Under the moonlight, a graceful man with long, flowing hair wore a silky black robe that fluttered in the breeze. His chiseled face added to his strikingly three-dinsional appearance, with eyes slightly reddened.
By this ti, he had traveled back and forth across a certain area of the grass for quite a few rounds, occasionally flaring his nostrils to sniff.
Everyone knew him as Lord A Xun.
A few followers from Dazhi City found themselves in a dilemma due to his andering behavior, unsure whether to follow him or not, and scattered around the area waiting.
Only Bai Qiru, clad in a white dress, stayed by Lord A Xun's side, with a trace of difficult-to-detect anxiety in her gaze.
In the shaded area not too far away, another gentleman in white attire arrived. It was none other than the Inner Court Captain Lou Xiu, who floated through the Heart-wrapping Grass forest and landed before two n from Dazhi City.
Seeing him, the two quickly prepared to bow in greeting, but Lou Xiu raised his hand to stop them.
Lou Xiu nodded toward the figure flitting across the grass, "Send soone to tell that woman surnad Bai that the City Lord has urgent matters to discuss with her."
"Alright." One person accepted the order and was about to relay the ssage.
Lou Xiu suddenly stopped them, "Wait a mont, don't say I told you so, she's not worthy of my personal errand running."
The two exchanged a faintly amused glance, secretly finding it funny that he was already personally errand running, yet still talking about worthiness.
Of course, they wouldn't expose this; everyone wanted to save a little face.
"Understood, got it." The person accepted the order again and then leaped out, using the tips of the grass to float over to Lord A Xun.
Blocking Bai Qiru's path, he respectfully said, "Madam, the City Lord has sent word that there's an urgent matter and requests your prompt presence."
Bai Qiru was surprised and asked, "What does the City Lord want with ?"
The man smiled wryly, "That's a good question; I'm rely a ssenger. How could I possibly know the City Lord's intentions?"
Bai Qiru pondered for a mont, guessing it might have sothing to do with Huang Yingying, and dared not hesitate, imdiately soaring into the air and flying toward Dazhi City.
The ssenger also leaped into the air, landing back in the grass, and respectfully reported to Lou Xiu, "Inner Court Captain, the ssage has been delivered, and the woman surnad Bai has already left."
"Mm, I saw." Lou Xiu nodded slightly, suddenly spreading his arms and forming claws with both hands, grabbing towards both sides through the air.
The two beside him seed to stumble forward, colliding headfirst into his claws, their faces sticking firmly to his hands, as two streams of demonic energy rushed into their seven orifices.
Before they had ti to struggle, their bodies convulsed violently for a mont before falling limp to the ground, bleeding from their seven orifices.
Watching secretly, the one leading Shi Chun wondered why he had suddenly stopped to observe covertly when Lord A Xun was already nearby. Wasn't he here to see Lord A Xun?
Unexpectedly, Luo Ti appeared, did sothing and then suddenly attacked his own people, frightening him into almost gasping in shock, only to be warned by Shi Chun's finger poking him.
Quietly, the two hid behind the large Heart-wrapping Grass plants, barely daring to breathe.
Lou Xiu scanned the area again, swept his sleeves, and flew out of the grass, noticing that A Xun had already stopped on a particular leaf, he turned in mid-air, floated over, landed beside A Xun, and bowed in greeting, asking, "Lord A Xun, is there a clue now?"
Upon seeing him appear, a few followers gathered around to pay their respects.
A Xun glanced at Lou Xiu, seemingly talking to himself, "There can be no mistake, the murderer's scent breaks off in this area, clearly they ascended into the air here, about ten people."
Lou Xiu flattered him, saying, "With Lord A Xun taking charge, they surely won't escape."
To this, A Xun responded with pride, "I've morized the scent, and it seems I've slled one of these scents sowhere before... As long as they're still within the city, they shouldn't think of escaping. Why don't we search inside and outside the city later, hmm..." His eyes suddenly widened, finally turning to look at Lou Xiu beside him.
Lou Xiu held a long sword straight through his own body, shockingly never imagined he would dare attack.
"You..." He was about to react when Lou Xiu's sword pierced his vital point, slicing sideways, spraying a rain of blood that almost severed him entirely.
A Xun fell from the tree leaf onto the ground.
Lou Xiu, like an apparition, swung his sword out again; several in shock hadn't yet recovered, and under the huge cultivation gap, couldn't dodge in ti, falling under the sword, blood splashing on the grass, dying tragically.
Being a senior figure in Dazhi City, he knew how many people were here; those who needed to be relocated were done, those who needed to be killed were killed, so no one would know who did it.
Once everyone had fallen to the ground, Lou Xiu, holding the sword, also passed through the leaves and landed, arriving beside the gasping, twitching A Xun, slowly moving the sword tip to A Xun's brow, his gaze cold as ice.
He didn't want to do this, but he felt he had no choice; i You's subordinates couldn't be silenced yet. If the tax supervisor's people collectively disappeared now, it would imdiately raise suspicion, and A Xun would surely verify it.
Of course, they would have to be silenced, but not now; it needs to wait until the commotion has passed.
So, the safest way now was to ensure that this Lord A Xun could never speak again.
At this mont, he looked down upon the dying Lord A Xun, no longer showing any signs of earlier flattery, saying indifferently, "Do you know why people skilled in your area are so few, and why they never live long? Because everyone has secrets, and people like you make everyone worry about that day, so in fact your fate had long been decided, it was only a matter of ti, can't bla !"
With those words, he stabbed a sword through A Xun's head, withdrew the sword, flicked the blade, and sheathed it.
