Starting with the creation of the Immortal Clan through the compilation of the family genealogy.

Chapter 20: Night Raid on the Mortuary, the Cultivator Falls into the Trap

The next day, at the county government office.

The atmosphere was depressing.

Zhou Maocai had two huge dark circles under his eyes, his gaze was evasive, and he was restless.

He clutched a hard object tightly in his sleeve—the brocade pouch he had received yesterday. Inside, besides a small packet of fragrant powder, was a cold iron plaque engraved with a ferocious snake head.

This is the death warrant for the Lin family's branch, the "Azure Scale Guard"!
The note inside the brocade pouch contained only one sentence: "Within three days, take either the Meng family's youngest son's personal clothing or a lock of his baby hair; otherwise, your son's head will be hung at the south gate!"

He dared not disobey the Lin family, and he dared not imagine the scene of his beloved son's tragic death.

But Meng Xihong… that unfathomable official, seemed to have already seen through everything. He felt like he was being roasted over a fire, with abysses on both sides.

Meng Xihong took in Zhou Maocai's panic and sneered inwardly.

He calmly finished handling several routine official duties, and as his shift was about to end, he casually walked to Zhou Maocai's desk and tapped the table with his fingers.

"Magistrate Zhou, you don't look too well. Are you troubled by some household matters?"

Zhou Maocai shuddered in fright and almost slipped off his chair. He forced a smile and said, "Officer Meng... you're joking. It's just... I didn't sleep well last night."

"Oh?" Meng Xihong leaned closer, his voice low and tinged with amusement. "Is it because of... that dead snake in the abandoned house in the south of the city? Or... the 'brilliant plan' given to you by the new 'accountant' at Zuixianju?"

Boom!

Zhou Maocai was struck dumb, his face turning deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down his back. He stared at Meng Xihong in terror, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

"No need to panic." Meng Xihong had a strange smile on his face, but his eyes were as cold as knives.

“County Magistrate Zhou, we were colleagues, and I don’t want to see your family ruined. No matter how much the Lin family promises you, you are nothing more than a pawn they use and discard. Think of your son, think of your property back in your hometown.”

He straightened up, his voice returning to normal, yet each word struck Zhou Maocai's heart like a hammer blow: "I'll show you a way out. Tonight at midnight, at the base of the broken wall behind the City God Temple. Bring the things the Lin family gave you, and... the 'pledge of allegiance' you're supposed to offer."

After saying that, he turned and strode away, no longer looking at Zhou Maocai who was limp as a rag doll.

Just as Meng Xihong turned around, Zhou Maocai's terrified eyes flashed briefly, then a strange calm settled deep within them. Although his face was still deathly pale, the extreme fear seemed to recede like a tide, leaving only a cold calculation.

Midnight, City God Temple.

The waning moon was obscured by dark clouds, and the dilapidated temple seemed to weep in the night wind.

A bulky figure crept stealthily to the base of the back wall; it was Zhou Maocai.

He was clutching a package tightly in his arms, which contained the tracking powder, the snakehead iron tag, a document of "intelligence" about the Lin family's spies in several locations near Wufeng County, and a silk cloth imitating his handwriting.

He looked around nervously, then suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck!
A cold, powerful hand had silently landed on his neck!
“East…east…all…are all here…” Zhou Maocai said in a trembling voice, his soul almost leaving his body.

"Well done." Meng Xihong's deep voice sounded behind him, like a death knell.

His other hand shot out with lightning speed, precisely gripping Zhou Maocai's wrist vital point, and a pure internal force mixed with a trace of weak spiritual power instantly penetrated it.

"Ugh!" Zhou Maocai groaned, feeling a soft, cold aura enter his body, rushing straight to his heart, before strangely subsiding again. He looked at Meng Xihong in horror.

"A little trick to ensure that Magistrate Zhou will behave himself in the future and not make any more mistakes." Meng Xihong released his hand, took the package, and spoke in a calm and even voice.

