An Entire Spring

Tangshe Town lies north of Maple Forest City, one of the seven towns under Wei Quji's jurisdiction, and the smallest and most remote. It backs onto the Qichang Mountain Range stretching dozens of li, and the townsfolk live off the mountain—mostly hunters.

Walking through Tangshe Town, the buildings seen are old and worn, with few passersby. Those who do pass are hurried, their brows furrowed with worry. Not to mention compared to Maple Forest City, even compared to Phoenix Creek Town where Jiang Wang was born, this place falls far short.

"The villages near Tangshe Town are scattered along the Qichang Mountain Range. The people here live by hunting and usually only gather in town on the first and fifteenth of the month. It's not market day now, so there are few people about."

Having done his homework before coming, Jiang Wang could offer some explanation to Zhang Linchuan.

Even though this trip was arranged by the dean for a senior to look after a junior, Jiang Wang knew well that he couldn't expect to be guided at every turn, and dared not slack off.

Throughout the journey, Zhang Linchuan maintained a faint smile—neither distant nor familiar, revealing little emotion.

Upon hearing this, he merely nodded and walked on his own toward the house where the massacre had occurred.

Although they came representing the independent will of the Dao Academy, it wouldn't do not to inform the local authorities. Tang Dun, a constable of Tangshe Town, was waiting for them at the door of that house.

"Tang Daniu and his wife are both locals of our Tangshe Town. I used to fight with Daniu when we were kids..." The rough, dark-skinned man with a straightforward face was clearly distressed. His ox-like eyes were bloodshot as he stood there rambling, repeating over and over: "That dog-fucked demon is too hateful! Damn his mother! Damn his mother!"

Zhang Linchuan glanced at his constable uniform. "Why are you the only one here? Where's your chief constable?"

"Our chief's busy with other matters." Tang Dun was completely oblivious to Zhang Linchuan's displeasure, speaking on his own. "You're all going to be big officials someday—you have to get justice for us!"

"How amusing. In a tiny place like Tangshe Town, there's something more important than a massacre case?" Zhang Linchuan gave a contemptuous smile but didn't press further, simply raising a hand to cut off Tang Dun's chatter. "Get to the point. What clues have you found? What did the Criminal Investigation Bureau people say when they came?"

Dong A sending someone alone to investigate made it clear he didn't trust Wei Quji. Correspondingly, the Criminal Investigation Bureau people avoided meeting them, and the local Tangshe Town government only sent a low-ranking constable to receive them—this was to be expected.

Tang Dun scratched his head. "We... don't have any clues. Those big shots from the Criminal Investigation Bureau didn't tell us what they found either..."

Zhang Linchuan was almost angered into laughter by him. If you have no clues, what have you been babbling about all this time!

But he had considerable self-restraint and suppressed his displeasure. "Fine. Let's go in and take a look."

Tang Dun swiftly tore off the seal on the door, then took out a key and unlocked the General Lock. Only then did he push open the wooden door.

Jiang Wang noticed the seal was no ordinary thing—it bore an Evil-Suppressing Talisman. Clearly, the cultivators of the Criminal Investigation Bureau had taken care to preserve the scene.

As the seal was removed and the door swung open, a wave of odor blending decay, filth, and rot rushed out.

Jiang Wang forced himself to endure the discomfort and surveyed the small courtyard. It was filled with things hunters commonly used—hunting knives, traps, bows and arrows—along with some animal hides and smoked meat, all scattered messily around the yard.

A hunting dog lay reduced to a skeleton, scattered at the main entrance. From the posture, it had likely been the first to detect the intruder, but was dealt with in an instant.

Jiang Wang turned back. Zhang Linchuan had already covered his nose and mouth with an embroidered handkerchief, his brow deeply furrowed.

Seeing Jiang Wang's questioning look, Zhang Linchuan slightly lifted his chin forward and spoke from beneath the handkerchief. "It's fine. Let's go in."

Tang Dun stood aside at the door, somewhat hesitant. "I'll... just stay out here. This place is... eerie..."

