Chapter 439: Killing and Interrogation, Five Vassal Towns, Su Siblings

Just now in the Bone-Eroding Path, when he heard the three words "road toll" from the mouth of the Black Wind General, Xia Hong was both shocked and puzzled.

The strange monster actually knows how to set up a checkpoint to collect fees!

But what can it collect?

According to the needs of the strange monster, Xia Hong actually had some guesses about this road toll, but thinking that Cai Qiu is a vassal town-level force after all, he felt there were other possibilities.

It was not until he was about to escape from the Bone-Eroding Path just now and clearly perceived the situation outside that he really confirmed that the so-called road toll was actually living people, and they were all young people under the age of 20.

Pfft............

Xia Hong sprayed another mouthful of blood, looked down at the black energy constantly emerging from the knife mark on his chest, his brow condensed fiercely, quickly took out a piece of condensing fire oil from the bundle, smeared it on his chest, and then swallowed a Jade Sore Pill for healing, then quickly closed his eyes to adjust his breath.

Sizzle............

The condensing fire oil touched the wound, and sparks immediately burst out. Cooperating with the Jade Sore Pill, it quickly suppressed the injury on his body.

"May I ask the senior, where do you come from?"

But before four or five breaths had passed, He Qing brought a group of soldiers and gathered around.

Xia Hong opened his eyes slightly, saw the respectful posture of He Qing, who was holding a big sword and constantly approaching himself, was first a little confused, then noticed the actions of those soldiers around him who were slowly surrounding him seemingly unintentionally, and felt incredible in his heart.

He looked up at He Qing and found that the other party's eyes were looking at the Star-Shattering Sword and the bundle he had just placed on the ground from time to time. Thinking that he had not released any aura after coming out of the Bone-Eroding Path, he realized the behavior of He Qing and others, and couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

This is thinking that his injury is too heavy and having the idea of killing and seizing treasures!

"Senior, I have some healing pills, why not try them?"

He Qing had been approaching tentatively. When he was only five meters away from Xia Hong, he even took out a bottle of pills from his arms with his left hand and continued to walk forward, seemingly intending to hand the pills to Xia Hong.

Xia Hong did not give a response, just looked at He Qing with a flat expression, letting him walk all the way to his front.

Whoosh............

When he was only two meters away from Xia Hong, He Qing's eyes turned cold, and he attacked violently. The big sword in his right hand slashed horizontally towards Xia Hong's chest.

Xia Hong had no action from beginning to end. Noticing that his big sword had touched the other party's chest, a ferocious smile appeared on He Qing's face, and his eyes also became extremely hot.

A severely injured Manifestation level, if this can be beheaded, it will definitely make a fortune...

Opportunity, this is my He Qing's opportunity!

Clang......

However, in the next second, the ferocious smile on his face stopped abruptly, and the originally hot eyes were like being poured with a basin of cold water, instantly replaced by horror and horror.

His 38-bristle foundation strength, combined with the bonus of the cultivation technique, the strength of this knife was at least 45 bristles, and he picked the chest part where Xia Hong was already injured.

But with this knife, it actually didn't even break Xia Hong's skin membrane.

Not only did it not break, but the ten-thousand-forged big sword in his hand even snapped.

"Finished!"

These two words popped up in He Qing's mind. Without thinking, he quickly abandoned the sword and said in shock: "My subordinate is from Bai Shui County, Cai Qiu, County Guard Army Captain He......"

Bang!

Xia Hong did not give He Qing a chance to speak at all. In the blink of an eye, he took the knife he had abandoned and slashed his legs off like cutting rice with his backhand.

"Run!"

The fifty-odd soldiers around also reacted at this moment. The severely injured young man in front of them was simply not an existence they could provoke. Someone screamed, and the rest of the people quickly fled in all directions.

"Run?"

At this moment, the roles of both sides had clearly swapped. Xia Hong turned his head to look at the soldiers fleeing in all directions, a ferocious smile flashed on his face, took the knife piece that He Qing had just snapped, and then folded it with force.

Clang............

He Qing's knife, although it was ten-thousand-forged level and mixed with white silver, was no different from paper in Xia Hong's hands. He folded it with such force, and the knife piece immediately shattered, turning into dozens of small knife pieces, flying out towards the periphery.

The direction of flying out was exactly the back of the heads of those soldiers who had fled in all directions.

And the target, without exception, was the back of their heads.

Pfft... pfft... pfft...

The sound of blades piercing skulls was too dense, as if only three or four sounds were made, and twenty-plus corpses fell around.

And those peripheral soldiers hadn't even escaped twenty meters away.

"Whoever dares to move again, try it!"

