Chapter 17: Who Has Grievances

"That's right." Before leaving, Zhang Linchuan suddenly looked at Tang Dun, "Are you called Tang Dun?"

"I am called that name."

Zhang Linchuan smiled, "Dun means honest and sincere. It's a good name."

Tang Dun scratched his head, "The teacher in our village gave it to me when I was little."

"Oh?" Zhang Linchuan asked.

"Our Tangshe Town is poor, we can't afford tuition fees, and few hunters care about literacy. It was the teacher who traveled here and stayed to teach us for three years. But after three years, he traveled far away again. He liked me the most back then, saying I was some kind of jade."

That explained it.

The trend of traveling and studying was admired at the time, and disciples of various schools did it.

For example, Confucian disciples believed in reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles, and many traveled around the countries. But some did it to broaden their knowledge, while others did it to sell themselves.

Another example is that Mo sect disciples travel all over the world and experience everything firsthand. However, if they met Tang Dun, they might have taught him more martial arts or even some rudimentary mechanical skills, rather than reading and writing.

Although the State of Zhuang took Taoism as its state religion, it wouldn't be too exclusive of disciples from other schools. Tang Dun's experience was not a problem.

Jiang Wang then said, "Since you have studied, it would be a waste for you to be a small constable here. After dealing with Niu'er's funeral, if you don't have any burdens, you can take the exam for the outer sect of the City Taoist Academy."

This was because he saw that Tang Dun was simple and honest and had some appreciation for talent, but ultimately it was Tang Dun's own choice.

……

Leaving Tangshe Town and heading straight south along the official road was the road back to Fenglin City.

Due to the corresponding array patterns engraved, there were no wild animals on the official road.

The horse's hooves were not hurried, and Zhang Linchuan's voice on horseback was also unhurried: "Do you know how many resources the imperial court has to invest every year to maintain the official roads throughout the State of Zhuang?"

Jiang Wang shook his head. He really didn't know about these things.

"That's an astronomical figure." Zhang Linchuan said, "Moreover, these array patterns can only drive away low-level monsters. Those powerful monsters and fierce beasts still need strong people to clean up. The imperial court invests a lot of manpower and material resources every year to maintain smooth traffic everywhere. It invests resources in the Taoist Academy at all costs, and all we can do is grow up as soon as possible to shoulder the corresponding responsibilities."

"I understand."

"Then let me ask you again, there are large arrays protecting the big cities. Why doesn't the imperial court let everyone gather in the big cities to live?"

"I think there are two reasons." Jiang Wang pondered for a while and said, "First, the big cities also have their limits and cannot meet the survival needs of everyone. Second, the radiation range of each city is limited, and the imperial court needs these official roads to extend in all directions, using towns as nodes, because this represents the actual territory. And land is resources."

"You see it very clearly. The formations in each town and village cannot be as safe as those in big cities, but villages and towns also have their irreplaceable places. Just like Tangshe Town, as long as it exists, Fenglin City can harvest a steady stream of resources from the Qichang Mountains. Once Tangshe Town is gone, the Qichang Mountains will have nothing to do with our State of Zhuang."

"The people of Tangshe Town dare to hunt in the Qichang Mountains, so they naturally have experts. That demon lay dormant when the Criminal Investigation Department went there, and didn't make any other moves when we didn't go. But he launched an attack when we arrived..."

Speaking of this, Zhang Linchuan turned his head and looked at Jiang Wang with a smile that was not a smile: "Junior Brother Jiang, do you have anything on you that attracts them?"

Jiang Wang couldn't answer.

Of course, he had secrets, but only the virtual key inherited from Zuo Guanglie. All the changes happened in the Mirage Sea, and it shouldn't have been discovered in reality. But if it didn't involve this, his first attack by a demon also seemed to be after he entered the Mirage Sea.

As he was considering how to word it to muddle through, Zhang Linchuan suddenly raised his hand and pointed, bending his middle and ring fingers, and extending his other three fingers, pointing directly at Jiang Wang.

And electric arcs jumped from the tips of the three raised fingers, converging into a thunderbolt, heading straight for Jiang Wang!

Jiang Wang didn't even have time to react, and the lightning brushed past his ear, hitting a poisoned arrow dyed dark green, destroying it and causing it to fall.

Only then did Jiang Wang hear the whistling sound of the poisoned arrow suddenly accelerating, and only then did he smell the burnt smell of his hair that had been grazed by the lightning.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Zhang Linchuan jumped up from his horse. With his empty right hand, he raised it in an extremely strange hand seal. A whip of lightning condensed out of thin air.

"Die with me!"

