“It’s been three days.”

“Why is there still not a single lead?”

“Tell me. Why?”

The roar tore through the main hall, deafening in its fury.

The servants of the governor’s residence were as silent as mice, trembling with fear.

They dreaded hearing the governor's voice, for it always meant another person was about to die.

Three days.

Many had already died.

All under the same charge, failure.

Sometimes not even that was needed. As the governor, he was the law and he commanded the military.

He had over a hundred black-armored cavalry under his command.

That alone was enough to crush all opposition.

After the death of his only son, Zhang Gui, Governor Zhang Wanlong had gone mad.

Utterly mad.

He no longer cared about the lives of the people, nor about any inquiries from the imperial court. He wanted only one thing, to find the killer.

He dared not ask the young immortal master for help. Instead, he ordered a citywide manhunt, hoping to find some clue.

The only leads were: a black banner, command over ghosts, very young, and a cultivator.

But Eight Directions City was a major county city, with tens of thousands of citizens. Finding someone like that was like fishing in the sea with a needle.

“Guards,” Zhang Wanlong snapped.

Two soldiers in black armor rushed into the hall, dragging up a man in scholar’s robes who had collapsed on the floor.

“Take him out.”

“Mercy, Lord Governor! Please, spare me!” Though he wore scholar’s robes, the man was only a child student.

Advisor Sun had been found dead, which only added to Zhang Wanlong’s fury.

His son was dead.

His most trusted aide was dead.

He’d lost his wife early in life and now his son in middle age.

The state of Great Liang was precarious and his career path held no hope.

He had nothing left to care about.

Revenge was his only focus.

If it came to it, he’d have every household searched, he would find a clue.

Silence fell over the main hall.

The two remaining aides dared not speak.

They had once been minor advisers to the governor, but with Advisor Sun dead, they were suddenly important.

One of them scratched his head in frustration, lost in thought.

The other, a middle-aged man in a blue robe, sat silently, eyes lowered, mind seemingly absorbed in the cup of tea before him.

Zhang Wanlong was deeply displeased by the blue-robed man’s calm.

In times like these, anyone who wasn’t as agitated as he was felt like an enemy.

If you couldn’t empathize with his pain, then you might as well die.

He said coldly, “Master Song, any insights?”

Master Song stood and bowed. “My lord, after much thought, I believe we still need more information from you.”

“Is there anyone in the city you suspect might bear a grudge against you?”

“I ask that you take a moment to recall the killer’s appearance, his clothing, speech, and demeanor.”

“His accent, in particular.”

“If you can recreate the scene that night in full detail, we’ll have a much better chance of identifying him.”

Zhang Wanlong had just executed someone, so his rage had slightly abated.

And he did want to find the murderer more than anyone.

So Song’s words were like medicine.

He began to recall the events of that night.

Song remained composed, sipping at his tea. Though it had long gone cold, the taste hardly mattered, his thoughts were elsewhere.

Why hadn’t he brought this up three days ago? That was Advisor Song’s wisdom.

At the time, Zhang Wanlong had been deep in grief. Even good advice would’ve been met with hostility.

He might’ve ended up sharing Advisor Sun’s fate.

And even if he’d survived, bringing up that night’s events would only remind the governor of his loss, earning him nothing but disdain.

Back then, the advice would’ve been wasted.

Now, after three days, Governor Zhang had cooled slightly, and was more eager than ever to find the culprit.

Even if the advice seemed basic, it was effective.

Zhang Wanlong began replaying the scene in his mind.

Grief surged again, he forced it down, and tried to recall whether anyone bore a grudge against him.

Why had the killer murdered Advisor Sun?

The killer’s appearance…

Young eyes. Roughly five feet six inches tall. Dressed in nightwear, face covered.

He commanded a ghost banner, which bore a red-haired malevolent ghost.

The banner was embroidered with a ghost’s face.

And his accent, it was definitely from Eight Directions County.

What did he say?

Zhang Wanlong suddenly raised his head, a gleam of clarity in his eyes.

He remembered.

The killer had spoken before attacking.

Master Song squinted slightly, a smile curling at the edge of his lips. It seemed the governor had recalled something.

Indeed, Song Wenlue was one step ahead.

“Old Sun,” he murmured inwardly, “rest easy now.”

“Your seat, I'll take care of it.”

He cast a brief, mocking glance at the silent colleague beside him but quickly returned to a composed expression.

Zhang Wanlong stood and walked straight out of the hall.

As he exited, the elderly steward of the household stepped up and whispered, “My lord?”

“Investigate the families of those four people.”

The steward knew exactly who the “four” referred to.

As he turned to carry out the order, Zhang Wanlong added, “Also investigate those close to them and their families.”

“Better to kill the innocent than let one guilty man go!”

“Yes, my lord.”

The steward didn’t argue.

It would’ve been useless. Zhang Wanlong no longer cared about right or wrong.

He, too, had watched Young Master Zhang grow up.

Zhang Wanlong’s pain was his pain.

After giving the orders, Zhang Wanlong headed to the residence of the young immortal master.

It was a Daoist temple. The Five Directions Temple, a place of purity.

The Five Directions Temple was a station of the Five Spirits Sect in the mortal world.

It could be seen as an inn or a branch hall.

Its main purpose was to host new Five Spirits Sect disciples assigned to guard the city.

Of course, other Five Spirits disciples traveling in the mortal world could also rest there.

“How is the immortal master’s condition?”

“Reporting to the governor, the immortal master is fully recovered.”

“Good. That eases my mind.”

Zhang Wanlong let out a long breath.

He himself could not defeat the black-clad killer, nor could his soldiers. Even battle formations were useless against that vicious ghost.

Only the immortal master could stop him.

Anyone else could fall but not the immortal master.

Zhang Wanlong climbed into his ox-cart, gave the temple one last complicated glance, then dropped the curtain.

“Return to the governor’s residence.”

Three days passed in a flash.

During the day, Li Qingfeng meditated at the Mountain God Temple. At night, he roamed in search of yin spirits and ghosts.

He’d already visited the mass grave at the mountain’s base two or three times, but found nothing.

He had consumed three Yin Soul Pills.

The spiritual power he refined condensed into a fog within him.

Just one pill was worth over a month of hard cultivation. His progress was remarkable.

Where advancing to Qi Refining second layer would have taken more than a year, now the timeline had shortened significantly.

Li Qingfeng felt that this wasn’t a sustainable path.

After some thought, he realized that the suggestion given by the main ghost in his dream two days ago was actually quite reasonable.

The main ghost had suggested: “Since those bandits were nothing but scourges anyway. Why not eliminate them and make their power yours?”

Li Qingfeng gave it serious thought. After all, it involved taking human lives.

His wounds had not yet healed, and he still needed time to recover.

Thinking about the wanted notices in the city and the people who never returned after leaving the city, Li Qingfeng finally made a decision, he would wipe out the bandits.

With a helpless smile, he muttered, “I feel like I’m drifting further from the righteous hero I once dreamed of becoming.”

But Tu Shanjun thought differently. Regardless of the bandit's plight, killing meant being prepared to be killed in return.

Besides, wiping out bandits was also a form of justice.

At this age, sentimental and well-mannered children tend to be overly emotional, Tu Shanjun didn’t argue with Li Qingfeng.

If it had been a more ruthless person, they'd probably have gone off with gusto already. But as long as the result was good, the means didn’t matter.

To Tu Shanjun, gaining power was all that truly mattered.

(Chapter End)