Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 247 Tragedy

"Sir, everything has been checked and there are no problems!"

Zhang Dongping and several outer disciples divided the work and headed towards the live goods area.

There were only three or four rows of houses in total, with about a hundred rooms. Subtracting the dead women, there were only a few dozen rooms to check.

They quickly finished checking all the rooms.

The outer layer of insulation is sturdy and robust, and the people inside have also gained a lot of weight.

"Ah."

Han Yi nodded, signaling them to disperse, and turned back to the guard post.

Why should you do all this hard and tiring work yourself? It's not even anything important. When you're a leader, you should know how to delegate and let your subordinates share the burden...

A slight smile appeared on his lips, and he suddenly felt that the Machiavellian theories he had read in his previous life were suddenly coming in handy in this new world.

…....

…....

In the distance on the horizon, a white line suddenly appeared. The white first turned pinkish-white, then yellowish-red, and soon, the clouds were tinged with a faint gold. Accompanied by the sound of a rooster crowing, it was the time when dawn was breaking and the sun was beginning to rise.

"Ah, that feels so good..."

Nothing happened that night. Han Yi finished the last sip of hot tea, lazily got up and stretched, his bones crackling as he moved.

"Hmm... I'm going home to rest."

He checked all the registers and waited for Cai Yu to come and take over the shift.

Boom boom boom!

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps approached, as if someone was running quickly.

"Who is it, rushing around so early in the morning..."

Han Yi squinted and looked towards the gate.

Immediately, a teenager wearing a light blue long robe came into his sight. He had his hair tied up in a common style, which was to tie his long hair up in the shape of a country broom. He looked like a rather energetic teenager.

However, from a distance, Han Yi felt that the face looked somewhat familiar.

"Brother Han, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"

Before the person even arrived, the voice preceded them, a clear yet anxious voice rang out.

Upon hearing this, Han Yi looked closely and realized it was none other than A Qiu, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

A Qiu and Xiao He used to depend on each other for survival, living a life of hardship and hunger, basically begging for food.

But Ah Qiu, despite his humble background, is a very loyal friend. When his friends need help, he'll step up without hesitation.

Previously, A Qiu met Han Yi in order to treat Xiao He's illness.

Han Yi also quite admired this kid and helped him a lot, such as teaching him some self-defense skills, arranging for him to study at school, and buying him a lot of medicine to treat Xiao He.

Of course, in return, A Qiu also passed on a lot of secret information to Han Yi through their low-level channels. This was also Han Yi's purpose; he wanted to make up for his lack of intelligence sources in this way.

A while ago, A Qiu's advance warning allowed Han Yi to discover the various underhanded activities of the "Valley God Cult" before others and deal with them in time.

Although they couldn't save Xiao He's life, they indirectly avenged her.

"Ah Qiu, what's wrong?"

Han Yi looked at A Qiu, who was running out of breath, and asked in confusion.

Since he came to guard this black market, A Qiu has also found a house to live in nearby. With Han Yi's influence and his own methods, he has subdued the thugs, beggars and other low-class people in several neighborhoods. He has also monopolized some businesses such as emptying chamber pots and cleaning up garbage. While he may not be rich and powerful, he is comparable to the average middle class.

It can be said that he has gone from being a beggar who was beaten and starving to becoming a small leader, completing a class leap in an instant.

Han Yi gave A Qiu only one task: to promptly inform him of everything that happened in the city each day, essentially acting as a newspaper to keep him well-informed.

Normally, A Qiu would just find one of his underlings to come and tell Han Yi about all the big and small things that happened inside and outside the city.

But today, A-Qiu actually came in person...

"Liu... Liu... Liu..."

Ah Qiu's face was frighteningly pale, without a trace of blood.

"What happened? Take a breath first!"

Upon seeing this behavior, Han Yi felt a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

He reached out and patted A Qiu hard on the back.

Ah Qiu was finally able to breathe smoothly, but his originally thin face, which had become slightly plump and rounded after being fed and cared for for so many days, was still trembling violently.

"The Liu family, the Liu family, they're all finished!!!"

