"What happened last night is specifically related to the Blood Demon Sect."
Du Cangying's tone was calm. "You should all know of the Ye Family. In the Outer City of Qingbei Town, the Ye Family could be considered a top-tier merchant family."
"We know of them."
One of the True Disciples nodded. He was tall but rail-thin, standing like a bamboo pole. "I once took an escort job for the Ye Family, guarding their merchant caravan to Sand Dune Town."
"The old Patriarch of the Ye Family, Ye Fang, is already ninety-eight years old this year."
Du Cangying spoke slowly, "And while Ye Fang had a great talent for business, his talent for Martial Arts was quite average. Despite spending a fortune, he never achieved much, stalling out at the Huajin realm with no further progress."
"So, at ninety-eight, he was on death's door, with not many days left."
"But that old fellow Ye Fang didn't want to die. About half a year ago, the Blood Demon Desire Woman of the Blood Demon Sect found him. She deceived him, claiming she could refine an Elixir that would grant him another ten years of Lifespan."
"You can imagine what happened next."
Du Cangying shrugged. "Ye Fang was fooled by the Blood Demon Desire Woman. Not only did she not refine any Elixir, but she instead used the Ye Family's influence as cover to harm the living within the city. She created a Blood Pool and used it for refining a large number of Corpse Ghosts, Corpse Monsters, and even Zombies."
"Last night, the Ye Family's affairs were exposed. The Government Office's Demon Extermination Agency and the Governmental Agency itself mobilized in full force, with help from the Outer City's gangs, Martial Arts Halls, and Escort Agencies."
"In a single night, the entire disturbance was suppressed."
"That's the long and short of it."
"So that's what happened."
"To think it was related to the Ye Family."
"..."
Everyone began to discuss it in low voices.
Xu Qing also fell into contemplation. 'I'm actually quite curious. How does Master know so much?' It struck him as a little strange.
In fact, Xu Qing didn't know that the Governmental Agency and the Demon Extermination Agency had already thoroughly investigated the matter over a month ago. After all, the Ye Family was just a merchant family in the Outer City.
Furthermore, the Cangying Martial Arts Hall, Broken Stone Martial Arts Hall, and Yinghong Martial Arts Hall were the three major martial powers of the Outer City. Naturally, they had their own information channels and had long since figured out the whole story.
However, Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohu had wanted to let the situation escalate. Once things got chaotic enough, they planned to step in and suppress it, allowing them to claim more credit.
Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan.
At the last moment, Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohu never expected that a member of the Blood Demon Sect would make such a noble sacrifice. To allow the Blood Demon Desire Woman to escape, Fan Liang actually self-destructed the Golden Armor Corpse King and used his own life to delay Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohu.
As a result, Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohu let the Blood Demon Desire Woman get away.
The true mastermind was not caught.
Moreover, if they had captured the Blood Demon Desire Woman, they would have had the chance to interrogate her for intelligence on the Blood Demon Sect. If they had actually managed to get information out of her, it would have been another great merit.
"The Blood Demon Sect."
Xu Qing mused, hearing the name of this Demon Sect once again.
"Master."
At this moment, one of the True Disciples, who carried a broadsword on his back, looked up and suddenly asked Du Cangying, "Do you know of a person named Lv Dongbin?"
"Lv Dongbin?"
Du Cangying glanced at his third disciple. "Are you talking about the swordsmanship expert who appeared last night?"
"Yes."
The True Disciple nodded.
"I have not heard of him."
Du Cangying shook his head, pondered for a moment, and then said, "But based on some rumors that have been spreading, the swordsmanship he used should be the 'Life-taking Thirteen Swords'."
"Life-taking Thirteen Swords."
The True Disciple murmured thoughtfully.
"That's right."
Du Cangying nodded. "Furthermore, his strength should be at the Huajin level, not much different from yours. If you have the chance to meet him, you could indeed spar with him. It would be very beneficial for improving your Swordsmanship and Cultivation."
"Yes, Master."
The True Disciple nodded.
"..."
Xu Qing stood silently to the side, listening to the conversation between Du Cangying and the True Disciples. He felt a pang of nervousness, especially when they mentioned 'Lv Dongbin'.
Fortunately, Du Cangying had only deduced the swordsmanship Xu Qing had used. That alone wasn't enough to confirm anything, so there was no need to worry about suspicion falling on him.
After all, the Life-taking Thirteen Swords was not a style exclusive to the Cangying Martial Arts Hall. In fact, other Martial Arts Halls, especially those that specialized in teaching Swordsmanship, also had the Life-taking Thirteen Swords in their curriculum.
"As for what happened last night, you are not to get involved."
Du Cangying added a final warning, "Besides, this matter should be concluded now. Only the Ye Family will likely face execution of their entire clan by the Government Office."
"Colluding with the Demon Sect naturally won't lead to a good end."
"Yes."
"Understood."
"We will obey Master's command."
"..."
The six True Disciples nodded.
"Xu Qing."
Du Cangying looked up.
"Master."
Xu Qing clasped his hands in a salute.
"Come and meet your senior brothers and sisters."
Du Cangying said.
"Yes."
Xu Qing replied.
「Time flew by.」
Around noon, Xu Qing finally left the Cangying Martial Arts Hall. He had spent the entire morning there, getting to know the six True Disciples.
