ebookslot Chapter 66: Return and Shock
Chapter 66: Return and Shock
The afternoon sun, having lost its summer's intensity, hung above the south gate of Qingzhou Prefecture, casting a pale golden glow. The city walls, weathered by time, bore deep marks, and the moss in the cracks gleamed a damp, dark green. The city gate, like the throat of a giant beast, swallowed and exhaled a constant stream of people—patched-up laborers, weary merchants, and hawkers pushing carts. The air was thick with the mingled smells of sweat, livestock odors, food, and the earthy stench of the sewers. The autumn wind carried a chill, stirring up the complex and authentic textures of the city's heart.
Wang Er slumped listlessly against the wind-sheltered stone wall inside the city gate, his uniform half-open, revealing his faded, sweaty undershirt. He shuffled along in his nearly worn-out cloth shoes, clutching half a hard, coarse bread in his hand, idly breaking it apart and stuffing it into his mouth.
Several familiar gate guards huddled together, hunching their shoulders and chatting idly. An autumn wind swept in, chilling the backs of their necks. One young guard stamped his foot: "This wind is getting stronger every day. Soon, night watch will be a real ordeal."
Wang Er tossed the last crumbs of bread into his mouth and gave a muffled sneer: "Staying on night watch is a torment? It's better than going into Black Wind Ravine and having your soul and spirit blown away by the yin wind!" He squinted his triangular eyes and spoke in a low voice, but deliberately made sure that the porters and vendors around him with their ears perked up could hear him.
An old soldier next to him sighed: "Black Wind Gorge... it's eerie. Years ago, when I traveled the western route with the escort agency, I saw that mountain pass in the distance. It was shrouded in mist, like a vengeful ghost with its mouth agape, waiting to be devoured. Taking the detour meant traveling an extra seventy or eighty miles, but no one dared to complain."
"That's right!" Wang Er perked up. "A few days ago, those hotheads from Blackstone Town took on a 'good job' assigned by Chief Liu—to quell the demon bandits in Black Wind Ravine!" He deliberately emphasized the words "good job" in a strange and exaggerated way.
"Blackrock Town? Never heard of it."
"Poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people!" Wang Er scoffed. "They think they're the boss just because they have some strength. Chief Liu dug their graves, and they happily jumped in! Is Black Wind Ravine an easy place to go? So many heroes have gone in, and you can't even piece together half a complete skeleton from their bones!"
He got more and more excited as he spoke: "How many days has it been? Not even a ghost has returned! I think they've probably become snacks for the wandering ghosts in the ravine by now, eaten clean, skin and bones! A sign of an early death!"
He spoke with a sharp and certain tone, and many people around him showed expressions of fear, numbness, or indifference. The infamous Black Wind Ravine had long been synonymous with "no return."
Wang Er was immersed in his malicious smugness when he caught a glimpse of a group of blurry figures approaching from the end of the official road out of the corner of his eye.
The group of figures were initially just a few slowly moving black dots, their outlines indistinct in the pale afternoon light. Wang Er assumed they were just refugees traveling a long distance and paid them no attention.
But the group of figures drew closer and became clearer in a heavy, oppressive manner.
The one in the lead was slightly hunched, his steps unsteady, yet he moved forward with unusual stability. His dark gray coarse cloth clothes were tattered and indistinguishable from their original color, stained with large patches of dark red and blackened blood scabs, charred remains from fireworks, and muddy yellow grime. His face was covered in dust and grime, his lips cracked. But his eyes, even from a distance, even tinged with weariness, were as calm as two deep pools that swallowed light, utterly still and unwavering, sending a chill down one's spine.
It's Lin Yan!
The malicious smugness on Wang Er's face vanished instantly, leaving only a deathly pallor. A chill, a mixture of fear, disbelief, and dread, shot from his tailbone to the top of his head. The hairs on his body stood on end, and his teeth chattered slightly.
A muffled buzzing sound filled Wang Er's head, and his vision blurred. He opened his mouth wide, but his throat felt constricted, and he could only utter strange "hoarse...hoarse..." sounds. He wanted to move, to dodge, but his legs felt nailed to the ground, too weak to lift an inch. He could only watch helplessly as the silent procession, covered in indelible blood and grime, drew ever closer.
