Chapter 405: Flying Sword Transforms into Thread

The various strange phenomena surrounding Wei Zhenbang, especially the method of condensing yin qi into ice, were something Xu Yuan had never seen before.

At first glance at the unconscious Wei Zhenbang, Xu Yuan judged that this rescue would likely encounter complications midway.

Being too smooth made people feel uneasy.

Xu Yuan then said, "Tomorrow morning, take this official to meet that giant python."

The county magistrate seized an opportunity to interject: "My lord, I have prepared a humble wine to welcome you and wash away your dust."

"Not necessary," Xu Yuan waved his hand: "This official is here to solve a case; it is inappropriate to eat and drink before the case is resolved."

The county magistrate did not urge further; after the case ended, there would surely be an opportunity to build a relationship with this promising young Law Master of the Purification Bureau.

The entire group stayed in the rear courtyard of the county yamen.

Xu Yuan secretly instructed Lang Xiao Ba and the others: secretly and closely monitor Wei Zhenbang, as well as the fire-tending servant who had close contact with Wei Zhenbang.

The next day, after Xu Yuan woke up, he checked the almanac; today's prohibitions were:

Day running, night traveling, riding in carriages, and shouting at the mountains.

Since Lang Xiao Ba did not come to call him last night, it meant Wei Zhenbang was fine.

After Xu Yuan got up and washed, the county magistrate and county official Wei Zhenbang arrived together.

"You have come just in time; let us eat breakfast together," Xu Yuan called out, but the two bowed with hands hanging down: "We have already eaten, my lord, please enjoy your meal."

After Xu Yuan finished breakfast, the group set off toward Little Black River.

But because "day running" and "riding in carriages" were prohibited, everyone could only walk there on their own two legs.

Riding horses was not allowed—if a horse suddenly became startled and ran wildly, it would violate the prohibition.

At the main gate of the county yamen, the county magistrate had specially prepared a sedan chair and a bamboo litter: "Which one does my lord prefer..."

Xu Yuan smiled and waved his hand: "This official is not that delicate."

While in the county town, Xu Yuan had noticed that the number of sedan chairs in the city had increased greatly today.

Wei Zhenbang, familiar with the route, led everyone to the place where he had previously encountered the giant python and been injured by it in just two hours.

They stood on the east bank of Little Black River.

Due to the heavy rain a while ago, Little Black River had swollen; the water was turbid and yellow, the river surface was twenty zhang wide, and occasionally large fish could be seen rolling across the surface.

Ahead lay a Lin Zi, its tree roots already submerged in the rising river water.

Farther to the east was a small village.

The place where Xu Yuan and the others stood had only wet, soft mud and sand beneath their feet.

Wei Zhenbang pointed to that patch of forest half-submerged in the river water: "The giant python's lair should be within that forest."

"That beast is extremely sensitive; as soon as someone appears nearby, it will definitely notice..."

Just as he was speaking, Lang Xiao Ba suddenly pointed into the forest and said, "My lord, please look!"

A patch of water surface in the forest suddenly churned violently; as soon as Lang Xiao Ba's voice fell, a huge, hideous head rose from beneath the water.

Then it swam rapidly toward the group.

Behind it, a long, thin line of water remained.

In an instant, that thing burst out of the forest, reaching the river water about a hundred zhang in front of the group, then suddenly raised its upper body—

Splash!

The sound of the waves was like an exploding thunderclap.

The upper body rose five zhang high! On its originally triangular head, layers of spines suddenly opened, with skin membranes connecting between the spines!

The skin membrane was covered in strange black-yellow patterns, and those patterns looked like countless eyes!

And the giant python's pair of dark yellow snake eyes also emitted a ghostly light—

Wei Zhenbang cried out in panic: "Everyone be careful! Last time I was harmed by this strange technique..."

Xu Yuan opened his mouth and spat; the sword pill flew a hundred zhang.

Upon reaching the giant python, it suddenly elongated, transforming into a sword thread so thin it was almost invisible.

