Ancestral Master Zhang Tianshi taught the Dao of nature and cultivating Qi with a calm mind, and he even practiced Tai Chi.
Though Mr. Chun had a loud voice, he only knew how to spray saliva. How could he survive in this chaotic world!
It seems this Cultivation Technique is not something ordinary people can possess.
"...A teacher educates people and imparts virtue; he should lead by example and not disgrace the literati."
After a subtly pointed remark, Xue Ling put down the silver and turned to leave.
Mr. Chun was so choked up that his face turned purple, and his hands trembled, unable to speak for a long time.
Finally, after sending all the little rascals home, Xue Ling's fake smile stiffened. He rubbed his face, returning to his expressionless state.
Rome wasn't built in a day. With this face, changing his reputation would be harder than ascending to the heavens.
It was getting late; he had to go back.
As he took a step, the panel before Xue Ling's eyes suddenly changed subtly!
【Cultivation Technique: Vajra Fist (Great Perfection)】
【Lifespan: One Year】
【Points: Eight】
His points increased by one. It wasn't much, but it was a definite increase!
It seems that preventing Yao Beasts from devouring living people and saving their lives could also earn points!
It was always related to Yao Beasts!
With this unexpected bonus of points as comfort, Xue Ling finally felt a little better, his tone becoming much lighter: "Old Mamas, you've worked hard. Take this broken silver to spend."
Throughout the journey, the Old Mamas feared Xue Ling, eagerly taking scoldings and offering a basket full of flattering words with a fawning smile.
Xue Ling saw all of this.
With a small bag of silver in her hand, heavy and reassuring, the Old Mamas couldn't believe her ears. Had this jackal changed his nature?
"Oh, this old woman thanks Lord Xue for the reward!" The Old Mamas left joyfully.
Uncle Fu and the others, who had been secretly following all along, nearly dropped their jaws.
"Little Six, am I, this old man, living too long and seeing illusions?"
"Old Uncle Fu, I saw it too. Lord Xue apologized and even said kind words..."
The simple-minded Old Nine rubbed his eyes: "Me too... But Lord Xue still cursed that private tutor, and it sounded quite nasty."
Uncle Fu slapped his forehead: "So he wasn't buying children? Lord Xue was doing good deeds!"
"What about those people locked in the dungeon... Why didn't Lord Xue mention them?"
The three looked at each other, coming to the same conclusion: things were abnormal recently, so they needed to be even more cautious.
They ran off, taking a shortcut to return.
With two pressing dirty deeds, one of them gone, Xue Ling felt a sense of relief. As he entered, he saw Uncle Fu and the other two sweating profusely and trembling.
Aiding and abetting evil, a petty sycophant.
Xue Ling couldn't be bothered to waste words on them, "The sun is good, let's go, I'll take you for a walk."
It was a scorching summer day, almost noon, but Uncle Fu and the others dared not utter a single word. They grabbed their tools and followed.
As they walked, they ended up at the small courtyard outside the city.
"We've walked enough, let's get to work."
Opening the courtyard gate, a Hell on earth appeared. Beside the enormous Fox Demon's corpse was a small mountain of skeletal remains.
"A Fox Demon!"
"It's dead, headless!"
"That head this morning... Lord Xue really killed the Fox Demon?!"
It was a scorching summer day, flies buzzed everywhere, and maggots had already appeared.
The corpse collectors, accustomed to bloody and brutal scenes, couldn't last even a quarter of an hour. They rushed out, each almost vomiting their guts out.
Uncle Fu, his face pale from vomiting, didn't forget to flatter, "Lord Xue, truly mighty!"
Xue Ling stood even further away. He kept thinking about the Rabbit Demon the County Magistrate mentioned, feeling uneasy.
Borrowing troops from the west of the city, converging in the south of the city, it shouldn't be the Rabbit Demon from the east of the city, right?
But he couldn't recall any other Rabbit Demons nearby. The more he thought, the more anxious he became, pacing in a frenzy.
Outside Qingyang County, there was an old tea mountain, and on it lived a pair of old Rabbit Demons.
