
He immediately rose, took the bronze shortsword, tucked the Nightmare Eye into his sleeve, and let Illusionary Mana surge around him to cover his body. Then, with a light leap, he darted out through the rear window.
Mana was, as its name implied, both method and power. Once a method was attained and the Dao was present, techniques could be used to naturally derive all manner of mysterious power!
Among the Vast Tree Shadows in the side courtyard, five or six armored soldiers stood distributed about, shivering from the cold.
In name, these soldiers were there to protect Li Qingyun and the other Ghost Suppressing Warriors. In truth, they were monitoring them, preventing them from acting on their own.
If anyone went out, they would report it immediately.
At present, the armored soldiers only saw a blur before their eyes. Startled, they were just about to raise their crossbows and take aim when they recognized the newcomer and hurriedly lowered their heads in salute.
"Master Qin..."
In the sparse light and shadows, the air twisted faintly. What they saw was clearly Qin Qing, the man who served at the deputy commander's side.
"Mm. It is cold at night. Thanks for the effort, everyone!"
"Qin Qing" nodded, exchanged a few words of greeting, and then his Daoist robe billowed in the wind. With a gentle leap, he skimmed over the courtyard wall.
"Do not reveal my whereabouts. I am acting under the deputy commander's orders!"
As he climbed over the wall, "Qin Qing" gave them one more warning.
"Yes!"
The armored soldiers shuddered inwardly and answered in low voices.
Not only in the Youdao Division before them, but throughout all of Yinshan Town, who did not know that Deputy Commander Jia now had the final say?
Qin Qing was carrying out orders. Who would dare say anything more?
"Why did it feel like Master Qin had already come out of that Lingbao Temple Daoist's room and left..." they wondered.
After this "Qin Qing" left the side courtyard and saw the hidden guards along the way saluting him from afar, he became even more at ease. He openly crossed the courtyards, pools, flowers, and trees, then left the Youdao Division beneath scattered, cold lamplight.
Yinshan Town beneath the night curtain was increasingly desolate. No pedestrians could be seen; there was only the clapper of the night watchman, along with the occasional timid bark of a dog.
Every household had shut its doors tight, with talismans pasted one after another upon them: House Soothing Talismans, Ghost Suppressing Talismans, Evil Warding Talismans, and more.
"Qin Qing"—Li Qingyun—kept to the shadows beneath eaves and along walls. His footsteps were soundless, yet he moved with great speed.
As he passed those homes, he could hear faint voices reciting the Dao Lord's name.
Panic, confusion, fear, unease...
The entire Yinshan Town lay shrouded beneath the shadow of an unknown ill omen.
Not far east of the Youdao Division stood a three-courtyard residence with its main gates tightly shut. The plaque above bore the words "Zhou Mansion."
Li Qingyun kept his left hand tucked within his sleeve, gripping the Nightmare Eye. His expression calm, he stepped forward and knocked on the gate.
"Master Qin, why have you come so late? Could it be that the deputy commander has more instructions?"
The gate opened, and the stern-faced armored soldier immediately lost his wary look upon seeing "Qin Qing."
"Mm. Deputy Commander Jia asked me to speak with Zhou Gang about something..."
As he walked through the Zhou residence, Li Qingyun found that its defenses were indeed as strict as Chi Hui had described.
If he had chosen to scale the wall and force his way in, then with his present cultivation, he would certainly have alerted the armored soldiers here.
By experience, three to five armored soldiers absolutely could not stop a cultivator, even one who had just entered the Qi Refining Realm. But once their numbers grew, these well-trained mortals equipped with talisman bows and powerful crossbows could threaten the life of a Qi Refining Realm cultivator.
Especially someone at Qi Refining Layer One who had only just entered the Dao—after casting a few spells, their mana might be completely depleted. How could they withstand a dense barrage of crossbow bolts?
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Escorted by Armor Break soldiers, Li Qingyun arrived outside the room of Zhou Gang, the Commander of the Yinshan Town Youdao Division. He heard bouts of weak coughing from within, along with a woman's sobs.
"You may leave!"
Li Qingyun glanced at the armored soldier. After a brief hesitation, the man departed.
He knocked softly, but the door remained unopened for a long while. Only the woman's frightened sobs within grew more urgent.
Li Qingyun sighed inwardly. With a tremor of mana in his hand, the door bolt fell, and he walked directly inside.
"Qin Qing, you are outrageous..."
Within the room, talisman lamps flickered, illuminating a man and a woman.
The middle-aged man lying on the bed struggled to prop himself up, glaring furiously at the "Qin Qing" who had entered. He was gaunt yet imposing. Though his breath was weak and his face deathly pale, he still carried the authority of a commander.
This was Zhou Gang, the Commander of the Youdao Division. Stricken by a strange illness, the once brawny and valiant man had now wasted away to skin and bones, like a sick tiger robbed of its sharp claws and fangs.
Just as Chi Hui and the others had guessed, Commander Zhou had been sidelined and placed under house arrest by Jia Song.
The mana aura on Zhou Gang's body was also almost imperceptible.
The position of a temple commander belonged to the strongest cultivator in a town. Zhou Gang should originally have been able to suppress Jia Song by a clear margin, possessing at least the cultivation of the eighth or ninth layer of Qi Refining.
But now...
Li Qingyun's expression remained calm as he looked at the beautiful woman, whose face was filled with panic, and said softly, "Madam, please step outside for a moment. I have something to discuss with the commander."
The beautiful woman seemed helpless as she looked again at Zhou Gang on the sickbed.
"Alas, go on," Zhou Gang sighed.
Only then did the woman, her face full of worry, rise and leave.
"Qin Qing, I once thought you a decent and upright man. I never expected you to be willing to become Jia Song's running dog! I already have a clear grasp of Jia Song's intentions. Heh, what audacity, what ambition—to collude with ghosts, seek to blood-sacrifice all the people of this town, and delude himself into thinking he can prolong his life!
"His lifespan is nearly exhausted, so he is making one desperate gamble. Yet you, Qin Qing, are still young, with a bright future ahead, and your Lineage is in Youjing. When that time comes, how will you face the consequences..."
Zhou Gang stared at Li Qingyun, reasoning with him and lamenting that he had failed to live up to expectations.
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