Chapter 42: Complete Annihilation
Deep in the forest, the disciples of the Taiqing Immortal Sect searched every corner.
"Nanfeng only has the cultivation of the Acquired Realm, and that golden Crow Demon has already condensed its Inner Elixir. We've been searching all night and still haven't found him. I fear the worst," Ye Sanshui sighed.
"You're talking nonsense! If something happens to Nanfeng, I'll make you regret it, Ye Sanshui! It's all your fault!" Xiao Yu shouted, her eyes red with anger.
"I… I told you not to get involved in this Crow Demon business. He insisted on going. If you want to blame someone, blame him for meddling where he shouldn't," Ye Sanshui frowned, discomforted by the rebuke.
"Ye Sanshui, you've gone too far. Junior Brother Nanfeng followed the sect's teachings. How can you say it's meddling?" one of the disciples said indignantly.
"Exactly! When we return to the sect, I'll report you to the Master of the Sect for calling it meddling!" another disciple added.
"Count me in!" another voice joined.
...
A group of disciples glared at Ye Sanshui.
Ye Sanshui's expression stiffened. Damn it! I'm the leader here, don't they realize that? I speak, and they all argue back? Are they forgetting who's in charge?
At that moment, there was a sudden bang, and a brilliant firework shot into the sky. Everyone froze in place.
"That's our signal! Someone must have found Nanfeng!" Ye Sanshui's eyes lit up.
"Found him? Let's go!" Xiao Yu, visibly anxious, quickly mounted her horse and rushed ahead.
The firework signal meant there was news of Nanfeng, but whether he was alive or dead was still uncertain.
Within the village of Dawang, there was a wail of grief. Villagers were holding the bodies of their loved ones, crying uncontrollably.
Xiao Yu, Ye Sanshui, and the others quickly arrived at the front of the crowd.
"Senior Sister, this is Dawang Village. Junior Brother Nanfeng spent the night here yesterday," one of the disciples pointed towards Old Wang.
"Is Nanfeng still alive?" Xiao Yu asked, hope in her voice.
"The golden Crow Demon has already condensed its Inner Elixir, and Nanfeng only has Acquired Realm cultivation. How could he have escaped? This doesn't make sense," Ye Sanshui frowned, clearly puzzled.
"Where is he? Where is Nanfeng now?" Xiao Yu urgently grabbed Old Wang by the arm.
"It's our fault. This morning..." Old Wang began to explain the events that had transpired.
"Raven Deity's Legion?" Ye Sanshui's expression changed.
"Raven Deity's Legion's weakest members are at the peak of the Acquired Realm... They… they went after Nanfeng?" Xiao Yu cried out in disbelief.
"Yes, they went in that direction," Old Wang pointed toward the mountain.
"Damn it! Quickly, everyone follow me! We must save Nanfeng!" Xiao Yu shouted in desperation.
"Let's go!"
A group of Taiqing Immortal Sect disciples raised their swords and headed up the mountain.
The midday sun was high in the sky, the rain had stopped, and the mist in the mountain had cleared up a little. Soon, the disciples discovered signs of a fierce battle: broken branches, and a couple of corpses on the ground. Clearly, there had been a violent struggle.
"Nanfeng? We're here! Where are you?" Xiao Yu called out urgently.
The group's spirits sank. After all, their enemies were the Raven Deity's Legion, and Nanfeng only had Acquired Realm cultivation…
"I'm here!" a voice called from nearby the trees.
"Huh?" The group looked around in surprise.
From the dense brush, a figure suddenly stepped out.
"Nanfeng, you're still alive?" Xiao Yu exclaimed, rushing forward.
"Junior Brother Nanfeng, you're not dead? That's such a relief," a group of senior brothers also rushed forward.
It was Xiao Nanfeng, but his body was covered in blood, his clothes torn and ragged, looking utterly miserable.
"How did you end up here?" Xiao Nanfeng was momentarily taken aback.
"Senior Sister Xiao Yu led us in search of you all night!" one disciple explained.
Xiao Nanfeng looked at Xiao Yu, who blushed slightly before her expression turned to worry. "You're covered in blood! Are you injured?"
"I'm fine, just a bit exhausted," Xiao Nanfeng smiled reassuringly.
"Fine?!" The group looked at him in disbelief, seeing the blood on his body.
"I don't have much strength left. Help me get up the tree; Zheng Qian is still up there," Xiao Nanfeng pointed toward the tree.
The disciples soon noticed a figure hidden among the thick branches, coughing up blood.
"Is that Zheng Qian?" someone asked as they brought Zheng Qian down.
"Zheng Qian? You troublemaker! Nanfeng nearly died because he tried to save you," Xiao Yu glared at the blood-soaked Zheng Qian, her voice dripping with anger.
Zheng Qian looked at Xiao Yu with a strange expression, as though he wanted to say something but couldn't.
"Look at you! You're hiding here safe and sound, and look at what Nanfeng has suffered! Do you feel no guilt?" Xiao Yu continued.
Zheng Qian: "…"
I've had my meridians severed, my shoulder blade pierced, my sternum broken, and I'm drenched in blood. Look at me, I'm in a far worse state than he is! And what's worse? The blood on him is from the Raven Deity's Legion! Those guys had it way worse than we did! You don't know what this valley's been like for the past half-day. If those guys are still alive, they never want to cross paths with this demon again.
"Senior Sister, I'm actually fine," Xiao Nanfeng tried to diffuse the tension.
