Chapter 96: 96 Awareness

Chapter 96: Chapter 96 Awareness

Chen Yuan returned to the front of Cien Temple when the combat was still ongoing, though it was nearly at an end. The ground was littered with dead bodies, including those of the Martial Monks from Cien Temple, and the constables from Ping’an County.

Among them, there were many individuals Chen Yuan knew well.

But they all lay silently on the ground, some curled up and moaning.

“Boom!”

A massive booming sound exploded. Chen Yuan looked up to see the four Black Robes surrounding Zhang Xuan being simultaneously repelled, falling to the ground, clutching their chests and glaring balefully at Zhang Xuan.

Around him seemed to form a cyan Qi wall, his expression cold as he glanced briefly at the dead.

...

The next moment, his fingertips flickered continuously, and four strands of Qi Force shot out, blasting into the Dantian of the four Black Robes.

“Ah…”

“No, no…”

“Zhang Xuan, you’ve crippled us!”

The Black Robes roared in anger, raising their arms at the same time. Four jet-black crossbow arrows were fired simultaneously.

But Zhang Xuan, instead of dodging, swept his long blade horizontally, clearing all incoming crossbow arrows in one swoop.

“A few jumping clowns, dare to flaunt in front of me!”

Zhang Xuan snorted coldly.

Elsewhere, Li Mingqi was severely stifled by Jie Nan, his body stained red with blood, and his Hundred Refinement Blade was forcefully shattered, with several of the Heavenly Patrol Guards dead or injured.

Only Yue Shan and a man with a scar on his face were barely holding on, but their struggle was evident, their faces covered in cold sweat, their eyes filled with dread as they looked at Jie Nan.

A master of the Condensing Evil Level truly was not someone they could compare with.

If not for Li Mingqi bearing most of the pressure, they would probably have been completely wiped out.

“Bang!”

Jie Nan’s movements shifted into an afterimage, as he landed a powerful palm on Li Mingqi’s left shoulder, creating a booming noise. Following that, Li Mingqi was sent flying several meters away, slamming heavily into the ground.

“Lord Zhang, come and save me!”

Li Mingqi cried out urgently.

Jie Nan’s palm had already injured his left shoulder, greatly reducing his combat ability.

Zhang Xuan looked expressionlessly at Li Mingqi, the wind picking up around his feet. A chill breeze blew as Zhang Xuan instantly appeared in front of Jie Nan, his blade chopping down straight at him.

Jie Nan, shocked and pale, hastily dodged to the side, while his right palm enshrouded in black Evil Qi, struck out fiercely.

Zhang Xuan snorted coldly, unfazed, meeting the blow with his own palm.

“Boom!”

Cyan Gang Qi intertwined with the black Evil Qi. In less than a half breath, Jie Nan’s body, as if hit by an indescribable force, was thrown several meters away, tumbling and sliding a few steps on the ground before he could stop.

“Zhang Xuan!”

Jie Nan’s face was utterly displeased; his strength was so greatly inferior to his foe, he was no match at all.

Turning his head, he glanced at the four ghosts collapsed on the ground, their necks under the blades of several officials. Jie Nan’s gaze chilled as he looked at the position of the sun, calculating the time.

An hour had almost passed.

Yet…

Why hasn’t the Holy Envoy arrived?

“The one thing I hate most in my life are bald monks. Are you going to surrender, or should I break your every meridian before capturing you?” Zhang Xuan said, his left hand behind his back.

His face showed neither sadness nor joy, utterly indifferent.

“Brother Yuan…”

Wang Ping stumbled over to Chen Yuan’s side, forcing a smile.

“Are you injured?”

Chen Yuan furrowed his eyebrows, inspecting Wang Ping from head to toe, his body covered in blood, even his long blade slightly notched.

Wang Ping scratched his head, saying with a laugh:

“No worries, it’s all the monks’ blood. They really are fierce, completely unafraid of death.”

Even now, recalling the event, Wang Ping was still visibly shaken.

Those monks truly lacked any fear of death, seemingly oblivious to the concept, and even, Wang Ping could feel, they longed for it.

“Brainwashed…”

Chen Yuan shook his head.

No wonder the imperial court was so fervently pursuing the No-Life Sect, bordering on fanaticism. It was essentially undermining the foundation of the regime.

“Once this is over, I must spend a few days in the brothel…” Wang Ping laughed heartlessly.

“We’ll talk about it after we get back.”

Chen Yuan had no interest in women at the moment.

“Arrogant!”

Jie Nan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, his gaze flickering. Suddenly, he pulled out a dark fist-sized bead from his bosom and furiously threw it at Zhang Xuan.

“Heavenly Thunder?”

Zhang Xuan’s pupils shrank, and he quickly retreated several meters by leveraging his strength.

“Boom!!!!”

A huge booming sound erupted instantly, blasting a massive pit into the ground.

Zhang Xuan’s clothes were slightly disheveled, and his Gang Qi was somewhat unstable.

“Hm? Gunpowder?”

Chen Yuan was shocked when he saw this scene from a distance.

But it didn’t seem to be sulfur.

Seeing Zhang Xuan withstand the strike of the Heavenly Thunder without sustaining injuries, Jie Nan cursed under his breath:

“Damn it!”

Then, he turned around and tried to flee into Cien Temple.

“Trying to escape?”

Zhang Xuan’s expression turned grim, a green light flickering in his hand.

…

Looking at Jie Nan’s corpse on the ground, Zhang Xuan’s gaze was icy cold as he ordered several constables to firmly bind the four black-robed men, their bones pierced by iron chains, and pressed them to the side.

With the death of Jie Nan, all resisting forces in Cien Temple were officially declared extinguished.

Apart from those four captives, everyone was lying on the ground.

Chen Yuan unobtrusively came to Li Mingqi’s side and helped him up:

“Sir, are you alright?”

“No worries, I’m not dead yet…”

Li Mingqi let out a long breath.

Standing up, Li Mingqi looked towards Cien Temple with some fear and shouted to Zhang Xuan:

“Lord Zhang, I am seriously injured, so I won’t… I won’t go in.”

No one knew if there were still members of the No-Life Sect inside, and Li Mingqi thought it best to be cautious for his own safety since he had his share of credit already.

He couldn’t hope for too much.

“County Magistrate Li, you stay here then, Chen Yuan…” Zhang Xuan called out.

Chen Yuan responded and slowly came to Zhang Xuan’s side, bowing:

“My lord.”

“You follow me inside…”

“Yes.”

Seeing this, Li Mingqi narrowed his eyes, contemplating something.

At this moment, all command was in Zhang Xuan’s hands; he ordered all remaining constables, except those guarding the four black-robed men, to enter Cien Temple and search the monks.

He then led Yue Shan, Chen Yuan, and three Heavenly Patrol Guards towards the main hall.

Chen Yuan led the way, bringing them to the door of a small dilapidated temple, telling Zhang Xuan that he had stopped here initially and hadn’t dared to explore further.

“Someone came here before?”

Zhang Xuan’s expression tensed as he saw the pool of blood on the ground.

This was the trace left by Chen Yuan after killing the limping fat man, though he had thrown the body behind the bushes near the door, he hadn’t had time to clean up the blood.

Chen Yuan was in a hurry and couldn’t erase all traces no matter what he did.

With this thought, Zhang Xuan quickly led everyone through the small door.