Murong Qing

Murong Qing looked over the Heavenly Wolf Gang hall masters present, his gaze lofty and impatient. He casually waved a hand, telling them all to rise.

He had been cultivating just fine in Dragon City, only to suddenly be sent to a backwater like Linked Mountains City.

There were quite a few cities within the Murong Clan's sphere of influence. Some major cities truly had plenty to offer, but Linked Mountains City was clearly not one of them.

However, though Murong Qing was arrogant, he had every right to be.

He had entered the Sea Wheel Realm in his early thirties, while Jiang Kaitai had only reached the Qi Forging Realm after turning seventy.

Compared to Murong Qing, Jiang Kaitai's cultivation speed was slower than a snail's.

"Tell me, what exactly is going on with the blood sacrifice massacres in the city?"

Jiang Kaitai immediately recounted everything.

There had been four blood sacrifices in total. Before Murong Qing arrived, he had sacrificed two more wealthy households.

After he finished, Jiang Kaitai's eyes reddened. "This old man's only relatives were also slaughtered in a blood sacrifice by that fiend. It is only because this old man is too weak that I have never been able to catch that damned fiend. With Young Master Murong here today, we will certainly be able to capture him!"

Jiang Kaitai lowered his head, but inwardly, he had already cursed the Murong Clan a hundred times over.

He knew the Murong Clan's style, and he knew that they did not care much about a small city like Linked Mountains City.

By his estimation, it should have taken at least half a month to a month for the Murong Clan to receive word, after which they would slowly send someone over to investigate and resolve the matter.

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But only a few days had passed. How had the Murong Clan arrived so quickly?

Now that Murong Qing was here, he was practically under the Murong Clan's nose. The risk of conducting another blood sacrifice was dozens of times greater than before!

"So after all these days, four families wiped out and several hundred people dead, you still haven't even caught the slightest trace of the culprit?"

Murong Qing looked at Jiang Kaitai with undisguised contempt. "Trash! Utter trash!"

The many hall masters present watched their gang leader get berated viciously, yet none of them even dared breathe loudly.

Jiang Kaitai still kept his head lowered, his manner humble.

"This old man truly is useless. I can only rely on Young Master Murong to take action."

Murong Qing gave a soft snort. His fingers tapped against the armrest of his chair as he pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Bring me a map of Linked Mountains City. Then tell me the times of the blood sacrifices again, down to the exact hour."

Jiang Kaitai's body trembled slightly. After pausing for a moment, he immediately ordered someone to fetch a map.

"Of the four households that were exterminated, two were only discovered after daybreak. We can only estimate the time, not give an exact one."

Jiang Kaitai did not dare conceal anything and told him everything truthfully.

"It doesn't matter. Close enough will do."

Murong Qing glanced at the map and began calculating silently. After a long while, he suddenly let out a cold snort.

"I thought it was some demonic cultivator practicing an evil art, choosing a small place like Linked Mountains City to harvest the blood and vitality of living people.

"Who would have thought it was an Ancient Blood Sacrifice Formation connected to heaven and earth? Interesting, interesting. What is this person trying to accomplish by setting up a formation and carrying out blood sacrifices in a place like Linked Mountains City?"

Putting away the map, Murong Qing said directly, "The person behind these blood sacrifices may be setting up a formation, but he is clearly just following a formation diagram step by step. He is completely an amateur.

"With this kind of formation-based blood sacrifice, the time and location must follow the pattern set by the diagram. He lacks the ability to alter it, and he would not know how to alter it either. So he will definitely strike again.

"If I'm not mistaken, he will continue the blood sacrifice tomorrow night.

"Find someone familiar with Linked Mountains City's streets and terrain to follow me. Someone stronger, preferably. Don't end up unable to keep pace with me."

Chen Yuan was somewhat surprised.

Murong Qing might have been arrogant, but he truly had ability.

Judging by his manner, he was not only skilled in martial arts but also knew something of formations. He had immediately discovered the pattern behind the blood sacrifice massacres and deduced that the other party was using an ancient formation to conduct the sacrifices.

That made catching the culprit much easier.

Jiang Kaitai's mouth twitched slightly.

If the person sent here had been an incompetent fool, he could still have delayed and concealed things for a while.

He had not expected Murong Qing to appear arrogant and brainless while actually being quite capable. With one glance, he had seen through the true core of the blood sacrifices.

But just as Murong Qing had said, Jiang Kaitai did not understand something as advanced as formations.

He had only followed the diagram when carrying out the method of using blood sacrifices to forge a divine weapon. He had no idea how to alter it and did not dare make changes.

Even with Murong Qing here, he could only grit his teeth and continue the blood sacrifices.

Fortunately, he had quite a few death warriors under his command. Even if he had to pile up corpses with them, he could more or less force the blood sacrifice to completion.

"Eldest, go with Young Master Murong."

Jiang Kaitai had no intention of deliberately slowing Murong Qing down when it came to guiding him.

Linked Mountains City was only a small city. Murong Qing wanted someone to lead the way merely because he could not be bothered to memorize the map.

If Jiang Kaitai intentionally caused trouble over something like this, it would be easy to expose himself.

"Yes, Foster Father!"

Qin Yuancheng immediately perked up.

Being able to speak with a major figure from the Murong Clan and build a connection with him was something he had dreamed of.

"Third, you go with Murong Qing as well."

After a brief pause, Jiang Kaitai sent Chen Yuan along too.

He knew Qin Yuancheng's mouth well enough. The man spoke without thinking.

