Chapter 773: Wu Land Snake God

The night was as dark as ink, and the water mist on the canal carried the chill of autumn.

Inside the cabin of the Lin family treasure ship, the lights were bright.

After sending away the last batch of commoners seeking medical treatment, everyone had no fatigue, nor were they in a hurry to rest, but were busy with their own things, waiting peacefully.

Just when they thought there would be nothing tonight, a turning point appeared.

"Coming!"

Li Yan frowned, noticing something wrong.

On the wharf, a team of swaying lantern lights appeared in the distance.

Afterward, the noisy footsteps and whispers approached from far to near and stopped at the end of the trestle bridge.

But the people who came were somewhat unexpected.

One of them was wearing the armor of the Commandant's Office, with a leopard head and ring eyes, and was burly. Li Yan had seen him in the imperial envoy's team during the day, and he was the real-power Battalion Commander of the Yangzhou Commandant's Office who had taken over.

And the other one made his eyes narrow slightly.

This person was about fifty years old, with a sturdy and strong figure. Standing there, he looked like an iron-cast pile, motionless.

Under a dark brocade robe, the feeling of knotted muscles was faintly visible.

He had a square face, thick eyebrows locked, and his demeanor was full of reluctance, with an extraordinary momentum.

Sha Lifei hurriedly whispered: "Yangzhou Zhang family, Zhang Tiankui!"

When Li Yan heard this, he frowned.

Before inquiring about the local figures in Yangzhou, he had already understood the local martial arts families, famous for the "Zhang Family Martial Jin Shi Fist" and the "Seven Star Steps" that were unique in the Jianghu, and there were martial arts champions in several consecutive generations.

The current head of the family, Zhang Tiankui, had already reached the realm of Gang Jin.

Could it be that this Zhang family has a problem...

The new Commandant's Office Battalion Commander stepped onto the deck and hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands and saluted: "I have seen Li Shaoxia, you have been tired all day, and our late-night disturbance is really a last resort!"

Li Yan nodded slightly, "Zhou Battalion Commander is too polite, I don't know what's the matter?"

This Battalion Commander Zhou stepped aside to let Zhang Tiankui out and said in a deep voice: "This is the head of the Yangzhou Zhang family, I think you already know. A distant relative of the Zhang family had an accident in Zhangjiawan, not far from the city."

"The whole family... regardless of old or young, women or children, overnight, not a single chicken or dog was left!"

At the end, his voice was even a little trembling.

After saying that, he looked at Zhang Tiankui.

Zhang Tiankui was obviously reluctant, gave Li Yan a casual cupped-hand salute, and said in a deep voice: "Zhang is not here to seek medical treatment. It's just that the crime scene is extremely evil. The Commandant's Office suspects... it's the work of the Japanese pirates or those evildoers before."

His tone was stiff, and he closed his eyes after speaking.

Li Yan's gaze flickered across the faces of the two, and his mind turned, already having some guesses.

This Zhang Tiankui could be called the leader in the local martial arts, and had been famous for a long time, but three days ago, the chaos in Yangzhou happened to be when he was not present, and his disciples were caught off guard and became onlookers.

Li Yan solved the siege of Yangzhou, but it also highlighted their incompetence, so they naturally didn't want to come.

The matter of the Zhang family's distant relative should be reported to the government normally, but in this current situation, the Commandant's Office was cautious and didn't want to have any more accidents, so they naturally had to drag the other party to come.

It seems that these two are not very suspicious.

But the extermination of the Zhang family's distant relative happened to be during the time the Japanese pirates were fleeing...

Thinking of this, Li Yan cupped his hands sternly: "Dealing with Japanese pirates and evil spirits is Li's duty. There is no time to delay, please Battalion Commander and Senior Zhang lead the way, we will follow the ship to investigate immediately!"

Once these words were spoken, a trace of surprise flashed in Zhang Tiankui's eyes, while the Battalion Commander was overjoyed:

"Li Shaoxia is righteous! The ship is ready, it's at the wharf!"

The Lin family treasure ship had slight damage that night and was being repaired, so they could only take the official ship.

Li Yan gave a wink, and everyone immediately packed their valuable luggage and followed him off the ship.

