Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

"What? Not going in now? Still need to investigate outside?"

"Taoist, you've got quite the nerve."

"If you delay the rescue of the young mistress, the entire Hidden Dragon Temple, from top to bottom, will have to join her in burial. You too, Lin Baihu, you won't get away with it either."

The maid named Yue Ya, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jumped up. She put her left hand on her hip, pointed at Yi Chen with her right hand, and stood with her feet apart, like a pair of compasses, shouting at Yi Chen with an agitated expression.

Some people just can't recognize their place.

Those close to power think they possess it.

But it's an illusion.

No different from a supermarket cashier fantasizing that the entire store depends on them for survival.

Let alone her just being the so-called third young mistress's maid, even if that third young mistress herself was standing in front of Yi Chen saying these things, he wouldn't allow her to stay.

Yi Chen chuckled and said nothing either way.

He grabbed the hair of the maid named Yue Ya and threw her into the low wall of the Yang family stronghold, then disgustingly wiped his hands on his Daoist robe.

Some people are afraid of the Cui family's punishment, disregarding other people's lives, and thus meet their retribution.

Was she not desperate to save her master? Yi Chen decided to help her along the way.

If he felt even the slightest malice from her later on, it would be quite reasonable for a maid to die in the vast Yang family stronghold, especially with its strange occurrences.

Lin Baihu opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something but then hesitated, seemingly feeling Yi Chen acted a bit too harshly, but ultimately said nothing.

Yi Chen smiled, patted Lin Baihu on the shoulder, and went on to explain:

"Brother Lin, compassion does not lead an army, does it?"

"This person is afraid of taking responsibility and is urging us to go inside. A mere maid just arrived and dares to meddle in our plans. I can't even begin to think what she would dare do later on."

"I did this for everyone's safety."

Having said that, Yi Chen turned and began walking around the perimeter of the Yang family stronghold without further discussion.

"What are you standing around for? Didn't you hear what Taoist Yi Chengzi just said? Form groups of three and search around the Yang family stronghold, and note down anything unusual."

With Lin Baihu's order, the servants started to take action.

Yi Chen quickly began investigating around the dirt wall of the Yang family stronghold, looking for any possible clues.

Bodies, sometimes, can speak.

Yi Chen walked and scrutinized, pondering over the mysterious affair at the same time.

If this incident was affected by the bloody meteor, what was the most likely outcome?

Confusion? Contamination? Mutation?

For a moment, Yi Chen's imagination ran wild, and he started to speculate.

He hadn't gone far when he quickly noticed something unusual.

Bodies, hundreds of rat corpses, lay by the wall of the Yang family stronghold.

Some of the rats had eyes bulging and bleeding from all orifices; others had their heads blown off in part.

The bodies were scattered, giving the impression that the rats were fleeing from something.

"It seems that something extraordinary indeed happened at this Yang family stronghold," Yi Chen thought.

"And perhaps it can no longer be explained by ordinary reasoning."

Seeing the multitude of small animal corpses ahead, Yi Chen immediately heightened his guard to the maximum.

He took a few steps back and continued walking around the low wall when, with his astonishing eyesight, he spotted a bloody man sitting on the roof of the biggest and tallest building within the stronghold, dancing and flailing about with his back to him.

The man was dressed in a white undergarment covered in bloodstains.

At that moment, the man on the roof suddenly turned his head. His face was pale, the eye sockets were hollow, reminiscent of the ghostly makeup in the movie "The Ghost Will Reflect," and there was a fist-sized black circular birthmark on his face.

"Taoist, have you found anything?"

Lin Baihu's voice called out from a distance.

He was looking for Yi Chen.

Yi Chen turned his head to Lin Baihu and said, "Brother Lin, look at the person sitting on the rooftop ahead."

Lin Baihu looked puzzled and turned in the direction indicated by Yi Chen's finger.

"Taoist, there's nothing on the roof. Where's the person?"

Upon hearing Lin Baihu's words, Yi Chen abruptly turned to look in the direction he had just been viewing, only to find the ghostly figure of the burly man had vanished without a trace, as if he had been a mere illusion.