Then he scanned the surroundings with cold eyes, and conjured up a pile of items out of thin air, ignited a heap of flammable materials, and threw them far and near in all directions, quickly starting several big fires in the forest.
He wanted to burn away any traces of his presence to prevent another situation like A Xun from arising.
Shi Chun and the people beside him were already lying flat on the ground, a pile of fire just happened to be blazing not far from them, and they were stealthily lurking without moving.
Seeing that the fire was fully going, Lou Xiu didn't linger and quietly vanished with a flash.
Later on, Shi Chun whispered to the person beside him, "Who is this guy?"
The person next to him trembled as he replied, "The Inner Court Captain Lou Xiu, don't you recognize him? He...why would he do this?"
Shi Chun let out an "oh," understanding in his heart that while he was worried about Wu Jinliang's potential exposure, others were naturally also worried about the tax supervisor's side.
With this thought settled, he casually wielded a dagger, recklessly extending it toward the other person's neck. As the other turned to look, he swiftly made a move, bringing out blood, and severed the other's neck.
As the person clutched their neck and made a gurgling sound, Shi Chun imdiately stepped up to add a few more stabs.
Only after the other person was completely still did he pull out a gauze hat and put it on. In the blazing firelight, he swiftly soared using the Wind Scale, glancing back at the gradually expanding fire area as he flew.
After silently slipping into the darkness, he took out the Mother-child Talisman and sent a ssage back to Wu Jinliang: It's done, A Xun is dead.
Outside the cave, Wu Jinliang, who was pacing back and forth anxiously, was holding the Mother-child Talisman. As soon as the ssage ca, he imdiately picked it up. After clearly seeing the content, he was a bit stunned. Did they really just dispose of that Lord A Xun?
After confirming repeatedly with no mistakes, he laughed straight away, knowing that with the Master personally taking action, there should be no problem, but he truly didn't expect it to be so swift.
Hearing his laughter, Lao Changtai ran out of the cave, hoarsely asking, "What happened?"
Wu Jinliang showed him the content on the Mother-child Talisman.
Upon seeing it, Lao Changtai also gasped, "So swift?"
Wu Jinliang chuckled, "What else can you expect from the Master, you just can't underestimate him."
Lao Changtai sighed and shook his head, his hanging heart also relaxed, followed by three exultant "good, good, good."
Wu Jinliang then used the Mother-child Talisman to send back a ssage: Fine, I'll tidily sort out Huang Yingying here. He said he knows the clue to 'Death Refusing Incense.'
After putting away the Mother-child Talisman, now at ease, he swaggered into the cave, crouching beside the barely recognizable and still quietly groaning Huang Yingying, only to find Huang Yingying's body was bound with a heap of iron chains, wrapped up like a zongzi, with the other end tied to soone else.
Apparently, Lao Changtai, knowing that this old guy might use the Earth Escape Technique, did this as a precaution.
Wu Jinliang took out his dagger again, fiddling in front of Huang Yingying to intimidate him, "Old Huang, I warn you, don't try any tricks on . A single lie and you'll regret returning to this world. Tell , where is the 'Death Refusing Incense'?"
Huang Yingying gasped for a few deep breaths, then mustered up the spirit to say, "Lord A Xun, the one you ntioned just now, Lord A Xun has the 'Death Refusing Incense.'
What? Wu Jinliang and Lao Changtai were stunned simultaneously.
Soon enough, Wu Jinliang flew into a rage out of humiliation, delivering a rciless slap, which landed heavily on Old Huang's face, and he cursed, "Bullshit, dare to fool , I think you're tired of living!"
It's hard not to be furious, just as Lord A Xun had died, and this old thing said A Xun had the 'Death Refusing Incense.' Clearly, this was ant to die with no witness.
He's seen dishonest people but never soone this dishonest, daring to deceive in this manner. What more could be said?
The dagger in his hand shimred coldly as he was about to sever the tendons of Huang Yingying's foot. Yet, just as the dagger was about to hit, he froze again, realizing the old guy didn't know that Lord A Xun had died. Could it be...
After a thought, he patted Huang Yingying's old face again, "Hey, hey hey, Old Huang, don't ss around, tell , how do you know that Lord A Xun has the 'Death Refusing Incense'?"
Huang Yingying, in a dazed manner, wasn't ssing around; he had indeed been smacked dizzy, losing two big teeth from that slap, not surprising to be disoriented.
Even until now, he didn't figure out why confessing honestly would lead to being beaten.
He had confessed honestly twice, only to get beaten each ti.
Undergoing two rounds of inexplicable beatings, going against all logic, didn't know how to cope anymore. He was ntally almost collapsing, feeling his consciousness barely holding, looming between seeing the fading faces of departed relatives.
Lao Changtai, who tied him up like a zongzi, had a bit of conscience, squatting down quickly to cast spells and soothe Huang Yingying's spirit.
In the library, Shi Chun quietly returned to the hall, just having changed clothes, his nostrils twitching, ultimately picking up the fruit plate from beside the pillow, and fell into deep thought...
Above the grassland, under the raging flas, two figures, one black and one white, appeared in succession, none other than Dazhi City Lord Li Xianghong and Bai Qiru.
As soon as Bai Qiru returned to Dazhi City and t Li Xianghong, upon exchanging words, the truth was imdiately revealed, both realizing they'd been deceived to leave the mountain.
Realizing soone under their command dared to impersonate them to order Bai Qiru away, Li Xianghong sensed the severity and personally acted, only to find no one but the roaring flas suggestive of a sabotaged scene.
Li Xianghong, her long hair aggressively floating in the air, had a fierce expression, suddenly sweeping her sleeve through the air, swiftly snuffing out the two-mile spreading fire, leaving sparks flying and extinguishing…
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