When Qi Wu found the old hunter, there were still several households nearby, seemingly normal, but all of them were transformed by ghoul spirits.
After the tiger demon was punished, the ghoul spirits were at a loss and in chaos. Some said they should leave the mountain, while others said they should continue to hide in the mountains. There was no consensus.
Just as they were arguing, three people appeared and captured them all. Meng Jingzhou revealed a little bit of pure yang energy, causing the ghoul spirits to cry out in pain on the ground.
“We don’t need so many, two are enough to impersonate demonic cultivators.” Lu Yang said coldly. He had no sympathy for these ghoul spirits who had collaborated with the tiger demon.
If they didn’t agree to the tiger demon’s demands, they wouldn’t have become ghoul spirits.
They had to be killed.
Lu Yang tried to use his ghost servant technique, but he still couldn’t control the ghoul spirits, so he had to let his own soul leave his body.
“Man Gu, it’s up to you.”
Man Gu didn’t say much. He left the two ghoul spirits transformed from the travelers and killed the rest, clean and efficient.
Using the ghoul spirits of the old hunter would easily reveal the clues and let the demonic sects know that they had killed the tiger demon. Using the ghoul spirits of the travelers would reduce the risk.
“Retract.” Man Gu absorbed the two traveler ghoul spirits into his body.
This was also a part of the art of exorcism, absorbing ghosts into the body and summoning them out for battle when necessary.
When the three of them were on their way to Yanjiang County, they met Qi Wu and others who were still wandering in the mountains.
It was still raining at this time, and Qi Wu and the others didn’t know the way, so they naturally couldn’t find their way down the mountain.
“Benefactors!” Qi Wu and the others were extremely excited to see Lu Yang and the others, as if they had seen a life-saving straw.
“Benefactors, we will never forget your great kindness!”
“The mountain god has shown his power!”
“We will never forget your lifesaving grace!”
They thanked the three of them, and their gratitude was sincere.
Seeing the rescued people and listening to their heartfelt thanks, Lu Yang’s heart gradually cleared up, and he no longer thought about the bones in the cave.
“As cultivators, we don’t need thanks.” Meng Jingzhou expressed his position with a serious face. Saving people was a matter of course, not for others to thank them.
Man Gu observed Meng Jingzhou’s righteous face and felt that he was really worthy of being his learning object. He was calm and composed, and he himself couldn’t do this.
Lu Yang knew without observing Meng Jingzhou that this grandson was pretending to be righteous and had probably been very happy inside. Who knows how happy he was.
If you asked why, it was because Lu Yang himself was now full of righteousness.
After sending the merchants to Yanjiang County, the sky was already bright, and the heavy rain of the night had finally stopped. A faint rainbow hung in the sky.
“Did we forget something?” Meng Jingzhou felt like they had forgotten something.
“We didn’t forget anything.” Lu Yang counted the number of people. There were three of them, and they all had their own brains. They didn’t lose anything.
“I just feel like something is missing, forget it, I don’t want to think about it.”
…
In the backyard of the inn in Qinghuai County, there was a carriage parked, and the old horse was leisurely eating the feed left by Meng Jingzhou.”Why hasn’t that Meng family kid come to find me yet? The feed won’t last for more than five or six days, and he said he could finish the task in that time!”
The old horse was a rare demonic beast and couldn’t eat ordinary feed like a regular horse. It ate feed bought at a high price by Meng Jingzhou and carefully prepared with spiritual power.
The old horse snorted and smacked its lips, feeling bored. It accidentally caught sight of a small white mare in the neighboring stall.
…
After the three entered the city, they randomly chose a teahouse and ordered a pot of tea and some snacks while considering their next move.
“This Yanjiang County is so big. How are we going to find this Qin Yuanhao and ask the local government for help?” Man Gu frowned.
Yanjiang County was not a major cultivation county, and its population ranked last compared to other counties. It was inconspicuous on the map, and even the less detailed maps didn’t show it. However, Yanjiang County still had a population of two million, and finding one person was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Lu Yang waved his hand. “That’s not a good idea. The demonic cult has been hiding here for a long time, and the forces involved are complicated. It’s possible that the local government is supporting them.”
Man Gu didn’t understand Lu Yang’s meaning. “Isn’t the demonic cult something everyone wants to eradicate? Why would the government help them?”
Without waiting for Lu Yang to answer, Meng Jingzhou, who was most familiar with this area, spoke up. “Because everyone wants to eradicate them, the Great Xia Dynasty has added a ‘number of demonic cultists killed’ item to the local government’s performance evaluation. The more demonic cultists with higher cultivation levels that are eliminated, the better the performance evaluation.”
“Think about it. The demonic cult could make an agreement with the county magistrate to provide them with demonic cultists regularly, and the county magistrate would promise not to reveal the location of the demonic cult.”
Meng Jingzhou wasn’t telling a story but a fact that was spoken by a senior official in his family.
The senior official said that the Xia Emperor had killed one batch after another, but there were still some that got away. Some officials even proposed to remove this evaluation item, but they were stopped by the prime minister. The evaluation item was still in place, and most officials devoted themselves to eradicating the demonic cult. A small number of people colluded with the demonic cult and removed the evaluation item. It was hard to say how many officials would be willing to spend time and effort looking for the demonic cult’s trail without this evaluation item.
Overall, the existence of this evaluation item was more beneficial than harmful.
Meng Jingzhou’s words made Man Gu feel like his understanding was being overturned. He had never thought about this before.
Lu Yang said, “The probability of the county magistrate and the demonic cult joining forces is not high, but we still need to be prepared for the worst.”
“If the county magistrate and the demonic cult are really working together, and we reveal our identity to the county magistrate, he will naturally teach us where Qin Yuanhao is to avoid exposure. However, if the entire Yanjiang gang gets wind of this, they will hide, causing us to miss the opportunity to infiltrate the demonic cult. It’s not worth it to lose the big picture for a small gain.”
“The best plan for now is not to reveal our identities and find Qin Yuanhao first. If we can’t find him, then we can ask the government for help.”
Man Gu nodded, feeling that what the two said made sense.
“So how do we lure out Qin Yuanhao?” Man Gu had many thoughts in his mind, but he felt that they weren’t good methods and had many flaws.Posting flyers and notices won’t work, it’s too conspicuous.
As for going to the black market to gather information, if Qin Yuanhao finds out that someone is investigating him, he will hide and may even lead the demonic cult to besiege them. It’s not feasible.
Man Gu wanted to know what Brother Lu and Brother Meng’s plan was.
On the way down the mountain, Lu Yang had already come up with a plan. He smirked and said, “Do you know that unlike us righteous sects, those who roam the jianghu value face the most?”
“Especially those in the demonic cult, they consider face as status. Whoever hits their face will make them more uncomfortable than killing them.”
“So we need to spread the word that Qin Yuanhao is a kind person who does good deeds every day. Once the rumors spread throughout the entire Yanjiang County that Qin Yuanhao is a good person, and everyone in the demonic cult thinks he is a good person, if Qin Yuanhao feels that he has lost face, he will definitely jump out!”
“This is our chance!”
Meng Jingzhou summed it up simply, “It’s just making up rumors and causing trouble.”
Coincidentally, he was self-taught and best at this.
Man Gu suddenly realized that this was a good plan. If they couldn’t find Qin Yuanhao, they could just force him to come out.
But what does it mean that those who roam the jianghu value face the most, unlike us righteous sects?