Chapter 268: Demonic Slayer Insect Shadow

Three days later.

Heaven Thunder Sect Holy Land.

During these three days, the lightning baptism here has never ceased; the mountain peak that once soared into the clouds has now been lowered by at least a hundred meters.

【Congratulations on obtaining a new trait through fusion: Destruction Thunder (Colorful)】

Destruction Thunder (Colorful): Pure destruction, commanding the thunder of the world.

Amidst terrifying lightning.

Shen Qing opened his eyes, and two terrifying bolts of lightning flashed across his pupils.

In these three days, Shen Qing not only completed the fusion of the trait, but also fully comprehended the Heavenly Thunder Secret Canon.

He also grasped the rudimentary form of the Thunder Domain.

His strength has risen to a higher level.

With a casual flick, Shen Qing made the thunder in heaven and earth slowly dissipate.

"It's been another three days; I don't know if those evil creatures have made any moves."

Shen Qing said while flying toward the capital.

After returning to the Shen family, he still didn't see the Shen family ancestor; his family's qilin told Shen Qing that two earth immortals had arrived in Dawu, so the ancestor was absent.

However, they left Shen Qing a booklet: an Evil Creature Compendium.

Then Shen Qing also couldn't be bothered to stay at home; after three days, his hands were already itching.

Coincidentally, after his promotion to Grand Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he hadn't yet visited his subordinates; it was a good chance to go to the Investigations Bureau to look around, since Dawu usually sends backup copies of special case files to Wuyang Prefecture, so he might as well check if anything had been found there.

Outside the Investigations Bureau.

Two people were conversing at the gate; they were clearly not Dawu people, their skin a bit darker, their clothing bearing a southern domain flair, though still quite splendid.

The two are princes of the Suke Dynasty; the elder is named Cha Ku, the crown prince, and the younger is named Cha Yu, the seventh prince; both are at the Primordial Elixir Realm.

Cha Yu gazed at the splendid Investigations Bureau ahead and said: "Older brother, what are we doing here? This seems to be the Dawu Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Cha Ku glanced at the Investigations Bureau: "Of course we're here to file a report."

Cha Yu looked at Cha Ku with some dissatisfaction: "Older brother, you wouldn't really file a report for those worms, would you?"

"If you truly dislike those worms, we could have just tracked them down and wiped them out back then."

"Why insist on coming to the Dawu Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

Cha Ku reached out and patted Cha Yu's head, whispering a rebuke: "Do you think you're the boss here? This is Dawu!"

"The strongest in our Suke Dynasty is our grandfather, but he's only at the Martial Saint Realm; in Dawu, martial saints stronger than him are a dime a dozen!"

"Here you cannot act as if you own the place and run wild!"

"Even if we investigated and uncovered something extraordinary, would you dare to act? Could you even win?"

"Moreover, I suspect those things are somewhat like the evil creatures our grandfather mentioned a while ago..."

At that moment, Shen Qing, walking by nearby, suddenly stopped his steps, closed the Evil Creature Compendium in his hand, perked up his ears, and had already caught the keyword: evil creature.

Shen Qing walked over to the two: "What did you just say? Evil creature?"

"Then you don't need to go to the Investigations Bureau to file a report; just tell me directly."

The Suke Dynasty is a small state south of Dawu, a vassal that must pay tribute to Dawu each year; as princes, they naturally have the right to go directly to the Embroidered Uniform Guard to file a report.

However, they still need to follow a procedure; as princes, they might be received directly by a Captain, but the subsequent reporting still takes an hour or two.

Shen Qing couldn't be bothered to wait.

But Cha Yu was unhappy; he looked at Shen Qing: "Who are you? You're so arrogant... Do you have the..."

Cha Yu was about to say, "Do you even have the right to speak like that?" but before he could finish, Cha Ku struck him with an elbow to the mouth.

Saliva sprayed from Cha Yu's mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted outright.

Cha Ku looked at his fainted brother: "So you just ignored everything I just said, huh?"

Then he turned to face Shen Qing, his expression grave; he clearly knew Shen Qing could say such things only because he had confidence.

His heavy hand against his brother was also because his brother's loose tongue had provoked someone he shouldn't have.

For the top figures of Dawu, it's naturally not enough to wipe out the Suke Dynasty, but whether the dynasty's royal family remains theirs is not certain.

