Emerald Bower Residence.
Four old men sat in the courtyard chatting idly, indistinguishable from ordinary old men.
Even common martial artists or martial masters would mistake them for withered old men, hardly realizing that they were actually silver corpses.
However, unlike usual, there were no medicinal herbs laid out in the courtyard.
Besides the four old men, there were also several people standing.
County Magistrate Zhou Fangyu, County Governor Wen Zaiqing, and the Wei Suo's (garrison) Commander Xie Mingfeng.
Standing at the gate were also a number of centurions and other officials from the county government.
These three could be said to be the highest-ranking local officials in the entire Qingwu County, capable of causing a great storm in Qingwu County with a mere stomp of their feet.
Yet at this moment, they were in Emerald Bower Residence, heads drooping, cowering obsequiously.
They had been summoned to Shuideng Town by the Demon Suppression Division and had even erected an execution platform at the Shuideng Town pier, but as the Demon Suppression Division had not yet made an appearance, they had been called by Qingyu to Emerald Bower Residence to pay respects to this Young Master of the Huainan King.
Qingyu, the serving girl, was quite courteous, taking the initiative to invite the three to the pavilion in the courtyard and brewing tea for them.
Zhou Fangyu asked obsequiously, "I heard that Young Master Li is about to leave?"
Qingyu said indifferently, "The Young Master has completed his affairs here and will be leaving in a few days."
Having spent two months, Li Xiaoting had gathered enough white deer blood essence and some dragon blood essence.
He planned to go to Da Yin Mountain tomorrow to complete the transaction with the Corpse Refining Hall and then leave.
In Li Xiaoting's view, completing the transaction was a certainty.
However, before leaving, Li Xiaoting still had one unresolved matter on his mind.
That was Xie An, who had killed Silver Corpse Number Five and ruined his plan.
Seeing that he couldn't wait any longer, he set fire to the school, affecting the innocent, to force Xie An out.
Apart from Qingyu, no one else present knew of Li Xiaoting's scheme; they had come only to curry favor, seeking their own future prospects.
Qingyu took the opportunity to ask, "I heard that the Demon Suppression Division summoned you here? And that you have a major case to handle; do you know what happened?"
Zhou Fangyu shook his head and offered his speculation, "Presumably, a bigwig from the Nanyang Demon Suppression Division has arrived, possibly having captured several demonic members of the Corpse Refining Hall, intending to publicly execute them to appease the people."
Qingyu nodded, "I see. Please make yourselves comfortable, gentlemen; this servant must go and attend to the Young Master."
After bidding farewell to the others, Qingyu entered the backyard and, upon arriving outside a room, heard two shrill and miserable female screams coming from inside.
Qingyu was not surprised by this.
Before long, the door opened, and two bloody and disheveled beautiful young women were thrown out, already dead.
One could vaguely see whip marks on their backs and thighs, as well as dripping candle wax.
"Women from small places are just vulgar and unbearable, offering no amusement at all.
They couldn't even last a few rounds."
Accompanied by a lazy voice, a neatly dressed Li Xiaoting walked out, "Throw these two women into Da Yin Mountain to feed the dogs.
Also, have you found out what major case the Demon Suppression Division is handling?"
"Replying to the Young Master…"
Qingyu repeated Zhou Fangyu's speculation.
Are commoners even worthy of being called people?"
"Yes."
"Let's go, wait for Xie An to come in the courtyard."
Upon arriving at the front yard, the three local officials, Wen Zaiqing, Zhou Fangyu, and Xie Mingfeng, all knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe loudly.
Young Master Li didn't let them rise but sat in a chair, enjoying Qingyu's tea brewing, completely treating the three local officials as air.
Although the three officials felt anger in their hearts, they dared not express it and could only kneel.
After a full hour, Li Xiaoting finally spoke, "Zhou Fangyu."
Zhou Fangyu trembled all over, "This subordinate is here."
