Monster!

"L-Let go of me!"

The white-clothed maiden immediately began struggling violently. Although she was a cultivator, her strength was clearly no match for Tang Jie's. On top of that, she had aggravated the injury on her shoulder, and the pain made her tremble repeatedly until she stopped struggling.

The white-clothed maiden looked close to tears. All the grievances she had suffered in her entire life combined were not as great as what she had endured today—and all of it had been brought upon her by Tang Jie!

"Don't act rashly!"

Daoist Qingsong's expression changed slightly. If the white-clothed maiden died here, he would not escape responsibility either.

"Bull Devil King, taking a hostage is utterly despicable! Let her go at once!" Li Changshou hurriedly shouted as well. If anything happened to the white-clothed maiden, his career would essentially be over.

Tang Jie let out a cold snort. "You people ganging up on me with several hundred men—isn't that despicable too?"

Li Changshou and the others were rendered speechless. Indeed, several hundred elite soldiers had been unable to subdue Tang Jie, and one of their own cultivators had even been captured alive by him!

"Let my father and me leave. Otherwise, even if I die today, I'll make you pay the price!" Tang Jie said coldly. He had held back at every turn before, but if he truly had to die here, he would stop caring about anything else and fight with everything he had.

"D-Don't kill me! I-I'm your cousin!" The white-clothed maiden sensed the killing intent in Tang Jie's voice. Her body trembled, and she hurriedly pleaded. She was still young and did not want to die here.

Daoist Qingsong's expression darkened slightly. It was not divine opponents one feared, but teammates who dragged one down.

"What do you want?" Daoist Qingsong asked with deeply furrowed brows. With the white-clothed maiden as his hostage, Tang Jie had forced him to hold back for fear of striking the wrong target.

"Let my father and me leave. Prepare a carriage. Once we're out of the city, I'll release her," Tang Jie said. Taking a hostage and escaping was the only plan he could think of at the moment.

"Yes, yes, hurry and prepare one!" The white-clothed maiden nodded repeatedly in agreement. If she died at the hands of her own cousin, that would be far too unfair!

"Daoist Qing Song..." The prefect wanted to say something, but Daoist Qing Song cut him off.

"Do it! If she dies in front of us, I believe you know the consequences."

Daoist Qingsong's expression was grim.

The prefect gritted his teeth and waved his hand. "Do as he says!"

Not long afterward, a soldier found a carriage, and several soldiers brought Tang Tianhao over.

"Pfft!"

Tang Jie made a slight motion with his finger. His true qi gathered and sliced apart the iron chains as thick as fingers that bound Tang Tianhao's hands.

"Get in."

Tang Jie said one sentence to Tang Tianhao.

Tang Tianhao sighed. He knew there was no point in saying anything else at a time like this. He and Tang Jie boarded the carriage, while the white-clothed maiden served as their hostage.

"Outside the city!" Tang Jie ordered the soldier driving the carriage.

"Yes." The soldier glanced at the expressions of the prefect and the others, then could only nod. He drove the carriage toward the edge of the execution ground, charging out through the parted crowd!

"Did... did he really pull it off?"

All the soldiers looked at one another in dismay. Some of them even breathed sighs of relief, feeling that this might be a decent outcome. Quite a few of them had been spared by Tang Jie.

True Person Heyun wore a complicated expression. He felt relieved to see Tang Jie leave safely, but he was also helpless. He knew the authorities would never let the matter go after Tang Jie had done this. One could hide for a time, but not forever!

"They really let them go?" Prefect Li Changshou said unwillingly. Allowing a criminal to escape was a grave dereliction of duty, and he would definitely be made to take the blame!

"I'll go."

Daoist Qingsong shook his head, put away his flying sword, and headed out of the execution ground.

Under the soldier's driving, the carriage traveled all the way out of Lingyue City and did not stop until it was ten li from the city.

