Chapter 16: Every Instant of Time

It was at the very moment Jiang Wang saw those tiny skeletal remains and felt his emotions surge.

*Swish!*

A sharp whistling sound of breaking wind suddenly arrived.

With a flick of his wrist, Jiang Wang turned his hand, bringing both sword and scabbard upright behind his back at an impossible moment. He precisely blocked the incoming sharp object, which struck with the sound of clashing metal.

Jiang Wang followed through by drawing his sword in one seamless motion. He caught a glimpse of the attacking object—a pale, ghastly finger bone. Without time to think, his body instinctively spun around again.

On the bed, the bones of the little girl rose into the air; the skull opened its mouth, lunging to bite at Jiang Wang!

Without a moment's hesitation, Jiang Wang delivered a kick straight to its head, sending the bones flying back to their original place. Then, his longsword spun several times. In that instant, like a streak of purple lightning dancing in a dark room, the tiny skeleton was severed at every joint and fell back onto the bed exactly as it had been, as if it had never moved at all.

"Jie jie jie jie... Little Taoist, I killed this little girl and you seem very angry, yet her final remains were destroyed by your own hand."

The voice was sharp and piercing, yet ethereal and drifting, its origin unknown.

This kind of illusionary technique capable of concealing tracks was not simple; it indicated that the enemy lurking in the shadows had planned this well in advance.

Jiang Wang had not yet established his foundation and his five senses were not yet fully opened; he had no way to break through this illusion for the time being. However, he did not panic. Based on the knowledge he had learned at the Daoist Academy, he made two judgments. First, the enemy's level was likely not too high. The reason was simple: if it were truly a high-level powerhouse, they wouldn't need to rely on illusions and could have killed him instantly.

The second judgment, inferred from the first, was that due to the opponent's limited strength, the level of this illusion would not be too high. Once the opponent launched an attack, was attacked, or even simply moved, the illusion would automatically break. The clue supporting this was that the enemy's first attack had merely manipulated the bones rather than involving direct combat.

"You are the one who killed her, and you are the one who destroyed her remains. Heterodox tricks cannot shake my heart!"

Jiang Wang moved with his sword, traversing the entire small room in an instant. The sword light nearly illuminated the entire space!

*Purple Qi from the East Sword, First Killing Form!*

At the moment the room was filled with light, all the sword light converged. Jiang Wang reached out as if grasping this mass of light and delivered a direct slash!

The door, which had closed at some unknown time, burst open with a bang.

Zhang Linchuan stood outside the door, lightning faintly shimmering in his hand.

"The two corpses outside were manipulated into rising from the dead just now, but I have already blasted them away. What is the situation on your end?" he asked.

"I was also attacked. I cannot break his illusion, but my sword still wounded him!" Jiang Wang shook the longsword in his hand, and a single drop of bright red blood fell from the tip.

Zhang Linchuan reached out to catch the drop; the blood bead hovered in his palm. "With this, it won't be difficult to track the traces of the demon."

A hint of approval appeared on his face. "Junior Brother Jiang, you have performed a great service on this trip."

Jiang Wang searched the area with his eyes, but could find no other traces of blood. "Senior Brother Zhang, the demon might not have escaped yet."

Zhang Linchuan flipped his palm to collect the blood bead, closed his eyes to sense for a moment, and shook his head. "There are no more traces."

Almost as soon as he spoke, the corpse qi that had filled the entire courtyard dissipated in that instant.

"Let's go." Zhang Linchuan put away the blood bead. "There are no more useful clues here. Hand this drop of blood to the Vice Dean; he is an expert in the Six Lines and will surely be able to root out that demon."

The psychological impact of this trip was unprecedented for Jiang Wang. While those mountain bandits and robbers were certainly wicked, they were undoubtedly small fry compared to these demons who murdered entire families at will and even desecrated and manipulated corpses after death.

He had witnessed the cruel and cold side of the cultivation world. Extraordinary power could also bring about extraordinary cruelty.

Jiang Wang wanted to look back at the little girl's bones, but he found himself unable to dare.

At that moment, Zhang Linchuan spoke again: "The people from the Criminal Investigation Department have already searched once with no progress. Yet, the moment we arrived, we were attacked by a demon. There is something very suspicious about this."

"Does Senior Brother mean..."

"Hmph, hmph." Zhang Linchuan gave two cold laughs.

Having entered the inner sect, Jiang Wang only sought cultivation; he had no desire to be embroiled in the struggles between Dong A and Wei Quji. But Zhang Linchuan had pointed out that very possibility.