Soon, a fast imperial ship carried everyone, as well as the elite of the Commandant's Office, and quietly left the Dongguan Wharf, sailing against the tributary of the canal toward Zhangjiawan in the southwest.

The night wind was tight, blowing people's clothes and sleeves hunting.

Along the way, the new Battalion Commander Zhou kept fawning beside Li Yan.

This guy was an old oil stick, obviously knowing Li Yan's energy in the capital.

As for Zhang Tiankui, he only brought two disciples, stood at the bow of the ship, and remained silent.

About half an hour later, a water bay village appeared at the turn of the river ahead.

At this time, the village was silent, covered by the night.

As soon as the fast ship approached the wharf, a bloody smell like rust came from the air.

Thick, pungent, and a bone-deep chill came rushing toward them.

"It's that big household in front..."

Battalion Commander Zhou of the Commandant's Office endured the discomfort and pointed to a silhouette of a wall in the darkness, and said again: "The village is all one family. After the incident, it was discovered by a peddler two days later. I specifically ordered not to move the scene."

Li Yan nodded and led everyone ashore.

He first went to the nearest farmhouse to check, but saw foul-smelling pitch-black filthy blood inside.

The others were all bloody and blurred, while the strong master of the house had only a few scars on his body, holding a firewood knife, inserted into his own neck, with only blood holes left in his eyes.

"This is evil possession, killed his family and then committed suicide."

Everyone was experienced and saw the process at once.

In the following houses, they were almost all scenes of mutual slaughter.

When they arrived at the center of the village, Zhang Tiankui didn't say a word, his figure flashed, and he drifted out like a ghost. With a tip of his toes, his figure brought seven faint afterimages and fell directly at the main gate of the mansion.

The footwork was mysterious, exactly the "Seven Star Steps" famous in the Jianghu.

Li Yan looked calm and followed closely, using shrinking the ground into an inch, and his speed was not slow at all.

Zhang Tiankui narrowed his eyes and glanced at him. Afterward, he arrived at the heavy vermilion lacquer gate of the mansion, pressed his palm, and spat out a little gang qi. The door shaft made a "clatter" sound that made people's teeth ache. 【773

Boom—!

The main gate collapsed, and a more intense stench of blood and rotting corpses surged out like a tide.

"Ugh..." A Zhang family disciple couldn't help but retch.

This large residence had many people, and it had already become a slaughterhouse.

Before Li Yan and the others could investigate, a flash of anger crossed Zhang Tiankui's eyes. He leaped out, checked several corpses in succession, and then his eyes revealed astonishment, "It's 'Snake-Head Sores'?!"

Li Yan noticed his gaze and squatted down to examine a male corpse nearby.

This person must have been a retainer of the house; his death was particularly tragic. While bleeding from the seven orifices, his upper body was a blue-purple color, and his fingertips, in particular, were bizarre.

Li Yan frowned and checked the other corpses as well.

Sure enough, the fingertips of all the corpses presented a strange, ulcerated appearance.

Unlike cuts from sharp weapons or signs of corrosion, it was as if they had burst from deep within the flesh and bone, with skin and meat rolled back, joints twisted and deformed, leaving behind black, filthy blood and rotting tissue.

Li Yan borrowed a silver needle from the accompanying Commandant's office personnel and gently pushed aside the rotting flesh. An indescribable stench, mixed with the foulness of earth and death, rushed toward him—more sinister than ordinary corpse rot.

The silver needle, however, did not change color.

"Not a blade, not a poison..."

Li Yan stood up slowly, his eyes sharp, "It's a curse! An extremely sinister curse!"

"A curse?"

Thousand-Household Zhou swallowed hard upon hearing this and looked around, "Wh-what kind of curse is so vicious?"

Li Yan's gaze swept across the slaughterhouse-like courtyard, and he said in a deep voice: "Resentment entangles the body, the sinister poison originates from the fingertips and invades directly into the bone marrow, destroying the victim's vitality and blood. Those afflicted must suffer the pain of having their hearts pierced and bones scraped until all the blood vessels in their body stiffen and die, and their minds descend into madness... This is definitely not an ordinary method."