I Grind to Martial Saint

He Jian, of course, wasn’t about to give up. He decided to search other parts of Sanling Village.

When he walked out of the courtyard, however, he froze in place.

Outside the courtyard, there wasn’t a single soul.

The few government officials who had been following him just moments ago had mysteriously vanished.

’Impossible... I was right inside the house. Even if the men were attacked, I should have heard something.’

He Jian cautiously checked the surroundings but found no signs of a struggle.

Several large, sturdy men, gone just like that.

At this, even the ever-brave He Jian broke out in a cold sweat, his body trembling.

He knew he had probably gotten himself caught up in something strange.

The thought sent a chill down his spine.

But He Jian had seen his share of bloodshed. His composure hadn’t completely shattered, and he quickly regained some of it.

He took a deep breath and quickly headed for the village entrance.

He no longer cared about investigating where the government officials had gone; his only thought was to escape this godforsaken place as quickly as possible.

But He Jian discovered that running was useless.

The village path was clearly not long; it should have been just a short walk to the entrance.

Yet he couldn’t run out of it, as if the path stretched on infinitely.

"Damn it!"

As He Jian realized what was happening, fear grew in his heart.

He stopped, his head snapping back and forth to look at the houses on either side.

He didn’t know if it was his imagination or something else.

But he felt malicious gazes from within the pitch-black houses, peering at him.

"Damn it!"

He Jian slapped himself a few times.

’In a situation like this, the first rule is not to panic.’

’The moment I lose my nerve, I’ll be eaten alive, with not even my bones left behind.’

He ignored all the prying gazes, turned, and charged toward the other end of the village.

’If the entrance is a no-go, then the other end should be fine, right?’

But in reality, that didn’t work either.

Now, He Jian was truly starting to panic.

’Since they won’t let me leave... I just won’t leave.’

’I’ll stay in the village. As long as I can hold out until sunrise, I should be fine.’

He Jian made up his mind.

But staying on the village path made his skin crawl.

He wanted to find a place to hide.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE.

But just at that moment,

several sets of footsteps suddenly sounded from behind him.

"Constable He!"

"We finally found you."

"We saw a strange black shadow just now and chased after it. We didn’t have time to tell you."

A few familiar voices called out from behind him.

The more afraid a person is, the more they long for companionship.

It was like clutching a life-saving straw.

This was exactly He Jian’s situation. Hearing those words, he turned around instinctively, without a shred of doubt.

But the sight that greeted him terrified him to his very soul.

The government officials were indeed behind him.

But their bodies were all dripping with blood, as if they had been skinned alive.

Yet they seemed oblivious to what had happened to them. Seeing He Jian turn around, they hurriedly rushed toward him.

He Jian let out a terrified scream, spun around, and fled.

An unknown amount of time passed.

A sharp, blood-curdling scream suddenly rang out from within Sanling Village.

Then,

the village fell back into a deathly, sinister silence, with no further sound.

...

「Jianghe Celestial Observation Bureau, Great Hall」

"What?!"

"Something happened to Pang Fei, too?!"

Jiang Henian, who was handling official documents, couldn’t help but look up when he heard the news.

"Yesterday, after receiving the mission, Pang Fei went to Sanling Village to investigate."

"But as of now, he still hasn’t returned."

"It’s likely he’s met with a terrible fate."

So reported Tian Nanfeng, Supervisor of the Flying Eagle Guard at the Jianghe Celestial Observation Bureau, cupping his fist.

"Pang Fei is a True Qi Martial Artist... He’s been a Demon Exterminator with our Observatory for over a decade and is highly experienced. If something happened to even him, who else can handle this?!"

Jiang Henian couldn’t help but frown.

With Zhao Mengtian away, he had to stay and oversee the Observatory; he could not leave.

But the other Demon Exterminators didn’t have the ability.

"Vice Director Jiang... isn’t *that person* here with us?"

"You should go talk to him... offer some more Contribution Points... It should be fine."

Tian Nanfeng said in a low voice.

"Hmm... that is one way."

"I just don’t know if he’ll be willing to take the job."

Jiang Henian’s eyes lit up.

How could he have forgotten about him?

If that person was willing to act, then the problem would be solved.

"We can try negotiating first."

"I think he’ll probably accept."

Tian Nanfeng said with a smile.

"Mm... what has he been doing these past few days?"

Jiang Henian asked again.

"That person has been at our Jianghe Celestial Observation Bureau for five days now."

"Aside from going to the Martial Arts Pavilion to exchange for a Cultivation Technique at the very beginning, he has spent the rest of the time in his room in arduous Cultivation, not taking a single step outside."

Tian Nanfeng said softly.

’It seems the intelligence was correct. He really is a Martial Fool. No wonder he’s so accomplished at such a young age.’

’In that case, I have no choice but to go see him personally.’

Jiang Henian stood up.

In the entire Jianghe Celestial Observation Bureau, he was probably the only one who could persuade him.

After leaving the great hall, he headed toward the courtyard where Han Yuan was staying.

Before long, he arrived before a courtyard gate.

KNOCK.

Jiang Henian knocked lightly on the door and called out, "Is Director Han in?"

At this moment, Han Yuan was still inside his room, studying the Sword Manual for the Azure Heaven Annihilation Saber.

The Azure Heaven Annihilation Saber truly lived up to its name as an Innate Technique. Its techniques and forms were obscure, its essence difficult to grasp, and studying it would clearly take a great deal of time.

Even after studying it for several days, he had only managed to grasp the basics and had not yet formally begun his Cultivation of it.

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