Han Yi was taken aback, then suddenly asked, "The Liu family? Which Liu family?"

"It's the Liu family of 'Liu's Rice Shop' in Chang Le Fang, the one you told me to pay special attention to!" A Qiu took a deep breath and said the whole thing.

'The Liu family, the Liu family rice shop?!'

Han Yi's mind was shaken violently.

Liu's Rice Shop was a rice shop in Chang Le Fang. Its rice was reasonably priced and had a rich flavor, so the business was booming day by day. Soon, it grew from one shop to two shops, and then from two shops to a large rice shop.

Why was Han Yi so clear about the story before Liu's Rice Shop became famous? Because he had been working part-time at Liu's Rice Shop, earning extra money.

He earns about a few dozen taels of silver each month. Although it's not much, it's a steady stream of income, and he doesn't have to do any work; he just gets it for free. Plus, the rice shop manager, Liu Fangxi, is a decent person. Although he's cunning, he's a kind and honest man.

The half-empty vat of Crimson Blood Spirit Rice in Han Yi's home was a gift from Liu Fangxi, which is why he had a very good impression of Liu Fangxi.

Therefore, he didn't want to just eat and drink all that stuff for free and take money without doing any work. So, Han Yi instructed A Qiu to find a few idle people to keep an eye on the rice shop.

Whenever someone comes looking for trouble, I immediately notify them and then quickly go to resolve the issue.

Han Yi stopped thinking about it and immediately handed the booklet he had checked to Zhang Dongping. After giving him a few instructions, he got up and, without saying much to A Qiu, headed towards Chang Le Fang.

They didn't have much to say along the way, and the two of them quickly ran along the road.

A Qiu was a martial artist to some extent, and he gritted his teeth, trying his best to keep up with Han Yi's pace. Soon, they arrived at the entrance of Liu's Rice Shop.

The front gate of Liu's Rice Shop is located on the most bustling street in Changlefang. There are many shops, taverns, inns, restaurants and the like around it. Occasionally, there are also large-scale fairs and temple fairs here, making it a lively place.

At this moment, the bustling street was sparsely populated, with many people walking quickly with their heads down.

Han Yi was also stunned by what he saw.

In front of the rice shop, on the open ground to the right of the street, dozens of corpses lay neatly arranged!

From the old to the young, from men to women, everyone was covered with a white cloth.

They were all from the Liu family!

They were wearing robes custom-made by the Liu family, and Liu Fangxi was lying in the middle of the first row.

Han Yi walked over and lifted the white cloth to take a look.

Several constables from the yamen initially wanted to stop him, but upon seeing the robes of an inner disciple of the Crimson Flame Sect, they immediately withdrew their hands. He was curled up, his face ashen, his expression contorted with extreme ferocity and fear, as if he were suffering immense pain before him.

"This is…..."

Han Yi loosened Liu Fangxi's robe slightly, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

Liu Fangxi's entire body was completely shriveled and withered, like a dried corpse. The skin and flesh on his chest and abdomen had collapsed, as if his internal organs, blood and bodily fluids had all disappeared.

Most importantly, he also saw countless tiny holes on these shrunken and wrinkled skin, as if countless things had crawled in and out of Liu Fangxi's body!

"This kind of death..."

Han Yi immediately thought of how Xiao He looked when she died. At that time, Xiao He's body seemed to be in the same state.

At the time, he and A Qiu thought Xiao He had simply contracted some kind of strange illness that was incurable. Later, through various clues, Han Yi discovered that this strange illness might have been caused by the Valley God Cult, which had suddenly appeared in Changning Ward.

Furthermore, the Valley God Cult later caused trouble in Changningfang, extorting money from many shops and merchants.

They even clashed with Han Yi, who had gone to collect his allowance, at Liu's shop.

Therefore, fueled by both old and new grudges, Han Yi followed the clues and wiped out the Valley God Sect's stronghold in Changningfang in one fell swoop.

Although the Valley God Sect claimed to have a martial arts master backing them up, in the end, not a single person appeared. Han Yi therefore concluded that it was just a bluff, a mere show of force.