Xia Hong's low words were like the notes of a death knell, scaring the remaining 20-plus soldiers into stopping. But there were still five who were not afraid of death. After a pause of one or two breaths, they gritted their teeth and continued to escape to the periphery.

Seeing the actions of the five, a trace of coldness rose in Xia Hong's eyes. He picked up the small blades scattered on the ground and shot them at the five people.

Pfft......

A slight piercing sound rang out, and the back of the five people's heads immediately burst with a small spray of blood, then their bodies stiffened and straightened, their vitality cut off, and they fell to the ground with a crash.

The remaining ten-plus soldiers, seeing the miserable state of the five, were finally scared to the point of complete terror. They dared not make any more movements, not even daring to beg for mercy. They stood with their backs to Xia Hong, still maintaining the posture of running away, their faces full of fear and anxiety.

"All of you, get over here and kneel!"

Until Xia Hong spoke, the total of seventeen soldiers turned around quickly, almost crawling to Xia Hong's front, and knelt down directly to him.

"Spare my life! My lord, spare my life......"

"I beg you, my lord, spare our lives, spare us!"

"We had eyes but didn't recognize Mount Tai, my lord, spare......"

"All of you, shut up!"

Xia Hong first shouted to interrupt everyone, then pointed at He Qing, who had been cut in the legs and had fainted from pain, and signaled coldly to one of the soldiers:

"Step on him until he wakes up. If one step doesn't wake him, you go die!"

The soldier stood up tremblingly, his face full of fear as he walked to He Qing. Thinking of Xia Hong's threat, a look of ferocity rose in his eyes, and he raised his foot and stepped fiercely on the broken part of He Qing's legs.

Pfft......

He Qing should have swallowed some pills before fainting; the blood on his legs actually had signs of coagulation. But being stepped on by this soldier, the legs that had been cut at the root suddenly burst open, and two clusters of blood exploded with a pfft sound.

"Ah......"

The fainted He Qing naturally felt the pain. With a miserable howl, he opened his eyes and saw the soldier who stepped on him. A look of murderous intent first appeared on his face, but then he reacted, turned his head to look at Xia Hong, his face full of terror.

"Senior, I am from Bai Shui County......"

"Shut up!"

Xia Hong had already closed his eyes and started to adjust his breath and heal his wounds again.

He Qing was interrupted by a word and dared not make any more sounds. He didn't even dare to look at his legs that had been cut at the root, and could only suppress the pain, lower his head, and tremble.

Thus, Xia Hong didn't speak, seventeen soldiers knelt on the ground, and together with He Qing, they trembled. The scene fell into silence.

Even these Cold-Resisting level soldiers performed so poorly; as for the hundred-plus young people on the periphery, there was no need to mention them.

They all looked at Xia Hong, their eyes filled with both relief and thick fear. Wanting to escape, but afraid that Xia Hong would attack them, they could only stand still in place.

"Little sister, put on your clothes quickly!"

However, there were still some who were relatively bold, such as Su Jing, who had just walked out of the Bone-Eroding Path.

Su Jing's left arm had just been cut off at the root and was still seeping blood. Although his face was pale from excessive blood loss, he still rushed to his sister Su Xing'er's side at the first moment, took off his own clothes, and wrapped his sister up.

"Big brother, your arm......"

Su Xing'er looked at her big brother's arm with teary eyes, hurriedly tore a few strips of cloth from her clothes, helped him bandage it first, and then turned her head to look at Xia Hong's side with slight terror.

"Run!"

"This lord should not attack us."

"Someone has already run, let's go quickly."

Su Jing's movement immediately caused a chain reaction. Many young people tentatively moved to the periphery, and finding that Xia Hong didn't care at all, they immediately walked quickly and escaped to the distance.

Thus, more and more young people also reacted and escaped to the periphery.

Su Xu and Su Zhi also gathered to their big brother Su Jing's side at this time. The two first helped up their little sister Su Xing'er, then Su Xu whispered to Su Jing: "Big brother, let's run quickly too!"

Hearing his second brother's words, a hesitation flashed across Su Jing's face. He turned his head to look at Xia Hong, clenched his right fist slightly, a glimmer of hope rose in his pupils, and he whispered in a low voice: "No, we won't run......"

That he didn't die in the Bone-Eroding Path just now must have been because of this lord's intervention.

Just this point is enough to show that although this lord killed so many soldiers as soon as he appeared, he is definitely not a person who kills indiscriminately.

And these soldiers deserved to die in the first place!

Su Jing turned his head to look at his younger brother and sister, a trace of lingering fear first flashed across his face, then turned into a trace of firmness. Without saying anything, he directly pulled his sister Su Xing'er and walked toward Xia Hong's side.

