Dispatching the Escort Again

The sun gradually disappeared beyond the horizon.

South District Rag Alley.

Three burly men in black short jackets, short blades tucked at their waists, were knocking from door to door.

After a burst of shouting and beating, the men slowly left.

"Brother Blade, those evil spirits they mentioned... they can't be real, can they?!" one of them asked, his voice carrying a trace of fear.

"Shut up! Mention evil spirits again, and I'll cut out your tongue!" the leader barked.

He was extraordinarily burly, his temples bulging high and the veins on his neck standing out starkly.

He was Brother Blade.

The man who had been scolded immediately lowered his head, not daring to speak again.

Brother Blade snorted and continued deeper into the alley.

Ever since his younger brother had died under strange circumstances, he had been searching for the killer.

Yet he had found nothing.

Instead, the rumors of evil spirits in the city had only grown fiercer and fiercer.

Naturally, he did not believe evil spirits existed in this world.

So he had taken the lead in investigating everywhere, determined to drag out whoever was playing god and pretending to be ghosts.

But more and more members of the gang had died, while they still could not find a single clue.

Brother Blade had begun to feel a faint pressure as well.

Could it really be...

The instant that thought arose, Brother Blade hurriedly crushed it.

"No, impossible! There are no evil spirits in this world!"

Suddenly, he heard some movement behind him.

"Who's there!"

Brother Blade shouted.

But when he turned around, there was nothing there.

"Hmph, playing god and pretending to be ghosts!"

Brother Blade gripped his blade and walked over.

The other two hesitated for a moment, then followed him.

The alley ahead was extremely dark, making it difficult to see anything clearly.

When the three reached the corner, they found nothing.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a scream rang out!

Brother Blade spun around and abruptly realized that one person was missing!

"Where is he?!"

The two looked around, but found nothing at all!

Cold sweat began to seep from Brother Blade's forehead.

The other man's teeth chattered as he said, "Brother Blade, it must be an evil spirit... the evil spirit has come!"

Brother Blade said nothing.

Even the hand gripping his blade had begun to tremble.

Suddenly, the man's eyes widened further and further. With a face full of terror, he pointed behind Brother Blade.

"B-Blade... B-Blade... B-Blade..."

Brother Blade snapped angrily, "Blade what blade?!"

Suddenly, he felt an enormous palm gently cover his head.

His muscles instantly tensed, his Qi-Blood surged at high speed, and he turned to slash with his blade.

But it was as though something had blocked the blade. It would not cut down no matter what.

He looked up.

A face with blue-green skin and vicious fangs stared at him from close range, its eyes glowing with an eerie green light.

Its mouth hung open, saliva streaming endlessly down its yellowed fangs.

Brother Blade could even smell the overpowering stench pouring from its mouth.

Bang!

The sound of a watermelon bursting rang out in an instant.

Brother Blade's headless body dropped limply to its knees.

"D-Don't... don't come closer..."

The other man was so frightened that he wet himself. He wanted to run, but discovered that his legs would not obey him at all!

Bang!

The sound of a watermelon bursting rang out once more.

Rip—

From the pitch-black alley came wave after wave of nauseating tearing, biting, and chewing sounds.

Outside the city.

The rice fields near the city walls had already ripened.

Plump, golden grains of rice weighed the stalks down low.

A gust of wind passed by, and several yellowing leaves drifted slowly down onto the broad, level official road.

In the blink of an eye, hooves trampled over them, producing a clopping sound.

A convoy of carriages and horses was moving slowly along the official road.

On the spacious carriage in the middle stood a yellow cloth banner bearing the two words "Zhenyuan."

At the very front of the convoy were two men riding tall horses.

The man on the left wore a gray fitted outfit. He was a little over forty and sturdily built.

He had a square face, a beard covering his cheeks, and bright, sharp eyes fixed on the distance.

The young man riding a white horse on the right wore a black fitted outfit, his long hair tied in a high ponytail. He was handsome and refined.

They were Sun Yong and Jiang Che.

A month had passed, and Jiang Che had once again received an escort assignment to Hengsha City.

