Chapter 194: Chapter 144 Rebellion_2
However, Li Yuancheng and a few Deputy Constables had stepped out.
It wasn’t long before they saw the two men from the Ancient Elephant Sect who had left the official residence a short time ago. They saw them stop at the head of Snake Fish Town’s Medicine and Firewood Market, in front of a small stall.
"Eh? The antlers in those Ancient Elephant Sect men’s hands, they gleam like jade?" Constable Chen slightly raised an eyebrow. "Could they be the shed antlers of a Nine-Colored Deer? Such luck for a Mountain Runner from Snake Fish Town to find the antlers of a Nine-Colored Deer?"
The antlers of the Nine-Colored Deer, it was said, when ground into powder and taken with the heart of a certain animal, allowed one to understand the Beast Language of that animal.
"Hm? It seems that Mountain Runner doesn’t know he has the antlers of a Nine-Colored Deer in his hands? Is he just selling them as a curious set of antlers?" Li Yuancheng mused, a slight frown on his face.
After all, the Nine-Colored Deer was considered a very high-end creature. It wasn’t strange for people in the county town to recognize it, especially since the black market had a bounty on the Nine-Colored Deer not long ago. But in the countryside, information was more restricted, and the Mountain Runners had probably never heard of this.
"Well, now! Looks like these two from the Ancient Elephant Sect are about to snag a real treasure!" Constable Chen immediately cried out, "Brothers, when a good thing is found, everyone should get a share! How can we let two outsiders come to our home turf and walk away with such a major find?"
In any case, since no transaction had occurred yet, they planned to step in and secure the treasure.
The antlers appeared to be naturally shed by a Nine-Colored Deer. Though it was uncertain if they still possessed the same properties, a single Nine-Colored Deer was valued at 500,000 taels of silver. These antlers were surely worth a considerable amount, perhaps as much as 18,000 taels.
Although the arrest officers’ annual salaries were also several hundred taels, faced with such valuable antlers, it was impossible for them not to be tempted.
At the stall, the two men from the Ancient Elephant Sect exchanged glances, each understanding the other’s thoughts. To think they would stumble upon such a treasure in the countryside.
Li Jiuxun quietly discussed with Guo Huai through Sound Transmission into Secret, "If this horn still holds its mystical properties, perhaps after grinding it and consuming the medicine, one might gain the Special Ability of Beast Language. This would be an incredible aid for exploring the mountains."
Guo Huai responded, "This country bumpkin doesn’t know its value. I reckon we can get it for a few dozen taels at most. We mustn’t offer too high a price; these common folk are very sly. If we offer a high price, he might not sell."
Just as the two men took out some small change of silver, intending to trick the seller into trading the antler, suddenly, a figure appeared beside them, saying, "Wait, look who I am!"
The two men found the voice somewhat familiar and instinctively turned their heads.
At this glance, they saw a familiar face. He had a dignified look and a mustache, and it was indeed Junior Brother Yan Longhao, who had disappeared along with the deaths of the Second Young Lady and Junior Sister Yan.
"Junior Brother Yan? It’s you! You’re still alive! Where have you been these past few days? Why didn’t you come and meet with us..." Li Jiuxun’s voice trembled slightly with excitement, his elderly mustache quivering.
"Yan Longhao?" Constable Chen, approaching from a short distance, also recognized the man who had appeared next to the two Ancient Elephant Sect masters, and curiously voiced out, "Wasn’t it said that this man was sent by that deceased Zhao Family girl to track Chen Ku from the Medicine King Hall, and then he disappeared?"
"Tracking my brother-in-law?" Li Yuancheng’s expression changed, and he was about to ask Constable Chen for the details.
But he suddenly saw Constable Chen’s expression change.
At the same time, Li Jiuxun and Guo Huai, the two elderly men from the Ancient Elephant Sect, still waited with a mixture of excitement and anger for an explanation from the man before them.
However, Yan Longhao lowered his head, drawing closer to the two. "Too many people here... I’ll explain later..."
The two men did not suspect him. Unexpectedly, just as the man in front of them finished saying the word "explain," his back suddenly bulged. A move, Nine Dragons Union, transformed into a double palm strike, ruthlessly hitting Li Jiuxun and Guo Huai on their chests.
BANG! BANG!
Unexpectedly, these two palm strikes on their fellow sect members did not send them flying. Even though they instantly screamed in agony and spurted fresh blood, an energy almost instantaneously burst forth from within their bodies, rebounding towards Yan Longhao.
