Chapter Twenty: Military Atmosphere

  In a moment, Qingxi Village is in sight.

  The torrential rain poured down, as if adding a touch of sadness to the world.

  Fang Ming glanced at the white light curtain wrapped around Qingxi Village, smiled, and it was not as thick as the four villages under his jurisdiction. However, there was a hint of hostility in it, apparently Zhang Qingyun had already discovered him.

  But that's nothing, I came here to kill people anyway. As the ancestor spirit, Zhang Qingyun can't leave the ancestral hall, so what if he runs away?

  Fang Ming sneered and said, "Take action!"

  "Got it!" Wang Liu Lang led the order, shouting: "Form an array!"

  Only forty yin soldiers led by Wu Chang, with Fang Ming, Wang Liu Lang and Xie Jin as the core, stood in a certain position, forming a small array, with long knives like forests, pointing directly at the Qingxiang Town light screen.

  At this moment, in Fang Ming's eyes, a stern and mysterious black energy emerged from the top of the military formation, accompanied by the sound of killing and slaughter. This was not a sign of good fortune or disaster, but a genuine martial aura. Fang Ming had been cultivating his dark troops, tempered through battle and slaughter, with the help of Wang Liu Lang and Xie Jin's military methods. Today, he finally saw the results!

  Only the sound of the dark army's unified explosion was heard: "Kill!" The black military aura boiled, and a knife shape faintly appeared, rushing straight at the light curtain. With a loud crash, mixed with someone's unwilling mournful cry, the light curtain shattered and dissipated into scattered points of light.

  Fang Ming was overjoyed. Although he could forcibly break through the light curtain, it would also consume a lot of his divine power. This time, he didn't expect to make a successful trial of the martial aura and achieve a great merit at once.

  "Order: 'Take five men and seal off the entrance, record all comings and goings. The rest of you, follow me to the temple. Remember, do not harm the civilians!'"

  The villagers of Qingxi didn't know what had happened, but they all felt a shock in their hearts, and the protective aura around them greatly weakened, making them feel uneasy and fearful.

  Fang Ming had now arrived at the ancestral temple. In his eyes, above the temple, red and white energies churned, with the white energy slightly more abundant, forming a thin layer of red and white mist that enveloped the temple. This was invisible to ordinary people, but it was the ancestors' final line of defense.

  With a wave of his hand, Wang Liu Lang understood and the dark soldiers reformed their array. The black blade fiercely chopped at the thin membrane, red and white lights flashing explosively to block it. The black blade let out a mournful cry, seemingly slightly damaged. The faces of the dark soldiers on the scene turned pale.

  Fang Ming let out a cold snort, stretched out his hand, and the black military knife flashed with light. When it reappeared, it was already in his hand. As the master of the dark soldiers, he could naturally control the military aura, which was also the way of the system.

  Fang Ming stretched out his hand and wiped the knife, and the black knife suddenly flashed with a red glow. The fierce light burst forth as Fang Ming coldly laughed and swung his knife in a slash. The red and black energies clashed with the red and white energies.

  A sudden loud noise, like a thunderclap on the ground, sent all the hidden soldiers tumbling to the ground. Xie Jin's feet also went numb, but he quickly regained his footing and steadied himself, barely avoiding embarrassment. At this moment, although he didn't have his divine sense of smell, he could still feel that the repulsive force that had been blocking him from entering the temple had disappeared.

  Fang Ming gazed at the black knife in his hand, which transformed into a martial aura and returned to the Yin soldiers. He couldn't help but smile, already understanding some key points. Those ghost kings wanted to establish their own courts and gather ghostly spirits for what reason? It was to collect the power of countless ghostly energies within themselves. With just one move, they could gather the strength of countless ghostly spirits, making them unstoppable. If a ghost king were to engage in single combat with a true person, the chances of winning or losing would be around 50%. However, if they were amidst a vast army, they would be invincible.

  But this thought only flashed through his mind, and as soon as he entered the temple, Fang Ming gave an order, and Wang Liu Lang and Xie Jin led their troops into the main hall, dragging out a figure in no time.

