**First Spring Town** was located about two thousand miles west of **Heavenly Gate City**. It was a small town in the **Central Region** that not many people had heard of, but the land was rich in spiritual energy. There were dozens of acres of mid-rank spiritual fields in the eastern part of the town, planted with many commonly used medicinal herbs.

It was mid-afternoon, and on the spiritual field on the east side of the town, many simple cultivators in the *Body-Forging* and *Qi Refining* stages were wielding hoes on the medicinal plant field.

On the yellow dirt path among the spiritual fields, two horses, one black and one white, were walking side by side.

*Clatter... Clatter...*

Hearing the slow footsteps of the horses, a young cultivator in the *Body Forging* stage, who was wielding a hoe in the field, looked up at the three women and one man on the horses. He was stunned for a moment, then walked sideways to his friend who was planting medicine herbs with him, saying, "Old Hu, look at those four people... they have strange faces. Should we go back to the town and tell Mr. Jiang? Didn't Mr. Jiang say that if we saw a strange face coming to **First Spring Town**, we should go to him immediately?"

The man glanced up, but without stopping the hoe in his hand, he replied, "They are probably just passing by. Let's pretend we didn't see them... If they say hello, we'll just greet them back. I don't want to go to the *Jiang Mansion*."

But at this moment, the rider of the black horse on the path took the initiative to walk toward them.

"Hoo---"

Ye Anping tightened the reins, stopping the horse, then took out a few spirit stones from the storage bag and threw them into the hands of the two.

"Let me ask, did anyone from the *Justice Division* come to this town a few days ago?"

"Ah... Greetings Seniors. Well..."

Seeing his hesitant expression, Ye Anping threw him a few more spirit stones. "Is that enough?"

The man respectfully received the spirit stones and bowed deeply. "Senior, no 'yellow robes' have come to town these days."

"Okay."

It seemed that they weren't late; Brother Liang hadn't arrived yet.

Ye Anping nodded in response, pulled on the reins, and turned the horse back onto the path, heading toward a lush bamboo forest to the east of the spiritual field.

Riding beside him, Su Waner raised her eyebrows and glanced at the young cultivators in the surrounding spiritual fields. No matter how she looked at it, this place was just a remote mountain town, and she couldn't help but wonder. "Master Ye, what are we doing here?"

"As I said, I will help my big brother get promoted and make a fortune." Ye Anping glanced at her and continued, "My big brother is a young officer in the *Justice Division*. He has some merits here, so I will help him fight for it."

Su Waner frowned, then tentatively said, "What achievements can he gain in this small place? It seems to me that this is just an ordinary town, and so far away too. There is no Immortal city even within a hundred miles."

"Heh..."

Ye Anping smiled and didn't bother to explain.

At this time, Feng Yu Die, who was swaying on the horse's butt while holding his waist, looked back at the two cultivators Ye Anping had just spoken to. Seeing them whispering to each other, she frowned. "Young Master Ye..."

"Hmm?"

"I have a feeling there is an evil presence in this place."

"What makes you think so?"

"It's a gut feeling. I feel uncomfortable, as if yin and yang are in conflict. And those little cultivators in the field give us strange glances."

Hearing her words, Su Waner looked around again but did not notice anything. "What is strange?"

Ye Anping sighed as he pointed to the bamboo forest ahead. "After passing through the bamboo forest ahead, there's a cave hidden by a spell, and inside, there are some demonic cultivator's things. Someone will probably come to pick them up in a few days, so we will prepare an ambush in the forest."

Su Waner's eyes almost popped out, and she shouted in surprise. "What... what?! Demon... demonic cultivator?"

"Miss Su, keep your voice down, will you?"

"..."

Su Waner hastily closed her mouth and vigilantly looked around, but in her heart, she was still confused as hell. Although this **First Spring Town** was in the middle of nowhere, it was still the hinterland of the **Central Region**.

How could there be a demonic cultivator here?

She quickly looked at Pei Lianxue and Feng Yu Die, but there was no trace of fear or surprise on their faces, as if it was a common occurrence.

