"By the way," before leaving, Zhang Linchuan suddenly looked at Tang Dun, "Your name is Tang Dun, right?"
"Yes, that's my name."
Zhang Linchuan smiled, "Dun means sincere and honest. That's a good name."
Tang Dun scratched his head, "Our schoolteacher gave it to me when I was a kid."
"Oh?" Zhang Linchuan asked.
"Our town of Tangshe is poor. We couldn't afford to pay the teacher's salary, and not many hunters cared about reading or writing. It was the teacher who came here to study and ended up teaching us for three years. But he left to continue his studies after that. He liked me the most back then, saying I was some kind of jade."
That made sense.
The custom of traveling scholars was highly regarded at the time, and many disciples from various schools followed it.
For example, Confucian disciples believed in reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles, with many of them traveling around different countries. Some did it to broaden their horizons, while others did it to promote themselves.
Similarly, Mohist disciples traveled all over the world, experiencing everything firsthand. However, if they had encountered Tang Dun, they might have taught him some martial arts or even some basic mechanical techniques instead of reading and writing.
Although Zhuang Country took the Daoist school as its state religion, it did not reject disciples from other schools. Tang Dun's experience was, of course, not a problem.
Jiang Wang then said, "Since you have had some education, it would be a pity to stay here as a minor constable. After taking care of Niuer's funeral, if you have no other obligations, you might consider applying to the outer gate of the City Daoist Academy."
This was out of appreciation for his simple and honest nature, but ultimately, it was still Tang Dun's choice.
Leaving Tangshe Town and heading south along the main road would lead them back to Fenglin City.
Due to the corresponding array patterns engraved, there were no wild beasts on the main road.
The horse's hooves were not in a hurry, and neither was Zhang Linchuan's voice on the horseback: "Do you know how many resources the court has to invest every year to maintain the main roads throughout the entire territory of Zhuang Country?"
Jiang Wang shook his head; he indeed had no knowledge of such matters.
"It's an astronomical number," Zhang Linchuan said. "Moreover, these array patterns can only drive away low-level demons. The powerful and ferocious demons still require strong warriors to eliminate. The court invests a huge amount of manpower and resources every year to maintain the smoothness of various places. It also invests resources into the Daoist academies without counting the cost. The only thing we can do is to grow as quickly as possible to take on the corresponding responsibilities."
"I've learned a lot."
"Let me ask you another question. The big cities are protected by large arrays. Why doesn't the court let everyone live in the big cities?"
"There are probably two reasons," Jiang Wang thought for a moment and said, "First, even big cities have their limits and cannot meet the survival needs of everyone. Second, the influence range of each city is limited. The court needs these main roads to extend in all directions, using towns as nodes, because this represents the actual territory. And land means resources."
"You see it very clearly. The arrays in each town and village cannot be as safe as those in the big cities, but villages and towns also have their irreplaceable roles. Take Tangshe Town as an example. As long as it exists, Fenglin City can harvest a continuous flow of resources from the Qichang Mountains. Once Tangshe Town is gone, the Qichang Mountains will no longer be related to our Zhuang Country."
"The people of Tangshe Town dare to hunt in the Qichang Mountains, and of course, they have their own experts. The demon lay low when the Judicial Department came, and there was no other movement when we didn't come. But it just happened to attack when we arrived..."
Saying this, Zhang Linchuan turned his head and looked at Jiang Wang with a smile that was not quite a smile: "Junior Jiang, is there anything on you that might attract them?"
Jiang Wang could not answer.
Of course, he had secrets, but they were limited to the virtual key inherited from Zuo Guanglie. All the changes happened in the Tai Xu Illusion, and in reality, they should not have been discovered. But if not for this, the first time he was attacked by the demon was also after he entered the Tai Xu Illusion.
He was pondering how to phrase his words to evade the question when Zhang Linchuan suddenly raised his hand, with his middle and ring fingers bent and the other three fingers extended, pointing directly at Jiang Wang.
And the electric arcs leaped from the tips of the three extended fingers, converging into a bolt of lightning, heading straight for Jiang Wang!
Jiang Wang didn't even have time to react. The lightning just grazed his ear and collided with a dark green, poisonous arrow, destroying and knocking it down.
It was only then that Jiang Wang heard the sharp whistle of the poisonous arrow accelerating earlier and smelled the burnt hair from the lightning brushing past.
"I've been waiting for you guys for a long time!" Zhang Linchuan leaped off the horse, and his free right hand, in a very strange gesture, raised upwards, condensing a whip of lightning out of thin air.
