The Whole Family Exterminated

"The events of last night are specifically related to the Blood Demon Cult."

Du Cangying's tone was calm. "You should all know the Ye Family. In the outer city of Qingbei Town, the Ye Family is considered a top merchant family."

"That much is clear."

One of the true disciples nodded. This disciple was tall and slender, with a gaunt frame, standing like a bamboo pole. "I've escorted a shipment for the Ye Family before, escorting their caravan to Shagou Town once."

"The Ye Family's old patriarch, Ye Fang, is ninety-eight years old this year,"

Du Cangying said slowly. "While Ye Fang has considerable business talent, his martial arts talent is quite ordinary. Despite spending a lot of money, he hasn't achieved much, only reaching the Transforming Force stage and no further."

"Therefore."

"At ninety-eight years old, he's practically in the grave and doesn't have much time left to live."

"However."

"Ye Fang, that old fellow, doesn't want to die. About half a year ago, the Blood Demon Desire Woman from the Blood Demon Cult found Ye Fang and tricked him, claiming she could refine a pill that would extend his lifespan by ten years."

"The result, as you can imagine."

Du Cangying shrugged. "Ye Fang was deceived by the Blood Demon Desire Woman. Not only did she not refine any pills, but she also used the Ye Family's influence to cover her tracks, poisoning the populace within the city and refining a blood pool. Using the blood pool, she created many Corpse Ghouls, corpse monsters, and even Zombies."

"Last night."

"The Ye Family's affairs were exposed. The Yamen's Demon Extermination Agency and the entire Yamen Agency mobilized, with the assistance of the outer city's gangs, martial arts schools, and escort agencies."

"In just one night."

"All the unrest was suppressed."

"That's how the matter unfolded."

"So that's how it was."

"It's actually related to the Ye Family."

"..."

The crowd began to murmur softly.

Xu Qing also fell into thought. He was quite curious why his Master knew so much, which struck him as odd.

In fact.

Xu Qing didn't know.

The Ye Family was, after all, just a wealthy merchant family in the outer city. The Yamen Agency and the Demon Extermination Agency had already thoroughly investigated the matter over a month ago.

Furthermore.

Azure Hawk Martial Arts School, Crushing Stone Martial Arts School, and Crimson Eagle Martial Arts School were the three major martial powerhouses in the outer city, and they naturally had their own intelligence channels, having already understood the entire sequence of events.

However.

Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohe had intended to let the situation escalate. Once it grew large enough, they would step in to suppress it, thereby gaining more merit.

Unfortunately.

Things did not go as planned.

At the crucial moment.

Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohe never expected that someone from the Blood Demon Cult would value righteousness over life. Fan Liang, in order to allow the Blood Demon Desire Woman to escape, self-detonated the Golden Armored Corpse King, and simultaneously used his own life to delay Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohe.

As a result.

Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohe allowed the Blood Demon Desire Woman to escape.

The true mastermind was not apprehended.

Moreover.

If they had captured the Blood Demon Desire Woman, they would have had the opportunity to interrogate her for intelligence on the Blood Demon Cult. If they had indeed extracted information, it would have been a great accomplishment.

"Blood Demon Cult."

Xu Qing mused, hearing the name of this demonic cult again.

"Master."

At this moment.

One of the true disciples, carrying a broadsword on his back, looked up and suddenly asked Du Cangying, "Do you know of Lü Dongbin?"

"Lü Dongbin?"

Du Cangying glanced at his third disciple. "Are you referring to the Sword Techniques master who appeared last night?"

"Yes."

This true disciple nodded.

"Your Master has not heard of him."

Du Cangying shook his head and pondered for a moment before saying, "However, based on some circulating rumors, the Sword Techniques used by this person should be the 'Thirteen Sword Strikes of Life-Taking'."

"Thirteen Sword Strikes of Life-Taking."

The true disciple pondered.

"That's right."

Du Cangying nodded. "Furthermore, the opponent's strength should have reached the Transforming Force level, not much different from yours. If you have the chance to meet him, you can indeed spar with him. It will be very beneficial for the improvement of your sword techniques and cultivation."

"Yes, Master."

The true disciple nodded.

"..."

Xu Qing had been standing by the side, listening to Du Cangying and the true disciples' conversation. Especially when they mentioned 'Lü Dongbin,' Xu Qing felt a slight tension.

Fortunately.

Du Cangying had only deduced the sword technique Xu Qing used. With just this, he couldn't confirm anything yet, nor did he have to worry about anyone suspecting him.

One should know.

The Thirteen Sword Strikes of Life-Taking was not a sword technique exclusive to the Azure Hawk Martial Arts School. In fact, other martial arts schools, especially those that primarily taught sword techniques, also had the Thirteen Sword Strikes of Life-Taking.

"Don't get involved in what happened last night."

Du Cangying reminded them in the end. "Moreover, this matter should be over now. Only the Ye Family will likely be executed by the Yamen."

"Colluding with the Demonic Cult naturally leads to no good outcome."

"Yes."

"Understood."

"We will follow Master's orders."

"..."

The six true disciples nodded.

"Xu Qing."

Du Cangying looked up.

"Master."

Xu Qing cupped his fists in a salute.

"Come over and get acquainted with your Senior Brothers."

Du Cangying said.

"Yes."

Xu Qing replied.

