The turmoil in Tamu Town had yet to subside.
Though Song Zejun and his wife had left together, the demon spirits they had released were still wreaking havoc everywhere, either invading souls or, once successful, driving their victims to attack and kill others.
Zhao Changfeng appeared here and there. Whenever he saw someone being consumed by an evil spirit, he went over and lightly touched their forehead with a finger.
Strangely, whenever his finger touched someone's forehead, the demon spirit inside them seemed to be drawn into his body in an instant.
Those people then began dry heaving. After vomiting up foreign objects shaped like black walnuts, they immediately regained their senses.
The sight left everyone dumbfounded.
Ruan Meizhen stood stunned for a moment. Noticing a demon core that Zhao Changfeng had casually discarded, she immediately exclaimed, "A demon core!"
She swiftly picked up the one Zhao Changfeng had thrown away. Examining the faint markings on its surface, she immediately realized that this, too, was the demon core of a second-rank demon spirit.
She did not know exactly what demon cores were used for, only that they were proof of having slain demon spirits and could be handed over to Teng Kun or the sect in exchange for rare Spirit Materials.
Zhao Changfeng's discarding the demon cores clearly meant he did not know their uses.
"If we survive, these demon cores will be very useful!"
Ruan Meizhen immediately sprang into action.
Her voluptuous, alluring figure moved to stand before each member of the City Guard Army Zhao Changfeng had rescued. Holding out her hand, she asked, "My junior brother saved your life, and the demon core is proof that he killed the demon spirit. Please give it to me."
Zhao Changfeng did not understand the secrets of demon cores, but the City Guard Army of Heavenly Shield City knew their uses.
With demon cores in hand, they could seek out disciples of the Demon Dao Great Sect to trade for goods. Those disciples could then exchange the cores with their sect for rewards.
However, they had not obtained these demon cores through their own abilities. All the credit belonged to Zhao Changfeng.
When Ruan Meizhen came asking for them, these people readily handed over the demon cores they had vomited up.
And so Zhao Changfeng went around rescuing members of the City Guard Army and nameless rogue cultivators, while Ruan Meizhen followed on his heels to collect the demon cores as soon as he left.
"Junior Brother Zhao!"
Standing on the balcony of a dilapidated stone building, Chi Jingchen shouted to Zhao Changfeng, "Senior Brother Chen has been invaded by a demon spirit! Hurry over and save him!"
Of the team of fellow disciples who had first forced Zhao Changfeng to undergo a Realm Breakthrough and then abandoned the two of them, only he and Chen Haoming remained.
Ling Mei, who had offered the fake "Spiritual Qi Pill," was dead. The others who had "kindly" provided Zhao Changfeng with a spirit beast for his realm breakthrough had likewise died in the demon spirits' first wave of attacks.
Inside the stone building, Chen Haoming's face was contorted as he continued desperately fighting the demon spirit within him.
The demon spirit Chi Jingchen had encountered had been of a lower rank, and he had successfully driven it out. Now he feared that the demon spirit would devour Chen Haoming's soul and possess him.
Only he and Chen Haoming were in the room now. Once Chen Haoming succumbed, the demon spirit would immediately drive him to kill Chi Jingchen.
Naturally, he was frantic.
Yet Zhao Changfeng seemed not to hear him. He continued methodically searching for the nearest people to rescue, without so much as glancing his way.
"Save them!"
"Hurry up and save them!"
Shen Yanrong shouted urgently, prodding Cui Pinyuan, who was staring blankly at Zhao Changfeng, as well as Chen Jian of the Ghost-Controlling Sect.
Qin Hui had long since gotten to work, yet these two Primordial Spirit Realm cultivators were merely staring at Zhao Changfeng. Shen Yanrong was deeply displeased.
"Oh."
Only then did Cui Pinyuan and Chen Jian take action.
Heavenly Shield City isn't under the Ghost-Controlling Sect's jurisdiction, after all. Chen Jian doesn't care whether the City Guard Army lives or dies.
As for Cui Pinyuan...
