Chapter 105: Lizhou Prefecture Magistrate
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
"Expert from Corpse Immortal Cult! He's even stronger than that divine arts practitioner called He Yin. He's at least one realm higher than him!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled violently. These corpse beetles should be raised by the expert of Corpse Immortal Cult. He was able to control so many corpse beetles from such a far range and use them to control the countless skeletons in the motley burial mounds as well as the various beasts in the wilderness. From this, one could imagine how dense this person's cultivation was!
This was much harder than controlling flying zombies.
These corpse beetles entered the bodies of the skeletons and the fierce beasts, resulting in their strange transformation. The bones of the skeletons turned red in color while the fierce beasts just turned into red furred carcasses which chased after Qin Mu frantically!
This kind of method was much stronger than He Yin's.
"His motive is not to kill me but to delay my escape by using these corpse beetles to control the skeletons and beasts!"
Qin Mu used his vital qi to control his sword. As Junior Protector Sword flew out, it executed Wave Sword Form and the treasure sword flew continuously in circles around him, creating loops after loops. As he continued to sprint forward, Junior Protector Sword also continuously cut its way forward, slicing the skeletons and red furred beasts pouncing from front and back into pieces!
However, every time a skeleton got shattered and a red-furred beast got sliced into pieces, there were red corpse beetles flying out from their bodies. They would either tunnel into the ground or fly into the distant forest, resulting in a never-ending cycle of corpses tunneling out and red furred beasts rushing out from the forest!
Qin Mu's scalp turned numb. These carcasses and skeletons had delayed his escape. That expert which was chasing him wound definitely catch up in a while!
Right at this moment, Hu Ling'er was rudely awakened by the commotion. Seeing the situation, she immediately executed her spell to summon the demon wind. The power of the wind grew larger and larger until it turned into a tornado and swept away all of the red furred beasts and skeletons that were blocking their way.
The pressure on Qin Mu decreased hugely which increased his speed as he sprinted forward.
At this moment, a red corpse beetle flew over and landed on Qin Mu's backpack. It then tried to tunnel into Hu Ling'er's nose.
Hu Ling'er gave an astonished scream and immediately scrambled out from the backpack and climbed onto Qin Mu's shoulder. More beetles came buzzing over. It was obvious that the expert from Corpse Immortal Cult who was chasing them had discovered that Hu Ling'er could control the wind, therefore, he had targeted her with the corpse beetles, trying to turn her into a red-furred beast as well.
"Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky!"
Qin Mu's vital qi transformed into blazing flames as he cast a mudra into the sky. The Vermilion Bird Vital Qi transformed into a burning sun shooting off its brilliant rays. The corpse beetles squeaked weirdly as green smokes started to emanate from their bodies. All of them landed on the ground and remained motionless.
"Thunderclap Eight Strikes works. It can destroy the souls and spirits of the corpse beetles!"
Qin Mu was astonished and surprised. He executed Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky as he sprinted and green smoke came out from all of the skeletons and carcasses when they got shone by the burning sun. The skeletons clattered to the ground in pieces while the carcasses dropped to the ground.
And so the skeletons and carcasses stopped blocking his way and started sprinting with him. As the skeletons sprinted, they suddenly stretched out their hands to pluck off their ribs to use them as curve blades, throwing them at Qin Mu!
Hundreds of ribs as thick as huckleberries whizzed past and whirled in the air. The ribs flew in an arc therefore even if they didn't hit Qin Mu, it would fall back into the skeletons' hands.
Qin Mu's head started to ache and he could only execute Wave Sword Form again to block all the curve ribs blades which attacked him from all directions. His speed was once again slowed down.
Corpse Immortal Cult's offensive methods were simply strange. They had flying zombies, yellow joss papers, corpse beetles, skeletons, red-furred carcasses and even skeletons which broke off their ribs to use them as flying blades. It was really fantastic oddities of every description.
Suddenly Qin Mu saw a farmland in front and there were farmers farming. It was the season of spring harvest and there were many farmers who had woken up early to harvest their crops.
"Run away quickly!"
Qin Mu waved his hands and shouted, "Everyone, run quickly!"
Those farmers raised their heads to take a look and couldn't help being startled. The skeletons and red furred carcasses swarmed over like flood and looked terrifying. They immediately threw down the sickles in their hands and escaped. However, their speed was way slower than Qin Mu and the red furred beasts. At this speed, they would definitely be caught up.
Qin Mu immediately changed direction and avoided them. However beside the fields was the official road and there were passers-by as well. In front was a horse carriage and there were two bodyguards riding draft horses. A female voice came from the carriage, "What the commotion outside?"
A bodyguard on the horse bowed and replied, "My lord, there is a disaster caused by skeletons which are currently chasing a youth in embroidered clothes. The youth was worried they would collide with the farmers in the field so he had lured the skeletons to horde onto the official road. There are also red furred beasts and they looked very strange. They should have been controlled by someone with corpse beetles. It's mostly like Corpse Immortal Cult from Xiangxi.
"Now that the world is starting to be peaceful, there will always be demons and monsters coming out to create havoc."
The woman in the carriage commanded, "Bodyguard Shi, go and get rid of the skeleton horde and red furred beasts. Don't drag the commoners into the fray."
"Yes, my lord."
The bodyguard didn't get off the horse and instead took out a silver sword pellet. With a flick of his finger, his sword pellet flew into the sky and whirled in the sky. With every spin, there would be a snow white sword light shooting out.