"You're fine? Those Raven Deity's Legion went after you, and you're alive only because of a miracle! Wait, where are the Raven Deity's Legion members now?" Xiao Yu suddenly asked.
She had been so focused on Nanfeng that she had missed the most crucial question.
"Over there, lying in the valley," Xiao Nanfeng pointed.
"Lying?" Xiao Yu froze. What kind of description is that?
At that moment, several disciples rushed to the valley.
"There's a corpse here."
"Here too."
...
A series of exclamations echoed through the group. Xiao Yu, Ye Dafu, Ye Sanshui, and the others widened their eyes in shock, as if they had guessed something incomprehensible.
The group fell silent as bodies were carried back.
Forty-eight corpses, not a single one missing, were laid out before them. All the disciples of the Taiqing Immortal Sect gasped in horror.
"Is this a joke? Am I seeing things?"
"Junior Brother Nanfeng… did you kill all of them?"
"How is that possible? Junior Brother Nanfeng only has Acquired Realm cultivation!"
...
Everyone looked on in disbelief; this was simply too unusual, too impossible!
Among the group, Ye Dafu swallowed nervously, his face pale. He had planned to find a chance to knock Nanfeng out, but now? Wouldn't Nanfeng kill him if he tried that?
"Nanfeng, did you kill all of these people?" Xiao Yu asked, astonished.
"You've forgotten? I have the Purple Smoke Poison Pill. Look, some of them are poisoned," Xiao Nanfeng kicked one of the corpses.
Indeed, the body was foaming at the mouth, clearly having died from poison.
"Ah, it was the Purple Smoke Poison Pill! You scared me," Ye Dafu let out a relieved sigh.
Only Xiao Yu and Ye Sanshui looked at each other with a complicated expression. Of the bodies, only about ten showed signs of poisoning. The rest... were all killed by Nanfeng?
"Nanfeng, this is bad. You killed members of the Raven Deity's Legion. We came here at the invitation of the Crow Deity Marquis. He'll never forgive us for this," Ye Dafu suddenly said with malicious glee.
*Smack!* A loud slap rang out, and Ye Dafu stumbled forward.
"Third Uncle, why did you hit me?" Ye Dafu complained, holding his head.
"Nanfeng killed these demons to rid the world of them. Who would go to the Crow Deity Marquis and report us? As long as we keep quiet, no one will know! Unless, of course, you want to be the one to report us?" Ye Sanshui scolded angrily.
"What? You want to report us? Do you believe I'll kill you right now?" Xiao Yu unsheathed her sword.
"Ah! No, no! I didn't mean it! I was just joking..." Ye Dafu broke out in a cold sweat.
"Ye Dafu, listen carefully. If the news of Nanfeng killing these demons gets out, I'll be the first to kill you," Xiao Yu said, not giving him a chance to explain.
"That's right. If anyone leaks the news and causes trouble for Nanfeng, we'll deal with them," another disciple added.
"Count me in! If the news leaks, I'll kill them myself."
"Count me in as well."
Ye Dafu: "…"
Why the hell did I get in trouble? Even if I didn't leak the information, should I be blamed for it?
Xiao Nanfeng unexpectedly looked at Ye Sanshui, it seemed that this person was still very sensible when it came to right and wrong, and would not allow Ye Dafu to act arbitrarily.
However, he was not prepared to let Ye Sanshui dictate this leader's authority.
"By the way, what happened to the village that was slaughtered before?" Xiao Nanfeng suddenly said.
"One of the villagers who was rescued said that it was called Zheng Jia Zhuang, and we've stabilized the injuries of the people we saved." A senior brother sighed.
"What? What happened to Zheng Jia Zhuang?" Zheng Qian's face abruptly changed wildly.
"You still don't know? It's all because you invited the trouble. If it wasn't for Nanfeng, not to mention Zheng Jia Zhuang, the villagers of this Da Wang Zhuang would be dead too!" Xiao Yu despised Zheng Qian and said.
"You guys speak clearly, what happened to Zheng Jia Zhuang?" Zheng Qian looked at the crowd in panic.
Xiao Yu frowned slightly and eventually described the Crow Demon cannibalism from before.
"How did it happen? Second Brother, Fourth Brother, I'm sorry, I didn't expect The Crow Deity Marquis to be so ruthless, I didn't expect to bring about your doom ah, it's all my fault!" Zheng Qian suddenly lost his voice and cried.
"The children of Zheng Jia Zhuang were saved, sixteen of them, and three villagers were rescued. You, since you know that there are enemies after you, don't run around to your relatives, really!" Xiao Yu sighed.
"There are still people alive, where are they? No no, it's me who messed up, thanks to all the immortal masters for rescuing me!" Zheng Qian endured his anxiety and bowed down to the crowd.
Ye Sanshui was about to make a polite remark with a big heart, but Xiao Yu suddenly interrupted.
"What are you thanking us for? You need to thank Nanfeng, if it wasn't for him convincing everyone with his arguments, who cares about your Zheng Jia Zhuang? If it wasn't for the fact that he happened to be in Da Wang Zhuang, all the people here would have been killed by you." Xiao Yu skimmed his lips and said.
Ye Sanshui revealed a wave of embarrassment, secretly thinking: Xiao Yu you talk like this, do I still have the face to accept his thanks?
Only then did Zheng Qian look at Xiao Nanfeng again and bowed down with tears in his eyes, "Zheng Qian is ashamed of himself, if it wasn't for the help of the Benefactor, it would have been difficult for Zheng Qian to absolve himself of the blame. Thank you, Your Excellency!"