Chapter 63: Taking All the Benefits

In Shanyang City, there was no scene of devastation.

When the army entered from the outside, Ning Xuan was riding a tall horse. He held the reins with both hands, and both he and the horse under him were very careful. The horse felt his terrifying aura, and he was afraid that he would accidentally squeeze the horse to death with his legs.

He passed through the streets, and there were people on the streets.

Many people.

The people from all over looked up at him with a blank expression, as if they did not understand why he had come.

The dozen or so cavalrymen who were clearing the way in front beat gongs and drums, and split up. While beating the gongs and drums, they shouted, “The demons have been executed! The demons have been executed! Everyone can come out!”

The cavalrymen only said “the demons have been executed,” but they did not say “the demons disguised themselves as Zhuangyuan Lang Huang.”

The latter… could not be said.

Just like someone in the imperial family, no matter how dissolute and lawless, no matter how evil, they would be given a cup of poisonous wine to die with dignity, and the things they had done would never be made public.

That was to protect a group, and one could not be careless.

When Ning Xuan rode past another market, an old man who looked to be of high prestige and respect came out, surrounded by many people.

“This old man is Lu Yuying. I once served as the prefect of Shanyang. I have seen the General.”

Ning Xuan glanced at the old man and immediately understood in his heart that this should be a prefect who managed the people’s livelihood and taxes, a prefect on the surface, not a prefect who gathered dragon qi.

He nodded slightly and said, “What advice does the elder have?”

The old man also bowed and asked carefully, “May I ask the General, which demons have been executed?”

Ning Xuan said, “The demons hidden in the bustling city.”

The old man said, “Is Mr. Huang… Mr. Huang safe? Please don’t blame Mr. Huang. Mr. Huang is a good person. Since he came to Shanyang Prefecture, he has been leading his trusted subordinates to kill demons and eliminate evil, and has helped everyone solve many troubles.”

This old man had been a prefect on the surface after all, so he naturally knew Huang Cihe’s true identity. At this time, seeing this situation, he thought that the people outside had come to hold him accountable, so he and everyone else stood up, which was considered to be “expressing the people’s will,” to prove that the real Prefect Huang had actually done a very good job.

After speaking, he knelt down.

The people around him also knelt down in a dense crowd.

“Please don’t blame Mr. Huang, General.”

The people in the back row even whispered.

You say, “Mr. Huang beheads demons every three or five days and hangs their heads in the bustling city.” He says, “The dogs in that village were almost unable to survive. It was Mr. Huang who paid out of his own pocket and sent a cart of rice, and they survived.” Someone else said, “Mr. Huang is benevolent and has saved my eldest son and many people. Mr. Huang is really a good person…”

Ning Xuan understood.

It turned out that the demon who had disguised himself as Huang Cihe also knew medicine.

More and more people knelt down, even blocking the way.

The horse under Ning Xuan became more and more nervous.

Finally, Chou Nu came up.

Compared to Ning Xuan, Chou Nu was better at dealing with this kind of scene.

Chou Nu comforted everyone with a few words, and then let the soldiers who had entered the city move forward normally.

He himself rode side by side with Ning Xuan, and then said softly, “The prefects all have the hearts of the people. Mr. Taiyi’s prestige in Wangyue Prefecture is even greater. This Huang Cihe has just taken office, so he will naturally do everything. It seems that these demons have also made a lot of preparations.”

Ning Xuan nodded slightly and asked, “The position of prefect of Shanyang Prefecture is vacant. Who will take office?”

Chou Nu smiled and said, “Even the General doesn’t know, so I don’t know either. I think this time it will be personally appointed by the Son of Heaven.”

Ning Xuan said, “Are all of you Heavenly Masters so powerful after the third grade?”

Chou Nu said, “The third grade is a big threshold that requires opportunity. It is a realm that one may not be able to reach in a lifetime. It is not easy. I don’t even know anything about this realm. This time, it has also opened my eyes.”