"I will make good use of the tracking powder the Lin family gave you. As for you... claim illness tomorrow and close your door to all visitors. Watch your mouth and keep an eye on your son. If there are any further unusual movements..." He paused, not finishing his sentence, but the chilling killing intent made Zhou Maocai feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

"Yes...yes...I understand! I understand!" Zhou Maocai scrambled away from this nightmarish place. Only after running far away and confirming that no one was following him did he lean against a withered tree, panting heavily. When he looked back at the City God Temple, there was no trace of fear on his face.

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, and silently screamed in his heart: "Chief Meng... I've given you the things... I've done my best to ensure the intelligence is accurate, this is the limit of what I can do. I originally wanted to use the power of Qingyun Sect to drive a tiger to devour a wolf... but unfortunately I'm too weak. I hope you can succeed."

Meng Xihong weighed the tracking powder in his hand, a cold smile appearing on his lips.

He looked in the direction where Zhou Maocai had disappeared, then glanced at the location of the Yunyou Inn in the west of the city, and thought to himself: "'Surrounded by jackals'... Zhou Maocai is one, but the one at the Yunyou Inn is the real culprit."

"The favorable position is in the northeast (Gen) direction... northeast of the City God Temple... it's time to 'act unexpectedly'."

He moved with a swift movement, disappearing into the night like a ghost. Instead of going straight home, he headed towards an abandoned mortuary northeast of the county government office.

The place was eerily quiet and rarely visited, making it an ideal location for dealing with certain "things" and setting traps.

"Trying to use tracking powder? I'll just borrow your medicine to lure you in!" Meng Xihong's eyes flashed with a cold light, his killing intent palpable.

"A Qi Refining cultivator? Once you're here, you're not leaving!"

The night grew deeper.

Meng Xihong slipped into the mortuary like a ghost, his figure hidden behind a thick pillar.

He held his breath and focused his mind, his spiritual senses like the most sophisticated radar, carefully exploring every corner of this desolate place.

"I wonder if the fish will take the bait?" Meng Xihong lightly stroked the standard longsword at his waist, the copper ring on the scabbard gleaming coldly in the darkness.

He could feel that the hidden internal energy within his body was like a surging river, surging and turbulent in his meridians, showing signs of breaking through some kind of constraint.

The intense planning and mental exhaustion of the past few days did not break him; instead, they tempered his martial arts skills like steel in a raging fire, causing them to grow wildly on the edge of their limits.

The power brought by the [Martial Arts Root] flows through the body, and every muscle and every meridian is shouting out in desire to break through.

The barrier at the peak of internal strength is as fragile as paper!
He took out the captured brocade pouch from his bosom, opened the seal, and a strange, sweet fragrance immediately filled the air.

This is the tracking powder that the Lin family gave to Zhou Maocai. It has a unique and subtle fragrance that is difficult to detect. Once someone is exposed to it, even hunting dogs from thousands of miles away can track them down by following the scent.

"Trying to use this to track down my Meng family?" Meng Xihong's lips curled into a cold smile. He flicked his finger, and a wisp of pure internal energy flowed into the brocade pouch, shattering the powder into even finer particles.

Instead of destroying it completely, he walked to the largest coffin in the center of the mortuary and carefully sprinkled the powder evenly on the ground around the coffin, and then stuffed a small amount into the gaps in the coffin.

Then, he took out a small piece of the Azure Scale Serpent's scale from his package; it was a trophy he had deliberately kept.

The snake scales still retain a rich aura of wood-based demonic energy and spiritual energy fluctuations, enough to attract any cultivator sensitive to "abnormal spiritual energy".

He gently placed the snake scales on top of the coffin and weighed them down with a loose piece of the coffin lid.

"We have the bait, now we just wait for the fish to take the bait." Meng Xihong nodded in satisfaction, his figure flashed, and he leaped onto the beam of the mortuary, disappearing into the dense spider webs and darkness, using the locust wood concealment technique to hide all his aura.

Time passed slowly. The chirping of insects had long since disappeared, leaving only the mournful sound of the night wind blowing through the broken window.

Suddenly! Without lifting his eyelids, Meng Xihong's right index finger, which was resting on his knee, twitched almost imperceptibly.

coming!

Meng Xihong's spirits lifted, his eyes flashing like lightning as he stared intently at the only entrance to the mortuary.

(End of this chapter)