“By the way,” Zhang Linchuan suddenly said, looking at Tang Dun before leaving, “Are you called Tang Dun?”

“I am called that name,” Tang Dun replied.

Zhang Linchuan smiled. “Dun implies honesty and sincerity. It’s a good name.”

Tang Dun scratched his head. “The teacher in our village gave it to me when I was little.”

“Oh?” Zhang Linchuan asked.

“Our Tangshe Town is poor. No one can afford tuition, and few hunter families care about literacy. The teacher traveled here and stayed to teach us for three years, but then he left again. He liked me the most back then, saying I was some kind of jade.”

This explained things.

The trend of traveling and studying was highly respected at this time, and disciples of various schools engaged in it.

For example, Confucian disciples believed in reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles, and many traveled around the kingdoms. But some did it to broaden their horizons, and others to peddle themselves.

Then there were Mohist disciples who traveled the world, experiencing everything firsthand. But if they had met Tang Dun, they might have taught him martial arts or even some rudimentary mechanics, rather than reading and writing.

Although Zhuang was a nation that revered the Daoist school, it did not overly reject disciples of other schools. Tang Dun’s experience was naturally not a problem.

Jiang Wang then said, “Since you’ve studied, it’s a bit of a waste for you to be a mere constable here. After dealing with Niu’er’s funeral, if you have no other ties, you can try to take the entrance exam for the outer sect of the city’s Dao Academy.”

This was because he saw that Tang Dun was simple and honest, and had developed a bit of a liking for his talent, but ultimately it was up to Tang Dun’s own choice.

Leaving Tangshe Town and heading south along the official road was the way back to Maple Forest City.

Because of the corresponding array inscriptions, there were no wild beasts on the official road.

The horse’s hooves were not hurried, and Zhang Linchuan’s voice from the horseback was also unhurried. “Do you know how many resources the imperial court has to invest each year to maintain the official roads within the entire Zhuang Kingdom?”

Jiang Wang shook his head. He really didn’t know about these things.

“It’s an astronomical figure,” Zhang Linchuan said. “Moreover, these array inscriptions can only repel low-level demon beasts. Those powerful demon beasts and ferocious beasts still need strong cultivators to clear them. The imperial court invests a huge amount of manpower and resources every year to maintain the smoothness of various places. It also invests resources into the Dao Academy regardless of cost, and the only thing we can do is grow as quickly as possible to shoulder the corresponding responsibilities.”

“I am grateful for your teaching,” Jiang Wang replied.

“Then let me ask you another question. There are large arrays protecting the big cities, so why doesn’t the imperial court let everyone gather in the big cities to live?”

“I think there are two reasons,” Jiang Wang said after thinking for a moment. “First, big cities also have their limits and cannot meet the survival needs of everyone. Second, the range of each city is limited. The imperial court needs these official roads to extend in all directions, with towns as nodes, because this represents the actual territory. And land is a resource.”

“You see very clearly. The formations in the various towns and villages cannot be as safe as those in the big cities, but the villages and towns also have their irreplaceable value. Like Tangshe Town, as long as it exists, Maple Forest City can harvest a steady stream of resources from the Qichang Mountains. Once Tangshe Town is gone, the Qichang Mountains will no longer be related to our Zhuang Kingdom.”

“The residents of Tangshe Town dare to hunt in the Qichang Mountains, so they must also have experts. That demon cultivator lurked when the Criminal Investigation Department went, and there was no other movement when we didn’t go. But he launched an attack precisely when we arrived…”

At this point, Zhang Linchuan turned his head and looked at Jiang Wang with a non-smiling expression. “Junior Brother Jiang, do you have anything on you that might attract them?”

Jiang Wang couldn’t answer.

He certainly had secrets, but they were limited to the Void Key inherited from Zuo Guanglie. All the changes happened in the Mirage, and shouldn’t have been discovered in reality. But if it wasn’t related to that, it seemed like the first time he was attacked by demon cultivators was also after he entered the Mirage.

As he was considering how to phrase a lie, Zhang Linchuan suddenly raised a hand, bending his middle and ring fingers, with the other three fingers pointing straight at Jiang Wang.

And arcs of electricity leaped from the tips of the three raised fingers, gathering into a bolt of lightning that headed straight for Jiang Wang!

Jiang Wang didn’t even have time to react. The lightning brushed past his ear, striking a poison arrow dyed dark green, destroying it and causing it to fall.

Only then did Jiang Wang hear the sharp whistling sound of the poison arrow suddenly accelerating, and smell the burnt odor of the hair singed by the lightning.

