Chapter 66: The Source of the Incident!

For the next few days, Lu Zhangsheng stayed at home practicing the secret technique.

He soon entered the entry level, waiting only for future Source Energy Points to improve it further.

The exploration of the Cangyun Mountain Range was also gradually getting on track, with some Source Energy Points coming in every day.

This made him quite happy.

According to his estimation, after leveling the entire volcano crater, he would obtain quite a few Fire Crystal Stones, enough for him to practice several martial arts to the Transcendent Realm.

By then, it would be time for him to break through to the Bone Forging Realm.

Only by breaking through to Bone Forging could one truly be considered to have stepped into the ranks of the strong.

Coupled with his own perfect-grade breakthrough, among all Bone Forging martial artists in the entire Changping County, he would not be considered weak.

The situation was becoming increasingly strange, and the County Magistrate's daughter had clearly been tampered with and could explode at any time; he had to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

Just as Lu Zhangsheng was practicing diligently.

Inside a dim room.

A woman in a red robe with gorgeous makeup sat on a chair, looking down at the man in black kneeling on the ground in front of her.

"The plan continues; send someone to take good care of the 'Spirit Seed' inside Du Ling..."

She looked majestic, her tone extremely cold.

"I obey your command, but if we go to contact Du Ling, will it expose the other party?"

The man in black looked quite puzzled.

He was extremely afraid that he would accidentally ruin the Venerable Lord's scheme; that would likely be worse than death.

The other party's methods were not something he could withstand.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shiver.

"No matter, Du Ling has something from the superior official on her to cover her aura; no one in the county city can discover it."

The red-robed woman waved her hand, looking confident.

Her plan was finally about to begin; for this day, she had waited for decades.

………………

The next day, early morning.

Early in the morning, after Lu Zhangsheng washed up, he walked out toward the street.

Yesterday, he had already made an appointment with Yue Shulan to meet at the restaurant, preparing to ask her about some things.

On the clean and tidy street, the crowd was surging, quite lively.

Some children wore gorgeous clothes, running on the street, as if living in a prosperous age.

This kind of scene could absolutely not be seen in the Outer City; in the Outer City, besides the stinking sewers, there were dead rats everywhere.

Those who could live in the Inner City, besides high officials and noble lords, were martial artists like them.

"Behind the vermilion gates, meat and wine go to waste; on the road, there are frozen corpses"—how similar it was to the current scene.

The people around saw Lu Zhangsheng and avoided him one after another.

This From Eighth Rank official uniform of the Demon-Suppressing Division had full deterrent power.

The common people do not fight with officials; it has been like this since ancient times.

Before long, Lu Zhangsheng arrived in front of a large restaurant.

"Yuelai Lou."

A plaque with three gilded characters hung on the door.

He lifted his foot and walked in.

"Official, please come in quickly."

The manager saw a big shot arriving and hurriedly came up to greet him personally.

"I have an appointment with someone; no need to trouble yourself."

After speaking, Lu Zhangsheng carried his hands behind his back and slowly walked toward the private room on the second floor.

"Creak..."

Arriving on the second floor, he pushed open the door and saw a woman in white sitting at a rosewood table; it was Yue Shulan.

"What brings Brother Lu to see me today?"

Yue Shulan smiled slightly and immediately welcomed Lu Zhangsheng over.

This was the first time the other party had invited her, which surprised her quite a bit.

Lu Zhangsheng did not stand on ceremony and immediately sat down.

Then he smiled and said, "Does Miss Yue know why the County Magistrate's family was killed back then?"

After a year of peeling back the layers, he discovered that the source of all conflicts seemed to point to the County Magistrate, Du Wentao.

From the slaughter of the County Magistrate's family to Du Ling being tampered with, coupled with the blood feud between the other party and the Black Mountain Bandits, it was not hard to discover.

A dark force had set its sights on the County Magistrate; the moment it completely erupted, it would likely be earth-shattering.

Lu Zhangsheng initially suspected it might be the work of that "Venerable Lord," or it was related to the Black Mountain Bandits.

That was why he came to ask Yue Shulan about some past events today.

The other party's information would certainly be more than what he knew; this was beyond doubt.

Yue Shulan was stunned upon hearing this.

Then she said faintly, "This matter happened a long time ago; there are indeed some rumors, but you must not spread them everywhere, lest the County Magistrate be displeased."

