Clear River Crossing
When news of Song Yuanshan's escape reached the Four Symbols Sect, the Four Symbols Sect immediately issued a mission to cooperate with the Demon Suppressing Guard to capture members of the Song Family.
The Song Family will most likely pass through three places when they escape: Coiling Snake Ridge, White Ridge Pass, and Clear River Ferry.
After the mission was issued, many disciples accepted the assignments at Coiling Snake Ridge and White Ridge Pass, and set off with their orders.
At this moment, Ye An received the same mysterious letter as before, with the same handwriting as the anonymous letter that caused the conflict Lin and Song Families.
The inscription read, "Song Yuanshan will likely be met by Dharma protectors when he Clear River Crossing..."
Ye An carefully considered the information in the letter. The information given in the previous letter was largely the same, but who exactly was it?
Ye An didn't realize that he had such special connections.
Ye An put the letter in his pocket and decided to go to Clear River Crossing.
Given the choice between the three options, Ye An would have chosen Clear River Ferry even without the letter.
As long as he doesn't encounter the Gathering Essence Monster, Ye An is confident he can escape.
Meanwhile, in Cangwu Prefectural City.
After news of the Song Family's misfortune spread, there were many more soldiers patrolling the streets, and the government issued a curfew.
Many members of the Song Family were arrested and imprisoned in the dungeon, where they were interrogated one by one to eliminate their criminal records.
The commotion was so great that it even uncovered many martial artists who had hidden their identities and lived in seclusion in the town.
The Liu Lineage.
Cuiwei hurried into the backyard and said in a low voice, "Miss, when I was cleaning the backyard Fang Cai, I found a person lying under the Osmanthus Tree. He was injured and looked like he climbed over the wall."
Liu Ruyan followed Cuiwei to the corner of the courtyard, where she saw a woman lying under a tree, her face pale, her breath weak, and her body stained with blood.
Cuiwei whispered a reminder from the side, "Miss, this person's origins are unknown, and she even possesses martial arts skills. She doesn't seem to be from our Cangwu Prefecture. In my opinion, we should hand her over to the Demon Suppressing Guard and let the government handle it."
The movement of the two seemed to trigger the woman's last shred of consciousness; her eyelids twitched slightly, and she barely managed to open them a crack.
Her gaze was unfocused, and she couldn't see Liu Ruyan and Cuiwei clearly at all.
Her lips moved, her voice as weak as a withered leaf about to fall. "Help... help me... I'm not... bad..."
Before she could finish speaking, her eyes closed and her whole body went limp.
Liu Ruyan sized up the woman.
She was dressed simply, her clothes made of ordinary material. When the other person looked at her in the moments before losing consciousness, their eyes held a genuine plea for help.
After thinking for a moment, Liu Ruyan finally spoke, "Stop the bleeding first, take the person inside, and don't make a fuss. Now that the Song Family has been involved in this incident, the city is in chaos. Let's save them first."
Cuiwei didn't say anything more, but bent down to help the person up and led them into the house.
Clear River Crossing.
It was getting dark when Ye An arrived at the ferry crossing.
The river was about thirty feet wide, with dense reeds on both banks. The night breeze blew across the water, carrying a damp coolness.
Ye An had just stood on the shore when he heard footsteps behind him. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a group of people sneaking over from the other side, the leader of whom was dressed in the uniform of the Demon Suppressing Guard.
The other person also saw Ye An, frowned, and sized Ye An up. "Who are you? Which faction do you belong to?"
After saying that, the members of the Demon Suppressing Guard Division became vigilant. If Ye An made any move, they would immediately rush up and capture Ye An.
Ye An saw that the other party was from the Demon Suppression Division, so he didn't say that he was from the Four Symbols Sect. Instead, he flashed his Demon Suppression Commander badge and said, "Ye An, subordinate of Captain Jiang Shuying."
