.But on second thought, this is quite normal.Apart from that, even among the Dao soldiers Shen Changqing now commands, there are those who are afraid of death and willingly submit to him.The soldiers...Led by Zhang Yue.

A line of government officers immediately surrounded the Zhang residence.

An abrupt change.

This naturally brought many benefits to the common people.

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“What’s going on, why have the officials surrounded the Zhang family's home”

>

"I don't know, could it be that the Zhang family has colluded with demons too!"

Who knows, it's going to be a good show—

The common people who watched from afar, seeing many officers besiege the Zhang family's house, were whispering amongst themselves in hushed tones.

They did not leave, nor did they approach without permission.

Officials and commoners have always been worlds apart. If one were to accidentally bump into the other, even getting beaten to death in public wouldn't see anyone come forward to help.

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“At first glance, the Zhang family doesn't seem to have any sinister energy, does it”

Cui Cheng looked at the Zhang family's courtyard wall, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

If there are demons or evil spirits present, there will definitely be an aura of sinister energy leaking out.

At first glance, the Zhang family residence seemed peaceful and harmonious, with no trace of sinister or demonic energy. It didn't appear to be haunted by any evil spirits at all.

On hearing this.

Someone immediately responded.

Zhang Jia, on the surface, appears to have no ominous energy. However, it's also possible that Zhang Jia has concealed the demons. After all, if demons exist in a place well-hidden enough, their sinister aura wouldn't leak out.

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Hearing the reply, Cui Cheng turned his head to look at the source of the voice. It was a young man dressed as a nobleman, handsome and good-looking. He couldn't help but bow slightly.

"Brother Ming, you are truly a rising star of the Qiyuan Sect. You are indeed knowledgeable and well-informed."

"Brother Cui, you are too polite."

Ming Zhengyang smiled slightly, not showing the slightest arrogance. His gaze lingered briefly on Zhao Yue as he swept over her, but then quickly retracted.

Now.

Shen Changqing stood outside the door, looking at Zhang Yue: "Without this officer's order, absolutely no one is allowed to leave the Zhang family. But anyone who trespasses will be killed without mercy."

"At your service!"

Zhang Yue nodded.

At this time, the Zhang family courtyard gate was ajar. Shen Changqing just pushed it with force, pushing the door open halfway, and then strode inside.

Both were from prominent families in Lin'an City.

The Zhang family's layout was not inferior to the Zhao family's.

But the only difference from the Zhao family was that Zhang's family gave him a feeling of emptiness.

It's empty!

Entering Zhang's manor, there wasn't a single guard in sight, nor was there any trace of servants. Shen Changqing felt like this wasn't the residence of a prominent family, but rather an abandoned courtyard.

“Something’s fishy!”

You can't see anything from the outside.

It wasn't until Shen Changqing truly entered the Zhang family that he noticed some clues.

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As far as the eye could see.

Everything is normal.

The only thing out of the ordinary was the lack of expected life.

Keep moving forward.

Shen Changqing walked toward the hall.

After a short while, an elderly butler-like man walked towards Shen Changqing. He looked displeased and said, "Sir, you're not someone from my Zhang family, are you Why are you suddenly here"

Shen Changqing didn't reply, and directly stepped into the hall.

Compared to the outside.

The lobby was brightly lit, with lights on even during the day.

A large table was set, with a group of people seated around it enjoying a meal. Attendants and maids moved between them, serving up an array of dishes.

Watching Shen Changqing enter.

The person sitting at the head of the table paused for a moment, then smiled.

"So there's a guest. Old man Zhang, I haven't yet had the pleasure of learning your name!"

As Zhang Sheng spoke, everyone's movements paused. They all turned their heads to look at Shen Changqing's position, their eyes fixed on him without blinking.

>

In that instant.

Shen Changqing's heart stirred with a trace of apprehension, but he quickly regained his composure.

“This official believes that the Zhang family merely colluded with demons, but never expected that the Zhang family was no longer what it used to be.”

He shook his head and sighed.

There is much regret in the language.

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At this time, the others also withdrew their gazes.

Zhang Sheng smiled and said, "Sir, you have traveled a long way. Why don't we sit down together"

That's all.

Then a servant walked up to Shen Changqing, speaking as he reached out and grabbed Shen Changqing's shoulder: "Come on!"

Before his palm could even reach his shoulder, his body was flung sideways.

When it fell, it just so happened to hit several other servants as well.

The dishes were scattered on the ground, a huge commotion erupted in the hall, causing everyone else to stop their movements for a moment and turn their heads to look at Shen Changqing. Their eyes were just as piercing as before.

But that's different.

Now, there is a touch of bone-chilling coldness in the eyes.

Zhang Sheng, who was in the main seat, had a smile on his face that seemed both stiff and strangely eerie.

He rose from his position, his voice a low murmur: "Why won't Your Lordship grace us with your presence"

"Face is for the living, not for you demons!"

Shen Changqing sneered, he didn't want to hide anything, and directly tore his face.

“What the official hadn’t expected was that the Zhang family had been completely wiped out. The former grand estate of the Zhang clan was now inhabited by a group of demons!”

>

At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the Zhang family.

>

In Shen Changqing's eyes, none of the Zhang family members present were truly alive.

