Qi Observation and Tracking! Charred Corpses!

"General Chu, I must go."

Withdrawing the Crimson Demon Flame, Yang Xiao thought for a moment and then spoke.

Chu Qingtian didn't ask why he didn't stay a couple more days, nor did he say anything to persuade him to stay.

He knew that Pei Xuance was currently traveling back and forth in Qingzhou, with the thorny responsibilities of each prefecture falling on his shoulders, and the burden on his shoulders was unimaginable.

Having Yang Xiao by his side should relieve some of the pressure.

"I won't keep you here. There are places that need you more than I do."

Yang Xiao didn't stand on ceremony, nodded in agreement, and clasped his hands in a respectful greeting.

"I'll take my leave."

He turned to leave.

Chu Qingtian called out to him again.

This time, the veteran spoke more slowly than before, with a hint of elder's admonition. "On the way, keep an eye out for any trace of that Yao Qi from the Core Illumination Realm."

He was referring to the wisp of crimson aura sealed within the Qi-Gathering Bottle.

"If you sense something is wrong... don't be greedy and try to catch up." Chu Qingtian paused, then spoke solemnly.

"I've noted it down," Yang Xiao replied.

Chu Qingtian said no more.

Yang Xiao led the Demon Horse out of the city gate of Zhenshan Commandery alone and walked away along the official road to the south.

He traveled a hundred miles outside the city before finally stopping his horse at the foot of a sheltered slope.

He took out the book from his bosom; it was the Qi-Reading Art Gate given to him by Chu Qingtian.

He had wanted to try using this for a while, but he was in too much of a hurry when he left the city to equip it in person. Now that there was no one around, it was perfect.

He pressed his fingertip against the book cover.

Sure enough, the familiar notification appeared in the Equipment Slot:

[Available equipment detected: Qi-Reading Art.]

[Equipped?]

Yang Xiao silently uttered the word "equipment" in his mind.

A faint ray of warm light seeped into his palm from the book, and then the entire book transformed into specks of light that entered his body. Immediately afterwards, lines of text emerged.

[Mystic Core - Qi-Reading Art]

[Effect 1: Mastery of the "Qi-Reading Art" is now at its maximum.]

[Effect 2: Obtain the blue attribute "Qi Observation and Tracking": At close range, you can capture Yao Qi and leave a mark, allowing you to sense the distance to the target and discern the strength of the Yao Qi.]

[Permanent fix condition: Kill a Mysterious Core Realm Demon.]

Yang Xiao stared at the line of text for a moment.

"Slaying a Mystic Core Demon King is all it takes to solidify it; it's very simple."

For him now, as long as he doesn't encounter Core Illumination, killing the Mystic Core Demon King is a piece of cake. The only difficulty is finding the other party's location.

He mounted his horse and practiced his skills as he rode.

Zhenshan Commandery is quite far from the main Commandery City of Qingzhou. In the forests on both sides of the official road, a few ignorant little demons would dart out every now and then, most of them were little demons who had just embarked on their cultivation journey.

In the past, if they encountered each other, he would simply shoot them and leave.

But not today.

He activated his Qi Observation and Tracking to track the opponent's movements, and before even getting close, he could already discern the opponent's aura, their cultivation level, and their distance from him.

He first tested the qi, and after becoming familiar with the function of the entry, he casually ended the life with a single shot, then spurred his horse and rode away.

After walking for half a day, he had thoroughly mastered this method.

Even from a distance, a faint aura could be detected; even through mountains and forests, the other party's movements were completely visible to him.

As the sun began to set, houses gradually appeared along the official road.

Ahead lies a small town called Pinewind Town.

Yang Xiao had planned to ride through the town, but the last rays of the setting sun had already sunk below the horizon, and night was slowly creeping in.

Further ahead lies another hundred miles of desolate road, making it uneconomical to travel at night.

He took the reins and rode into the town.

The town was unusually quiet.

As soon as it got dark, the streets were deserted. Several inns and shops had already closed their doors, and only one or two lanterns hanging above the entrances were lit, making a sparse sound as the evening breeze blew.

Yang Xiao found an open inn, went inside, and asked for a superior room.

There were a few other guests in the inn, talking in hushed tones around the table, their voices barely audible, their faces glancing around every now and then as if afraid of disturbing something.

Yang Xiao sat for a while, holding his teacup, and glanced around following their gazes, but didn't notice anything amiss.

