Horses' hooves struck the ground, kicking up dust, their armor clanging with a metallic sound.
The black armor was hidden in the darkness of the night as they advanced at a rapid pace. The houses lining the street, startled by the violent tremors, lit their lamps, thinking the earth was shaking. People ran out in their robes, pushing open their doors, only to see charging warhorses and soldiers exuding malevolent energy, freezing them in place.
The army! The army!
The Xuanjia Iron Cavalry.
A military banner stood tall at the forefront of the leading warhorse, the Regent's banner fluttering in the wind.
The iron cavalry galloped all the way into the city, arriving at an inn and surrounding it completely. Thousands of soldiers formed a tight circle around the establishment, making it impossible for even a fly, let alone a mosquito, to escape.
The moment Luosha and the innkeeper appeared, the entire Demon Hunting Army simultaneously drew their swords, a cold glint flashing as their tips pointed at the two.
The leading general shouted loudly, "Form ranks, face the enemy!"
"Kill!"
The battle cry shook the heavens. The surrounding residences quickly shut their doors, people huddling in their blankets, afraid to move.
Luosha and the innkeeper were locked in by the killing intent. They felt a surge of bloodthirsty energy filling the air, as if the surrounding atmosphere had been confined to this small area. Facing the elite soldiers forged in the crucible of battle, the sheer killing aura emanating from them was enough to make one's hands and feet go numb.
However, for Luosha and the innkeeper, there was no other path but to charge through the encirclement.
"Kill!"
The two, along with the people fleeing the inn, charged towards the Demon Hunting Army.
Outside the inn, the sounds of slaughter raged. Luan Wencheng had no idea what was happening. Peering from the leg of a stool, he saw the iron boots of those fighting the Ghost Fiend Sect through the wide-open doorway.
Iron boots? The army?
Luan Wencheng's eyes widened.
Seeing the bloodstains on Nan Shiying's face, the Poison Elder asked with some annoyance, "What if it leaves a scar?"
Nan Shiying was somewhat speechless. Such scratches would heal automatically in a moment, how could they leave a scar?
However, to appease the elder's nagging, Nan Shiying compliantly didn't retort. Hong Gu lay on the ground like a pile of mud, all her bones having been shattered by Nan Shiying piece by piece.
Nan Shiying could understand her hatred, just as she herself had tortured her to appease the souls of the innkeeper's family.
The easiest thing in the world was to kill.
But death, how could it compare to a life worse than death?
Nan Shiying walked over to Luan Wencheng, dispelled the poison from him, and pulled him up from the ground, telling him to protect the Poison Elder. She then grabbed Hong Gu by the collar and headed towards the backyard.
Luan Wencheng had many questions, but for a moment, he didn't know where to begin. He could only watch her walk towards the backyard.
The Poison Elder patted his shoulder, signaling him to sit down and rest, as the fighting outside wouldn't end anytime soon.
"You..."
Luan Wencheng hesitated.
"What do you want to ask?"
Although this night had been tumultuous, the Poison Elder felt nothing out of the ordinary. After all, he had been protected from behind the entire time and, frankly, hadn't felt much involvement.
"What exactly is going on?" he asked.
The events began from the moment they arrived at the inn. The bodies of the innkeeper's family had been abandoned in the wilderness by the Ghost Fiend Sect. To the people in the city, the innkeeper's family was considered missing rather than dead. With the entire family missing, and only a few days having passed, which relative would dare to openly encroach upon their property?
Moreover, the current innkeeper knew that the original innkeeper's family had died under suspicious circumstances. Just yesterday, he had been burning paper offerings in the backyard.
Ah, perhaps he was afraid that the Bi Gen Ye from today wouldn't be enough to exert its full medicinal effect, so he had also mixed Bi Gen Ye into the paper money yesterday. Bi Gen Ye was colorless, but when burned with paper money, it would appear a faint, light green. As the smoke slowly rose, it made his face look rather unhealthy.
"So, Jin Yang isn't some Fiend Master within the Ghost Fiend Sect, but the innkeeper is?"
Luan Wencheng, who prided himself on his meticulous attention to detail, had failed to detect any hint of abnormality in the innkeeper. If Feng Luan and the Poison Elder hadn't been on guard, they would likely have met a dire fate today. He finally understood what Feng Luan had been waiting for.
The Poison Elder neither nodded nor shook his head. "Who knows? Perhaps both of them are?"
The sounds of fighting outside gradually subsided. The Demon Hunting Army captain, Jin Zhong, entered, holding a corpse in each hand, his iron boots treading through blood.
He surveyed the area, not seeing Feng Luan.
Luan Wencheng abruptly stood up, his eyes widening like copper bells as he looked at Jin Zhong.
Black armor, scale mail wristguards.
It was the Prince's Demon Hunting Army!
So the army fighting outside just now was the Demon Hunting Army? Luan Wencheng had always assumed it was the troops from the commandery garrison in Xiling.
Seeing Luan Wencheng rise, Jin Zhong nodded at him before looking at the Poison Elder.
Although he hadn't met the Poison Elder in person, he had seen a portrait of the old man before undertaking this mission.
"Jin Zhong, Captain of the Third Battalion of the Demon Hunting Army, pays his respects to Elder Poison."
Jin Zhong threw the corpses in his hands onto the ground and bowed to the Poison Elder.
The Poison Elder gestured to a stool, inviting him to sit. "Feng Luan is in the backyard. Please wait a moment."
Jin Zhong nodded but remained standing.
The Dali Temple group stood obediently to the side. After Luosha and the others charged out and they themselves were almost pierced by the Demon Hunting Army for their attire, they had wisely retreated back into the inn. Along with their leader, Luan Wencheng, they had come to understand the entirety of the situation.
"Lord Xuan Yi!"
Jin Zhong saw Xuan Yi standing in the center and saluted him respectfully.
Although the Demon Hunting Army and the secret guards did not belong to the same system, Xuan Yi, as the Prince's personal guard, held a transcendent position, deserving of the title "Lord."
Luan Wencheng looked at the man who had always presented himself as a mere guard.
The "Lord" mentioned by the Demon Hunting Army captain?
Wasn't he Feng Luan's guard?
Xuan Yi nodded at Jin Zhong. He bent down, picked up a stool, and sat down.
Backyard.
Nan Shiying threw Hong Gu onto the ground as if she were garbage. The apricot tree in the backyard had quietly begun to sprout new buds. It was early spring, and although the weather was still a bit chilly, the trees had already revived.
Was this the tree where the innkeeper had burned paper money yesterday?
She squatted on the ground and, just as Hong Gu had held her chin, she grasped Hong Gu's jaw, forcing her to look up.
"They died under this tree, didn't they?"
Hong Gu looked at her, her eyes filled with hatred.
"Oh, perhaps you don't know either." Nan Shiying chuckled lightly and, still holding her chin, lifted her up.
For Hong Gu now, even the touch of a leaf falling on her was enough to cause excruciating pain, let alone being lifted like this.
Her face turned pale, and her vision blurred.
"Then do you know why I stayed in Xiling for so long?"
Nan Shiying brought her closer, smiling as she asked.
Her smile, in Hong Gu's eyes, was like the sharp claws of a demon. If she could turn back time, she would never have provoked this devil just to vent her anger.