  This was Zhang Qingyun, only to see a middle-aged man in a green shirt, with red and white light flashing on his body, and a hint of black air, his face was exhausted and unbearable. This was the backlash from breaking through two layers of barriers, both of which were connected to Zhang Qingyun's aura.

  "Your Excellency, we went in and saw this person lying on the ground, motionless. At first, I thought it was a trick to deceive me, but unexpectedly, it's just a soft-shelled shrimp, and you had us frightened for nothing."

  Fang Ming nodded and walked up to Zhang Qingyun, asking: "You rejected my good intentions and wanted to destroy my temple. Now that you've fallen into my hands, what else do you have to say?"

  Zhang Qingyun struggled to lift his head, and spat out the words: "Thief... son..."

  Fang Ming didn't move or get angry, he just waved his hand, Xie Jin understood and smiled wickedly as he stepped forward. With one slash of the knife, Zhang Qingyun's head flew off and landed on the ground, oozing out blood. After a short while, it gradually dissipated into white gas, but in the middle, there was still a hint of black gas.

  Fang Ming didn't bother to care about it, and instead focused on his own aura. He didn't expect that killing the ancestral spirit would only add a thread of black sinful energy, which was quickly eliminated by the golden light of merit. It seems that in this world's rules, when there is enmity between two parties, and one party takes the initiative to attack, Fang Ming counterattacked and killed them. If it weren't for Zhang Qingyun's protection, he might not even have had this thread of black energy left.

  As he thought to himself, Fang Ming entered the main house and looked at the dense array of ancestral tablets. He let out a long sigh and said: "The Zhang family has indeed produced talented individuals. For Zhang Qingyun to rise from humble beginnings to become a ninth-rank official is truly no easy feat. His descendants have also been diligent and frugal, sacrificing their lives to establish this family business, leaving one in awe..."

  At this time, Xie Jin came out and said: "Your Excellency, although Zhang Yun has some talent, he does not know the times and dares to resist Your Excellency and become an enemy of Your Excellency. Even if he has some merits, they will be completely eliminated. The fate of the Zhang family still depends on your decision!"

  Fang Ming smiled and walked to the center, where he saw Zhang Qingyun's spirit tablet. It had already cracked, and a strong fragrance of incense was emanating from the crack.

  He stretched out his hand, grasped the divine master card, and a large amount of incense willpower was absorbed into Fang Ming's body. After being transformed by the divine job symbol, it turned into strands of white divine power. It wasn't until much later that Fang Ming let go of his hand, silently sighing in admiration - indeed, this village had accumulated quite a bit, and had contributed over 20,000 strands of divine power to him, which was more than the total of the other four villages. Looking at the aura above his head again, the red color had noticeably increased, it seemed that advancing to the next rank was imminent.

  As soon as he came out of the ancestral hall, Fang Ming furrowed his brow. He saw that the dark energy above Qingxi Village was still gathering and dispersing, and even more so than before. His mind racing, he quickly had an answer and spoke up: "Where is Wang Liu Lang?"

  Wang Liu Lang knelt down on one knee, "I surrender!"

  As soon as Fang Ming's mind stirred, a red long needle condensed on his hand.

  "Take this needle, go find Zhang Huai Zheng, and stab it into his heart. After he dies, destroy his soul!" This was Fang Ming using dozens of strands of red divine power to transform the needle, stabbing it into Zhang Huai Zheng's heart, which would inevitably cause him to bleed to death. The symptoms were also very similar to those of a congenital deficiency disease, not seeking to deceive with falsehoods, but also serving as an excuse.

  As soon as these words came out, several strands of black air appeared on Fang Ming's head, which were quickly purified. The dark gray gas above Qingxi Village also dissipated rapidly and disappeared without a trace.

  Wang Liu Lang led the order, saying "Yes!"

  Time goes slightly forward.

  Fang Ming had just arrived at the outskirts of the village when Zhang Huai was talking with Zhang Guan's family.

  The location was still in the study, Zhang Guan looked around and found that several decorations were missing, remembering that they were old master's favorite porcelain. He couldn't help but think of three days ago when he came back to report, the old master had a great anger, smashing many porcelain, even kicking him several times, adding insult to injury.