He drove the lightning whip, and his person rushed towards the attackers hidden in the forest on the left side of the official road like an eagle pouncing.

It turned out that he had been prepared for a long time, and he was multitasking, secretly forming a hand seal, and preparing two Taoist techniques in advance, so that he could counterattack at the first moment of the attack.

Jiang Wang was still far from being able to compare with this senior brother who had been tested in battle for a long time.

At this moment, a voice rang out from the forest on the right, "The target is tough. Retreat separately!"

Jiang Wang, who was about to catch up with Zhang Linchuan, suddenly turned his head!

How could he not recognize this voice? In the room of the little girl in Tangshe Town, although there were only a few short conversations, it was enough to leave a deep impression on him!

A Dao source in his Spiritual Palace silently exploded. Jiang Wang, like a mad beast, crashed in the direction of the voice with the most determined attitude.

Living in the State of Zhuang, the first thing almost all civilians have to remember before going out is – do not leave the official road.

Because apart from the radiation range of human towns, everything outside the official road belongs to the wilderness. That is the territory where wild beasts, monsters, and even fierce beasts are active.

Zhang Linchuan was strong enough, so he didn't care.

Jiang Wang wanted to kill someone, so he didn't care either.

He had never, ever, ever been so angry. Although Fang Pengju's betrayal was hateful, it was ultimately traceable. But that little girl, she was so young, how innocent was she?

Jiang Wang's sword trembled in its scabbard. It seemed that it had already begun to be excited, and it seemed that it also knew that it would burst out with the most brilliant light of its life.

Ten years of honing a sword, its sharp edge has never been tested. Today, I will show it to you. Who has grievances?

Clang clang clang clang clang.

The moment the long sword jumped out, it collided with the scabbard five times. Then it came out of its sheath!

The sword was like a shooting star, and the man was like a dragon.

A big tree wailed and fell to the ground. The heretic demon hidden in the tree quickly retreated.

He couldn't see his face clearly in a hurry, but he could only see his pale face under the cover of messy hair.

Dao sources in Jiang Wang's Spiritual Palace exploded one after another.

Jiang Wang had never squandered like this before. He felt that his whole body was full of strength.

Before condensing the Dao vortex, every squander of the Dao source was a step backward in cultivation.

He didn't care about longevity, or a promising future.

He wanted to kill this demon, so that those accumulated anger could be released, so that he could gain inner peace.

Purple Qi Comes From The East Swordplay, Killing Method Second Form, bringing with it a piece of frosty light.

The pale-faced demon didn't have time to form a hand seal during his retreat. His right arm quickly swelled, his muscles bulged, and his blood vessels bulged. He suddenly threw a straight punch, blasting towards the frosty light.

The sword and this demon-like right arm instantly collided more than a dozen times.

Only then did Jiang Wang suddenly wake up and realize that he had misjudged! This opponent was very strong! At least stronger than him a lot! It was by no means what he had previously thought, that he was only relying on his arrangements, and that he was only a bit stronger in his cultivation.

In other words, if this pale-faced demon had erupted with all his strength when attacking in Tangshe Town, it would have been difficult for Jiang Wang to guarantee that he could have survived at that time.

But Jiang Wang did not retreat at all. The long sword vibrated again, and a sharp whistling sound rang out.

Purple Qi Comes From The East Swordplay, Killing Method Third Form!

That demonized right arm was completely cut off and flew away!

"Damn it!!"

The pale-faced demon roared. He didn't expect that if he was a little careless, he would be forced to a dead end by this desperate young man.

His back foot slammed on a big tree in the middle of his retreat. He knew that he could not retreat anymore, and if he retreated, he would die. Life came from fighting to the death.

With the point where his back foot touched as the center, the entire tree instantly withered.

Then, from his roaring mouth, gray mist gushed out, with an extremely strong rotten smell and a pungent stench.

Manipulating the power of life and death, this is a Taoist technique belonging to the Netherworld!

The light of the sword soared.

The Dao source urged the light of the sword, and the light of the sword cut open the gray mist. Jiang Wang jumped out of the gray mist!

Purple Qi Comes From The East Swordplay, Killing Method Fourth Form!

He let this demon run away in Tangshe Town. He was caught off guard and had no way to deal with it.

At least at this moment, at this moment, he must give an explanation to that little girl named Niu'er!

This is the responsibility of a cultivator to the common people.

This is the responsibility of an adult to a child!

Jiang Wang's figure, leaping into the air, broke through the gray mist and appeared in the eyes of the pale-faced demon.

And in his eyes, which were growing wider and wider and filled with horror, a dazzling sword light, from top to bottom.

That was the last light he saw before the eternal darkness.