Upon hearing this, the other team leader's expression softened. Although he had lowered his guard, he showed no enthusiasm towards Ye An.
His name was Wei Wu, and he was a subordinate of Xu Huaiyuan.
Xu Huaiyuan and Jiang Shuying did not get along, because they had a conflict when they were Qi Condensation. Now that Xu Huaiyuan had broken through to the Gathering Essence first, the old grudge was still there.
As Xu Tongling's subordinate, Wei Wu naturally wouldn't give Jiang Shuying's men a friendly look, casually tossing out, "Stand back, don't get in the way."
Ye An didn't retort, but retreated to a crooked willow tree on the bank, his gaze fixed on the river.
He didn't come here to argue with others; he had originally hoped that his colleagues could look out for each other, but he was treated like this instead.
Deep in the reeds, a Black-Covered Boat is slowly drifting downstream.
Upon seeing this, Wei Wu immediately turned around and whispered orders, "This ship must belong to the Song Family who have fled. Everyone, get on board!"
After he finished speaking, he tapped his toes on the rocks on the shore, channeled his True Essence into the soles of his feet, and leaped off the shore, landing steadily on the bow of the Black-Covered Boat.
There was a figure in the cabin, dressed in worn clothes, with his head down, but his figure was similar to Song Yuanshan's.
Wei Wu kicked open the cabin door and, upon seeing the man, immediately roared, "Song Yuanshan! You can't escape! The rest of you, every single member of the Song Family on board, don't let them go!"
As soon as the people from the Demon Suppressing Guard boarded the ship, the rear curtain of the cabin was suddenly flung open, and three or four figures rushed out from the stern.
Some people jumped over the gunwale into the water, some ran along the gunwale toward the bow, and others tried to crawl into the reeds.
Chaos erupted on the ship.
Wei Wu stood at the bow of the boat and cursed, "Run? Let's see where you think you can run!"
"The one on the left! The one who jumped into the water! And the Song Family member who crawled through the reeds, bring them all back to me, one by one!"
They split up and chased after Wei Wu and his men.
Ye An stood at the stern, his gaze fixed on "Song Yuanshan." From the moment they arrived until now, the man hadn't moved an inch.
After giving his orders, Wei Wu turned to Ye An and said, "What are you standing there for? Help me catch them!"
Suddenly, the man raised his head.
He had a face exactly like Song Yuanshan's, but his eyes were completely different from Song Yuanshan's, exuding a withered look.
His voice was hoarse. "I'm not..."
Before he could finish speaking, two whooshing sounds came from the stern of the ship.
Two figures emerged simultaneously from the depths of the reeds and landed at the stern of the boat. One was a man, and the other a woman, both dressed in the dark robes of the Heaven Overturning Cult. Dark red True Essence surged around them. They were both at the Mid Qi Condensation!
Wei Wu's expression changed drastically. He took half a step forward, gathering his True Essence in his fist, and said to Ye An, "They're only at the Mid Qi Condensation. The cultivation level that the Heaven Overturning Cult has raised is incredibly weak. If we attack together, we'll definitely take them down!"
The female protector sneered, raised her hand, and pushed out True Essence mixed with the smell of blood. Before the palm strike even arrived, it caused the bow of the ship to sink half an inch.
The palm strike was dodged, but landed on the ship's cabin wall, shattering the entire wooden panel and sending debris flying.
Wei Wu seized the opportunity and threw a punch at the male protector. The fist and palm collided with a muffled sound. The deck beneath their feet could not withstand the aftershock and cracked open with a snap, allowing water to gush up from the crack.
Ye An swung his sword, but the blade missed its mark, the wooden plank shattered again, and half of the boat's side slid down the hull and into the water.
The four exchanged blows for no more than three moves when the two protectors suddenly took a half step back simultaneously, forming a hand seal in front of their chests. Dark red True Essence surged from their palms, rapidly intertwining, and the mist formed by their True Qi began to spread upwards from their feet.