Tangshe Town, located north of Maplewood City, was one of the seven towns under Wei Quji’s governance, also being the smallest and most remote. Backed by the Qichang mountain range stretching for dozens of miles, the townspeople lived off the mountain’s resources, with most being hunters.

Walking through Tangshe Town, one saw old and dilapidated houses and a sparse number of pedestrians. Those few who passed by walked hurriedly, their brows furrowed with worry. Not to mention comparing it to Maplewood City, it was far inferior even to Fengxi Town, where Jiang Wang was born.

“The villages near Tangshe Town are scattered along the Qichang mountain range. The people here live by hunting, and generally only gather in the town on the first and fifteenth of each month. It’s not market day now, so there are few people,” Jiang Wang explained to Zhang Linchuan, having done his homework before coming.

Even though this trip was arranged by the Dean for his senior to look after his junior, Jiang Wang knew he shouldn’t rely on others for everything and dared not slack off.

Throughout the journey, Zhang Linchuan maintained a faint smile, neither distant nor intimate, revealing little emotion.

Upon hearing this, he merely nodded and went to the house where the massacre had occurred.

Although their visit represented the independent will of the Dao Academy, they couldn’t ignore the local government entirely. Tang Dun, a constable from Tangshe Town, was waiting for them in front of the house.

“Tang Daniu and his wife were both locals from Tangshe Town. I used to fight with Daniu when we were kids…” It was clear that this rough-looking man with dark skin and a straightforward appearance was quite saddened. His bull-like eyes were bloodshot as he repeatedly muttered, “Damn the demonic fiends! Curse them! Curse them!”

Zhang Linchuan glanced at his constable uniform. “Why are you the only one here? Where’s your captain?”

“Our captain is busy with other matters,” Tang Dun said, oblivious to Zhang Linchuan’s displeasure. “You’ll all be high officials in the future, so you must seek justice for us!”

“Interesting, a tiny Tangshe Town has something more important than this massacre?” Zhang Linchuan smiled dismissively, but didn’t press further. He simply waved his hand, cutting Tang Dun off. “Get to the point. What clues have you found? What did the people from the Bureau of Justice say?”

Dong A had secretly sent people to investigate, clearly distrusting Wei Quji. Correspondingly, the Bureau of Justice avoided them, and the local government of Tangshe Town only sent a low-ranking constable to greet them, which was to be expected.

Tang Dun scratched his head. “We… don’t have any clues. The adults from the Bureau of Justice didn’t tell us anything…”

Zhang Linchuan almost laughed in exasperation. No clues at all, then what were you babbling on about for so long?

But, possessing good manners, he suppressed his annoyance and said, “Alright, let’s go inside and take a look.”

Tang Dun quickly tore off the seal on the door and took out the key to unlock the heavy lock. Then, he pushed open the wooden door.

Jiang Wang noticed that the seal was not simple, bearing a warding talisman. Clearly, the cultivators from the Bureau of Justice had taken care to protect the scene.

As the seal was removed and the door opened, a foul odor of decay, filth, and stench rushed out.

Jiang Wang forced himself to ignore the discomfort and surveyed the small courtyard. There were the usual tools of a hunter – hunting knives, traps, bows and arrows – as well as some animal hides and smoked meat, all scattered haphazardly around the yard.

The skeleton of a hunting dog lay near the main entrance. Judging from its posture, it was probably the first to discover the intruders, but it was dealt with swiftly.

Jiang Wang turned back to see Zhang Linchuan holding a handkerchief embroidered with orchids over his nose and mouth, his brows furrowed.

Seeing Jiang Wang’s questioning look, Zhang Linchuan slightly raised his chin, speaking from behind the handkerchief, “It’s fine, let’s go in.”

At this moment, Tang Dun stood at the entrance, hesitating. “I… I won’t go in. This place is… eerie…”

He was just a mortal, after all. Jiang Wang wouldn’t force him, so he nodded. “Alright.”

