Chapter 17: Who Has Grievances

"By the way." Before leaving, Zhang Linchuan suddenly looked at Tang Dun. "Your name is Tang Dun?"

"That is the name I go by."

Zhang Linchuan smiled. "Dun means honest, kind, and sincere. It is a good name."

Tang Dun scratched his head. "Our schoolmaster gave it to me when I was a child."

"Oh?" Zhang Linchuan asked.

"Our Tangshe Town is poor; we couldn't afford tuition, and there weren't many hunting families who cared about literacy. It was only because a traveling scholar came here that he stayed to teach us for three years. But after those three years, he packed his books and traveled far again. He liked me best back then; he said I was some kind of 'jade' or the like."

In this light, it made sense.

The custom of traveling scholars was highly esteemed in these times, and many sects had disciples who did so.

For instance, disciples of the Confucian school believed in reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles, with many wandering through various states. Some did so to broaden their horizons, while others did it to peddle their talents.

Similarly, disciples of the Mohist school traveled the world to experience everything firsthand. However, had they encountered Tang Dun, they might have taught him martial arts or even rudimentary mechanical arts rather than literacy.

Although the State of Zhuang held Taoism as its state religion, it did not strictly exclude followers of other schools. Thus, Tang Dun's experience was perfectly plausible.

Jiang Wang said, "Since you have been educated, staying here as a mere minor constable is a bit of a waste. Once you have handled Niu'er's funeral, if you have no other obligations, you could try for the outer academy of the City Dao Academy."

This was born of a sense of appreciation for a simple, honest man, but ultimately, the choice remained Tang Dun's.

Leaving Tangshe Town, they headed straight south along the official highway, which was the road back to Fenglin City.

Due to the inscriptions of corresponding formation patterns, wild beasts were non-existent on the official highway.

The pace of the horses was not hurried, nor was Zhang Linchuan's voice as they rode. "Do you know how many resources the Imperial Court must invest every year to maintain the official highways throughout the entire State of Zhuang?"

Jiang Wang shook his head; he indeed had no knowledge of such matters.

"It is an astronomical figure," Zhang Linchuan said. "Furthermore, these formation patterns can only repel low-level demonic beasts. The powerful monsters and ferocious beasts still require experts to clear them out. The Imperial Court invests massive amounts of manpower and material every year to keep the routes clear, and they invest resources into the Dao Academies without regard for cost. The only thing we can do is grow as quickly as possible to shoulder the corresponding responsibilities."

"I have learned much."

"Then let me ask you this: large cities are protected by great formations. Why doesn't the Imperial Court allow everyone to gather and live within the large cities?"

"I suspect there are two reasons," Jiang Wang pondered for a moment. "First, large cities have their limits and cannot satisfy the survival needs of everyone. Second, the radiation range of every city is limited. The Imperial Court needs these highways to extend in all directions, using towns as nodes, because they represent the de facto borders. And land is resource."

"You see it very clearly. The formations in towns and villages cannot be as secure as those in large cities, but towns and villages have their irreplaceable roles. Just like Tangshe Town—as long as it exists, Fenglin City can continue to harvest a steady stream of resources from the Qichang Mountains. Once the day comes that Tangshe Town is gone, the Qichang Mountains will no longer belong to our State of Zhuang."

"The people of Tangshe Town dare to hunt in the Qichang Mountains; they must have experts of their own. That demon was lurking when the Criminal Investigation Bureau arrived, and there was no movement when we weren't there. Yet, he chose to launch an attack precisely when we arrived..."

At this point, Zhang Linchuan turned his head and looked at Jiang Wang with a half-smile. "Junior Brother Jiang, is there something on you that attracts them?"

Jiang Wang could not answer.

He certainly had secrets, but they were limited to the Void Key inherited from Zuo Guanglie. All the changes had occurred within the Great Void Illusion; they should not have been discovered in reality. But if it wasn't related to that, his first encounter with a demon attack seemed to have occurred right after he entered the Great Void Illusion.

As he was weighing his words to bluff his way through, Zhang Linchuan suddenly raised a hand. His middle and ring fingers curled, while the other three extended, pointing directly at Jiang Wang.

An electric arc leaped from the tips of the three extended fingers, coalescing into a bolt of lightning that surged toward Jiang Wang!

Before Jiang Wang could even react, the lightning flashed past his ear, slamming directly into a dark green poisoned arrow, destroying it and sending it falling.

Only then did Jiang Wang hear the sudden, piercing whistle of the arrow's acceleration, and only then did he smell the scorched scent of hair brushed by the lightning.

