Chapter 51: Forgot Something

When Qi Wu first found the old hunter, there were a few other households nearby, appearing normal, all transformed from ghost servants.

After the tiger demon was subdued, the ghost servants were at a loss, in total chaos. Some said they should go down the mountain, others said to keep hiding in the mountains; there was no consensus.

Just as they were arguing, the three appeared and captured them all. Meng Jingzhou revealed a bit of Pure Yang Qi, and the ghost servants wailed in pain on the ground.

"We don't need to keep so many, two are enough to impersonate demonic cultivators," Lu Yang said coldly. There was no need for sympathy for these ghost servants who helped the tiger.

If they hadn't agreed to the tiger demon's demands, they wouldn't have become ghost servants.

They deserved to die.

Lu Yang tried, but he still couldn't take in ghost servants; he could only have his soul leave his body.

"Man Gu, it's up to you."

Man Gu didn't say much. He kept two ghost servants transformed from travelers and wiped out the rest, clean and efficient.

Using the hunter ghost servant would easily be seen through by the demonic sect, who would guess it was obtained by killing the tiger demon. Using the traveler ghost servants would carry much less risk.

"Receive." Man Gu took the two traveler ghost servants, a man and a woman, into his body.

This was also part of the ghost-driving technique: storing ghosts in the body and summoning them to fight when necessary.

While heading to Yanjiang County, the three encountered Qi Wu and the others, who were still circling in the mountains.

It was still raining, and Qi Wu and the others didn't know the way, so naturally, they couldn't find the path down the mountain.

"Benefactors!" Qi Wu and the others were extremely excited to see Lu Yang and the three, as if they had seen a lifeline.

"Benefactors, your great kindness, we will never forget it for the rest of our lives!"

"The Mountain God has manifested!"

"The grace of saving our lives, we will never forget!"

They thanked the three in a jumble, their feelings sincere and heartfelt.

Seeing the people saved and hearing their heartfelt gratitude, the gloom in Lu Yang's heart gradually dissipated, and he stopped thinking about the corpses in the cave.

"We cultivators should walk the righteous path; no need for thanks." Meng Jingzhou stated his position with a serious face; saving people was a matter of course, not for the sake of others' gratitude.

Man Gu observed the righteous-looking Meng Jingzhou and felt he was truly worthy of being his role model—composed and calm. He couldn't do that himself.

Lu Yang didn't need to observe Meng Jingzhou to know that this grandson was purely putting on an act; his heart must have been blooming with joy, who knew how happy he was.

If asked why, it was because Lu Yang himself was also wearing a righteous face.

By the time they sent the merchants to Yanjiang County, the sky was already brightening. The heavy rain that had fallen all night finally stopped, and a faint rainbow hung in the sky.

"Speaking of which, did we forget something?" Meng Jingzhou always felt like something had been forgotten.

"Didn't forget anything." Lu Yang counted the number of people; there were three of them, with three brains, nothing lost.

"It's just that I feel like something is missing. Forget it, I won't think about it."

In Qinghuai County, a carriage was parked in the backyard of an inn, and the old horse was leisurely eating the feed Meng Jingzhou had left behind.

Why hasn't the Meng family boy come to find me yet? The feed won't last many more days. Didn't he say the mission would be done in five or six days?

The old horse was a rare demonic beast, so naturally, it couldn't eat ordinary feed like a mortal horse. It ate feed containing spiritual energy that Meng Jingzhou had bought at a high price and carefully prepared.

The old horse snorted and smacked its lips, feeling bored. It accidentally caught a glimpse of a small white mare next door.

After entering the city, the three chose a random teahouse, ordered a pot of tea and a few plates of snacks, and calculated their next steps.

"Yanjiang County is so big, how are we going to find this Qin Yuanhao? Should we ask the local government for help?" Man Gu frowned.

Yanjiang County was not a major cultivation county. Compared to other counties, its population was low, and it was inconspicuous on the map. Some imprecise maps didn't even have it. But no matter what, Yanjiang County was still a county with two million people. Finding one person was like looking for a needle in a haystack; how could it be easy?

Lu Yang waved his hand: "Not appropriate. The demonic sect has been hiding here for who knows how long. The forces involved behind it are complex and intertwined; they might even have the support of the local government."

Man Gu didn't understand Lu Yang's meaning: "Isn't the demonic sect something everyone should kill? Why would the government help them?"

Lu Yang didn't need to answer. Meng Jingzhou was most familiar with this aspect: "Precisely because they are something everyone should kill, the Great Xia Dynasty added a 'number of demons killed' item to local officials' performance evaluations. The more demons eradicated, and the higher their cultivation, the greater the performance merit."

"Think about it, the demonic sect could easily make an agreement with the County Magistrate to provide demons regularly, and the Magistrate would agree not to reveal the demonic sect's location."

What Meng Jingzhou said wasn't a story, but a fact his elder in the government had told him personally.

The elder said the Xia Emperor had killed batch after batch, but there were still fish that slipped through the net.

There were people in the imperial court who proposed removing this evaluation indicator, but the Prime Minister stopped it. The indicator remained, and most officials did their best to eradicate the demonic path. A small number colluded with the demonic sect. If the indicator were removed, it was hard to say how many officials would still be willing to spend effort searching for the demonic sect's traces.

Overall, the existence of this evaluation indicator did more good than harm.

Meng Jingzhou's words gave Man Gu a feeling of cognitive subversion. He had never thought about such things before.

Lu Yang said: "The probability of the County Magistrate and the demonic sect joining forces is not high, but we must always prepare for the worst."

"If the County Magistrate and the demonic sect really are in cahoots, then stating our intentions to the Magistrate would naturally lead the Magistrate to hand over Qin Yuanhao to avoid exposure. But the entire Yanjiang Helm would get the news and hide, causing us to miss the opportunity to infiltrate the demonic sect. That would be losing the big for the small, very inappropriate."

"The best plan for now is for us not to reveal our identities, find Qin Yuanhao first, and if we can't find him, then it won't be too late to ask the government for help."

Man Gu nodded, feeling that both of them made sense.

"Then how do we lure Qin Yuanhao out?" Many thoughts flashed through Man Gu's mind, but he felt none were good methods, as they all had major flaws.

Putting up flyers or notices definitely wouldn't work; it was too flashy.

Inquire for information at the black market? If Qin Yuanhao found out someone was inquiring about him, he would hide, and might even lead the demonic sect to surround and suppress them. That would be very passive and wouldn't work.

Man Gu wanted to know what high opinions Brother Lu and Brother Meng had.

Back on the road down the mountain, Lu Yang had already thought of a way. He chuckled: "Do you know that unlike our righteous sects, those who mix in the Jianghu value face the most?"

"Especially those in the demonic sect, who view face as status. Whoever slaps their face is harder to bear than killing them."

"So we need to widely publicize that Qin Yuanhao is a kind person who does good deeds every day. Once the rumor spreads throughout Yanjiang County and everyone in the demonic sect thinks Qin Yuanhao is a good person, Qin Yuanhao will feel he has lost face and will definitely be unable to resist jumping out!"

"This will be our opportunity!"

Meng Jingzhou summarized simply: "It's just fabricating and spreading rumors."

Coincidentally, he, Meng Jingzhou, was self-taught and best at this.

Man Gu suddenly realized this was indeed a good method. If you can't find Qin Yuanhao, just force him out.

But what did he mean by "unlike our righteous sects, those who mix in the Jianghu value face the most"? ===== CHAPTER 52 =====