Huangxiu

Chapter 1151 Impact
Li Hongzhao pondered, "What is the evil sect's purpose in offering a bounty for its disciples to kill the city guards?"

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head and said, "I only came into contact with ordinary demons, not the higher-ups."

Li Hongzhao asked, "You want to figure this out?"

Chu Zhiyuan said, "The appearance of the giant demon and the madness of the evil spirits may just be a coincidence, but it may not be a coincidence at all."

"Is the imperial artifact also malfunctioning?" Li Hongzhao said. "I heard from Senior Sister Dong that the imperial city is guarded by an artifact. Now that the evil spirits are so rampant, it must be because the artifact is malfunctioning."

Chu Zhiyuan remained silent.

Li Hongzhao rolled her eyes at him and snorted, "You still want to hide this from me!"

Chu Zhiyuan chuckled: "I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

He didn't say it explicitly, but only described the rampant arrogance of the evil sect. If he had mentioned it even slightly, Li Hongzhao, with his keen insight and intelligence, would surely have guessed it.

He hadn't broken his promise to Prince Zhuang.

"The appearance of the giant demon, the rampage of evil spirits, and the malfunction of the divine artifacts—the latter two are not coincidences, are they?" Li Hongzhao said. "The evil sects must have known that the divine artifacts were malfunctioning before they dared to act this way, right?"

Chu Zhiyuan thought for a moment and then shook his head.

Under normal circumstances, this is indeed the case. Evil sects do not want to weaken their sects, so they are reluctant to sacrifice their disciples' lives and will not send them to their deaths.

However, the actions of heretical sects cannot be judged by ordinary standards.

Therefore, whether a magical artifact malfunctions or not is not necessarily directly related to the bounty offered by the evil sect.

The disciples of the evil sect may not want to die, but the evil sect may not necessarily want them to die.

"You're going to kill the demons to force out the top experts of the evil sects and find out their intentions?"

"Ah."

“What good would it do to find out?” Li Hongzhao said.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Our Heavenly Sword Sect's targets are not only demons and monsters, but also evil spirits. Even if we don't deal with them, they will deal with us."

Li Hongzhao nodded slowly.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Once they become powerful, it will be the time when our Heavenly Sword Sect is doomed."

Li Hongzhao chuckled: "You haven't even become the sect leader yet, but you're already worrying about being one."

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Even if he is not the sect leader, he is still a member of the Heavenly Sword Sect. We cannot allow evil to grow stronger."

“Alright, you’re just born to worry.” Li Hongzhao said, “Then let’s investigate thoroughly. I heard from Senior Sister Dong that some of the evil sects’ techniques are particularly sinister and impossible to guard against.”

"What are they?"

"Some can control the mind, some can kill someone by laughing, and some can kill silently. In short, they are very strange and bizarre."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded solemnly: "I will be careful."

Li Hongzhao said, "Fine, anyway, you're very good at escaping."

She had an excellent understanding of Chu Zhiyuan's temperament.

He appears righteous and awe-inspiring, as if he is willing to shoulder heavy responsibilities, but in reality he is extremely afraid of death and seeks stability.

I would never take a risk without being sure of myself. If I dare to go down the mountain to help, it is because I am sure of my own safety. Secondly, it is to build up my reputation, which will help me in the struggle for the position of sect leader.

……

Chu Zhiyuan reappeared outside the imperial city and found Ding Huanchun.

It was sunset, and the last rays of the setting sun were fading; very few people were entering the city.

Ding Huanchun and his eighteen city guards did not slack off; they remained in their positions, ready to take action at any moment.

The silver armor gleamed red in the setting sun, and one hand never left the hilt of the long sword, ready to strike at any moment.

The assassinations by the evil spirits kept them on their toes.

Upon seeing Chu Zhiyuan approaching from afar, they tensed up and gripped their sword hilts tightly.

Ding Huanchun quickly spotted Chu Zhiyuan and was overjoyed. He clasped his hands in a respectful greeting from afar, saying, "Mr. Chu."

Chu Zhiyuan approached, clasped his hands in greeting, and said with a smile, "Brother Ding, is there any good news?"

Ding Huanchun laughed and said, "It's good news. Those guys are so arrogant because they are tempted by the bounty offered by the sect."

"Why did the evil sect offer a reward?" Chu Zhiyuan asked.