A rogue cultivator is still a rogue cultivator! Not a shred of responsibility!
Shen Yanrong thought to herself.
Her misty, smoky eyes settled on Zhao Changfeng in the distance. She sighed softly. "I wronged him. I'll offer him a sincere apology later."
Had Zhao Changfeng not exposed Song Zejun and his wife, leaving them free to plot their sinister schemes in Tamu Town, the consequences would have been even more unthinkable.
Zhao Changfeng had endured such tremendous pressure and danger, bearing an ugly reputation that drew condemnation from a thousand pointing fingers. Who had he done all this for?
Wasn't it for Tamu Town?
For Heavenly Shield City behind Tamu Town?
Respect welled up in Shen Yanrong's heart.
Watching Zhao Changfeng feed the demons with his own body as he hurried around bravely rescuing his fellow members of the City Guard Army, she was moved beyond words.
"The Crippled Demon Sect has taken in a fine disciple. Senior Teng truly has eyes like blazing torches."
Filled with emotion, Shen Yanrong gazed at Zhao Changfeng with increasingly gentle eyes.
Drip!
Grayish-yellow raindrops fell onto the white umbrella. The red flowers that had vanished from its surface gathered again, one by one, but many were still missing in the end.
Beneath the umbrella, Song Zejun and his wife walked side by side.
"Changfeng isn't dead."
Zhou Jin frowned slightly, as though suddenly remembering something, and shrieked, "He killed Ziyan! He's the one who caused Ziyan's death! She was our daughter!"
She had not been this agitated even during the earlier battle, yet the mention of their daughter, Song Ziyan, suddenly sent her emotions spiraling out of control.
Song Zejun smiled gently.
He stopped walking and first straightened Zhou Jin's clothes, which the battle had left disheveled, before saying softly, "They promised us that someday they'll give us a miraculous medicine from the Unordered Zone, so you and I can have a real child."
His voice rose slightly on the word "real," as though deliberately emphasizing it.
Zhou Jin seemed not to hear him clearly. Still immersed in the pain of losing her daughter, she continued screaming, "Ziyan is dead! Zhao Changfeng caused her death! I want to watch Zhao Changfeng die before our eyes!"
Song Zejun let out a quiet sigh, forced to wake her with the cruel truth. "Little Jin, since when did we have a child? As for Ziyan, didn't you bring her home after killing her parents?"
Zhou Jin's screams abruptly stopped. She thought for a moment with a dazed expression before smiling again. "Oh, right. I almost forgot."
The rain quietly stopped, but the dark clouds shrouding the sun and moon remained, still making everything feel stifling and oppressive.
Night had fallen. Oil lamps hung beneath the eaves of every building, illuminating the ravaged Tamu Town.
"Brother Zhang, rest in peace. Heavenly Shield City will remember your name."
"An Hai, as long as I'm alive, I'll look after your parents and your younger brother!"
The members of the City Guard Army who had come from Heavenly Shield City stood before the brothers who had fought shoulder to shoulder with them, bowing their heads as they softly said farewell.
The rogue cultivators lucky enough to escape the calamity had truly witnessed the horror of demon spirits. Many insisted on leaving, even at the risk of encountering more demon spirits along the way.
Of the two rogue cultivators who had intended to join Shi Yue in hunting down Chen Haoming for a generous reward, one had died after being invaded by a demon spirit. The other planned to travel with the rogue cultivators preparing to withdraw.
They hoped that after daybreak, the blazing sun that had vanished for so long would reappear.
"Twenty-seven demon spirits in total. This was quite a haul."
Murmuring to himself, Zhao Changfeng started back toward his stone house, intending to improve his cultivation with the remaining first-rank spirit beasts.
Song Zejun and his wife had merely left, rather than being killed on the spot by the four Primordial Spirit Realm cultivators. The hidden danger had not been eliminated, so he dared not slack off for even a moment.
"Zhao, Zhao Changfeng!"
A beautiful, slender young woman wearing the Silver-Gray Armor unique to the City Guard Army blocked his path with a valiant bearing.