Those sinister auras were hidden very well. If he hadn't broken through to a higher realm and become more sensitive to evil energy, he wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Even so.

With so many demons gathering, there should be a leakage of ominous energy.

There is no Zhang family.

The entire Zhang Residence seemed to be covered by a gigantic barrier, concealing the faint aura of evil.

At this moment.

A strong wind blew from behind.

Shen Changqing moved sideways, his long sword at his waist unsheathed. In an instant, a gust of wind cut through the air.

Black blood spurted, two severed bodies fell to the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was horrifyingly the old butler they had encountered at the start.

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However, that's different.

The old butler's face was rotten, as if he had been dead for a long time. Even though his body was cut in half, he didn't die. Instead, he crawled slowly on the ground like a worm.

Another cut.

Chop off the old housekeeper's head.

The upper half of the creature that was crawling, instantly lost its last glimmer of life. A pungent stench of rot filled the air.

"Corpse Puppet!"

Upon seeing such a scene, Shen Changqing instantly recalled some past experiences.

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Corpse puppet!

That is a bizarre method, able to use the corpses of the dead to refine them into puppets.

Such puppets retain some memories from their past lives. Without any external influence, they will act according to their former instincts.

The old butler before him was a corpse puppet.

Then the others—

Thinking of this, Shen Changqing looked at Zhang Sheng and the others. As expected, every person's originally peaceful expression had become ferocious, rushing towards him one after another.

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Take a step back.

The long blade glistened like moonlight as it slashed down, beheading a servant rushing towards them. Black blood spurted forth, and the fallen body began to rot at an alarming rate, emitting a foul stench.

“Another corpse puppet!”

Seeing this, Shen Changqing confirmed his guess.

Corpse Puppet!

All members of the Zhang family were refined into corpse puppets.

He originally thought that the Zhang family had become like Zhuang Mingyuan, a demonic cultivator. But now it seems that the Zhang family is even more serious than becoming demonic cultivators.

First, one must refine a human into a corpse puppet.

It requires human sacrifice as a medium.

That is to say, the Zhang family was wiped out without anyone noticing. Then everyone was refined into corpses and continued their daily activities, remaining undetected by others.

Before Shen Changqing could think too much about it,

The others have all rushed in to attack.

Shen Changqing did not hesitate. His long sword erupted with a fierce wind, slaying all the corpse puppets that approached him.

Although the corpse puppet is powerful.

But it can only threaten some martial artists who have cultivated their physical bodies.

As long as one has entered the Tongmai Realm, ordinary corpse puppets will be of no use.

Right now, Zhang Jia and others who have been refined into corpse puppets are only the lowest level of corpse puppets. In terms of strength, they are not very powerful.

But.

Corpse puppets also have their troublesome aspects.

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That is, unless the head is severed, a corpse puppet will not die easily. Even if it is cut in half, it can still survive.

This—is the most difficult part of dealing with corpse puppets.

If you can't guarantee a decapitation with every strike, there's no way to quickly clear out the corpse puppets. If it drags on too long, you'll easily be overwhelmed by them.

Because the biggest problem with corpse puppets is.

It all comes down to the quantity.

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Luckily.

Although all the members of the Zhang family have now become corpse puppets, their number is not large. At a glance, there are only dozens of them. It's not very difficult for Shen Changqing to deal with them.

However.

Shen Changqing's attention is no longer on these corpse puppets.

He used to think the Zhang family had allied with demons, so he considered them a threat. But now the Zhang family has been wiped out, and what was active before were only corpse puppets.

That's it.

Things are not that simple.

"There are only two possibilities for crafting a corpse puppet: either a terrifying monster of the Sha level appears, or there is a powerful demon person present."

>Guanyuanfu has a magistrate in charge, if there is truly a formidable and eerie creature, it's impossible that no news would have reached us. Although the Zhang family's barrier is powerful, it certainly can't completely block the sinister aura of a formidable monster.

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There is only one explanation left, the Zhang family currently hides a powerful demon!

Shen Changqing's eyes were cold, but there wasn't too much fear in his heart.

Even if the hidden demon's power was strong, it couldn't surpass the innate realm. After all, a small town like Lin'an City wasn't worthy of a master-level demon lurking there.

As for the other party's motives, it's even more ridiculous to think that it could be because of that drop of demon blood.

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Though the blood of low-ranking demons is precious.

But for master-level experts, it's not much of a temptation.

When it comes to the blood of mid-tier demons, that's a different story altogether.

Moreover.

The demon hidden in Zhang's family, after disrupting the Eternal Alliance plan, never truly appeared from beginning to end. There are only two explanations for this.

First, demons are not convenient to show their faces. For example, if they are injured or the other party is not sure if they can deal with them.

The second is.

The demon was originally at the Zhang family, but has now left.

But seeing the many corpse puppets of the Zhang family now, Shen Changqing doesn't believe the demon left.

So.

That just leaves the possibility mentioned earlier.

The demon is hiding in the Zhang family, but because of certain matters, it cannot show its face easily.Heavenly Lord for many years, just one step away from reaching the sixth level. Even though he was severely injured in the battle of Tianlei Domain earlier and his strength couldn't be fully exerted,...