Chapter 53

With Zhang Yue at the lead.

A group of constables directly surrounded the Zhang family residence.

The sudden change of events.

Naturally drew the attention of many civilians.

"What's going on? Why are the constables surrounding the Zhang family?"

"I don't know, could it be that the Zhang family is also colluding with demons!"

"Who knows, it's going to be a good show—"

The civilians hiding at a distance, watching the constables surround the Zhang family, were whispering among themselves.

They neither left nor approached recklessly.

The constables and ordinary civilians were always from two different worlds; if one accidentally collided with the other, they could be beaten to death on the street without anyone standing up for them.

"From the surface, the Zhang family doesn't seem to have any sinister aura!"

Cui Cheng looked at the walls of the Zhang family compound, his brows slightly furrowed.

If there were demons, there would definitely be a sinister aura leaking out.

But now, at first glance, the Zhang family seemed peaceful, with no sinister aura at all, not like a place where demons existed.

Upon hearing this,

Someone immediately responded.

"The Zhang family may not have any sinister aura on the surface, but it's also possible that the Zhang family is hiding the demons. You see, if the place where the demons exist is hidden well enough, the sinister aura won't leak out."

Upon hearing the response, Cui Cheng turned his head to look at the source of the voice. He saw a young man dressed as a scholar, with a handsome appearance, and slightly bowed.

"Brother Ming is indeed the rising star of the Seven Stars Sect, truly well-informed."

"Brother Cui is too kind."

Ming Zhengyang smiled slightly, showing no arrogance, but his gaze lingered slightly on Zhao Yue before quickly retracting.

At this moment,

Shen Changqing stood at the door, looking at Zhang Yue: "Without my order, absolutely no one is to leave the Zhang family compound. If anyone dares to intrude, kill them without mercy."

"Understood, sir!"

Zhang Yue nodded.

At this moment, the gate of the Zhang family compound was slightly ajar. Shen Changqing just pushed it with force, and the gate opened halfway, then he stepped inside.

As a major clan in Lin'an City,

The layout of the Zhang family compound was not much worse than the Zhao family.

But the only difference from the Zhao family was that the Zhang family felt very empty.

Yes,

Very empty!

Stepping into the Zhang family compound, no guards appeared, and there was no trace of any servants, making Shen Changqing feel as if this was not the residence of a major clan but an abandoned courtyard.

"There's something strange!"

From the outside, nothing seemed amiss.

But when he truly entered the Zhang family compound, Shen Changqing noticed some peculiarities.

At a glance,

Everything seemed normal.

The only abnormality was the lack of the usual vitality.

Without stopping,

Shen Changqing walked towards the main hall.

Soon, a man who looked like an old steward approached, looking at Shen Changqing with displeasure: "Sir, you are not from the Zhang family, why are you suddenly here?"

Shen Changqing did not respond, but directly entered the main hall.

Compared to the outside,

The main hall was brightly lit, even during the day, the lights were on.

A large table, a group of people were gathered around it eating, with servants and maids serving various dishes.

Seeing Shen Changqing enter,

The person sitting at the head of the table paused, a smile appearing on his face.

"Ah, a guest has arrived. I am Zhang Sheng, may I ask for your name?"

As Zhang Sheng spoke, everyone paused, then turned their heads to look at Shen Changqing, their eyes fixed and unmoving.

At that moment,

A sense of unease rose in Shen Changqing's heart, but he quickly recovered.

"I thought the Zhang family was just colluding with demons, but I didn't expect that the Zhang family is no longer the Zhang family it once was."

He shook his head and sighed.

His words were filled with regret.

At this moment, the others also retracted their gazes.

Zhang Sheng smiled, "Sir, since you've come from afar, why not join us?"

After speaking,

A servant walked up to Shen Changqing, speaking while reaching out to grab his shoulder: "Please."

Before his hand touched Shen Changqing's shoulder, his body was sent flying.

As he fell, he hit several other servants.

Dishes scattered on the ground, and a loud noise echoed in the main hall, causing everyone to pause again, turning their heads to look at Shen Changqing, their eyes fixed and unmoving.

But this time,

Their eyes were filled with a bone-chilling coldness.

Zhang Sheng, sitting at the head of the table, his smile seemed to stiffen, but also became more eerie.

He stood up, his voice low, "Why won't you give me some face?"

"Face is for the living, not for you demons!"

Shen Changqing sneered, not wanting to hide anything, and directly tore off the mask.

"I didn't expect that the Zhang family is already extinct, and the residence of the once great Zhang family is now inhabited by a group of demons!"

From the outside, the Zhang family seemed fine.

But in Shen Changqing's eyes, none of the people in front of him were alive.