Unfortunately, he still had no right to refuse.

"Junior Brother Jiang's swordsmanship is extraordinary; it is certainly not the shallow tricks collected from the Daoist Academy," Zhang Linchuan remarked as if casually.

Jiang Wang replied, "To us Daoists, swordsmanship is, after all, a minor path. Senior Brother's lightning arts are what is truly astonishing."

By now, the two corpses from the main hall and the courtyard had vanished, leaving only a layer of scorched ash on the ground. Jiang Wang could almost imagine the scene: those two corpses had just been manipulated and had not even had time to move before being obliterated by lightning.

"Junior Brother Jiang is too modest. In truth, our Daoist Dharma Swords are not inferior to others, but unfortunately, our Fenglin City Daoist Academy lacks the methods for this. In the entire State of Zhuang, perhaps only the National Daoist Academy possesses them," Zhang Linchuan said with a hint of lament.

The Daoist path also had methods of entering the sword through the Dao, which were extremely sharp and not inferior to ordinary sword cultivators. But it was not the mainstream, and the Fenglin City Daoist Academy lacked masters capable of guiding such cultivation.

At this moment, Jiang Wang actually had no desire to speak, but since he could not ignore Zhang Linchuan, he offered a casual compliment: "With Senior Brother's talent, entering the National Daoist Academy is only a matter of time."

"Yes, a matter of time." Zhang Linchuan suddenly sighed, standing in the courtyard and gazing into the distance toward the Qi Chang Mountains. "But 'sooner' and 'later' are different things after all. I often feel as if a knife is stabbing me in the back; every moment feels urgent."

For such a noble young man—strong in both strength and talent, and possessing a refined nature—the anxiety and sorrow in his voice felt genuine.

Jiang Wang remained silent. Did he not also wish to become stronger faster, to go to the place he should have gone long ago?

Every moment felt urgent.

"Beyond those mountains lies the State of Yong," Zhang Linchuan said. "If the demon escapes into the territory of Yong, it will be impossible for us to catch him again."

Jiang Wang knew exactly why he said that.

The State of Zhuang had been established for over three hundred years. The founding Emperor, Zhuang Chengqian, was originally a great general of the State of Yong. He led his troops to conquer thousands of miles of land and, taking advantage of the opportunity when the three kings of Yong were fighting for the throne, carved out his own kingdom. Subsequently, through alliances and maneuvering, he established the Daoist sect as the state religion and aligned himself with the powerful State of Jing, which also belonged to the Daoist lineage, thereby stabilizing his position and passing it down to the present.

But because of this history, the States of Zhuang and Yong had always been at odds.

The enmity of the State of Zhuang might be met with cheers in the State of Yong.

Jiang Wang said nothing about this, merely following Zhang Linchuan out of the courtyard in silence.

Tang Dun, who was guarding the door, immediately came forward with eyes full of anticipation. "How is it? Was the demon destroyed?"

He had heard the commotion from outside the courtyard and knew a battle had taken place.

"We have a clue," Jiang Wang said. He turned to look at Zhang Linchuan. "Senior Brother, could you lend me some money?"

Without asking for the reason, Zhang Linchuan casually tossed over a money pouch.

Jiang Wang weighed it slightly and took out the smallest piece of broken silver—he had intended to take some copper coins, but Zhang Linchuan's pouch contained only gold and silver.

Jiang Wang handed the broken silver to the small-town constable, Tang Dun. "There was a little girl's corpse inside. Please use this silver to buy a coffin and bury her. There are two piles of ashes in the courtyard; they are her parents, so bury them together."

Tang Dun's rugged face darkened, but he firmly pushed Jiang Wang's hand away. "I'll handle their funeral arrangements. I can't take your money."

"Take it," Jiang Wang insisted, forcing the silver into his hand. "Just consider it so I can have peace of mind."

The constable's uniform had patches on it, showing he was not well-off. Being assigned to receive him and the unpopular Zhang Linchuan suggested he was a marginalized figure within the government.

Unable to break free, Tang Dun could only grip Jiang Wang's hand tightly. "I'll thank you on behalf of Niu'er!"

So her name was Niu'er.

The canvas hanging on the wall seemed to appear before his eyes again. She had once naively wanted to hold onto a single spring. But her life never bloomed again.

Niu'er, Niu'er.

Jiang Wang repeated the name in his heart several times, as if tying a certain responsibility to his Daoist heart.