"Spiritual Guard, the crime scene is inside there, please!"
The leading squad head made a gesture to lead people in, but the leading Spirit Clearing Guard glanced at the tavern in front of him and said softly,
"There's no need to trouble yourselves, you may all step back!"
The government officials were taken aback, hurriedly bowed their heads, and retreated. Once everyone had left, the leading Spirit Clearing Guard raised his hand and sent out a magical incantation. Within three feet of the Niu Family Tavern, a white light flashed instantly, and a seemingly invisible white light shield appeared outside, isolating everything. Whatever happened within these three feet would now remain unknown to the common people outside.
"Lord Baiwei..."
At this time, one of the three men bowed to the leading man and said,
"Lord Baiwei, please allow your subordinate to go inside and take a look..."
The leading man thought for a moment, nodded, and smiled,
"Then, I will have to trouble Brother Wen!"
The man surnamed Wen nodded and stepped into the Niu Family Tavern. The bloody scent in the main hall, even after several days, still lingered. As soon as he entered, he smelled the pungent blood, blinked his eyes, and when he opened them again, his pupils flickered with silver threads. At this moment, scanning the hall, he saw thick evil spirits drifting around, and where the evil spirits were densest, there seemed to be several vague shadows moving.
The man snorted, raised his hand, and clawed at the air. Among the thick evil spirits, a phantom emerged. Seeing this, the man reached out, and the phantom floated toward him. The phantom's features, which bore a resemblance to Niu Da's Father, had a dull gaze and a somewhat twisted and fierce expression on its face—it was, in fact, the soul of Niu Da's Father.
When the soul of Niu Da's Father appeared, it saw a stranger and flashed a red light in its eyes, and its expression became even more malevolent. It reached out its hands as if it was about to grab the man. The man surnamed Wen let out a mocking smile, reached into his sleeve, and drew a small copper bell. Muttering an incantation, he gently shook the small copper bell a few times in his hand. The red light in the eyes of Niu Da's Father's soul gradually faded, becoming expressionless and lifeless.
The man studied the soul of Niu Da's Father for a moment, murmured some strange sounds, and Niu Da's Father's soul began to sway and soon made the same strange sounds. After a brief conversation, the man raised his hand and summoned the soul of Niu Da's Mother as well, and likewise for the souls of the five members of the Niu family. After questioning them, he took out a small cloth bag from his waist and collected the souls of the five people into the bag, then he left.
"Lord Baiwei!"
The man went out to report,
"All five of these people's hearts were forcibly removed, and their souls were trapped in the blood energy. If we had not arrived, I'm afraid that in seven days, these people would have turned into blood evil spirits and started to harm this small town!"
The leading man frowned at this,
"This is the work of the Yin Evil Sect!"
The Yin Evil Sect was an evil sect from the White Horse State, and in White Horse State, they were counted as quite a notable faction. What business did they have coming to such a small town, to kill a few mortals and trap their souls in blood energy to nurture evil spirits?
The man surnamed Wen said,
"Your subordinate has already questioned them, and these five souls said that the killers were a group of five who entered the tavern originally to inquire about an Old Taoist Priest and a woman. The Niu family pointed them to the large mountain behind the town where the priest and woman were hiding. The five of them had food and drinks in the tavern, and later, for some reason, one of them suddenly became violent and produced Sharp Blades from his hands, slaughtering them all in a few moments..."
"Old Taoist Priest? Woman?"
The leading man raised his eyebrows, his peach blossom eyes narrowed as if he was contemplating something, and the man surnamed Wen
"Yes, Lord Baiwei, the five from the Yin Evil Sect came specifically for the Old Taoist Priest and the woman, and they also asked the Niu family for the way into the mountain..."
The leading man nodded,
"The souls of these common folk have been tainted with blood evil spirits and will need another spell for purification. Have you secured them well?"
"They're already secured!"
"Then let's go!"
As they spoke, the three men transformed into a Flight Light that soared into the sky. At the same time, the government officials guarding outside the Niu family's tavern only heard a gentle voice saying,
"The matter here has been dealt with properly. You can gather the bodies for burial now!"
"Yes!"
The crowd of government officials hurriedly responded, and as they looked up, they saw a Flight Light pass overhead, quickly flying towards the mountains behind the town...
Gu Shi Yi was driving an old horse and pulling a broken cart along a rarely trodden path. The road was rugged, and the ground was uneven, sometimes there were even large stones blocking the way, making it difficult to proceed. Fortunately, Gu Shi Yi possessed some mana, and when she encountered a huge stone she would use her strength to move it aside before continuing to drive the cart. She was not in a hurry, moving slowly along her way, and by the time she had covered three miles, it was already completely dark.