Sun Daoyuan rode the Paper Donkey through the night, leaving Stone Plate Town behind.
He traveled half the night, and only at dawn did he finally arrive at Hengqiao Town.
Outside the town, a new notice was posted on the bulletin board beside the main road, drawing a small crowd of passersby who gathered around to read.
A literate fellow began to read the announcement aloud:
“…Zhang Zongnian, a Demon Slaying Division Officer of Hengqiao Zhen Zhusuo, was bewitched by a Yaojing and, together with her, slaughtered all 213 villagers of Li Family Hollow. He killed eleven Captain and officers of Hengqiao Zhen Zhusuo, set fire to the village, and destroyed the evidence. His crimes are unforgivable…”
“…A county-wide manhunt is now underway! Anyone who apprehends him, dead or alive, will receive a reward of five hundred Spirit Stones and one Lower-grade Barrier-breaking Pill! If the accompanying Yaojing is also captured and delivered, an additional reward of one thousand Spirit Stones and one Middle-grade Barrier-breaking Pill will be given!”
The onlookers chattered noisily among themselves.
“An entire village, over two hundred people, just slaughtered like that, and he even killed eleven colleagues. Zhang Zongnian is truly a demon!”
“To think such a terrifying person was in our town! That’s just too frightening! The Demon-Slaying Bureau must hurry and catch him, or who knows how many more innocents will be harmed!”
“Zhang Zongnian? No way, right? I know Master Immortal Zhang, he’s always been gentle. How could he do such a thing?”
“Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘A person’s heart is hidden beneath their skin’? You know their face, not their heart. How do you know he’s not that kind of person?”
“The notice said it clearly, didn’t it? He was bewitched by a Yaojing, that’s why he did these things.”
“Are those Yaojing really that seductive? Enough to make a man lose his mind?”
“I really want to see that Yaojing, just to see how beautiful she is.”
“Wow, if you catch him and that Yaojing, you’ll get fifteen hundred Spirit Stones! That’s fifteen thousand taels of silver! If I had that much silver, I couldn’t finish spending it in a lifetime!”
“You wish! He’s an Immortal Master of the Demon-Slaying Division, what skills do you have to catch an Immortal Master?”
Sun Daoyuan urged the Paper Donkey forward until he reached the bulletin board.
He stared at the announcement, his gaze lingering on “Middle-grade Barrier-breaking Pill.”
He stood there for a long time.
Then, he lowered his eyelids, turned the donkey’s head, and slowly made his way toward the center of the town.
Hengqiao Town was not large; after passing through several streets, Sun Daoyuan soon arrived before a narrow alley.
At the end of the alley stood a house.
That was his junior brother Zhang Zongnian’s home.
Sun Daoyuan didn’t enter the alley.
He dismounted the donkey at a distance from the entrance, put the Paper Donkey away, and fished a seed from his sleeve, tossing it onto the ground.
The seed sank instantly into the earth.
Sun Daoyuan tucked his hands behind his back, sat down against the wall, and closed his eyes, looking just like an old man basking in the sun and dozing off.
A moment later, a tiny green sprout quietly poked out from beneath a large tree in a corner of the Zhang family’s courtyard.
It twisted its slender, fragile stem as it grew, winding around the tree, climbing up the trunk.
Once it reached the top of the canopy, the sprout wiggled its leafy head as if swaying in the wind, overlooking the entire courtyard.
It saw several figures in black clothing lurking around the residence, forming a loose perimeter as they kept close watch.
The sprout then twisted its long body, crawling along a branch toward a window, and peered inside.
Within the house, an elderly woman sat in a chair, her face pale, her anxiety and worry evident in her eyes.
A young man in black, arms crossed, sat on a chair opposite her, eyes closed in meditation.
A jade pendant hung at his waist, inscribed with the character “Yang.”
His waist-saber rested on the table beside him.
This young man was Yang Yuting.
Suddenly, Yang Yuting sensed something.
He abruptly opened his eyes and looked toward the window.
The green sprout withered in an instant, shrinking swiftly, shriveling up, then dropping from the tree as a dried shoot and turning to ash on the ground.
At the alley entrance, Sun Daoyuan opened his eyes and rose to his feet.
He hunched his back, hands still tucked in his sleeves, looking every bit the sickly old man as he slipped into the bustling crowd on the street.
