Chapter 3: The Evil Cult's X Swordsman

  The county government office is as dilapidated as ever, and now it has added a few more melancholic scenes. The two gatekeepers at the entrance of the county government office are listlessly holding their water-fire clubs, standing slackly by the side of the county government office, as if the tendons on their bodies have been pulled out, without any spirit or energy.

  It's no wonder, just this morning, the third murder case occurred, and the deceased was also a pregnant woman. The unborn baby in her womb was also cut out. Three murders, four lives lost, three babies, like heavy stones, weighing on everyone's heart. County Magistrate Li Yuan's hair has become increasingly sparse, with only a few strands left. Half of the quick-witted catchers in the yamen have been beaten, while the other half are trembling with fear, afraid that they will be next.

  Tie Jun didn't get beaten, he was just a rookie who had just started out, no one thought he could do anything about it, and the atmosphere in the yamen also affected him.

  Just today, after more than ten days of investigation, there was finally a clue. Zhang Wulang, a peddler who walked the streets selling goods, had seen a black-robed Taoist appear at the door of the third victim's home, but he vanished in an instant. Dongling County is not large, and the population is not many, so everyone knows each other, and it's easy to notice a stranger. Zhang Wulang was very certain that this black-robed Taoist was not from Dongling County. However, at the time, he only caught a glimpse of him, and the Taoist disappeared. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, so he didn't get a clear look at the Taoist's face. He only remembered that there was a long banner hanging from his body, and he thought it might be a wandering Taoist who helped people with fortune-telling.

  The black-clad wandering Taoist had a lead, and with that, they had a definite target. The detectives conducted another investigation targeting the black-clad wandering Taoist and finally got some news.

  The gatekeeper of the righteous village outside the city, Li Lao Tou, and a traveling merchant named Song Yi had both seen a Taoist priest in black clothes on the chaotic burial mound in the west of the city. He flashed by quickly, with a long banner inserted behind him. However, Li Lao Tou saw it five days ago, while Song Yi saw it just one day ago.

  Thus, the West City's Chaotic Burial Mound and the Black Robed Taoist became their only clue.

  ※※※

  The Luangang Hill on the west side of Dongling County has a history of several hundred years, and no one knows how many people have been buried there. No one knows its origin either. Anyway, unless absolutely necessary, no one goes to that eerie place to invite bad luck.

  Now Tiejun had no choice but to mix in with a group of captors, and they went to the Luozigang in a mighty and disorderly manner.

  Luozanggang is about ten miles away from Dongling County, passing by a small river, turning west towards the official road, and seeing an old locust tree in the distance, it's almost time to arrive.

  This old locust tree is also very old, and the elderly in Dongling County say that this old locust tree is extremely spiritual. The lush branches are entwined with lonely souls and wild ghosts. It's because of these lonely souls and wild ghosts that Dongling County can be safe and peaceful. Therefore, every year on July 14th when the Ghost Gate opens, the elderly people in Dongling County will come here to burn incense. After many years of burning incense, this big locust tree, which requires five adults to encircle it with their arms, has been smoked black by the incense ash on one side facing Dongling City. In front of the tree is a small incense table with some fruit offerings.

  As the crowd of catchers approached the old locust tree, a chill wind blew from the disorderly burial mound behind the locust tree, causing everyone to shiver. Although it was already noon and the sun was directly above their heads, the cold wind made everyone subconsciously pull up their collars. Tie Jian was no exception. A warm current rose from his dantian and spread throughout his body, but he still couldn't shake off the chill. As they passed by the old locust tree, the temperature around them suddenly dropped, becoming even lower than before.

  "Everyone be careful, we've already entered the range of the chaotic burial ground. The yin energy here is quite heavy, if you can't withstand it, let's call for some ginger soup!" Lei Dong's voice sounded in his ear.

  Before the arrival of winter, Leidong ordered the county government's kitchen to cook a large pot of ginger soup, saying it was used to drive out the cold. At that time, Tie Jian still thought he was pretending to be mysterious, but now it seems that he really had foresight.

  After drinking a few sips of ginger soup, Tie Juan felt that this was more effective than the little bit of inner energy he had left, and his body suddenly gained a hint of warmth.

  At this moment, he suddenly felt that someone was talking near the old locust tree not far away. Subconsciously turning his head to look, but nothing could be seen. There was no one under the old locust tree, and not even a ghostly figure could be seen.

  "Junzi, what's wrong? Hurry up and catch up!"

  Just as he stopped to catch his breath, he fell behind a bit. Wang Laqi pulled him and brought him back into the group. "Junzi, today Qin Tou is leading us two as one team. You little devil must remember, no matter what happens, don't make any trouble. Understand? Everything follows Qin Tou's lead."

  "Yes, yes, I know!" Tie Juan nodded and followed the crowd, but then a faint whispering voice seemed to come from the old locust tree, making his heart skip a beat. He shivered with fear and didn't dare linger, quickening his pace to follow behind Wang Laosi.

  The scope of the burial mound is extremely large, and no one knows how many people have been buried here over the past few hundred years, so the yin energy is very heavy. Except for a few annoying crows in the sky, even the foxes and rats in the city are unwilling to approach this ghostly place.

