Fire Along the Road! Stirring Yao Qi!

After leaving the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Division, Yang Xiao headed all the way to the Northwest.

The official road was straight, Demon Horse galloped forward, one man and one horse kicking up clouds of dust.

Traveling day and night, the lights of the counties along the official road rose and fell, and they didn't even stop at the Post Station along the way.

It wasn't until nearly dusk on the third day, at a bend in the mountain path, that we reached the other side.

Ahead, in Black Spring Post Town, a plume of thick smoke rose straight into the sky.

Yang Xiao slowed his horse down and squinted.

Wrong.

When a fire breaks out in an ordinary town, the flames are amplified by the wind, and the plumes of smoke tilt and are easily dispersed by the evening breeze.

The plume of smoke before me stood straight, as straight as a nail driven into the sky. No matter how the evening wind blew, the smoke only swayed slightly and did not disperse even a little.

It was as if they were bound to the sky above the post town by some force.

Look at the bottom of the smoke column.

The woods surrounding the post town were dark and gloomy, unlit by the firelight.

No matter how big the fire is, the flames will always seep outwards.

But right now, the woods were as dark as the bottom of a pot, and the firelight was suppressed and confined to the town.

Yang Xiao remained seated on his horse, neither leaving immediately nor going inside to investigate.

But this fire was unlike any ordinary fire; it seemed as if something was causing the commotion inside.

It won't take much time to just go in and check.

But if it really is a demon and left unchecked, the entire post town will be turned into a wasteland in less than a night.

He spurred his horse, Demon Horse accelerated, galloping straight towards the thick smoke.

At the entrance to the post town, the firelight was dazzling.

Two trucks were blocking the street corner, engulfed in flames, with the flames climbing up the axles towards the gatehouse of the Post Station with a crackling sound.

Yang Xiao dismounted, and the Core Illumination Domain quietly unfolded.

The Core Illumination Light swept across the town, and the scene within unfolded in my perception.

On the west side of the street, several signs of life gathered behind a dilapidated house, their escape route blocked by flames clinging to fallen beams.

The townspeople carried buckets of water and ran back and forth. Several people surrounded a house and tried to drag the people trapped inside out.

Until someone looked up and saw Yang Xiao.

Clad in black armor and a red cloak, he rode a majestic and Demon Horse.

The man froze for a moment, then rushed over and knelt down by the roadside.

"My lord! My lord, help! There are still people inside! The roof beams have collapsed, and the fire is too big; we can't get in!"

Yang Xiao followed his hand and looked over.

Half of the house was completely burned through, the other half was leaning precariously, the beams and pillars were glowing red, and the roof tiles were falling off piece by piece.

"You all step back first, leave this to me."

Yang Xiao's voice was not loud.

"No gathering under the roof."

The man was taken aback and was about to say something when Yang Xiao waved his hand to stop him.

As Yang Xiao stepped into the courtyard, a wave of heat hit him in the face.

The roof beams were already red-hot and charred, the roof was tilted, and the bricks were still sliding out little by little. It might collapse in a few breaths.

He raised his hand.

A thick, earthy yellow halo climbed up the sloping wall from the ground, like an invisible hand firmly pressing down on the wall.

Then, the water from the buckets carried by the courier was drawn out and spread out as a curtain of water along the entrance to the main room, separating the flames from the trapped people.

Puff!

Some of the water curtains touched the flames, but instead of extinguishing them, the flames suddenly surged, bursting open in a ring of sparks that shot up half a meter high, like an enraged living creature.

Yang Xiao flicked his wrist, promptly withdrawing the water curtain he had been testing to see if it could be extinguished.

But when the people trapped inside were allowed to come out, they were so terrified that they couldn't move an inch.

Yang Xiao had no choice but to brave the heat and step into the main room himself.

The Core Illumination Light receded, protecting the entire body, and a faint halo spread out along the black armor.

The room was thick with smoke. He stepped to the broken beam, bent down, and gripped the red-hot beam with both hands.

The intense heat seeped into his palm, only to be blocked by the layers of Core Illumination Light and Rock-Patterned Armor.