"I understand."

Lu Zhangsheng took a sip of tea.

A warm current rose from his abdomen, leaving a lingering fragrance in his mouth. Yue Shulan continued, "It is said that the slaughter of the County Magistrate's family back then was related to his younger sister."

"That year, the County Magistrate's sister was in the bloom of youth, just at the age of first love, and had fallen for a young master in the county city."

"It just so happened that the young master had some connection with the Black Mountain Bandits; the County Magistrate discovered this and naturally would not agree, so he secretly found a friend to have that man killed."

"Later, you know what happened; the two were separated, and the County Magistrate's family was killed..."

Hearing this, Lu Zhangsheng was quite surprised.

He did not expect there to be such secrets hidden within.

At that time, Du Wentao was only a scholar, and his family was just an ordinary scholarly household.

"Some rumors say that the man was actually the illegitimate son of one of the Black Mountain Bandit leaders, otherwise they wouldn't have made such a big fuss."

Yue Shulan's eyes flickered uncertainly.

"There is one more thing that is quite strange; the County Magistrate's sister seems to have gone missing, and no one knows where she went."

"Some speculate she died, others speculate she was taken away by the Black Mountain Bandits; this has already become a mystery."

Lu Zhangsheng nodded gently.

At that time, for a woman without any means of self-defense to run out of the county city was almost impossible.

Coupled with the fact that no one found her body at the scene, it was highly probable she was alive.

As for where she went, no one knew.

The greatest possibility was that she joined a certain force and went into hiding.

After listening to Yue Shulan's explanation, Lu Zhangsheng gradually had a thread of logic in his heart.

All of this was inevitably inseparable from that incident back then; the force in the shadows could strike at any time.

As for whether that group of people had other plans, that was not something he could know.

A moment later, after Lu Zhangsheng bid farewell to Yue Shulan, he returned to his small courtyard.

For the next few days, the entire county city was quite calm.

As if before a storm.

Lu Zhangsheng stayed at home practicing martial arts and did not go out.

Other times, he would go to control the pangolin to dig for Fire Crystal Stones; his days were quite fulfilling.

This day, early morning.

Lu Zhangsheng happened to be on duty in the Demon-Suppressing Division Main Hall when suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Before long, a burly man dressed as a Bureau Head walked in.

His expression was somewhat grave.

"What important matter brings this official to the Demon-Suppressing Division?"

Lu Zhangsheng gently put down the book in his hand, his eyes carrying a hint of doubt.

"Official Lu, some strange things have been happening in the West Street one after another; I am not sure if it is the work of Guaiyi, so I would like to invite you to take a look."

The burly man cupped his hands, wearing a look of respect.

For this commoner martial artist who was quite famous in the Demon-Suppressing Division, he did not dare to slight him in the slightest.

"Then lead the way."

Official Lu smiled slightly.

The three Deputy Hall Masters were in charge of three areas within the county city, and this West Street happened to fall under Qin Ruobing's jurisdiction.

Since he was on duty, this case naturally fell to him.

Afterward, the two walked forward all the way.

Passing through street after street, they arrived in front of a civilian house.

The eaves were still hung with white silk, looking somewhat desolate.

Lu Zhangsheng lifted his foot and walked in.

He saw a corpse lying on a wooden board, covered with a layer of white cloth, and not far away, several orphans and widows were kneeling, sobbing softly.

Seeing Lu Zhangsheng and the other arrive.

A woman dressed as a peasant woman said with red eyes, "Please, official, find the true culprit and uphold justice for us..."

After speaking, she kowtowed repeatedly, her forehead stained with traces of blood.

"Madam, there is no need for this; this official will definitely investigate this matter with all his strength."

Lu Zhangsheng immediately helped the woman up.

Then he walked to the front of the corpse.

He lifted the white cloth.

He saw an extremely strange male corpse come into view.

The man's face was pale, and the corners of his mouth carried a trace of a smile and satisfaction.

It seemed as if he were experiencing some kind of very comfortable thing, which made people's hair stand on end.

Even Lu Zhangsheng was seeing this phenomenon for the first time.

Afterward, he began to carefully investigate the other party's injuries.

After some searching, he did not find any injuries at all, as if it were a natural death.

"Is there really such a thing as dying from pleasure in this world?"

Once this strange thought emerged, it made him feel weird.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 67 =====