CH 50

With Zhang Yue leading, a line of Officials surrounded the Zhang Family Residence.

Such a sudden change, naturally drew the attention of many people.

"What's going on, why did the Government Officials surround the Zhang Family Residence?"

"I do not know either…. Does this mean that the Zhang Family also colluded with the demons?!"

"Who knows, what I do know that there would be a good show to watch–"

The people, who were hiding far away, discussed among themselves, as they watched the scene of the Officials besieging the Zhang Family Residence.

Although they did not leave, they also did not approach the area without permission.

The Government Officials and common folks had always been living in two different worlds. If they accidentally bumped into each other, even if the latter was killed in the street, no one would say anything. 

"From the outside, the Zhang Family Residence seems to exude no Evil Qi!"

Cui Cheng looked at the Zhang Family's courtyard wall and frowned slightly.

If there was a demon or monster hiding inside, there would definitely be Evil Qi leaking out.

But the Zhang Family Residence looked very peaceful. It did not seem like there was a demon or monster hiding there.

Hearing this, someone picked up the conversation.

"It may seem that the Zhang Family has no relation to the demons or monsters just from looking at the outside, it is possible that the Zhang Family has hidden them. Maybe they have a place that is well hidden enough to avoid Evil Qi from leaking."

Cui Cheng looked at who it was and saw that it was a handsome looking youth. He slightly cupped his hand.

"Brother Ming is worthy of being the rising star of the Seven Obsidian Sect, you are very knowledgeable."

"Brother Cui is polite."

Ming Zhengyang smiled faintly, not showing the slightest hint of arrogance. Only his gaze paused slightly when he swept over to look at Zhao Yue, but he also quickly withdrew it.

At this moment, Shen Changqing stood outside the gate of the Zhang Family Residence and looked at Zhang Yue: "Without this Official's order, absolutely no one can leave the Zhang Family Residence nor can anyone trespass inside. If there's someone daring enough, kill without amnesty."

"As you wish my Lord!"

Zhang Yue nodded.

At this time, Shen Changqing pushed open the gate halfway and stepped inside.

Since they were also a big family in Lin'an City, the layout of the Zhang Family's Residence was not worse than the Zhao Family's.

It's only difference with the Zhao Family Residence was that the Zhang Family Residence gave Shen Changqing an empty feeling.

Yes!

Extremely empty!

Stepping into the Zhang Family's Residence, Shen Changqing found not even a single person in the courtyard, nor was there a single servant's movements. It gave Shen Changqing a feeling as if this was not the residence of a large family, but an abandoned compound.

"Something is odd!"

Although one couldn't see anything wrong from the outside, when one actually entered the Zhang Family Residence, they would start to notice weird things.

Shen Changqing also found some clues. As far as his eyes could see, all of the places were normal. The only thing that was abnormal was the lack of the proper life.

As he was surveying the area, his footsteps did not stop and Shen Changqing continued walking towards the lobby.

Not long after, an old butler-like person came up to him. The person looked at Shen Changqing with an unpleasant expression: "Your Excellency is not from the Zhang Family, right? May I ask, why did you barge in the estate?"

Shen Changqing, on the other hand, did not reply and simply crossed into the lobby.

Compared to the outside, the lobby was brightly lit, even in the daytime.

There was a large table with a group of people sitting around, eating. There were also servants and maids interspersed among them, serving various kinds of dishes.

Watching Shen Changqing enter, the person sitting on the main seat moved a beat, and a smile appeared on his face.

"So a guest has arrived. May this one, Zhang Sheng, ask for the guest's name?"

With Zhang Sheng's words, everyone's movements paused. They looked straight to where Shen Changqing was and did not move.

At that moment, Shen Changqing's heart was like a lake disturbed by a stone that caused ripples, but he quickly recovered.

"This Official thought that the Zhang Family was simply colluding with demons, I would have never ever thought that the Zhang Family was actually no longer the original Zhang Family!"

Shen Changqing shook his head and sighed.

There was much regret in his words.

At this moment, the others also withdrew their gazes.

Zhang Sheng smiled and said, "Your Excellency has come a long way, why don't you take a seat?"

After saying that, a servant walked up to Shen Changqing and while speaking, he reached out towards Shen Changqing's shoulder: "Please!"

But before this servant could touch Shen Changqing's shoulder, his body flew out sideways.

When the servant was sent flying, he happened to smash into several other servants as well.

The dishes were scattered all over the floor, and the huge commotion resounded in the lobby, causing the rest of the people's movements to give another beat. They all looked at Shen Changqing with the same straight eyes as before.

The only difference was that their eyes now contained a bone-chilling coldness.

Zhang Sheng's smile also seemed to stiffen and his expression became bizarre.

He stood up from his position and said in an eerie voice: "Why does Your Excellency not give me face?"

"Face is for the living, not for monsters like you!"

Shen Changqing laughed coldly. He didn't bother with any pretences. 

"This Official really did not expect that the Zhang Family had already died and that the former residence of the Zhang Family is now inhabited by a group of monsters!"

On the surface, it seemed that there was nothing wrong with the Zhang Family's people.

But in Shen Changqing's eyes, none of the people in front of him were alive.