That sword pellet whirled at an extremely fast speed and sword lights came shooting down like rain. When Qin Mu was running, he could only hear a whooshing sound as the skeletons sprinting behind him shattered into pieces and turned into powder!
Meanwhile, the red furred beasts were beheaded. In not even a breath's time, the hundreds of skeletons and red furred beasts that were chasing him were all annihilated.
Red corpse beetles flew out from the skeletons and carcasses but before they could fly away, they were wiped out by the sword lights.
"Orthodox sword skill!"
Qin Mu immediately stopped and looked at the horse carriage in front. The sword skill which the bodyguard beside the horse carriage used was an orthodox skill. He had seen similar sword skill from Li River Sword Sect which was impressive.
This kind of sword skill required many swords to be refined into a sword pellet and was very powerful when facing foes. It could also be arranged into a sword formation.
Of course, those who could execute sword pellets were all experts because sword pellet was simply too heavy. To be able to use vital qi to make sword pellet soar into the sky, the person's cultivation must be matchlessly strong.
The bodyguard beside the horse carriage was that strong and the person in the horse carriage should be pretty remarkable.
In the distance, that Senior Uncle Qiao suddenly felt his corpse beetles completely died in an instant and was astonished. He didn't continue forward and stood at the treetop to gaze from afar.
"The horse carriage of Lizhou Prefecture Magistrate!"
His expression changed hugely and urgently turned back to leave, "The magistrate of Lizhou Prefecture is a ruthless person and I'm no match. I shall retreat first!"
He immediately flashed away and vanished without a trace.
Bodyguard Shi on horseback reported to the person in the carriage, "My lord, Corpse Immortal Cult has retreated."
The woman in the carriage said, "Call the youth over."
"Yes."
Bodyguard Shi got off the horse and bowed, "This young master, there's an invitation from my lord."
Qin Mu came forward to the side of the horse carriage. The curtain of the horse carriage was lifted up and the woman inside revealed her side face. It was a beautiful woman with rosy cheeks and red lips. Turning her face over to size up Qin Mu. Looking at his bright and neat clothes, she thought that he must be from a rich family and asked, "This young master, where are you from?"
Being neither humble nor arrogant, Qin Mu replied in neither servile nor overbearing way, "I'm from Dyke River County City."
The woman asked, "Has Dyke River County City already fallen into enemy hands and taken over by Corpse Immortal Cult?"
Qin Mu nodded his head and exclaimed in admiration, "Big sister sure is intelligent."
"Big sister? After being the magistrate of Lizhou Prefecture for so many years, it's still the first time someone has addressed me as big sister."
The woman didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She called Bodyguard Shi over and ordered, "Hand down an order to counties like Tiger Sun and Carefree Peace to prepare their troops to head to Dyke River."
Bodyguard Shi acknowledged and immediately left.
The woman looked at Qin Mu and said, "Now that Corpse Immortal Cult from Xiangxi has taken over Dyke River County City, it would most likely be a disaster for the people there. You are also considered something of an oddity to be able to escape. I see that your clothes are pretty luxurious so you should be from a rich family. What are your plans?"
She had a gaze of pity. It was obvious that she felt now that Dyke River County City was taken over by Corpse Immortal Cult, there won't be anyone who could survive in the city. Since Qin Mu was from Dyke River County, his family would have most likely died in Dyke River County and there was no way for them to come out alive.
That's why she would ask if Qin Mu had any plans.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before answering, "I plan to go to the capital."
The woman nodded her head and said, "It's also good to go to the capital. Our Lizhou Prefecture is also going to deploy our troops to Dyke River County. With the chaos from the war, there would be bandits arising. This is not a safe place to be. Do you have any travel permit to go to the capital city?"
Qin Mu stared blankly and shook his head.
The woman muttered to herself irresolutely and said, "I'm Yuyuan Chuyu, the magistrate of Lizhou Prefecture. An armed rebellion happened in Dyke River County under my rule and this is my fault. It's natural you wouldn't have a travel permit when you had to escape from Dyke River County City in a panic. I reckon Dyke River County Magistrate must have also died in the armed rebellion. Bodyguard Qu, prepare my writing materials."
The bodyguard at her side acknowledged and immediately retrieved writing materials, sending them into the carriage. Raising her brush, the woman wrote some sentences on the documents with her beautiful handwriting. She then asked again, "What is your name?"
Qin Mu told her his name promptly.
The magistrate, Yuyuan Chuyu wrote down Citizen of Lizhou Prefecture Qin Mu and stamped it with her official seal. When the ink was dry, she passed the document out of the carriage and got someone to pass it to Qin Mu.
"This is your travel permit, a document to clear the customs. With this travel permit, you can enter all the big cities you pass by on the way, and no one will give you any trouble."
Magistrate Yuyuan Chuyu placed down her curtain and her voice came from inside, "There's no need for you to miss your family. There's nothing worth reminiscing left in Dyke River County. Go to the capital city quickly. My elder brother Yuyuan Chuyun is an official there. When you reach the capital city, say that I have recommended you. I hope that I can still see you again."
"Thank you big sister!" Qin Mu bowed and went down the official road.
Yuyuan Chuyu sighed, "A pitiable boy, ruined and orphaned at such a young age. I'm afraid he's the only one left alive in Dyke River County…"
"This big sister Chuyu sure is nice."
Qin Mu kept the travel permit document properly and thought to himself, "Now if I get interrogated when I reach the capital city, I can say I'm a citizen of Lizhou Prefecture. No one will know I'm from Great Ruins. Now that I stayed up all night, I should go rest at Tiger Sun County."