Chapter 43: Calm! Life and Death! Weeping!

Moonlight like water, spilling onto this wilderness that had just experienced a life-and-death struggle.

"Old sir, if you feel that an idle position like guarding the herb garden is not suitable, there are others..."

Seeing the old man in front of her suddenly stunned, Wen Yueyao thought he looked down on such an idle position and was about to introduce other chores.

"No, no, no!"

Jiang Ye waved his hands repeatedly, and a rare smile appeared on that cold, hard face, with wrinkles squeezed together: "Idle positions are good! At my age, I am suitable for doing this kind of idle position! If you let me do other chores, these old bones of mine can't handle it!"

"As long as the old sir is willing." Wen Yueyao breathed a sigh of relief, a sincere smile appearing on her face.

She continued: "Although this kind of idle position doesn't get many contribution points every month, old sir, rest assured, once you are settled in the sect, I will allocate some of my contribution points to you, so you can save up enough to exchange for the Qi-Nurturing Method as soon as possible."

"Then this old man thanks you, Miss."

Jiang Ye was full of smiles and bowed solemnly to her.

"Old sir, please don't say that." Wen Yueyao's expression also became solemn, word by word: "Compared to your life-saving grace today, this small matter is nothing at all."

She said this sincerely, without half a bit of hypocrisy.

To her, Jiang Ye was not just a life-saving grace; if the other party hadn't acted in time.

She would probably have become a plaything wantonly ravaged by Black Fifth.

She dared not think any further.

Just having that scene flash through her mind made her feel cold all over, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

Life is worse than death; she only had the most real realization of these four words at this moment.

She steadied herself, took out a token made of black iron from her bosom, and handed it to Jiang Ye.

That token still carried the young girl's body heat, faintly emitting a wisp of faint virgin fragrance.

Borrowing the moonlight, one could see a delicate "Wen" character engraved on the front of the token, and three vigorous large characters on the back—"Profound Heaven Sect".

"Old sir, I still have important matters to complete, and I will return to the sect a few days later." Wen Yueyao explained: "This is my inner sect disciple token, you take it first."

"You can go to the prefecture city first, and after arriving at the Profound Heaven Sect mountain gate, show the true disciple token, and someone will arrange for you to stay first."

"After I return, I will help you arrange the deacon's chores."

Jiang Ye took the token, which felt heavy in his hand, clearly of extraordinary material.

He looked at it carefully and then tucked it into his bosom, placing it close to his body.

"Good, then this old man will listen to Miss's arrangement and go one step ahead." He raised his head, looked at Wen Yueyao, and said in a deep voice:

"Be safe on the road!"

He was not a meddlesome person and did not ask what Wen Yueyao still had to do.

Since this girl could insist on completing it in such a miserable state, it must be an extremely important matter.

It was useless for him to ask, so it was better not to be meddlesome.

"Old sir, be careful on the road too." Wen Yueyao nodded slightly to Jiang Ye, a hearty smile blooming on her face: "See you at the Profound Heaven Sect!"

Both were decisive people, without extra politeness or pleasantries.

After bidding farewell to each other, they turned and left in different directions.

Jiang Ye went in the direction of the Su family's team.

He had to catch up with that team as soon as possible and secretly protect Liu Qingshi's family.

Wen Yueyao went in the direction of Anxi County.

The moonlight stretched the two figures very long, one to the east, one to the west, and finally both disappeared into the vast night.

In Anxi County.

Deep inside a remote residential house.

Candlelight flickered, casting mottled shadows of the objects in the room.

A man in a black robe stood quietly by the window, black Qi faintly flowing and entwining on his body, squirming like a living thing.

That black Qi covered his face, revealing only a pair of eyes as deep as an ancient well.

He held a crystal ball the size of a fist, with a wisp of dark red blood floating inside, slowly swimming, as if searching for something.

For a long time, the blood thread stopped and there was no more movement.

The black-robed man shook his head slightly, his voice hoarse and calm, as if talking to himself:

"The blood sacrifice has been completed, and there is still no movement; it seems the secret treasure is not here either."

A moment later.

There was a sound of wind coming from afar, and the black-robed man seemed to sense something and put away the crystal ball.