As the two brothers were talking, Ning Xuan soon arrived at the Huang residence.

The entire Huang residence was shrouded in a layer of dark purple smoke, as if it were tied with a rope.

Many soldiers were guarding the side.

After Ning Xuan arrived, the soldiers all made way.

Ning Xuan tried to take out the tiger tally and waved it at the dark purple smoke.

The dark purple smoke immediately let out a strange “woo woo” sound, and then with a sharp scream, the smoke disappeared.

A soldier took two steps forward and pushed open the door.

There was no one behind the door.

The soldiers rushed in again and opened the doors one by one. If they found that there was a situation in the room, they would all guard the door…

Soon, Ning Xuan stepped into it.

He walked around the Huang residence.

Everything in the Huang residence had been dealt with with dignity.

A headless fox was wearing brocade clothes and sitting in the main hall. It was the one who had disguised himself as Huang Cihe. It seemed that this headless fox was still thinking about laying out its cards for the next trouble and having a game, but it did not expect to die so suddenly.

Obviously, it was killed by a human demon.

But what did it encounter before it died?

Ning Xuan observed for a moment.

He found that the main hall was in a mess, with broken tables, broken chairs, broken bookshelves, countless claw marks, and some broken human skins that had been pierced and were lying limply on the side. But the walls, doors, windows, and floor were all intact.

‘Such a long distance…’

‘Such a terrifying and precise suppressive force…’

Ning Xuan thought of the scene where the purple-black great seal rose into the air and covered the city, and couldn’t help but feel emotional in his heart.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

He looked at the headless fox, and blood gushed out, dyeing the brocade robe red. The blood also spread under the four legs of the armchair, forming a small pool of blood.

He walked forward a few steps and dipped his finger slightly in the pool of blood.

Information appeared…

[Mysterious Hidden Fox]

[Heavenly Demon Life Attribute, Fox Class, Ordinary Family, Mysterious Hidden Species (Constitution): 1.5]

[Innate Demonic Technique 1: Mysterious Hidden Qi: Extinguish demonic qi, breathe like dust, and blend in with the human world.]

[Innate Demonic Technique 2: Mysterious Hidden Shape-Shifting: Observe bones and copy skin, listen to sounds and steal appearances, making it difficult to distinguish between true and false.]

Hidden qi and shape-shifting?

Ning Xuan’s pupils shrank slightly.

What a good thing.

He did not hesitate and refined it in an instant.

Although the power of this fox demon was insignificant, the two innate demonic techniques were extremely effective.

At the same time, he also understood one thing.

This fox demon called [Mysterious Hidden Fox] was a special fox demon. Its original constitution was definitely not just 1.5. It was just that in order to steal the dragon qi, after it came here and became a prefect, its constitution was forcibly reduced to 1.5.

Those who gathered dragon qi were only mortals. This was an iron law that no one could avoid.

He thought for a moment, and then took a bottle and filled it with a lot of blood from here, preparing to give it to Xiao Jie.

If Xiao Jie wanted to become a demonic plague martial artist, then this demon called [Mysterious Hidden Fox] was the most suitable.

Then, Ning Xuan checked the Huang residence again. He found that besides this headless fox, the ordinary people in the Huang residence were also all dead, not a single one was left. However, he did not find that Qin Yi’er who should have become Mrs. Huang… it seemed that she had not married here yet.

On the other side, Chou Nu waved his hand and quickly arranged for the handling.

And besides the Huang residence, there were also two other residences and a restaurant that were sealed by the dark purple smoke.

Ning Xuan went to open them one by one. There were indeed demons inside, but there were more ordinary people. All these people had been dealt with with dignity.

Not a single one was left alive.

To the outside world, it was naturally said that they had died because of the demons.

A dark water prison, with almost no light.

The damp water vapor gathered on the stone roof, and then fell, creating ripples in the accumulated water.

Suddenly, with a creak, the door opened.

