Bold Witch, Don’T Hurt My Husband

Chapter 40: Fangyang County

Before sunset, the four finally arrived at Azure Mountain Town. Although it was called a town, it wasn't as bustling as he had imagined. The population was large, and most of the people here had cultivation, but mostly at the Qi circulation and Body Transformation stages.

This was a gathering place for outer disciples of the Demon Sect. Many people who lacked talent for immortality would come here to live. Some even got married and had children here. If the child had good talent, they could directly join the Demon Sect.

The entire town was not big, but it had everything one needed. There were occasional merchants on the official road, and the laws of the country did not reach here, so new rules had been formed.

In the only inn in Azure Mountain Town, Xia Fan boredly watched the pedestrians passing by outside the window. He hadn't seen scenes like this for a long time. Mirror Moon Valley was good, but as a young person, how could he be willing to stay on the mountain all the time? This kind of life, full of worldly hustle and bustle, was what he wanted now.

With a creak, the door was opened and Zhong Yue and the other two entered.

"The tiger demon's body has been disposed of. Here's your share!"

Saying that, Zhong Yue threw over a money bag. Xia Fan caught it and opened it, only to find two jade bottles, several jade stones emitting spiritual light, and some gold leaves inside.

"What's this?"

Seeing his puzzled expression, Zhong Yue explained, "We went to Yingzhou to investigate the situation this time. We might encounter danger, so these two bottles are respectively a Mana Recovery Pill and a Blood Condensation Pill. One restores mana, the other heals injuries. It's better to be prepared. As for the jade stones, they are the leftovers, and the gold leaves are for our expenses outside!"

Only cultivators would use spiritual stones for transactions. When traveling in the mortal world, it was necessary to have some gold and silver.

Xia Fan nodded in understanding. He had heard of spiritual stones before but had never seen them. When he was at the Qi circulation stage, he focused on stabilizing his cultivation, and Liu Shifei never allowed him to use them. After reaching the Body Transformation stage, it was much faster to level up a new character than to use spiritual stones, so he didn't need them at all.

He casually put them away without paying much attention. After all, he had "Wuwa" with him, so he could save on most ordinary spiritual stones and pills. As for Law Weapons, he didn't need them either. A sword was enough.

Seeing him accept it, Ding Peng stepped forward and placed a map on the table. "The journey to Yingzhou is not close. We can't rely solely on our legs to travel. I have prepared horses. Pack some dry rations and we'll set off tomorrow morning. It will take about a month if we hurry, or a month and a half if we take it slow."

Looking at the map, Xia Fan found that Fangyang County in Ping'an Prefecture was still quite far from Bright City in Nanzhou. It was unrealistic to walk there, unless he reached the Gold Core stage and flew over.

He couldn't help but sigh at this. He felt that he should improve his cultivation as soon as possible. At the same time, he lamented why the Demon Sect was so remote and the transportation so underdeveloped.

Afterwards, the four settled down in the town. The next morning, they mounted their horses and left Azure Mountain Town.

Seeing this, an old man with a limp at the entrance of the town couldn't help but sigh. He had seen too many young people like this. He had been one of them when he was young. However, he didn't know how many of them would come back safely. After all, there were dangers everywhere on the path of cultivation, and not everyone had the luck to return.

One month later

The four horses galloped on the official road, and Xia Fan and the other three, who had been on the road for a month, had extraordinary temperaments.

In this month, they rarely rested in cities, only occasionally going in to resupply. Fortunately, they all had cultivation and could endure it.

"Phew~"

Accompanied by the neighing of the horses, the four stood on a high ground, and in the distance was a county town.

"According to the information, there have been recent demonic outbreaks in various places in Yingzhou. Our destination this time is a village in Fangyang County, Ping'an Prefecture. If it's a demon, kill it. If we can't handle it, retreat and report to the sect. Don't act recklessly!" Ding Peng said calmly.

Actually, there were demonic outbreaks every year, but this time the situation in Yingzhou was more serious. They were only responsible for one target. After all, the sect couldn't send only a few of them.

Obviously, Ding Peng had been out many times before. He was also the core member among the four, which Xia Fan had realized in this month. Both Wang Lian and Zhong Yue trusted him.

With that, everyone nodded and immediately spurred their horses, heading towards Fangyang County ahead.

As soon as the four of them entered, they noticed some differences. It was clearly afternoon, but there weren't many people on the street. White paper money could be seen everywhere, creating a desolate scene that was completely different from what they had seen in Bright City.

The people they saw on the street all had a gloomy and defeated look on their faces.

"What's going on? Something doesn't seem right!" Zhong Yue asked in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Xia Fan quickly closed his eyes and used a secret technique - Spirit Ascension.

When he opened his eyes again, a purple light flashed in his eyes. Everywhere he looked, whether it was people or objects, there was a faint gray aura, accompanied by a nauseating feeling.

"It's corpse energy!"

The Spirit Ascension secret technique was similar to the Aura Examination Technique of the Dao Sect. It allowed one to see the balance of yin and yang, determine life and death, and observe luck.

He was not unfamiliar with that layer of gray aura. Teng Jun, whom he had fought against before, had that kind of corpse energy. However, what puzzled him was why there was a nauseating feeling.

Ding Peng calmly said, "Things are not simple. Be careful, many people have died nearby, otherwise there wouldn't be such heavy corpse energy!"

Sure enough, as the four of them entered, white cloth was hung everywhere in Fangyang County. If it weren't for some people still moving around, they would have thought that there were no living people here anymore.

"Four rooms upstairs, bring another table of food and drinks!"

Entering a deserted inn, Ding Peng threw a gold leaf at the waiter inside and said.

The young waiter was visibly stunned when he saw a customer coming in, but his eyes lit up when he saw the golden leaf.

"Alright, please wait a moment, I'll take you upstairs first, and the food and drinks will follow!"

The entire inn only had the four of them. Soon, the waiter brought the food and drinks to their room.

"Enjoy your meal, call me if you need anything!" he said and was about to leave. Upon seeing this, Xia Fan quickly said,

"Wait, young man, I want to ask you something. What's been happening in Fangyang County?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter's face clearly showed fear, as if he didn't want to say much. Seeing this, Xia Fan flicked his finger and a gold leaf fell into the waiter's hand, the meaning behind it was self-evident.

"Thank you, sir!"

Under the temptation of the gold leaf, the waiter frowned and then looked around before whispering,

"To be honest, there might be ghosts haunting our Fangyang County recently."

"Ghosts?"

Seeing the four of them looking surprised and doubtful, the waiter continued,

"Half a year ago, seven people died in seven days in Huangning Village to the south of the county. One person died each day, and all of them were young and middle-aged. It is said that their internal organs were emptied, leaving only their skin."

"After that, a few young men who looked like Taoists were brought in by the county magistrate to catch the ghosts. But the next day, the bodies of those Taoists were found at the entrance of the county government office. The elderly say that vengeful spirits have come for revenge!"

"And then... it spiraled out of control. People die almost every day, and the causes of death are all strange and varied. In just half a year, our Fangyang County has become like this. Hey, I advise you gentlemen to leave as soon as possible if you have nothing to do here!"

After speaking, the waiter quickly shut his mouth and slowly left the room. Upon hearing this, the four of them couldn't help but exchange glances. It seemed like they had come to the right place.

(End of this chapter)