Lu Xingzhou didn’t go out for a simple reason: he was waiting for Huo Zheng. Yang Dechang’s information was just a single sentence, and Lu Xingzhou couldn’t tell from it what Huo Zheng was doing in Meng Gui City. And he had waited until the official letter from the Dan Yao Si before going out. He was clearly several days later than when Huo Zheng arrived here, yet the young master had been touring the mountains and playing in the water and still hadn’t arrived, while Lu Xingzhou, who had flown all the way, had arrived first.

Lu Xingzhou also didn’t want to find local Yan Luo Hall assassins to do the work every time he went to a new place. So, after the Five-Pin assassin from East Jiang found him to report Pei Chu Yun’s information, he sent him over first, letting him connect with the Yan Luo Hall people on this side to gather intelligence related to Huo Zheng. Only at this point did he properly ask for the other person’s name. This assassin was called Ying Shuang. He needed to wait for Ying Shuang’s investigation report. Before all the information was clear, Lu Xingzhou never acted rashly. If Pei Chu Yun knew this principle, she probably wouldn’t have been taken advantage of so many times blindly.

Pei Chu Yun really didn’t want to stare for three days. This wasn’t a broken place like Xia State; there were many things to see in this prosperous big city. What was the point of squatting here? But she had already stared for three days, and the sunk cost was too high, so Pei Chu Yun was reluctant.

Just as she was bored, she suddenly saw a person in black robe shake the bell outside Lu Xingzhou’s cave mansion. Pei Chu Yun’s spirit lifted. She saw the cave mansion open a crack, the black-robed person slipped inside, and the cave mansion closed again. Pei Chu Yun was speechless. She decided that if this black-robed person didn’t come out again in three days, she would blow up the inn.

“My lord, the situation isn’t complex,” Ying Shuang took a sip of tea and said with a relaxed smile. “It’s similar to what happened on our side in East Jiang. It’s also a matter related to the county prime…”

Lu Xingzhou waved his hand. “Don’t. East Jiang might not be a matter of the county prime. Don’t try to make yourself look better when reporting. How about this Meng Gui County Prime?”

“Uh…” Ying Shuang cleared his throat twice and continued, “It’s a wealthy clan surnamed Qian here. They reportedly engaged in Demonic Path activities, killing many infants to make some kind of ‘Hundred Child Soup.’ The victims reported to the county, but the county prime covered it up. Not only did nothing happen to the Qian family, but several families of the victims were ruined and people died.”

Lu Xingzhou pursed his lips. “And then?”

It was no wonder Ying Shuang’s expression was relaxed. Although the Yan Luo Hall itself didn’t do these kinds of things, it still belonged to the Demonic Path, and they had seen more vicious things. To put it bluntly, those who practiced the Ten Thousand Soul Banner were generally more vicious than this. Lu Xingzhou was an exception… However, in the eyes of outsiders, since Lu Xingzhou practiced the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, he was synonymous with viciousness.

Ying Shuang continued, “Originally, the case was completely suppressed, and things were calm. Only one commander surnamed Jing from the County Town Magic Si relentlessly investigated… In the end, he also hit walls everywhere and couldn’t investigate further. The Town Magic Si claimed to be independent of the local authorities, but in reality, with the network of human relationships, no one can escape. He eventually wasn’t Sheng Yuan Yao and didn’t have a good father.”

Lu Xingzhou said, “So he was also killed?”

“Not that. This person, on the contrary, is a tough nut. He couldn’t investigate through official channels, so he simply resigned from office. Then, on the night of the thirtieth of the year, he killed everyone in the Qian family. Finally, he went to the county prime’s home with a knife, cut off his head, and hung it at the city gate, then walked away openly. He said that he became a Town Magic Si to seek justice, and since he couldn’t seek it within the Si, he would go out and seek it himself…”

Lu Xingzhou praised him. “He’s a man. What does this matter have to do with Huo Zheng? Could it be that the people on the county prime’s side are also from the Huo family?”

“Whether they are from the Huo family is unclear, but the county prime position is vacant. Huo Zheng has taken a liking to it; he is here to fill the vacancy.”

“He didn’t take a liking to the East Jiang county guard position which was vacant before?”

“How can a poor place like East Jiang compare to a prosperous big city like Meng Gui City? Besides, Meng Gui City is also closer to the capital by half.” Ying Shuang smiled meaningfully. “Furthermore, Huo Yu died in Xia State. Although everyone on the surface says it was killed by demon magic, do the Huo family people really not suspect that it was you, my lord? Why would Huo Zheng run under your nose?”

Lu Xingzhou sneered, his meaning difficult to interpret. After a while, he asked, “Where is Huo Zheng now?”

“He should arrive in two or three more days.” Ying Shuang lowered his voice. “My lord, if you want to plot against Huo Zheng, you should probably make your move before he takes office as county prime. Once he formally fills the position, it will be plotting to kill a court official, which is a different matter…”

“Hmm… How much power is he bringing?”