The auras of these monsters were hidden perfectly. Without getting the boost in his perceptions after his breakthrough, he wouldn't have been able to find any anomaly.

Normally, one would think that with so many monsters gathered, there should be Evil Qi leaking somewhere, even if it's slight. But the Zhang Family did not.

It seemed as if the entire Zhang Family Residence had a huge enchantment that covered all of the Evil Qi. 

At this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew from behind Shen Changqing. 

Shen Changqing turned to the side and took out his sword from its sheath, immediately sending a strike to where the wind blew. 

Black blood sprayed and two halves of a body fell to the ground. If one looked carefully, it was actually the old butler that Shen Changqing met at the beginning.

The difference was that the old butler's face was rotten, as if he had been dead for a long time. Even though his body was cut into two, he was still not dead, he instead crawled on the ground like a worm.

With another slash, the old butler's head was chopped off.

The upper half of the body that was crawling immediately lost its last bit of 'vitality,' and a foul smell of decay wafted over.

"Corpse Puppet!"

Seeing such a scene, Shen Changqing instantly associated it with the relevant information that he had stocked up.

Corpse Puppet!

It was a bizarre means that used the corpses of the dead, refining them into puppets.

Such puppets will retain some of the memories of the living, but they would have no drive and will only act according to instincts.

The old butler was a corpse puppet.

Meaning, the other people–

Thinking of this, Shen Changqing looked at Zhang Sheng and the others. As expected, every one of their originally calm faces became tyrannical at this moment, and they all came rushing towards him.

He took a step back and his sword drew out a moon, slicing off the head of a servant who had rushed up. Black blood spurted out and the fallen corpse rotted at a speed visible to the naked eye, another foul smell wafted into the air.

"Another Corpse Puppet!"

Seeing this, Shen Changqing confirmed the suspicion in his heart.

Corpse Puppet!

All of the Zhang Family's people had been refined into Corpse Puppets!

Originally, Shen Changqing only thought that the people of the Zhang Family had become Man Demons, similar to Zhuang Mingyuan, but it seemed that the Zhang Family had suffered a much more tragic fate than becoming demons.

To first refine people into Corpse Puppets, they must be dead first.

In other words, without anyone noticing, the Zhang Family was exterminated, then they were refined into Corpse Puppets in order to continue to maintain their daily activities and avoid suspicion.

Not waiting for Shen Changqing to think too carefully, the other people have already pounced on him.

Shen Changqing did not hesitate and slashed the corpse puppets that came close to him, one by one.

Although a Corpse Puppet was strong, it can only threaten some Cultivators of the Body Forging Realm.

As long as one was at the Qi Circulation Realm and higher, an average Corpse Puppet wouldn't be able to do anything.

The Corpse Puppet that the Zhang Family and others have been refined into was only the lowest kind of Corpse Puppet, which was not very powerful in terms of strength.

But a Corpse Puppet was difficult to deal with.

This was because if you do not cut off its head, the Corpse Puppet will not die. Just like what happened in the beginning, even if the Corpse Puppet was into two, it could still survive.

One must decapitate the Corpse Puppet quickly, otherwise they will just become tired by the constant and persistent attacks from the puppets. 

Another one of the troubles with dealing with Corpse Puppets was their numbers.

Fortunately, the Zhang Family people that had turned into Corpse Puppets were just a few dozen and it was not very difficult to deal with.

However, Shen Changqing's attention now was not on these Corpse Puppets.

Shen Changqing first thought that the Zhang Family had defected to the demons, hence there would be a certain threat, but the current situation was that the Zhang Family had long been exterminated and were only Corpse Puppets.

In that case, things were clearly not so simple.

"There are only two possibilities for refining Corpse Puppets. One is the presence of a Fury Level monster, and the other is the presence of a powerful demon."

"The Guangyuan Province has a Guardian, so if there really is a Fury Level monster present, it is impossible for the Guardian to not get any news. The enchantment covering the Zhang Family, although powerful, is categorically also not capable of blocking a Fury Level monster's sinister and evil aura."

"There is only one explanation left, the Zhang Family is currently hiding a powerful demon!"

Shen Changqing's gaze was cold, but there was not much fear in his heart.

The hidden demon was strong, but it should not go beyond the Innate Realm. After all, a small city like Lin'an City was not worthy of having a demon at the Master Level.

As for the other party's purpose, there was no possibility that it came for the drop of Demon's Essence Blood. That's just utter BS.

Although the Demon's Essence Blood of a low-ranking demon was precious.

It was not much of a temptation for a Master Level demon.

It was only when the Demon's Essence Blood was from a Middle Rank demon, that would be another matter.

Shen Changqing had destroyed the plans of the Eternal Life Alliance and yet the demon in the Zhang Family did not show itself from the beginning to end.

There were only two explanations for this.

One was that the demon cannot show up, as it was injured, or the other side was not sure if it can deal with him.

The second was that the demon in the Zhang Family had already left.

But looking at the situation of the many Corpse Puppets in the Zhang Family, Shen Changqing did not think that the demon had left.

So, it's the first possibility. 

The demon was either unable to come out due to some circumstances or was bidding its time, waiting for the right opportunity, etc.