A huge and strong black shadow outside the door hunched its back, and only then could it enter through the door. Then the black shadow squatted on the stone platform in front of the water prison, looked at a dying woman in the water prison, and lit the wall lamp.

The light of the wall lamp shone down, making the black shadow’s burly figure even more prominent.

The surroundings of this black shadow seemed to be glowing, and a blazing fire was burning.

This black shadow suddenly coughed.

The woman woke up from her coma when she heard the sound. She opened her eyes, and the moment her pair of eyes saw the black shadow, they suddenly widened, and then an indescribable fear was revealed.

“Mountain… Mountain Lord…”

“Mountain Lord!”

“Husband!”

“Husband, I… I never thought of betraying you. I looked for Jin’er and asked her to find that Ning Xuan, just to help you win him over. I have no other intentions, no other intentions at all.”

“Ning Xuan is just a yellow-haired boy. How could I think of going to him? Everything I did was for you, husband. After so many years, don’t you understand my heart for you?”

The black shadow squatted like a mountain, silent.

The woman continued to chatter and cry and beg.

She was worried that if she could not move the man in front of her this time, she did not know when she would have to wait until next time, and whether she could hold on until then.

This woman was Madam Zhao.

That day, she was thinking of mobilizing resources to help Ning Xuan, but in a flash, she was caught by Qin Shan Jun, the Great General Qin.

Not only her, but also Qin Yi’er and others were also caught.

If she had a God’s perspective, she would definitely know the purpose of Qin Shan Jun’s actions.

First, he was afraid that she would affect the “Huang Cihe” appointment plan;

Second, he was afraid that she would affect the “assassination of Ning Xuan” plan;

Third, Qin Yi’er was locked up, so she naturally could not go to Shanyang Prefecture, to the side of the demons, and thus her life could be saved;

Fourth… perhaps it was at this moment…

At this moment, the “failure of Shanyang Prefecture.”

If Qin Shan Jun had known that the heavens and the earth would send down a rain of losing one’s mind and give a warning, he would definitely not have written a memorial saying something like “I implore Your Majesty to order General An Yuan Ning and that Huang Cihe to abandon their old grudges and go to the demon disaster together.”

This sentence, after confirming that Huang Cihe was a demon, would also announce the end of his career as a great general.

The black shadow squatted and suddenly said in a low voice, “Zhao Zhi, your worry is not wrong. I have colluded with the demons.”

Zhao Zhi was Madam Zhao.

She was stunned for a moment when she heard this, and was about to say something like “I will follow you wherever you go. If you collude with the demons, then I will also collude with the demons,” but she was interrupted by the black shadow’s second sentence.

“I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back. I’ve left something in the secret room for you to use to make a contribution.

Change the master of the Qin family and extend the bloodline. The boy you have your eyes on has broken the killing situation three or five times, and he is very vigilant… maybe he can live to become a great general.”

As the last few words fell, Qin Shan Jun’s fingers hung down, and he gently pressed down with a calm and light touch.

The water rippled, and a wisp of water rippled and hit the fine steel prison pillar. The prison pillar did not break, but the shackles on Madam Zhao’s hands and feet “cracked” and were unlocked.

A wisp of force was transmitted for dozens of zhang, without causing any extra aftershocks, but just accurately exploded at a certain point with just the right amount of power, not a bit more, not a bit less.

Even now, if someone were to look at the unlocked shackles, they would think that they were opened by the jailer, or that Madam Zhao had found a way to unlock them herself.

After Qin Shan Jun finished these, he turned and left the water prison.

He had no luck, no anger, no impulse.

If he lost, he lost. He would just leave.

More than ten days later…

Ning Xuan returned to Wangyue Prefecture.

Although Shanyang Prefecture was in chaos, there were people who were in charge of the overall situation.

He had the “veto power” and the “power to mobilize at will,” but he did not need to manage the specific affairs.

Although he had not yet obtained the tiger tally of the five prefectures, the imperial edict had already been issued. His fiefdom had changed from the original Wangyue Prefecture to the five prefectures of Wangyue, Shanyang, Shanyin, Liuyun, and Ping’an.

