Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

The sound of horses' hooves approached from the end of the village road, initially distant and indistinct amidst the chirping of insects at dusk.

Before long, the commotion grew closer and more urgent. Three fast horses, kicking up yellow dust, rushed into Sanmu Village. The dust clung to the fences on both sides, causing several households to slam their doors shut.

Several men were squatting at the village entrance, shelling peanuts, their hands covered in peanut shells.

Someone peeked out onto the road at the village entrance and saw the leader on horseback whose legs went weak.

"Yang Da!"

"Yang Da is back!"

"He came back on horseback, his face as black as the bottom of a pot!"

As soon as the news spread, everyone on the village road shrank back.

The woman, holding her child, peeked through the kitchen door for a moment, then quickly retreated.

Aunt Zhang grabbed Zhang Xiaohu by the ear and yelled in a low voice, "What are you looking at? Who gives you the right to watch the show? Go back inside!"

Zhang Xiaohu winced in pain, but dared not utter a sound.

The old hen in the coop had just flapped her wings twice when she was startled by the sound of the horse's hooves and shrank back into the coop.

Miki Village, usually as noisy as a broken gong stand, was suddenly silenced.

The villagers knew that Yang Da had returned to avenge Yang Er, and they were terrified that it would implicate them and bring them to their deaths.

At the village entrance, Yang Shuqing dismounted.

He was dressed in the county government's black robe, with a knife hanging at his waist, his boots covered in mud and dust kicked up on the way, and his face was taut and pale.

Years of working in the county government had worn away much of his peasant air, but now, the fierce side beneath that official facade had fully emerged.

Zhao Si, who was following behind him, carried the chain, while Ma Liu held the hilt of his knife.

Neither of them spoke.

The less someone speaks, the more frightening they become.

Zhao Si peeked through the crack in the door to the side.

The face behind the door snapped back, and the bolt clicked shut.

Yang Shuqing ignored them and led the two straight to the village chief's house.

Village chief Yang Shuyu is drinking porridge.

Just as he was about to put a bowl of brown rice porridge to his lips, someone ran up from outside the courtyard shouting, "Village Chief! Yang Bantou is back!"

Clang.

The bowl of porridge almost slipped and fell to the ground.

The color drained from Yang Shuyu's face instantly, and his beard trembled. He slammed the bowl down on the table, not even bothering to button his shirt properly, and rushed to the door.

When Yang Shuqing stepped into the courtyard, Yang Shuyu had already forced a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Yang...Squad Leader Yang, you're back..."

Yang Shuqing didn't even look at the smiling face and asked directly.

"Where is the body?"

Four words were squeezed out from between his teeth.

Upon hearing this, Yang Shuyu broke out in a cold sweat.

"Yes, at Second Uncle's house. Nobody in the village dares to touch it; they're waiting for you to come back and handle it!"

"lead the way."

"Hey, hey."

Yang Shuyu bent over and led the way forward, her steps faltering, and she almost tripped over the threshold.

The gate to Yang Er's courtyard was still half-closed.

When he opened the door, a strange smell of sour alcohol, rottenness, and fermentation caused by the sweltering summer heat hit him, making Ma Liu wrinkle his nose and almost vomit up the dry biscuits he had eaten the night before.

Flies swarmed around the armchair in the room, buzzing and circling it.

Yang Er was still lying there.

In the sweltering summer heat, the corpse was already bloated, half of its face was swollen and dark green, the wound on its neck was black and dry, and large patches of blood on its clothes were hardened and black.

Those eyes were still open.

Wide-open.

It's like someone is waiting for him to collect a debt.

Yang Shuqing stood inside the threshold, motionless for a long time.

Zhao Si and Ma Liu retreated into the courtyard, even holding their breath.

Yang Shuyu lowered his head so low it was almost buried in his chest, not daring to utter a single word.

Only flies buzzed around in the room.

Yang Shuqing walked to the armchair and looked down at her younger brother.

This fat, greedy, foul-mouthed, good-for-nothing bastard is his brother.

When I was little and went hungry, I would hug his arm and cry.

When thunder rumbles at night, she would crawl into his tattered blankets and call out "Brother!"

Even if he grows up to be this rotten, he's still his brother.

Outsiders can say whatever they want.

But outsiders cannot be killed.

Yang Shuqing reached out and slowly closed Yang Er's eyes.