He’d confirmed that Zhang Zongnian’s home was under heavy surveillance, just waiting for Zhang Zongnian to walk right into their trap.
He knew it was no longer possible to take away his junior brother’s mother.
He wandered slowly and patiently along the main street, eventually heading out of town.
Looking carefully to either side, and seeing no one was tailing him, he finally drew the Paper Donkey from his sleeve and, with a flick, restored it to the size of a real donkey.
He mounted up and hurried away along the main road.
Yang Yuting now stood beneath the big tree in the Zhang family courtyard, gazing down at the pile of ashes on the ground.
He sneered, patted the pouch at his waist, and released a bee.
The bee landed atop the ashes, brushed them with its antennae, then rose into the air, hovering as if searching for a direction.
Very quickly, it determined a course and flew off in the same direction as Sun Daoyuan, catching up with him after a short while.
It buzzed along, beating its wings, leisurely trailing after Sun Daoyuan.
……
Inside the medical hall, Lin Xue gazed excitedly at the stack of Substitute Paper Figurines in her hands.
She had spent 50 points of experience and had learned the Paper Substitute Technique.
This technique required binding a Substitute Paper Figurine with spiritual power beforehand.
When attacked, she could release the spell to let the figurine take her place, while she herself would instantly be transported ten paces away—a true life-saving skill.
The second spell she learned from a Jade Slip was the Vine Technique, which Yang Yuxiang had used to bind her. It also cost her 50 experience points.
However, the Vine Technique’s power depended on the presence of wood elements.
It was potent in forests or grasslands, and the more abundant the vegetation, the greater the effect.
If used in a place lacking wood element—like indoors—its power was greatly diminished and could only slightly slow the opponent’s movements.
What surprised Lin Xue was that the third Jade Slip did not contain a spell, but rather a series of images.
In every image, the protagonist was Yang Yuxiang—without exception, naked and moving atop different beautiful women, with a man kneeling to the side, watching.
Those men and women appeared to be couples; both wore faces twisted with humiliation and fury. Some men had even bitten their lips until they bled.
Who would have thought these Jade Slips could store recordings as well?
It turned out Yang Yuxiang had such perverse tastes—enjoying the humiliation of married couples, recording it for later viewing. His style was much like Edison’s.
Only now did Lin Xue understand why, last night, that beast had clearly been capable of killing Zhang Zongnian with a single gesture, but hadn’t acted.
Instead, he kept him alive, used the Vine Technique to restrain him, and forced him to watch Lin Xue’s own humiliation.
That beast must have mistakenly believed she and Zhang Zongnian were a couple, and wanted to use his twisted methods on the two of them.
Luckily, due to his depraved hobbies, Zhang Zongnian managed to escape with his life.
Lin Xue couldn’t help but feel a bit of secret relief.
The third spell she learned was from a spellbook found inside the Storage Pouch of the Female Demon Lord—retrieved after using a Break Talisman to dispel the Demoness’s Protective Robe’s restriction. The spell was called Ice Control Art, and also cost 50 experience points.
Back at the ancestral hall, the Female Demon Lord had demonstrated the ability to turn water to ice, forming a mirror for Lin Xue’s transformation. That was the Ice Control Art.
However, the Female Demon Lord’s mastery of the Ice Control Art was rather shallow; she could barely use it, and it had no real offensive power—at best, it served as a little party trick.
Lin Xue directly spent experience to fully master the spell. Now, its effects and power far surpassed what the Female Demon Lord could achieve.
As for the Storage Pouches from the two Heiyi Wei, they were just ordinary bags—only a little better than Zhang Zongnian’s Constable pouch.
Lin Xue didn’t bother wasting a Break Talisman on them, and simply slashed them open with Wind Severing Slash.
Aside from a few Spirit Stones, there was nothing of interest in those pouches; she tossed everything into the junk heap.
The most delightful reward was the Serpent Core she found in Yang Yuxiang’s Storage Pouch.
That Serpent Core was even larger than the one the Female Demon Lord had fed her—most likely from a demon that had reached the late Body Refinement stage.
Lin Xue immediately decided to consume the Serpent Core and use the Beast Refinement Codex to digest it, furthering her own cultivation.
She and Zhang Zongnian were wanted throughout the city.
They had to increase their strength as quickly as possible, and find better ways to protect themselves.