"Impossible! They died decades ago, how could they possibly be sending someone to claim their lives! Who are you?"
Upon hearing Lu Qing's words, the man with the ruddy face screamed wildly, his expression on the verge of collapse.
"What is Brother Lu Qing doing?"
In the distance, Magu and the others looked over with some confusion.
They were too far away to hear what Lu Qing said, but they saw the ruddy-faced man suddenly start shouting wildly.
"That's right, they are dead, but because they died unjustly, their resentment is hard to dispel. So for the past few decades, they have been unable to reincarnate and can only become lonely ghosts, wandering aimlessly. Look over there, aren't those their wronged souls?"
A strange light appeared in Lu Qing's eyes as he pointed to the rice paddy beside him.
The man with the ruddy face turned his head to look to the side, and the next moment, his pupils suddenly dilated.
Two white figures were floating above the rice paddy. One was covered in blood, and the other had its tongue sticking out, staring at him with an expressionless face.
That appearance was exactly like his brother and sister-in-law, who had been dead for decades and had often appeared in his dreams for many years.
“Look, your brother and sister-in-law are here. They say that only when you die can they be freed and reincarnated. Look, they have come to take your life.”
Lu Qing's voice also carried a strange rhythm.
As he spoke, two white figures floating above the rice paddy drifted lightly toward them, reaching out their hands to slowly strangle the man with the ruddy face.
"No, no, brother and sister-in-law, I didn't mean to kill you! Don't take my life! No, no!"
Seeing the two white figures flying towards them, the man with the ruddy face showed extreme terror.
He shouted desperately, while wriggling his body, trying to back away.
However, all of this was in vain. With both legs broken and in a state of extreme shock, he was unable to even muster his qi and blood. No matter how hard he tried to climb, the two white figures gradually approached him and grabbed his neck with their hands.
"No, no!"
The ruddy-faced man covered his neck with both hands, trying to get rid of the two pale hands.
But it was no use. Those two hands, as if they were illusions, passed through the man's hands and fiercely gripped his neck.
At the same time, the faces of the two white figures also turned ferocious in an instant, excited and crazed.
I felt the icy chill on my neck, the ever-increasing feeling of suffocation, and the grotesque, crazed ghosts of my brother and sister-in-law in front of me.
The man with the ruddy face completely broke down, his fear reaching its peak. He wanted to scream, but his throat was tightly constricted, and he could only make gurgling sounds as he struggled to breathe.
Finally, amidst overwhelming fear and suffocation, the ruddy-faced man's gaze gradually became unfocused, and he eventually fell silent, dying instantly.
Throughout the entire scene, Lu Qing simply watched indifferently without uttering a sound.
"Brother Lu Qing, what's wrong?"
At this moment, Magu walked over and was shocked when he saw the state of the man with the ruddy face.
"This person actually snapped his own neck. How ruthless!"
"It's nothing. Let's go, dispose of the body, and then we'll leave."
Lu Qing walked back.
Magu looked again at the man with the ruddy face, especially at the extreme fear on his face before he died. He had a feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out why.
However, he didn't dwell on it. Anyway, these were all scumbags, so it didn't matter how they died. Perhaps Brother Lu Qing had used some special methods.
Magu shook his head, picked up the corpse, and walked back.
Lu Qing walked towards the carriage, but his mind was already in turmoil.
The man with the ruddy face earlier was not actually being haunted by a ghost, but rather he had fallen under the spell of the man's spirit.
From the information he had previously gleaned through his supernatural abilities, Lu Qing had learned a secret about the man with the ruddy face.
That was when he was young, he committed the heinous crime of murdering his brother and sister-in-law, which was his deepest secret.
Therefore, he decided not to let the other person die so easily.
It just so happens that his spiritual power has recently increased a lot, and he can use some spiritual secret techniques that he couldn't use before, so he'll use them to test his skills.
As it turns out, the results were quite good.
When his secret was exposed, the man with the ruddy face panicked and his will faltered. He fell completely into the man's illusion and truly believed that his brother and sister-in-law were taking his life.
In reality, he strangled himself to death.
However, the ruddy-faced man never realized this until his death.
After moving the corpses of the deceased Liuyun Sect disciples to a grove of trees ahead and burying them, Lu Qing finally sensed trouble.
He wondered if he should develop a method to more easily destroy evidence of a body.
Otherwise, having to dispose of the corpses after each murder would be too troublesome and a waste of time.
After burying the body, Lu Qing and the others continued on their way.
