Chapter 133: Mountain Ghost!

"Everyone, move your hands and feet quickly."

"Tie up all those City Lord's Mansion soldiers tightly; not a single one is to be let go."

"Bring all of Shao Hanshang's relatives and family members over for interrogation and recording."

Songyang Prefecture, inside the City Lord's Mansion.

Chen Jin'an was directing the Black-Clad Guards of the Divine Martial Hall to arrest people everywhere.

When he saw Pang Tong, who was leading the way with Qin Shuo and He Mingjing, heading straight for the City Lord's Mansion, he took the initiative to greet them respectfully:

"Subordinate Chen Jin'an pays respects to Flying Star General!"

Pang Tong reined in his horse and looked into the distance.

His gaze swept over the Black-Clad Guards who were either arresting people or ransacking the place, finally landing on Chen Jin'an before him.

"Chen Jin'an, what is the meaning of this from your Divine Martial Hall?"

The cold voice seemed devoid of any human emotion, yet it made Chen Jin'an feel as if he were facing an abyss, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

It was said in the Jianghu that the Flying Star General was bloodthirsty and loved to kill.

Only by standing before this general could one truly feel the terrifying nature of his aura.

At this moment, Chen Jin'an felt as if he were facing a battle-hardened army; the intense, iron-blooded killing intent rushed toward him, chilling his heart and making his spine cold.

No wonder martial artists in the Jianghu all said: Better to provoke the Black-Clad Guards than the Demon-Catching Lang!

These killers from the Demon Suppression Division were all fierce men who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood; their aura was so imposing it was truly chilling.

But at this point, the arrow was on the string and had to be fired.

Chen Jin'an braced himself and said: "Reporting to the General, according to our Divine Martial Hall's investigation, the Songyang Prefecture Master Shao Hanshang plotted to seize the Buddha Bone Relic from the Demon Suppression Division's Cloud Dragon Captain, incited the Fang and Song families to set a trap, and triggered chaos in the prefecture city."

"Chen has specifically led the Black-Clad Guards here to apprehend him."

"However, Shao Hanshang relied on his status as an Inner Sect Disciple of the Wind Thunder Valley, disregarded the laws of the Great Li Dynasty, and refused to be captured, so he was executed on the spot by me."

At this point, Chen Jin'an raised a hand, and a Black-Clad Guard brought over a tray covered with a black cloth.

The cloth was lifted, revealing Shao Hanshang's blood-stained head.

Judging by the still-flowing blood, he had died only moments ago.

"So fast! So ruthless!"

Qin Shuo raised an eyebrow, instantly understanding Shao Hanshang's scheme.

This was to take the blame for the entire siege on Qin Shuo upon himself, preventing the Demon Suppression Division from using this as an excuse to investigate the Wind Thunder Valley.

This was clearly a scheme pre-arranged by Chen Jin'an and Shao Hanshang, using the Divine Martial Hall to define the Song Mansion siege as a personal act of greed for the Buddha Bone Relic.

And sect disciples violating the law was precisely the jurisdiction of the Divine Martial Hall.

Even though the victim was a Cloud Dragon Captain of the Demon Suppression Division, this case rightfully belonged to the Divine Martial Hall, and the Demon Suppression Division had no right to interfere.

To continue using Shao Hanshang as a pretext, the Demon Suppression Division would need solid, irrefutable evidence.

After all, they were both among the three great violent organs of the imperial court; neither side was inferior in strength or background.

To bypass procedure and seize people directly from the Divine Martial Hall, perhaps only Fu Lingyuan could do it.

Pang Tong, though a Demon Suppression General of equal rank to a Vice Hall Master of the Divine Martial Hall, still lacked the weight.

This was a conspiracy!

A conspiracy with Shao Hanshang's life as the stake.

The goal was singular: to sever the Demon Suppression Division's ability to attack the Wind Thunder Valley at the root.

"Hall Master Chen acts quite quickly!"

Although Qin Shuo had already seen through the goal of Chen Jin'an and Shao Hanshang, Pang Tong clearly did not intend to let it go so easily.

He spoke slowly: "I investigate cases by trusting only my own eyes, not the judgments of others."

"Shao Hanshang plotted to ambush a Cloud Dragon Captain of my Demon Suppression Division; the evidence is conclusive!"

"I have reason to suspect he is involved in the Xiaoyue Demon King case in Heishui City."

"Now, I am going to search the City Lord's Mansion and interrogate everyone here."

"Hall Master Chen, do you have any objections?"

"I dare not!"

Chen Jin'an lowered his head, not daring to meet Pang Tong's eyes.

"Search the entire mansion; do not let go of any suspicious corners. Bring all of Shao Hanshang's relatives and family members over; I will interrogate them personally."

Following the orders, dozens of Cloud Pattern Captains behind Pang Tong went into action.

Cloud Pattern Captains were the official establishment of the Demon Suppression Division, carefully selected from civilian martial artists.