Feng Yu Die raised her eyebrows, leaned her head on Ye Anping's shoulder, and smiled at him. "I was just about to say, could there be a demonic cultivator sneaking into this town? My intuition is pretty accurate, hehe."

Ye Anping turned his head slightly, looked at Feng Yu Die's face close to his, and pursed his lips. "Yes, yes, awesome, very awesome."

"Hee~ Then, what are we going to do? Frontal attack?"

"No, there will be an ambush from all sides. We lie low in this bamboo forest and wait for that guy to come."

Pei Lianxue, who was leaning in Ye Anping's arms, heard this and looked up at her brother who was almost touching Feng Yu Die's face. She frowned slightly, but didn't say anything and just squeezed into Ye Anping's arms more.

"Brother, I guessed it, too."

... ...

Looking at the three people who showed no hint of nervousness, Su Waner was simply dumbfounded.

If Ye Anping wasn't joking, there was a demonic cultivator in the area!

And these three people walked forward, talking and laughing just like that?

Were they not afraid?

Su Waner swallowed hard and suddenly had the urge to slip away.

She had seen villains who killed without batting an eye and gangsters who had done all kinds of bad things, but compared to demonic cultivators, the first two categories were completely pure and good people.

She really didn't want to face a demonic cultivator...

Ye Anping steered his horse forward, and seeing that Su Waner didn't follow him, he looked back. "Miss Su?"

"Ah... what?"

"Aren't you coming with us?"

Looking at Ye Anping, Su Waner bit her lip, hesitated, and then decided to follow him. She wanted to see what these three people were up to.

"I'm coming."

... ...

One day later---

At noon, the blazing sun hung high in the center of the sky, and two flying swords circled the top of the mountain, heading toward **First Spring Town**.

Liang Zhu, who was wearing a golden robe, looked out to the west as he rode the flying sword, searching for the shadow of the messenger eagle on the horizon.

When he left the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect, he agreed with Ye Anping to send a jade slip every seven days after arriving in the **Central Region**, informing him of his location and upcoming itinerary.

And every seven days, Ye Anping would reply with a jade slip giving him further instructions.

However, counting to today, he had not received the jade slip from Ye Anping for twelve days.

As a result, he was now a little worried that Ye Anping might have died in some place in the **Central Region**. And if something happened to Ye Anping, he and Liang Ating would most likely have to return to a life of upheaval again.

"Sigh..."

Liang Zhu sighed lightly, and then his eyes rested on the male cultivator flying in front of him.

This person's name was Jiang He, and he was in the early stage of the *Core Formation*. He was an Inspector of the *Justice Division*, a sixth-grade official in the ***Imperial*** Sect, who was mainly responsible for solving and investigating cases.

Jiang He had asked him to accompany him on this trip to the **First Spring Town**, and Liang Zhu couldn't figure out why he, who had just become a junior officer, attracted Jiang He's attention enough to bring only him into the investigation.

Maybe he wanted to train him?

However, Liang Zhu's intuition told him that was unlikely.

But no matter what, he probably won't be able to slack on the job now.

After hesitating for a while, Liang Zhu asked, "Master Jiang, I'm just a junior officer and have only been in the *Justice Division* for a few months. Isn't it too early to follow you out to handle cases?"

"Haha, what? I promoted you, and you're still not happy?"

"Of course not... I would go through fire and water for Master Jiang."

"Heh... I will remember what you said. Let's go down."

"Yes..."

Liang Zhu replied with cupped hands, then followed Jiang He to the east of **First Spring Town**, landing in front of a bamboo forest.

He looked back at the town not far behind him, slightly puzzled.

The **First Spring Town** case was not a big one. It was a single spirit root young cultivator who went missing. Because a single spirit root was considered to be quite an excellent qualification, it was reported to the *Justice Division*, and Jiang He was sent over to investigate this matter.

Since it was an investigation, they should go straight to town. Why did they come to this bamboo forest first instead of going to the town?

"Master Jiang, aren't you going to the town?"

"Just follow me. I have something to show you."

Liang Zhu frowned slightly, but still respectfully responded.

"...Alright."