Then, he took the lead and stepped into the courtyard.

Dense and powerful corpse energy enveloped him instantly, saturating his sense of smell. This level of corpse energy couldn’t be generated simply by killing a few people and summoning a few zombies. It was more like a connection to some kind of evil entity.

Behind him, Zhang Linchuan glanced at Jiang Wang’s hand on his sword, at the long, slender, fair fingers, which looked both clean and strong.

“Jiang shidi excels at swordsmanship?” he asked.

Jiang Wang observed the surroundings, not turning back. “Zhang shixiong flatters me. I haven’t yet formed my Dao Sphere, so I can’t practice Daoist arts. I can only rely on swordsmanship for self-defense.”

“During the attack on the outer courtyard, I heard Jiang shidi was one of those attacked, yet he managed to escape unscathed, which shows his abilities.”

“It was actually quite dangerous. The fiend was much stronger than me. I only managed to escape after alerting my fellow disciples.”

Beside the courtyard was a dog house made of wooden planks, now empty, of course. Jiang Wang’s eyes swept over it. He couldn’t see any traces of blood in the entire courtyard.

“The situation here is not good, shidi. Be careful,” Zhang Linchuan said.

“I understand.”

The courtyard had three rooms. Directly facing the entrance was the main hall, its door wide open. A skeleton lay sprawled across the threshold, fleshless. Judging by the clothes on it, it should be the master of the house, the hunter Tang Daniu.

Jiang Wang carefully stepped over the skeleton and entered the main hall.

The walls of the hall were bare, without any decorations. In the center was an eight-immortal table with four benches. There were some leftover food on the table, covered by a bamboo-woven lid.

Lying beneath the left bench was the lady of the house, confirmed by the coarse cloth dress.

However… the food hadn’t spoiled, yet the body was reduced to bone.

An inexplicable chill ran down his spine, and a faint fear arose from who knew where. Jiang Wang almost drew his sword. But, having experienced many life-and-death battles, he suppressed the instinct to avoid embarrassing himself in front of Zhang Linchuan.

“The flesh was not gnawed off, but was caused by some kind of evil magic,” Zhang Linchuan said, still holding the handkerchief to his mouth. He casually looked around, revealing only disgust, not fear. “They haven’t been dead for long, but because the flesh is gone, we’ve lost many clues. You fought the fiend who attacked the outer courtyard. Is there anything familiar?”

Jiang Wang shook his head. “I only see two skeletons now, so I can’t tell. It’s just that the corpse energy permeating everything…”

“What is it?”

“I was attacked by corpses controlled by him and was poisoned by corpse energy. Senior Dong helped me get rid of it.”

Zhang Linchuan nodded, not letting go of the handkerchief, and walked towards the room to the right of the hall. “Let’s look around separately. Contact me immediately if you find anything.”

“Alright.”

Zhang Linchuan was a ranked cultivator, with his Dao Sphere spinning in his Heavenly Palace, generating Dao energy. Jiang Wang wasn’t worried about him. He gripped his sword and walked towards the room on the left.

…

This room…

Was very small.

Upon entering, one could see a wooden horse, standing silently on the floor. The wooden horse was exceptionally delicate and smooth, obviously showing the maker’s care.

Not far from the wooden horse was a low table, scattered with toys like slingshots and pellet drums.

And on the wall beside the low table, Jiang Wang saw the only decoration he’d seen since entering the courtyard.

It was a small canvas, with three stick figures drawn in childish strokes.

Two larger figures were holding hands with a smaller one, running through a field of flowers.

Behind the figures was a small dog, wagging its tail.

This was once a complete family, an entire spring, that had bloomed here.

Jiang Wang struggled to continue forward until, in front of the small bed, he saw scattered pieces of flowered cloth.

Looking up, he saw, as expected, the last skeleton of this family.

A small, slender, fragile, helpless skeleton.

That was all that remained of a little girl, once cherished by her parents.

He felt anger.

Uncontrollable, violent, anger.