Citywide Search

With the Trace Concealment Talisman to hide his form and cover his tracks, and taking the retreat route the Sun Family had specially arranged, Liang Zhaohuang slipped along smoothly and reached the foot of Beast Soul Mountain.

"Thieves!" Just then, a startled cry suddenly rang out from the mountaintop, spreading in every direction.

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Commoner's Alliance had finally discovered something wrong inside Beast Soul Hall—the Storage Bags of the Sun Family's Foundation Establishment cultivators were all gone!

It was obvious thieves had struck.

"Change the formation! Turn the whole mountain upside down if you have to, but find that little thief for me!"

From the other side came Chen Yang's command, filled with coldness and fury.

The next moment, Liang Zhaohuang saw a formation disk fly up from the mountain, shooting straight into the center of the crimson light barrier in the sky.

"Cry!"

With the call of a bird, the light-shadow of a flying bird made of flame flew out of the formation disk and plunged directly into the crimson light barrier overhead. The flaming bird flapped its fiery wings, and great sheets of flame flew out, turning into flaming birds the size of fists that rushed along the crimson light curtain in every direction, spreading outward.

"Not good!"

Seeing this, Liang Zhaohuang no longer cared about hiding his form, covering his tracks, or sneaking along. He directly swept out a beam of Five Elements Restriction-Breaking Spiritual Light, tearing a crack in the crimson light curtain before those flaming birds rushed over.

Then his body sprang forward, passing straight through the crack and fleeing.

"Another one found! There are fluctuations in the formation on the east side!"

"On the east side!"

Cries of alarm rang out across Beast Soul Mountain. Several figures immediately flew over, seeing the crack in the crimson light curtain that had not yet fully closed.

The ones in the lead were none other than Chen Yang and Zhu Yuqing.

Looking at the crack in the light curtain, the two wore different expressions. Chen Yang was full of fury, while Zhu Yuqing seemed lost in thought.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind—someone actually dares snatch food from the tiger's mouth!" Chen Yang said furiously. "Open the formation! Chase him down!"

Hearing this, a man behind him immediately raised his hand and sent a formation art toward the formation disk in the sky. The formation disk spun, and a ray of crimson light flew over and sank into the crack in the light curtain. At once, the closing crack stopped, then gradually widened, forming a gateway.

Chen Yang led the others charging out through the gateway, about to search for the thief's shadow.

"Whoosh! Crack!"

Right then, on the other side of Ludong County City, in the direction of Fine Grain Ward, a beam of spiritual light suddenly shot into the sky and exploded in the night, like the blazing sun hanging overhead.

When Chen Yang saw it, he immediately stopped, his expression dark and ugly. "Retreat signal!"

"Damn little thief! Don't let me find out who you are!" Chen Yang roared into the night. Then he turned to the people behind him and said, "Pack up. Withdraw!"

At this moment, Liang Zhaohuang was controlling the Green Lotus and fleeing at high speed. Suddenly, he saw a beam of spiritual light shoot into the sky from the direction of Fine Grain Ward and explode. Those Commoner's Alliance men pursuing him from behind actually retreated straight away.

The sudden change left him a little dazed. Then he made a guess. "Could it be that Fine Grain Ward was the Commoner's Alliance's main target in this operation?"

That guess startled him.

One had to know that Fine Grain Ward was the residence of the seventh-rank county magnate, the Black Thorn Lin Family. They were the strongest family in Ludong County, and the Lin Family patriarch, Lin Changdao, also held the position of seventh-rank county magistrate of Ludong County!

"Could the Lin Family have been exterminated too?"

The more he guessed, the more alarmed he became. Liang Zhaohuang did not dare linger any longer. He flew and slipped along the whole way back to East Market, returning to Five Talisman Hall.

The cultivators of the Commoner's Alliance were withdrawing from the county city one after another. At this moment, the city was actually safer. If he fled out of the county city and returned to Liangyuan Village, who knew whether he might run into retreating Commoner's Alliance cultivators in the wilderness?