His finger trembled slightly when his fingertip touched the hardened flesh.

"Brother, you're late."

The words were spoken so softly that even Zhao Si outside the door couldn't hear them.

Yang Shuqing bent down and picked up the black iron token from beside the armchair.

The token was heavy, with a crooked "evil" character on the front and nine grimacing ghost faces on the back.

He examined it three times, his fingernails scraping along the cast patterns on the edges.

This thing is real.

He had seen the tokens of the Nine Evil Sect more than once; they had been seized from the county government's warehouse.

The iron content, the patterns, and the depth of the engraving on the ghost face all match up.

Yang Shuqing held the token in his palm and squatted down to examine the wound.

The neck was cut open cleanly and neatly, from left to right, with the cut slightly upturned.

The killer was either shorter than Yang Er or he pressed down on Yang Er when he attacked.

Looking at the several scratches on his chest, the knife strokes were curved and the angles were sinister, indeed reminiscent of the madmen of the Nine Evils Cult.

But the more Yang Shuqing looked, the more his brows furrowed.

This is going too smoothly, as smoothly as someone chewing up food and feeding it to your mouth.

He put the token into his pocket, turned around and went out.

Yang Shuyu quickly went to meet him, rubbing his hands together rapidly, sweat dripping down his temples.

"Yang, this matter... no one in the village dares to touch it."

Yang Shuqing stared at him.

"Tell me. Describe the entire process before and after the discovery of the body, don't leave out a single word."

Yang Shuyu dared not hide anything and recounted everything that happened: Zhang Xiaoshan came to get the food box that morning, found the door open, went inside and saw the corpse, and the token fell next to the chair.

He spoke haltingly, nearly biting his tongue several times.

After listening, Yang Shuqing asked, "Whom did Yang Er have a grudge against before his death?"

Yang Shuyu's face twitched.

This is a critical question. Who doesn't have a grudge against Yang Er?

He stole chickens, seized firewood, forced people to sell their land, harassed widows, and refused to pay back debts for alcohol. Even the old dog at the village entrance got kicked by him.

If we were to compile a list, half of Miki Village would have to be on paper.

Yang Shuyu's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Yang Shuqing thought of his younger brother's personality and didn't press him further, instead asking a different question.

"Where is Wang Yue?"

Yang Shuyu felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly recounted the story of how the snake was eliminated at Qingmu Mountain.

Wang Yue led a group up the mountain, accompanied by hunter Yang Dongxi, and specifically requested that Yi Yang join them.

Encountering a snake halfway up the mountain.

Later, only Yi Yang returned.

After Zhou Liang led the hunters up the mountain, they found several corpses, as well as snake blood, human blood, and messy footprints.

As for Wang Yue, his whereabouts are unknown.

At this point, Yang Shuyu glanced at Yang Shuqing furtively. Seeing that he wasn't angry, she added in a low voice, "Brother Yi said that he was swept down the slope by a snake, was unconscious all night, and only crawled back at dawn."

Yang Shuqing's pupils contracted slightly.

Yi Yang, the old woodcutter mentioned by his younger brother in his letter.

The only person to return alive from the mountain.

These words started swirling in his mind.

Wang Yue went up the mountain ostensibly to get rid of the snake, but in reality, he had another matter to attend to.

In that letter to Yang Da, he mentioned Zi Mu and Yi Yang.

This is something outsiders shouldn't know.

Now Yang Er is dead, Wang Yue has disappeared, and Zi Mu has vanished without a trace.

But Yi Yang was alive.

In addition, there's the Nine Evil Cult Token.

Yang Shuqing tapped his fingers twice on the hilt of the knife.

Did the members of the Nine Evil Cult come to Sanmu Village to kill Yang Er?

What's the point? Is it to have that fat body as a snack with drinks?

Nonsense.

But the token is real, and the knife marks match.

At first glance, this situation seems like a cult disturbance, but upon closer inspection, there are many things that are not quite right.

Yang Shuqing suppressed his doubts. "Take me to see that old woodcutter."

In the Yi family's courtyard.

Yi Yang leaned back in the rattan chair, a tattered fan covering his chest, his eyes half-closed, his face showing signs of post-illness weakness.

There was a knock on the courtyard gate.

Knock knock.

Yi Yang put the fan away, stood up while holding onto the rattan chair, and deliberately cracked his knees twice.

