Chapter 108: Qu Zhang

As the administrative center of Shengzhou, Weixian housed both the Jing’an Department office and the prefectural government, making any operation here fraught with risk.

Last night, after hearing from the carriage captain that they planned to rush back to Yuxian overnight and make a stop at Zhuxian, Lingchi considered using this to create a time difference.

However, he was uncertain whether the government office had any experts present. Facing a master at the ninth level of the Qi Sea, without the ability to unleash his full power, it would be difficult to win. Prudence was paramount; the more cautious, the better.

After a brief preparation, Lingchi set off for Weixian. Avoiding official roads, he crossed mountains and forests, using the Thunder Flash technique to speed through the wilderness.

Before dawn, he entered the city disguised as the Black-faced, Bristly-bearded Skull Crusher Demon King, Song Jiang, employing the Art of Divine Concealment to slip silently inside.

Perhaps due to recent conflicts with the Ghost Sect and Song Jiang, the patrols in Weixian were noticeably tighter than in Zhuyu counties.

Guards stood every few steps, with Jing’an Department flag officers and government constables patrolling the streets, alongside fully armored Shengzhou guards.

Lingchi frowned at the heavy security so early in the morning. He wondered if the two envoys from the Ghost Sect were still in Weixian.

Following the address in Qi Haichuan’s little booklet, Lingchi crept toward the target.

The Ghost Sect’s base was hidden within a brothel in the city. The brothel was merely a front; it was actually a place where they bought human slaves and vagrants.

The Thunder Pearl trembled intermittently, sentencing the passersby for their sins, but Lingchi’s immediate goal was to seize the transport talismans. These living sinners would be reaped later—he would let them live a few more days.

The brothel was quiet in the early morning; the exhausted girls and their clients from last night still slept soundly. Lingchi’s divine perception sharpened as he made a beeline for the backyard.

Those who had their tongues cut out and mouths gagged were chained in groups in the cellar. Members of the Ghost Sect patrolled the area.

Before leaving, the incense masters of the sect had repeatedly warned to guard the place well, or else they would be refined into human pills alongside the lowly slaves.

Lingchi found the meditation chamber where two incense masters, a man and a woman, were deeply immersed in cultivation. Their Qi Sea cultivation at the fourth level was no threat to Lingchi, who pushed the door open and struck immediately.

Two smashed skull hammers traced arcs, flashing cold light as they smashed into the bare chests of the two, closing in swiftly.

Their crimson iron fists, like furious dragons surging from the sea, smashed the heads of both.

Boom!

Two heads exploded, releasing four hundred strands of thunder spiritual energy to feed Lingchi.

He immediately searched the chamber, overturning boxes, tearing down walls, and digging into the floor. In a hidden cabinet, he found ten transport talismans and, satisfied, withdrew.

His objective achieved, he grew less cautious.

One by one, members of the Ghost Sect fell to the smashed skull hammers, many unaware of how they died.

Silently, he reaped the sins throughout the brothel. Those locked in the cellar were not freed; after scanning with the Thunder Pearl, he tossed down some food and left.

The brothel girls were knocked unconscious; guilty clients had their heads smashed.

The enforcers, guards, and madams were all wiped out. The brothel yielded over a thousand strands of thunder spiritual energy.

Lingchi headed straight for the Jing’an Department. With the carriage captain away, he slipped inside and unleashed slaughter.

The Thunder Pearl swiftly pronounced sentences; Lingchi executed with lightning speed. The flag officers were dispatched before they could even raise an alarm.

Most were taken down in mere moments, leaving only one chief flag officer and three junior flag officers alive; the rest turned into thunder spiritual energy, feeding back into the Thunder Crystal.

The guards and prisoners in the dungeon were not spared. Lingchi swung the smashed skull hammer, dispatching them one by one. Even minor cultivators at the body refining stage met the same fate; no matter how small the prey, it was still nourishment.

Jing’an Department was thoroughly cleansed, its evil transformed into Lingchi’s thunder spiritual energy, accelerating his growth.

Daylight had fully arrived. Those knocked unconscious had yet to awaken; the carnage continued.

One after another, brothels, gambling dens, slave gangs, and factions in the city suffered devastating blows, until a patrolling soldier detected the overwhelming stench of blood and stormed into a gambling hall, plunging Weixian into chaos.

“Close the doors! The Skull Crusher Demon King Song Jiang is here!”

“Run for your lives...!”

Merchants shouted to their assistants to shut their shops and seek refuge.

Small vendors hastily packed their goods and pushed carts homeward.

At the city gate, the drums sounded. Shengzhou’s mounted guards swept into the city to quell the disturbance.

At this moment, Lingchi transformed into an ordinary citizen, hunched and running with his head down. Whenever he encountered a marked target, he dragged them into an alley and struck them down with a hammer.

He left the corpses unattended, carelessly tossing them into the alleys like displays.

Passing by the Wei family mansion, he plunged inside.

Lingchi had not forgotten Wei Xuan’s commissioned task, though he was unsure whether this residence belonged to the main or collateral branch.

But to him, it made no difference. Under the Thunder Pearl’s judgment, the world was divided into two kinds: those who deserved death and those who did not.

Veiled by Divine Concealment, he created a barrier separating himself from the world; on his side, he slaughtered freely, while on the other side, people screamed in madness.

Boom!

He smashed the head of a young man with dark circles beneath his eyes, then turned to crush the skull of a strong maidservant.

Dozens of strands of thunder spiritual energy surged back to him.

Lingchi ransacked the place casually, not sparing the jars and pots in the kitchen.

Turning swiftly, he dashed out of the courtyard toward the next target marked by the Thunder Pearl.

The massacre at the Wei estate lasted for nearly a quarter of an incense stick. When he left, half the household was dead. Only when he glimpsed Wei Xuan did he realize he had slaughtered the employer’s own family.

“Notify the rest to gather together. Do not stray alone. Grandfather is coming to personally oversee the situation.”

Despite so many deaths, Wei Xuan’s voice remained cold and detached, entirely unlike her demeanor back in He County.

Lingchi felt no remorse; instead, he quietly approached Wei Xuan within thirty yards, allowing the Thunder Pearl to assess her.

He did not mind killing his employer now; if necessary, he could eliminate the entire Wei Ming branch afterward. After all, those who practiced corpse refinement were no good.

Unfortunately, the Thunder Pearl remained indifferent. Lingchi withdrew with some regret.

Suddenly, his divine perception caught sight of a figure escaping over the backyard wall of Wei Xuan’s mansion. His eyes lit up—the marked target had arrived.

He followed the figure to a small courtyard in the southern part of the city, extending his divine sense to encompass everything inside.

“Brother Qi, the main bloodline was just attacked by Song Jiang; several people died, including the young mistress Wei’s second brother,” reported a traitor.

“Good. I’ll inform the young master immediately.”

“The matter at the secret cave enraged the young master greatly; two of his trusted men have been slain. We must be cautious in our recent tasks—better to achieve nothing than to make a mistake.”

A man named Brother Qi patted the traitor’s shoulder solemnly.

“Rest assured, Brother Qi, my intelligence comes from my own eyes...” the traitor began, but suddenly blood spurted from his mouth midway.

Scalding blood sprayed all over Brother Qi’s face and hair, leaving him dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Lingchi pressed a finger to the traitor’s back, and the man died on the spot.

“Where is your young master?” Lingchi’s eyes gathered thunder, his presence imposing as the wrath of heaven.

“Outside the city... at the Dahuazhuang Estate,” the man blurted out distractedly.

Lingchi twisted his neck and walked away.