Chapter 742: The Extermination of the Ding Bandits
The Qingque Kingdom, the secular dynasty closest to the Kongshan Sect, could be said to lie entirely within the sect’s sphere of influence.
Although refraining from interfering in mortal affairs was an unwritten rule of the Chenping Continent cultivation world, the entire Qingque court and royal family were still completely under the control of the Kongshan Sect’s outer court.
Or rather, it would have been difficult for the Kongshan Sect not to control them.
And yet, within the borders of the Qingque Kingdom, there had appeared a group of Ding Bandits who specialized in hunting down Kongshan Sect disciples when they were alone.
What enraged the Kongshan Sect most was that the Ding Bandits had managed to operate right under the sect’s nose for more than a decade.
According to the Hall of Prudent Discipline’s intelligence, the Passable God Realm cultivator whom the Kongshan Sect called the “Ding Bandits” was originally named Ding Qiu, and had once managed the Immortal Gambling Den in Taiyun City, Qingque Kingdom.
After the Chenping Continent Dao Discussion Conference ended, that gambling den in Taiyun City was destroyed by several mysterious Qi Sea Realm cultivators.
An investigation revealed that those Qi Sea Realm cultivators had all come from the Solemn Martial lineage of Qingchan Peak.
If all the clues were connected, Ding Qiu was likely connected in some way to the Outer Court Cataclysm of the Kongshan Sect.
It was highly likely that Ding Qiu was a discarded pawn abandoned by Fu Qian, and that everything he had done after the gambling den was destroyed had been an act of revenge against the Kongshan Sect.
Whatever the reason, Chen Yan did not care in the slightest.
The sect’s orders were for him to exterminate the Ding Bandits, who had slaughtered many Kongshan Sect disciples over the past decade or so.
So there was only one thing he needed to do:
Kill him.
......
Qingque Kingdom, Yong'an Prefecture.
This prefectural city, only fifty-five li from the capital of the Qingque Kingdom, had now become the headquarters of an inspection bureau temporarily established by the Kongshan Sect.
And Chen Yan was in charge of the Yong'an Inspection Bureau.
Eliminating the Ding Bandits proved far more troublesome than Chen Yan had imagined.
That was because there were no clues at all.
This was what puzzled Chen Yan most at present.
The Kongshan Sect attached great importance to the Ding Bandits. From the outer court, which had yet to fully recover from the Outer Court Cataclysm, it had dispatched nearly three hundred Qi Circulation Realm disciples, as well as six Martial Spring Realm Protectors from Kongyuan Mountain and more than twenty manager disciples of the Martial Spring Realm, all of whom Chen Yan could command.
Furthermore, Yang Cheng, the Enforcement Hall Elder of Linwu Mountain, had been appointed Chen Yan’s deputy by Yun Yichen to assist him in eliminating the Ding Bandits.
This show of force undoubtedly represented the Kongshan Sect’s determination to remove the Ding Bandits.
At the same time, Yun Yichen seemed to want to use this opportunity to put Chen Yan through his paces.
After all, Murong Wen’s plans to have Lu Li take his place as Solemn Martial Elder of Kongyuan Mountain and to promote Chen Yan to Scripture Hall Elder of Kongyuan Mountain both required Yun Yichen’s approval.
But in Yun Yichen’s eyes, although Chen Yan had served the sect as a Daomen Xingzou for more than a decade, he was still somewhat inexperienced and lacked practical training.
And eliminating the Ding Bandits was the opportunity Yun Yichen had given Chen Yan to gain experience.
On the desk in the main hall of the Inspection Bureau lay a map encompassing all thirteen prefectures and twenty-one cities of the Qingque Kingdom, as well as every small town and village.
Chen Yan and Yang Cheng, the Enforcement Hall Elder of Linwu Mountain, stood on opposite sides of the desk, both wearing solemn expressions.
Then Chen Yan picked up the writing brush in his hand and, following the documents that had just been presented beside him, marked three towns and more than a dozen villages on the map with crosses.
“We still have no leads.”
Chen Yan said.
“Yes.”
Yang Cheng, standing opposite Chen Yan, sighed.
“In my more than thirty years overseeing Linwu Mountain’s Enforcement Hall, this is the first time I’ve encountered a situation like this.”
“Or perhaps there’s something very suspicious about this man surnamed Ding.”
Chen Yan said:
“Over the past decade or so, he has killed a total of one hundred and eighty-seven of our Kongshan Sect’s outer court disciples. I doubt this is a secret that could be covered up by the few outer sect stewards disciplined by the Hall of Prudent Discipline.”
“Speculation is just speculation. Manager Chen, the most important thing now is figuring out how to find the Ding Bandits.”
Yang Cheng said.
The entire territory of the Qingque Kingdom had now been completely covered by boundary talismans deployed by the Kongshan Sect.
Only cultivators below the Martial Spring Realm could pass through the boundary without being stopped.
As for cultivators at the Martial Spring Realm or above who wished to leave the Qingque Kingdom, they had to pass through the city gate currently guarded by the Kongshan Sect at the kingdom’s southern border.
In other words, Ding Qiu was definitely hiding somewhere within the Qingque Kingdom.
The biggest problem before them was how to find him.
“Protector Ma.”
Chen Yan’s gaze remained fixed on the map before him as he spoke to a middle-aged man nearby, dressed in Kongyuan Mountain daoist robes.
“Yes, Manager.”
The middle-aged man called Protector Ma stepped forward and bowed toward Chen Yan.
“Have Protector Luo and the others returned yet?”
Chen Yan continued.
“Not yet.”
Protector Ma shook his head.
“It’s been six days, and we haven’t heard anything. We can’t even reach them with communication talismans...”
Chen Yan had already prepared himself for the worst.
If they still could not be contacted after another day, he planned to personally search for Protector Luo and his subordinates.
“Manager Chen, Elder Yang!”
Just then, a Martial Spring Realm cultivator hurried into the hall. He stopped in the middle, then bowed toward Chen Yan and Yang Cheng.
“Speak.”
Chen Yan said.
“Protector Huang has found out where Protector Luo and his men are.”
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator said, then paused briefly, his expression grave.
“They’re in a tree on a barren mountain four hundred li north of Yong’an Prefecture.”
“In a tree?”
At that, Chen Yan realized what had happened.
“Protector Luo, the four managers under him, and more than ten outer court disciples all had their heads chopped off and piled beneath the tree... Their bodies were hung from its branches.”
As he spoke, the Martial Spring Realm disciple fell silent for a moment.
“On the boulder opposite that tree, a line had also been written in blood...”
“What did it say?”
Elder Yang of Linwu Mountain’s Enforcement Hall asked from the side.
“‘Kongshan bandits, all deserve death.’”
The many Kongshan Sect disciples in the hall fell completely silent.
“We can’t keep playing cat and mouse with the Ding Bandits, Elder Yang.”
Chen Yan said.
Yang Cheng said nothing, only nodded in agreement.
The Ding Bandits were far too arrogant.
So arrogant that everyone wanted to tear them limb from limb at once.
Although Chen Yan was furious, wanting to find that bastard named Ding Qiu the very next moment, execute him immediately, and take his head back to Kongyuan Mountain to report, his subconscious told him that perhaps there was more to all of this than met the eye.