Unexpected Joy

Soon, the convoy finally reached Changgan County and arrived at the foot of the county seat. After the gate guards checked and confirmed everything was in order, the convoy entered the city without a hitch, and the martial artists responsible for the escort finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Someone in Changgan had already arranged for their arrival. Led by a guide, the convoy reached an inn.

After the carriages had been parked in the inn's rear courtyard, not one of the martial artists dispersed, despite being travel-worn, smeared with blood, and utterly exhausted.

They all stared silently at Zong Lin amid the crowd, waiting for her explanation.

The escort mission had been strange at every turn. All the martial artists had sensed that something was wrong, and the sharper ones had even guessed part of the truth. It was impossible to keep hiding it from them.

As participants in the whole affair, they would never let the matter rest unless everything was explained clearly.

Zong Lin swept her gaze over the martial artists gathered around her. She took a deep breath and slowly revealed the hidden circumstances of the mission.

A True Essence Realm martial artist had arrived...

The threat of the Corpse Demon...

Using themselves as bait...

After discovering the Corpse Demon's whereabouts, two experts had given chase...

After hearing everything, the martial artists were both shocked and furious.

"You could tell from the name alone that the Corpse Demon was extremely dangerous, yet the Special Capture Division sent us to act as bait?"

"They really don't regard us as human beings!"

"So the Special Capture Division thinks it's so great and noble!"

Those with hot tempers cursed furiously at the Special Capture Division's shamelessness.

Looking at the furious martial artists before her, Zong Lin smiled bitterly. A trace of helplessness appeared on her pretty, delicate features as she raised a hand and pressed it down slightly, signaling for them to calm down.

"I know everyone is angry. The risks of this mission far exceeded your expectations, and the compensation was completely out of proportion to the danger."

"So the Special Capture Division said that the contribution points for every martial artist who participated in this mission would be doubled."

Everyone: ...

The martial artists who had been clamoring noisily fell silent all at once.

The contribution points would be doubled?

This... seemed pretty sweet~~

Seeing that the crowd had stopped arguing, she smiled faintly and continued, "Not only will the contribution points be doubled, but from among the Rune Soldiers being escorted to Changgan, each of you may choose one."

"There are many Rune Soldiers being transported this time, and some of them were prepared specifically for you."

They were giving away Rune Soldiers too?

The martial artists' faces lit up with delight, and they no longer had the slightest objection.

"Oh my, Zong Lin, what's this? You're being too generous."

"As expected of the Special Capture Division—deep pockets and refreshingly straightforward!"

"We martial artists make our living with our heads on the chopping block. Mere Evil Creatures are nothing to worry about."

"Exactly, exactly. And there was even a True Essence Realm martial artist secretly protecting us during this escort. We're practically overwhelmed by such treatment."

When they heard that not only would their contributions be doubled, but they could also freeload a Rune Soldier, the martial artists' faces blossomed with smiles. Every one of them praised the Special Capture Division's generosity, and not a single person mentioned the Corpse Demon again.

Because the Corpse Demon had intended to prey on these martial artists himself, he had held back when driving the zombies and evil ghosts to attack them. He only wanted to exhaust their strength and had not gone all out to kill them. Thus, although every martial artist had been injured, none had died.

After Zong Lin intervened, she had also used a Sweet Dew Talisman to treat the wounded martial artists. Even the injuries of several heavily wounded martial artists had stabilized. After a few days of rest, they would be running around again.

As long as no one had died, every other problem was minor. The martial artists had already rushed off excitedly to the carriages to pick out the Rune Soldiers they liked.

Li Yuan was no exception. Although far too many twists and turns had occurred during the mission, it had still ended safely. He had even received an unexpected windfall, so he was equally delighted.

Wu Si'an said excitedly from the side, "Li Yuan, Rune Soldiers are good stuff. Let's go pick one too."

Rune Soldiers were not cheap. Even the least expensive ones required ten contribution points, while powerful Rune Soldiers could cost hundreds or even thousands of points.

