Chapter 240: 233 Bell Tower

"How is this place?"

Before their eyes was a vast sea of flowers: red, white, pink; on branches, on the grass, on vines; a cluster of blossoms, a riot of color, competing in beauty. The air was permeated with a rich floral fragrance.

The last time Tang Zhao had seen so many flowers was at the Talisman Assembly, but compared to the ingeniously crafted flower beds of Jianzhou Island, the flowers here were more vibrant and grew more wildly.

Especially the fragrance. The flower beds on Jianzhou Island imprisoned the scent, and one could only smell the unique aroma of each flower by leaning in close; yet here, all the floral scents were mixed together, so thick it felt as if they were about to drip water.

It was even so thick that at its extreme, it could no longer be called a fragrance; the smell had instead become strange.

"It's very good." Tang Zhao sniffed.

For those who appreciate flowers, the flowers here were somewhat chaotic and disorganized, but for a Talisman Sword Master who extracts scents, this could be considered a paradise.

Zhang Rong said, "You collect this scent first. If you feel it's not enough, there is another kind of wind inside."

Tang Zhao said, "What is it?"

Zhang Rong said, "Inside there is a large bell. It is a relic from the previous dynasty; it is said to be the bell tower of the old site of Xun City. According to your classification, sound is also a kind of wind, right?"

Tang Zhao nodded. Sound really did count as a kind of wind; it could be heard, yet it was invisible and intangible, and it had properties, so it naturally counted as wind. However, among Sword Casting materials, sound was not easy to use because sound was a fluctuation and was unstable. Unstable materials were always unpopular for casting swords or crafting tools because the risk was too great. If Tang Zhao were to choose two Sword Techniques for the Dragon Tooth Sword as materials, he would also prioritize Dragon Might over Dragon Chant. But if it were in the middle of nowhere, a large bell emitting a deep, resonant toll should still be worth collecting.

Zhang Rong said, "I saw this place in the classics. It is said that in the final years of the previous dynasty, a bloody battle took place in front of the bell tower. A vassal king of our Great Jin allies attacked Xun City. The city gates had already been breached, and it seemed Xun City could not be saved. Later, the previous dynasty's Commandery Governor attached his Spirit Image to the bell, transforming into a Bell Spirit, and struck the bell. The sound alive-and-well shook tens of thousands of the great army to death... along with all the commoners in the city. It made the hundred miles around Xun City a dead zone."

Tang Zhao was shocked in his heart and said, "Is this... the scene of a dynasty's end? This kind of thing... can it be done?"

A Spirit Official attaching a Spirit Image to a bell's toll to shake tens of thousands of people to death? He had seen all sorts of strange methods of Spirit Images at the Talisman Assembly, but he didn't know there was such a branch. This must be an ultimate move of indiscriminate attack, right? Why didn't the Turtle Bandits use it? If they had used this move unexpectedly at the assembly, not to mention the Sword Guests, how many of those young Talisman Sword Masters could have resisted? If a few hundred people died, Longyuan would have suffered a crushing defeat.

Zhang Rong said, "A legend from a hundred years ago, perhaps there is some exaggeration? But the Spirit Officials of the previous dynasty had many methods; it is said there were those who could control the living, and those who could attach to corpses. Who is to say there weren't those who could attach to objects to enhance energy? Attaching to a bronze bell might not be impossible. It's just that it has been lost to time."

Tang Zhao said thoughtfully, "Indeed, the Spirit Official system of the previous dynasty was similar to a Phantom, ever-changing. Actually, both Sword Guests and Spirit Officials are systems with infinite potential; it would be great if they could be combined."

Zhang Rong laughed at that notion and said, "It's fine to say this now, but if you had said it back then, I fear both sides would have wanted to get rid of you. It was a case of either the East Wind prevailing over the West Wind, or the West Wind prevailing over the East Wind. Now it is the world of the Sword Guests; the scriptures of the Spirit Officials can no longer be recited. It is just a pity that the Spirit Officials were once in full bloom, so prosperous. Now it is nothing more than a few lines of text in history books."

He sighed a few times and said, "You collect the Qi here first. Later, we will go to that bell to pay our respects and collect the bell sound. If the bell sound is not enough by then, we can dig downwards; perhaps we can dig up some killing intent."