Since then, no more strange illnesses have occurred in the city, and the Valley God Cult, having lost its stronghold, seems to have been terrified and has disappeared without a trace.

Han Yi thought the matter was over, but then he saw the exact same thing happening to Xiao He...

His fingertips lightly touched Liu Fangxi's wrinkled skin, and a strange, chilling feeling emanated from it, penetrating to the bone.

"Brother, Xiao He died in the same way..."

A Qiu followed behind Han Yi, her fists clenched, her eyes filled with tears, clearly recalling the hatred from before.

Although he and Xiaohe are not related by blood, they grew up together and have a deep bond.

The scene before him filled him with even more sorrow.

"Why…..."

Han Yi sighed. The Crimson Blood Spirit Rice at home was almost gone a few days ago. He had originally planned to see if he could use his connections to buy some more when he came to collect his stipend at the end of the month.

But to his surprise, before he could even get there, Liu Fangxi was gone...

"Any clues?"

He grabbed a constable who was going in and out of the courtyard and asked him a question.

The constable was wearing a black and red uniform, was thin, and had a mustache. Although I didn't know his name, he looked somewhat familiar.

Han Yi knew that this person must have been patrolling and maintaining order in Yuqingfang all year round, which was why he looked familiar. He guessed that he was temporarily transferred here because of such a big murder case.

"Senior Brother Han?" Han Yi didn't recognize him, but the constable did. He seemed to be an outer disciple of the Crimson Flame Sect as well.

He replied in a low voice, "Senior Brother Han, where are the clues? The entire Liu family, men, women, and children, all twenty-four people, are all dead... The key point is that they all died in the exact same way!"

"How did they all die?"

"On the surface, it looks like they suffocated because something blocked their trachea. But one person might die like that, but so many people?! It doesn't seem like it was caused by someone. I'm afraid it's something else..."

The constable lowered his voice, preparing to continue.

"What demons and monsters? This is man-made!"

"I just received a message from the prefectural city. They just wiped out a band of mountain bandits who were blocking the road, but a few wicked and evil people from the underworld managed to survive and have wandered into our Anyan City, running rampant and committing all sorts of evil deeds. They are truly despicable!"

"Fellow villagers, rest assured, I, Wang Feiyi, have already mobilized a large number of troops and will soon crush these villains and restore peace to the people of Anyan City!"

The person who arrived was none other than Wang Feiyi, the eldest son of the Wang family. He was the chief clerk in the county government and usually helped his father, Magistrate Wang, handle various affairs.

Upon hearing about this major case in the city this morning, I rushed over immediately to reassure everyone.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, many onlookers cheered and applauded. "I knew it! The Liu family is rolling in money, and they're completely unprepared. They must be being watched!"

"Yes, yes, it's such a pity. Old Liu was a really good person, such a kind and honest man, and now he's gone...sigh..."

"If you ask me, he just wouldn't spend the money to hire more guards or recruit high-ranking experts as bodyguards. How could this have happened..."

"Yeah yeah…...."

Since it's a man-made disaster, it's easy to talk about. An'yan City is so big, with so many soldiers and experts gathered here. A group of gangsters were even crippled. No matter how you look at it, it should be easy to resolve.

The onlookers on the roadside immediately felt relieved and began to discuss the matter.

"Hey, where's Yan San, the bodyguard the Liu family hired?" Han Yi nudged the constable next to him and asked in a low voice.

He knew that, in addition to him, the Liu family had hired another expert as a retainer, and this swift swordsman Yan San was the strongest among them.

It is said that this person wields an incredibly fast sword, capable of unleashing dozens of strikes in the blink of an eye. He is also a martial artist in the Blood Refining stage, only he is quite old.

"Lying over there?"

The constable gestured with his lip, indicating a direction.

Han Yi walked over, squatted down, lifted the white cloth, and inspected it.

Yan San died in the same way as Liu Fangxi, his body shrunken and withered, as if all his vital energy had been drained by some mysterious force.

But the expression on his face wasn't just one of ferocity and fear like Liu Fangxi's; besides those two emotions, there was another expression...