Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 264 - 3: Luring the Snake Out of Its Hole

The commotion outside the village quickly made Shen Qingming and the others frown. Although they could vaguely hear dozens of people rushing closer, constantly noisy, the air was thick with a chaotic malevolence, like a pungent stench that even suppressed the fishy smell brewing for a hundred years in this little fishing village.

Li Wanqing had the most experience traveling, and her mind was sharp. She immediately made a gesture to Shen Qingming and the others, and quietly hid away.

At times like this, regardless of what trouble appears, there's no need for them, as outsiders, to stand out. Wang Jiu had gone to slay the Demon Essence, only for the kind and affable village elder to explode in fury, scolding them for meddling, revealing this village is not just about delicious fish soup. Outsiders should not take actions lightly.

After Wang Jiu's teachings, they had become quite adept at concealing their True Essence and holding their breath. Soon, they blended among the villagers, not appearing unusual.

Moments later, as the village elder stood at the cellar door, hesitating whether to open it, the door was violently kicked open.

Then, several soldiers clad in armor rushed in.

Before leaving QingCyan Cloud yun City, Shen Qingming and the others had done their homework and quickly recognized the identities of these soldiers from their armored attire.

They belong to the Outer City Patrol Team of Shen City, responsible for maintaining order around Shen City. From the color of their attire and the tier of their armor, these soldiers should be outer members of the Patrol Team.

Most of these outer members lack true Immortal Cultivation — after all, for most mortals, the Barrier-Breaking aspiration remains an unattainable dream — yet they all possess exceptional qualities as top-tier Martial Artists. More importantly, their armor and weapons at their waist hold Divine Weapon-level powers.

These soldiers, perhaps individually don't seem impressive, but when forming a battle array of three or four, their strength multiplies several times. With a Patrol Team typically over a hundred strong on urgent outings, their prowess is formidable, especially if led by a captain usually at Cloud Surge Realm cultivation level, any ordinary cultivator squad would avoid them.

Ultimately, these Patrol Teams rely most not on the members' individual combat ability but on the Gale War Chariot allocated by Shen City to each Patrol Team. It's a true battle arsenal, operated by over twenty soldiers together, its power comparable to heavy cultivators in Cloud Flipping Realm.

This is the Patrol Team's greatest reliance in confronting the Demon Essence; otherwise, their small squad of under fifty isn't enough to feed a Demon Essence.

Yet, upon entering, the Patrol Team, supposedly guardians of the land, brought an odd tension to the scene.

Though each was veiled with partial face masks, their irritation and open hostility were clear.

"Where's the Demon Essence?"

The squad leader, wearing clearly superior armor, his weapon glinting an eerie light—a peculiarly heavy-head, light-foot long spear more than a person tall.

At his voice, cold sweat poured from the village elder's forehead like a waterfall: "All, all were eliminated."

"What?!"

The captain's voice shot up eight tones: "Eliminated?!"

The village elder, pale-faced, hurriedly pointed to Wang Jiu and others in the crowd: "It's them; they took matters into their own hands when the Demon Essence attacked."

The captain's eyes narrowed slightly, following the elder's finger, and the first person he saw was Wang Jiu, standing tall among the others.

Though they had all concealed their True Essence, their presence remained strong; simply in terms of height, Wang Jiu and Li Wanqing towered over the villagers, whose nutritional conditions were generally average. Moreover, they were unafraid of trouble, just quietly standing by, awaiting the captain's response.

Before the captain could speak, an officer behind him stepped forward, heavy breaths with ill intent about to spew.

Yet the captain pulled him back.

The next moment, the captain's face beamed with a smile, offering a salute to Wang Jiu: "May I ask for your name? I am Hong Yu, Shen City Patrol Team's Third Squad Captain, grateful for your righteous deeds in eradicating the Demon Essence for Yulin Village."

Before Wang Jiu could reply, Li Wanqing stepped forward and said, "I am Qingyu, a wanderer of the forest, drawn here by tales of tasty fish soup. What happened earlier was our interference; if there's any offense, please forgive us."

The captain shook his head repeatedly: "No offense at all, no offense at all, you truly helped us a lot. After receiving the alert, it takes at least twenty minutes to reach here from the camp; had you not acted promptly, even without casualties, the village's crops and livestock would have suffered losses."

Li Wanqing smiled: "I'm glad we didn't cause trouble."

At this moment, another officer approached the captain, whispered a few words, causing the captain to nod repeatedly: "All eliminated, not one escaped? That's wonderful; well, let's get ready to head back."

Saying this, the captain beckoned, preparing to lead the team back to the city.

