A flash of inspiration had struck him earlier. In that sudden impulse, the Golden Sword had not even drawn upon the power of the void; relying solely on the condensed power of popular support, it had shattered the statue to pieces.
That was mutual restraint.
Huang Zhengyang examined the powder, then raised his head to look at the sky.
Chu Zhiyuan said, "Brother Huang, rest assured, it won't recover again."
After the golden powder had been absorbed by the Golden Sword, the statue lost its spirituality and could no longer serve as an anchor.
The Evil Venerable's power could no longer descend upon this statue.
Huang Zhengyang let out a breath, but his expression soon grew grave again. "So it truly wasn't the same Evil Venerable?"
Chu Zhiyuan shook his head. "No. So the method of killing should be different as well."
Huang Zhengyang looked toward the direction in which Gong Junliang and the other two had vanished, hoping there would be no major news.
Three tiny black dots appeared in the distance, and Gong Junliang's group soon arrived before them.
The three men wore solemn expressions, with a faint fury showing through.
"How was it?" Huang Zhengyang asked.
Gong Junliang clasped his fists. "Division Chief, within the past month, there have been nine cases of entire families being slaughtered. In every case, someone suddenly went mad and killed their own family."
"Where are the killers?"
"They already fled. We failed to catch them."
"All nine got away?!" Huang Zhengyang barked.
Gong Junliang slowly nodded.
"Useless!" Huang Zhengyang gritted his teeth. "A pack of useless fools!"
Gong Junliang said, "These nine were originally ordinary civilians. After going mad, they left directly. The local authorities wanted to pursue them but couldn't catch up."
Huang Zhengyang's face darkened as he sneered. "Every