Chapter 169: Punishment
Just as many human cultivators were rushing towards the alley, the peony flower suddenly felt the s.p.a.ce around it tremble. This s.p.a.ce was like a ripple. It suddenly changed after the fluctuation.
The originally dark night sky was replaced by a clear day. The dark and gloomy alley had also become an open garden. Her feet were covered in snow, and behind her was a tall snow mountain.
The peony flower demon looked around in horror. She retracted the leaves she had released and fled in all directions, wanting to escape. However, after reaching Li Yuanqing’s domain, she could no longer run around.
“Don’t waste your energy. This place is your graveyard!”
An incomparably dignified voice sounded from the sky, like the supreme ruler of this world.
The peony flower demon looked around in horror, but she could not see where that person was, nor did she know who she was or why she was here. However, everything seemed to have ended.
“What do you want? There’s no grudge between us. If you want anything, I’ll give it to you. I have countless treasures here. I can exchange them with you. Please spare me!”
The peony flower demon kept looking around, begging for forgiveness.
However, there was no reason for Li Yuanqing to release her after bringing her here. Li Yuanqing slowly appeared in front of her.
“Human?”
The peony flower demon’s eyes revealed a trace of disbelief, as if it was difficult to believe that a human could be so powerful. This endless power made her feel very weak. In front of this person, she could not even resist. She could only feel the endless power tearing her apart in the void.
“You’ve mutilated so many people. Dying here is the best place for you.”
Li Yuanqing’s words were emotionless, like the final outcome of a judgment. The peony flower demon sat on the spot in a daze. She no longer had the strength to resist Li Yuanqing’s punishment.
The man-eating vine came around from behind, licked her lips, and carefully climbed onto the flower demon’s back. The Man-eating Vine wrapped her hands around the flower demon’s neck. Slowly, her hands turned into two thick green vines.
Slowly, the two vines extended endlessly and wrapped around each other. Finally, they wrapped the peony flower demon into a ball that looked like a coc.o.o.n.
Not long after, the huge coc.o.o.n room was slowly stripped away. A graceful young girl, the Man-eating Vine, walked out. Her mental state was refreshed. After devouring the Peony Flower Demon, her strength had indeed increased by another level.
“Master!”
The Man-eating Vine half-knelt in front of Li Yuanqing, unable to hide the joy on her face.
Li Yuanqing did not look at her. He was only attracted by a small dot on the ground. He casually waved his hand and the inconspicuous item landed in his hand.
“Where did this person go?”
“Who knows? I clearly saw that peony flower demon here just now.”
There were many people gathered in the alley. All of them watched in confusion. Many of them had seen the peony flower demon fighting here with another demon with their own eyes. However, they were gone after they arrived.
Minglun led the team to search carefully and indeed found a bewitched person here. However, they could not find anything about the Peony Flower Demon and the other demon. They could not even find out which direction the two of them had escaped to.
“Captain, we were so close to capturing that flower demon. Sigh.”
“It’s fine. We just need to work harder and we’ll definitely be able to catch them.”
“Everyone, disperse. There’s nothing to see here.”
After Minglun finished his investigation, the surrounding crowd was also furious. They originally thought that they could come over and capture that demon and receive some reward, but who knew that they would fail.
“I don’t think your eyes are working well. You said it so confidently, but there’s nothing here.”
“What do you mean by that? You saw it with your own eyes just now. The two of us saw it together. How can you say that about me?”
“I told you there was nothing there, but you didn’t believe me. You might have remembered wrongly. I didn’t see anything just now.”
Everyone left noisily. On the other side, a light flashed beside Li Yuanqing and he appeared in the small courtyard again. He played with the small seed. This was the seed left behind after the peony flower demon died.
“Master, what do you plan to do?”
Li Yuanqing thought for a moment and replied, “There’s still an empty s.p.a.ce in the flower bed outside the City Lord Manor. Let’s plant this seed there.”
“But if it still retains its former rude and unreasonable nature after it grows, won’t it be a huge threat to us?”
Hu Jiujiu looked at Li Yuanqing worriedly.
“It doesn’t matter. Even if it grows out, it’s only a low-level demon. It won’t be able to cause any trouble. I think this flower is quite beautiful. It can be considered scenery.”
This morning, Minglun stood by the flower bed and announced the notice that Hu Jiujiu had just sent.
Minglun had confirmed this with Hu Jiujiu several times just now, but Hu Jiujiu was certain. However, how did the peony die?
Hu Jiujiu did not explain the details to him. She only asked him to take out this notice and announce it to everyone.
“The criminal, the Peony Flower Demon, has already been punished. Peace in Ping City was not easy to come by. If anyone dares to destroy the peace in Ping City, they will be killed!”
“What? The Peony Flower Demon is already dead?”
“How is that possible? Didn’t someone else see it yesterday?”
“That’s right. And there’s not even a corpse now. How can anyone believe that it’s gone just like that?”
Everyone was arguing at once. Minglun turned to look at the flower bed beside him. That place was originally an empty s.p.a.ce. For some reason, an extremely beautiful peony flower had grown there. He did not know who planted this peony, but he couldn’t care less now. Since the City Lord said that the peony demon had been executed, it must be true.
“Since the City Lord said that the peony flower demon has already been executed, there will definitely be no more peony flower demon coming out to cause trouble.”
A strange feeling arose in Minglun’s heart. Although he did not know if it was related, someone had seen the peony flower demon that day. Then, the peony flower demon never appeared again. It was hard to say if this had anything to do with the City Lord.
