Chapter 43: If I Do Not Avenge This, I Swear I Am Not a Man!

"If you encounter anyone wearing Daoist robes, kill them on the spot without hesitation. As soon as you find any one of the Fourth Brother's group, link up with them immediately and head toward Qingmu County."

Chen Mo's expression was calm as he issued orders to the many Personal Soldiers before him.

Compared to those new recruits, these Personal Soldiers were the true elite, each and every one of them skilled in archery and horsemanship.

Most importantly, they had been on the battlefield; no matter what situation they faced, however bizarre, their instinct would be to kill the enemy first before pondering such matters.

Unlike those new recruits, who would be terrified upon encountering anything slightly abnormal.

The other two Shizhang took their orders and left, each leading a squad, while Chen Mo took the remaining men and began searching across the vast horizon.

With more people, they naturally searched faster; in less than half a day, Chen Mo discovered bloodstains left on the ground.

Following the bloodstains for about another hour, under a withered, lifeless tree not far away, a grey-robed Daoist was resting against the trunk.

Seeing people approaching, he couldn't help but scramble up in a hurry, wanting to flee.

Chen Mo understood in his heart that this person must be the Daoist whom Zhao Yuncheng had encountered earlier.

The opponent was not only severely wounded, but more importantly, he had lost his means of attack; he was at his weakest.

Without hesitation, he spurred his horse to give chase while simultaneously nocking an arrow and firing.

These Qi Refiners were different from warriors; their methods were too bizarre. Even without their primary means of attack, the Talismans they carried could still unleash other effects.

Therefore, Chen Mo did not intend to leave a live captive; it was safer to kill him first.

The Daoist could not speak; he took a piece of Yellow Talisman Paper from his Huai and crushed it, and a layer of earthy-yellow light screen appeared around his body.

Chen Mo's arrow struck the light screen, which dimmed visibly to the naked eye.

The remaining Personal Soldiers also arrived one after another, all nocking arrows and firing.

In just a fleeting moment, the earthy-yellow light screen shattered with a sound, and several feathered arrows instantly pierced through the Daoist.

Chen Mo flipped off his horse and, holding his spear, delivered two more strikes to ensure the opponent was thoroughly dead.

He rummaged through the corpse; compared to the Qi Refiner he had killed earlier, this person could truly be considered a pauper.

There were no pills, and on his entire body, only one Talisman remained.

Even in his money pouch, there were only twenty-some taels of silver. Chen Mo took ten taels, and the rest were distributed among the other Personal Soldiers.

Chen Mo and his men each had two horses this time, so they had enough horses to carry sufficient supplies.

The corpse of this Qi Refiner was also tied to a horse to be taken away first, to be dealt with later.

The group searched for another half-day, and Chen Mo finally found Mo Hu's party.

"Fifth Brother." Chen Mo called out loudly and spurred his horse to ride up in front of him.

Mo Hu's expression was numb and dull; one could not discern any sorrow or joy.

"What happened?" Chen Mo dismounted to ask, and immediately his own expression turned rapidly gloomy and heavy.

Mo Dao's corpse was lying quietly on a carriage, a wound two inches wide and nearly a foot long left on his chest and abdomen, piercing through his entire body.

Whoever received such a wound, it was clearly impossible to survive.

"It was that group from the Dutian Dao Sect!" Chen Mo's face was as gloomy as water, his tone filled with anger.

Mo Dao did not like to talk, but he had always taken good care of him.

Ever since Chen Mo entered the Personal Soldier camp, from archery and spear techniques to the points he didn't understand when later practicing the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist.

As long as he went to ask him, Chen Mo would always receive concise and comprehensive guidance.

Not to mention that he had accompanied him back and forth to help him fulfill his promise to redeem Zhao Yu.

Although he was not his biological elder brother, he had always tried his best to take care of him.

But now he was dead, killed by someone!

Chen Mo only felt as if a stone were pressing on his heart, stifling him until he could hardly breathe.

"On the way back, we encountered a purple-robed Daoist with very strong power. My brother lost his life to save me!" Mo Hu's eyes were numb, and only when speaking of this did he reveal a sense of hatred.

