Chapter 159: There really are bandits! (Two-in-one)

A muffled 'Puff!' sound!

Like a ripe fruit bursting open, blood splattered everywhere.

The white-haired old woman, like a kite with a broken string, fell straight down beside the stream in the valley.

Bright red blood flowed along the riverbank into the stream, instantly blooming like ink in water, while her grass-like white hair was now all messily plastered against her aged face.

At this moment, she scrambled to her feet and looked up, only to see the bright moon hanging high, casting a cold silver glow that turned the high cliff deathly pale.

Taizhen, Qiyun, and Changqing were being tightly entangled by six suspended spirit swords and two figures moving like ghosts.

Sword shadows flickered, the cold light biting; every collision stirred up ripples of visible spiritual energy, shimmering with a ghostly, cold light under the moonlight.

At this moment, a Dao sword descended from the air before her.

It was that Heavenly Tian Shuyuan instructor, swinging his sword with a gloomy face, carrying surging spiritual energy and whistling killing intent.

The old woman Fuyan was terrified and shocked; she immediately struck her palms against the ground, borrowing the force to rise and block horizontally.

With a 'Clang!', as the iron collided, the iron sword in Fuyan's hand could not bear the weight and instantly shattered into countless fragments. Her whole body was blasted into the river by the powerful force, and the wheezing sound from her throat was like a broken bellows, 'Heh-heh' without stopping.

When she was young, because she encountered a bottleneck, she left her family alone and came to Fengzhou.

At that time, Fengzhou had very few immortal manors and was far from the climate it had today.

So she established the Fuyan Shanzhuang here, scraping together offerings to transport back to Liangzhou to present to the noble families, and her status within the clan climbed continuously.

Later, as the noble families of each province multiplied without restraint, with thousands of descendants, they also set their sights on Fengzhou.

Over these years, the immortal manor forces in Fengzhou had waxed and waned; some took root, others were squeezed out, but all in all, it could be considered harmonious.

Whether it was producing supplies or spirit mines and immortal seedlings, everything was divided equally and orderly.

But at that time, no one had ever paid attention to a place in Fengzhou called Yuyang County.

That place had nothing but grain, not even spirit seedlings could be cultivated there, and there were few people for a thousand miles around; even immortal manors were unwilling to choose land there.

Then came the second year of Taiwu, and an incident occurred in Yuyang County.

The Fengxian Shanzhuang wanted to capture young girls to refine medicine, and they blew out a Lower Three Realms perfectionist who was not yet twenty, who was then exceptionally admitted into the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan.

Actually, at that time, she had already been vigilant.

Over these years, Fengzhou had always been the place where "private cultivators" were captured most strictly, the reason being that the immortal manors here did not want noble families to be established.

Unfortunately, this news came too suddenly, and they had no time to react at the time.

Because although they covered the sky with one hand in Fengzhou, they ultimately did not have the guts to go to the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan to kill, so they could only comfort themselves that it was just a rural private cultivator and should be fine.

Later, they heard that this rural private cultivator met the second son of the Chu family and was subsequently sent to Qiling as cannon fodder, which made them breathe a long sigh of relief.

But who would have thought that he did not die in Qiling, learned sword Dao at Spirit Sword Mountain, then defeated the Chu family, and truly stepped into the inner courtyard.

From that moment on, her own impending disaster was perhaps already destined.

But all of this, to them, came too fast...

Hum!

A sharp sword hum, like the whisper of the Grim Reaper.

The old woman Fuyan's head fell to the ground, her forehead splattered with her own warm blood, but her eyes remained wide open, unable to close.

And before her soul dissipated, she saw a huge sword Qi rising from the cliff, slashing down fiercely; the steel whip of Manor Lord Taizhen was directly severed, and his whole body fell toward the cliff.

However, before he could fall, a long sword overflowing with spiritual energy flew over; the severed head was tossed up during the fall, overlapping with the bright moon before her eyes.

Under the moon, a youth held a sword toward the sky, covered in blood, and the scene froze there...