“Huo Zheng is here to be an official, so he won’t bring too many people. He himself appears to be a Five-Pin middle rank. His bodyguard team is roughly similar to Huo Yu’s, mostly ordinary guards below Three-Pin, but there should be someone above Three-Pin protecting him.”

“Three-Pin…” Lu Xingzhou lightly tapped the armrest, lost in thought.

Ying Shuang made a hand gesture suggesting cutting throats. “Should we simply contact our first-class assassins from Yan Luo Hall and just assassinate him to finish the matter?”

Lu Xingzhou shook his head. “This kind of assassination and revenge is not what I want… Otherwise, initially, when I sought Sister… I asked Yan Jun to help me kill several people, and she was willing, but I didn’t do it that way.”

“Does my lord want to kill them personally?”

“Yes, I want to personally break their pride, watch them fall step by step into the abyss, struggling in fear.” Lu Xingzhou sighed. “If I want to do this, then I will drag the Yan Luo Hall to plot with me slowly. This is something I will not trouble Yan Jun with; after I leave, I only think about doing it myself.”

Ying Shuang remained silent.

Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Before, the Qian family engaged in Demonic Path activities and were killed by Commander Jing… Who was the Demonic Path figure behind this? Who handled it?”

Ying Shuang was startled. “This should not have been investigated. It was ultimately suppressed and couldn’t be investigated. Commander Jing probably didn’t even know. In the end, he only killed the Qian family and finished the matter. Others would know even less.”

“The county guard must know. Can a single county prime really cover the sky with one hand and prevent the Town Magic Si commander from doing anything?” Lu Xingzhou sneered. “If the county guard has no major connection to this matter and is just covering it up, then it’s still manageable. If the county guard is the true protective umbrella, then this Da Qian is truly rotten through.”

Ying Shuang hesitated and said, “My lord shouldn’t want to meddle in this, right?”

“I don’t want to meddle. I’m thinking, Commander Jing has been in the Town Magic Si for so long, he shouldn’t have failed to think of this point… He hung the head at the city gate and left, possibly just making a gesture. It’s not certain that he is secretly investigating the county guard. You all help me pay attention. If there is a clue about this person, I want to talk to him.”

Ying Shuang didn’t understand what this matter had to do with Huo Zheng, but he still accepted the order. “Yes. But this won’t be easy to find…”

Lu Xingzhou laughed. “It doesn’t matter. I will also try to find him.”

Ying Shuang was even more confused. You’ve just arrived suddenly, you don’t have any subordinates, how are you going to find him? But he didn’t say anything and soon left.

Seeing Ying Shuang leave, Lu Xingzhou turned to A Nuo and said with a smile, “It’s not complicated. There are no traps waiting for us. We can go out for a stroll.”

A Nuo jumped up and pushed the wheelchair away. “The food here must be very delicious!”

Pei Chu Yun’s face was full of tears. You finally came out…

Lu Xingzhou’s embroidered shoe in his ring suddenly moved down a bit. Everyone was startled. No way, little demon girl, you really followed all the way here and squatted for three days? You say you have this perseverance, what’s wrong with you… Even if you went to a brothel to be a Bodhisattva, you would be financially free by now…

“Master, master, I want to eat this!”

Lu Xingzhou turned his head to look. It was a malt sugar stall. Sugar was poured into patterns of the twelve zodiac animals and so on, strung on sticks. A large group of children surrounded it, watching. A Nuo also watched with wide eyes. “I want that pig.”

So dragons and phoenixes didn’t sell as well as pigs. Cuteness was truly the killer skill.

Lu Xingzhou smiled, lined up with the eagerly watching A Nuo, and bought three pigs. A Nuo stuffed the pig into her mouth and looked at her master strangely. “Why buy three?”

“Keep one as a souvenir,” Lu Xingzhou chuckled and pulled her face. “Let’s go, let’s look at other things.”

Actually, Lu Xingzhou didn’t eat the second one either. After seeing A Nuo finish eating, he also gave her his own. A Nuo smiled so much that her eyes disappeared.

Pei Chu Yun followed behind, watching A Nuo’s round, plump, smiling face, silently not knowing what she was thinking. That pig was stuffed into her mouth, her face was all deformed…

A Nuo wasn’t very interested in toys. She only looked at food along the way, often throwing open Lu Xingzhou’s wheelchair and squatting by the stalls to wait. Pei Chu Yun had many opportunities to sneak attack Lu Xingzhou, but for some reason, she followed along without doing anything. Lu Xingzhou also basically did nothing, just watching the child play with a chuckle. The doting look in his eyes puzzled Pei Chu Yun. Wasn’t he a vicious Demonic Path senior… The Yan Luo Hall had killed how many people over the years… He still practiced the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

But even the ghost child now didn’t look like a ghost. It seemed that as long as she was with her master, a ghost would become a person.

Silently following along, she discovered that Lu Xingzhou and his disciple seemed to have a clear destination. After walking for a while, they arrived at a large house. Inside the large house, white banners vaguely floated. Passersby hurried past, all looking very unlucky.

Lu Xingzhou casually asked a passerby, “Excuse me, is this the Qian family?”