After the door opened, Yang Shuqing stood outside.

Zhao Si lifted the chain, Ma Liu held the knife, and two county yamen runners blocked their way like door gods.

Upon seeing the three people, Yi Yang froze for a moment, then hurriedly tried to bow.

"Yang...Yang the squad leader?"

His voice was hoarse, his breath was weak, and his back was bent over like an old shrimp.

"The old man heard you were back and was worried about what to do about things on the mountain. It wasn't that I didn't want to help that day, I almost lost my life..."

Yang Shuqing raised his hand to interrupt.

"Let's go inside and talk."

He stepped into the courtyard, his gaze sweeping over the rattan chair, the woodpile, the cracked walls, and the rough porcelain bowl under the old locust tree.

poor.

Everything in this yard seems to be struggling financially.

They're so poor that they don't even bother to question anything.

What great skills could an old woodcutter, nearly sixty years old, living in such a dilapidated courtyard and eating coarse rice and wild vegetables, possibly possess?

Zhao Si glanced at the wood-chopping knife in the corner, then at Yi Yang's gaunt appearance, and breathed softly through his nose.

Ma Liu didn't relax; he stood by the gate, blocking the way out.

Yang Shuqing didn't sit down; he stood in the courtyard, looking down at Yang Shuqing, and asked:

"Old man Yi, say it again that day on the mountain."

Yi Yang nodded repeatedly, his hand still resting on the back of the chair, and said with a touch of reminiscence:

"That day, Constable Wang asked me to lead the way, and how could the old man dare not go? When we got halfway up the mountain, that snake... oh my, that snake was frighteningly thick. With a sweep of its tail, it broke a tree."

He patted his chest, his lingering fear on his face so convincing, it was more real than the real thing.

"Officer Wang and the others rushed up to fight, while the old man hid behind. Later, that beast went berserk and charged at me. I was slow and couldn't dodge, so I was dragged down the slope."

"Where are you going?"

"At the bottom of the shady slope, there's a crooked tree. The old man bumped into the roots of that tree."

What was the sky like when you woke up?

"As dawn broke and the birds began to sing, the old man, his head spinning and his body aching terribly, called out a few times but received no response, so he began to climb up the vines."

"Did you hear any fighting in the middle?"

"No."

Yi Yang looked distressed. "After the old man fainted, he didn't move at all. When he woke up, the mountains were eerily quiet. The old man thought he had gone to the underworld."

He lowered his voice again as he said this.

"Yang, to tell you the truth, when I was unconscious, I dreamt that the Black and White Impermanence came and called my name. The old man is clumsy with words and didn't dare to answer. Hey, I survived because I didn't answer."

Yang Shuqing did not offer any opinion on the matter of ghosts and gods, but he asked a few more detailed questions.

Yi Yang answered.

He answered slowly in some parts and had to think for a long time in others, but the answers still matched up.

An old man who is still in shock is exactly what he should be like.

Even his fear was tinged with the rambling of a country bumpkin.

Yang Shuqing looked at him; his body was thin and his hair was gray.

Deep wrinkles, and calluses all over the back of his hands.

My legs are still shaking.

If this person can truly orchestrate a scheme between Wang Yue, the giant snake, and the Nine Evil Sects, then he is not an old woodcutter, but a cunning old fox who has cultivated himself into a spirit in the mountains.

But then again, strange things are never short of happening in this world.

Yang Shuqing nodded, indicating that the questioning was over: "Uncle Yi, thank you for your hard work."

Yi Yang hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no, this old man's life is worthless, I'm already lucky to be alive."

"I will go see the snake on the mountain myself. Wang Yue is my man, and he has to give me an explanation."

Yang Shuqing turned and walked out.

He stopped at the gate and looked back at Yi Yang.

"If you remember anything, come to the village chief's house to find me."

Yi Yang bent down even lower. "Don't worry, Chief Yang, if the old man remembers even half a word, he'll crawl over and report it."

Yang Shuqing didn't say anything more and left with Zhao Si and Ma Liu.

The three walked along the village road toward the village chief's house. After passing the section of earthen wall in the Yi family's courtyard, Zhao Si slowed down a bit and moved closer.

"Boss, are you just letting that old man go like that?"

He lowered his voice, the chain swaying gently in his hand.

"Of all the people who went up the mountain that day, he was the only one who came back alive."