Human Elixir

Iron Horse Manor, rear courtyard, cellar.

On the left stood a large two-eared, three-legged cauldron, its ink-black surface carved with layers of bizarre and intricate patterns.

Inside the cauldron was a mass of thick, sticky blood slurry. Severed fingers and mutilated limbs could be seen within it, along with strange flowers and exotic herbs, giving off a bloody stench tinged with the scent of vegetation.

On the right stood an Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace. Its flames had already gone out, yet the scent of medicinal pills still lingered.

The cellar walls were covered in all manner of strange diagrams, enough to make one's hair stand on end.

"They were refining Human Elixirs."

A heavy gloom showed on Luo Dashan's face.

"Human Elixirs?"

Zhao Zhi glanced sideways at him.

Luo Dashan explained, "I once heard that some alchemists used people as the main ingredient, combining them with different medicinal herbs to refine pills. Those pills were called Human Elixirs. Refining Human Elixirs is exceedingly cruel, a violation of Heaven's way. I never thought Iron Horse Manor would commit something so utterly frenzied and heartless. Wang Cuihua's son has most likely already become part of a Human Elixir."

"Human Elixirs."

Zhao Zhi carefully examined the great cauldron, the alchemy furnace, and the intricate patterns on the cellar walls. The patterns carried an uncanny air and a faint, elusive force—there and not there—that made even Zhao Zhi feel an inexplicable chill.

The Zhao Family guards had been in an abnormal state. They must have consumed Human Elixirs.

The manor lord, Lu Yuanshan, the second manor lord, Lu Yuanqing, and the chief steward, Yuan Suwang, had yet to consume any Human Elixirs.

Their condition had been entirely normal, unlike the guards' strange state.

If that was the case—

There was still one person missing from Iron Horse Manor.

The alchemist who refined the Human Elixirs.

After dealing with Chen Qingzhi, Zhao Zhi had swiftly returned to Iron Horse Manor. Using forceful means, he suppressed the entire manor and searched through it, yet he had found no suspicious person.

The other party had likely been secretly watching Lu Yuanshan and Lu Yuanqing as well.

Once the two died, the person had chosen to flee.

"Who's there?!"

Zhao Zhi suddenly shouted, narrowing his eyes as he warily scanned his surroundings.

"Zhao Zhi?" Luo Dashan also became alert. "Someone's here?"

"I can't say."

Zhao Zhi recalled the sensation from just now and spoke softly.

A person?

Just moments ago, he had inexplicably felt a chill sweep over him. It had come with astonishing speed and extreme concealment, directly triggering his body's instinctive response.

"Brother Luo, go back up first."

"Alright. Be careful."

Luo Dashan knew full well how weak he was. Staying here would only make him a burden. He quickly climbed out along the ladder at one side of the cellar.

The spacious, silent cellar was left with Zhao Zhi alone.

The dim, quiet cellar held neither wind nor sound. Only the two-eared, three-legged cauldron emitted that eerie bloody scent of grass and wood.

Zhao Zhi circulated the Innate Unity Qi Technique, his dense inner qi slowly flowing through his meridians. The Diamond Force at perfected mastery operated on its own, its wrathful Vajra strength spreading into his limbs and bones. His left hand rested upon his constable's saber, while his thumb slowly pushed the guard. A streak of cold light gradually blossomed in the gloom.

An inexplicable, eerie chill kept surging into the cellar from all directions, biting and swallowing at Zhao Zhi like venomous snakes.

Suddenly.

Zhao Zhi gripped the hilt and drew his saber in one swift motion, sweeping it out.

The bright silver saber light was like a bolt of lightning from beyond the nine heavens, tearing through the dark vault of the sky and ripping open a gap in this silent, eerie cellar.

The saber strike flew out, yet struck nothing.

Zhao Zhi still gripped his constable's saber tightly, his sharp gaze sweeping across the cellar as he carefully observed everything.

The invisible chill slowly faded away.

The cellar returned to its silent stillness, only now the all-pervading eerie aura was gone.

Zhao Zhi slowly sheathed his constable's saber, cast a deep glance at the two-eared, three-legged cauldron, and walked toward the stairs.

The next moment.

He drew his constable's saber with thunderbolt speed, pouring all his boundless inner qi into it as he viciously slashed toward the great cauldron.