This was another of the Ancient Elephant Sect’s seven Ultimate Skills, known as "Soft Hedgehog Energy." After Cultivation, one’s Inner Qi could rebound an attacker’s assault.
However, even though the two men rebounded some of the Inner Qi, the enormous strength contained in the attacker’s Nine Dragons Union far exceeded their capacity to endure. Even with half of it rebounded, they were still struck so hard their vision darkened, their internal organs vibrated and ruptured, and more than a dozen ribs were broken.
"Yan Longhao! Why did you attack us? Have you betrayed the sect?!"
Just as old Guo Huai spat blood and roared in agony, suddenly, they saw Yan Longhao, who had been pushed back several steps by their Inner Qi, fluently fling dozens of yellow Talisman Papers from his palm, smashing directly into their faces.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The yellow Talisman Papers ignited in the wind, flung like hidden weapons right in front of the two men, and then erupted one after another into spectacular explosions of fire, completely swallowing them both.
"Peace Path! The Demon People of the Peace Path have appeared!!"
At that moment, the group of arrest officers from the distant county government office suddenly roared, "Quick, light the fire signal! Notify everyone in the official residence! A Demon Person of the Peace Path has shown himself!!"
WHOOSH!
A rocket shot straight up from the street into the sky, bursting into a display of fireworks!
"So there were people from the Peace Path among the Ancient Elephant Sect!"
"No wonder the two factions don’t get along!"
"Brothers, quickly, follow this arrest officer! Capture that Demon Person of the Peace Path and establish our first merit in quelling demons in the mountains!"
A few arrest officers and Deputy Constables were originally among the top experts in the county government office. All possessed at least Inner Qi and had reached the Mystic Barrier realm; there were five or six such individuals. When they saw Yan Longhao use the Explosion Talisman Paper of the Peace Path to kill two of his fellow sect members, although shocked, they quickly reacted, all drawing their swords and charging at Yan Longhao.
But this Yan Longhao seemed prepared. After throwing those dozens of Explosion Talisman Papers, he didn’t care whether he had truly killed his two fellow sect members. He merely dropped a few Smoke Talismans on the spot and disappeared swiftly amidst the smoke!
By the time the several constables and arrest officers charged through the smoke, they were shocked to find not a single trace of him behind it.
"What? How is that possible? Could it really be Sorcery?"
"A whole living person, vanished into thin air in the smoke!"
"What kind of Qinggong movement technique is this?"
Little did they know that at that moment, somewhere on the street, a figure that had transformed into a three-inch white mouse darted and dodged, then leaped onto the roof beams, moving from one to another.
"Alright, this should mean no more worries from the rear."
The re-emerged Yan Longhao, by still employing the Talisman Paper Techniques of the Peace Path, ensured that the Baojiao County Yamen’s attention would be firmly fixed on the Demon People of the Peace Path.
As for the true chaotic state and conflicts between the Ancient Elephant Sect and the Peace Path, that was left for them to puzzle out on their own.
Chen Ku was also relieved. When he had destroyed a branch of the Peace Path before, he had luckily left behind a box of Talisman Papers, which came in handy this time.
But just as Chen Ku was thinking this, WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Suddenly, from the direction of the official residence in Fish Dragon Town, one signal rocket after another shot up, bursting into clusters of fireworks. And then...
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The resulting firelight and explosions were over ten times more powerful than those from the Talisman Papers Chen Ku had thrown earlier, and they resonated from the official residence in Snake Fish Town.
In that instant, the entire town seemed to be engulfed in cannon fire.
Chen Ku, transformed into a Flower Fox Mink, used his Golden Eyes Hundred Li to gaze towards the official residence, witnessing an unbelievable scene.
There, on a street hillside not far from the official residence, appeared thousands of Demon People of the Peace Path wearing yellow Taoist scarves, flooding towards the Snake Fish Town official residence like a tide.
And just outside the official residence, there were even numerous powerful Taoists, holding Wooden Sword Talisman Papers and relentlessly throwing volleys of Explosion Fire Talismans into the Snake Fish Town official residence as if they were free.
Chen Ku was dumbfounded.
Wasn’t it the government’s mission to enter the mountains to subdue demons and eradicate evil? How... instead, had it turned into the Peace Path leading a multitude to attack the Imperial Court’s official residence? Were they showing their hand, no longer feigning compliance? Was this an outright rebellion?