Tang Jie's feelings were somewhat complicated. He knew that by raiding the execution ground and rescuing Tang Tianhao, he would definitely become a wanted criminal pursued throughout the Great Xia Dynasty.

But Tang Jie was even less capable of watching Tang Tianhao be beheaded in public.

"Hm?" Tang Jie's expression suddenly changed.

"Tang Jie, let's talk!"

A voice rang out in front of the carriage. It was Daoist Qingsong!

They had clearly been traveling by carriage, yet Daoist Qingsong had moved even faster than them and intercepted them on the road outside Lingyue City.

The three of them got out of the carriage. Tang Jie kept one hand around the trembling white-clothed maiden's neck to prevent Daoist Qingsong from attacking.

"What do you want to say?" Tang Jie looked at Daoist Qingsong, who stood in front of the carriage.

Daoist Qingsong raised a hand. "I mean you no harm. I only want to tell you that what you did today will get you hunted. There will be no place for you in the Great Xia Dynasty. Even if you escape today, tomorrow there will be cultivators like me pursuing and killing you."

Tang Jie knew Daoist Qingsong was telling the truth. He did not arrogantly believe he could contend with the countless experts of the entire Great Xia Dynasty!

Tang Tianhao's face was filled with guilt. Tang Jie had been forced into this situation because of him.

"What's the use of saying all this now that it's already done?" Tang Jie looked at Daoist Qingsong in confusion. He did not believe Daoist Qingsong had pursued them all this way merely to spout nonsense.

Daoist Qingsong smiled faintly. "There is a way to make amends. Your father had contact with a monster, but he did not know about it beforehand. If you can kill a monster and bring back its corpse, today's matter can be offset."

"Kill a monster?" Tang Jie was stunned.

When all was said and done, this entire mess had been caused by a monster. The monster had escaped, while Tang Tianhao had been implicated and sentenced for colluding with monsters.

Tang Jie's brows furrowed. Could killing a monster really atone for his crime? He had caused a commotion at the execution ground and rescued Tang Tianhao. That was a fierce slap in the face of the Lingyue City authorities.

The white-clothed maiden, held hostage by Tang Jie, nodded repeatedly. "Monsters are extremely harmful. Every single one has dozens or even hundreds of lives on its hands. Our Great Xia Dynasty, as well as the various cultivation sects, strongly encourage the hunting of monsters. A monster's corpse can be exchanged for many contribution points. If you can kill one and bring back its corpse, you'll have rendered great service, enough to offset your father's crime!"

Daoist Qingsong smiled. "To be honest, I admire you greatly and want to see how far you can go in the future. This is the only way to save both you and your father."

Daoist Qingsong was a cultivator himself and did not want to watch a life vanish before his eyes. Moreover, although Tang Jie had caused a disturbance at the execution ground, he had not killed anyone. In his eyes, neither Tang Jie nor Tang Tianhao deserved death. That was why he had followed them to offer a few words of guidance.

Tang Jie fell silent. What Daoist Qingsong said should be true. Otherwise, there would have been no need for him to show himself. He could have simply waited until Tang Jie left the city and released the white-clothed maiden, then appeared and attacked once Tang Jie no longer had a hostage.

"Kill a monster?" Tang Jie pondered in silence.

Monsters had existed since ancient times and were the great enemies of humanity. Whether ordinary martial artists or cultivators, everyone believed monsters deserved to be killed!

Monsters possessed all kinds of strange abilities. Some commanded demonic arts and could disguise themselves as humans, blending into the crowds and making them difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. Every monster was bloodthirsty and cruel, feeding on human brains and hearts. It would be abnormal for any monster not to have dozens or hundreds of lives on its hands!

The monster that had disguised itself as the leader of the Six Peaks Gang was a perfect example. On the surface, it was the head of a gang, but in truth, it had hundreds of human lives on its hands. It had only revealed its true nature after someone happened to witness it hunting!

And every monster one hunted would earn great merit!

Two chapters in a row—please vote for me. Sob, sob. 😭