  At the edge of Luozanggang, Lei Dong began to assign tasks. Every three captors formed a group to search separately, looking for the black-robed Taoist priest, but everyone obviously didn't have much hope for this and some were even resistant. Tie Jian also knew that everyone was thinking of quickly finishing the task and going back to report, so they could be done with it. The reason they came here today was to have something to show their superiors in court, to tell them they had already searched here, but found nothing. Anyway, the experts from Liu Shan Men would soon arrive, at the latest tomorrow, and take over the case. They would then be free from responsibility, although still being ordered around, but no longer having to be in charge. At most, they would just have to run errands, and the experts from Liu Shan Men were always arrogant, probably looking down on them even for running errands, so it would be easy going.

  The group was allocated before departure, and Tie Jian did not unexpectedly go with Lao Qin and Wang Lao Qi to the east of the Luangang area.

  Laoqintou held an iron ruler in his hand, Wang Laqi drew out a waist knife, and Tiezhong also carried a knife in his hand. The three of them walked forward cautiously, as if they were facing a great chaos.

  "Hey, relax, don't be nervous, it's nothing. Today we're just here to put on a show for the higher-ups, if this is really an evil cult case, even if they kill us all, it won't do them any good. But these cultivators also look down on us, as long as we don't cross paths with them, they won't bother us."

  "Do you also know about evil cultivation?"

  "Didn't Tie Tou tell you? These cultivators all have their own rules, even if they're evil cultivators, they won't attack ordinary people without reason unless you really provoked them."

  "Why?" Tie Jun was puzzled.

  "Because of the karma and heavenly retribution, the more innocent people they kill, the more trouble they will have when their own time comes. So whether it's good or evil, there is a limit to how far one should go."

  "Measurements, this guy is taking Purple River Chariot to cultivate, and his hands still have measurements?"

  "It's precisely because he's done such an evil thing that he'll pay more attention to this matter." Old Qin sighed, "Don't ask me why, these are all things I heard from those masters of the Six Panels Gate back in the day. As for whether they're true or false, to be honest, I've lived so long and still haven't seen a real cultivator."

  Three people patrolled around this chaotic burial ground, and except for the gusts of cold wind and a few old crows, they really didn't find anything. Just as they were about to pack up and leave, a mournful cry suddenly came from not far away.

  "It's bad, it's Hu Zi, something has happened!"

  As soon as they heard the scream, the three people's faces changed at the same time, and they all ran towards the direction of the scream subconsciously. However, after running a few steps, they all stopped in their tracks, looking at each other in dismay.

  They were all scared, just as I said earlier. If they really encountered evil cultivators, even if they filled in all their people, it would not be enough. Now there are only three of them, running over is not sending themselves to death, no one is a fool, and no one wants to die.

  So, after stopping, Old Qin turned around and ran away quickly, and before leaving, he grabbed the iron ladle and shouted in a low voice, "Run fast, or it will be too late."

  Tie Jun was still a bit hesitant, but after being pulled by Old Qin, he also unconsciously followed and ran away. Of course, this was just his own comforting psychological words, he was also afraid.

  Three people fled in a hurry and ran wildly for about 100 steps before colliding head-on with Lei Dong and others who rushed over after hearing the scream.

  "What's going on, Old Qin?"

  "Something's happened!" Old Qin saw Lei Dong and didn't stop in his tracks, Tie Jian followed behind him, also not knowing why, originally there was nothing, just a bit dizzy and confusedly following behind someone running.

  But after running a few steps, he clearly felt a sense of fear rising from the bottom of his heart. This terrifying feeling swallowed his soul, making him run faster and faster, and his facial expression became more and more terrified. So, when he met Leidong, he didn't stop either.

  Instead, he rushed forward desperately, infuriating Lei Dong. He stretched out his hand to grab Lao Qin's head, but Lao Qin's speed was too fast, and he failed to catch him. On the contrary, he was thrown off balance by the force of Lao Qin's rush and collided with Tie Jian's body.

  Lei Dong was a sturdy guy, while Tie Jian was just a 16 or 17-year-old boy, still somewhat slender and weak. His speed was fast, but in an unprepared situation, he was suddenly knocked off balance by Lei Dong's collision. He stumbled forward two steps before his foot caught on a protruding rock on the ground, causing him to lunge forward. The terrain sloped downward, and Tie Jian lost his balance completely after being knocked and tripped. He fell to the ground and rolled down the slope for over 20 yards, finally crashing headfirst into an old cypress tree. His head hit the trunk with a loud thud, and he immediately lost consciousness.

  On the other side, Lei Dong not only failed to capture Lao Qin's head but also crashed into the iron club. Seeing him crash into the old locust tree, his heart tightened involuntarily. Iron Gallbladder was his master, and since he entered the yamen, he had been following behind Iron Gallbladder. If anything happened to Iron Gallbladder, he wouldn't be able to explain it to Iron Gallbladder. Just now, seeing Iron Gallbladder crash so hard, he couldn't help but let out a mournful cry. He wanted to go take a closer look at whether Iron Gallbladder was really injured, but before he could lift his foot to go check, a black cloud flew over from the depths of the chaotic burial mound.