The strike, imbued with surging inner qi, spat out waves of cold light. It became a saber gleam that flickered in and out of sight as it smashed heavily into the two-eared, three-legged cauldron.

Clang.

A sound like a great bell and a mighty chime filled the entire cellar, making it tremble slightly. Countless grains of dust and sand pattered down, billowing through the air.

With a bang, the two-eared, three-legged cauldron exploded at once. Chunks of metal shot in all directions, easily embedding themselves into the cellar walls. Several metal fragments struck the Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace with booming thuds, shattering the tall furnace and knocking it to the ground.

The bloody slurry and severed limbs within the cauldron gushed out with a rush, and the eerie bloody scent of vegetation swiftly filled the cellar.

Zhao Zhi looked at the human remains in the slurry, a cold gleam turning in his eyes as he left the cellar.

Those in charge of Iron Horse Manor were all dead.

The cellar where the Human Elixirs had been refined had been discovered, and the townspeople whom Iron Horse Manor had claimed were dead had, in a sense, been found as well.

Only the alchemist who had refined the Human Elixirs was missing.

Iron Horse Manor's matter had been resolved, yet Wang Cuihua's petition had not been fulfilled. They had not found her son's intact corpse, nor did they even know whether any of the mutilated remains contained part of her son.

To spare Wang Cuihua further grief, Luo Dashan could only tell her what Lu Yuanshan, the first manor lord, had said at the time and give her one hundred taels as consolation.

Though she had lost her son, one hundred taels would be enough for Wang Cuihua to live out her later years in peace.

So long as she was careful.

Since only the two constables, Zhao Zhi and Luo Dashan, along with Wang Cuihua, an ordinary commoner, had come to Iron Horse Manor, after they killed the first manor lord, the second manor lord, the chief steward, and the guards, there were still two to three hundred people living in Iron Horse Manor.

Not all of them were evil. Some did not know about the refining of Human Elixirs at all, nor did they know what had happened at Iron Horse Manor.

Therefore.

After a brief discussion, Zhao Zhi and Luo Dashan merely intimidated the remaining people of Iron Horse Manor before taking Wang Cuihua back to Qingfeng County.

Once they returned to the county seat, they would report Iron Horse Manor's affairs to County Magistrate Lu Guangyi and let the magistrate decide what to do.

Naturally.

Luo Dashan would handle the report. Zhao Zhi had no wish to come into contact with County Magistrate Lu Guangyi.

Ever since that night when Zhao Zhi killed Lu Guangyi's brother-in-law, Li Qingchang, he had never had any contact with Magistrate Lu again.

At dusk.

The gates of Qingfeng County were about to close.

Only then did Zhao Zhi, Luo Dashan, and Wang Cuihua rush back in haste.

The moment the three stepped into the county seat, someone immediately reported the matter to County Magistrate Lu Guangyi.

"They're back?" Lu Guangyi's face darkened.

"Yes."

Lu Guangyi asked, "Is there any news of Constable Chen?"

"No." The constable who had come to report said, "This subordinate has been waiting near the city gate. I only saw Zhao Zhi and Luo Dashan return. Constable Chen was nowhere in sight."

With his hands behind his back, Lu Guangyi lowered his head and knitted his brows as he paced back and forth, his face full of gloom.

Zhao Zhi and Luo Dashan had returned.

Yet Chen Qingzhi had not appeared.

Could it be—

They had all died at Iron Horse Manor?

Impossible.

How could Zhao Zhi alone possibly kill everyone in Iron Horse Manor? Besides, Chen Qingzhi was cautious in his actions. He could not have so easily died at Iron Horse Manor.

There had to be a problem.

Tomorrow was the day they would campaign against Flying Cloud Stronghold. Nothing could go wrong.

Lu Guangyi stopped pacing and looked at the reporting constable. "You. Go to Iron Horse Manor immediately and investigate the situation."

The reporting constable froze. "My lord, the city gates are closed now."

Lu Guangyi quickly wrote a passage on the table, stamped it with the county magistrate's seal, and handed it to the reporting constable. "Take this. You'll be able to leave."

"Yes, my lord."

The reporting constable accepted it and was about to leave.

"My lord." A constable in blue appeared outside the door. "Luo Dashan wishes to see you."