"Ah Qing, why did that last Flowing Cloud Sect elder suddenly shout like that?"
Inside the carriage, the old doctor asked.
Earlier, although he hadn't left the carriage, he had vaguely sensed the fluctuations of divine soul power emanating from Lu Qing.
Magu, who was rushing to catch the carriage, also pricked up his ears.
"I used a bit of my divine soul power to put that Liuyun Sect elder into an illusion, making him recall the sins he had committed. I didn't expect him to be so frightened that he strangled himself to death," Lu Qing replied.
"He was so terrified that he strangled himself to death. Could this person have committed a grave crime?" The old doctor was somewhat moved.
"He once harmed his brother and sister-in-law, who had raised him with great care, because of his own lewd desires," Lu Qing said calmly.
"..."
The old doctor fell silent.
"They even killed the brother and sister-in-law who raised them! This Liuyun Sect is truly a den of snakes and rats, there isn't a single good person among them!" Wei Zian cursed indignantly.
Magu, who was ahead of him, was equally angry.
However, he was equally shocked.
The Lu brothers are truly becoming more and more powerful. They were able to silently cause a powerful martial artist at the Great Perfection of the Inner Cultivation Realm to fall into a hallucination and commit suicide. Such methods are simply unheard of.
After this encounter, Lu Qing and the others felt relieved.
At least they now know that the people from the Flowing Cloud Sect did not bypass them on their way to Qingfeng Town.
Next, as long as they head straight for the Flowing Cloud Sect, Qingfeng Town should be free from further trouble.
The carriage moved along unhurriedly, and Lu Qing was also contemplating his corpse-destroying technique.
Finally, just as he was beginning to understand something, the carriage stopped.
"Old doctor, we've traveled for so long today, and the horses must be tired. There's a teahouse up ahead; why don't we rest there for a while?" Ma Gu said.
"Alright," the old doctor nodded.
Having received the promise, Magu drove the carriage forward.
Lu Qing drew back the curtains and saw a thatched shed in front of him, with a piece of coarse cloth bearing a large character for "tea" fluttering in the wind.
"Hey! Sir, would you like some tea?"
As the carriage slowed down, a young waiter dressed in tattered clothes, with a towel draped over his shoulder, approached with a humble smile, bowing and scraping.
“Yes, we’re tired from our journey and would like to have some tea and rest. Do you have any fodder?” Magu asked.
"Yes, yes, it's right behind the shed, top-quality fodder!" the young waiter quickly replied.
"Give us two bundles, feed our horses well, and you'll get your share of the money."
"Alright! Please come in, esteemed guests!"
The young waiter stepped forward to help lead the horse.
Lu Qing and the others stepped into the tea stall.
An old man came out from inside, his face beaming with smiles: "Esteemed guests, please have a seat here."
After Lu Qing and the others were seated, he asked, "What would you gentlemen like to drink?"
"No need for too much trouble, just bring two pots of tea and some of the food you have here," the old doctor said.
"Alright, it'll be right there, please wait a moment, sir."
After the old man left, Lu Qing began to look around the tea stall.
The teahouse was quite spacious. On the other side of the teahouse, there were already several tables of customers, and they did not look like ordinary people.
Lu Qing was not surprised. He glanced at the weapon the other party was carrying and then paid it no further attention.
These days, those who can travel and work outside are generally not ordinary people.
Most of them were either martial arts practitioners who knew a bit about self-defense, or wealthy families who could afford to hire bodyguards.
After all, the poor are more likely to travel, and truly impoverished people don't go out easily.
The people at the tables opposite them glanced at Lu Qing and his group a few times, but then paid them no attention.
Those who can afford to travel by carriage are generally not ordinary people. It's better to avoid trouble, and as long as no one does anything outrageous, people generally won't provoke each other.
Soon, the shopkeeper brought out two pots of tea and some food.
The tea was coarse tea, and the food consisted of simple steamed buns and side dishes.
However, in this remote place, it's already quite good to have these things.
After checking the items and finding nothing wrong, Lu Qing picked up a steamed bun and started eating.
"The Flowing Cloud Sect has really lost face this time. It's said that even the young sect leader was killed, and the key point is that we don't even know who killed him!"
Just as Lu Qing and his group were quietly eating, the conversation of several江湖汉 (jianghu men, martial arts practitioners) at the opposite table caught their attention.
"Impossible! The Flowing Cloud Sect is one of the three major sects in Yunzhou. Who would dare to provoke them?" someone said skeptically.
