Just as Jiang Wang saw the young skeletal remains, his emotions surged in an instant.
Whoosh!
A sharp whistling sound suddenly broke the silence.
Jiang Wang's wrist twisted, and in an impossible moment, his longsword, sheathed, was already positioned vertically behind him, perfectly blocking the piercing object that shot towards him, emitting a clanging sound of metal against metal.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Jiang Wang spun around drawing his sword in a fluid motion, and had already glimpsed the attacking object—a ghastly pale phalanx. Without even time to think, his body instinctively spun back again.
Meanwhile, the skeleton of the little girl on the bed had risen into the air, its skull opening its mouth, gnashing at Jiang Wang!
Without a hint of hesitation, Jiang Wang kicked it squarely, sending the skeleton flying back to its original place. Then his sword revolved several times and in that instant, like a streak of purple lightning in the dark room, the small skeleton was severed at every joint and fell back onto the bed, as if it had never moved at all.
"Heeheehee, little Taoist, I killed this little girl, and you seem quite enraged, yet the last of her remains were destroyed by your own hands."
The voice was shrill and irritating, echoing ethereally from an unknown source.
This kind of spell to mask one's tracks wasn't simple; it indicated that the hidden enemy had already made preparations.
Jiang Wang's foundation was not yet established, his senses not fully awakened, and he was temporarily incapable of breaking through this blindness spell. But he remained unflustered. Based on the knowledge he had learned at the Taoist Sect, he had two deductions, the first being that the enemy's level couldn't be too high, for a simple reason: if the adversary were truly a high-level expert, they would have no need for a blindness spell and could have killed him instantly.
The second deduction from this reasoning was that, limited by the assailant's strength, the level of the blindness spell wouldn't be too high either. Once the enemy initiated an attack or was attacked, or even just moved, the spell would automatically be broken. Evidence supporting this was that the enemy's first strike only involved manipulating the skeleton without engaging personally.
"You are the killer of this girl, and you are also the destroyer of her remains. Minor schools and crooked paths cannot sway my heart!"
Jiang Wang moved with his sword, and in an instant, he had traversed the entire small room, his sword light nearly illuminating the space!
Purple Qi Eastward Sword, the first technique of slaughter!
In that moment when the room seemed to light up with life, all the sword lights were gathered together. Jiang Wang seemed to grasp this cluster of sword light in his hand and slashed with a direct stroke!
The door that had closed at some unknown time was blown open.
Zhang Linchuan stood outside, with faint thunder light in his hand.
"Just now, two skeletons outside were manipulated to feign life, and I have already blasted them to pieces. What's the situation here?" he asked.
"I was also attacked. I can't break his blindness spell. But my sword still managed to wound him!" Jiang Wang flicked his longsword, and a drop of fresh red blood fell from the tip.
Zhang Linchuan reached out to catch the drop of blood, the blood bead hanging in his palm, "With this, tracking down the demon won't be difficult."
A trace of approval appeared on his face, "Junior brother Jiang, you've made a great contribution on this trip."
Jiang Wang's gaze swept around, but he could no longer see any other traces of blood, "Senior brother Zhang, the demon may not have escaped yet."
Zhang Linchuan collected the blood bead in his palm and closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head, "There are no traces left."
Almost as soon as his words fell, the miasma of death that filled the whole courtyard dissipated in an instant.
"Let's go." Zhang Linchuan secured the blood bead, "There's no more useful clue here. If we take this drop of blood to the Vice Dean, his expertise in the Liu Yao divination method will surely draw out that demon."
This experience brought an unprecedented psychological shock to Jiang Wang. Though the mountain thieves he had encountered were certainly guilty of many crimes, compared to these demons who casually commit slaughter to the last one and even manipulate bones after death, they were but minor evils in the face of true malevolence.
He had witnessed the cruel and cold side of the cultivation world. Transcendent power could also lead to transcendent cruelty.
Jiang Wang wanted to look back at the skeleton of the little girl, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
At that moment, Zhang Linchuan spoke again, "The constables from the Procuratorate have already searched once without progress. Yet we encountered an attack by the demon as soon as we arrived. There's something very suspicious about this."
"You mean to say..."
"Hmph hmph." Zhang Linchuan snorted coldly twice.
Having been accepted into the inner sect, Jiang Wang only sought to cultivate, with absolutely no desire to get involved in the struggle between Dong Ah and Wei Quchibi. However, Zhang Linchuan hinted at this possibility.