On the night of the turning stars and moon, the fighting in the mountains did not stop, and countless bright sword Qi traversed the mountain range until dawn rose.

At this time, the distance turned white, and the golden rooster crowed at dawn.

The commoners hiding in Night City, or those who had fled to the surroundings of Night City, all took advantage of the dawn's light and looked toward the direction of Night Chengshan.

Last night, immortal masters were fighting in the mountains, making the mountains tremble and keeping people from sleeping.

Subsequently, news spread among the common folk that bandits had appeared in the mountains, and that the Immortal masters were joining forces to suppress them.

At this time, they looked at the stream flowing out of the valley, which was tinged with an eerie pink, and were filled with terror.

Some farm households very close to Night Chengshan had been peeking through window cracks for a long time, and now, under the dawn, they finally saw figures coming out of the mountains.

A man in a red robe, a woman in a red robe, and a fat man in a red robe with a large chest.

After the Manor Lord of Risheng died, that old woman Fuyan was beheaded by Cao Jingsong.

After that, there was no longer a scene of equal strength, but rather ruthless suppression; everything was just as they had expected.

Because in the inn, Ji You had said that if the strength was unequal, one must try every means to kill one first.

Then Ji You let them find a way to hold off four, and he would try to kill one Melting Dao realm; this had always been the goal of the three.

Whether it was Cao Jingsong and Pei Ruyi going to lure the enemy after entering the mountains, or Ji You's imperial sword sneak attack later, it was all for this goal.

But although the Melting Dao realms of these immortal manors were all brewed up by piling up elixirs, they were, after all, Melting Dao realms.

When the two first heard him say this, they were actually full of worry.

But he said he would try to kill one, and in the end, he really did kill one.

Thinking about it now, that scene still makes people feel shocked and speechless.

"Ahead is Fengzhou Prefecture..."

Cao Jingsong, holding a dripping long sword, muttered slightly tiredly.

Pei Ruyi panted: "I don't know if anyone will come out to block us if we go further; Fengzhou doesn't just have these five immortal manors."

"Probably not anymore."

"Really?"

"Those who chose not to act out of hesitation last night probably won't dare to act today either. Immortal cultivators are no different from mortals; bullying the soft and fearing the hard is the norm. If we enter the city now, we might even be able to eat breakfast."

After the two finished speaking, they turned to look at Ji You, only to see him squatting by the small stream covered in blood, rinsing his sword in the water, then bathing his hands in it to wipe away the bloodstains.

Killing old men and women for a whole night was truly quite exhausting.

Ji You sighed softly, then pulled a pile of storage gourds from his robes, examined them for a few moments, and tucked them back away.

He didn't even have the energy to check what treasures were inside or how much they were worth now.

Let's go to Fengzhou Prefecture to sign the documents first, then take a bath and have a good sleep before looking at the harvest.

Seeing this scene, Cao Jingsong and Pei Ruyi looked at each other, speechless.

"Some of the things those immortal manors said were still not wrong, or rather, they were as if they had predicted everything."

"Hmm, there really are bandits in the mountains."

Cao Jingsong looked at her: "Not bandits, but fierce bandits."

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ji You washed his sword and hands clean, then stood up and walked toward the southwest, facing the morning light.

At this time, inside the city of Fengzhou Prefecture, immortal cultivators were everywhere.

These people all came from the disciples of immortal manors that did not participate in last night's siege, and they were now staring intently at the horizon.

Immortal manors like theirs never wanted to get involved in such life-and-death situations, but they harbored the desire to reap the benefits, thinking that this morning, they would hear the news that the five major immortal manors of Fengzhou had joined forces to suppress the bandits and the bandit leader had been executed on the spot.

After all, eighteen Profound Understanding realms plus five Melting Dao realms besieging one Profound Understanding realm and two Melting Dao realms, no matter how you looked at it, it was a battle that couldn't be lost.

With their spiritual sense perception ability, although they couldn't see very far, they could confirm that the battle in the mountains had subsided, and their expressions were relaxed.

In contrast, there were officials from various counties sitting in a tea shed on the west side of the city gate.