The passerby spat. “Looking for someone surnamed Qian? Don’t look, they’re all dead.”

This attitude… It was likely that the broken matter of the Qian family making “Hundred Child Soup” was known to everyone, but Commander Jing was still forced to resort to such extreme actions. Lu Xingzhou shook his head. “I’m not necessarily looking for someone surnamed Qian, just here to look… Are there still people inside?”

“Don’t know, probably people from the Town Magic Si are inside.” The passerby didn’t want to say more and quickly walked away.

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment and directly pushed open the house door. Inside, it was empty. Countless coffins were piled in the middle of the courtyard, with white banners everywhere, looking very eerie. It was estimated that the officials had only collected the bodies; no one had the mind to help them keep vigil.

Lu Xingzhou took out the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and tested it. All the souls of the corpses had already dissipated; he couldn’t collect any souls. He shook his head slightly with regret, walked to the first coffin, and casually lifted the lid. Inside lay a fat man whose entire body was black, his neck already cut. The traces of black magic power on the corpse were still very obvious.

“This magic power…” Lu Xingzhou examined it for a while and shook his head slightly. If the magic power involved forging the body, his medical skills could roughly analyze what skill was practiced from the corpse’s physique and thus trace the source. If it was just refining qi, then the qi of the dead corpse had dissipated, making it difficult to judge.

It was a pity that this corpse was from refining qi. His muscles were loose and sagged, not as good as Lu Xingzhou’s.

Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “Black Flame.”

The soul banner responded, “Master.”

“Can you sense the remaining soul situation here? If I arrange a Nine Yin Cave Dark Array, can I briefly gather some Yin Soul spirit light?”

Black Flame said, “Not too easy… Master, you are overestimating the ability of your own soul banner. This banner ultimately only has a thousand souls…”

Lu Xingzhou: “…Yes, I am overestimating your ability.”

Black Flame didn’t speak, seeming to remember that it was just the main soul of the soul banner, and a useless soul banner meant it was useless. But why did other masters’ soul banners have ten thousand souls? So it was still the master’s problem.

A Nuo said, “Master, do you really want to meddle in this matter?”

“At least I want to have a clear idea… Huo Zheng is coming to take this position, which should mean he knows the inside story. Otherwise, with their nature of seeking profit and avoiding harm, why would they come wading into this muddy water? So, in case the magic cultivator behind this is connected with Huo Zheng, it will make our matters more difficult.” Lu Xingzhou said coldly, “Furthermore, those who kill infants like this can no longer be considered human. They should just die sooner.”

On a distant roof, Pei Chu Yun stood quietly at a high place, looking into the distance, her lips tightly pursed. Perhaps she knew who was opposite. Not everyone on the same path intersected. Each person’s intersection was different. Lu Xingzhou didn’t see the person opposite, but she might recognize them. But what did this matter have to do with her… If it was indeed an acquaintance, shouldn’t she cooperate with them to completely ruin Lu Xingzhou?

A Nuo suddenly said, “Master isn’t going to stop Huo Zheng, are you just afraid that this person might already be with Huo Zheng?”

Lu Xingzhou sighed helplessly. “Little fool, Huo Zheng has a Three-Pin person protecting him. What can I stop? Investigating this case is to unite with Commander Jing. He is a man worth intersecting with… If I can help him solve this case, he can of course help us in several ways.”

“Is that so?” A cold voice came from inside the house. “But I don’t believe you.”

Lu Xingzhou smiled brightly, “Thump” on the ground, took out a jar of wine, and placed it directly on the coffin. “I invite you to drink, can you believe me a little?”

A big man carrying a long knife walked out from the middle of the house with big strides, his tiger-like eyes like electricity, staring tightly at Lu Xingzhou. Lu Xingzhou, as if nothing had happened, set up a large bowl on the coffin, slapped open the wine jar, and poured wine. “This is brewed from my home’s spirit spring. Until now, I’ve only given it to one teacher. He probably hasn’t drunk it yet. This is the first time I’m treating a guest, and giving it to Commander Jing is not wronging this wine.”

Pei Chu Yun’s expression was blank. No, I’ve drunk it.

Commander Jing’s expression was also a little strange. He walked over with big strides and sat down on another coffin. “You… are very evil. Facing so many coffins and dead bodies, you can drink without changing your expression… Who can believe you are a good person?”

Pei Chu Yun nodded forcefully.

Lu Xingzhou laughed carefreely. “You slaughtered the entire Qian family with one knife, killed officials, cut off heads, and hung them at the city gate. The court wants you, and the world cannot tolerate you. Yet I believe you are a good person. Why is that?”

As he spoke, he kept pouring wine. As soon as he finished speaking, a bowl of wine was just right, poured full. Lu Xingzhou casually flicked his finger, and the wine bowl floated in front of Commander Jing. “Please.”

Commander Jing took it, secretly checked it, and didn’t find any poison, but he was still a little cautious and didn’t drink it for the time being. “What is your esteemed name?”

Lu Xingzhou continued to add wine for himself. “Tian Xing Jian Sect, Dan Master Lu Xingzhou.”

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