Chapter 298 Eldest Brother, Sixth Brother!
Yuanquan Town was not large, located about two thousand *li* west of Tian’an City. It was a small immortal town in the Central Domain that not many people had heard of, but its land was rich in spiritual energy. On the east side of the town were also dozens of mu of mid-grade spirit fields, where common spirit medicines were planted.
It was currently afternoon, and in the spirit fields on the east side of the town, many young cultivators at the Body Tempering Stage and Qi Refining Stage were diligently wielding medicine hoes.
On the small dirt paths between the spirit fields, one black and one white fine horses walked side by side.
*Clip-clop… Clip-clop…*
Hearing the slow hoofbeats, a young cultivator at the Body Tempering Stage, who was wielding a hoe in the field, looked up at the four people on horseback—three women and one man. He was stunned and stepped over to his friend who was planting medicine with him. He said, “Old Hu, look at those four people… new faces. Should we go back to town and inform Master Jiang? Didn’t Master Jiang say before that if he saw new faces coming to Yuanquan Town, we should immediately go find him?”
The other person glanced up but didn’t stop working his hoe. He said, “They’re probably just passing through. We’ll pretend we didn’t see them… If they say hello, we’ll just bid them farewell. I don’t want to go to Master Jiang’s mansion.”
Just then, the black horse on the small path walked towards them on its own.
“Whoa—”
Ye Anping pulled the reins tightly, making the Ferghana Horse stop. He then took out a few spirit stones from his Storage Bag and threw them into their hands. “I’m here to inquire about something. Have there been any people from the Xing Tian Division in this town these past few days?”
“Ah… Greetings, three venerated seniors. This…” Seeing his difficulty in speaking, Ye Anping directly gave him a few more spirit stones. “Is that enough?”
The man respectfully held the spirit stones and bowed deeply. “To answer the venerated senior, there have been no yellow-robed figures in town these past few days.”
“Mm.” It seemed they hadn’t arrived too late; Brother Liang hadn’t arrived yet. Ye Anping nodded in response, pulled the reins, turned his horse, and returned to the small path, heading towards a lush bamboo forest on the east side of the spirit fields.
Su Wan’er, who was traveling with him, raised her eyebrows and scanned the young cultivators in the surrounding spirit fields. No matter how she looked at it, this place was just a remote mountain town. She asked with confusion, “Young Master Ye, why are we here?”
“I told you, to help my eldest brother get promoted and become rich,” Ye Anping glanced at her and said. “My eldest brother is a young constable in the Xing Tian Division. There’s a merit to be earned here, so I’m just helping him secure it.”
Su Wan’er, half-understanding, twisted her eyebrows and tentatively asked, “What merit can there be in such a small place? From what I see, this town is ordinary to the extreme, and it’s so remote. There isn’t even an Immortal City within a hundred *li*.”
“Heh heh…” Ye Anping chuckled and didn’t explain much.
At this moment, Feng Yu Die, who was sitting on his horse’s hindquarters, hugging his waist and swaying, looked back at the two cultivators Ye Anping had just spoken to. Seeing them whispering, she frowned. “Young Master Ye…”
“Hmm?”
“I have a bad feeling about this place.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Intuition. I just feel uncomfortable. This place clashes with my yin and yang. And those young cultivators in the fields have been secretly looking at us, their eyes are strange.”
Su Wan’er scanned around again and said she didn’t see anything strange. “Is it strange?”
Ye Anping sighed and pointed to the bamboo forest ahead. “After passing through the bamboo forest ahead, we’ll reach a cave entrance hidden by a formation. There are some demonic cultivator’s belongings inside. In about a few days, someone will come to retrieve them. We’ll lie in ambush in this bamboo forest.”
Su Wan’er’s eyes widened in surprise. “What… what? Demonic… Demonic cultivators?”
“Miss Su, could you keep your voice down?”
“…” Su Wan’er immediately shut her mouth and looked around vigilantly, but her mind was still utterly bewildered. Although Yuanquan Town was remote, it was already in the heart of the Central Domain. How could there be demonic cultivators here? She quickly looked at Pei Lianxue and Feng Yu Die, but she couldn’t see any fear or surprise on their faces, as if it were a common occurrence.