Not long after, an old man with half-white hair and a long, narrow scar on his face came into the room like a light breeze.

He was called Bai Laosan, the very person who sneaked into the Zhang family at night and coerced Zhang He to be an inside agent.

At this moment, there was blood at the corner of his mouth, his breath was chaotic, and he was panting heavily, clearly having suffered no light injuries.

"Envoy, those little brats from the Profound Heaven Sect are coming very fast."

Bai Laosan reported respectfully to the black-robed man.

"Since they have arrived, then let's go."

The black-robed man said indifferently.

"Go?" Bai Laosan raised his head suddenly, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes: "Envoy, aren't we going to kill all these little brats? With your strength..."

Before he finished speaking, he felt a cold gaze fall on him.

That gaze was not sharp, but it made his whole body's blood seem to freeze.

"Killing these small fish has no meaning to me."

The black-robed man let out a cold sneer of disdain, his deep eyes staring gloomily at Bai Laosan, "Also, when is it your turn to question my words? You don't really think of yourself as a member of the Qisha Sect, do you?"

"Gulp..."

Looking directly into the black-robed man's gloomy gaze, Bai Laosan, who had killed countless people, felt like he had fallen into an ice cellar in an instant, his hair standing on end, unable to hide his fear as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

He dared not look again and instinctively buried his head low.

A long time later, he suppressed his fear and raised his head tremblingly.

However, the figure of the black-robed man had already disappeared from before his eyes.

Inside the County Magistrate's mansion, the atmosphere was so solemn that it could almost drip water.

County Magistrate Gao He sat on the guest seat, restless, as if there were needles pricking under his buttocks.

His gaze occasionally swept covertly toward the young man on the main seat, and every time he swept a glance, his heart became more nervous.

That person was wearing the sect attire of the Profound Heaven Sect, his face delicate and handsome, looking only in his early twenties.

But the nobility and arrogance revealed between his brows made people not dare to have the slightest contempt.

What was even more shocking was that this person was like a furnace, faintly emitting a trace of fire from his body.

Even half a meter away, Gao He could feel that scorching aura.

This person was indeed the inner sect disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect, Tianyang Peak, Zheng Feng.

"With True Disciple Zheng here, the turmoil in Anxi County should be calmed down very soon."

Gao He accompanied with a smiling face, talking carefully, wanting to break this suffocating silence.

However, Zheng Feng just glanced at him indifferently, with no intention of speaking.

At this time, two disciples wearing Profound Heaven Sect attire strode into the hall.

One of them was still carrying a person in his hand, like carrying a dead dog, and threw it on the ground casually.

"Zhang Zhang Shixiong Hu Hu Shidi Zheng, we have already found out why the city gates of Anxi County were broken so quickly; it turns out this person was the inside agent."

"When we found him, this guy was packing things and wanting to run away, so we directly crippled his two legs."

The person thrown on the ground was none other than the head of the Zhang family, Zhang He.

"Hah... hah..."

At this time, where did he still have the demeanor of a wealthy family head? His hair was messy, his legs were broken, and he kept making painful gasps in his mouth, like a dying wild dog.

"Zhang He, it was actually you who was the inside agent?!"

Gao He looked at Zhang He, who was like a dead dog on the ground, in disbelief, exclaiming.

Although he knew there must be an inside agent in the city, he never expected it to be the Zhang family—the Zhang family that had occupied Anxi County for generations and had intricate connections with every family.

Zhang He managed to raise his head, looked at Gao He, and then at the young man sitting on the main seat, his eyes full of fear and resentment, as well as a trace of sadness.

Ever since he agreed to be an inside agent, he knew there would be such a day.

But he didn't expect it to be so soon.

He recalled his life of doing all kinds of evil, and a terrible thought flashed through his mind.

Could it really be retribution?

Otherwise, there were many wealthy families in the city; why didn't that Qisha Sect demon look for others, only him?

"Zhang Zhang Shixiong Hu Hu Shidi Zheng, how do you think this guy should be handled?"

A disciple looked at Zheng Feng.

"That goes without saying!"

Zheng Feng finally spoke.

He stood up, took a step, and was already in front of Zhang He.

