182: Since they don't come, let's go find them! (ask for monthly tickets)

Minutes later, inside the county office.

"This humble Daoist, Li Guanyi, greets Ninth Zhonglang!" From Fulong Temple, a Daoist priest, clad in a blue Daoist robe, wearing a Hunyuan scarf, with white socks and cloth shoes, holding a whisk, and sporting a long black beard, bowed with one hand raised.

"Yuan Kun of Benlei Mountain, a pleasure to meet you." Another individual, with a slightly purple complexion, a straight, fiery-yellow eyebrow, hair like an iron brush, and eyes that seemed to emit flashes of lightning, exuded an imposing Aura. With every movement, there was a faint roar of tigers and leopards, clearly indicating advanced cultivation.

As for the last one, dressed in a grey robe, with greying hair at his temples, his eyes revealed a hidden majesty as he rested his hand.

"Qingyangzi of Shu Mountain Sword Sect. I've long heard of Ninth Zhonglang's formidable reputation, and now I understand the rumors are true. The few of us were easily identified. Considering Ninth Zhonglang's age, we old fellows feel a bit ashamed to speak of it."

Chen Yuan exchanged greetings with them, his gaze settling on Qingyangzi. "You are all renowned Seniors in the Jianghu. Chen does not dare to presume. Your presence here is deeply appreciated by Chen, and it’s a great relief. Otherwise, with the current situation, Chen might have fled at the first sign of trouble."

Chen Yuan said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, just as Pei Yanhu had said, in this world, one should first seek for oneself, then for external things.

"Perhaps not. If Ninth Zhonglang were truly like that, would he have come to attack the city alone? We just saw it; the scale was not small." Qingyangzi's eyebrows rose, and he smiled, exchanging glances with the others. The other three either nodded or chuckled.

"We were pulled here as soon as we arrived in Guangan Prefecture. It seems Ninth Zhonglang, you already have a plan in mind. Why don't you tell us?"

Qingyangzi got straight to the point.

The other three Sect Heavenly Gate cultivators clearly thought the same, their gazes narrowing slightly as they focused on Chen Yuan, wanting to know his intentions.

Chen Yuan nodded, then gestured with his hand to the side, inviting them to sit. "Please, Seniors, have a seat. This place is simple, without even a cup of tea, please forgive me!"

The few said nothing and took their seats.

Chen Yuan also sat down, leaning one hand on the armrest of the chair, and said with a normal expression: "After I received news that you were about to arrive in Guangan Prefecture, I thought it better to attack than to defend, so I first moved to probe this nearest Jiangan County city. Fortunately, this county city was occupied by the Night Fox Clan, and there was only one Heavenly Gate, so Chen took the opportunity to attack it!"

"I came to test the reaction of the other Yao Race! According to the information currently at hand, the previously fallen Weiyuan Prefecture was taken by a joint attack of the Yao Race from six mountains. At that time, there were ten Tianguan Demon Generals, and five were killed by the Zhonglang Generals who died fighting to the death, but there must have been subsequent reinforcements, and the number of Heavenly Gate masters is unknown..."

"Next, you and I will wait! We will wait to see if any fish take the bait. I will be in the open, and you will be in the dark. We will kill as many as we can!"

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, and by the end of his speech, his eyes were filled with an indescribable Aura, a joyous excitement of a Hunter waiting for prey to take the bait.

And he had stated his thoughts, his intention was very simple.

The four Sect Heavenly Gate cultivators exchanged glances. Without much deliberation, they all nodded.

"Since Ninth Zhonglang already has a plan, we are willing to assist from the side."

"... ... ... ..."

At this time, on the other side,

Seven hundred li west of Jiangan County, there was a county town called Gulan County.

The morning sun rose from the east, and under the golden light, a city emerged from the shadows.

"Crack!"

The sharp crack of a whip cutting through the air broke the morning's tranquility.

All around the county town, figures in ragged clothes, dragging heavy chains, slowly emerged from their houses. If anyone walked too slowly, they were met with a swift whip lash, whistling through the air, landing on their bodies, leaving a bloody wound and a shrill scream.

Immediately following, sharp shouts came.

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

"Haven't you eaten!"

"If you displease the adults, watch your lives."

Tens of thousands of people, like black ant trails, were driven by whips from all directions of the county town towards the center of the county town.