The imperial court is indeed full of extraordinary people; they actually managed to find out these things.

Ding Huanchun shook his head: "I don't know. In short, they only care about the bounty and ignore everyone else. At first, very few evil spirits dared to make a move, but later they found an opportunity and became bolder and bolder."

Chu Zhiyuan asked, "When was the bounty issued?"

Ding Huanchun said, "It seems that's all we got out of them."

Trying to extract things from the mouths of these demons is extremely difficult; managing to extract even this much is already incredibly challenging. Chu Zhiyuan nodded slowly.

When did the artifact malfunction, and when was the bounty issued? Which came first?

There's a lot to it.

Ding Huanchun smiled and said, "They've quieted down a bit these past two days and haven't shown up much. It's because of your last killing spree, sir, that they were deterred."

Chu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow: "It actually works?"

“Hey, they’re afraid of dying too,” Ding Huanchun said. “So many people died at once, they’re scared too.”

Chu Zhiyuan said, "I hope so."

Ding Huanchun smiled and said, "Sir, your merits have been recorded. A total of ten demons were killed by you."

Chu Zhiyuan frowned as he looked at him.

Ding Huanchun said, "We can be considered to have done a good job in assisting the enemy."

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head and said, "Just give them to you directly. I'm here to give them a good thrashing this time."

The government is being far too generous, offering a bounty for just ten demons.

The imperial court's reward this time was very large, which was an irresistible temptation for the city guards.

Ding Huanchun laughed and said, "We have done a good job by assisting, and each of us has been able to transform into a demon, so we have already eaten our fill."

Having guarded the city gates for so long, they certainly knew the situation of the martial arts sects.

They were extremely grateful and deeply admired Chu Zhiyuan for his help.

Of course, he couldn't take credit for Chu Zhiyuan's work, and he didn't want to cut himself off from the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Chu Zhiyuan clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you."

Ding Huanchun quickly waved his hand and said, "It is we, Mr. Xie, who should be called 'Mr.' Where should we begin?"

"They're here." Chu Zhiyuan turned to look at the group of people in the distance.

A group of twelve people were slowly riding their horses, strolling over at a leisurely pace.

The rider was either a young nobleman or a servant or guard.

Ding Huanchun looked over curiously and whispered, "There are demons among these people."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded: "That servant in gray clothes must be a demon."

Ding Huanchun turned to look at the two city guards with gleaming golden eyes: "Is that guy?"

"...It seems so." The two young men hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Although the servant was inconspicuous among these people, the two of them still noticed something unusual when they tried their best to activate their Candle Demon Eyes.

"He's got some nerve," Ding Huanchun frowned. "With so few people, he thinks he can take advantage of the chaos?"

"What exactly is he trying to do?" Chu Zhiyuan asked curiously.

He was puzzled; this was clearly an impossible situation to cover up, and it would be easy to be exposed.

Why do we still need to do this?
Ding Huanchun said, "A sneak attack?...He's underestimating us too much!"

The other city guards all had solemn expressions and glared at him hatefully.

The two youths, their eyes gleaming with golden light, scanned the group once more, concluding that the servant was a demon, and indeed, the only demon.

The twelve knights slowly approached, and when they were a dozen meters away, the twelve horses suddenly let out a long neigh, their eyes turned red, and they charged madly at the city guards.

Chu Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes, staring at the servant, and noticed that he made a subtle finger-flicking motion.

With a gentle flick, some powder flew out, and the twelve horses immediately went mad.

The city guards could only dodge as the mad horses charged towards them.

Even they dared not face the force of a galloping horse head-on.

The servant's horse charged in the middle, its long sword drawn from its sheath, transforming into a white streak as it slashed towards Ding Huanchun.

Chu Zhiyuan stepped aside, letting Ding Huanchun and the others face the demon, giving them a chance to make a contribution.

Ding Huanchun drew his sword and fought the servant, while the other four city guards followed suit, besieging the demon.

The remaining city guards, two of whom caught the frightened horse, and the remaining six blocked the mad horse to prevent it from rushing into the city.

Chu Zhiyuan suddenly said, "Another evil spirit has arrived!"

A group of men in gray clothes rushed out of the woods in the distance, using their lightness skills to be three times faster than galloping horses.

(End of this chapter)