He was only a mortal after all, and Jiang Wang naturally wouldn't force him. He nodded. "Alright."

Then he took the lead, stepping into the courtyard.

A thick, intense corpse aura surged around him in an instant, overwhelming his sense of smell. This level of corpse aura couldn't come from just killing a few people and raising a few zombies—it was more like communicating with some kind of evil existence.

Behind him, Zhang Linchuan glanced at Jiang Wang's hand resting on his sword—the long, pale finger bones looked clean and strong.

"Junior Brother Jiang is skilled with the sword?" he asked.

Jiang Wang observed the surroundings without turning back. "You flatter me, Senior Brother Zhang. I haven't yet formed my Dao Foundation and can't practice Dao techniques, so I have to rely on the sword for self-defense."

"When the outer sect was attacked, I heard Junior Brother Jiang was also among those targeted, yet you managed to escape safely. That's no small feat."

"It was actually quite perilous. That demon was far stronger than me. I only got away by alerting my fellow disciples."

Beside the yard was a doghouse built from wooden planks, now of course empty. Jiang Wang's gaze swept across it—the entire yard showed no traces of blood.

"Something's off here. Be careful, Junior Brother," Zhang Linchuan said.

"I understand."

The small yard had three rooms. Facing the gate was the main hall, its door open. A skeleton lay sprawled across the threshold, also stripped of flesh, nothing but bone. From the clothing, it should be the master of the house, the hunter Tang Daniu.

Jiang Wang carefully stepped over the skeleton and entered the main hall.

The four walls of the hall were bare, without decoration. In the center sat an octagonal table with four benches. On the table were some leftover food, covered by a bamboo lid.

Under the bench on the left lay the mistress of the house, identifiable by the coarse cloth dress she wore.

Yet... the food hadn't spoiled, but the corpse was nothing but bone.

A nameless chill pricked at his tailbone, an obscure fear rising from nowhere. Jiang Wang nearly drew his sword. But having experienced life-and-death battles before, he suppressed his instinct and avoided losing face in front of Zhang Linchuan.

"This flesh wasn't gnawed off—it's the work of some evil technique." Zhang Linchuan held his handkerchief to his face, casually observing the surroundings, showing only disgust without fear. "These two didn't die long ago, but all their flesh is gone, which also means many clues are lost. You've fought the demon who attacked the outer courtyard—do you notice anything familiar?"

Jiang Wang shook his head. "I only see two skeletons now. I can't judge. But this corpse aura permeating everything..."

"What about it?"

"I was attacked by corpses he controlled back then and got poisoned by corpse toxin. Master Dong cured me."

Zhang Linchuan nodded, never relaxing the handkerchief over his mouth. He walked toward the room on the right side of the main hall. "Let's split up and look around. If anything happens, inform me immediately."

"Alright."

Zhang Linchuan was a ranked cultivator, with the Dao Wheel turning in his Heaven-Connecting Palace and Dao essence generating on its own. Jiang Wang naturally had no worries about him, and so pressed his sword as he walked toward the room on the left.

This room...

Very small.

Upon entering, a wooden horse stood silently on the floor. This wooden horse was exceptionally delicate and smooth, clearly having absorbed no small amount of the maker's effort.

Not far from the wooden horse was a low table, scattered with small trinkets like slingshots and rattles.

And on the wall beside the low table, Jiang Wang saw the only decoration in this courtyard since he had stepped inside.

It was a small canvas, painted with clumsy, childish strokes, depicting three little figures.

Two slightly larger ones held the hand of a smaller one, running through a sea of flowers.

Behind the little figures, a small dog followed, its head wagging.

This had once been a complete home, an entire spring that had once bloomed here.

Jiang Wang forced himself to continue inward, until before the low, small bed, he saw the scattered, tattered cloth clothes.

His gaze rose, and so he naturally saw the last set of bones left behind by this family.

Small, slender, fragile, a lonely and helpless skeleton.

That was the sole remnant of a little girl, once treasured by her parents, left in this world.

He felt anger.

Uncontrollable, incomparably violent, anger.