Chapter 16: Every Fleeting Moment

Just as Jiang Wang saw the small skeleton and was emotionally agitated,

*Whoosh!*

A sharp sound of air being cut suddenly arrived.

Jiang Wang turned his wrist, and at an impossible moment, held his sword with its scabbard vertically behind him, precisely blocking the sharp object that shot towards him, producing a sound of metal clashing against metal.

Jiang Wang took advantage of the momentum to turn around and draw his sword in one smooth motion, already catching sight of the incoming object as a ghastly white finger bone. With no time to think, his body instinctively turned again.

And the little girl's skeleton on the bed had levitated into the air, its skull splitting open as it lunged to bite at Jiang Wang!

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Wang kicked the skeleton back to where it was. Then, with several turns of his long sword, in that instant, like a purple lightning swimming in the dark room, the small corpse had been severed at various joints, and fell back onto the bed as if it had never moved.

"Heh heh heh heh, 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 sharp and piercing, and also ethereal, not knowing where it came from.

This kind of illusion that conceals traces is not simple, indicating that the enemy lurking in the dark had made preparations.

Jiang Wang's foundation was not yet established, and his five senses were not yet opened, so he had no way to break through this illusion for the time being. But he did not panic. According to the knowledge he had learned in the Taoist academy, he now had two judgments: first, the enemy's level would not be too high. The reason was simple: if it were really a high-level powerhouse, the opponent would not need to rely on illusions at all, and could even kill him at the first moment.

And the second judgment inferred from this was that, limited by the strength of the opponent, the level of this illusion would not be too high. Once the opponent launched an attack or was attacked, or even just moved, it would automatically be broken. Evidence for this was that the enemy's first attack was only manipulating the corpse, rather than acting himself.

"You are the one who killed her, and you are the one who destroyed her bones. Heretical ways, you cannot shake my heart!"

Jiang Wang moved with his sword, traversing the entire small room in an instant, the sword light almost illuminating the room!

Purple Qi East Comes Sword, the first killing move!

In the instant that the room was filled with light, all the sword light was gathered together again. Jiang Wang reached out as if to grasp this ball of sword light and slashed straight out with his sword!

The door, which had been closed at some unknown time, was suddenly shattered.

Zhang Linchuan stood outside the door, with lightning flickering in his hand.

"The two corpses outside were being manipulated to reanimate, and I have already blasted them into oblivion. What's the situation on your side?" he asked.

"I was also attacked. I can't break his illusion, but my sword still injured him!" Jiang Wang shook the long sword in his hand, and a drop of bright red blood fell from the tip of the sword.

Zhang Linchuan reached out and caught the drop of blood, which hovered in his palm. "With this, it won't be difficult to track down the demonic man."

A trace of appreciation appeared on his face. "Junior Brother Jiang, you have made a great contribution this time."

Jiang Wang looked around, but could not see any other bloodstains. "Senior Brother Zhang, the demonic man may not have escaped yet."

Zhang Linchuan turned his palm over and put away the blood drop, closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There is no trace."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the corpse Qi that filled the entire courtyard dissipated in that instant.

"Let's go." Zhang Linchuan put away the blood drop. "There are no more useful clues here. Give this drop of blood to the Vice President, he is proficient in the Six Lines, and he will definitely be able to find that demonic man."

The psychological impact of this trip on Jiang Wang was unprecedented. Although those mountain bandits and robbers were also guilty of many evil deeds, they were undoubtedly insignificant compared to these demonic men who often slaughtered entire families and even desecrated and manipulated corpses after death.

He saw the cruel and cold side of the cultivation world. Extraordinary power can also bring extraordinary cruelty.

Jiang Wang wanted to look back at the little girl's skeleton, but he didn't dare.

At this time, Zhang Linchuan said again, "The people from the Criminal Investigation Department have already investigated once, but made no progress. But as soon as we arrived, we were attacked by the demonic man. There is something very strange about this."

"Senior Brother means..."

"Hmph hmph." Zhang Linchuan sneered twice.

After entering the inner sect, Jiang Wang only sought cultivation and was unwilling to get involved in the struggle between Dong A and Wei Quji. But Zhang Linchuan pointed out this possibility.

Unfortunately, he still had no right to refuse.