Regrettably, he still had no right to refuse.
"Junior Brother Jiang's swordsmanship is extraordinary, and certainly not among those superficial tricks collected by the academy." Zhang Linchuan remarked, seemingly offhandedly.
Jiang Wang responded, "For us who belong to the Taoist Sect, swordsmanship is, after all, of minor significance. Senior Brother's Thunder Technique is truly astounding."
At this moment, the two skeletons that were previously in the hall and courtyard were gone, with only a layer of charred ash left in their place. Jiang Wang could almost imagine the scene, the skeletons having just been manipulated, before they could even move, they were obliterated by the Thunder Technique.
"Junior Brother Jiang is too modest. In fact, our Taoist Sect's sword arts are second to none, it's just a pity that our Maple Forest City's Taoist academy doesn't have such techniques. Probably only the national academy has them in the entire Zhuang Country," Zhang Linchuan lamented with some emotion.
The Taoist Sect also had sword techniques that were infused with the Dao, extremely sharp and not inferior to ordinary sword cultivators. However, these were not mainstream, and the Maple Forest City's Taoist academy didn't have a master capable of guiding this aspect of cultivation.
At this time, Jiang Wang truly had no mood to speak, but he couldn't just ignore Zhang Linchuan, so he casually complimented, "With Senior Brother's talent, it's only a matter of time before you enter the national academy."
"Yes, it's just a matter of time," Zhang Linchuan suddenly sighed, standing in the courtyard, looking into the distance towards the direction of the Qi Chang Mountain Range. "But there's a difference between sooner and later. I often feel like there's a knife poking at my back, and every moment is urgent."
This noble son, strong in both abilities and an affinity for cleanliness, actually revealed true anxiety and sorrow in his voice.
Jiang Wang remained silent. He too yearned to grow stronger faster, to go where he should have gone a long time ago.
Every moment felt urgent.
"Beyond that mountain range lies Yong Country," said Zhang Linchuan. "If the demon escapes into the territory of Yong Country, we will no longer be able to catch him."
Jiang Wang obviously knew why he said this.
Zhuang Country had been established for over three hundred years. The founding Taizu, Zhuang Chenggan, was originally a great general of Yong Country who conquered a vast territory and took advantage of the succession crisis among Yong's three kings to declare independence. Later, by forging alliances and establishing the Taoist Sect as the state religion, and leveraging the support of Jinguo—a strong country with the same Taoist lineage—he stabilized his footing and ensured his legacy to this day.
But because of this history, Zhuang and Yong Countries had never been on good terms.
A criminal of Zhuang might well be welcomed with open arms in Yong.
Jiang Wang said nothing more on the subject, but silently followed Zhang Linchuan out of the courtyard.
Tang Dun, standing at the gate, immediately approached with a look of hope, "How did it go? Was the demon eliminated?"
He had just heard the commotion outside the courtyard and knew that a battle had taken place inside.
"We have some leads now," Jiang Wang said, and turning to Zhang Linchuan, he asked, "Senior Brother, could you lend me some money?"
Zhang Linchuan did not ask for reasons, and casually tossed Jiang Wang a money pouch.
Jiang Wang weighed it and took out the smallest broken silver—he had intended to take some Knife Coins, but in Zhang Linchuan's pouch, there were only gold and silver.
Jiang Wang handed the broken silver to the town constable Tang Dun: "There's a little girl's skeleton inside, please use this silver to buy a coffin and bury her. There are two heaps of ashes in the yard, her parents; bury them together," he said.
Tang Dun's craggy face turned somber, but he firmly pushed Jiang Wang's hand away, "I'll see to their burial, I can't take your money."
"Take it," Jiang Wang insisted, forcing the broken silver into his hand, "consider it for my peace of mind."
Tang Dun's constable uniform bore signs of mending, indicative of modest means, and being assigned to receive him and Zhang Linchuan—a task for someone not well-regarded—suggested his marginal status with the authorities.
Unable to shake free, he simply clutched Jiang Wang's hand, "I thank you on behalf of the little girl!"
So, she was called the little girl.
The painting that had hung on the wall seemed to reappear before his eyes. She had once naively wished to hold onto a springtime. Yet, her life had not blossomed again.
Little girl, little girl.
In his heart, Jiang Wang repeated the name a few times, and it felt as though he was tying a certain responsibility onto his Daoist heart.