"I've been waiting for you!" Zhang Linchuan leaped from his horse. His free right hand rose in an extremely strange hand seal, and a whip of lightning condensed out of thin air.

"Come and die with me!"

Wielding the lightning whip, he charged like a diving eagle toward the attacker hidden in the woods to the left of the highway.

It turned out he had been prepared all along. By multitasking, he had secretly performed hand seals to prepare two types of Daoist arts in advance, allowing him to counterattack the moment the ambush occurred.

Jiang Wang was still far behind a senior brother who had been tempered by so much combat.

At that moment, a voice rang out from the woods on the right: "This one is a tough nut to crack! Split up and retreat!"

Jiang Wang, who was about to pursue Zhang Linchuan, suddenly spun around!

How could he not recognize that voice? In that little girl's room in Tangshe Town, though it had been only a few short sentences, they were enough to be etched into his very soul!

A Dao Yuan exploded silently within his Tiantong Palace. Jiang Wang acted decisively, charging with absolute resolve toward the direction of the voice.

Living in the State of Zhuang, the first thing almost every commoner had to remember before heading out was: *Do not leave the official highway.*

Because outside the radiation range of human settlements and the official highways lay the wilderness—the territory where beasts, demonic beasts, and even ferocious monsters roamed.

Zhang Linchuan was strong enough that he didn't care.

Jiang Wang wanted to kill, so he didn't care either.

He had seen bloodshed and cruelty, but even the most wicked criminal on the Western Mountains would not swing a butcher's blade at a child. That little girl had only just begun to know the world; she was ignorant, innocent, and bright. How innocent was she?

Jiang Wang's sword trembled within its scabbard. It seemed as if it were beginning to grow excited, as if it too knew it was about to erupt with the most brilliant radiance of its life.

*A sword is honed for ten years, its frost-edge untested. Today I show it to you; who among you holds an injustice?*

*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The moment the longsword leaped, it actually struck the scabbard five times before finally breaking free!

The sword was like a meteor; the man was like a flood dragon.

A large tree groaned as it fell, and the heterodox demon hiding in the branches retreated with a sudden leap.

In the haste, his face could not be seen clearly, only a complexion that was deathly pale beneath a mess of hair.

Within the Tiantong Palace, Dao Yuans exploded one after another.

Jiang Wang had never squandered them like this; he felt his entire body filled with power.

Before condensing a Dao Rotation, every squandered Dao Yuan was a regression in cultivation.

But only by doing this could he kill.

He had to slay this demon, so that his accumulated rage would have an outlet, and so that he could find peace of mind.

*Purple Qi from the East* Sword, Second Killing Form, brought forth a sweep of frost-light.

The pale-faced demon, unable to perform a hand seal in his retreat, saw his right arm swell rapidly. Muscles bulged and veins erupted as he threw a sudden straight punch toward the frost-light.

The sword and that demonic right arm clashed over a dozen times in an instant.

Only then did Jiang Wang realize with a jolt—he had misjudged! This opponent was strong! At least much stronger than him! He was not merely someone relying on an ambush or someone slightly higher in cultivation.

In other words, if this pale-faced demon had exerted his full strength during the attack in Tangshe Town, Jiang Wang could not guarantee he would have survived.

But retreat did not exist in his heart. The longsword vibrated again, letting out a sharp whistle.

*Purple Qi from the East* Sword Manual, Third Killing Form!

As the flowing light turned, that demonized right arm was actually severed completely and sent flying!

"Damn it!!"

The pale-faced demon roared. He had not expected that a single moment of inattention would allow this life-risking youth to drive him into a corner.

His trailing foot slammed onto a large tree in mid-air. He knew he could not retreat further; to retreat was to die. Life came from the struggle.

With the point of contact as the center, the entire tree withered instantly.

Then, from his roaring mouth, a grey mist erupted, carrying an intense scent of decay and a pungent, fishy stench.

Manipulating the power of life and death—this was a Daoist art belonging to the Netherworld!

The sword light surged.

The Dao Yuan drove the sword light, which sliced through the grey mist. Jiang Wang leaped out from within that very mist!

*Purple Qi from the East* Sword Manual, Fourth Killing Form!

He had let this demon escape in Tangshe Town; he had been caught off guard and was helpless.

But at least here, at this moment, he had to provide an account for that little girl named Niu'er!

This was the responsibility of a cultivator toward the common people.

This was the responsibility of an adult toward a child!

Jiang Wang's figure, leaping through the air, broke through the grey mist and appeared before the pale-faced demon's eyes.

And in those eyes, which were widening in terror, a brilliant sword light descended from above.

That was the last light he saw before the eternal darkness.