After all, for Dawu's top echelon, replacing the Suke Dynasty's royal family is easier than swapping out a concubine.

Cha Ku clasped his hands: "I am Cha Ku of the Suke Dynasty; may I ask your name, sir?"

"My younger brother's mind is a bit off; I hope you'll excuse him."

"I'm Shen Qing. Have you encountered evil creatures?" Shen Qing said, then walked into the Investigations Bureau.

"Come on, let's go inside the Investigations Bureau to talk."

Cha Ku immediately followed; Shen Qing stopped, pointed at the unconscious Cha Yu on the ground, and asked: "What about your brother?"

Cha Ku gave an embarrassed laugh: "Young people sleep a lot; let him nap here a while; he'll be clear-headed when he wakes."

What a young man who loves to sleep.

Just as they entered the Investigations Bureau, the Embroidered Uniform Guard on both sides shouted: "Greetings, Commander Shen!"

Shen Qing said: "Have your Commander come to the hall to see me."

Behind him, Cha Ku's eyes were already filled with shock; he naturally understood what rank it meant to be called Grand Commander by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and receive salutations.

At the same time, he secretly felt relieved, glad he hadn't let his brother spout nonsense just then.

After Shen Qing arrived at the hall, he took the main seat: "Please sit and speak; what's the situation?"

Cha Ku nodded: "Commander Shen, the situation is as follows."

"I came to the capital with my grandfather, but seeing Dawu's scenery was nice, I parted from him; he arrived in the capital first, and I traveled on foot to take in Dawu's landscapes."

"Until I entered Wuyang Prefecture, I was attacked by some strange worms in a place called Crucian Carp Village."

"These worms are not low in cultivation; some are at the Postnatal Realm, some at the Innate Realm, and there are even a few at the Grandmaster Realm. Though strong, they have low intelligence and emit black smoke all over, which somewhat resembles the evil creatures my grandfather described."

So after dealing with those worms, I rushed straight here.

At that moment, a man dressed in a commander's uniform ran in.

As soon as he entered, he saluted: "Martial Yang Prefecture Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Zhang Wang pays his respects to Young Master Shen!"

Shen Qing glanced at him: "During work, use your title."

Zhang Wang nodded: "All right, Grand Commander Shen."

However, those words left Chaku stunned.

Chaku probed: "Are you the Third Young Master Shen?"

Chaku had already done a simple investigation when he came to Great Martial; the three people one must not provoke in Great Martial right now are:

One is the Shen family's forefather, one is the Martial Emperor Zhu Wu, and the other is Shen Qing.

Shen Qing gave a faint nod.

Chaku immediately rose and bowed, performing the salute of a subject.

Suke Dynasty's Chaku pays his respects to Young Master Shen!

Shen Qing opened the illustrated manual in his hand, turned to the pages about the worms, and pushed the book over.

Take a look—are these the worms shown here?

Chaku's eyes lit up, he pointed at a worm: "Grand Commander Shen, this is it—the worm I encountered back then is this one!"

Shen Qing glanced at the worm's description.

Demonic Evil Insect.

Demonic Evil Insects move in swarms, hatched by the Demonic Evil Insect Mother; seeing one usually means the mother is nearby.

Moreover, this Demonic Evil Insect Mother is special: one egg yields twins, hatching both a Demonic Evil Insect Mother and a Demonic Evil Insect King.

Furthermore, Shen Qing had a feeling that these Demonic Evil Insects were being secretly raised by someone.

For the Demonic Evil Insect Mother to hatch her offspring, she must consume vast amounts of flesh and blood, yet Martial Yang Prefecture has seen no such incidents lately, indicating that the mother likely has not emerged before.

Possibly, the insect mother capable of hatching the Demonic Evil Insects must be at least adult; without consuming massive flesh and blood, it's simply impossible.

The only explanation is that someone has been secretly raising these Demonic Evil Insects all along.

It looks like someone is lovesick.

Shen Qing looked at Chaku.

Chaku, are you willing to take me to see where these worms are?

Chaku's eyes lit up: "Willing!"

He was more than willing.

Shen Qing walked toward the outside.

Commander Zhang, surely someone has told you about these evil spirits, right? Issue orders to the entire Great Martial Embroidered Uniform Guard to thoroughly investigate the case files and search for any traces of evil spirits.