Li Xiaoting said, "Yesterday, Shuideng Town caught fire; why was it you who came, and not Wen Zaiqing?"
Zhou Fangyu glanced at Wen Zaiqing, who was beside him.
He and Wen Zaiqing both knew about this matter.
The person reporting the incident had made it very clear…
It was just that Wen Zaiqing was being coy and, not daring to disobey, feigned illness to delay.
"County Governor Wen was feeling unwell yesterday, so this subordinate took his place."
Oh?
Li Xiaoting raised an eyebrow and glanced at Wen Zaiqing, who was kneeling on the ground, "Since Lord Wen is feeling unwell, then go home and rest.
From now on, Zhou Fangyu will be the County Governor of Qingwu County."
Zhou Fangyu was overjoyed but dared not express it, "It's all up to the Young Master."
Wen Zaiqing felt despair and hopelessness in his heart.
A dignified official of the imperial court was actually decided by a callow youth, and suddenly he felt utterly hopeless about the imperial court, but he dared not reveal it.
Li Xiaoting said, "Wen Zaiqing, tomorrow you will bring a group of trustworthy yamen runners and accompany me to handle something."
Wen Zaiqing kowtowed on the ground, "Yes."
"All of you, step back!"
Li Xiaoting waved his hand, dismissing everyone.
Just then—
Bang!
The courtyard gate was kicked open with a loud crash.
A man and a woman walked in front, precisely Xie An and Su Yuqing.
Liu Chun was also following behind them.
Zhou Fangyu, eager to please Li Xiaoting, was furious, "Impudence, who dares to trespass into Young Master Li's residence!?
Someone, seize them…"
Before Zhou Fangyu could finish speaking, a broadsword was pressed against Zhou Fangyu's neck.
Zhou Fangyu was so frightened that his face turned pale, "You, you… who are you?
How dare you draw your sword against this official!?
I am the newly appointed County Governor of Qingwu County by Young Master Li."
"You cannot be the County Governor."
Xie An spoke softly, and the blade flashed across Zhou Fangyu's neck, a line of blood spurting out, his head rolling away.
This strike was without hesitation, directly chopping it off.
Hmm?
Xie An felt the white Dao talisman in his mind tremble slightly.
What's going on?
Killing an eighth-rank minor official can trigger the Longevity Destiny?
However, the Dao talisman was only trembling and didn't have any follow-up, so Xie An didn't think too much about it. He turned his head to look around and found that everyone was staring at him with wide eyes.
Li Xiaoting, who had been sitting on the chair, suddenly stood up, a look of excitement in his eyes, "So you are Xie An. Hiding in the hall for two months without coming out, but a fire forced you out. It pleases me greatly, Qingyu... kill him!"
"Yes!"
Qingyu took a step forward, her fourth level of inner strength transforming into a rolling heatwave, condensing into a claw print in her palm. She charged out like a tiger or leopard, causing the ground to tremble violently, aiming straight for Xie An's face.
Boom boom boom!
The ground shook and the courtyard trembled.
Wen Zaiqing and Xie Mingfeng, who were kneeling on the ground, were dumbfounded.
Fourth level martial artist!
Looking at the entire Qingwu County, besides Old Master Tang, no one else has reached this level?
In their opinion, Xie An was bound to die.
However, in their sight, they suddenly saw the stunning woman standing beside Xie An gently raise the index finger of her right hand and point it at Qingyu from afar.
Without any particularly loud sound, a hole appeared in Qingyu's throat.
"You..."
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Qingyu stopped abruptly, looking at Su Yuqing in disbelief, "Martial, martial arts... Grandmaster!"
After saying those four words, Qingyu's last breath dissipated and she fell heavily to the ground, lifeless.
Everyone's eyes fell on Su Yuqing.
The four words Qingyu said before her death made everyone's hearts tremble.