There was an innate nobility in her features, and her movements were poised and graceful. One glance made it clear that she was no ordinary commoner's daughter.
She had led the charge in that battle, utterly fearless in the face of death. Scratches from fighting Song Zejun and his wife still marked her shoulder armor.
"I misunderstood you earlier. I now offer you my sincere apology!"
Shen Yanrong bowed earnestly, lowering her head as she said, "Thank you for putting our earlier differences aside and saving so many of my comrades! Heavenly Shield City thanks you for bravely exposing Song Zejun and his wife. We'll be sure to report everything truthfully to the Crippled Demon Sect!"
Zhao Changfeng was taken aback, then smiled easily. "There's no need to be so courteous."
"Here's the thing. We're preparing to discuss how to deal with the demon spirits again. Please join us!"
Shen Yanrong extended the invitation, her face full of anticipation.
"Just ask Senior Sister Ruan to go. Count me out."
Zhao Changfeng shook his head in refusal, then turned and left without waiting for Shen Yanrong to say more.
He could not be bothered with a meaningless council meeting. Better to refine the spirit beasts in his stone house as quickly as possible and consolidate his Yuanqi Stage cultivation.
As for what this strange young woman, with her valiant bearing and misty, smoky eyes, had thought of him earlier, he had never taken it to heart.
"He probably hasn't forgiven you."
Qin Hui, broad and imposing as a mountain, noticed that his fellow guard had developed a knot in her heart. He approached with an expression that suggested he had seen through everything long ago. "He bore so much pressure to expose Song Zejun and his wife, and asked Miss Ruan to explain the truth to us. But we... didn't believe him. Only Chen Jian of the Ghost-Controlling Sect chose to act."
Qin Hui felt guilty too, especially since Zhao Changfeng had put their earlier differences aside and saved so many of his brothers. "Little Rong, if people misunderstood you like that, how would you feel?"
Deeply ashamed, Shen Yanrong said bitterly, "I understand. I'll find another chance to apologize."
Qin Hui patted her shoulder in relief and smiled. "Offer him a sincere apology on my behalf, too. I'm thin-skinned. This sort of thing is too difficult for me."
Shen Yanrong nodded firmly.
After talking for a while, the two headed toward the Council Hall once more at Cui Pinyuan's urging.
Back in his stone house, Zhao Changfeng picked up a spirit beast without another word and began practicing the Essence-Devouring Demon Art, seeking to improve his cultivation as quickly as possible.
In that brief span, the second Small Cauldron had already generated a remarkable amount of willpower, all gained by exterminating those twenty-seven demon spirits.
The total willpower in the second cauldron was now twice that of the first. Unfortunately, since that willpower had not been generated through Heart-Demon Obsession, it had failed to manifest many more of the second cauldron's patterns.
"The next cultivation method hinges on the word 'refine.' I'll have to think of another way."
Zhao Changfeng murmured regretfully.
Knock, knock!
"Brother Zhao, it's Shi Yue. We met a few days ago. I have something to discuss with you!"
Shi Yue, who had lost both his sons, had first passed the house where Chen Haoming and Chi Jingchen were staying. Seeing that Chen Haoming had actually survived after the demon spirit withdrew, he immediately came to Zhao Changfeng.
"Push the door open yourself."
Zhao Changfeng spoke coldly.
Shi Yue immediately entered the room, whose windows were no longer shut tight. He first offered Zhao Changfeng a deep bow, repeatedly apologizing for having let greed bewitch his mind.
He did not dare deny that back in the Desert, greed and murderous intent toward Zhao Changfeng and his companion had indeed stirred in him. He only kept apologizing.
Zhao Changfeng frowned. "Get to the point."
Shi Yue drew a deep breath and said calmly, "Brother Zhao, Zhang Mu and Chen Haoming killed my two sons. Now that Zhang Mu is dead, I'm willing to pay you two thousand spirit stones to help me kill Chen Haoming!"
P.S. Both chapters were posted early. Please keep supporting me~~