HPDBC Chapter 88 Excess Qi and Blood (Three Updates)
Chapter 88 Excess Qi and Blood (Three Updates)
Ten li east of Silver Moon County, a red mist wrapped around the desolation of Huoxu Village.
When the young County Magistrate arrived at this place, he found that this small township was completely deserted.
This sent a shiver down his spine, for although Huoxu Village had a small population of just over 300 households, now there was not a single person to be found, only several dozen charred corpses within those houses.
It was surprising that although these people had been burned to death, most of their houses were undamaged.
"Self-combustion? Very strange, it seems like the fire started from within their organs, flesh, and marrow. What could have caused this?"
After examining several bodies, the young County Magistrate made his way to the center of Huoxu Village and stared at a huge pit there.
He glanced down and his expression subtly changed.
The pit was very deep, at least 80 zhang, and one could barely see the bottom.
What surprised the young County Magistrate were the structures on the walls of the pit, clearly visible twenty zhang down was a coal seam that went forty zhang deep, and beneath the coal seam, there was a large amount of purple-red Crystal Stones.
These Crystal Stones were mixed with coal chunks and extended all the way to the deep end of the pit.
The young County Magistrate was amazed to find that beneath Huoxu Village lay a not-so-small mine of Zi Yao Yuan Crystals, together with the coal mine.
At the same time, he heard faint crying and yelling from the depths of the cave, as if there were many women and children crying below, and he also sensed a whiff of demonic aura, all too familiar to him.
"It's that guy's scent—"
The young County Magistrate frowned and turned to take a look at Silver Moon County, hesitated for a moment, and then jumped into the pit.
His body moved like a crane, pushing off the walls of the pit, lightly landing at the bottom.
Beneath was a rather spacious area, with the surrounding rock walls also peppered with large and small Zi Yao Yuan Crystals.
There were four passages in total, leading into the depths of the cave, unfathomably deep and with unknown destinations; the young County Magistrate could only track the direction based on the wind and followed the cries toward the eastern tunnel.
The young County Magistrate lit a fire stick and continued observing as he walked.
"Looking at the marks on the walls of these tunnels, they are clearly man-made, yet very ancient, and they don't seem like mining tunnels. I wonder who could be behind this?"
The path was winding and deep, with many branches along the way.
About a hundred breaths later, the young County Magistrate entered a cave that was quite spacious, at least one hundred zhang wide and over five zhang high.
He also saw a group of weeping women and children, who were placed on a stone platform ahead, bound together with chains.
In addition to the women and children, there were also several men on the platform, all looking disheartened, even quietly weeping.
They were all drawn to the light of the fire in the County Magistrate's hand and looked up.
Initially filled with hope, their expressions turned to despair upon seeing the seventh-rank official robe on the County Magistrate.
The young County Magistrate stood at the entrance, frowning deeply.
Lin Rui finished practicing Thunderclap Absolute Slash ten times, which took exactly one hour.
At this time, blood suddenly gushed from under his nose.
Lin Rui, while holding a handkerchief to his nose, looked at Ji Xueying standing atop the wall.
The rapid improvement of his physical qualities was also due to her, Blood Blade Ji.
Lin Rui's body was currently being nourished by her, the problem was that she was providing far too much, leading to an excess of vital energy.
Ji Xueying, feeling somewhat puzzled, stared at Lin Rui with wide eyes, wondering why her master was looking at her that way.
Lin Rui smiled at her, and after he finished wiping his nose, he began practicing with his blade again.
Lin Rui's blade practice today was different from before; he only practiced the Thunderclap Absolute Slash.
Although he had already deduced this blade technique to the level of a Grandmaster, it still felt somewhat unfamiliar when he used it.
Lin Rui had been practicing from yesterday noon straight into the evening and still wasn't satisfied.
He hadn't yet formed muscle memory, couldn't deploy it as easily as moving his arm or pointing his finger, but he had become very fast with the blade, able to complete a stroke from drawing to sheathing it in a flash, too quick for Blood Blade Ji to react.
However, he still needed to practice more; the power of a Grandmaster's Thunderclap Absolute Slash was far from just this.
Lin Rui had only been practicing for half an hour when his waist badge began to heat up.
Lin Rui picked up the waist badge and sensed something, his expression turning slightly puzzled.
Was it Cun Dian? What was this clay Bodhisattva from the government office contacting him for?
He pressed the beast head button and heard Cun Dian's voice from inside: "Arrest Officer Lin, today the County Magistrate is assuming the County Magistrate's duties in court and summoning all officials with black belts and above to present themselves within two quarters of an hour. Please hurry back to the government office, Arrest Officer Lin."
Lin Rui's eyes grew more puzzled.
The County Magistrate was assuming the County Magistrate's duties in court? Could it be that the County Magistrate wasn't in the government office today?
What was the intention of County Magistrate Zhu Lingshi in summoning them?
Instinctively on alert, Lin Rui turned and shouted loudly, "Twenty-seven, Xue Ying, the County Magistrate is ascending to the hall today, calling us to the government office. There may be something amiss with this situation; bring everything you need."
He also went back to the fourth floor and put on the God Wen armor under his clothes, adding another layer of third-tier military leather armor outside that did not hinder movement.
Lin Rui then gathered all the talismans he had drawn and several vials of medicine, placing half in a bag and the other half in his sleeves and on his belt—locations that were close to his body and easily accessible.
After preparing everything, Lin Rui set off for the government office in the company of Wang Sen and Ji Xueying.
As he entered the gates of the government office, he saw Zhang Tianchang and his several capable subordinates, along with Arrest Officer Cao Jun and other officials with black belts and subordinate arrest officers from the office, being blocked by a group of government soldiers at the entrance of the main hall.
Ying Yuan stood with his hands folded on his back, looking down coldly from the steps above, "The County Magistrate has ordered that no one is allowed to carry weapons into the hall for today's discussion. Everyone must remove their personal swords and blades!"
Upon hearing Ying Yuan's command, Lin Rui's gaze turned sharply intense.