Tang Zhao shook his head and said, "Killing intent is unnecessary; killing intent is also human Qi, and it is ominous. But paying respects is always good."

Both were scholars, so they inevitably had some hobbies of reminiscing about history. Seeing the relics of the previous dynasty, they couldn't help but sigh, and perhaps even write poems to pay their respects. Tang Zhao couldn't write poetry, but that didn't stop him from wanting to go over and take a look. Of course, the task at hand was important, and collecting materials came first; everything else had to wait. When time was tight, any reminiscing could be skipped.

Tang Zhao immediately took out a Talisman Page, prepared the materials, and began to collect the floral fragrance.

Neither of them noticed that a pair of eyes in the depths of the flower bushes had been watching them the whole time.

"Feng Residence".

Jiang Shenyi stood in front of a large mansion gate, reading the plaque on the door.

"This family's surname is Feng?"

Mai Shiyu said, "They are one of the three great noble families of Xun City. I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect it; they actually defected to the Demon Cult and became the Demon Cult's den in Xun City. Now that the Demon Cult bandits have fled here, they cannot deny it at all. Truly, there is a path to heaven you do not take, and no door to hell you seek to enter."

Behind her, the crowd from the Land Inspection Division had already surrounded the mansion tightly. However, although they were surrounding it, everyone seemed to have some reservations and there was no surging killing intent.

Mai Shiyu waved her hand and said, "Find someone with a loud voice and issue an ultimatum. Tell them to be sensible and surrender, otherwise, I fear there will be no unbroken eggs under an overturned nest."

A Thousand-Household of the Land Inspection Division beside her agreed, then said in a low voice, "Deputy Envoy, should we give them a little more time?"

Mai Shiyu didn't even turn her head as she said, "What are you worried about? Are you afraid of a local noble family? The Land Inspection Division is exactly what destroys noble families."

The Thousand-Household said, "This family's surname is Feng."

Mai Shiyu paused slightly and said, "The Town Guardian is from Zhengyang Jun, not a local at all. What proper relatives does he have here? That Feng Family is just clinging to him; their kinship goes back five hundred years. If the Town Guardian were here and knew the Feng Family had committed treason, he would be the first one not to let them off."

Jiang Shenyi said, "If it's inconvenient for your Land Inspection Division, let me take action."

Mai Shiyu was startled, then smiled gently, "Thank you for your righteousness, Brother Jiang, but precisely because their family has a roundabout kinship with the Town Guardian, the Land Inspection Division must be the one to take action."

After saying this, she drew her sword.

A sky full of flower rain drifted down, peach and plum blossoms fragrant, scattering all over the garden, adding even more spring color to the deep courtyard.

Immediately following, one could hear screams rising from the house, one after another, as if something terrible had happened inside at the same time the flower rain fell.

The martial officers of the Land Inspection Division all had tense expressions; the older ones were mostly unable to bear it, while the younger ones were mostly excited. Clearly, this Deputy Envoy's strong methods made them admire her.

After only a moment, someone in the residence said, "We surrender, we surrender! We are willing to hand over the demon people; we beg you lords to spare the women and children of our entire family!"

Mai Shiyu said to Jiang Shenyi, "Look, I haven't even used my real skills yet. These noble families who are arrogant outside actually have no backbone. Yet they are full of schemes; they don't live a good life but want to take crooked paths. When the guillotine is at their necks, they are more obedient than anyone. Wouldn't it have been better to surrender early like this?"

Jiang Shenyi propped up his chin and said, "Weren't you going to issue an ultimatum first? You haven't even persuaded them to surrender, so how would they have the chance to call out that they surrender?"

Mai Shiyu ignored Jiang Shenyi's words and said loudly, "Listen, people inside, don't play any tricks on me. All the tunnel exits have been blocked; no one can run. I want sixteen Demon Cult members. If one is missing, you will make up the number from your own family."

There was silence at the gate. Clearly, Mai Shiyu had calculated the number so accurately that it made the Feng family feel despair.

Sure enough, after a while, the main gate opened, and the Feng family sent out sixteen Demon Cult members tied up tightly. The Tribal Chief of the Feng family, dressed in white, led his family members to prostrate and plead for mercy.