Behind Lin Yan followed Zhao Si and Liu Zheng. Both were dressed in tattered clothes and covered in blood. Zhao Si's face bore a gruesome wound that stretched from his brow bone to the corner of his mouth, the flesh torn open, resembling an ugly centipede. Liu Zheng's arm was slinged to his chest with a tattered cloth, the cloth soaked in blood and turned a dark brown. The two men's eyes were fierce like wounded lone wolves, and the blades they held were rolled up, yet still exuded a lingering murderous aura.
Behind them were four prisoners, tightly bound with rough hemp ropes, staggering forward. They wore tattered, dark red leather armor, their faces smeared with bluish-black paint, their complexions ashen, their eyes empty and numb.
What's most chilling is that among these four prisoners, two Black Stone Guards are struggling to push a dilapidated wooden cart!
On the cart, dozens of heads, hastily treated with quicklime, were piled high! The heads were twisted and grotesque, their expressions frozen in the extreme pain, fear, or madness of death. Their bizarre hairstyles, the remnants of bluish-black paint, and fragments of dark red leather armor proclaimed their former identities—bandits from Black Wind Ravine!
The skulls were piled up, their pale white and dark red gleaming eerily in the cool afternoon autumn sun. A thick, pungent stench of blood mingled with the acrid smell of dry quicklime, creating a suffocating aura that wafted on the autumn breeze. Some timid women glanced at them, then covered their mouths, their faces turning deathly pale as they gagged; children, terrified, burst into tears and clung tightly to their parents' legs.
On either side of the cart, Lu Ling and Wang Dashan stood like messengers escorting prisoners from the underworld. Lu Ling, his ribs wrapped in bandages that bled slightly, stood ramrod straight, his gaze sharp as tempered steel needles, coldly sweeping over every face inside and outside the city gate. Wang Dashan's left shoulder and most of his arm were slung across his chest, the empty sleeve swaying gently in the wind, while his right shoulder steadily carried a heavily etched, stained iron-clad wooden shield. Each step he took produced a dull thud, his single remaining eye gleaming with ferocity, combined with the crisscrossing scars on his face, making him look like a demon crawling out of a sea of blood.
Zhou Fu, along with several other Black Stone Guards covered in bruises, carrying dulled weapons, walked silently at the back and sides of the column, maintaining a formation that subtly exuded iron-blooded discipline.
The entire column marched in silence. There were no triumphant clamors, only the muffled creak of wheels rolling over the road, the suppressed, heavy breathing of the seriously wounded, the subtle clicks of leather armor scraping against metal plates, and the heavy, oppressive aura of bloodlust and a cold, unyielding, iron will forged in the crucible of death, weighing heavily on the hearts of the onlookers. This aura, like a tangible dark cloud, pressed irresistibly upon the dark mass of people inside and outside the city gate!
Dead silence.
The city gate area, which had just been filled with the cacophony of the marketplace, suddenly seemed to be gripped tightly by an invisible, cold hand! All sounds ceased abruptly! Everyone froze on the spot, their eyes wide with disbelief and even terror, staring at the group that seemed to have struggled back from the depths of the underworld, at the horrifying, grotesque heads on the carts, and at the few dejected prisoners.
Wang Er's face was deathly pale, his body trembling like the last withered leaf in the autumn wind. Lin Yan's gaze seemed to casually sweep over him, that calm, almost indifferent glance, yet it struck him like a thunderbolt, and deep within his soul, the deafening roar of the tiger from that day's illusion seemed to echo again! He let out a short, sharp gasp, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, a warm, wet sensation quickly spreading through his crotch—he had once again lost control of his bladder in fright! But at this moment, no one cared about him.
Everyone was completely captivated by the incredibly impactful scene before them, a scene that was enough to overturn any previous understanding.
