27: Chapter 27 Qing Shi Town

"I hope no funny business happens during this joint operation," Pei Qingyun thought to himself, sighing deeply.

Returning to his guest room, Pei Qingyun quickly packed his belongings; he didn't have much.

Within a few moments, he had finished packing.

Afterward, Pei Qingyun took another look at his attribute panel.

During these seven days, besides the cleanup operations, Pei Qingyun checked his attribute panel at least once every day.

No matter how busy he was, he knew his priorities.

However, his main purpose for checking the attribute panel was to see if the total amount of Family Luck had changed.

The result was that the total amount had indeed changed, though the change was not significant. Only on the morning of the fourth day did the total Family Luck jump, increasing by about two points.

Apart from that, for the other six days, he only saw the normal recovery of Luck.

Pei Qingyun was not overly disappointed by this result.

If Family Luck could increase so easily, the Pei Family would not have remained a third-rate Family in the Great Jing Dynasty for over a hundred years.

However, the growth in Luck on the fourth day still piqued his interest. Through deduction, Pei Qingyun could basically conclude that the growth in Family Luck had little to do with their cleanup operation this time.

It was more likely that someone in the Family had achieved a Breakthrough in their cultivation. It was just that he didn't have the time to go back and verify this conclusion.

Closing the attribute panel, Pei Qingyun checked the time.

According to the agreement, the gathering place for this joint operation was Qingshi Town, the largest town within Wuyang County.

Pei Qingyun was not at all unfamiliar with Qingshi Town.

As the largest town in the county, the Pei Family naturally had businesses in Qingshi Town.

It was just that Pei Qingyun, as the Old Ancestor, rarely went to check on his own Family's businesses.

Half an hour later, Pei Qingyun and his group arrived at the foot of the city wall, and what came into view was a tall, imposing wall.

In the very center of the wall was a main gate about two zhang high and three zhang wide. The gate had two heavy, wide panels covered in a layer of black.

Just by looking at it, one could feel the sense of heaviness rushing toward them.

On both sides of the gate, ten city guards clad in armor and holding long spears were scanning the commoners passing through the gate with stern gazes.

It wasn't until Pei Qingyun and his group arrived that the ten city guards shifted their focus.

Arriving at the gate, Pei Qingyun handed a token to the minor captain of the city guards. The minor captain only took one look before immediately opening the checkpoint to let them pass.

Once inside Qingshi Town, it felt as if they had stepped into another world.

It was bustling with constant traffic and throngs of pedestrians.

These past few days, Pei Qingyun had visited quite a few towns, but their population and level of prosperity were far inferior to Wuyang County.

Only in this Qingshi Town did he feel that familiar sense of bustling activity.

"I didn't expect Qingshi Town to be so crowded," Pei Qingyun remarked with some emotion.

"The Old Ancestor rarely comes here, so you might not be familiar with the situation in Qingshi Town. This town has a population of fully one hundred thousand. If it weren't for the fact that Qingshi Town cannot be expanded, thus limiting the population, I'm afraid this number would be several tens of percent higher," Pei Tianlin explained from the side.

Hearing Pei Tianlin's explanation, Pei Qingyun couldn't help but feel a bit surprised.

One hundred thousand people; this number was truly astonishing.

You have to know that the most ordinary towns only have twenty to thirty thousand people, but here, one hundred thousand have gathered—the number is directly several times higher, already comparable to a small county seat.

More people also meant a prosperous commercial scene.

For the moment, Pei Qingyun hadn't considered this point, as he had less than an hour of time.

Walking and stopping along the way, the Pei Family group arrived at the entrance of a massive mansion.

This was the agreed-upon location.

As soon as Pei Qingyun entered, he saw quite a few old acquaintances from the past.

The Wang Family and the Li Family.

Besides them, the Chief of the Evil Suppressing Department, Chen Yuanba, had also arrived early.

However, compared to a few days ago, Chen Yuanba's complexion was visibly much more haggard.

The incident with Ling Ziwen was like a thorn deeply embedded in his heart, causing him to lose sleep at night.

Seeing Pei Qingyun arrive, Chen Yuanba squeezed out a smile and greeted him.

Meanwhile, the gazes of the other two families also lingered on him from time to time.

In particular, in Wang Yang's gaze, he saw something clearly different from seven days ago. It was a deep resentment, as if he had done something heinous to Wang Yang.

Pei Qingyun recalled his recent experiences; he had never targeted the Wang Family, nor had he even had any contact with them.

If one were to say the Pei Family was targeting the Wang Family, it would be better to say that the Wang Family had been constantly playing dirty tricks on the Pei Family.

If there was resentment, it should be him, Pei Qingyun, resenting Wang Yang.

The current situation was completely topsy-turvy.

When Pei Qingyun followed the gaze to look back, that resentment from Wang Yang vanished without a trace.

He didn't have to wait long.

Soon, over a hundred people crowded into the mansion.

Compared to seven days ago, there were clearly fewer people. The ones missing, naturally, were dead.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Chen Yuanba began to arrange the joint operation.

Perhaps because he was in a bad mood, Chen Yuanba's voice was very cold.

However, no one paid much attention to it.

After Chen Yuanba finished speaking, many people asked some life-related questions.

Chen Yuanba also patiently answered them one by one.

After everyone had no more questions, the group headed toward the central area where the Demon calamity had erupted—the source of the Demons.

At this moment, it was high noon.

The high-hanging sun, like a scorching fireball, poured down endless light and heat, the pure sky seemingly without a trace of Impurities.

Yet, in such weather, as hot as a raging flame.

The group was riding spirited horses, galloping through the forest.

Suddenly.

The lead horse seemed to be startled by some force, reared up high on its front hooves, and came to an abrupt stop.

At this moment, if anyone had stared closely at the horse's eyes, they would have noticed a fear that shouldn't have been there.

"What happened?" the man behind asked.

"The horse has been spooked; no matter how I pull it, it refuses to move forward," the person in front said.

"Why don't you let me try?" the man behind said.

"Fine, then you can try," the person in front said.

As he spoke, he prepared to dismount.

But the next instant, the horse that had been standing still let out a howl, suddenly broke free from the reins, and bolted toward the rear.

The person on the horse's back didn't even have time to react before he fell off.

It was at this moment that a dark shadow floated over, its cold aura like thousand-year ice, making the man shiver uncontrollably.

Before he could even turn his head, he saw the pair of terrified eyes of the man on the horse behind him.

"Watch out! A Demon behind you!"

At that moment, the man realized the danger behind him and let out a wail.

"No... I don't want to die!"

But in the end, it was too late.

Following his wail, the flesh and blood on his body began to shrink at an alarming speed.

Within a few breaths, his flesh and blood had turned into withered bones.