"Rise--"

The broken beam was lifted entirely and moved half a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) away.

Two figures emerged from the base of the wall.

Yang Xiao first dragged out the one closest to the fire, tucked it under his arm, and sent it out the door. Then he turned around and dragged out the second one.

Both of them were still breathing, but they were choked by the thick smoke and coughed so hard they couldn't open their eyes or straighten up.

Another courier braved the flames, his face flushed from the smoke, but he still tried to pull people out.

Yang Xiao raised his hand and pressed down on his shoulder.

"I'll do it."

The courier looked up and saw the hand on his shoulder, the Cold Iron Mystic Armor plates, and the scarlet cloak; he instantly recognized the person.

Demon Suppression General!

The Demon Suppression General himself braved the flames!

He was startled, a mixture of awe and excitement welling up inside him, and the words "I'll go take another look" stuck in his throat.

He gritted his teeth, helped the two injured people up, and turned to tell people to evacuate out of town.

Yang Xiao took the injured to safety and was about to turn around to investigate the source of the fire.

A slight jolt suddenly ran through my waist.

He stopped and took out the Qi-Gathering Bottle through his clothes.

The crimson demonic Yao Qi given to it by Chu Qingtian, which was sealed inside the bottle, began to leap and throb excitedly.

Chu Qingtian's initial thought was to guard against the aura of the Core Illumination Demon King, and to avoid it if he encountered it. He almost forgot that he was carrying it with him.

This Yao Qi usually remained silent, sealed within the bottle.

The last time it moved like this was after it killed the Red Lizard Demon King in the Mass Burial Ground and seized the Fire Pattern Demon Core.

Now that it's suddenly throbbing, doesn't that mean this Yao Qi is responding?

At this moment, the wisp of crimson Yao Qi hung in the bottle, rising and falling gently, like a cluster of flames searching for direction in the wind.

It vaguely points in the direction of the mountains outside the town.

"Is that you?" he murmured to himself.

General Chu had chased it for days and nights before finally severing an arm. Now that he had encountered it again, he naturally couldn't let it go.

Yang Xiao put away the Qi-Gathering Bottle and turned to walk out of the town.

The courier caught up. "General! The fire isn't out yet, what are you doing...?"

Yang Xiao glanced at the flames all around Black Spring Post Town and frowned slightly.

"Next, I will bring the fire under control throughout the town to ensure it doesn't harm you. You need to get all the injured trapped by the flames out of town as quickly as possible."

"There's a powerful demon in Black Spring Town. You'd better stay away from it. Don't set foot there until I kill it."

"A powerful demon is here!!"

The courier was taken aback at first, then his face turned deathly pale.

It took him a few moments to recover.

"No wonder the fire suddenly started; I spent ages carrying water from the well but couldn't put it out. Turns out it was the work of Demon."

"General, I will obey you." The courier gritted his teeth, still fearful of the firelight around him, but the presence of a Demon Suppression General inexplicably gave him a bit more courage and spirit.

"I'll go get help right away!"

Yang Xiao silently expanded the range of the Core Illumination he was standing on, a radius of three hundred feet, enough to cover the small town of less than two hundred households.

The Mountain Suppression Earth Pattern stabilized the collapsing building, Canglan Water Pattern protected it from the erosion of flames.

The most important task was to distribute the fire information precisely to every point in Black Spring Town, which required a great deal of effort.

Fortunately, the courier was quite capable.

After realizing that the flames would not harm him, he mustered all his strength to carry out rescue efforts in the town.

In less than 15 minutes, all the trapped and deceased people in Black Spring Town were rescued and slowly brought out of the town.

Yang Xiao withdrew his Core Illumination Domain, a trace of fatigue flashing between his brows, and gave the postman another instruction.

"Don't chase them into the mountains."

"Don't touch any of the charred marks inside or outside the town."

The courier nodded repeatedly and took another half step forward.

"General, you're going into the mountains alone, do you need any help? We..."

Yang Xiao looked at his face, which was blackened by smoke.

"Taking good care of the rest of the people is enough help."