Their expressions were different, and their eyes were complex.

Among them, Inspector Liu and Prefect Xiang of Danshui County sat together, with their family members beside them, sixteen in total, all of whom had rushed here overnight, not even having time to send the carriages to the post station before hurrying to the city gate.

And the terror on their faces was even greater than that of the commoners who had listened to the sound of fighting all night.

"You Fu Sheng, have you heard anything?"

You Fu Sheng bowed under the tea shed and whispered: "I just walked around the city; those immortal manor masters all say there is no sound in the mountains anymore, it should be over."

Prefect Xiang's brows were knitted together: "Could it be that they retreated from the mountains?"

"There are people left in the city, and it is said that no one was seen exiting."

Hearing this, the expressions of Prefect Xiang and Inspector Liu began to become very solemn.

And besides them, there was also the Prefect of Guiyun County, whose son had also joined the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan a few days ago, and was now equally terrified.

Because they felt that Ji You would sooner or later become the master of Fengzhou, so letting their children join the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan now would allow them to set their sights far and lay a foundation for the family for a hundred, or even a thousand years.

By then, when Ji You established a noble family in Fengzhou, they could directly attach themselves to it, which was much better than attaching themselves to those foreign immortal manors.

But they never imagined that Ji You would come without a moment's pause.

He seemed to have no patience, didn't want the future, only wanted the present, not even an hour's difference would do.

In their view, if they had known that Ji You was so incapable of patience and dormancy, how could they have agreed to send their children into the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan.

"Eighteen Profound Understanding realms, five Melting Dao realms, I am not an immortal cultivator, but I also know arithmetic. If Ji You dies in the mountains this time, everything will become empty talk, and Fengzhou will always be the Fengzhou of the immortal manors. Letting children join the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan will have no meaning."

Inspector Liu held his sleeves and trembled: "Brother Xiang, he is too anxious, and we are also too anxious..."

Prefect Xiang looked at Inspector Liu, thinking to himself, it's me who is too anxious?!

That day at my mansion, I didn't even know who Ji You was; it was you who were anxious and hurried to bring your son to apprentice, wandering around my mansion. It's me who is too anxious?!

It was clearly you who thought of being the first to establish this relationship, and in the future, when Ji You established a noble family, you would immediately attach yourself to it using your son's relationship.

Now it's good, everything will become a phantom!

Xiang Fu looked at them, somewhat puzzled: "Didn't they say they were joining forces to suppress bandits tonight? What does it have to do with Ji You?"

"It is suppressing bandits, because that Ji You is the bandit."

"How could Ji You be a bandit?"

"He is a rural private cultivator, all alone, without the support of noble clans, yet he wants to come and occupy the offerings without stopping. In the eyes of foreign immortal manors, he is of course a bandit. Dead people cannot speak, so it is naturally difficult to defend himself. When all the immortal manors say he is a bandit, then he is a bandit."

You Fu Sheng couldn't help but speak at this time: "Master, I also heard one thing in the city."

Prefect Xiang looked up: "What thing?"

"I heard that at the beginning, those immortal manors did not have a tough attitude and had to kill him, but wanted to negotiate, and even gave 20% of Fengzhou's tax offerings as sincerity, but he did not agree, so those immortal sects asked him how much he wanted."

"How much did he want?"

You Fu Sheng repeated the four sentences he heard, and saw Inspector Liu and Prefect Xiang look at each other, their expressions instantly becoming extremely ugly.

This Ji You, who came from a rural private cultivator background, was indeed unclear about his position, not knowing that the pattern of this Qingyun world had existed for thousands of years, and he actually said such things to those manor lords who already had the heart to kill.

Youthful spirit is a good thing, but sometimes it can also kill people!

His actions might be called heroic in a play, but in reality, it can only be called stupid and childish.

The law?

Nowadays, imperial power is still under immortal power, where is there any law?

However, just as the two of them were constantly criticizing in their hearts, a commotion suddenly came from the city gate. Countless immortal cultivators on the city wall looked into the distance, and all their faces changed.

