"Three villages under the jurisdiction of Nihuan County were massacred one after another in three months. All the villagers, young and old, had their hearts ripped out and died. A total of more than 400 lives were lost." Fang Tao replied through a message, "This news It has been sealed off by the Nihuan County government to avoid causing panic. However, the government's ordinary patrols and officers could not solve the cases involving demons or cultivators, so they asked the Tianjing Division."
"Isn't Chiyue Kingdom a secular country under the rule of Ziyun Sect? Why doesn't Ziyun Sect send people over?"
"I heard that the Imperial Advisor of the Ziyun Sect who is stationed in the Chiyue Kingdom is fighting with Prime Minister Zuo. This matter has become a weapon for them to attack each other in the court. With mutual constraints, how can they send people come over."
"It's really shameless." Qu Wuming said angrily, "In their eyes, fighting for power and profit is probably far more important than the lives and deaths of ordinary people."
"Oh, isn't this the first time that Brother Qu knows about the Ziyun Sect's actions?" Fang Tao seemed to be a little helpless and said, "I finally met Brother Qu, so naturally I wanted to sit down and have a drink with him. But after knowing what happened to Yun Zhonghe, I am already a little restless and wish I could get my wings and leave the Red Moon Country as soon as possible."
Qu Wuming smiled when he heard this, patted Fang Tao on the shoulder and said, "It doesn't matter, I'll look for you when I pass by Izumo Country later. However, I would like to take a look at the mission you just mentioned."
"It's easy to talk about this! The headquarters of Tianjing Division in Nihuan County is..."
——
"Do you have anything else you need to know, Daoyou Wu?" asked the resident general manager of Nihuan County, Tianjing Division.
Opposite him, it was Qu Wuming who had put on a disguise and changed his name to "Wu Qu". Qu Wuming held two tokens of the peripheral deacons of the Tianjing Division. One was his real name and the other was a pseudonym. Being in the sphere of influence of the Ziyun Sect at this time, it was natural to do more than to do less, so he used a pseudonym.
This time to assist in the investigation of the murder of villagers in Nihuan County, Tianjing Division Nihuan County Station has actually done a sufficient preliminary investigation, ruling out the possibility of the demon clan causing rebellion, and can confirm that it is at least a cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage or above. Human actions - among the murdered villagers, two reclusive monks in the Alchemy Stage have been identified. One of them was even at the peak of the Alchemy Stage, but they still could not escape the fate of being killed. Now if we want to solve the case, we can only use the three villages where the murders occurred as the starting point, quietly place mysterious shadow stones in other villages in the surrounding Nihuan County, and investigate secretly in a wait-and-see manner.
In view of the fact that the murderer may have a relatively high level of cultivation, and the Tianjing Division's strength in Nihuan County is not enough to summon enough manpower for large-scale control, a mission was issued within the Tianjing Division and summoned experts from all over the surrounding areas. Come and help. Although this move may also alert the enemy, it is also a last resort.
"Do you have a map of Nihuan County? The more detailed the better." Qu Wuming asked.
"That's natural!" The steward hurriedly took out a map and handed it to Qu Wuming, "The villages where previous murders occurred have been marked with red dots. At present, in the other relatively remote villages, we have quietly worked on some key points. A Xuanying Stone has been installed at the location. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of manpower, and it is impossible to arrange manned control points in every village. I wonder which control point Wu Daoyou plans to choose to join?"
Qu Wuming looked at it carefully, then tapped on the map and said, "This is it! Kuzhu Village!"
"Okay!" The steward nodded, took out a transmission note and handed it to Qu Wuming, "The person in charge of the control point in Kuzhu Village is named Zuo Dongze. Although his cultivation level is not as high as that of Wu Daoyou, he is very familiar with the situation in several nearby villages. , please also ask Fellow Daoist Wu to obey his arrangements."
"Don't worry, it's about people's lives, Wu won't mess around."
"Then it's my fault, Fellow Daoist Wu!" The steward stretched out his hand with the storage ring, clenched his fist and said to Qu Wuming, "This is the fee paid in advance after accepting the mission, thirty high-level spiritual stones. After the mission is over, Fellow Daoist Wu will come to me to collect the rest of the reward."
Qu Wuming lightly touched the storage ring and the steward's storage ring. The two storage rings flashed a bright light at the same time. The next moment, Qu Wuming's storage ring already contained thirty more high-level spiritual stones. .
"Thank you, I'll leave now." Qu Wuming stood up and clasped his fists.
"On behalf of the people of Nihuan County, I would like to thank Wu Daoyou for helping me!" The steward also stood up, clasped his fists in return, and watched Qu Wuming leave.
——
"Welcome Fellow Daoist Wu! Please come inside!"
Zuo Dongze, the person in charge of the control point in Kuzhu Village, is an old man with white hair and beard. His cultivation level is around the late Nascent Soul stage. When Qu Wuming found the control point, he stepped out of a cliff in a flash.
At this time, Qu Wuming discovered that there was a temporary cave on the cliff behind Zuo Dongze. There were very clever restrictions on the entrance. Without careful inspection, it looked like a real stone wall. It didn't look abnormal at all.
"I've met Fellow Daoist Zuo!" Qu Wuming cupped his hands and looked at him carefully. This Zuo Dongze is of medium build and slightly overweight. Although his beard and hair are all white, there are not many wrinkles on his face. His eyes are sparkling. Combined with the information previously said by the steward of Nihuan County of Tianjing Division, it is not difficult to judge. Zuo Dongze's cultivation seems to have reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, and he is only one step away from entering the Divine Transformation Stage.