Just then, Lu Ling took a deep breath, which aggravated the wound under his ribs, causing his brows to furrow and cold sweat to bead on his forehead. He ignored it, gathering his remaining strength, and shouted loudly. His voice wasn't loud; in fact, it was slightly hoarse due to his injury, yet it was exceptionally clear and steady, like a boulder thrown into a stagnant pool:
"Lord Lin Yanlin, commander of Black Stone Town under the Qingzhou Prefecture Demon Suppression Division, has been ordered to wipe out the demon bandits of Black Wind Ravine! After seven days of bloody battle, the bandit's lair has been breached, and forty-three bandits, including the evil cultivator leader 'Old Ghost Mo,' have been killed! Seven have been captured alive! Countless pieces of evidence and stolen goods have been seized!"
His voice rose slightly, filled with barely suppressed indignation and a resounding force:
"The evil cultivators of Black Wind Ravine have entrenched themselves in this perilous place for many years, plundering merchants, harming the innocent, and crafting evil artifacts. Their crimes are heinous and have aroused the wrath of both gods and men! Countless travelers, merchants, and innocent civilians have perished at their hands, their remains never to be found! Today, Lord Lin and his brothers have avenged the countless wronged souls who have died! The demonic aura of this ravine is hereby swept away! pacified!"
The words left his lips, their echo lingering in the stagnant air. Lu Ling gave Wang Dashan a wink.
Wang Dashan understood, his one eye widening, a low groan escaping his throat. He shifted the heavy, tattered shield on his shoulder forward, the base slamming heavily onto the bluestone ground with a dull thud that sent shivers down the spines of those nearby. He opened his voice, hoarse as a broken gong but with a penetrating power: "Open your damn eyes wide and look carefully! Those man-eating bastards in Black Wind Ravine, their heads are all here! It was our Lord Lin, leading us brothers who risked our lives, digging them out of their lair, hole by hole, and personally beheading them! From now on, when traveling the western route, crossing the Black Wind Ravine territory, we won't have to worry anymore!"
Zhou Fu, along with several of his less seriously injured teammates, seized the opportunity to loudly proclaim their message to the crowd that had quickly gathered around them, their faces still showing shock and now overwhelmed with excitement and joy. Their voices were hoarse from exhaustion, but this only added to the real tragedy, as they described the atrocities committed by the evil cultivators of Black Wind Ravine—extorting and torturing merchants, and using living people to create evil artifacts. They repeatedly emphasized the brutality and difficulty of this bandit suppression campaign, as well as Lin Yan's bravery in leading from the front.
"...Lord Lin single-handedly confronted the bandit leader 'Old Ghost Mo,' a late-stage Transcendent Realm expert, fighting to the bitter end and sustaining multiple wounds, yet he managed to capture him!"
"Of the twenty of us brothers who went in, these are the only ones who came back alive! Every single one of them was wounded! As for the dead, we couldn't even find all their bodies! But we've finally managed to remove this cancer that has plagued us for thousands of years!"
"From now on, our fellow villagers in the western part of Qingzhou Prefecture can finally breathe a sigh of relief when they travel for business!"
After a brief, suffocating silence—
"boom!!!"
The crowd erupted like a powder keg, completely exploding! The roar was deafening!
"Thank heavens! Black Wind Ravine... has it really been wiped out?!"
"Forty-three bandit leaders! And some were captured alive! My goodness..."
"Lord Lin? Is that the young man who came to the city a few days ago? He actually managed to get it done?!"
"Black Wind Ravine! How many years has it entrenched itself! How many heroes' lives has it swallowed! And today, someone has actually uprooted it!"
"Eliminating a scourge for the people! This is an immense act of merit! A living Buddha for all families!"
"Look at those heads...it's those damned thugs!"
"Lord Lin is awesome! The men of the Demon Suppression Division are truly commendable!"
Exclamations of surprise, gasps of admiration, incredulous discussions, excited, incoherent shouts, cries of elation at surviving a catastrophe, and even the grief-stricken weeping of victims who had suppressed their anger for years—it was like a flood that had been building up for a century bursting through a dam! The roaring sound instantly engulfed the entire city gate area and spread with astonishing speed into the city's streets and alleys! The people were in a frenzy, many with tears in their eyes, desperately pushing forward to get a better look. Their gazes toward Lin Yan and the others were filled with awe, gratitude, and the ecstatic joy of seeing the sun after the storm. Black Wind Ravine, like a poisoned blade hanging over the hearts of all the people in western Qingzhou Prefecture, had now been severed in a single day. The shock and relief brought by this news were beyond words.
