Chapter 15

Tangshe Town is located to the north of Maple Forest City, one of the seven towns under Wei Quji's jurisdiction, and it is also the smallest and most remote of these towns. It is backed by the continuous Qichang Mountains, and the townspeople rely on the mountains for their livelihood, mostly as hunters.

Walking through Tangshe Town, one sees old and dilapidated houses, with few pedestrians. Those who pass by do so hurriedly, their brows furrowed with worry. Even compared to Phoenix Creek Town, where Jiang Wang was born, this place is far inferior.

"Villages around Tangshe Town are scattered along the Qichang Mountains. The people here live by hunting and usually only gather in town on the first and fifteenth of each month. Since it's not market day now, there are few pedestrians," Jiang Wang explained to Zhang Lichuan, having done his homework before coming.

Even though this trip was arranged by the Dean for the senior student to take care of the junior, Jiang Wang knew it was not right to rely on others for everything, so he did not slack off.

Zhang Lichuan maintained a faint smile throughout the journey, neither distant nor overly familiar, showing little emotion.

Upon hearing this, he merely nodded and walked toward the house where the massacre occurred.

Although they were representing the independent will of the Dao Academy, they still needed to inform the local authorities. Tang Dun, the constable of Tangshe Town, was waiting for them at the door of the house.

"The Tang Da Niu couple are locals from Tangshe Town. I used to fight with Da Niu when we were kids..." It was clear that this rough, sunburned man was deeply saddened. His eyes, like cowbells, were bloodshot, and he kept muttering, "Those demon people are too hateful! Damn them! Damn them!"

Zhang Lichuan glanced at his constable uniform, "Why are you the only one here? Where is your chief?"

"Our chief is busy with other matters," Tang Dun, oblivious to Zhang Lichuan's dissatisfaction, said, "You will all become big officials, so you must help us!"

"Interesting, in such a small town like Tangshe, there are more important matters than this massacre?" Zhang Lichuan sneered, but did not pursue the matter further. He waved his hand to cut off Tang Dun's words, "Get to the point. What clues have you found? What did the people from the Criminal Investigation Department say?"

Dong A sent someone to investigate, clearly not trusting Wei Quji. In response, the Criminal Investigation Department avoided them, and the local authorities only sent a low-ranking constable to receive them, which was to be expected.

Tang Dun scratched his head, "We... didn't find any clues. The officials from the Criminal Investigation Department didn't tell us anything..."

Zhang Lichuan almost laughed in frustration. If there were no clues, what were you rambling about for so long!

But he had good self-control and suppressed his displeasure, "Alright, let's go in and take a look."

Tang Dun quickly tore off the seal on the door, took out a key, and unlocked the large general lock. He then pushed open the wooden door.

Jiang Wang noticed that the seal was not simple, with talismans drawn on it. Clearly, the cultivators from the Criminal Investigation Department had taken care to protect the scene.

As the seal was removed and the door opened, a mixture of decay, filth, and stench rushed out.

Jiang Wang forced himself to endure the discomfort and surveyed the small courtyard. It was filled with items commonly used by hunters, such as hunting knives, traps, bows, and arrows, as well as animal skins and smoked meat, all scattered around.

A hunting dog's skeleton lay at the entrance. From its position, it seemed to have been the first to detect the intruders and was quickly dealt with.

Jiang Wang turned around to see Zhang Lichuan covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief embroidered with orchids, his brows furrowed.

Noticing Jiang Wang's inquiring gaze, Zhang Lichuan slightly nodded and said from under the handkerchief, "It's fine, let's go in."

Tang Dun stood by the door, hesitating, "I... won't go in. It's... eerie here..."

He was just a mortal, and Jiang Wang would not force him, so he nodded, "Alright."

Then he took the lead and stepped into the courtyard.

A strong and intense smell of corpses instantly enveloped them, overwhelming their senses. This level of corpse qi was not produced by just a few killings or the summoning of a few zombies; it was more like a communication with some evil entity.

Zhang Lichuan glanced at Jiang Wang's hand on his sword, noting the long, pale, and clean fingers.

"Is Junior Brother Jiang skilled in swordsmanship?" he asked.

Jiang Wang, observing the surroundings without turning back, replied, "Senior Brother Zhang, I'm ashamed to say, but I haven't yet completed the Dao旋 (Dao Xuan) and can't practice Dao techniques. I can only rely on swordsmanship for self-defense."

"During the attack on the outer gate, I heard that Junior Brother Jiang was one of the targets but managed to escape calmly, which is quite remarkable."

"It was actually very dangerous. The demon's strength far exceeded mine. I only managed to escape after alerting my fellow disciples."

Next to the courtyard was a wooden doghouse, now empty. Jiang Wang's gaze swept over the yard, but he saw no bloodstains.

"This situation is not good, Junior Brother, be careful," Zhang Lichuan said.

"I understand."

The small courtyard had three rooms. The main hall, facing the courtyard gate, was open. A skeleton lay on the threshold, stripped of flesh, leaving only bones. From the clothing, it was clear this was the male head of the household, the hunter Tang Da Niu.

Jiang Wang carefully stepped over the skeleton and entered the main hall.

The walls of the main hall were bare, with no decorations. In the center was an eight-person table with four benches. Some leftover food was covered with a bamboo lid on the table.

Under the bench on the left, the female head of the household lay, her coarse clothing confirming her identity.

However... the food had not spoiled, but the bodies were reduced to bones.

A chill ran down Jiang Wang's spine, and an inexplicable fear crept in. He almost drew his sword but restrained himself, avoiding embarrassment in front of Zhang Lichuan.

"The flesh was not eaten but removed by some evil spell," Zhang Lichuan observed, covering his nose with the handkerchief. He showed no fear, only disgust. "These two died not long ago, but their flesh is gone, losing many clues. You fought the demon who attacked the outer gate. Do you recognize anything?"

Jiang Wang shook his head, "I can't judge from just the skeletons. But this pervasive corpse qi..."

"What?"

"I was once attacked by a corpse controlled by the enemy and was poisoned. It was Senior Brother Dong who cured me."

Zhang Lichuan nodded, still holding the handkerchief to his mouth, and walked to the room on the right, "We'll split up and check. Inform me immediately if you find anything."

"Understood."

Zhang Lichuan, a ranked cultivator, had the Dao Xuan rotating and the Dao Yuan naturally generated in the Heavenly Palace. Jiang Wang was not worried about him and walked to the room on the left, hand on his sword.

...

This room...

was small.

Upon entering, one could see a wooden horse standing silently on the ground. The horse was exquisitely crafted and polished, clearly a labor of love.

Near the wooden horse was a low table, scattered with toys like slingshots and rattles.

On the wall beside the table, Jiang Wang saw the only decoration in the courtyard.

It was a small canvas, painted with simple strokes, depicting three figures.

Two larger ones, holding hands with a smaller one, running through a field of flowers.

Behind the small figure, a little dog wagged its tail.

This was once a complete family, a whole spring, that had bloomed here.

Jiang Wang forced himself to continue inside, until he saw the scattered floral clothes on the small bed.

Looking up, he naturally saw the last set of bones in this family.

Small, delicate, fragile, and helpless.

It was the only remnant of a little girl once cherished by her parents.

He felt anger.

Uncontrollable, fierce, and intense anger.