Not long after Liang Zhaohuang returned to Five Talisman Hall, in Jin Guan Ward at the center of the county city, the city-protecting formation that had previously withdrawn appeared again and expanded, spreading out to envelop the entire city.

By now, the eastern sky had gradually brightened. After a night of chaos, dawn was about to arrive.

At the hour of Chen, a Flying Boat came from the west of Ludong County and landed in the county city. Several dozen cultivators walked down from it and entered the county yamen. Half an hour later, a citywide search began!

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

When the door of Five Talisman Hall was knocked on, Liang Zhaohuang had just hidden away the Storage Bags he had obtained last night.

These Storage Bags obtained from the Sun Family were basically all sealed by Restrictions. Later, he would still need time to open them one by one and carefully sort through the gains inside.

When he heard the knocking, he hurried over and opened the door. Six people stood outside: a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the lead, with five Qi Refining cultivators following behind him.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator in the lead was a young man with a somewhat pale face. Liang Zhaohuang did not recognize him.

Among the Qi Refining cultivators following behind, however, there was one Liang Zhaohuang did recognize. He was usually one of the personnel responsible for tax collection and management in East Market, a descendant of the county's ninth-rank county magnate, the Ling Ye Talisman Ye Family.

The other party recognized him as well, and now stepped forward directly. "Liang Zhaohuang, this is a lord from the prefecture's Prefectural Guard. He is responsible for searching the whole city and arresting those rebels who attacked the city last night!"

"Now we need to search..."

But before he could finish speaking, the Foundation Establishment cultivator in the lead stopped him.

He stepped forward and stared carefully at Liang Zhaohuang. "Foundation Establishment cultivator?"

He had clearly discovered that Liang Zhaohuang had already reached Foundation Establishment.

"I only established my foundation recently," Liang Zhaohuang said, not hiding it either. He nodded. "I was using the spiritual energy in the county city to stabilize my cultivation."

The pale-faced Foundation Establishment man nodded slightly, then suddenly turned to the Ye Family descendant and asked, "You know him? You can confirm his identity?"

The Ye Family descendant clearly had not expected Liang Zhaohuang to have already reached Foundation Establishment and was still somewhat shocked and dazed. Hearing the question now, he nodded almost instinctively. "I know him! He's a Liang Family descendant from Liangyuan Village, called Liang Zhaohuang!"

"Liangyuan Village!" The man raised his head slightly, as if thinking of something. Then he suddenly looked at Liang Zhaohuang and asked, "What is your relationship with Wang Hui of the Crimson Cauldron Wang Family?"

"I'm his younger male cousin," Liang Zhaohuang replied.

The man nodded slightly, a faint smile appearing on his face. "I didn't expect that brat Wang Hui's cousin to have actually reached Foundation Establishment! Looks like that kid is about to turn his fortunes around!"

As he spoke, he looked at Liang Zhaohuang and said, "My name is Zhou Yiping. Since you're Wang Hui's cousin, there's no need to search you. I trust that brat Wang Hui's maternal relatives wouldn't collude with those rebels from the Commoner's Alliance!"

Hearing this, Liang Zhaohuang hurriedly thanked him, and firmly stated that the Liang Family had absolutely no connection to those rebels who had thrown the county town into chaos.

"Since Fellow Daoist Liang has already reached Foundation Establishment, then at noon today, the Prefectural Commandant and Lord Minor Rectifier will be summoning the various families to the county yamen to discuss matters. When the time comes, you should come take part as well."

Before leaving, Zhou Yiping gave Liang Zhaohuang this reminder.

When Liang Zhaohuang heard it, his eyes could not help lighting up. He hurriedly bowed in thanks and said, "Many thanks, Brother Zhou!"

By then, Zhou Yiping had already turned and headed toward the next shop. Hearing him, he merely waved a hand without speaking.

That Ye Family disciple had already knocked open the door of the next shop. This time, that shop was not so lucky. Zhou Yiping took the lead, bringing the people from the Prefectural Guard straight into the shop and beginning their search.

Heartfelt thanks to book friend "Suhe1019" for the tip and support!

Heartfelt thanks to book friend "W乂F" for the tip and support!

New book on the road—begging for all support!