There were many kinds of Rune Soldiers in the carriages—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, and forks. There was all sorts of equipment, including some bizarre weapons that Li Yuan could not even name.

As the saying went, the stranger the weapon, the faster its owner died. In the end, Li Yuan chose a Rune Soldier Longsword of fairly good quality.

He could forget about Rune Soldiers worth hundreds or thousands of contribution points. Such things could never have appeared in these carriages. The most expensive one was worth only twenty contribution points, but that was sufficient.

Li Yuan rubbed the Rune Soldier Longsword in his hand and watched the tiny runes on the blade emit a faint glow, as if they were breathing.

This was Li Yuan's first time acquiring a Rune Artifact. Wu Si'an had just explained that Spirit Masters carved runes into weapons, and when martial artists infused them with inner force or true qi, the weapons could unleash much greater killing power.

After playing with the Rune Soldier Longsword for a while, Li Yuan sheathed it and returned to the guest room Changgan had arranged for him.

He had been fighting for a long time and had killed as many as fifty Evil Creatures, leaving him somewhat exhausted. As soon as he entered the room, he collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, after a night of rest, the martial artists escorting the supplies had recovered their energy and soon set off to return to Jiujiang Commandery.

The return journey was much faster than the trip there. With light carriages and swift horses, they returned to Jiujiang Commandery in less than half a day.

After this outing, Li Yuan had thoroughly made a name for himself in Jiujiang Commandery's martial artist circles. Many people knew that Zhengyang Martial Arts School had produced a fierce young man: a martial artist in the Inner Force Realm named Li Yuan who had single-handedly slain the troublesome Half-step Blood Robe and resolved a major crisis for the entire convoy.

Interactions between martial artists could be very simple: strength was all that mattered. As long as one possessed enough power, it was easy to gather connections around oneself. On the way back, people constantly approached Li Yuan for enthusiastic conversation.

If they could befriend a young man with such potential, wouldn't that be wonderful?

After reaching Jiujiang Commandery, the group cheerfully hurried to the Special Capture Division to hand in the mission and collect their rewards.

The contribution points for this mission had been doubled. How could that not delight the martial artists?

Zong Lin had accompanied the group and vouched for them personally. The matter of doubling the mission contributions was settled quickly, and the martial artists successfully received their points. Everyone was completely satisfied.

Because Xu Zhe and Zong Wencheng had not returned from pursuing the Corpse Demon, Zong Lin still had to report the details of the plan to Young Commander Chu Han, so she left first.

Watching Zong Lin's retreating figure, Li Yuan fell into deep thought. He had originally believed that this mission was merely a simple escort job, but he had never expected so many complications to emerge.

A True Essence Realm martial artist and the Attendant Spirit Master of Jiujiang Commandery had joined forces to pursue an Evil Warrior. The waters ran even deeper than he had imagined.

And since the two experts had not returned after an entire night, it was still unknown whether they had succeeded.

That fellow called the Corpse Demon concerned Li Yuan greatly. He had a faint premonition that this matter might not end so easily.

If the Corpse Demon was dead, that would be fine.

But if he had escaped and survived, things would become a whole lot more troublesome.

An Evil Warrior whose strength rivaled the True Essence Realm was roaming around Jiujiang Commandery. If word got out, it would inevitably bring immense upheaval to the entire commandery.

Zong Lin had already warned them the day before that the matter of the Corpse Demon was of great importance. The Special Capture Division would handle it, and all martial artists who had participated in the mission were forbidden to spread the news. Violators would be severely punished!

Because of the Corpse Demon's existence, Li Yuan felt an intense sense of crisis. Ultimately, his strength was still insufficient. The Corpse Demon was two major realms above him. If the other party harbored malicious intent, he could easily crush Li Yuan with one hand.

A glint flashed through Li Yuan's eyes. "I must continue growing stronger!"

"Strong enough that even the Corpse Demon can't do anything to me—that's the only way I can truly establish a foothold in this world!"

He turned to look at Wu Si'an beside him. "Didn't you say the Special Capture Division has plenty of good stuff? Let's go take a look together."