This was the result of My Lord Xu's recent cultivation.

He can now transform the sword pill into multiple forms.

Unlike before, when it only had the pill and sword forms.

The sword thread quickly wrapped around the giant python.

The giant python was as thick as a water vat; the sword thread was over ten zhang long, wrapping around the giant python three times... and the giant python was cut into several segments!

The sharpness of the sword thread was even greater than that of a flying sword.

"Hiss..."

The giant python screamed in agony; its huge head, connected to a one-zhang-long section of its snake body, fell into the river water along with the other segments.

Before Wei Zhenbang's shout had finished, he saw that the evil spirit had already been cut by My Lord Xu!

The rest of his words were instantly stuck in his throat.

The county magistrate, who had brought a squad of Yamen Runners, stood there dumbfounded on the spot.

Is this truly a great expert from Zhan Province?!

Indeed, they cannot be compared to cultivators like us from such a small place.

The county official cultivates the eighth-rank method and is already a top existence in the county town.

He was nearly killed by the giant python's strange technique.

Yet this giant python could not withstand even one move from My Lord Xu.

My Lord Xu showed little joy; just like when Wei Zhenbang took office yesterday, it seemed complicated but was actually very easy.

There was a strange sense of contrast.

Xu Yuan unfolded the "Evil Filth Net," spreading it through the river water, even covering the waters within that patch of forest.

With this single cast of the net, they hauled up the entire body of the giant python, along with all the entrails that had been severed and scattered into the water.

The foul blood mixed within the river water, however, could not be retrieved no matter what.

Yet this move by the Evil Filth Net gave the Yamen Runners of Shiping County another fright.

The Magistrate and Wei Zhenbang at least possessed some knowledge, but these Yamen Runners had never left Shiping County in their entire lives and had never seen any great figures.

They held a very direct and simple criterion for judging "strength" and "weakness":

The bigger, the stronger!

That giant python was over ten zhang long and as thick as a water vat; such a colossal creature was naturally a terrifying great evil spirit.

Whereas the Evil Filth Net of Lord Xu covered half the river surface!

It was far larger than the giant python, so naturally it was many times stronger than the giant python as well.

The Yamen Runners even felt that Lord Xu using such a method was like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken, making a mountain out of a molehill.

The Magistrate felt quite awkward; his own Yamen Runners were discussing the matter in a flurry, giving off the vibe of country bumpkins seeing something rare and strange.

But Wei Zhenbang whispered quietly, "You cannot blame them. Even I, as a county assistant, had never before seen a craftwork of such caliber!"

Wei Zhenbang did not shout or scream, but he had indeed opened his eyes.

Xu Yuan hauled up every part of this giant python mainly because he had killed it too easily and worried the thing might have used some "Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell" trick.

But after piecing them together one by one, he found there were no missing parts.

The people of Shiping County observed the giant python at such close range for the first time, hissing as they sucked in cool air.

Wei Zhenbang could not help but clasp his fist and praise loudly, "This demon has roamed unchecked and was invincible in our Shiping County! But under the hand of the Law-Enforcement Lord, this demon is utterly helpless; the gap between us and the Law-Enforcement Lord is as vast as the heavens and the abyss..."

Xu Yuan waved a hand, his gaze never leaving the corpse of that giant python.

Lang Xiao Ba stepped forward and asked, "My lord, should we have the Rank Dan Xiu brothers handle the corpse?"

"Wait."

Xu Yuan spat a wad of fire into his palm, then rubbed his hands together; the flames spread upward, wrapping around his hands like two fire-blades.

Xu Yuan raised his hands and began to cut into the giant python's body.

He had previously obtained a cultivation method of the Rank Dan Xiu called the "Thunder and Fire Adjustment," which specialized in stripping away the strange techniques from evil spirits and anomalies and refining them into "Strange Pills."

Xu Yuan wanted to try and see how many strange techniques he could strip from this giant python.

(End of this chapter)