“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!” Zhang Linchuan jumped up from his horse. With a bizarre hand seal, he raised his empty right hand, and a lightning whip condensed out of thin air.

“Come and die with me!”

Wielding the lightning whip, he pounced on the attackers hidden in the forest to the left of the official road like an eagle.

It turned out he had been prepared all along, multitasking and secretly forming hand seals, preparing two Dao techniques in advance, so that he could counterattack the moment the attack occurred.

Jiang Wang was still far behind this kind of senior brother who had been battle-tested for a long time.

At this moment, a voice rang out from the forest on the right, “This one is tough, retreat separately!”

Jiang Wang, who was about to catch up to Zhang Linchuan, suddenly turned his head!

How could he not recognize this voice? In that little girl’s room in Tangshe Town, even though it was only a few short sentences, it was enough for him to remember it forever!

A Dao Yuan within his Spirit Palace silently exploded. Jiang Wang decisively crashed towards the direction the voice came from.

Living in Zhuang, the first thing almost all civilians had to remember before going out was—do not leave the official road.

Because outside the range of human settlements, outside the official road, all belonged to the wild. It was the territory where wild beasts, demon beasts, and even ferocious beasts were active.

Zhang Linchuan was strong enough, so he didn’t care.

Jiang Wang wanted to kill, so he didn’t care either.

He had seen bloodshed, he had seen cruelty, but even the most vicious thugs on West Mountain would not wield their knives against children. That little girl had only just begun to understand this world, ignorant, innocent, and radiant. How innocent was she?

Jiang Wang’s sword trembled in its scabbard. It seemed that it had already begun to get excited, and it seemed that it knew that it would unleash its most brilliant light.

Ten years to sharpen a sword, its edge never tested. Today, I show it to you. Who has grievances to right?

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.

The moment the longsword leaped out, it collided with the scabbard no fewer than five times. Only then did it leave the scabbard!

The sword was like a meteor, the man like a dragon.

A large tree groaned and fell to the ground as the unorthodox demon cultivator hidden in the tree retreated quickly.

In the rush, he couldn’t see his face clearly, only his pale face under his messy hair.

One Dao Yuan after another exploded within the Spirit Palace.

Jiang Wang had never squandered so much before. He felt his whole body filled with strength.

Before condensing a Dao Whirlpool, every Dao Yuan squandered was a step backward in cultivation.

But only in this way could he kill.

He had to kill this demon cultivator, so that all the pent-up anger could be released, so that he could gain peace of mind.

Purple Qi East Arriving Sword, killing technique second form, bringing with it a wave of frosty light.

The pale-faced demon cultivator didn’t have time to form a hand seal while retreating. His right arm rapidly swelled, his muscles bulging, his veins popping, and he suddenly threw a straight punch at the frosty light.

The sword and this demon-like right arm instantly collided more than ten times.

Only then did Jiang Wang suddenly realize that he had misjudged! This opponent was very strong! At least much stronger than him! Far from what he had thought, relying only on the layout and only being stronger in cultivation.

In other words, if this pale-faced demon cultivator had unleashed his full strength when he attacked in Tangshe Town, Jiang Wang could hardly guarantee that he could have survived at that time.

But retreat did not exist in his mind. The longsword vibrated again, and a sharp whistle rang out.

Purple Qi East Arriving Sword technique, killing technique third form!

The flowing light turned, and the demonized right arm was completely cut off and flew away!

“Damn it!”

The pale-faced demon cultivator roared. He didn’t expect that he would be forced into a dead end by this desperate young man.

His hind foot slammed onto a large tree in mid-flight. He knew that he couldn’t retreat anymore, or he would die. Life came from the fight.

Centered on the point where his hind foot touched, the entire tree instantly withered.

Then, from his roaring mouth, gray mist surged out, carrying an extremely strong rotten smell and a pungent stench.

Manipulating the power of life and death, this was a Dao technique belonging to the Netherworld!

The sword light surged.

Dao Yuan fueled the sword light, the sword light cut open the gray mist, and Jiang Wang leaped out from within the gray mist!

Purple Qi East Arriving Sword technique, killing technique fourth form!

He let this demon cultivator run away in Tangshe Town. He was caught off guard and had no way to deal with it.

At least at this time, at this moment, he had to give that little girl named Niu’er an explanation!

This was a cultivator’s responsibility to the common people.

This was an adult’s responsibility to a child!

Jiang Wang’s figure, leaping through the air, breaking through the gray mist, appeared in the pale-faced demon cultivator’s eyes.

And in his ever-widening eyes, filled with horror, a brilliant sword light shone down from above.

That was the last light he saw before the eternal darkness.