The village chief was horrified, breaking into a cold sweat as he walked up to the captain: "Captain Hong, Captain Hong! Well, it's just that you noble soldiers came here late at night to save our village, and now you're just leaving..."

The captain waved his hand: "What's there to save? Haven't you already been saved by some noble benefactors? We mere soldiers shouldn't meddle, right, everyone?"

Several people behind him let out not-so-sincere laughter, then each turned and left without saying another word, making the atmosphere seem cold and murderous.

Before boarding the Gale War Chariot, the captain turned to Li Wanqing and said, "Everyone, this area is not very safe. For your safety, you should head to Shen City as soon as possible."

Li Wanqing nodded with a smile, then clasped hands to bid farewell to the patrol team members.

After the patrol team left, Li Wanqing put away her smile and asked the village chief: "What's really going on?"

The village chief let out a heavy sigh and waved his hand: "Don't ask, it's just bad luck for our Yulin Village. You guys... after all, you meant well. What I said earlier was too harsh; this old man apologizes to you all. You better just leave quickly."

Li Wanqing was quite perceptive: "Those patrol guards, will they come back to cause trouble?"

"No trouble, no trouble, not troubling at all." The village chief shook his head vigorously, then only issued a departure command: "You can destroy demons, so you probably don't mind resting for a night. But if you can leave quickly, do so; what Captain Hong said was true, this place isn't too peaceful, especially recently, with demons rampaging several times. The most serious time, even the squad leader came, causing quite a commotion."

Shen Qingming listened with increasing frowns, wanting to ask more, but Li Wanqing tugged her by the wrist: "In that case, we'll take our leave now. Sorry to have troubled you."

Then, Li Wanqing handed two Spirit Stones to the Little Fish Girl who had hosted them and quickly left with the group.

Not far from leaving Yulin Village, the group stopped, and Shen Qingming, unable to hold back, was the first to ask: "What exactly is going on?"

Li Wanqing said: "It's very clear that those patrol guards are wary of us. Think about it — from the alarm sounding to those patrol guards arriving here with their war chariot from over a hundred li away, it took just over twenty minutes, and a thousand demons were wiped out completely. Plus, we look only about eighteen or twenty years old. The patrol guards from big cities should all know not to easily provoke young cultivators roaming outside, because no one can tell just how strong these cultivators who dare not walk the main roads might be, or how deep their backgrounds are."

Shen Qingming felt a bit puzzled: "What is there to be wary of? This is Shen City. Even if we are strong and have deep backgrounds, can we really compare to these Shen City soldiers?"

Li Wanqing said: "So that suggests that what they're doing can't see the light, and they don't want to draw attention. Can't you see the malice in those soldiers' eyes?"

"Of course, I can see it, but I thought it was directed at us, and they can't afford to shine a light on it...?" Shen Qingming was startled, "Could it be...? They intend to harm the villagers…? But they're soldiers; they wouldn't really harm the villagers they're supposed to protect, would they? And with this village having no money, even selling all their belongings wouldn't buy two Gale War Chariots."

Li Wanqing said: "Don't worry, I think we'll find out soon enough."

"What?"

"Why do you think I hurried to drag you all out of the village? With us gone, it allows those guards to come back and do what they intend, right?"

"Huh!? You intend to let them do it!?"

Li Wanqing said earnestly: "If we don't let them do bad things now, are we supposed to wait one or two months and let them sneak back to massacre the whole village after we've left Yulin Village?"

"You're trying to lure the snake out of the hole?"

"Yes, I notice those soldiers are quite impatient. Once we leave, they'll be back in less than half an hour, and just in time for us to head back and heroically save the damsels, haha, it's almost perfect!"

Shen Qingming suddenly felt a bit powerless: "... Heroically save the damsels?"

Li Wanqing was full of spirit: "That Little Fish Girl who served us fish soup, although her skin has some issues due to the sea breeze and she doesn't have clothes or make-up, she would definitely be a stunning beauty with a little grooming."

"..."

"And besides her, the other young girls in the village are also very pretty; local environment nurtures local people. In Yulin Village, not only is the fish soup delicious, but the Fish Girls are also quite lovely!"

As Li Wanqing spoke up to this point, she suddenly became solemn: "It's not just me who noticed. Naturally, the soldiers who are often very thirsty also noticed. You just asked what those soldiers could do to this poor remote fishing village. I think by now you should have guessed."

Almost as soon as Li Wanqing finished speaking, from not far away, in the dimly lit fishing village, there came a girl's scream, like a lightning bolt striking through the night, only to be forcibly silenced after just a moment.

Li Wanqing gestured with her head: "Let's go, time to heroically save the damsels."