Su Xu and Su Zhi saw their big brother take the initiative to walk toward Xia Hong's side. A trace of fear first appeared on their faces, but they gritted their teeth and followed.

Plop......

Su Jing walked to the flank of the group of soldiers, took his sister, and knelt down to Xia Hong with a plop. Su Xu and Su Zhi immediately followed and knelt down, having vaguely guessed their big brother's idea.

After about two hundred breaths, Xia Hong finally opened his eyes leisurely.

He looked at the eighteen soldiers in front of him, took a deep breath, first put the Star-Shattering Sword into his bundle, and then said in a deep voice: "You all know the consequences of being talkative. From now on, answer whatever I ask!"

After speaking, he didn't wait for everyone to respond and threw out the question directly.

"What territory is this, and how far is it from Cai Qiu Town?"

"This place is called Changqing Valley, and it is 900 li from Cai Qiu Town."

"What jurisdictions does Cai Qiu govern? How big is the territory?"

"In addition to the town, it governs four counties, two lakes, and one valley. The four counties are Linchu, Bai Shui, Qingcang, and Donghe; the two lakes are Yanze and Hanbo; the last valley is Changqing Valley. The territory totals 150,000 square kilometers."

"What is the population and military strength of the Fanzhen?"

"The entire Cai Qiu population is about 18 million-plus, and there is a total army of 300,000."

"Military branches and combat power!"

"There are three military branches: Silver Scale, Garrison Guard, and County Guard. The most elite is the Silver Scale Army under the command of the Fangbo Lord, with soldiers all having strength above 20 bristles; next is the Garrison Guard Army, with strength all above 10 bristles; the weakest is the County Guard Army, with soldiers all having Cold-Resisting level cultivation. We are all County Guard soldiers of Bai Shui County."

"What is the cultivation of your Fangbo Lord and County Governor?"

The group of soldiers had been answering very fluently, until Xia Hong asked this question. They suddenly stagnated, looking at each other for a long time without speaking.

Finally, it was He Qing, who was on his last breath and had an explosive desire to survive, who spoke tremblingly: "I have heard that the County Governor is at the Tribulation Body Realm, as for the Fangbo Lord, I don't know, it should be above the Tribulation Body Realm."

"Is it the Venerable Phase Realm?"

A trace of solemnity first appeared on Xia Hong's face, then seeing He Qing's slightly evasive eyes, he sneered immediately and stood up to walk toward him.

"My lord, spare my life, my lord, spare......"

He Qing clearly realized something and opened his mouth in terror to beg for mercy.

It's a pity that before he finished speaking, Xia Hong kicked him into the Bone-Eroding Path.

"Ah......"

The black wind of the Bone-Eroding Path instantly scraped away his flesh and blood. That scream lasted less than two breaths before he completely turned into a white skeleton and fell to the ground with a crash.

"Around Cai Qiu, what other Fanzhens are there?"

"To the west is Chen Cang, to the north is Hezang, to the east there is also Weibo. I heard that behind Hanbo Lake in the northeast direction, there is also a Lu Long Fanzhen. The little one only knows these four."

"What are the names of your Fangbo Lord and the four County Governors?"

"The Fangbo Lord's name is Cai Qianshan, Linchu County Governor Cai Qiuyang, Qingcang County Governor Cai Qiuning, Donghe County Governor Fan Zijing, and finally our Bai Shui County Governor Cai Qiuhong."

"How does Cai Qiu govern the local area?"

For any force, compared to ordinary people, the authority of soldiers is definitely much higher. Great Xia is also like this.

The higher the authority, the more it naturally means the more they know.

Xia Hong didn't expect that his luck would be so good. As soon as he came out of the Bone-Eroding Path, he ran into this group of County Guard soldiers. His primary purpose for coming to Cai Qiu was to inquire about the news of the Fanzhen. Since he didn't have to spend energy to lurk and inquire, he naturally had to ask everything he wanted to know clearly here.

From Cai Qiu's general strength to local governance methods, from the Fanzhen high-level system to the local official system, from the general combat power of the army to the management mode......

Xia Hong almost asked whatever he thought of. It took him a full half-hour, and it wasn't until he asked questions that these soldiers basically couldn't answer that he stopped, and then asked another question.

"Where is the Blood Miasma Plain?"

Just like before, when the soldiers heard the question, their faces were full of confusion.

Only one soldier in the back row answered after pondering for a moment: "I know, it seems to be south of Linchu County, bordering Yanzehu. Rumor has it that there are many strange monsters there. Last year, a commander of the Garrison Guard Army came over and drew a batch of elites from among us. I heard that some kind of war is going on there!"