It was clearly visible that the center of the county town had been leveled, and in the middle, a huge stone foundation had been erected, a hundred and eighty zhang high and thirty to forty zhang wide, with the faint outline of a gigantic statue protruding.

And almost all the people of the city, ruled by demons, were turned into laborers, from children of seven or eight to old men with white hair, all were whipped like livestock to build this huge demon statue.

And those who wielded the whips were not demons, but fierce-looking humans.

In the eyes of these people, how could those adults do such hard labor? It was only right for these people to do it on their behalf.

In the crowd, there was a clanking of iron chains, and a young boy was kicked down.

"You dare to stare at me? See if I don't whip you to death!"

"No, my child hasn't eaten for three days, please, Ergouzi, I even gave your mother..." A ragged woman, her face covered in black mud and ash, cried and protected the boy, pleading with the bald Hunter with a scabby head.

And the young boy, under the protection of his mother's arm, stared at the scabby-headed man with red eyes.

But before the woman could finish speaking, a sharp crack was heard in the air.

"Crack!"

"Shut up! Ergouzi is not what you call me. Don't try to claim kinship with me."

"Ptooey!"

"Crack!"

"..."

The scabby-headed man, hearing the woman call him by his nickname, his ugly face contorted into a sneer, he cursed, spat a foul-smelling glob of saliva at the woman, and whipped her several times wildly.

The woman screamed several times, her skin torn and flesh broken.

'Mother!'

The young boy let out a wail, quickly turned over, shielding his mother from the whip, gritting his teeth and enduring it.

At this moment, in a corner tower next to the huge stone, a figure with a face painted white like lacquer, horns on his head, and one black and one white pupil, watched this scene, a wicked smile playing at the corner of his eye.

Just then, a clanging sound came from outside.

A sharp female voice came.

"I want to see your Bo Race adult."

"What's going on?"

The figure turned, speaking as he turned, his black and white eyes flashing with an eerie light.

As he spoke, the door opened.

In the hallway in front of the door, a woman with fox-like eyes, green patterns on her forehead, and dark green eyes, was forced to kneel by several horned Bo Race individuals, with strange-looking stone weapons held to her neck.

This woman was none other than the eight-chi tall Night Fox Clan woman, whose husband Tuoba Shi and child had both died in Jiangan County, and she herself had escaped.

This eight-chi tall woman looked up at the black and white pupils, her eyes filled with resentment, "Lord Bo San, my husband was killed, please help."

"What? Who was it?"

"A Mountain Monarch from out of town."

"Oh, that's truly a pity about Brother Tuoba." The figure shook his head, "However, you should go to your Night Fox Clan people for help, why come to me?"

"According to the agreement..." The Night Fox woman's eyes widened, her voice filled with unwillingness.

"Hmph, every time there's something to do, you Night Fox Clan drag your feet, but now that you're in trouble, you know how to call for help. See her out!" The figure sneered, waved his hand, and closed the door.

"You guys are truly perfidious! My child! I'm going to report you to the Clan Elder Council!" The Night Fox woman let out a sharp shriek.

This was the second time she had been turned away.

The first time was at Zhangtian County, three hundred li Southwest!

But the next second, a streak of light flew out directly.

The Night Fox woman's sharp scream in her mouth abruptly stopped, her resentful gaze dimmed, and her life force was cut off.

"You don't know what's good for you, what are you!"

Inside the room, a chilling voice came, followed by muttering.

"A Mountain Monarch? Forget it, there's still the Lushu Clan ahead, I won't bother with this."

... ...

Thus, from sunrise to sunset, a day passed!

Jiangan County was calm.

Chen Yuan did not wait for the demons he wanted to wait for!

He did not know the squabbles among the demons.

But in the county office, Chen Yuan couldn't sit still. Life is often unsatisfactory, and now, several Sect Heavenly Gate cultivators were watching.

With a wave of his hand, several Contracted Demons appeared in the main hall.

"My lord!"

Chen Yuan spoke in a deep voice, a cold light shooting from his eyes,

"Pass my order to Gou Zhi, blockade Guangan Prefecture. No one and no news shall enter or exit."

Then, he stood up and transmitted his voice.

"Everyone, since these beasts won't come, then it's time for us to go find them!"

"Speed is of the essence!"

"Let's go!"