Since the escort agency had acknowledged Jiang Che's strength, it had also given him a horse.

At first, Jiang Che was not very good at riding.

But after using Flow State, he gradually adapted to it.

Besides, they were riding slowly, so it was not especially difficult.

Before setting out, Jiang Che had gone to Zhang Xiong and asked for some more poison, just in case.

This time, Jiang Che had wanted to pay him some silver, but Zhang Xiong refused to accept it no matter what, so Jiang Che could only let it go.

Jiang Che felt grateful, though he could only sigh at how the favors he owed Zhang Xiong were growing ever greater.

Suddenly, the horses grew restless.

Jiang Che focused his gaze and saw a black wolf about half a person tall run out of the forest ahead, black smoke rising from its entire body.

"It's a Black Beast!" Sun Yong shouted.

This was already the fourth Black Beast they had encountered on the road.

The two swiftly dismounted.

Sun Yong let out a fierce roar. His skin rapidly reddened, his body gradually swelled, and then he charged forward.

Jiang Che also launched an attack from the side.

The two had already grown adept at working together, and in just a few moves, they killed the Black Beast.

"Another Ox-Hide Realm one. No Black Crystal."

Sun Yong shook his head.

The previous three Black Beasts they had encountered had all been in the Ox-Hide Realm.

There had been a pig-shaped Black Beast, a bird-shaped Black Beast, and a rat-shaped Black Beast.

That rat-shaped Black Beast had been as large as a small dog. Though it was not very powerful, it was extremely nimble.

The two had spent quite a while before finally catching and killing it.

But Ox-Hide Realm Black Beasts had no Black Crystals, and their meat could not be eaten either. They were practically useless.

The two tossed the corpse aside, mounted their horses, and continued onward.

"Why have we run into so many Black Beasts this time?" Jiang Che asked curiously.

"I don't know either." Sun Yong shook his head.

"Normally, we only encounter a Black Beast once every ten trips or so. This time, we've encountered four in a row. It's truly strange. Fortunately, they're all only Ox-Hide Realm ones, so they aren't difficult to deal with."

"Where do these Black Beasts come from?" Jiang Che asked.

"I don't know much either. I heard that they normally live in the mountains. Unless they have nothing to eat, they rarely come down. They also hate sunlight and usually only come out at night."

"So if one wants to capture Black Beast Cubs, they can only go into the mountains?" Jiang Che recalled how Exotic Beasts were raised and asked.

"That's right. The mountains are perilous beyond measure. If you aren't careful, you might run into a whole pack of Black Beasts, so at least ten Martial Artists need to travel together before anyone dares go up there each time." Sun Yong sighed.

"So that's how it is."

Only then did Jiang Che understand why even low-grade Exotic Beast Meat sold for such a high price.

Though Ox-Hide Realm Black Beasts were easy to defeat, finding their cubs was exceedingly difficult.

"Now that the Black Beasts are behaving so strangely, I'm afraid it might be..." Sun Yong suddenly said.

"What might it be?" Jiang Che asked curiously.

"I heard it from the elders in my family." Sun Yong sank into recollection. "They say that a hundred years ago, the Black Beasts rioted once. They smashed through the city walls and devoured people on sight. Several million people died because of it!"

"That actually happened?!" Jiang Che was somewhat shocked.

"Still, it may not be true. The elder in my family heard it from elsewhere too. After all, he hadn't even been born a hundred years ago." Sun Yong laughed.

Jiang Che did not ask any further questions.

Yet he vaguely felt uneasy.

"People are disappearing in large numbers inside the city, the Green-Eyed Monster has appeared, Black Beasts outside the city have inexplicably increased, and there is that mysterious Li Estate..."

Jiang Che felt that all of this seemed connected somehow, but he had no clue what exactly was going on.

On the third day, the convoy finally arrived at Hengsha City.

Looking at the familiar city gate, Jiang Che felt slightly nervous.

What had happened at Li Estate last time had placed enormous pressure on him.

His parents were very likely there, yet he could do nothing about it. That made him feel deeply anxious as well.

But he also knew that he was still far too weak. He did not yet have the ability to investigate, so he could only restrain himself as best he could.