For a moment, Yi Chen's expression flickered uncertainly, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Before long, the group had assembled, and the officers from the Town Peace Division reported that many small animal carcasses had been found in the vicinity, as if they were fleeing from something: chickens, ducks, mice, and so on, the list went on.

Following Yi Chen's suggestion, they sent people to fetch drinking water from the distant river, then set off, ready to enter the fortified village.

At that moment, the sound of galloping hooves arose, and a convoy of horsemen appeared on the horizon, swiftly approaching.

Lin Baihu furrowed his brows and spoke to Yi Chen,

"It's the guards of the third young lady and the people from the nearby Fire-Worshipping Dao."

"It seems the third young lady's guards split into two groups, each seeking help in different places."

The Fire-Worshipping Dao was quite a prominent cultivation force nearby. The newcomers, a man and a woman, both clad in white, were an attractive pair. Both had a flame lotus tattoo on their chests. They exuded an aura that suggested their cultivation was not weak, akin to that of Daoist Qingxu.

Yi Chen glanced at them and paid them no further mind, deeming them insignificant.

Even the big chickens were still just chickens in his eyes.

Compared to the average person, under his full-powered strike, they should at least leave a complete corpse, nothing to be concerned about.

He instructed Lin Baihu to negotiate with those people, while he himself led a team of officers into the Yang Family Fortified Village.

Contrary to Yi Chen's expectations, peace reigned within the Yang Family Fortified Village, as if nothing had happened.

The residents had faint smiles on their faces and seemed entirely serene, apparently unaffected by last night's disappearances.

Those who planted vegetables did so, those who picked mulberries continued their work, the ones pushing hand carts transported charcoal, and the blacksmiths kept hammering.

The Yang Family Fortified Village was renowned for trading ironware: kitchen knives, hoes, cleavers, long swords, all kinds of items which sold extremely well.

Especially the large cleavers, which were the best sellers, good for chopping trees and people alike.

In his past life, the one who was adept at dual purposes was Oddball, cutting both bananas and people.

Yet, normalcy was the most abnormal sign of all.

For some reason, as Yi Chen watched the villagers each going about their business, a sense of falseness suddenly emerged within him.

They seemed like a group of marionettes on strings.

However, his senses told him that these people had blood coursing through them, they were very much alive.

Malevolence, an indescribable malevolence.

Yi Chen stopped a middle-aged man carting charcoal to inquire if there was anyone in the Yang Family Fortified Village with a black circular birthmark the size of a fist on their face, but the man shook his head like a rattle-drum, adamantly claiming to have lived there for decades without seeing such a person.

After making similar inquiries with several others, receiving the same response, Yi Chen's brows furrowed even more deeply.

He cautioned the officers not to consume any food or water from within the fort and then had them start a thorough, systematic search of the Yang Family Fortified Village, grouping up in teams of three.

Having experienced many battles, the professional specialists of the Town Peace Division needed no detailed instructions; they knew their protocols. Though they were not cultivators, their martial skills were no worse than those of Ji Tuanlian from Qingyuan Town, and they were well-equipped for their tasks.

Despite a thorough search, they came up empty-handed. All the residents of the fortified village were cooperative, and no trace nor clue emerged.

"Taoist, what should we do now?"

Lin Baihu came over and spoke to Yi Chen, his own heart feeling fuzzy with anxiety due to the abnormal condition of the villagers he had certainly noticed as well.

As a precaution, he had even slapped exorcism talismans on more than a dozen people, but the talismans showed no signs of activation.

Yi Chen sighed.

"Let's have half our brothers stay outside on sentry duty. If we don't come out by tomorrow, they should go back to send word and ask for reinforcements."

"We'll stay overnight there tonight to see what kind of demons or ghosts are hiding within the Yang Family Fortified Village."

Looking in the direction of Yi Chen's pointed finger, they saw a house that stood out as the tallest and largest at the center of the Yang Family Fortified Village.

It was also the very house where he had seen the 'sneaky' figure disappearing that day.

Lin Baihu nodded silently and immediately went out to make the arrangements.