"How could it be impossible? This is what my nephew, who has joined the Tianyan Sect, said. He also said that this matter has almost spread throughout the entire Yunzhou. There's no mistake!" the man said confidently at the beginning.
"So Brother Wang has such connections. The Heavenly Flame Sect is a power second only to the three major sects. It seems that Brother Wang's nephew is a young prodigy!"
Upon hearing this, his companions immediately began to flatter him.
"Not at all, he was just lucky to be accepted into the Heavenly Flame Sect."
The elder brother became modest, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
The others were astonished: "So it's true? But who is so audacious as to kill the young sect master of the Flowing Cloud Sect? Don't they have a death wish?"
"That's right. I've heard that the young sect leader is the sect leader's son, and the Flowing Cloud Sect is known for its domineering and protective nature. Given their style, they're bound to go crazy this time."
"We don't know who the murderer is yet, but the Liuyun Sect has really gone mad these days, almost turning the entire Yunzhou upside down."
They reportedly suspected that members of other sects had murdered their young sect leader.
Therefore, recently, many powerful sects have been questioned by the Liuyun Sect, who are asking them to provide clues.
Those who can't provide the information will at best be punished, and at worst, they'll be accused of plotting against the young sect leader and robbed—it's insane!
"Isn't this taking advantage of someone's misfortune? The young sect leader of the Liuyun Sect is dead, and instead of searching for the real culprit, they're using this opportunity to plunder other sects. This is far too barbaric and domineering!" someone exclaimed, speechless.
"You've known about the arrogance of the Flowing Cloud Sect for a long time. They like to extort tribute from nearby sects. Now that they have an excuse, they're going to take advantage of them."
"So tyrannical and greedy, no wonder their so-called young sect leader died. I'm starting to believe it's possible that other sects, harboring long-standing grudges and unwilling to continue being oppressed, secretly killed that young sect leader!" someone said in a low voice.
"Whether that's true or not, the Liuyun Sect seems to be convinced of it and is recklessly searching for the murderer everywhere."
However, Yunzhou isn't entirely under the control of the Flowing Cloud Sect. Just the other day, they ran into a brick wall.
The man who was initially addressed as "Brother Wang" said.
What kind of trouble did you run into?
Several companions immediately showed gossipy expressions.
"It is said that when an elder of the Liuyun Sect led his disciples to plunder a small sect, they were stopped by several young heroes who were passing by, and a conflict broke out between the two sides."
Then the elder of the Flowing Cloud Sect, relying on his profound cultivation, killed two of the young heroes.
Unexpectedly, one of the two youths was a disciple of the Silver Moon Sect, and one of the sect leader's personal disciples.
"Silver Moon Sect!"
The others immediately exclaimed in surprise.
The Silver Moon Sect is one of the three strongest sects in Yunzhou, and its power and foundation are not much inferior to those of the Flowing Cloud Sect.
“That’s right, it’s the Silver Moon Sect!” said the man addressed as Brother Wang. “The sect leader of the Silver Moon Sect will naturally not let the innocent killing of his disciple go unpunished.”
Coincidentally, the recent mad behavior of the Flowing Cloud Sect has also incurred the wrath of both heaven and man in Yunzhou. Therefore, he simply sent out invitations to many sects in Yunzhou, seeking to unite them and march on the Flowing Cloud Sect to demand an explanation!
"That's amazing!"
Upon hearing this, his companions all became excited.
"Brother Wang, do you know when the Silver Moon Sect and the other major sects will go to the Flowing Cloud Sect to demand an explanation?"
“My nephew said it will happen in three days!” said the man addressed as Brother Wang.
"Three days later? No wonder yesterday, I saw many martial artists on the road, some of whom had very strong auras, which made me, Old Wu, feel uneasy. I was wondering why there were so many powerful martial artists traveling outside all of a sudden. It turns out they were going to attend this grand event!"
"Such big news, only we unaffiliated martial artists would find out so late."
"So, Brother Wang, you've been traveling all this way to attend this grand gathering?"
"Of course. This time, the Silver Moon Sect took the lead and united at least 80% of the sects in Yunzhou to go to the Flowing Cloud Sect to hold them accountable. How could I not go and broaden my horizons at such a grand event?"
"Then we cannot miss such a grand event. Brother Wang, it is a rare opportunity for us to meet. Why don't we travel together?"
"Sure, sure..."
Seeing the group of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) men at the opposite table, who were already trying to build rapport and even wanted to become sworn brothers on the spot.
Lu Qing and the others, who had been listening attentively, also turned their gazes away and exchanged glances.