Feng Yu Die raised her eyebrows, leaned her head onto Ye Anping’s shoulder, and smiled at him. “I just wanted to say, could there be demonic cultivators hiding in this town? My intuition is always accurate.”
Ye Anping turned his head slightly, looking at Feng Yu Die’s face, which was almost touching his. He pouted. “Yes, yes, you’re amazing.”
“Hee hee~ What are we going to do? Attack directly?”
“No, an ambush from all sides. We’ll just wait for people to come in this bamboo forest.”
Pei Lianxue, leaning in Ye Anping’s arms, heard this. She looked up at her senior brother, whose face was almost touching Feng Yu Die’s. Her brows twitched slightly, but she said nothing, just snuggled closer into Ye Anping’s embrace. “Senior Brother, I guessed it too.”
…
Seeing these three people without any sense of tension, Su Wan’er and her horse were dumbfounded. If Ye Anping wasn’t joking, they were facing demonic cultivators! These three were just walking forward, chatting and laughing? Weren’t they afraid? Su Wan’er swallowed and suddenly had the urge to slip away. She had seen villains who killed without batting an eye, and bandits who had done all sorts of evil deeds, but compared to demonic cultivators, the former two were practically pure and good people. She didn’t want to face demonic cultivators…
Ye Anping urged his horse forward a step. Seeing that Su Wan’er hadn’t followed, he looked back. “Miss Su?”
“Ah… What?”
“Aren’t you coming with us?”
Looking at Ye Anping, Su Wan’er bit her lip. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to follow and see what these three were up to. “Coming.”
…
—
One day later—
It was noon, and the scorching sun hung high in the center of the sky curtain. Two flying swords circled over the mountains and headed towards Yuanquan Town.
Liang Zhu, wearing a golden Daoist robe, flew his sword while looking west, searching the distant mountains for the shadow of a carrier pigeon. When he came from the Hundred Lotus Sect, Ye Anping had agreed that after reaching the Central Domain, he would send a jade slip every seven days to inform him of his location and travel plans. And every seven days, Ye Anping would also send back a jade slip, telling him what to do next.
However, by today, he hadn’t received a jade slip from Ye Anping for twelve days. Therefore, he was worried that Ye Anping might have died somewhere in the Central Domain. If something happened to Ye Anping, he would likely have to live a wandering life with Liang Acting again.
“Hoo…” Liang Zhu let out a soft sigh and then his gaze shifted to the male cultivator flying his sword in front of him. This person was named Jiang He, a cultivator at the early Core Formation Stage, and a Pacification Commissioner of the Xing Tian Division. He was a sixth-rank immortal official in the Imperial Sect, primarily responsible for investigating and solving cases.
Jiang He had asked him to accompany him to Yuanquan Town. Liang Zhu couldn’t understand why someone like him, who had only recently become a young constable, would be noticed by Jiang He and taken out alone to investigate a case. Perhaps he wanted to mentor him? But Liang Zhu’s intuition told him that it was unlikely. However, no matter what, he probably wouldn’t be able to slack off anymore.
After hesitating for a moment, Liang Zhu asked, “Lord Jiang, I’ve only been in the Xing Tian Division for a few months. Is it too early for me to be out investigating cases with you?”
“Heh heh, what? I promoted you, and you’re not happy?”
“No… This humble official will naturally go through fire and water for Lord Jiang.”
“Heh… I’ll remember those words. You may disembark.”
“Yes…” Liang Zhu cupped his hands in acknowledgment and then followed Jiang He down to the entrance of a bamboo forest, east of Yuanquan Town. He glanced back at Yuanquan Town not far behind him, feeling slightly puzzled. The case in Yuanquan Town wasn’t major; a young cultivator with a single spiritual root had gone missing, and it was reported to the Xing Tian Division. Since a single spiritual root was considered excellent aptitude, the Xing Tian Division had sent Jiang He to investigate. If it was an investigation, he should go directly to the town. Why didn’t he go to the town and instead came directly to the entrance of this bamboo forest?
“Lord Jiang, aren’t we going into town?”
“Just follow me. I have something to show you.”
Liang Zhu furrowed his brows slightly but still respectfully agreed: “…Yes.”
…