That scorching aura suddenly surged, like a volcano about to erupt.

He raised his hand and slapped down lightly.

Boom!

An extremely scorching wave of air suddenly exploded in the hall.

The air wave was hot and scorching, forcing Gao He to stumble back, almost falling.

The two Profound Heaven Sect disciples remained motionless, just narrowing their eyes slightly.

"Ah ah ah ah——!!!"

Accompanied by a shrill scream, Zhang He became a human torch in an instant.

Crimson flames burst out from every inch of his skin, licking his flesh, bones, and internal organs.

He struggled crazily, rolling on the ground; his two broken legs couldn't exert force, so he could only twist and twitch with his body, like a worm burned by a raging fire.

That scream became higher and higher, sharper and sharper, and finally, stopped abruptly.

The flames went out.

On the ground, only a charred remnant curled into a strange shape remained, still emitting wisps of blue smoke.

A burnt smell permeated the air.

Gao He's eye corners twitched fiercely; seeing this former acquaintance now truly become a 'well-done person', he couldn't help but sigh softly.

"His family." Zheng Feng turned around, his voice as flat as if he were just ordering an ordinary small matter, "Leave none!"

"Yes!" Gao He immediately bowed and responded, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, "True Disciple Zheng, rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter well and will never let a single fish slip through the net!"

After tonight, there would be no more Zhang family in Anxi County.

Until the dawn light was slightly bright.

The turmoil in Anxi County gradually returned to calm.

When those sounds of killing and screaming gradually disappeared, more of what sounded in the city were the cries of ordinary people.

Although there was timely support from the Profound Heaven Sect disciples, the turmoil of this night still caused countless families to be broken.

Countless people lost their loved ones forever.

All the cries seemed to be weeping about the chaos and unrest of this world.

A figure ran stumbling and came to the gate of the Jiquan Martial Arts Hall.

This person was none other than Shi Lei.

Last night, he and his mother hid in the cellar at home, listening to the sounds of killing, screaming, and footsteps coming from outside, struggling through the whole night.

It wasn't until the dawn light was slightly bright and there was no more movement outside that he dared to crawl out.

The first thing was to rush to the martial arts hall.

"I hope Master Liu and Old Jiang are both safe and sound."

Shi Lei looked at the usually heavy martial arts hall gate now collapsed on the ground, and his heart tightened.

These two were one his teacher who taught him, and the other an elder who encouraged him to revitalize martial arts.

No matter who it was, he didn't want anything to happen.

He took a deep breath, crossed the collapsed gate, and entered the messy courtyard.

On the martial arts field, the wooden dummy was tilted.

In the corridor, sundries were scattered all over the ground.

Several room doors were wide open, and the inside was a mess, clearly looted by someone.

But fortunately, he didn't see any corpses.

The stone that had been hanging in his heart for a night finally fell a few points.

At this time.

"Shi Hu Shidi."

A call came from behind.

Shi Lei turned back and saw the eldest senior brother of the martial arts hall, Zhao Gang, running in stumbling.

He had several wounds on his body, his clothes stained with blood, but fortunately none were fatal, just his face looked slightly pale.

"Zhao Zhang Shixiong, you are injured!"

Shi Lei hurriedly ran over to support him.

"Just small injuries, it doesn't matter." Zhao Gang grinned, his smile containing a bit of the luck of surviving a disaster: "In that situation last night, it's good enough to be alive."

"Indeed."

Shi Lei nodded heavily.

The two looked at each other, both seeing the same emotion in the other's eyes—being alive is really good.

"Shi Hu Shidi, the Liu Liu Guan Zhu and the others..." Zhao Gang paused and said softly: "They went to the prefecture city."

"Went to the prefecture city?!"

Shi Lei was slightly startled.

"Before the Liu Liu Guan Zhu left, he told me that if there is fate, we will meet again."

Zhao Gang looked into the distance and said in a deep voice: "When I break through to the Transformation of Force, I will also go to the prefecture city!"

Shi Lei looked in the direction of Zhao Gang's gaze, a look of determination appearing on his face, "Zhao Zhang Shixiong, let's work hard together!"

At the same time, in the wilderness.

Jiang Ye finally caught up with the Su family's team.