Ambush

No abnormalities!

Shen Changqing frowned. Could his senses have been wrong?

As he pondered, he looked at the constable. "Keep a strict watch. There must not be the slightest slip-up. If even one person escapes, none of you will evade responsibility!"

"This subordinate understands!"

The man trembled and hurriedly lowered his head to accept the order.

Shen Changqing waved a hand, dismissing him.

Watching the constable's departing back, the ominous feeling in his heart not only failed to lessen, but grew ever stronger.

"Something's wrong!"

"There has to be a problem!"

Shen Changqing's brow furrowed deeply. Never before had he felt such an intense premonition.

That meant something bad might truly happen.

He stood where he was.

Shen Changqing sank into thought.

"Zhao Fang belongs to the Eternal Life Alliance. Now that the Zhao Family has been raided and exterminated, it isn't impossible for the Eternal Life Alliance to make some sort of move!"

"Moreover, I killed the demon of Ancient Moon Village, and Zhuang Mingyuan died by my hand as well. As an organization capable of tripping up Great Qin, the Eternal Life Alliance must possess considerable strength. Not to mention that demons stand behind the Eternal Life Alliance."

"No matter how one looked at it, the Eternal Life Alliance had no reason to stand idly by—"

After standing there for a long while, two words surfaced in Shen Changqing's mind once more: prison break!

The Eternal Life Alliance had been created by demons, its purpose being to divide the human race.

If no one had known at first that Zhao Fang was part of the Eternal Life Alliance, then when the Zhao Family was raided, some people would surely have learned the truth.

At this time.

If the Eternal Life Alliance made no move at all, it would undoubtedly be detrimental to its future development.

No matter what, the Eternal Life Alliance had to show its stance—a stance that could draw others into joining and put its own members at ease. Thus, the odds of them attempting a prison break before the Zhao Family's execution were not small at all.

Even if the prison break ultimately failed.

Others would still understand that when they got into trouble, the Eternal Life Alliance would not simply sit by and watch.

In that case, those demonized humans who had joined the Eternal Life Alliance would surely feel an even greater sense of belonging toward the organization.

"I'd like to see whether you have what it takes to break out of prison under my nose!"

Once he had more or less confirmed his guess, Shen Changqing headed toward the outer hall.

Since it was not far away.

He did not take long to arrive at the prison passageway. Hong Cheng and several other constables were holding torches and wearing sabers at their waists as they patrolled back and forth.

When they saw Shen Changqing arrive.

"My lord!"

Hong Cheng was first taken aback, but quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.

In the middle of the night.

He could not understand why Shen Changqing was not resting in the inner hall, but had come here instead.

"Has anything unusual happened?"

"This subordinate and the others have been conducting strict patrols. For the moment, we have discovered nothing out of the ordinary," Hong Cheng answered truthfully.

Hearing that.

Shen Changqing looked at the pitch-black passage below. That was the actual entrance to the prison. Since the prison was located beneath the yamen, one could only enter it by going down from there.

Of course.

One could also dig in from somewhere else to enter the prison, but the commotion would be far from small, and the difficulty was extraordinary.

That was because the prison was not built from ordinary stone.

When the prison had first been constructed, the imperial court had already considered that possibility and made corresponding precautions.

On this point.

Shen Changqing had also learned quite a bit after taking over the yamen.

After glancing at the entrance twice, his gaze fell upon Hong Cheng.

"From now on, I'll remain here on guard. All of you should return to your places. Do not come out lightly, no matter what sounds you hear."

"My lord means—"

Hong Cheng's expression turned solemn. Shen Changqing's words gave him a bad premonition.

Shen Changqing stroked the hilt of his saber. There was a faint smile on his face, but beneath the torchlight, it seemed somewhat cold and sinister.

"Something may come to break out of prison, but this is not something you should concern yourselves with."

If demons truly came to break out of prison, it would not be a simple matter.

Among the several constables, only Hong Cheng could be considered a Body Tempering Realm martial artist. Yet in Shen Changqing's eyes, his strength was pitifully weak.

Against demons.

Let alone the Body Tempering Realm, even those in the Meridian Unblocking Realm had no absolute certainty of dealing with them.

"Take care, my lord!"

Hong Cheng drew a deep breath. Shen Changqing's words instantly made him understand a few things. Knowing that remaining here would only hold Shen Changqing back, he immediately called the other constables away.

Very soon.

Only Shen Changqing remained at the prison entrance.

Moonlight shone down, dispersing some of the darkness as silence fell over the scene.

Time trickled away bit by bit.

The night watchman's clapper sounded from time to time.

Several hours passed, yet nothing happened.

At that.

Shen Changqing did not grow too impatient.

In his view, if demons came to break out of prison, he would stop them all. But if they did not come, then so be it. Peace and safety were best.

The wind blew.

It rustled the leaves, while the sounds of insects and birds abruptly vanished at that moment.

A faint, indistinct chill crept in from all directions, making goosebumps rise uncontrollably across one's skin.

They're here!

Shen Changqing's grip on his saber hilt tightened slightly, yet his expression remained calm as his eyes swept around like lightning.

Demons were formless and incorporeal.

Unless they took the initiative to reveal themselves, it was difficult to pinpoint their exact location.

Yet demons carried an inherent chill. Once they drew near, that sensation was almost impossible to conceal.

The current situation already showed that demons were nearby, but their exact location was impossible to know.

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

The howling wind had grown louder.

Within the shrieking wind, the cheerful laughter of children could faintly be heard. Yet when one listened carefully, it seemed instead like someone crying and cursing in rage.

Faced with such an eerie phenomenon.

Shen Changqing's mind did not waver in the slightest.

Not long after.

The scene before him abruptly changed. He discovered that at some unknown point, the yamen had become a ruined temple.

The doorframe leaned crookedly in every direction, and cobwebs covered the place.

An indistinct black shadow suddenly dropped down from above, causing Shen Changqing's hand around the saber to tighten once more.

When he looked carefully, he discovered that the black shadow was in fact the corpse of a hanged woman.

The woman's limbs were rigid, her hair hung loose, and her face had rotted beyond recognition. One eyeball was missing from its socket, leaving only hollow darkness behind, while maggots writhed in the other eye as it stared fixedly at him.

Before Shen Changqing could react.

He suddenly felt his neck tighten. A straw rope descended from the beam, intending to hang him up entirely.

Pure Yang true energy erupted.

Shen Changqing seized the straw rope in one hand and forcibly incinerated it.

At that moment.

A chilling aura surged from the depths of his heart. The female corpse began struggling violently, as though it were about to come back to life. Rotting flesh fell from its face with every struggle.

Seeing this.

The Pure Yang true energy in his dantian surged forth completely, instantly sweeping through his entire body. Shen Changqing gripped the saber hilt with one hand, and the instant the long saber left its sheath, it burst forth like blazing flames. The temperature around him rose sharply, dispersing every trace of that chill.

Boom—

The long saber slashed out, severing the female corpse in response. Black blood mixed with rotting organs spilled across the ground, while a piercing shriek rang out at the same time.

Shen Changqing only saw the scene before him distort. In the next instant, he had returned to the yamen.

A sizzling sound came from the saber blade coated in Pure Yang true energy, as though it were incinerating something. A familiar aura was already flowing into his body along the blade.