In Ping City, there were many demons like the peony flower demon who flowed everywhere and absorbed human essence.
There were even many humans who did this kind of thing. They cultivated some evil cultivation techniques, were bewitched by the demons, or cooperated with the demons to do these things.
Hu Jiujiu originally had no intention of taking the initiative to attack these existences. However, ever since this incident, Hu Jiujiu had begun to attack these demons in large numbers.
In the past, they did not know where most of them were hiding, so it was a little troublesome. However, they did not know what method Hu Jiujiu had used to easily find the hiding place of these demons.
Minglun was only in charge of bringing his brothers up to take action. For a moment, everyone in Ping City was in a panic.
After many of the demons were captured, the remaining demons who had not done anything trembled in fear.
Before Hu Jiujiu sent anyone, she would not have informed the demons in the city. Therefore, they had many guesses.
“Big Brother, I think we should leave. I heard that we can still seek refuge on Black Tiger Mountain. We can’t stay like this anymore.”
The pair of demon brothers carefully hid in the room. No matter what they said now, they were afraid that others would hear them. It was as if Hu Jiujiu had ten thousand pairs of ears. No matter what others did, she knew everything.
They could not calm down when they saw this scene today.
“The two brothers of the Dark Wood Clan were hung on the city wall just like that. They were already in their original forms. Two thick and black woods were there.” The eldest gritted his teeth and said, “This is clearly the revenge of the human race. Their human race is clearly taking advantage of this opportunity to take our lives!”
“Big Brother, stop talking. We can’t speak like this now.”
The younger brother hurriedly covered his brother’s mouth and looked around warily, afraid that their words would be overheard again.
After thinking about it, the eldest closed his eyes helplessly.
“There’s no choice. Although this is where we have lived for generations, I’m afraid we can’t stay here anymore after such a thing happened. We can only leave.”
“Big Brother, the helpers we find in the future will take Ping City back sooner or later. Ping City will belong to the demons sooner or later!”
“Alright, don’t say so much. Hurry up and go. Hu Jiujiu was too ruthless. The city walls are filled with the corpses of our demon brothers.”
Most of the demons in Ping City were like these two brothers. They were all in a panic now, not knowing what Hu Jiujiu wanted to do. Hu Jiujiu was too ruthless to the demons. Even as demons, they were all terrified, afraid that such a thing would happen to them one day.
Therefore, the number of demons who came to Ping City decreased. Some of the demons that appeared some time ago were killed by Hu Jiujiu, and some left obediently. Many local demons also left together.
“Captain, there are fewer and fewer demons in the guards. If this continues, our status as guards will be gone.”
One of the lackeys complained to Minglun.
“Cut the c.r.a.p. No matter what the situation is, as long as we serve the City Lord well, nothing will happen. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Boss, of course I understand what you mean. It’s just that there are only ten to twenty percent of the demons left in Ping City. If this continues, we brothers will be the only ones left.”
“So what? As long as we can maintain the stability of Ping City, how many demons and humans have nothing to do with us.”
Hu Jiujiu was currently doing a reform of the city protection team, adding many human cultivators to their guard team.
The team, which was originally filled with demons, are mixed with demons and humans now. Many old residents had objections, but because of Hu Jiujiu’s powerful strength, they did not dare to say anything.
“East District.”
Minglun suddenly received an order. He only rested here for a while before leading his brothers on their way again. They had discovered another suspicious person in the Eastern City District.
In a quiet courtyard in the Eastern District.
A thin, sallow man walked out of the bas.e.m.e.nt and slowly closed the bookshelf, sealing the entrance.
“Good lord, what a good deal.”
The man smiled very happily and looked up in the direction of the City Lord Manor. A greedy expression flashed across his eyes.
“So many people are all trash. All of them can’t even deal with a little girl. However, these demons’ price is quite high. With such a high price and such a graceful lady, this business is profitable no matter what.”
The man smiled proudly as he spoke.
However, just as he was laughing happily, the sound of something falling to the ground suddenly came from the door of the small courtyard. He looked outside with a tense expression. Suddenly, his expression changed drastically.
“What?”
The man’s already withered face turned even uglier. He hurriedly rushed out of the house. The small courtyard was already filled with guards.
“What are you doing? I’m a good citizen. I’ve abided by the rules and have not made any mistakes. I don’t usually provoke the City Lord Manor either. Why did you surround my courtyard today?”
The man smiled, revealing two rows of very yellow teeth. He looked very disgusting.
Minglun said nothing. His helmeted face was very serious.
“Do you know your crime?” That was all he said every time he went anywhere. He asked again and again.
The man said, “Sir, you have to be clear about this. I didn’t do anything wrong. I follow all the rules well. I definitely didn’t make any mistakes.”
Although he said that, his feet were not idle at all. He sneaked towards a less crowded place and looked at Minglun as he walked.
“Do you know your crime?” Minglun asked again. This was also their rule. If they could still repent the second time, they could give him a quick death.
The man saw that the other party was asking aggressively. He had clearly been convicted. Although he did not know where he had leaked the news, in this situation, there was probably only one option left.
“Sir, what are you talking about? I’m such an honest person. How can you accuse me?”
“Looks like you won’t confess. Do it!”
Following Minglun’s order, all the guards raised their weapons in unison. A huge amount of energy instantly enveloped the small courtyard.