Swing the sword at the future female devil

Chapter 299 is the episode that best fits the character of the ruthless little exorcist.

No, Zhang Tianshi, you guys aren't thinking about unraveling the secret quickly, but instead you're thinking about doing it in broad daylight?

Jiang Xiyu hated the King of Qin for committing the sin of lust so much that she gritted her teeth. She secretly made up her mind to add more strokes to Duan Huaige's virginity mark, preferably drawing it on his lower abdomen, so that other tea girls would know at a glance that he was already taken!

Qin Shuangjiang is fighting alongside Duan Huaige, Yan Qiuxi is outside monitoring the situation, and Xiao Jiang? Xiao Jiang is already studying how to draw Duan Huaige's silver patterns!

Having agreed with everyone to meet at the inn if they had any clues, Duan Huaige and the King of Qin were the first group to return after leaving the city.

They waited until dark, finally seeing the two who had been checking the town's records return. Lu Mingyi from the academy and Li Hezhen from the Quanzhen Sect arrived late, and upon entering, they didn't even have time to drink a sip of water before anxiously saying:
"Something's wrong with Qingyang Town. The town's records show that they haven't been updated since 2000!"

Lu Mingyi from the academy briefly recounted how the two of them went to check the town's chronicle—they searched through the government offices of Qingyang Town, and finally found the long-forgotten chronicle in a locked document room. The last date recorded on it was twenty years ago.

“Generally speaking, revising county annals in ancient times was a major event, and local gentry, officials, and high-ranking officials would participate. If a county annals had not been updated for twenty years, it meant that the town had been ‘dead’ for twenty years.”

Duan Huaige's face darkened upon hearing this. Qingyang Town had been "dead" for twenty years, so all the living people they saw on the street, even the waiter who had just poured tea and water for them, were dead.
Or rather... a puppet?
No wonder Qingyang Town was shrouded in nightmare energy; it turns out there was such a secret hidden behind it. Duan Huaige asked, "What about the girl from the Gongshu family? Where did she go? She should know about the scheme behind these puppets, right?"

"She and Lan Tumi from Miaojiang went out together to find the night watchman in Qingyang Town... They haven't returned yet, could something have happened to them?"

It is currently known that Zhang Tianshi's purpose in searching for the four directions to suppress the earth's dragon energy is to suppress the earth's veins. If nothing unexpected happens, the fact that everyone in Qingyang Town was refined into puppets is inextricably linked to this operation of extracting the earth's dragon energy.

Duan Huaige selectively revealed some of the news of Zhang Tianshi's demise, but did not tell them about the Four Directions Town Objects suppressing the earth's veins and dragon energy. He only said that there was a mastermind behind the scenes in Qingyang Town who killed Zhang Tianshi, causing Qingyang Town to become what it is today.

After all, Taiqing is now eyeing them covetously, and he can't guarantee that the teammates in front of him are true teammates.

The group has found a clue to the enormous mystery of Qingyang Town. All that's left is to find a few more threads and peel back the layers to unravel the secret. Duan Huaige and his companions immediately decided to follow the night watchman's trail to see if they could find anything useful.

As night fell, the once bustling Qingyang Town quickly became deathly silent, with only scattered candlelight flickering in the darkness.

Gongshu Jiuyuan had previously mentioned that she had sent a puppet to follow the night watchman, but the puppet was discovered by her. This showed that the night watchman was not a good person either. The group decided to start with the night watchman's daughter, Zhang Zhiyao, who had not made much of a presence since arriving in this place.

……

Zhang Zhiyao lay on the bed, on the verge of tears. It had been three or four days since she arrived in Qingyang Town. Her original wish to find Master Zhang in the Karma Array and learn top-notch magic was nowhere to be seen. Even leaving the town was a luxury for her.

Because the role she was given was that of a little girl with a broken leg who could only sit in a wheelchair and look out the window all day, wanting to subdue the demons but powerless to change the situation.

The ruthless little exorcist was filled with rage, but unfortunately, the identity she was assigned was problematic. Her mother, a night watchman, looked sinister and exuded a terrifying aura. Every night when she returned home, she would shake her awake and make Zhang Zhiyao write in her diary.

It was called a diary, but it was actually a very simple daily work report. The night watchman would record the route he had taken in detail every day, mostly in the format of: West, 280 steps, North, 30 steps... This kind of record-keeping life filled Zhang Zhiyao with despair. She wanted to die, but she couldn't bear to. She wanted to go out, but she was worried that the night watchman "mother" would kill her out of righteous indignation.

I wonder what Duan Huaige's identity is now... Why didn't Heaven let me become the person closest to Zhang Tianshi?! If I got this identity card, I would do anything...

Just as the little girl was gazing sadly at the gray sky and lamenting the hardships of life, the night watchman's hoarse voice suddenly came from outside the door:

"My dear... I'm going to work... Don't go out... Don't play in the water, Mommy will bring you osmanthus cake when I get back..."

The night watchman went on and on, his footsteps fading into the distance. Zhang Zhi smirked, thinking to himself, "With legs like these, I'd have to be able to get out of the house..."

She lifted the covers and looked inside. Her leg wasn't congenitally disabled; it had been broken later in life. If it were just a broken leg, it wouldn't be a problem, but it seemed as if someone had sealed off her body's eight extraordinary meridians, making it impossible to sense even a trace of spiritual energy.

Who on earth would do such a cruel thing to a little girl like me! If I find out, I'll make sure they pay! Zhang Zhiyao thought bitterly, just then a mocking voice suddenly rang out behind her:
"Zhang Zhiyao... I was wondering why you were so quiet after you came in. Turns out you broke your leg..."

Tsk tsk, this episode perfectly embodies the "black-hearted loli" persona.

Zhang Zhiyao's face darkened, and she was about to retort when she paused, realizing that the voice seemed very familiar...

"Duan Huaige? Is that you? Waaah... You've finally come to save me... Quick, carry me out of here, I don't want to stay here anymore!"

"Stop." Duan Huaige said irritably, arms crossed. "Let's not even talk about why I saved you... Even if I were to save you, how can you help me in a wheelchair? Are you going to wait until you kill the other side?"

"You, you! You ungrateful bastard! I created so many opportunities for you to spend time with Sister Jiang and her best friend... Is this how you repay me?"

"You just said... what opportunity did you create for him?"

Miss Shuangjiang emerged from the shadows, sword in hand, and glared at Zhang Zhiyao with ill intent—"So that's why I've been encountering so many strange and troublesome things since arriving at the Celestial Master's Mansion. It turns out it was all your doing."

Your stance seems a bit unclear!

Zhang Zhiyao immediately stopped talking and looked at Duan Huaige with pleading eyes. Duan Huaige didn't have time to play around with the little girl right now, so he turned serious and said:

"Alright, let's get down to business... Master Zhang was assassinated. Before he died, I came to Qingyang Town with him. Your current identity is the night watchman's daughter... Let me ask you, three days ago, did the night watchman do anything unusual? Or say anything strange?"

(End of this chapter)