Only to see on the main road leading to Fengzhou Prefecture, a figure was walking over, getting closer and closer; the bright red clothes were extremely enchanting under the sunlight, forming a sharp contrast with the surrounding yellow earth.

The three from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan were all in white, and some couldn't help but raise a smile.

But soon someone used spiritual sense to observe and discovered that it was white clothes stained red with blood.

"Is it Ji You?!"

"How could it be him?"

"What about the five manor lords? What about the others? Why didn't they stop him? Could it be that they really want to let him eat up all the offerings of Fengzhou?"

At this time, Ji You stepped to the city gate, holding a long sword, and then stopped.

Clatter!

Following the wave of his sleeve, a pile of heads appeared in the mysterious light and were thrown to the foot of the city wall, rolling all over the ground like watermelons with burst rinds.

These heads were either already white-haired or mixed with black and white; some faced up, some turned sideways, filled with unwillingness and fear.

Seeing this scene, everyone in front of the city gate held their breath.

Because they recognized that those heads were originally objects on the necks of the manor lords, offerings, and elders of the five major immortal manors.

Eighteen Profound Understanding realms, five Melting Dao realms, dying with eyes wide open, only this one who should have been besieged was standing here at this time.

At this moment, everyone couldn't help but look at Ji You, only to see him also looking at them with cold eyes.

"A natural spirit treasure appeared in Night Chengshan last night, attracting a group of private cultivator bandits to enter the mountain to seize the treasure."

"I heard the news, thinking that as a child of Fengzhou, I must not let the bandits cause trouble here, so I entered the mountain to suppress the bandits for a night."

"Now the bandit leaders have all been executed, and I am hanging their heads here to show the public."

After a brief silence, the whole city was in an uproar.

Especially the disciples of those immortal manors, thinking to themselves, it's over, we have become bandits!

And the officials and family members under the tea shed also stood up at this time, looking at this scene in terror, unable to help but be dumbfounded.

So many people from the five major immortal manors entered the mountain, and at worst, they were equal to him in realm, but now they have all been beheaded, and the one who walked out of the mountain is him.

They had predicted that he would die, predicted that he would be defeated, but never dared to think of such a result.

Xiang Fu couldn't help but stand up at this time, looking intently at the man under the city.

He was not clean from head to toe, but at this time his waist and back were straight, his sword intent was soaring to the sky, his head was held high, and his blood-stained clothes were constantly fluttering in the autumn wind.

"Didn't you just say that Ji You was the bandit?"

Xiang Fu stared at him for a long time before turning her gaze back, unable to help but ask her father.

Prefect Xiang also barely regained his senses, opening his mouth in disbelief: "The dead ones are the bandits..."

Inspector Liu held the table at this time, looking at one of the heads, his gaze as if frozen.

That person came from the Fuyan Shanzhuang, not the manor lord, but just an offering named Wei Dongxu.

Because Inspector Liu's mansion was very close to the Fuyan Shanzhuang, he had to deal with them on weekdays, and he mainly contacted this person.

In the past at the mansion, he was respectful to this person and offered him many things, but he didn't expect that he would only have a head left now, thrown onto the yellow earth by someone.

People are all like this; if the things they hear are too far away, they always feel blurry.

But once someone around them is involved, there is a reference point.

Inspector Liu originally thought that immortal cultivators were all the same, but at this time, looking at Wei Dongyang with only a head left, and even the manor lord whom Wei Dongyang praised every day was only left with a head, he understood how powerful the man holding the sword had become.

"Everyone, although the bandit leaders have been executed, I haven't found the spirit treasure yet. It is said that they came from the five major mountain strongholds and have been causing trouble here for many years. I think they must have hidden the spirit treasure in the strongholds, or in organizations that have a close relationship with these five major strongholds. I may need to raid the strongholds to search."

"!"

Hearing this, a more intense uproar suddenly erupted, and everyone looked at Ji You in disbelief.

A natural spirit treasure was just a gimmick for killing people; it didn't exist at all!