That pair of Rabbit Demons had always been cautious, the male strong and the female powerful. Rabbits don't eat grass by their burrows; they always traveled to other places to forage, secretly and swiftly.
They had just given birth to a litter two days ago, so they would be even less likely to intentionally draw attention.
But if there was no reliable information, the Demon Suppression Division people wouldn't come. Wouldn't the original owner's dealings also be discovered then?
Hei Da, the one from the Demon Suppression Division who delivered the message, had deliberately scrutinized him just now... The more he thought, the more panicked he became. In broad daylight, at high noon, Xue Ling's hair stood on end.
No, if he had been discovered, he would have been chopped up on the spot by the Demon Suppression Division people!
Were they really after the Rabbit Demon from the east of the city?
Troubles piled up one after another, and Xue Ling was almost driven mad.
Uncle Fu cautiously approached to ask, "Lord Xue, everything has been loaded onto the carts... Phew! Are we going back now?"
Go back?
What if it really was the Rabbit Demon the original owner had colluded with?
Xue Ling made up his mind, "Have two people push a cart and follow me. You all drag the Fox Demon's corpse back."
He would use these corpses as a stepping stone to get close to the Rabbit Demon and kill it cleanly.
"Ah?" Uncle Fu was dumbfounded.
Seeing him send the children home that morning, he thought Heaven had finally opened its eyes, but he didn't expect this Xue Gou's tormenting skills to be even more formidable.
"Ah what?"
Uncle Fu's heart was in his throat: "Lord Xue, in broad daylight, even though the Fox Demon is dead, parading it through the streets..."
He had forgotten that detail.
"You're right. Bury the Fox Demon on the spot. You two push the corpses and follow me. The others can go back."
Xue Ling pointed to Little Six and Old Nine, whom he had just seen that morning.
He figured he still needed a handy weapon; the more life-saving tools, the better.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Uncle Fu hadn't expected Xue Ling to actually listen. He looked up at the sky; the sun hadn't risen from the west!
It must be that Xue Gou knew people from above were coming, so he restrained his temper and acted cautiously, otherwise, they would all be in deep trouble.
Uncle Fu, concerned about the big matter, stammered and leaned in again: "Lord Xue, forgive this old servant for speaking out of turn, but those people in the dungeon..."
Dungeon? What dungeon?
Xue Ling suddenly realized what Uncle Fu was referring to with the dungeon.
The deceased's belongings and money varied, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. To advance his career, the original owner extorted money everywhere. Ordinary people were arrested on a whim, fabricated charges, and thrown into the dungeon. Only when enough ransom money was collected and a confession written were they released.
He used his power to bully others and acted recklessly.
In just one day, there were more things than in his entire past life!
Xue Ling's teeth were almost ground to dust, and his temples throbbed. The original owner was truly a disaster, always causing trouble!
The Demon Suppression Division's ring-hilted scimitars were already at his neck. The original owner died and was done with it, but he, unlucky enough to inherit the body, could only clean up the messes everywhere.
His mother's!
"I know, you all go back." Xue Ling suppressed his anger, his mind racing.
"Aye, alright, alright."
Uncle Fu stared blankly at Xue Ling. Usually, Xue Ling hated it when someone nagged him, and if anything displeased him, he often resorted to violence.
But today he had changed his nature. He looked extremely angry, yet he didn't hit anyone?
He hadn't heard that killing Yao Beasts could have this effect?
Xue Ling asked everyone to borrow a knife, "By the way, do you have a knife? Find me a knife."
"A knife?" Uncle Fu's voice was distorted. No wonder he wasn't hitting him; he was going to stab him to death!
Someone nearby quietly handed over a dagger. Uncle Fu closed his eyes, resigned to his fate.
"Thank you." Xue Ling tested the blade and tucked it into his waist.
"No... No need to thank me..." Believing he had escaped from the gates of Hell, Uncle Fu's knees buckled, and he couldn't speak clearly.
Xue Ling helped him up, thinking the old man had heatstroke, "The sun is strong. You all go back. I'm leaving first."