"Junior Brother Jiang's swordsmanship is extraordinary, definitely not those crude tricks collected in the Taoist academy." Zhang Linchuan sighed seemingly unintentionally.

Jiang Wang replied, "For us Taoist disciples, swordsmanship is, after all, a minor art. Senior Brother's lightning technique is truly amazing."

At this time, the two corpses in the main hall and courtyard were gone, leaving only a layer of scorched ash on the ground. Jiang Wang could almost imagine the scene: the two corpses had just been manipulated and hadn't had time to move before they were blasted to ashes by the lightning technique.

"Junior Brother Jiang is too modest. In fact, my Taoist sect's sword techniques are not inferior to others. It's a pity that our Maple Forest City Taoist Academy doesn't have any methods in this regard. Perhaps only the National Taoist Academy has them in the entire Zhuang Kingdom." Zhang Linchuan sighed with emotion.

The Taoist sect also has methods of entering swordsmanship through Tao, which are extremely sharp and not inferior to ordinary sword cultivators. But after all, it is not mainstream, and the Maple Forest City Taoist Academy does not have any experts capable of guiding cultivation in this area.

At this time, Jiang Wang actually had no mood to speak at all, but he couldn't ignore Zhang Linchuan, so he casually complimented, "With Senior Brother's talent, entering the National Taoist Academy is only a matter of time."

"Yes, a matter of time." Zhang Linchuan suddenly sighed, stood in the courtyard, and looked into the distance, which was the direction of the Qi Chang Mountains. "But early and late are, after all, different things. I often feel like there is a knife poking me in the back, and every moment is pressing."

Such a noble young master with strong strength and talent, and a love of cleanliness, even had genuine anxiety and sorrow in his voice.

Jiang Wang was silent. He also wanted to become stronger faster, faster, to go to the place he should have gone to long ago.

Every moment is pressing.

"Beyond that mountain range is Yong Kingdom," Zhang Linchuan said. "If the demonic man escapes into Yong Kingdom, we will no longer be able to catch him."

Jiang Wang certainly knew why he said that.

The Zhuang Kingdom has been established for more than three hundred years. Zhuang Chengqian, the founding emperor, was originally a general of Yong Kingdom. He led his troops to conquer thousands of miles of land and took advantage of the opportunity of the three princes of Yong Kingdom fighting for the throne to establish his own country. After that, he formed alliances and established the Taoist sect as the state religion, taking the opportunity to embrace the thighs of the powerful Jing Kingdom, which also belonged to the Taoist lineage, and only then did he gain a foothold and pass it down to this day.

But also because of this history, the relationship between the Zhuang and Yong Kingdoms has always been discordant.

The enemies of the Zhuang Kingdom may be welcomed in Yong Kingdom.

Jiang Wang didn't say anything about this, just silently followed Zhang Linchuan out of the courtyard.

Tang Dun, who was guarding outside the door, immediately greeted him with anticipation in his eyes: "How is it? Was the demonic man eliminated?"

He had heard the movement in the courtyard just now and knew that a battle had taken place inside.

"There is already a clue." Jiang Wang said, he turned to look at Zhang Linchuan, "Senior Brother, can you lend me some money?"

Without asking why, Zhang Linchuan casually threw over a money bag.

Jiang Wang weighed it slightly and took out the smallest piece of silver from it—he had wanted to take some knife money, but Zhang Linchuan's money bag only contained gold and silver.

Jiang Wang handed the broken 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. There are two piles of ashes in the courtyard, which are her parents, so bury them together."

Tang Dun's rough face was very sad, but he resolutely pushed Jiang Wang's hand away. "I will take care of their funeral arrangements, I can't take your money."

"Take it." Jiang Wang forcibly put the broken silver in his hand, "Just let me feel at ease."

Tang Dun's constable uniform had mended marks, which showed that his family was not too well-off. He was assigned to receive him and Zhang Linchuan, this unpopular group, which showed that he was also a marginalized figure in the government.

He couldn't break free, so he had to firmly grasp Jiang Wang's hand, "I thank you for Niu'er!"

So her name was Niu'er.

The canvas hanging on the wall seemed to reappear before his eyes. She had once naively wanted to keep a spring. But her life never blossomed again.

Niu'er, Niu'er.

Jiang Wang recited this name silently in his heart several times, as if he had tied some kind of responsibility to his Taoist heart.