At this time, he was sitting in a landscape pavilion. Suddenly, a golden light surged from the ground beside him, and Immortal Aunt Yaozhen walked out from it. She held a bottle in her hand and placed it on the stone table in the pavilion, and said, “If it were before, I would not have helped you use the dragon fire to refine a pill for your little concubine, even if it was an unranked pill, I would not have refined it. Now you know the benefits of having a larger fiefdom, right? There is so much dragon fire that you can refine this kind of pill at will. Not only me, but other Heavenly Masters can also refine pills with your permission.”

Ning Xuan and the Immortal Aunt were already quite familiar with each other. He smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen flicked her whisk and sat on his other side, and asked, “How is your second-grade nature-attribute demon pill digesting?”

Ning Xuan’s mind drifted to the dark purple Heavenly Master’s Seal, and the few families in Shanyang Prefecture that had been silenced along with the demons. He said without hesitation, “I haven’t felt it yet. The medicinal power should not have dissolved yet.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said, “The second grade is quite difficult for a demonic plague martial artist, but it should not be difficult for a general.

What is truly difficult is the third grade. The third grade requires passing a tribulation, which is said to be a heart demon tribulation.

I have seen in the records that there was a general in the past who failed to pass the tribulation four times after taking a third-grade pill. The fifth time… he became a human demon.”

Ning Xuan was silent for a moment.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said, “Don’t worry. Even if you go crazy and become a human demon, I will take you with me and treat you well. You are my partner.”

Ning Xuan thought of Tianyouzi and his six prison carts that he had seen before.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen’s thoughts were still quite agile, “I’ll just take you.”

Ning Xuan said, “Thank you.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said, “Who let me bind the whisper to you?”

Ning Xuan thought for a moment and suddenly said, “Yaozhen, actually, next time… you can go and ask clearly whether your whisper is bound to one person for life, or one person at a time.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen: …

Ning Xuan asked, “Have you asked?”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen recalled, “I was the youngest in the Zixia Temple in the imperial capital. My senior brothers and sisters told me that I could only bind one. It can’t be that I can only bind one at a time, right?”

Ning Xuan was stunned for a moment, “You are the youngest disciple of the Zixia Temple in the imperial capital?”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said, “Don’t look down on me.”

After speaking, she said again, “What you just said, there is actually nothing to ask. I have given you the pill. I still have to continue to cultivate. I… want to break through to the third grade as soon as possible. You can’t hold me back!”

Ning Xuan nodded.

A golden light flashed, and Immortal Aunt Yaozhen disappeared on the spot.

A few more days passed.

The cultivating Immortal Aunt Yaozhen appeared in the General’s residence again.

As soon as she appeared, she said, “Qin Shan Jun has indeed colluded with the demons. Our people have not yet arrived, and he has already run away.

His Majesty is very angry. Now he plans to announce to the world that Great General Qin was assassinated by the demons.

This time, the Frozen Hell must be broken no matter what.”

As Ning Xuan listened, some emotion rose in his heart.

Before he wanted to attack Shanyang Prefecture, he was still quite nervous. He also thought that even if he came to Shanyang Prefecture this time, it would be a battle to the death, because he not only needed to fight Shanyang, but also had to guard against the black hand of Great General Qin in the periphery. After all, the assassination of the White Mountain Zen Master had made him very clear that “Great General Qin was prepared to send people, and was prepared to use his left hand to deal with his right hand, and arrange for his own people to deal with his own people.”

But now…

He was like a passerby, just walking around.

There was no need for him to rush to the front.

Shanyang Prefecture was broken, and Great General Qin ran away.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said again, “Although there are still some generals near Hanzhou, they are no match for you. His Majesty said that you should set off quickly, enter the Qin General’s residence, and temporarily stabilize the situation. However, correspondingly, you also have to lead people to the Frozen Hell and assist in this attack.”