"Ah? Oh, alright, alright, thank... thank you for your concern, Lord Xue."
Uncle Fu was completely bewildered, more frightened than when he saw the Fox Demon at dawn.
The others were also quite scared, staring blankly as Xue Ling and the two others walked away.
Xue Ling was in a desperate hurry, rushing non-stop to the old tea mountain.
Despite the bright daylight and clear sky, there were pitifully few people on the mountain path.
Calling it a mountain path, this area had long been desolate. It was actually a beast trail, very wide, indicating the large size of the Rabbit Demon.
The slope was covered in large and small holes, tea trees withered and fallen everywhere, weeds overgrown, making it dilapidated and eerie.
The mountain ridges on both sides converged, with a short, steep slope in the middle, easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Bones were scattered and piled at the bottom of the slope, with clear teeth marks visible on them.
Little Six and Old Nine pushed two carts of dismembered corpses, growing more anxious with each step.
"Lo... Lord Xue, further ahead is White Bone Slope, where people die if they pass, and ghosts perish if they pass..." Old Nine, though burly, cowered and dared not advance.
Little Six, only a teenager, was already crying: "If we're going to bury them, let's find a place with good feng shui... Crows don't even come to this place..."
Anyway, they had reached the area. Xue Ling was about to tell them to leave, but then he changed his mind.
They could still serve as bait to lure out the Rabbit Demon.
"Scared? Then you two wait for me over there, and we'll go back together later."
"Alright, alright! Lord Xue, take care!"
Little Six and Old Nine ran off in a flash, stopping only at the furthest intersection, eagerly waiting for Xue Ling to return.
"And they want to be lackeys, tsk..." Xue Ling pushed one cart himself and walked in. Anyway, his arm strength was formidable now, so it wasn't strenuous.
"Brother Rabbit?"
"Brother Rabbit? I've come to bring you a gift!"
Under the scorching sun, Xue Ling shouted into each rabbit hole, his throat dry from yelling.
Could this Rabbit Demon have caught wind of something and already fled?
But with a new litter just born, even if the male could run, could the female, having just given birth, also run?
"Lord Rabbit!" Xue Ling channeled Qi into his Dantian, and roared at the top of his lungs: "Rabbits!"
The sound exploded, passing through the weeds and barren slope, startling many snakes, insects, and birds, and echoing widely.
"You came before your time?" A low, eerie voice came from behind him.
Xue Ling's back stiffened. Despite being mentally prepared, he was still startled.
At the cave entrance, a pair of enormous blood-red eyes stared fixedly at Xue Ling.
Half in the sunlight, half in the shadows, full of scrutiny.
This Rabbit Demon was even larger than the Fox Demon, its long fur unable to conceal its unusually robust and muscular physique. It was false to say he wasn't panicked.
Xue Ling instinctively forced a smile.
"Oh my, I finally found you, brother. It's my first time coming during the day, almost got lost. I brought good things! To nourish your wife!"
The Rabbit Demon's tone showed disdain: "They're all rotten, and you call them good things?"
"The sun is strong, so I brought them as quickly as possible. There's another cart below!"
The Rabbit Demon twitched its nose, half-believing: "Last time you complained about how difficult it was..."
It confirmed that Xue Ling had no weapons on him and was as solicitous and deferential as ever before gradually lowering its guard.
"Things have been scarce lately, so I brought them as soon as I got them. Lord Rabbit said: you can't let the children suffer..."
"I'll go drag that other cart. You hold this one first." Xue Ling was very attentive, handing the cart handle to the Rabbit Demon.
The wooden cart was old, with large patches of black grime on the handle.
The Rabbit Demon moved aside, "Consider it thoughtful of you. Alright, push it in."
Its fur was pure white, and it didn't want to get dirty.
"Aye, alright!"
Xue Ling quickly pushed the cart. The cave entrance was narrow. In the instant they brushed past each other, he pushed hard, and the wooden cart tilted, trapping the Rabbit Demon.
The Rabbit Demon was displeased: "What's wrong with you..."
It felt a sharp pain in its chest. Looking down, a dagger was plunged into its heart.
