Just as Jiang Wang saw the small skeleton and was emotionally stirred.
Whoosh!
A sharp whistling sound came suddenly through the air.
Jiang Wang twisted his wrist, and in an impossible moment, he had already placed his sword, still in its scabbard, vertically behind him, just in time to block the incoming sharp object, producing a clang of metal against metal.
Jiang Wang smoothly turned around and drew his sword in one fluid motion, catching a glimpse of the attacking object—a ghastly pale finger bone. With no time to think, his body instinctively spun around again.
The little girl's skeleton on the bed had already leaped into the air, its skull opening its mouth and lunging at Jiang Wang!
Without a moment's hesitation, Jiang Wang kicked the skeleton squarely in the head, sending it flying back to its original place. Then, with several swift turns of his long sword, it seemed like a bolt of purple lightning darting through a dark room. In that instant, the small skeleton was severed at all its joints and fell back onto the bed as if it had never moved.
"Hehehehe, little Taoist, I killed this little girl, and you seem very angry. But her last remains were destroyed by your own hands."
The voice was shrill and grating, floating and elusive, impossible to pinpoint its origin.
This kind of illusion that could conceal one's presence was not simple, indicating that the enemy lurking in the dark had made preparations.
Jiang Wang's foundation had not yet been established, and his five senses were not fully awakened, so he could not break through this illusion for the time being. But he was not panicked. According to what he had learned at the Daoist academy, he now had two judgments. First, the enemy's level would not be too high. The reason was simple: if it were a high-level powerhouse, the opponent would not need to rely on an illusion and could have killed him in an instant.
The second judgment, deduced from this, was that limited by the opponent's strength, the level of this illusion would not be too high either. The opponent would automatically dispel it once they launched an attack, were attacked, or even just moved. Evidence for this was that the enemy's first attack was merely manipulating the skeleton, not acting personally.
"You killed her, and you also destroyed her skeleton. Your tricks and deceit cannot shake my heart!"
Jiang Wang moved with his sword, swiftly traversing the entire small room in an instant, the sword light almost illuminating the entire space!
The first killing form of the Purple Qi from the East Sword!
In the moment when the room was filled with light, all the sword light was gathered together again. Jiang Wang reached out as if to grasp this bundle of sword light and delivered a straight slash!
The door, which had closed at some point, burst open with a loud crash.
Zhang Linchuan stood outside the door, with faint thunderous light in his hand.
"The two skeletons outside were just manipulated to act like zombies. I've already destroyed them. What's the situation here?" he asked.
"I was also attacked. I can't break through his illusion. But my sword still injured him!" Jiang Wang shook his long sword, and a drop of bright red blood dripped from the tip.
Zhang Linchuan reached out and caught the drop of blood, which hovered in his palm. "With this, it won't be difficult to track the demon's trail."
A hint of approval appeared on his face. "Junior Jiang, you've made a great contribution on this trip."
Jiang Wang looked around but could not see any other bloodstains. "Senior Zhang, the demon might not have fled yet."
Zhang Linchuan flipped his palm to collect the blood drop, closed his eyes to sense for a moment, and then shook his head. "There's no trace left."
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the miasma of corpse qi that had filled the entire courtyard dissipated in an instant.
"Let's go," Zhang Linchuan said, putting away the blood drop. "There's no useful clue left here. Hand this drop of blood to the vice-dean. He's proficient in the Six Divination Stems and will surely be able to identify that demon."
The psychological impact of this trip on Jiang Wang was unprecedented. Although bandits and robbers were also evil, compared to these demons who would massacre entire families and even desecrate and manipulate corpses after death, they were insignificant.
He witnessed the cruel and ruthless side of the cultivation world. Extraordinary power could also bring extraordinary cruelty.
Jiang Wang wanted to look back at the little girl's skeleton but dared not.
At this moment, Zhang Linchuan said again, "The people from the Judicial Department have already investigated once, with no progress. Yet as soon as we arrived, we encountered a demon attack. There's something fishy about this."
"What do you mean, Senior?"
"Hmph." Zhang Linchuan let out a cold laugh.
Having joined the inner gate, Jiang Wang only sought cultivation and did not want to get involved in the struggle between Dong A and Wei Quji. But Zhang Linchuan had hinted at this possibility.
