Two Realms Shuttle Gate: Don't Call Me a Demon!

Chapter 240: Chapter 156: The Han Family (Third Update)

Half a day later!

On the ground, the Thousand-Handed Centipede slowly landed.

“At last, we’ve escaped.”

Feeling secure, Ning Xinyue patted her chest with lingering fear.

“You just muddled along without making any effort,” Su Jie said irritably, flicking Ning Xinyue’s forehead.

“I was the one who spotted the Secret Realm Elder in advance. How can you say I didn’t contribute?” Ning Xinyue protested, covering her forehead.

“I didn’t expect we’d provoke an Elder. Luckily, we had Brother Su and this Poisonous Centipede; otherwise, our escape wouldn’t have been so simple,” Xiao Fengyuan said. He had also experienced successful escapes from Secret Realm Elders in the past, but this time they had been deeply trapped within the encirclement of a Righteous Sect, and if they were delayed for long, there would have been more than one Elder appearing later.

“It was also luck, that Elder wasn’t very fast at flying. If we had encountered one who excelled at it, we would have had to confront them head on.”

Su Jie retracted the Thousand-Handed Centipede back into his robe. They needed to continue on foot; flying in the sky was too conspicuous, and the outside world belonged to the Righteous Sects. Caution was paramount.

Fortunately, once they left the encirclement, there would be no more patrolling disciples, which would make things easier.

“Where are we now? How far is that Qi Shijian from us?”

“Let me check.”

Checking the Identity Jade, Su Jie was pleasantly surprised to find that the glowing spot on it was brighter and blinking faster, indicating that Qi Shijian was within a few hundred miles from them.

“Southeast direction. There are many cities that way; we just don’t know which city the other party will be in.” @@novelbin@@

Ning Xinyue consulted the map, noting that Qi Shijian’s location was indeed in a densely populated area.

Su Jie took the map, gave it a quick glance, and to his surprise, came across a familiar name.

“Wait, Nanyang City?”

Su Jie was startled to see the name Nanyang City.

“What’s wrong?” Ning Xinyue didn’t understand Su Jie’s strong reaction.

“Nanyang City is a haunted place!” Su Jie’s face darkened as he recalled the terrifying night he had spent in Nanyang City.

Back in Nanyang City, Su Jie had stayed overnight with Dong Hongtian and other martial artists, and experienced a ghostly procession.

“Haunted, really?” Ning Xinyue blinked her eyes with curiosity.

“Why would I lie to you? That city was taken over by the Heavenly Soul Sect. They corralled the townspeople, using them as a source of fear to harvest…” Su Jie briefly recounted what he had witnessed in Nanyang City.

“The Heavenly Soul Sect, this Demon Sect has really gone too far,” Xiao Fengyuan’s voice deepened. It’s said that two tigers cannot share one mountain, and it is the same with Demon Cultivation Sects.

Unless it’s a region rich in resources, Demon Cultivation Sects rarely cluster together, usually avoiding each other.

Then again, Demon Cultivation Sects wouldn’t get the chance to occupy resource-rich areas since those are generally under the control of Righteous Sects.

“Eh, the Heavenly Soul Sect has moved from Jingzhou to this place!” Ning Xinyue mumbled to herself; she had traded the method to create the Soul Summoning Banner with the Heavenly Soul Sect in Jingzhou, but that was something she preferred not to mention in front of Xiao Fengyuan.

“We should try to avoid Nanyang City as much as possible, our mission is to capture Qi Shijian and bring him back to the Sect, not to compete with the Heavenly Soul Sect.”

Su Jie said, even though he knew that the Heavenly Soul Sect had overstepped its boundaries, given the current situation of Ghost Ridge Palace, they were already struggling to protect themselves and did not have the ability to defend their territory.

Even if they wanted to settle accounts with the Heavenly Soul Sect, they would have to survive this round of Sect warfare before addressing it.

Xiao Fengyuan fell silent for a moment and then nodded, “Capturing Qi Shijian is more important, let’s put this matter aside for now.”