Li Xiaoting, who had always been calm and arrogant, also turned pale, retreating while quickly pondering:
The Nanyang Demon Suppression Division is handling a major case.
Woman, martial arts Grandmaster...
"You, you are..."
Before Li Xiaoting could finish speaking, he knelt heavily on the ground, trembling with fear, "I am Li Xiaoting, the seventh son of the Prince of Huainan, paying respects to Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess!"
Su Yuqing didn't even look at Li Xiaoting, turning to look at Xie An, "I have already crippled his cultivation. The rest is up to you."
After saying that, Su Yuqing left.
Xie An didn't see when Su Yuqing made her move, so he didn't ask too much. Instead, he said, "Chun Ge."
"Here! What are your orders, Brother Xie?"
Liu Chun didn't care about his status and spoke directly.
"Tie up those four old men, I'll have use for them later." Xie An said, then walked to Li Xiaoting, grabbed his hair, "Let's go to the execution ground."
...
Li Xiaoting is dead!
Xie An dragged him to the execution ground, united with the Demon Suppression Division, stated that Li Xiaoting deliberately set the fire, colluded with the evil cultists of the Great Yin Mountain, and publicly executed him.
According to the laws of the Great Qian Dynasty, ordinary death row inmates need to be arrested and imprisoned first, then go through layers of review, waiting for the autumn harvest when the common people are free to watch, and then "beheaded after autumn".
But the Demon Suppression Division doesn't have to pay attention to these things when handling cases.
Execute first, report later, the imperial power is specially permitted.
Li Xiaoting's death immediately spread throughout Qingwu County, and countless people applauded.
And Xie An, for the first time, became a hero discussed by the people of Qingwu County, it can be said that he is a popular figure known to everyone in Qingwu County.
But Xie An was not happy at all.
He knew that after the matter spread to Nanzhou, the Prince of Huainan would definitely not spare him.
With the Eldest Princess around, he would naturally be fine.
If the matter of the Great Yin Mountain ends and he and the Eldest Princess go their separate ways, then it will be the most difficult time.
Therefore, after Xie An killed Li Xiaoting, he didn't even have time to accept the thanks of the villagers, and hurriedly returned to the central courtyard to practice martial arts in seclusion.
Moreover, he discovered a shocking secret:
Only he himself knew that at the moment of beheading Li Xiaoting, the Dao talisman in his mind was vibrating and glowing, and then he saw a wisp of white gas emerging from the heads of the two hundred villagers watching...
All of them were absorbed by the Dao talisman.
The Dao talisman became much brighter.
Closing the door, Xie An saw the four old men tied up on the ground. Xie An didn't bother to absorb the Undying Qi, but sat down cross-legged and carefully felt the Dao talisman.
Two hundred wisps of white gas swirled around the Dao talisman, rising like smoke.
"What is this thing? Could it be the same as Undying Qi? Can it improve the fusion degree of the Longevity Destiny?"
Two hundred wisps... If they are all comparable to Undying Qi...
Xie An simply couldn't imagine it.
It's just that this time the Dao talisman didn't immediately recognize what it was, as if it was still merging...
Xie An didn't dare to breathe loudly.
Finally, the Dao talisman moved.
[Collected two hundred wisps of Faith Qi!]
[Longevity Destiny has been improved.]
[Current Longevity Destiny level 1, fusion degree ]
Hiss!
Xie An directly gasped.
This is also possible?
Directly improve the fusion degree by two hundred points!
"Let me see the progress of the Bright Jade Skill..."
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ps: Third update, fourteen thousand words today. Let's just finish this plot. Killing Li Xiaoting, this plot is mainly to pave the way for the characters' psychology of the protagonist and Su Yuqing. It is also the fuse for opening the story of the Great Yin Mountain. It is also an expanded information of the Longevity Destiny. The Longevity Destiny has many wonderful uses, but in the previous low martial world, there were few elements that could stimulate the Longevity Destiny, and it will slowly unfold later.