"I heard from Manager Jiang that Fellow Daoist Wu was coming, and the old man suddenly felt a lot more relaxed." Zuo Dongze introduced Qu Wuming into the cave and said as he walked, "Considering the strength of the murderer, the Tianjing Division only arranged to fight with Yuan Those who are from the infant stage to the early stage of becoming a god are sent to control by those who are capable of fighting. Those with weaker cultivation levels can only arrange to go to various places in Nihuan County to inquire about information, and do not dare to be sent to the control point. Originally, there were only four people in our control point. , Fellow Daoist Wu is here, there are five of us."
"So few people?" Qu Wuming couldn't help but frown secretly upon hearing this.
"Yes, if we arrange for someone with poor cultivation, if we find the murderer, we will just die in vain." Zuo Dongze led Qu Wuming to a set of five-foot-square light curtains and said, "Wu Daoyou, please look! This is The eight villages that our control point is responsible for each have a population of more than 100, which is more in line with the characteristics of the murderer."
Above the light curtain, each village has about five to six images transmitted back by the Xuanying Stone, which are put together into a group, totaling about forty pictures. It is daytime now, and there are still many villagers in the picture walking back and forth and busy as always.
"The murderer has never committed a crime during the day, so our people will patrol between villages during the day and will not be stationed in them." Zuo Dongze pointed to the three two dots that kept flashing in the screen and said, "The other three people at our control point are on patrol at the moment and will come back in the evening. Then I will introduce Fellow Daoist Wu to get to know them. Tonight, Fellow Daoist Wu can form a team with one of them and choose a village to ambush. After discovering the murderer, please report the information promptly, and do not scare him away easily. If the murderer appears in other villages, I will notify everyone to rush there as soon as possible."
"Okay!" Qu Wuming nodded, his eyes fell on the images of eight villages, and then looked at the map of nearby villages hanging next to the light screen, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Zuo, I don't know Among these eight villages, which one has the largest population?”
"The most populous one is Baligou, with about 180 residents there. Down is Huaishu Valley, with more than 150 people. The rest of Dazhu Village, Huangshi Village, Kuzhu Village, etc. are even smaller. , about 110 to 20 people."
"Baligou, Locust Tree Valley..." Qu Wuming thought silently in his heart, "I will choose Baligou to stay and wait here tonight."
A few days later.
The companion assigned by Zuo Dongze to Qu Wuming is named Zhang Xi. Like Qu Wuming, they are peripheral deacons of the Tianjing Division who come from outside to help - peripheral personnel who can do as many things as they get paid.
During the nights of the past few days, the two of them basically switched defenses back and forth between the villages of Baligou and Huaishu Valley, hoping to bump into the murderer by chance.
But the murderer never showed up.
"Brother Wu, do you think that guy will continue to commit crimes?" In a cellar in Baligou Village, Zhang Xi, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly sent a message to Qu Wuming.
"Yes." Qu Wuming replied in the same voice transmission, "Didn't we find out two days ago that the evil method most likely to use the hearts of living people is the 'Thousand Hearts and Blood Evil Technique'? Using the evil method obtained from living people The resentment and evil spirits carried by the heart, together with the heart, are transformed into blood evil spirits through secret techniques. After being refined into the body, the muscles, bones, and skin of the body can be made as strong as magic weapons, and ordinary magic weapons and fairy swords cannot be damaged at all. Now the murderer has less than half of the heart. , will definitely continue to commit crimes."
"I don't know if he will choose Baligou Village." Zhang Xi said helplessly, "There are about a hundred villages in Nihuan County that meet the conditions. If we wait like this, it doesn't seem to be much different from finding a needle in a haystack. .”
"I have a hunch that he should appear soon." Qu Wuming said, "My intuition has always been very accurate."
"Then let's borrow Brother Wu's good advice!" Zhang Xi said with a smile, "I really hope this guy shows up earlier to see if I don't twist his head off! Hmph..."
"Now we have four more people at the control point. If he appears in any village, the nine people working together will definitely be able to keep him!"
Before Qu Wuming could finish his words, a buzzing sound came from their storage rings at the same time. The two of them hurriedly opened their eyes and took out the communication talisman from their storage rings.
"The murderer has appeared! In Locust Tree Valley!" Zuo Dongze's urgent voice came from the communication talisman.
"Damn it! I actually went to Sophora Tree Valley today, why not yesterday!" Zhang Xi suddenly stood up, his feet suddenly flew up, and with a bang, the cover of the cellar burst open. Zhang Xi didn't care much, turned into a stream of light, and flew away in the direction of Huaishu Valley Village.
Behind him, Qu Wuming also turned into a stream of light and soared into the sky. However, although Qu Wuming was a breath slower in starting, his escape speed was far faster than Zhang Xi. In less than a moment, he had surpassed Zhang Xi and was far away. It fell behind him.
Baligou Village is still a long way from Huaishugu Village. If you look at it from the map, it happens to be located at the east and west ends of the area under the jurisdiction of the Kuzhu Village control point.
At this moment, the cave at the control point in Kuzhu Village was empty. On the still-lit light curtain, seven light spots could be seen moving rapidly towards Huaishu Valley Village from four different villages.
The two spots of light that originally stayed in Huaishu Valley Village were all extinguished at some point.
…