The three of them set off again, heading towards the densely populated area ahead.

……….

Two days later!

In East Victory City, the bustling streets were filled with a wide, flat pavement of bluestone, and a bustling crowd was shuttling back and forth, among whom were descendants of wealthy families dressed in luxurious clothes.

On both sides of the street, tall shops stood in rows, displaying a dazzling array of merchandise, while the streets swarmed with performers and small vendors, presenting a lively and prosperous scene.

At the city gate entrance, Su Jie, Xiao Fengyuan, and Ning Xinyue arrived at the city.

“Three copper coins per person for the city entry fee.”

A few soldiers at the city gate stood listlessly, collecting the entry tax.

Su Jie tossed over a few copper coins, but his gaze drifted to the other side, to the wanted poster affixed at the city gate.

At the top of the bounty list was Su Jie himself, with a reward of one hundred thousand Spirit Stones, an amount that could drive anyone mad.

If it weren’t for Ning Xinyue’s disguise, Su Jie wouldn’t dare to enter the city with such confidence.

Below his wanted poster, there were many others sought for capture, mostly Jianghu bandits and villains of serious crimes, incomparable to Su Jie.

“Hey, make way, please, make way.”

Suddenly, a team of family servants came marching quickly, shoving through the crowd and posting a notice at the city gate.

“The Han Family is recruiting capable and righteous individuals. Anyone with real skills can collect a reward of three hundred taels of silver on the spot, and those who can solve the problems of the Han Family will be given ten thousand taels of silver,” one of the servants shouted, immediately drawing the nearby commoners to gather and watch.

Su Jie took a quick glance and saw, indeed, a recruitment order.

“So it’s the Han Family, it seems the rumors are true.”

“Who would dare to go? I heard even the Heavenly Patrol Department rushed to help and suffered casualties.”

“I don’t have the skills to claim that money anyway.”

The onlooking commoners discussed among themselves, and Ning Xinyue, who had an impulsive nature, approached a scholarly-looking man and asked,

“Excuse me, sir, we’ve just come from outside the area. What is this Han Family you’re all talking about?”

The scholar turned his head, initially not intending to respond, but upon seeing Ning Xinyue’s appearance, even though she had altered her face, her figure and the aura of her cultivation greatly attracted the scholar.

“That’s a prestigious family in East Victory City. Five hundred years ago, an ancestor, Han Chong, led the frontier wolf cavalry and repelled the invaders from the Blood Moon Demon Country at Heavenly Peak Pass, thereby quelling the Revolt of the Ten Thousand Shadows. He was honored by the founding Emperor of the Da Li Dynasty as the National Guardian General and the Heavenly Strategy Supreme General, bestowed the title Lord Zhen’an, and was once extremely illustrious.

After Han Chong passed away, the Han Family began to decline slowly, but due to their foundation and the emergence of talented and virtuous descendants, who achieved great honors, there were still family members who became officials in the court.

Forty-five years ago, the Han Family took the wrong side during the struggle for succession after the change of thrones, which displeased Emperor Yonglong who ascended to power. In retaliation, he demoted and dismissed Han Family officials, confiscated their wealth for the state treasury, and executed many family members, leading to the Han Family’s gradual decline to this day.”

The scholar spoke slowly, showing off his vast knowledge to Ning Xinyue.

“Recently, the Han Family has encountered strange occurrences. People in their household began to die mysteriously, one per day at first, which escalated to two per week, and as of today, three members of the Han Family die daily. Not only servants and maids but also relatives from both the branch and main lineage have perished. Because of this, the Han Family Master has issued a recruitment order, seeking the help of capable and righteous individuals. Whoever solves the Han Family’s crisis will be rewarded ten thousand taels of silver.”

As he spoke, the scholar pointed at a towering mansion within the city.

Despite the distance, one could see magnificent banners hanging there, inlaid with five-colored glaze, standing out prominently in the city.

“Look, that is where the Han Family estate is located.”