The old man’s features bore a certain resemblance to the young man’s; at a glance, the two were clearly father and son.
The old man put away the flying boat, looked at the field of corpses and scattered limbs on the ground, and said, “This should be the place.”
He turned to the young man and said, “Yuting, it was your thirteenth brother who sent out the paper crane asking for help here. Go find him.”
The young man addressed as Yuting nodded and replied, “Yes.”
He patted a bag at his waist, and from inside, a bee flew out.
The bee circled once in the air, then headed off in a certain direction.
Yang Yuting followed close behind, and before long, he found Yang Yuhai’s corpse.
Yang Yuting looked expressionlessly at Yang Yuhai, whose head had been smashed like a rotten watermelon, and a hint of disdain appeared on his face.
He retrieved the bee, returned to the old man’s side, and reported the news of Yang Yuhai’s death.
The old man paced over, looked down at Yang Yuhai’s corpse, and let out a sigh.
“This Thirteen, always making trouble for the family. Fourth Brother died young, so no one disciplined him. Fourth Brother’s widow spoiled him terribly, and he never put his heart into cultivation. He hasn’t even broken through to the early stage of Qi Refining. A good-for-nothing like this is of no use to the family. Dead is dead, nothing to mourn.”
He turned to look at the scattered remains of the villagers on the ground. With one glance, he could tell it was caused by Yang Yuhai’s reckless use of the Wind-Slaying Treasure Blade’s Wind Blade.
He said to Yang Yuting, “Go find a villager and ask what happened here.”
Yang Yuting nodded and leaped away.
Before long, he returned in quick strides, dragging a young villager by the arm.
The villager was so frightened his face was ashen and his legs had gone weak; he could barely walk and had clearly been dragged back by Yang Yuting.
The old man looked at the villager and gave a kindly smile, saying, “Young man, there’s no need to be afraid. We’re from the Demon-Slaying Bureau and have come to learn about what happened here tonight. Just tell me everything you know, from beginning to end.”
The young villager was already terrified senseless, kneeling on the ground and knocking his head repeatedly, mumbling over and over, “Immortal Master, spare my life, please don’t kill me. Immortal Master, spare my life, please don’t kill me…”
The old man touched the ring on his hand, and from it flew out a delicate small smoking pipe.
He took a puff of smoke from the pipe and blew it toward the young villager.
Enveloped in the swirling smoke, the young villager became dazed and entranced, stopped kowtowing, and raised his head to look blankly at the old man.
The old man asked, “Tell me, what happened here tonight?”
The young villager recounted in detail everything that had happened in the village that night, including the words Yang Yuhai spoke in the Ancestral Hall after stabbing Zhang Zongnian—he repeated them all.
The old man nodded.
He waved his hand, dispersing the smoke around the young villager. The villager’s eyes gradually regained clarity.
Once he regained consciousness, he looked a little confused, wondering why he’d suddenly lost all memory just now.
The old man took a piece of gold out from the ring and handed it to him, smiling warmly, “Young man, it’s the Demon-Slaying Bureau’s fault for failing in our duty, which brought disaster to your village. This gold is compensation from the Demon-Slaying Bureau, for medical and funeral expenses. Please take it.”
When the young villager saw that piece of gold, his eyes went wide.
Such a hefty gold ingot—nearly ten taels in weight.
In this world, one tael of gold is roughly equivalent to ten taels of silver; this ingot was worth a hundred taels of silver.
A whole hundred taels of silver!
He could work the fields for a lifetime and never earn so much.
The young villager protested that he couldn’t accept it, but his eyes stayed fixed on the gold, unable to look away.
The old man shoved the gold into his hand, patted his shoulder, and said kindly,
“No need to be polite. Take it. How many people are left in your village? Go tell them—everyone will receive compensation. Tell them to come here quickly to collect it. I have business to attend to and can only wait here for half a stick of incense’s time. After that, I won’t be here.”
The young villager clutched the gold tightly, replied cheerfully, “Aye, I’ll go tell the others right away!”
Excited, he hurried off to find the others.
Soon, dozens of surviving villagers followed him back to the old man’s side, each of their eyes brimming with excitement and anticipation.
The temptation of ten taels of gold had dulled much of their grief at losing their loved ones.
The old man asked the young villager, “Are these all the people left in your village?”
The young villager nodded and said, “Yes, honored Immortal, everyone still alive in our village is here.”
The old man’s face showed a kindly smile as he praised, “Very good. You’ve done excellently.”
He turned and looked up at the sky.
Yang Yuting, standing behind him, stepped forward and, with a flick of his sleeve, sent out a shower of flying needles from his sleeve.
The flying needles shot out like a rainstorm—“swish, swish, swish”—toward the crowd of villagers.
Before the villagers could react, they were all struck and fell to the ground, dying with miserable screams, not a single one surviving.
The air was thick with the stench of blood.
The old man turned back, looking at the sea of corpses, shook his head, and sighed, “Thirteen was such a useless wretch. Even in death, I, his uncle, have to clean up his mess.”
He said to Yang Yuting,
“Yuting, return to the Demon-Slaying Bureau at once and notify your third brother to bring the family here to clean up. Then issue a notice: Zhang Zongnian, Demon Slaying Division Officer stationed at Hengqiao Town, was beguiled by the Demonic Beast, harmed the people, and killed his colleagues—his crimes are unforgivable!”
“He is now wanted throughout the county! Whoever captures him, dead or alive, will be rewarded with five hundred Spirit Stones and one Lower-grade Barrier-breaking Pill! If the Demonic Beast traveling with him is captured as well, the reward increases by one thousand Spirit Stones and one Middle-grade Barrier-breaking Pill!”
Yang Yuting answered, “Yes.”
With a wave of his sleeve, a flying boat shot out, and he stepped onto it.
Just as he was about to fly off, the old man added,
“The County Inspector will be arriving in Xichuan in the next few days. Personally lead the search for Zhang Zongnian and make sure you eliminate him before the Inspector arrives!”
“The County Magistrate has been eyeing our Xichuan lately and keeps trying to get his hands into the Demon-Slaying Bureau here. We must not give him the chance.”
Yang Yuting nodded, “Rest assured, Father. I will find Zhang Zongnian as quickly as possible and eliminate him.”
The old man looked at him, full of satisfaction, and said,
“Yuting, among all the generations of the Yang Family, you’re the most accomplished. I trust you with this task. The Ancestor also favors you most, and even bestowed upon you the only Foundation-building Pill given to our Yang Family.”
“The Ancestor is old and won’t live much longer. Once you break through Foundation Establishment, you will be the new head of the Yang Family.”
Yang Yuting bowed his head humbly and said, “It’s all thanks to your guidance, Father, that I have achieved what I have today.”
The old man smiled in satisfaction, “All right, time is short. Go about your task quickly.”
Standing on the flying boat, Yang Yuting cupped his hands to his father.
The boat shot into the sky, heading toward Xichuan County City.
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