"What about that Ziyi Daoren? Is he still alive?" Chen Mo pressed.

"He escaped. It has been a full day; we can't catch up now." Mo Hu understood Chen Mo's intent; he wanted to avenge his brother.

But he was even clearer that it was impossible to catch up to that Ziyi Daoren now, and even if they did, with the strength of the two of them, they might not be his match.

"If I do not avenge this, I swear I am not a man!" Mo Hu said with extremely intense hatred and killing intent.

Mo Dao had died, and Chen Mo was already grief-stricken and angry, let alone that the two of them were biological brothers, and Mo Dao had died saving him.

The hatred in his heart was naturally far greater than Chen Mo's by an unknown margin.

Before, he hadn't recovered from the fact of his brother's death, and he even dared not believe that his brother was already dead.

Now that he had gradually realized it, only monstrous hatred and the words "avenge him" remained in his heart.

"I will help you." Chen Mo blurted out without the slightest hesitation.

Mo Dao was his sworn brother, and he had always treated him well; both in reason and sentiment, he had to help him take revenge.

"That Ziyi Daoren actually dared to ambush and kill an Imperial Court official. Let us report this matter when we return and request the Imperial Court to issue a wanted notice."

Chen Mo continued to add; revenge must be taken, but it did not necessarily have to be by their own hands.

Their goal was for that Ziyi Daoren to die. If they could do it themselves, it would naturally be more gratifying, but if they couldn't, it didn't matter.

According to Mo Hu's description, that Daoist had formidable strength; relying only on the two of them to take revenge would not be easy.

Moreover, the world was too vast. If that purple-robed Daoist hid, trying to find him with the strength of the two of them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

And the Imperial Court would certainly investigate this matter; they could not let it go.

Ambushing and killing an Imperial Court official, regardless of the reason, was a capital crime among capital crimes.

If that Daoist had a Certificate of Ordination and was a member of the clergy, then only the Daoist temple he belonged to would be executed.

If he did not have a Certificate of Ordination, then his entire clan would be executed.

Even if this person was a powerful Qi Refiner, so what? The Dutian Dao Sect was not under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court.

In such a situation, if that Qi Refiner killed an Imperial Court official, the stronger his power, the faster he would die.

The Imperial Court cannot possibly allow such a person to continue living; otherwise, if everyone were to imitate them, the world would fall into chaos even if it weren't already.

Mo Hu nodded slightly; this was indeed the best method.

Of course he wanted revenge, but he was no fool; revenge was important, but his own life was naturally important too.

"Let's leave now and talk later; we can figure out a way to collect Fourth Brother's remains once we're out," Chen Mo said, taking out a set of his own clothes to first cover Mo Dao's body.

"Mn," Mo Hu nodded, a flash of gratitude appearing in his eyes as he saw Chen Mo's actions.

The group immediately departed at high speed, bringing back the body of the new recruit from earlier on their way back.

As comrades-in-arms, they would try their best to ensure their fellow soldiers could return to their roots if conditions allowed.

They did this in the hope that one day, when they themselves died on the battlefield, their comrades would be able to bring their remains back to their hometown for burial.

After a safe journey out of the borders of Qingzhou, the two groups of men Chen Mo had previously sent out also returned.

These two groups had gone to search for Sun Jiangjun's nephew; one group returned completely unscathed, having not encountered any demonic people.

They even discovered traces of bandits, finding signs that a group of people had passed through the area they were scouting, roughly estimated to be at least a hundred-man troop.

Near the tracks of these people passing through, Qi Refiners from the Dutian Sect had appeared.

It is hard to say there is no connection between the two.

As for the other group, only corpses were brought back; everyone had their throats slit with a single strike, and the palms of Sun Jiangjun's nephew had been taken by someone.

"Return to Qingmu County to rest and reorganize first; we will figure out a way to send the brothers' bodies back home for burial once we are there," Chen Mo ordered the group; since he had received instructions from Sun Jiangjun, he was now the only one in charge present.

The group obeyed one after another, riding horses and taking carriages straight toward Qingmu County.

(End of this chapter)