Even the weakest among them were at the Great Success of Inner Strength, with some being Channel Opening experts, just one opportunity away from being promoted to Greedy Wolf Captains.

With such a group of elite martial artists, their actions were naturally swift and decisive.

Soon, the City Lord's Mansion had been searched inside and out.

"Reporting to the General, no abnormal items were found."

"Reporting to the General, nothing on my side either!"

As three Greedy Wolf Captains reported back one after another, Pang Tong's brow began to furrow.

It had to be said that Chen Jin'an and Shao Hanshang had moved fast enough to erase any traces related to demons.

Otherwise, given the nature of Wind Thunder Valley disciples, they would surely have kept some demonic birds or beasts.

As the number one Alchemy Sect in Yunzhou, Wind Thunder Valley was notorious for keeping spirit birds and exotic beasts.

This was also why the Demon Suppression Division kept a close eye on them.

According to the Demon Suppression Division's years of experience, many demons harming the people had escaped from the hands of these keepers.

However, the laws of the Great Li Dynasty did not forbid keeping exotic beasts and birds, only those that had already opened their spiritual intelligence.

Because the strength of martial artists was inseparable from the medicinal power of the flesh and blood of spirit birds and exotic beasts.

It was precisely because of this that demons in Yunzhou were never eradicated, and in recent years, a behemoth like the Ghost Mother Sect had even emerged.

This massive mobilization by the Demon Suppression Division, besides wanting to thoroughly investigate Wind Thunder Valley and find the location of the Innate Ghost Mother, was also intended to curb this trend of keeping demonic creatures in Yunzhou.

"General Pang, our brothers from the Divine Martial Hall have already searched the City Lord's Mansion inside and out; if there were any traces of demons, we would have reported it immediately."

Chen Jin'an gave a fawning smile.

Although the forced search of the mansion was against protocol.

If not for the circumstances, he would never want to cross this notorious Demon Suppression General.

"You Divine Martial Hall and Wind Thunder Valley are in cahoots; don't think I don't know."

Facing Chen Jin'an's attempt to curry favor, Pang Tong showed no mercy. "Since nothing was found, I will have to interrogate them one by one."

"Bring all of Shao Hanshang's relatives and family members here."

Before the words had even faded, several Cloud Pattern Captains moved toward the City Lord's Mansion relatives who had been gathered by the Divine Martial Hall.

"Wait!"

Just then, Qin Shuo, who had been watching silently, shifted his gaze, his eyes passing over the heavy walls to a certain spot in the back courtyard of the City Lord's Mansion.

"General Pang, perhaps things don't need to be so troublesome."

A playful smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth as he looked at Chen Jin'an with a sudden glint of mockery.

"Oh?"

Pang Tong was intrigued by Qin Shuo's words and turned to look at him, showing an expectant expression.

Chen Jin'an's heart skipped a beat, his fists clenched involuntarily, and his eyes revealed a look of gravity.

No way?

From such a great distance, could he actually detect it?

However, the moment Qin Shuo took the Jingtie Great Bow from his back, all of Chen Jin'an's luck vanished.

He... really found it!?

Bang!

The bowstring vibrated like a thunderclap!

The heavy Mysterious Iron Arrow wrapped in silver moon blades whistled into the high sky like a silver dragon, then fiercely fell toward the lake in the back garden.

Boom!

Like a giant rock hitting the lake, it stirred up huge waves.

The Half-Moon Lake of the City Lord's Mansion exploded, splashing water several meters high, which was then shredded by the moon blade storm, turning into a torrential downpour that soaked the Black-Clad Guards searching by the lake.

"Squeak!"

Following the fall of the Mysterious Iron Arrow, a sharp, piercing screech like that of a vicious ghost came from the depths of the lake.

Immediately after, a pitch-black, hideous-faced Mountain Ghost lunged from the bottom of the lake, leaping into mid-air, only to be dragged back to the surface by the chains on its feet.

"A Mountain Ghost!?"

He Mingjing exclaimed in shock.

Chen Jin'an's face turned as dark as water.

He couldn't understand how this Qin fellow had discovered the Mountain Ghost, even though he had used a wooden box and iron balls to sink it to the bottom of the lake.

If there had been time, he would have killed the Mountain Ghost and thrown it outside the city.

It was just that the blood of a Mountain Ghost was foul and pungent, extremely difficult to dissipate.

With the keen senses of Demon Suppression Division captains who dealt with Mountain Ghosts year-round, it was easy to detect the scent of a Mountain Ghost.

Therefore, he had Shao Hanshang sink the Mountain Ghost to the bottom of the lake and tie it with chains, hoping to suffocate it to death.

Unexpectedly, the Mountain Ghost's vitality was so tenacious that it hadn't fully died after being at the bottom of the lake for a full hour, and it had been discovered by Qin Shuo.

"Keeping a Mountain Ghost?"

Pang Tong's gaze turned cold as he looked at Chen Jin'an, saying, "Hall Master Chen, were you aware of this?"