"If you encounter anyone wearing a Daoist robe, kill them on the spot without mercy. Do not hesitate. As soon as you find any one of Fourth Brother and the others, join up with them immediately and head for Qingmu County."
Chen Mo calmly issued orders to the many guardsmen before him.
Compared to those new recruits, these guardsmen were the true elite. Every one of them was skilled with bow and horse.
Most importantly, they had been to the battlefield. No matter what situation they faced, no matter how bizarre it was, they would instinctively kill the enemy first before pondering the matter.
Unlike those new recruits, who would be frightened by anything even slightly abnormal.
The other two squad leaders received their orders and each led a squad away, while Chen Mo took the remaining men and began searching across the boundless sky.
Naturally, the more people they had, the faster they searched. But after only half a day, Chen Mo discovered traces of blood left on the ground.
After following the bloodstains and searching for roughly half an hour, they spotted a gray-robed Daoist resting against a withered, desolate tree in the distance.
Seeing people approach, he hurriedly rose and tried to flee.
Chen Mo understood at once. This man had to be the Daoist Zhao Yuncheng had encountered earlier.
Not only was the other party seriously wounded, but more importantly, he had lost his means of attacking and killing. He was at his weakest.
Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Mo urged his horse into pursuit and nocked an arrow.
These Qi Refiners were different from Lishi. Their methods were far too strange. Even without their most important offensive techniques, the talismans they carried could still unleash other effects.
So Chen Mo had no intention of taking him alive. It was safer to kill him first.
The Daoist could not speak. He took a yellow talisman paper from his robes and crushed it, causing a layer of ocher light to appear around his body.
Chen Mo's arrow struck the light screen, and it visibly dimmed.
The other guardsmen also caught up one after another and immediately loosed their arrows.
In the blink of an eye, the ocher light screen shattered, and several arrows pierced straight through the Daoist.
Chen Mo leaped from his horse, took up his long spear, and struck twice more, making certain that the other party was thoroughly dead.
He searched the corpse as well. Compared to the Qi Refiner he had killed earlier, this man could truly be called a pauper.
He had no pills. All he had left was a single talisman.
Even his money pouch held only a little over twenty taels of silver. Chen Mo took ten taels and distributed the rest among the other guardsmen.
This time, Chen Mo and the others each had two horses, giving them enough mounts to carry ample supplies.
The Qi Refiner's corpse was also tied to a horse and taken along for now. They would deal with it later.
The group searched for another half a day before Chen Mo finally found Mo Hu and his party.
"Fifth Brother." Chen Mo called out loudly and urged his horse toward him.
Mo Hu's expression was numb and vacant, revealing neither grief nor joy.
"What happened?" Chen Mo dismounted and asked. His expression quickly turned gloomy as well.
Mo Dao's corpse lay quietly on the carriage. A wound more than two inches wide and nearly a foot long ran through his chest and abdomen, piercing his entire body.
Whoever had left such a wound clearly could not possibly have survived.
"That Du Tian Dao Sect's people did this!" Chen Mo's face was as dark as water, and his voice brimmed with fury.
Mo Dao had not liked to talk much, but he had always treated Chen Mo with great care.
Ever since Chen Mo entered the Guard Camp, whether it was archery, spear techniques, or the points he failed to understand later while cultivating the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist—
whenever Chen Mo went to ask him, Mo Dao would always give him concise and to-the-point guidance.
Not to mention that when Chen Mo needed to fulfill his promise and redeem Zhao Yu, Mo Dao had accompanied him on the journey back and forth.
Though he was not Chen Mo's biological elder brother, he had always done his utmost to look after him.
But now he was dead. He had been killed!
Chen Mo felt as though a stone had been pressed against his heart, leaving him so stifled that he could scarcely breathe.
"On our way back, we encountered a purple-robed Daoist. He was extremely strong. My brother lost his life saving me!" Mo Hu's eyes remained numb, but only when he spoke of this did hatred seep into them.
"What about that Purple-Robed Daoist? Is he still alive?" Chen Mo pressed.