These Feng family members had wounds on their bodies, as if they had been cut by tiny, sharp blades. Clearly, the flower rain falling from the sky brought more than just a beautiful spectacle.

Mai Shiyu waved her hand, the Land Inspection Division pounced, the Demon Cult members were dragged away, and the Feng family was taken into custody. Others went into the mansion to search, first searching for the Demon Cult members who were not hidden, and then searching for various material evidence of the Feng family's participation in the Demon Cult. The Feng family's collusion with the Demon Cult was already certain; the only question was what status they held in the Demon Cult.

The Demon Cult in the city had been cleared out, and the Land Inspection Division had won a complete victory. The way Mai Shiyu handled it was very beautiful, which also greatly increased her prestige within the Land Inspection Division. Therefore, she did not stop the ceremony at the Dongjun Temple because all the Demon Cult members had been caught; instead, she insisted that all the commoners pray in the temple, and no one questioned her.

In the evening, Tang Zhao and Zhang Rong arrived at the bell tower at the old site of Xun City.

This old site of Xun City had already been submerged in a hundred years of time; the broken walls and ruined pillars were covered with wild grass and flowers, lush and vibrant. From afar, one could only see the verdant vegetation, not a trace of the scenery from back then.

Among the vegetation, the only remaining building was the bell tower. The tower walls were still relatively intact, but they were covered in vines and creepers, growing green rust like unearthed bronze ware. The rope that hung the bronze bell had long since rotted away, and the large bell lay on the ground. The bronze bell was covered in greenish-blue copper rust, and the slanting sunlight could not reflect even a hint of metallic luster.

Tang Zhao was very disappointed to see this scene—it seemed that this bronze bell, which once shook the area for a hundred miles, could no longer make a sound.

Adhering to the spirit of "since we're already here," the two walked up to the bell tower. Tang Zhao cut away the vines crawling on the bell and used his fingers to channel a bit of Gang Qi to tap the surface of the bell, which only produced a dull "humming" sound.

It was indeed rotten.

Fortunately, he had indeed collected a lot of rich floral fragrance in the flower garden, and half of today's task was completed. If it really didn't work, he would just have to ask Jiang Shenyi for some Pure Wind to make up the number.

"Shall we go back? Sorry to trouble you, sir."

Zhang Rong said, "Shall we not clean it and try again? Talisman Sword Masters have methods to clean copper rust, right?"

Tang Zhao said, "I do, but it's also a delicate job. The Demon Cave descent is only a day or two away, and you have many things to do as well. I also need to process the materials, and also... who is that?"

His gaze flashed, and he had already seen a figure flash by in a corner of the bell tower; it seemed to be a human figure in red.

He turned his head to confirm with Zhang Rong, and Zhang Rong nodded slightly. Clearly, this Sword Guest and Grandmaster of Martial Dao had also seen the anomaly.

Tang Zhao drew his Dharma Artifact and said, "I will go take a look." With a light leap, he had already lunged toward the location of the figure.

In ordinary times, there would be no need to be so tense when encountering others in the suburbs, but at this moment, just before the descent of the Demon Cave, the situation in Xun City was treacherous and unpredictable, and this place was so desolate that one could not help but overthink.

However, after running a few steps toward where the figure had been, he saw only wild grass covering the ground and no figure; Tang Zhao pushed aside the grass, but still found nothing.

Worried about being lured away from his post, Tang Zhao hurried back to the bell tower.

Up in the bell tower, Zhang Rong was safe and sound. Tang Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, and upon careful reflection, he realized that he was the one who should actually be worried between the two of them. If anyone wanted to ambush a Grandmaster and Sword Guest, they had certainly found the right person.

Looking up, he suddenly discovered that the bell had actually been re-hung by Zhang Rong; that massive bronze object was still quite spectacular once it was off the ground.

"Zhang Xiansheng... this is?"

"Since we are already here, let's strike it and see."

Tang Zhao still felt it was unnecessary; the bronze bell looked even more like a pile of scrap metal hanging there.

Zhang Rong smiled and said, "Then I shall do it." He took an object from his sleeve, which turned out to be a Xiangfei Bamboo Folding Fan.

He used this light, fluttering folding fan to strike the bronze bell.

"Clang—clang—"

The evening drum and morning bell, the sound shook for a hundred miles!