Time flew by.

Around noon.

Xu Qing finally left the Azure Hawk Martial Arts School. He had spent the entire morning there, getting to know the six true disciples of the Azure Hawk Martial Arts School.

Besides Senior Disciple Brother Huo Yi and Second Senior Sister Du Luan.

There was also the Third Senior Brother Xiao Feng, who carried a broadsword and wanted to spar with 'Lü Dongbin'; the Fourth Senior Brother Zhu Bihe, who was tall and slender, like a bamboo pole; and the Fifth Senior Brother Jin Hong, who was as fat as a pig, with a kind smile but was actually insidious.

Finally.

There was the cute Sixth Senior Sister Pang Yunyun with her bun-shaped face.

"Did you hear? The reason why what happened last night occurred was because people from the Ye Family colluded with the demonic cult's fiends, causing them to refine so many zombies within the city."

"This Ye Family is truly detestable."

"Yes! Yes!"

"The Ye Family is truly rich but wicked."

"The Yamen has already reached a verdict. They've sentenced the entire Ye Family to execution, not sparing a single one."

"Good, good, good."

"A just sentence! A just sentence!"

"The Ye Family deserves to die."

"My son was bitten to death by those monsters!"

"And my daughter."

"My father too..."

At this moment.

Outside the outer city of Qingbei Town.

The Yamen had already released the news, and it spread like wildfire. The entire outer city of Qingbei Town was basically aware of it.

Finally.

The Yamen constables were dispatched, all of the Ye Family's businesses were sealed, all their gold and silver treasures were confiscated, and relatives and friends connected to the Ye Family were basically all arrested.

Among them.

Included the Ye family's eldest young master, Ye Yi.

Evening.

Xu Qing met Zhao Jingyuan.

Of course.

Yu Chen was also there.

However.

They weren't meeting at Kaiyuan Tower this time, but at the second largest restaurant in the outer city, the Lai Ke Tower. They sat together, eating meat, drinking wine, and conversing.

"I was scared to death last night."

Yu Chen took a sip of wine, his face already flushed. "That Ye family is truly sick. They've already earned so much money, and they're the foremost wealthy merchant family in the outer city, yet they colluded with the Demonic Cult and caused such a great disaster."

"Many people died last night."

"If I hadn't dug an underground cellar at home, my whole family would have been in trouble."

"Indeed!"

Zhao Jingyuan shook his head and sighed. "The Ye family is now facing a downfall, with everyone kicking them while they're down. Old Master Ye died, and his body couldn't even be found. All the young masters of the Ye family have become prisoners. After the county magistrate concludes his investigation, they will all be executed tomorrow at noon."

"The entire Ye family was arrested?"

Xu Qing asked.

"The Ye family's third young master, Ye Langtian, hasn't been caught yet. He received news beforehand and no one knows where he escaped to," Zhao Jingyuan said.

"Is that so?"

Xu Qing nodded and didn't say anything more.

However.

Zhao Jingyuan was a minor constable captain at the Yamen, and he was already a Dark Force martial artist. Although his status wasn't high, he wasn't at the bottom, so he could still gather quite a bit of information from Zhao Jingyuan's words.

"By the way."

Zhao Jingyuan suddenly lowered his head and whispered to Xu Qing and Yu Chen, "I'll tell you a piece of gossip. I heard that the two supreme leaders of the Yamen Agency and the Demon Extermination Agency are very unhappy and have flown into a rage. Several leaders and squad leaders were scolded quite severely."

"It seems to be because a certain mastermind escaped."

"Is that true or not?"

Yu Chen's eyes widened.

"I don't know!"

Zhao Jingyuan shrugged. "It's just gossip I heard."

"Escaped."

Xu Qing mused, his tone quite speechless. "The mastermind managed to escape like this?"

Evening.

Outside Qingbei Town.

White Dwarf Mountain.

At the foot of the mountain.

The view zoomed in.

Two figures could be seen standing facing each other. If Xu Qing were here, he would recognize these two figures as Ye Langtian and Fifth Senior Brother Jin Hong.

Plop!

Ye Langtian knelt on the ground.

"Thank you, Fifth Senior Brother, for saving my life."

Ye Langtian knelt and kowtowed to Jin Hong. His eyes were already red, indicating he had been crying, but his expression became even more resolute.

"There's no need to thank me."

Jin Hong shook his head and said, "This is Master's order. Master, with his old man's abilities, can only protect you to this extent."

"The supreme leader of the Demon Extermination Agency, Bu Wuyun, and the supreme leader of the Yamen Agency, Wei Wohe, are both existences of Innate Gang Qi. There are probably very few people in Qingbei Town who can stop what they intend to do."

"Since you have already been accepted into the Azure Hawk Martial Arts School, the Azure Hawk Martial Arts School will naturally try its best to protect you. However, today's matter is of great importance, and Master can only find a way to secretly help you leave the city."

"From now on."

"You should not return to Qingbei Town."

"Your disciple obeys."

Ye Langtian kowtowed again.

"Let's go."

Jin Hong waved his hand.

"Yes."

Ye Langtian got up. He carried a simple pack. Originally, he was a young master from a wealthy merchant family with decent martial arts talent.

But now.

Ye Langtian had become a wanted criminal everyone wanted to catch, a homeless wanderer. And this entire transformation happened within a single day.