"Come and die!"
He wielded the whip of lightning, attacking like a hawk diving, heading straight for the attacker hidden in the forest on the left side of the main road.
It turned out that he had been prepared all along, and with his ability to multitask, he secretly prepared two spells in advance, which allowed him to counterattack in the first moment of the attack.
Jiang Wang still had a long way to go compared to his senior brother, who had been tested in many battles.
At this moment, a voice came from the forest on the right side, "This target is tough, let's split up and retreat!"
Jiang Wang, who was about to catch up with Zhang Linchuan, suddenly turned his head!
How could he not recognize this voice? In the little girl's room in Tangshe Town, although there were only a few short conversations, they were enough to leave a deep impression on him!
A Daoist element in the Tongtian Palace exploded silently, and Jiang Wang made a decisive decision, colliding towards the direction of the sound with the most resolute attitude.
Living in Zhuang Country, the first thing almost all commoners had to remember before going out was to stay on the main road.
Because outside the range of human towns, everything beyond the main road was wilderness. It was the territory of wild beasts, demons, and even ferocious beasts.
Zhang Linchuan was strong enough, so he didn't care.
Jiang Wang wanted to kill someone, so he didn't care either.
He had seen bloodshed, he had seen cruelty, but even the most vicious bandits on Xishan Mountain would not swing their butcher knives at children. That little girl, who had just begun to understand the world, naive, innocent, and radiant, how innocent she was?
Jiang Wang's sword trembled in its scabbard. It seemed to have already become excited, as if it knew that it would burst into the most brilliant light of its life.
Ten years to sharpen a sword, the frosty blade has never been tested. Today I show it to you, who holds a grievance?
Clang clang clang clang clang.
The moment the long sword leaped out, it collided with the scabbard five times before finally being unsheathed!
The sword was like a meteor, and the person was like a dragon.
A big tree groaned and fell, and the left-path demon hidden in the tree leaped back in a hurry.
In the haste, the face was unclear, but only the pale face under the messy hair could be seen.
The Daoist elements in the Tongtian Palace exploded one after another.
Jiang Wang had never been so extravagant before. He felt full of strength.
Before condensing the Daoist spiral, every extravagance of a Daoist element was a regression in cultivation.
But only in this way could he kill someone.
He wanted to cut down this demon, so that the accumulated anger would have an outlet, so that he could gain peace of mind.
The Purple Qi from the East Sword, the second killing form, brought a sheet of frosty light.
The white-faced demon had no time to make a gesture while retreating, his right arm quickly swelled, the muscles protruded, and the blood vessels bulged. Suddenly, he threw a straight punch, smashing towards the frosty light.
The sword and this demon-like right arm clashed more than ten times in an instant.
It was only then that Jiang Wang suddenly realized that he had made a mistake! This opponent was strong! At least much stronger than him! Not as he had previously thought, just relying on the layout, just a bit stronger in cultivation.
In other words, if this white-faced demon had exerted all his strength during the attack in Tangshe Town, Jiang Wang could not guarantee that he would have survived at that time.
But there was no retreat in his heart. The long sword vibrated again, and a sharp whistle sounded.
The Purple Qi from the East Sword Technique, the third killing form!
The fleeting light passed, and that demonized right arm was completely severed and flew away!
"Damn it!!"
The white-faced demon roared. He didn't expect that a moment of inattention would force him into a corner by this desperate teenager.
His back foot suddenly stomped on a big tree in the middle of flying backward. He knew he couldn't retreat anymore; retreating meant death. The chance of survival came from the fight.
Centered on the point where his back foot touched, the whole tree withered instantly.
Then from his roaring mouth, gray fog gushed out, carrying an extremely strong smell of decay and a pungent stench.
Manipulating the forces of life and death, this was the necromantic art!
The sword light surged.
Driven by the Daoist element, the sword light cut through the gray fog, and Jiang Wang leaped out from the fog!
The Purple Qi from the East Sword Technique, the fourth killing form!
The demon had escaped in Tangshe Town, and he was caught off guard and out of options.
At least at this moment, right now, he had to give an account to that little girl named Niuer!
This was the responsibility of a cultivator to the common people.
This was the responsibility of an adult to a child!
Jiang Wang's leaping figure broke through the gray fog and appeared in the eyes of the white-faced demon.
And in his increasingly widened eyes, filled with horror, a brilliant sword light shone from above downward.
That was the last light he saw before the eternal darkness.