Unfortunately, he still had no right to refuse.
"Junior Jiang's swordsmanship is extraordinary and not at all like the rudimentary tricks collected by the Daoist academy," Zhang Linchuan seemingly casually remarked.
Jiang Wang replied, "For us Daoist practitioners, swordsmanship is, after all, a minor skill. Senior's thunder technique is truly astonishing."
At this moment, the two skeletons in the main hall and the courtyard were gone, leaving only a layer of charred ash on the ground. Jiang Wang could almost imagine the scene: the skeletons had just been manipulated and hadn't had time to move before being destroyed by the thunder technique.
"Junior Jiang is too modest. Actually, our Daoist sword techniques are not inferior to others. It's just that our Fenglin City Daoist academy doesn't have such methods. Perhaps only the National Daoist Academy in the whole country has them," Zhang Linchuan said with a touch of regret.
The Daoist gate also had methods of entering the sword through the Dao, which were very fierce and not inferior to ordinary sword cultivators. But after all, it was not the mainstream, and the Fenglin City Daoist academy did not have experts to guide this kind of cultivation.
At this moment, Jiang Wang actually had no mood to talk, but he could not ignore Zhang Linchuan, so he casually complimented, "With Senior's talent, entering the National Daoist Academy is just a matter of time."
"Yes, just a matter of time," Zhang Linchuan suddenly sighed, standing in the courtyard and looking into the distance, towards the direction of the Qichang Mountain Range. "But early and late are, after all, different things. I often feel as if there is a knife stabbing me in the back, and every moment is pressing."
Such a talented and fastidious young master, whose voice was filled with anxiety and sorrow, was surprisingly genuine.
Jiang Wang was silent. Didn't he also want to become stronger faster and go to the place he should have gone to long ago?
Every moment is pressing.
"Beyond that mountain range is the Kingdom of Yong," Zhang Linchuan said. "If the demon escapes into the territory of Yong, we will not be able to catch him."
Jiang Wang, of course, knew why he said that.
The Kingdom of Zhuang has been established for more than three hundred years. The founding emperor, Zhuang Chengqian, was originally a general of the Kingdom of Yong. He led his troops to conquer thousands of miles of land and took advantage of the power struggle among the three princes of Yong to establish his own country. Later, he formed alliances, made the Daoist gate the state religion, and cleverly allied with the powerful country of Jing, which also belonged to the Daoist lineage. Only then did he stabilize his position and pass it down to the present day.
But because of this history, the relationship between Zhuang and Yong has always been strained.
The enemies of Zhuang might be welcomed with open arms in Yong.
Jiang Wang did not say anything about this but silently followed Zhang Linchuan out of the courtyard.
Tang Dun, who was guarding the door outside, immediately rushed up, his eyes full of expectation: "How about it? Was the demon eliminated?"
He had just heard the commotion outside the courtyard and knew that a battle had taken place inside.
"We have a clue now," Jiang Wang said, turning to look at Zhang Linchuan. "Senior, could you lend me some money?"
Without asking why, Zhang Linchuan casually threw a purse over.
Jiang Wang weighed it briefly and took out the smallest piece of silver from it—he had wanted to take some copper coins, but Zhang Linchuan's purse contained only gold and silver.
Jiang Wang handed the silver to the town constable Tang Dun: "There is a little girl's skeleton inside. Please use this silver to buy a coffin and bury her. The two piles of ashes in the courtyard are her parents; bury them together."
Tang Dun's rough face turned gloomy, but he firmly pushed Jiang Wang's hand away. "I will take care of their funeral. I can't accept your money."
"Take it," Jiang Wang insisted, placing the silver in his hand. "Consider it my way of finding peace."
Tang Dun's constable uniform had patches, indicating a not-so-good financial situation. Being assigned to receive him and Zhang Linchuan, who were not welcomed, showed that he was also a marginalized figure in the government office.
Unable to break free, he firmly grasped Jiang Wang's hand. "I thank you on behalf of the girl!"
Her name was Niuer.
The painting on the wall seemed to appear before his eyes again. She had naively wanted to preserve a spring. But her life would never bloom again.
Niuer, Niuer.
Jiang Wang silently repeated this name in his heart, as if tying a certain responsibility to his Daoist heart.