Aside from his First Senior Brother, Huo Yi, and Second Senior Sister, Du Luan,
there was his Third Senior Brother, Xiao Feng, who carried the broadsword and wanted to spar with 'Lv Dongbin'; his Fourth Senior Brother, Zhu Bihe, who was tall and lanky like a bamboo pole; and his Fifth Senior Brother, Jin Hong, who was as fat as a pig, with a kind smile that concealed a sinister nature.
Finally, there was his cute Sixth Senior Sister, Pang Yunyun, with her round, bun-like face.
"Did you hear? The reason all that stuff happened last night was because the Ye Family colluded with Demon Sect fiends, which led to them refining so many Zombies in the city."
"That Ye Family is truly despicable."
"Yeah! Yeah!"
"The Ye Family is truly rich and cruel."
"The Government Office has already reached a verdict. The entire Ye Family has been sentenced to execution, with no one to be spared."
"Good, good, good."
"A good sentence! A just sentence!"
"The Ye Family deserved to die."
"My son was bitten to death by those monsters!"
"And my daughter."
"My father too..."
At that moment, in the Outer City of Qingbei Town, the Government Office had already released the news, and it spread like wildfire. Soon, practically everyone in the Outer City knew.
In the end, the Government Office's constables were dispatched. All of the Ye Family's properties were seized, all their gold and silver confiscated, and practically everyone related to them—relatives, friends, and so on—was arrested.
This included the Ye Family's eldest young master, Ye Yi.
「Evening.」
Xu Qing met with Zhao Jingyuan.
Of course, Yu Chen was there too.
However, this time they weren't meeting at Kaiyuan Tower, but at the Outer City's second-largest restaurant, Laike Tower. They sat together, eating, drinking, and chatting.
"Last night scared the hell out of me."
Yu Chen took a sip of wine, his face already flushing red. "That Ye Family must be sick in the head. They'd already made so much money and were the top merchant family in the Outer City, yet they still went and colluded with the Demon Sect, causing such a huge disaster."
"A lot of people died last night."
"If I hadn't dug a cellar at home, my whole family might have been wiped out."
"Indeed."
Zhao Jingyuan shook his head and sighed. "The Ye Family is now like a wall everyone pushes over, a fallen tree with scattered monkeys. They couldn't even find Master Ye's body, and all the young masters of the Ye Family are now prisoners. After the County Magistrate finishes the trial, they're all scheduled for execution at noon tomorrow."
"Everyone from the Ye Family was captured?"
Xu Qing asked.
"The third young master of the Ye Family, Ye Langtian, hasn't been caught yet. He must have gotten word beforehand and fled somewhere."
Zhao Jingyuan said.
"I see."
Xu Qing nodded and didn't say anything more.
However, Zhao Jingyuan was a Junior Constable at the Government Office, after all, and was now an Anjing Martial Artist. Though his position wasn't high, he wasn't at the bottom of the totem pole either. Xu Qing could still glean a fair bit of information from him.
"Oh, right."
Zhao Jingyuan suddenly lowered his head and whispered to Xu Qing and Yu Chen, "Let me tell you a little rumor. I heard the two Supreme Commanders of the Government Office and the Demon Extermination Agency are furious. They threw a fit of thunderous rage, and several Commanders and squad leaders got a serious tongue-lashing."
"Apparently, it's because one of the masterminds escaped."
"For real?"
Yu Chen's eyes widened.
"I'm not sure!"
Zhao Jingyuan shrugged. "It's just a rumor I heard."
"Escaped."
Xu Qing mused, his tone filled with disbelief. 'They let the mastermind escape, even with all that?'
「Later that evening.」
「Outside Qingbei Town.」
「White Dwarf Mountain.」
「At the foot of the mountain.」
The view zoomed in.
Two figures could be seen standing facing each other. If Xu Qing were here, he would have recognized them as Ye Langtian and his Fifth Senior Brother, Jin Hong.
THUD!
Ye Langtian fell to his knees.
"Thank you for saving my life, Fifth Senior Brother."
Ye Langtian kowtowed to Jin Hong on the ground. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he had been crying, but his expression had become all the more resolute.
"You don't need to thank me."
Jin Hong shook his head and said, "These were Master's orders. The old man doesn't have heaven-defying abilities; this is as far as he can protect you."
"The Supreme Commander of the Demon Extermination Agency, Bu Wuyun, and the Supreme Commander of the Government Office, Wei Wohu, are both experts of the Innate Gang Qi realm. There are few people in Qingbei Town who can stop them from doing what they want."
"Since you have joined the Cangying Martial Arts Hall, we must naturally do everything we can to protect you. But today's matter is no small affair. Master could only find a way to secretly get you out of the city."
"From now on, you must never return to Qingbei Town."
"This disciple obeys."
Ye Langtian kowtowed again.
"Go on."
Jin Hong waved his hand.
"Yes."
Ye Langtian rose to his feet. He carried a simple bundle on his back. He had once been a young master from a wealthy merchant family, with no small amount of talent in Martial Arts.
But now, Ye Langtian had become a wanted fugitive, scorned by all, a homeless wanderer. And this entire transformation had happened in just a single day.