"He escaped. It's already been a full day, so we can't catch up now." Mo Hu understood what Chen Mo meant. He wanted to avenge his elder brother.
But Mo Hu knew even more clearly that catching the Purple-Robed Daoist was impossible now. And even if they did catch up, so what? With the strength of the two of them, they might not even be his match.
"If I don't avenge this grudge, I swear I'll never again call myself a man!" Mo Hu declared, his voice filled with intense hatred and killing intent.
Mo Dao's death had left Chen Mo grief-stricken and furious. How much more so for the two of them, who were brothers by blood, with Mo Dao dying to save him?
The hatred in Mo Hu's heart naturally far surpassed Chen Mo's by who knew how much.
Earlier, he had not yet come to terms with the matter of his brother's life and death. He had not even dared believe that his brother was truly dead.
Now that he had gradually come to his senses, all that remained in his heart was a monstrous hatred and the thought of revenge.
"I'll help you." Chen Mo blurted it out without the slightest hesitation.
Mo Dao was his sworn elder brother and had always treated him well. Both sentiment and reason demanded that Chen Mo help avenge him.
"That Purple-Robed Daoist dared to attack and kill an imperial official. When we return, we'll report this matter and ask the court to issue a wanted notice."
Chen Mo continued, "This grudge must be avenged, but it doesn't necessarily have to be by our own hands."
Their goal was to see that Purple-Robed Daoist dead. If they could do it themselves, it would naturally be more satisfying. If they could not, that was fine too.
From Mo Hu's description, that Daoist was highly capable. It would not be easy for the two of them to take revenge relying on their own strength.
Moreover, the world was vast. If that purple-robed Daoist hid himself, finding him with their strength would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The imperial court would certainly investigate the matter. It could not simply leave it unattended.
Assaulting and killing an imperial official was a capital crime among capital crimes, regardless of the reason.
If that Daoist possessed a ordination certificate and was a member of the clergy, then only the Daoist temple he belonged to would be punished.
But if he had no ordination certificate, his entire clan would be executed.
Even if that man was a powerful Qi Refiner, so what? The Du Tian Dao Sect was not under the imperial court's jurisdiction.
Under such circumstances, if that Qi Refiner killed an imperial official, then the stronger he was, the faster he would die.
The imperial court could not allow someone like that to remain alive. Otherwise, if everyone followed his example, the world would descend into chaos whether it was already chaotic or not.
Mo Hu nodded lightly. This was indeed the best method.
He certainly wanted revenge, but he was not a fool. Revenge mattered, but so did his own life.
"Let's leave first. Once we're out, we'll think of a way to collect Fourth Brother's remains." As Chen Mo spoke, he took out a set of his own clothes and first covered Mo Dao's corpse.
"Mm." Mo Hu nodded. Seeing Chen Mo's actions, a trace of gratitude flashed through his eyes.
The group immediately departed at full speed. On the way back, they also brought along the corpse of the new recruit from earlier.
As comrades-in-arms, whenever circumstances allowed, they would do their best to let their fallen brothers return to their roots.
They did this in the hope that one day, when they themselves died on the battlefield, their comrades would carry their remains home to be buried.
They left Qing Province safely and without incident. The two groups Chen Mo had sent out earlier had also returned.
The two groups had separately gone to search for General Sun's nephew. One group returned completely unharmed, having encountered no demons.
They had even discovered traces of bandits. The area they investigated showed signs that a sizable force had passed through—roughly estimated to be at least a hundred men.
Near the traces left by this force, Qi Refiners from the Du Tian Sect had appeared.
It was difficult to say there was no connection between the two.
The other group returned with nothing but corpses. Every one of them had had his throat sealed with a single strike, and General Sun's nephew had also had both palms cut off and taken away.
"First, return to Qingmu County and rest. Once we get there, we'll think of a way to send the brothers' remains home for burial." Chen Mo issued orders to everyone. Since he had received General Sun's instructions, he was now the only person in charge here.
Everyone obeyed, driving their horses and carriages straight toward Qingmu County.
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