  Zhang Huai Zheng is not a fool, he knows that with this incident, it's no longer just a matter of incense and fire, but has already begun to shake the foundation of his Zhang family. If the Zhang family can't keep the four villages below in check, not only will they lose a lot of benefits, but even the county government will have opinions about him, and some people who are eyeing his position in the countryside will also have a few ideas, after all, they all share the same surname Zhang.

  Just thinking about it made him break out in a cold sweat, and Zhang Huai Zheng had to put aside his thoughts of taking action for the time being. He first sent out many of his household servants to go and gather information.

  Today is the day of the result, Zhang Guan's family came to report.

  "Master, I've investigated thoroughly. The origin of the land god is quite suspicious. It suddenly appeared in Qingyu Village when Qingyu Village was attacked by a group of ghosts led by Su Hu from the Su family. They carried the temple into the village and were worshipped as a result. Later, it sent a dream saying that as long as there's an idol at home, they can be worshipped and receive protection, which has been widely practiced in four villages..."

  Zhang Huai Zheng listened more and more, his eyebrows became tighter and tighter, he couldn't help but stand up, walked back and forth several times, suddenly a flash of inspiration, haha laughed loudly, extremely pleased.

  Zhang Guan's head was in a fog, wondering if his master had gone mad.

  At this time, the old master said: "I will write a letter, you take it to the county seat, buy some gifts, and go to visit the host of Baishui Temple. I have some friendship with him, he will definitely see you, you give him the letter, if he asks you anything, just answer truthfully, understand?"

  Zhang Guan nodded.

  At this time, only Zhang Huai Zheng coldly laughed: "Hehe... although it's a rural sacrifice, as long as it can ensure the safety of one side, it's not an evil spirit, and there's no blood sacrifice, the county usually doesn't care about it. Even if they do, it's the Ghost Catcher Cao's business. Now that the person is not here, there's nothing to be done. But that White Water Temple, I know some inside information. It's a branch of the White Cloud Temple, and can send messages up to the White Cloud Temple. I don't believe that such an unusual ancestral spirit wouldn't have any intention of checking back. At that time... haha..."

  The more I think about it, the more feasible this plan seems. What's more, if Fang Ming were here, he would see that Zhang Huai Zheng's protective aura is rapidly dissipating, and soon only a thread of it remains. Zhang Huai Zheng's face turned slightly pale, but he still said: "There's no time to lose, I'll write the letter now, you ride the horse and deliver it to Bai Shui Guan."

  Just sat down, Zhang Guan's family came forward to grind ink, Zhang Huai Zheng picked up the pen and was about to write a letter. Suddenly, he felt a severe pain in his heart, his face turned pale, and he fell down. Finally, only faintly heard the steward's panicked cry, wanted to listen again, but sank into darkness.

  Wang Liu Lang took the order, although he was sent out by his master to do dirty work and felt a bit uncomfortable. But thinking again, this also represented a closer relationship with his master. Didn't he see Xie Jin's envious eyes? Thinking of this, the discomfort in his heart disappeared, and his feet seemed to have wings, arriving at Zhang's house in just a few steps.

  The Zhang family originally had some good fortune protecting their bodies, and Wang Liu wanted to go in but it wasn't that easy. However, after Zhang Qingyun was eliminated, the good fortune quickly dissipated, leaving only a thread. Of course, this couldn't stop Wang Liu.

  He followed him all the way to the study and just heard the last few sentences. Wang Liu Lang sneered in his heart, "You can't stay here!"

  He thrust the long needle into Zhang Qingyun's heart, and a red light flashed. The needle disappeared, and Zhang Qingyun fell to the ground, dead.

  Wang Liu Lang didn't leave either. He looked at the housekeeper and called for more family members to come, hastily going to find a doctor. The room was in complete disarray.

  Before long, a semi-transparent figure emerged from Zhang Huai Zheng's body and asked Wang Liu Lang: "Who are you? Why are you here? What happened to me?"

  Wang Liulang's eyes flashed with murderous intent, his long knife stabbed into Zhang Huai Zheng's chest, and out of his back. Zhang Huai Zheng's face was filled with an expression of unbelievable shock, before he soon turned to dust and dissipated into the air.

  PS: Thank you for the reward from my proud and understanding friends