Lin Yan seemed oblivious to the deafening roar around him, his face remaining expressionless. He merely adjusted his breathing with slight difficulty, his gaze calmly sweeping over Wang Er, who lay trembling on the ground, before continuing his unsteady yet determined steps toward the Demon Suppression Division's branch in the city. Zhao Si and Liu Zheng, escorting the prisoners and pushing the cart laden with heads, followed silently behind. Lu Ling, Wang Dashan, Zhou Fu, and others maintained order while continuing to proclaim in hoarse yet impassioned voices the name "Lin Yan" and the heroic feat of "annihilating Black Wind Ravine" in the hearts of every witness.
This was precisely the strategy that Lin Yan and Lu Ling had repeatedly discussed and agreed upon at their temporary camp outside Black Wind Ravine.
Lin Yan understood perfectly. His group was new to Qingzhou Prefecture, unfamiliar with the place and its people, and without any connections, yet they were already seen as a thorn in Liu Xiong's side, with Liu Xiong setting traps for them at every turn. This trip to Black Wind Ravine, though a desperate counterattack that broke the deadlock and yielded some irrefutable evidence of Liu Xiong's collusion with evil cultivators, was of paramount importance and deeply entangled. Rashly revealing all the evidence would not only fail to bring down the powerful and influential Liu Xiong, but might also alert him, and even lead to a counterattack—given Liu Xiong's influence and powerful backers in Qingzhou Prefecture, he could easily distort the truth, falsely accuse them of fabricating evidence, framing their superiors, and even leveling heinous crimes punishable by death.
Therefore, they cannot return quietly, nor can they directly release the most crucial and fatal evidence. They need to seize the initiative, create momentum, and gain a precious breathing space and room to maneuver with higher-ups before Liu Xiong can react.
Thus, this meticulously planned "high-profile triumph" unfolded. In the most brutal, direct, and inspiring way—a "mound of skulls" made of the heads of evil cultivators, captured prisoners, and warriors returning bloodied and battered yet with their backs straight—they would immediately seize upon their immense achievement of "annihilating Black Wind Ravine" and their undeniable prestige upon entering Qingzhou Prefecture, making it public! They wanted the entire city to know that it was Lin Yan who had led the eradication of this long-standing scourge! They wanted those within the Demon Suppression Division who were at odds with Liu Xiong, especially Zhou Yan, the supposedly hostile administrator, to see their value and ability—a valiant general capable of fighting tough battles, solving thorny problems, and instantly gaining immense prestige among the people! They want to make Liu Xiong and the forces behind him, under the watchful eyes of the public and in the face of the boiling public sentiment, hesitate to act rashly. If they still want to secretly plot against him or distort the truth, they will have to carefully consider the public resentment and backlash they might cause!
As for the most crucial and sensitive evidence—the specific details of Liu Xiong's collusion with evil cultivators and the blood crystal stone trading chain—Lin Yan had already decided to keep it a secret for the time being. That was the real trump card; it had to be entrusted to the most trustworthy and capable person at the most critical moment to achieve a fatal blow. Now, what he needed to do was leverage this immense merit and overwhelming public support to forcefully create a crack in the seemingly monolithic power structure of Qingzhou Prefecture, thus securing a foothold and room for maneuver for himself and the Black Stone Guard.
Under the watchful eyes of countless fervent, awe-inspiring, and grateful gazes, amidst deafening cheers, the procession, like a moving focal point, slowly traversed the bustling streets, heading towards the Demon Suppression Division's branch. Wherever they passed, crowds automatically parted to make way, and the news spread like wildfire, instantly igniting half of Qingzhou Prefecture.
Wang Er, slumped in the shadows of the city gate, listened to the deafening shouts of "Lord Lin is mighty!" and "He has rid the people of this scourge!" and watched the departing procession, spontaneously surrounded by the people, grow cold to the bone. The autumn wind swept over his damp lower body, bringing a chill that paled in comparison to the fear in his heart. He vaguely sensed that the seemingly calm pool of Qingzhou Prefecture was about to be plunged into an unprecedented storm by this "giant rock."