Thinking of the route Chu Yan'er told him, Xia Hong's brows narrowed slightly, and he continued to ask in a low voice: "Is Yanzehu the territory of your Cai Qiu family? Can Chen Cang people also walk from there?"

The soldier was stunned for a moment, then immediately said: "Yanzehu is very large. Our Cai Qiu only occupies a small piece extending from the east side. The west side is Chen Cang's territory......"

According to the soldier's description, a map slowly emerged in Xia Hong's mind.

The Blood Miasma Plain is generally a circular area with a radius of 50 kilometers, with a total area of about 7,000-plus square kilometers, which includes the Yanzehu in the south; and Yanzehu is long and narrow from east to west, with both ends cut off by Mount Mo'ao. The part extending from the east belongs to Cai Qiu, and the part extending from the west belongs to Chen Cang.

"The land is like its name. The Blood Miasma Plain is named after the blood-colored miasma that has long shrouded the snow plain. The cold beasts and strange monsters inside, whether in ferocity or strength, are several times stronger than their counterparts in the outside world. I heard that the blood-colored miasma can confuse people's minds, making people become violent and bloodthirsty. Cold-Resisting level experts will either go crazy or die if they inhale it, and even Manifesting Yang level experts cannot stay in it for long."

Hearing this last paragraph, a sneer rose in Xia Hong's eyes.

The route Chu Yan'er gave was indeed harboring evil intentions.

"My lord, spare us!"

"The lord should not be familiar with Cai Qiu's route. If you spare our lives, we can lead the way for the lord."

"That's right! I beg the lord to spare our lives for the sake of us answering so many questions!"

"My lord, spare my life!"

After answering questions for so long, the group of soldiers naturally understood that Xia Hong was a strong man from other places. Thinking that he was not familiar with the road conditions, they immediately bowed down to beg him to spare their lives, each patting their chests to lead the way for him.

"Want to live, sure......"

A sneer rose on Xia Hong's face, and he continued: "Ask you one last question, how did you get those tolls?"

When the group of soldiers heard this question, their expressions suddenly stiffened. For a full ten-plus breaths, no one dared to answer.

"My...... lord...... my lord......"

Su Jing, who was kneeling on the flank, finally couldn't help but speak at this moment.

He was obviously still afraid, called out tremblingly, and seeing that Xia Hong didn't speak, his courage slowly came up. He cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to the lord, the camp in Changqing Valley, although governed by Bai Shui County, they have never treated us as their own people. Every year, besides sending people down to collect annual tribute, and occasionally collecting some slaves, they don't care about anything else at all.

We are all people from Qingtan Village. Three days ago, they came to Qingtan Village and said they wanted to collect 500 people under the age of 25 to go to the county town to do long-term labor. We were all very happy to sign up, only to find out later that they were forcing us to come to the Bone-Eroding Path to die."

Hearing Su Jing's words, the group of soldiers all lowered their heads.

A chill appeared on Xia Hong's face, and he sneered: "Taking human lives as tolls shows that you are not good things in normal times. I just happened not to pay the toll, so you can be my toll!"

"Run!"

When the group of soldiers heard Xia Hong's last sentence, knowing that they were in a situation of certain death, they finally roared hysterically and fled for their lives.

"Whoosh......"

Xia Hong naturally wouldn't give them a chance. He just took a slight breath, and then blew a breath of air fiercely at the soldiers in front.

With a physical body with a basic strength of 40 jun, even if it was just the airflow blown by mobilizing bone energy, the force was over several hundred bristles.

"Ah......"

"Ah...... spare my life......"

Those soldiers hadn't even taken two or three steps when they were blown directly into the Bone-Eroding Path by the wild wind blown by Xia Hong. Like He Qing before, they didn't even make a few screams, their flesh and blood were instantly scraped clean by the black wind, and very quickly only a white skeleton remained.

"Evil beast, this is the toll I gave you. Are you happy?"

Xia Hong looked up at the Bone-Eroding Path and shouted deliberately with a hint of teasing.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh......

The sound of airflow in the Bone-Eroding Path suddenly became a bit louder, and one could even vaguely see some airflow wanting to break free, which was clearly the Black Wind General's reaction of being somewhat annoyed.

"If you can't come out, then everything is easy to say! With strength over a hundred jun, returning from here, I'm afraid there is some risk......"

Thinking of the miserable state of being chased by the Black Wind General in the Bone-Eroding Path just now, Xia Hong's expression was a bit gloomy. After pausing in place and pondering for a moment, he flashed and flew away toward the north.