But now he actually forcibly borrowed this excuse to raid homes!

The five major immortal manors are now leaderless, from the manor lords down to the offerings, all died here, leaving only some disciples. Who can stop him from raiding homes!

Fengzhou has always been a land without a master these years.

Logically speaking, now that these five major immortal manors have suffered countless casualties, they will inevitably be swallowed up by other immortal manors, people and wealth included.

But Ji You has now released such a statement, so all the immortal manors still here cannot move lightly.

Because as long as you dare to move, he will dare to say that you took the spirit treasure, and he will raid you too.

After the Great War of the Primordial Era, the human race has been recuperating, and on the surface, they have been minding their own business. Even if the seven major immortal sects take action, they must have a reason to maintain the balance between the major immortal sects and noble families.

And this non-existent spirit treasure is very likely to become a reason he can use indefinitely.

If he suspects you of hiding a spirit treasure, then he can take action against you.

Last night at Night Chengshan, there really were bandits...

Cao Jingsong and Pei Ruyi also came to the city gate at this time, standing on the side watching this scene, thinking to themselves that Fengzhou is also getting better, because there will soon be the largest legal bandit den here.

Ji You didn't care about the discussion around him, left the heads in front of the city gate, and then walked into the city, heading toward Fengzhou Prefecture.

The eyes of the whole city were now on him, watching him go further and further away, but no one wanted to intercept him, because at this time there were countless heads under the city wall warning them of the price of taking action.

From the main city road inward, there were already people waiting here, and then they led Ji You forward.

Before long, he arrived in front of the Fengzhou Prefecture gate and saw an old man in official uniform waiting in front of the gate.

He was the Fengzhou Governor, named He Zhang; nominally, he was the most powerful person in Fengzhou, but in reality, he had no say in the affairs of Fengzhou.

The ones who truly control Fengzhou are those immortal manors.

So he had always known about last night's incident, but because he had no say, he could only pretend not to know.

If Ji You died, everything here would remain the same, never to be changed again, and he would still be the governor serving the immortal manors, forgetting about last night's incident.

Because on this land of Fengzhou, it is really difficult to have another Upper Five Realms who can enter the inner courtyard of an immortal sect.

And after the Ji You incident, the immortal manors here will be even more vigilant and will not let any bad signs appear again.

Perhaps by that time, with the secret operations of noble families, even the quota for immortal cultivation in Fengzhou will be cancelled.

And at this time, when he saw the floating blood-stained clothes coming along the street, He Zhang's heart was quite trembling.

"Lord He."

"Young Master Ji, the register of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan has been sent, please follow me into the mansion."

Ji You walked into the threshold of Fengzhou Prefecture with a bloody smell all over his body, followed He Zhang through the courtyard, and walked toward the direction of the study.

There are many family members, ladies, young ladies, and young masters in Fengzhou Prefecture, all over the place.

At this time, seeing a man covered in blood walk in, they were all startled, but they also harbored endless curiosity.

Because they all knew that the master had not slept all night last night, and had been pacing back and forth in the courtyard, anxious and uneasy.

So they concluded that something big had happened, but they didn't expect to see such a person covered in blood.

At this time, Ji You followed He Zhang into the study and found that the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan register and the Great Xia documents were all placed on the desk.

The Heavenly Tian Shuyuan register records Ji You's immortal status, as well as the approval for establishing a noble family.

The Great Xia documents record matters related to tax offerings, which were now opened before him one by one.

"The collection of tax offerings for this year is about to begin. Young Master Ji has come just in time. If you sign these two copies, it will be considered the establishment of a noble family, and Fengzhou will have its first immortal cultivation noble family from now on."

Hearing this, the ladies, young ladies, and young masters who were eavesdropping in the mansion couldn't help but open their eyes wide.

And Ji You picked up the brush on the table, looked at every line of words on the documents and registers with concentration, and then wrote his name on it.

"From now on, Fengzhou will never pay offerings to foreign immortal manors again."

(Two-in-one, try to write more tomorrow, asking for monthly tickets...)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 160 =====