As Li Miao and the middle-aged man's battle intensified, the sounds they produced gradually spread out.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, even the prefectural yamen could hear the thunderous roars.
The local constable emerged from the prefect's office, sighed, gathered his men, and hurried towards the An Family residence.
From about a hundred or two hundred zhang away, he could already vaguely see many people gathered at the entrance of the An Family residence, chattering and craning their necks to look inside.
"The yamen is on official business! Bystanders, step back!"
He shouted, and his yamen runners, understanding his intent, immediately stepped forward, hands on their saber hilts, forcing the onlookers back.
"Boss, are we really going in?" A trusted subordinate leaned close to him and whispered.
"This An Family is involved in the pugilistic world. It's possible there are fierce pugilists inside, seeking revenge. Judging by the commotion, it's a big scene. We might get into trouble if we get involved."
The constable sighed.
He, too, wished he could pretend not to have heard. But since the prefect had given the order, he had no choice but to investigate the situation.
At that point, he could only "be cautious, advance slowly, retreat quickly, and if necessary, kneel."
The constable beckoned a few trusted subordinates, ready to step into the An Family residence.
"Stop!"
A sharp shout came from the crowd behind them.
The constable turned to look, and saw a person pushing through the crowd, covered in mud, and even some undried bloodstains. His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, and he had two large dark circles under them. At this moment, he was panting, sweating profusely, and looked utterly disheveled.
"Who are you? How dare you obstruct officials!"
A yamen runner stepped forward to stop him.
Slap!
The man reached out and delivered a slap, making the yamen runner spin a few times on the spot before collapsing to the ground.
"You!"
The constables drew their sabers one after another, glaring at the man.
The man, however, paid no attention. He walked a few steps forward, pressing close to the constable. After finally catching his breath, he reached into his Pregnant and pulled out a waist token, shaking it in front of the constable.
The constable's expression changed instantly, his face turning pale.
"My, my, my Lord!"
"Scram, tell these people to disperse, and tell your prefect to go home and play with himself," the man said weakly.
"Yes! Yes!"
The constable quickly took the order, dispersed the surrounding commoners, and fled with his yamen runners as if for their lives.
"What's going on! A Jinyiwei Zhenfushi's waist token!?"
"What did the An Family do!?"
The man scanned left and right. Seeing that everyone had dispersed, he then sat down on the threshold, pulled out a notebook from his Pregnant, and took out a pen.
He looked around, but couldn't find any ink. So he spat on his sleeve, smudged a congealed bloodstain, and dipped the pen tip in it to write.
As he wrote, he sighed.
"Four days, over six hundred li, three prefectural cities, six bandit strongholds. Over two hundred corpses, half without bodies, half without heads, and all need to be registered."
"Commander, oh Commander, please open your eyes and take Lord Commissioner away! Your subordinate fears he will truly die on the road if he follows any further!"
Hearing the thunderous roar from behind him, he let out a long sigh.
"When immortals fight, mortals suffer."
Leaving the mortal to his self-pity for now, let's return to the "immortals."
At that time, it only took Li Miao the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to kill Lan Lechuan.
And this middle-aged man, in terms of martial arts, was basically a replica of Lan Lechuan—the same ""Jiezi"," the same Great Nine Heavens Palm, the same direct lineage of the Ming Cult.
And now, it wouldn't take Li Miao the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to kill Lan Lechuan.
Currently, the battle between the two had clearly exceeded that time, yet it still showed no signs of stopping.
Li Miao flung away a severed arm and looked up at the person.
This person had been fighting Li Miao for a long time and could no longer maintain their disguise technique, gradually revealing their true form.
It turned out to be a beautiful young woman.
Li Miao stared intently at her face, twirling his fingers, seemingly deep in thought.
"I deliberately fought with you for a while longer. I've pretty much figured out your foundation."
Li Miao said.
"Your true qi wasn't cultivated by yourself. Your bone structure simply cannot cultivate '"Jiezi".'"
"Jia Yi Divine Skill, your Ming Cult indeed has the inheritance of this martial art."
"Back then, Ji Tianrui didn't pass on his cultivation to Lan Lechuan because he knew he was about to die. Instead, he wanted to use the characteristic of Jia Yi Divine Skill, which allows one to break and then establish anew, to go a step further and make a desperate gamble."
The woman did not reply. She used the time Li Miao was speaking to fully recover from her injuries.
Li Miao was completely unconcerned.
During the previous battle, Li Miao had already thoroughly understood this person using the divine power of ""Jiezi"." No matter what, she wouldn't be able to make any waves today.
Rather than killing her, Li Miao was more interested in verifying some of his own conjectures.
He said unhurriedly.
"Jia Yi Divine Skill, I only had an incomplete copy before, and some crucial points were unclear to me. But when I saw the original in the Miao King's Tomb, it confirmed some of my suspicions."
"Jia Yi Divine Skill can only transfer cultivation once."
Li Miao looked into the woman's eyes and slowly said.
"Fifteen years ago, Ji Tianrui already transferred his cultivation to Lan Lechuan. Lan Lechuan died by my hand. Now you've been transferred cultivation again, creating another '"Jiezi".'"
"The Ji Tianrui of that year undoubtedly died, his bones ground to dust, leaving no complete corpse. The Commander personally led the team, and three or four Celestials and hundreds of experts from the imperial court witnessed it firsthand. The imperial court's serious attention and absolute certainty mean it was absolutely not something your Ming Cult could have faked."
"Therefore, the current Ji Tianrui... is not the same Ji Tianrui from back then."
At this point, Li Miao burst into laughter.
"Did your Ming Cult grow up reading storybooks? People faking death, body doubles, they just never truly die."
Li Miao then pointed at the woman's face.
"I've been slowly dispersing your circulation and damaging your meridians precisely to break your disguise technique and see what you truly look like."
"Indeed, seeing this face of yours, many things now make sense."
Li Miao slowly articulated his questions.
"First, the collusion between the Ming Cult and the Miao people back then was truly too strange. The Miao people lived in seclusion; how much rapport did your Ming Cult have with them to persuade them to rebel with you?"
"Second, how could Ji Tianrui master Witchcraft and create the method of transforming Zuo Lishan into a Gu and people into Gu Soldiers? And why are these Gu Soldiers of the same origin and lineage as the beasts commanded by the Great Witch in the Miao King's Tomb?"
"Third, there's the trip to the Miao King's Tomb."
Li Miao smiled.
"The Miao King's Tomb was the Miao people's plan, but there are two points worth mentioning."
"First, the Miao people probably knew that the imperial court was about to act against them because of what you did in Tai'an City. So they wanted to hold the major sects of the Southern Martial World hostage as a human shield."
"But the methods they used were too 'gentle.' Even without me there, a few of the experts who entered would have survived. It didn't seem like a desperate move at all; instead, it subtly hinted at some kind of—reluctant warning."
"Second, Jia Yi Divine Skill has been lost for a long time; it was carved on the stone walls of the Miao people's ancestral tomb. Judging by the decay of the stone walls, it has been there for at least nearly a hundred years."
"How did your Ming Cult obtain the Jia Yi Divine Skill from the Miao people's ancestral tomb?"
Li Miao looked into the woman's eyes and slowly said.
"Ji Tianrui Number Two isn't here, but his true qi was passed on to you, so you must be his confidante."
"The answers to all these questions are on your face."
"You are a Miao person."