If Qin Yuancheng said something he should not and provoked Murong Qing, causing Murong Qing to deal with the Heavenly Wolf Gang first, that would be ridiculous.

Murong Qing rose to his feet and waved a hand. "All right, disperse. I've been traveling all day and I'm a little tired. Old Jiang, you know the rules of the Murong Clan, don't you?"

Jiang Kaitai hurriedly said, "Of course. The silver cups and gold bowls have already been prepared. I specifically invited the head chef from Virtue Gathering Tower to let you sample some of Linked Mountains City's specialties.

"The maidservants attending you are all virgins under eighteen, born to respectable families. They are absolutely clean."

"You old man know how to behave."

Murong Qing yawned and turned to leave under Jiang Kaitai's escort.

This royal descendant was nothing else if not lavish in his display.

Even the Great Xia imperial family likely did not put on as much pomp as he did.

However, while Murong Qing loved extravagance, he did not lower his guard after arriving in Linked Mountains City.

Shortly after nightfall, Murong Qing summoned Chen Yuan and Qin Yuancheng, preparing to ambush the person behind the blood sacrifices.

The three stood atop the tallest building in Linked Mountains City: the roof of the five-story Virtue Gathering Tower.

Night had only just fallen, and they could still vaguely make out the entirety of Linked Mountains City.

"It really is small. Such a tiny city is actually jointly controlled by two gangs. Truly laughable."

Murong Qing curled his lip, then suddenly turned around. "Your Heavenly Wolf Gang has my Murong Clan as its backer, yet after all these years, you still haven't swallowed up that Blackwater Gang. Your foster father is far too useless. Don't you think so?"

Qin Yuancheng was immediately at a loss for words.

How was he supposed to answer that?

If he called his foster father useless and Jiang Kaitai found out, he would be finished.

Yet he dared not argue with Murong Qing either.

Chen Yuan smiled. "It is precisely because the Murong Clan backs us that the Heavenly Wolf Gang has managed to avoid being swallowed by the Blackwater Gang. Everyone in the Heavenly Wolf Gang is grateful for the Murong Clan's protection."

"Hahaha! You know how to talk, kid."

Murong Qing pointed lightly at Chen Yuan, very pleased with his answer.

Qin Yuancheng looked at Chen Yuan with slight surprise.

Third Brother seemed to have become more and more eloquent lately.

Not only could he flatter his father-in-law, he could even sweet-talk members of the Murong Clan into such a good mood.

"Based on the pattern and timing of that man's blood sacrifices, I made some rough calculations last night. His next blood sacrifice will either be in the northwest or the southeast.

"Whenever he acts, he slaughters large households with many people. Clearly, he has a certain requirement for the number of victims.

"Are there any large households in those two directions?"

Chen Yuan looked at Qin Yuancheng, signaling for him to answer.

Chen Yuan truly did not know. The original plot had not mentioned it, nor did the memories from before his transmigration.

After all, the previous Chen Yuan had been a shut-in martial arts fanatic. He spent all day practicing in the gang and could not even recognize all the streets in Linked Mountains City.

Qin Yuancheng immediately became energized and quickly replied, "The most populous household in the northwest is Magistrate Hu's. His family runs the largest cloth business in the city, with over a hundred people.

"The largest household in the southeast is the Zhang family. They have several merchant caravans. Aside from their own family, the caravan stewards also live in the residence, so they have more than a hundred people as well."

"Point out their locations."

After clearly seeing the places Qin Yuancheng indicated, Murong Qing waved a hand and led Chen Yuan and Qin Yuancheng to keep watch atop a tall building between the two locations.

After arriving, Murong Qing directly sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes, true qi circulating around his body.

Chen Yuan could sense strands of surrounding aura being swept up by Murong Qing's true qi and carried into his body.

It should have been a secret art of detection and perception, capable of amplifying one's awareness of surrounding sounds and movements.

They waited like that for about an hour before Murong Qing suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint appearing within them.

"The northwest! Move!"

As soon as he spoke, Murong Qing moved. Like a great bird, he leaped down and shot toward the northwest.

What incredible speed!

Chen Yuan was slightly startled.

Coming from a great clan, Murong Qing certainly would not lack cultivation techniques. Whatever the quality of his lightness skill, he would definitely have practiced one.

Chen Yuan could not reveal his cultivation at this point, so he could only maintain his pace as best he could while trailing behind Murong Qing.

Qin Yuancheng was even more bedraggled, nearly unable to keep up.

At the same time, he was puzzled. Third Brother's cultivation was inferior to his, yet his speed was quite fast.

By the time Chen Yuan arrived, Murong Qing was already fighting the death warriors Jiang Kaitai had sent to carry out the blood sacrifice massacre.

There were only ten death warriors Jiang Kaitai had sent to wipe out the household. They must have used a sleeping drug, because all hundred-plus members of Magistrate Hu's family were deeply asleep, making it convenient to drain their blood one by one.

When Murong Qing arrived, more than ten people had already had several arterial vessels cut open to drain their blood.

Seeing Murong Qing approach, the death warriors neither hid nor fled. Instead, they silently attacked Murong Qing together.

Chen Yuan did not make a move. He merely stared intently at Murong Qing from the rear.

Even if Jiang Kaitai had not told Chen Yuan to follow Murong Qing yesterday, he would have found a way to stay by Murong Qing's side.

Before seizing the Seven Kill Stele, the more Chen Yuan learned about Murong Qing, the greater his chance of success would be when he acted.

Especially since Murong Qing was someone who had never appeared in the original plot, Chen Yuan needed to study him carefully.