……
Under the watchful eyes of countless complex gazes, Lin Yan and his group slowly and laboriously made their way through the grim front courtyard of the Demon Suppression Division branch, heading towards the "Mission Hall" in the west wing, where the light was always dim.
Wherever he passed, the low-level cultivators, clerks, and servants who had been hurrying through the courtyard all abruptly stopped, fell silent, and instinctively held their breath, moving aside to avoid him. The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the heavy, staggering sound of their footsteps and suppressed breathing. Whispers spread like ripples behind them:
"Is it...is it the group that took the Black Wind Ravine mission a few days ago?"
"Good heavens...they're actually back?"
"Look at this...it's like it crawled out of the King of Hell's palace..."
"Is that Lin Yan leading the group?...?"
Various gazes fell upon them. Lu Ling, Wang Dashan, and the others seemed oblivious to this, gritting their teeth and enduring the excruciating pain and dizziness, subtly protecting Lin Yan in the middle with their bodies, their eyes fixed firmly on moving forward.
Finally, they stepped into the dimly lit, somber mission hall once again.
The hall seemed even more deserted. The thin afternoon light filtered through the dusty window paper on the high windows, casting a few blurry patches of light on the floor. Only two or three cultivators, who had been listlessly flipping through the mission board, turned around at the sound of the noise. When they saw the group of blood-soaked figures who had entered, their faces instantly filled with disbelief as if they had seen a ghost, and they subconsciously took a half step back.
The fair-skinned, slick-eyed deacon on duty had been dozing off in his high-backed chair behind the counter. Hearing footsteps and heavy breathing, he impatiently opened his eyes: "Who is it? So noisy… handing in a mission or accepting a mission? What kind of scene is this—"
His voice trailed off. His eyes widened in shock as he stared intently at the group pouring in through the doorway, especially at Lin Yan, who was being carried on a makeshift stretcher, his face pale but his gaze calm. A gulp escaped his throat as he suddenly recalled the top-tier mission from a few days ago, which had been considered a death sentence. His expression shifted rapidly, from confusion to astonishment, and then to a barely perceptible unease and panic. "It's...it's you? The Black Wind Ravine mission...you're really back?"
Lu Ling stepped forward. Despite the tearing pain from the wound under his ribs that made him break out in a cold sweat, his voice was unusually calm and clear, even carrying a deliberate, businesslike composure: "We are under the command of Lord Lin Yan, the commander of Black Stone Town, and belong to the Qingzhou Prefecture branch of the Demon Suppression Division. We were ordered to wipe out the demon bandits of Black Wind Ravine. We have now completed our mission and have come to hand over the spoils."
As he spoke, he ignored the deacon's changing expression and took out a small package tightly wrapped in thick oilcloth, its edges stained with dark brown blood. In front of all the monks in the hall and the curious onlookers who had quietly gathered at the door, he calmly placed the oilcloth package on the cold granite counter, and then slowly and solemnly opened it, layer by layer.
The first things revealed were several demon cores stained with blood and emitting faint spiritual energy fluctuations.
Next came several pieces of dark red to black mineral fragments with an eerie appearance, as well as some strangely shaped, broken artifact fragments and talisman ashes that exuded a chilling aura.
Finally, Lu Ling took a deep breath and carefully took out three neatly folded pieces of parchment, their edges soaked with blood but dried, from the bottom of the oilcloth bundle. He unfolded the parchment and laid it on the counter. The crooked yet clearly legible handwriting and the glaring, dark red handprint were particularly shocking in the dim light.
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall. His voice rose slightly, carrying a suppressed indignation and a resolute force:
"This is a detailed confession that I obtained personally from the bandit leader, Mo Sanhuai, a cultivator whose cultivation had reached the late stage of the Profound Realm, when we were wiping out the evil cultivators deep in the Black Wind Ravine bandit den. It was signed by him with his bloody handprint!" He deliberately emphasized the words "late stage of the Profound Realm," "obtained personally," and "signed with bloody handprint."
"The confessions clearly record how, over the years, this evil cultivation group secretly colluded with certain scoundrels within the Demon Suppression Bureau, trading contraband, harming passing merchants and civilians, and refining heinous and immoral items! Each and every one of these acts is horrifying!"