  "Hmph! I thought it was someone with a big nerve, daring to come and find trouble with me. It turns out it's just you useless things!"

  A strange laugh came from within the black cloud, and in an instant it transformed into a Daoist priest in black clothes who landed right in front of Lei Dong and two other constables.

  "Who are you?" Lei Dong was arrogant, but when he saw the other's entrance, his heart involuntarily "thudded" and secretly cried out "I'm in trouble".

  It's really bad, a dark cloud is flying over, this is not something that the county town catchers can handle, no one expected it, originally just going out for a casual errand, unexpectedly encountered the main person, facing this obviously accomplished cultivator, absolutely not an ordinary person, at least this flying skill is not something they can do.

  Either this Taoist has reached the secret realm of Xiantian, or he has a powerful magical treasure on his body. Both possibilities are not something they can withstand.

  "What kind of person I am, you don't need to know. You just need to know that you've disturbed my quiet cultivation, and that's a great sin!" The Taoist shouted fiercely, and with a flick of his sleeve, two clusters of black energy flew towards them.

  The three of them had not yet seen the black-clad figure, but they already smelled a stench that was beyond compare, which almost made them dizzy.

  "Not good, let's go quickly, this black air is toxic!" Lei Dong was able to become a capture expert and naturally had two brushes. Feeling that something was off, he immediately started operating his true energy to counteract the foul odor. At the same time, he pulled one of the capture experts with one hand and retreated backwards.

  "Can a small catch escape the palm of Daoist's hand?" The Daoist let out a strange laugh, and his hands suddenly flew up with a large black banner. This banner flew out and actually rose against the wind, swelling to three zhang in size. On its surface, the dark energy churned and surged, and the intense bloody smell could not be covered up no matter what. Poor Lei Dong only felt that the smell rushed straight into his brain, and his body, which was fleeing backwards, suddenly charged forward and fell to the ground.

  "Useless thing!" Seeing this result, the Taoist couldn't help but feel a bit disheartened. At first, he thought it was someone from the Six Panels Gate who had come to investigate, but unexpectedly, it was just a group of ordinary constables. "Damn thing, since you've disturbed the Taoist's pleasure, go die for me!"

  The black flag in the sky suddenly covered towards Leidong and others.

  If they were really covered by this dark sail, then Leidong and others would have lost their lives even if they had ten lives.

  Just as all hope seemed lost, a sudden shout echoed from afar, "Evil Daoist, cease your reckless behavior!!"

  A white light suddenly appeared from afar and flashed by, landing right on top of the black flag that was about to fall.

  Wow!!!

  A sharp white light suddenly pierced through the black flag.

  "Fly sword!"

  The black-clad Taoist, as if struck by a heavy blow, began to turn pale and weak. He stretched out his hand and beckoned, and the pierced black banner transformed into a cloud of black mist that enveloped him, rapidly flying away into the distance.

  "Hum, bandits without courage!"

  As soon as he arrived, a white light flashed in the sky and transformed into a long sword that fell into the backpack of the person who came.

  This man is about six feet tall, with a full beard and whiskers, tiger eyes and lion nose, wearing a blue-gray robe that looks somewhat tattered, with a yellow leather gourd hanging from his waist, its age unknown, but looking shiny on the outside.

  The long sword in the backpack retracts its light, hiding in the bag, only revealing a hilt, and the black tassel is flying in the wind.

  Seeing the black-clad Taoist turn into a cloud of black smoke and escape, he didn't have any intention of chasing after him. Instead, he fished out a dark-colored elixir pill and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing on it for a few moments before undoing the gourd at his waist and pouring a mouthful of wine into his mouth. After rinsing his mouth several times, he suddenly spat it all out in one swift motion towards Lei Dong and the others.

  Pfft!!

  The wine and medicine merged into a ball of green mist, which fell on Lei Dong and the two catchers' faces.

  Those few people were just polluted by the black flag of the black-clothed Taoist priest, and that black flag was refined by the black-clothed Taoist priest from many yin and evil things in the world. It is extremely toxic, and ordinary people can be knocked unconscious with just one sniff. If not treated promptly, there will be a risk to their lives.

  Water spray on their faces, after a while, they saw their bodies suddenly shaking, and painful expressions appeared on their faces, followed by the sound of "pffft" farting continuously.

  A stench emanated from their bodies.

  The man with a sword on his back frowned and took a few steps back, turned around, and saw Tie Jian lying under the big Chinese scholar tree.

  "How is there still one?" He was somewhat unexpected, walking under the pagoda tree, as if he felt something, a sharp color flashed in his eyes, and the long sword behind him emitted a bright sword hum.

  All that was seen was a flash of sword light, and that unknown how long the big locust tree was cut off at the waist under his sword light.

  "Hmph, dark energy converges, condensing into a vital spirit, you almost became a formidable opponent!"

  He put the sword back again, and this man sneered, no longer looking at the locust tree, and picked up the iron rake. At the same time, Lei Dong and others who were unconscious also woke up with a faint moan.