The sinister aura was hidden perfectly. If not for his recent breakthrough, which made him more sensitive to sinister auras, he wouldn't have noticed such abnormalities.

However,

With so many demons gathered, there should have been some sinister aura leaking out.

But the Zhang family had none.

The entire Zhang family compound seemed to be covered by a huge barrier, completely concealing the weak sinister aura.

At this moment,

A strong wind came from behind.

Shen Changqing sidestepped, and his long sword, which was sheathed at his waist, was drawn, instantly cutting the wind in half.

Black blood spurted out, and two halves of a body fell to the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was the old steward he had met earlier.

But now,

The old steward's face was decayed, as if he had been dead for a long time. Even though his body was cut in half, he was not dead, but instead, was slowly crawling on the ground like a worm.

Another slash,

The old steward's head was severed.

The upper half of his body, which had been crawling, immediately lost its last bit of vitality, and a foul smell of decay rose.

"Corpse puppet!"

Seeing this, Shen Changqing immediately thought of some stories he had heard.

Corpse puppet!

It was a bizarre technique that could turn the bodies of dead creatures into puppets.

These puppets would retain some of their memories from life and act according to their instincts if not controlled.

The old steward was a corpse puppet.

Then the others—

Thinking of this, Shen Changqing looked at Zhang Sheng and the others. Sure enough, every person's originally peaceful face now turned violent, and they charged at him one after another.

Stepping back,

The long sword, like the light of the moon, slashed, decapitating a servant who rushed forward. Black blood spurted out, and the body on the ground rotted visibly, emitting a foul smell.

"Another corpse puppet!"

Seeing this, Shen Changqing confirmed his suspicions.

Corpse puppet!

The people of the Zhang family had all been turned into corpse puppets.

Originally, he thought the Zhang family had become similar to demons like Zhuang Mingyuan, but now it seemed the situation was even worse.

To turn people into corpse puppets,

Dead bodies were needed as a medium.

This meant that, without anyone noticing, the Zhang family had been completely wiped out, and everyone had been turned into corpse puppets, continuing their daily activities without anyone noticing.

Before Shen Changqing could think too much,

The others had already charged at him.

Shen Changqing did not hesitate, and his long sword burst with a fierce wind, cutting down all the corpse puppets that approached him.

Although corpse puppets were strong,

They could only threaten martial artists at the Body Tempering stage.

Once one reached the Meridian Unblocking stage, ordinary corpse puppets were no longer a threat.

The corpse puppets of the Zhang family were the lowest level, not particularly powerful.

However,

Corpse puppets had a difficult aspect.

If their heads were not severed, they would not easily die, even if cut in half.

This—was the hardest part of dealing with corpse puppets.

If one couldn't guarantee that every strike would decapitate them, it would be impossible to quickly clear them. If the battle dragged on, it was easy to be overwhelmed by the corpse puppets.

The biggest problem with corpse puppets

Was their numbers.

Fortunately,

Although the people of the Zhang family had all become corpse puppets, their numbers were not large, only a few dozen. Shen Changqing found it not too difficult to deal with them.

However,

Shen Changqing's attention was not on these corpse puppets.

Originally, he thought the Zhang family had colluded with demons, so the people of the Zhang family would be a threat. But now, the Zhang family had been wiped out long ago, and the ones who had been active were all corpse puppets.

This made the situation more complicated.

"There are only two possibilities for creating corpse puppets: one is the presence of a powerful demon, and the other is the existence of a powerful demon person."

"Guangyuan Prefecture has a garrison commander. If there were a powerful demon, there would be no way to not get any news. The barrier covering the Zhang family, although strong, cannot block the sinister aura of a powerful demon."

"The only explanation left is that the Zhang family currently hides a powerful demon person!"

Shen Changqing's gaze was cold, but he was not overly fearful.

The hidden demon person, no matter how strong, could not surpass the Innate stage. After all, a small city like Lin'an was not worth a Master-level demon person lurking.

As for the demon person's purpose, the idea that it could be the drop of demon blood was absurd.

Low-level demon blood, although precious,

Was not very tempting to Master-level experts.

For mid-level demon blood, that would be a different story.

Furthermore,

The demon person hidden in the Zhang family did not truly reveal themselves after the Eternal Alliance plan was disrupted. This left only two explanations.

One, the demon person could not reveal themselves, perhaps because they were injured or did not have the confidence to deal with Shen Changqing.

Two,

The demon person was originally in the Zhang family but has now left.

But seeing the many corpse puppets in the Zhang family, Shen Changqing did not believe the demon person had left.

So,

The only remaining possibility was that the demon person was hiding in the Zhang family but could not easily reveal themselves due to some reason.