After having dinner in the lobby, he glanced out the window at the street before going upstairs.

The doors and windows of several houses along the street were all tightly closed, and yellow paper Evil-Repelling Talisman.

"It's probably a local custom."

Yang Xiao didn't think much of it and went back to his room to rest.

The next morning, he ordered a few more pounds of braised meat to take with him as provisions before leading his horse out of town.

On the dirt road at the entrance of town, a handcart was slowly making its way out.

The cart was covered with a coarse cloth and weighed down with stones at the four corners. Several townspeople followed behind, all looking tired, heads bowed and silent, as if they had walked a long way.

Yang Xiao was about to step aside when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a corner of the coarse cloth being blown up by the wind.

That was a hand.

But it was very strange; its entire body was charred black like charcoal, curled up and as thin as a chicken claw, its surface covered with spiderweb-like charred cracks, as if it had just been pulled out of a pile of charcoal fire.

Yang Xiao stopped in his tracks, sensing that something was amiss.

"Gentlemen," he began, "Where are the goods in this vehicle being sent?"

The townspeople froze.

They turned to look at Yang Xiao. He was dressed in an expensive long robe and black cloak, with a black short knife hanging at his waist and a long spear on his back. He had a calm demeanor and was clearly no ordinary person.

"Young man, this is a matter between our towns. It's probably not appropriate for you to get involved."

The old man leading the group was aware of the difference in their social standing; the other man was probably just passing by and asked on a whim, so what help could he possibly offer?

There's no need to say anything more; just deflect the question.

Yang Xiao took a step closer.

A faint warmth emanated from the corpse, as if the fire had been extinguished long ago and the residual heat had not yet dissipated.

Just as he approached, a strange, demonic Yao Qi flashed by with extreme lightness and speed.

His internal Qi Observation and Tracking activated almost instinctively.

Yang Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly and pulled out his Demon Suppression Division token from his pocket. "I am the Deputy General of the Demon Suppression Division, and I suspect this matter may be related to Demon."

"If you try to deny or conceal this, then you are accomplices of Demon."

"The right to act first and report later can be exercised."

The old man leading the group hesitated for a moment when he saw the waist token in Yang Xiao's hand, then gritted his teeth and reached out to lift a corner of the coarse cloth.

There were several corpses in the car.

The deceased's flesh clung tightly to the bones, charred black as charcoal, as if it had been thrown into a fire and roasted. The body also emitted a pungent smell of burning.

Without making a sound, Yang Xiao, under the guise of bending down to examine the body, quietly extracted a wisp of residual energy from the outermost corpse and hid it in the Qi-Gathering Bottle at his waist.

What's going on?

At first, no one answered.

The townspeople looked at each other, heads bowed, unwilling to speak.

Only after the old man glanced at Yang Xiao's clothes and weapons again, and made up his mind, did he step forward, lower his voice, and speak slowly.

"Sir, you may not know this, but recently there have been a series of people in town who have died suddenly at night, and in a very bizarre way, they have all set themselves on fire."

"At first there were only one or two, and we just assumed they had broken some taboo. Every household burned incense and pasted up talismans to put our minds at ease."

"But later, more and more people died, all of them seemingly from self-immolation, and no cause could be found."

"The town's coroner came and was at a loss, and they even invited a shaman from afar, but she couldn't explain it either..."

"We really have no other choice."

The old man's voice trembled, "Keeping them is bad luck... We can only send them to the Mass Burial Ground outside the city every day."

How long ago did this happen?

"Reporting to you, sir, it has been over a month, and a total of over a hundred people have been killed." The old man cupped his hands in greeting, his eyes filled with a hint of hope as he asked Yang Xiao.

"Sir, have you noticed anything? Is it the work of Demon?"

Yang Xiao slowly shook his head. "I can't tell."

He was just passing by and asked out of curiosity.

But now, the lingering warmth from the corpse and the fleeting Yao Qi made him realize that things might not be so simple.

However, it's not yet clear what methods were used.

Upon hearing this, the old man and the people around him all turned pale.

"Since you can't tell, sir, we'll be leaving now."

Yang Xiao stood there without stopping them, simply watching as the townspeople pushed their carts slowly away towards the Mass Burial Ground.

Afterwards, he led the Demon Horse back to the inn and took out a few pieces of silver, slapping them on the table.

"Stay one more night."