Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

Chapter 25: Chapter 23: Blocking the Entire City_1

Sun Li saw his son lying on the ground, his face deathly pale and bleeding from all seven orifices, his breath as thin as a thread, as if he would stop breathing at any moment, and could no longer contain his fury towards Gu Chen.

Blazing with anger, he glared at Gu Chen and roared, "You little beast, you're courting death!"

At that moment, Sun Li, with hair and beard bristling, charged at Gu Chen like an enraged old lion, aiming a palm strike at Gu Chen's head, intending to kill him on the spot.

"Uncle Sun, no!"

"Patriarch Sun, stop!"

The other family heads were alarmed at this sight, and though Gu Chen had seriously injured Sun Changzhi, Gu Chen came from the Jing Tian Department in Tiandu and had a different status. If Gu Chen were to be killed by Sun Li here today, once the Jing Tian Department sought accountability, they would all be dragged down with him.

Gu Chen was calm, standing his ground, neither dodging nor evading. Observing Sun Li's energy, he knew that the other was a martial artist of the Meridian Opening realm, but people age, and martial artists are no exception. At Sun Li's age, with declining vigor and vitality, his strength had likely diminished to half or at most three-fifths of its peak.

Even before breaking through to the Meridian Opening realm and opening the sixteen meridians in his body, Sun Li would not have been a match for Gu Chen.

"Die, old man!"

With an angry shout, Sun Li's aura swelled mightily as he aimed a direct palm strike at Gu Chen.

Just then, Gu Chen, who stood in place, suddenly furrowed his brow, and his figure flashed; he vanished on the spot, causing Sun Li to miss his strike completely.

"Think you can run?!"

Suddenly, a cold shout echoed from inside the county office. Not far away, Sun Changzhi, who had been lying there unconscious, suddenly had bouts of sinister, dark energy erupting from his body. Gu Chen's figure flashed before arriving up close, his scorching inner breath circulating within him, and he slapped a palm directly towards the black energy coalescing midair.

"Aaah——"

From the air, a faintly discernible wail of agony could be heard as the black energy spontaneously combusted, quickly burning away completely and dispersing into the air.

"Is this… a demon?!"

Witnessing the black energy emerging from Sun Changzhi's body, the crowd's expressions changed as they recognized its origin. They quickly retreated, keeping their distance from Sun Li with visible caution on their faces.

Sun Li himself was stunned, not understanding how his son could be involved with a demon, standing there dumbfounded.

Gu Chen put away the soul crystal, not even glancing at Sun Changzhi on the ground. He turned and calmly faced the crowd, saying, "Now, do you believe my words?"

"This…"

The family heads exchanged looks, having not anticipated that Sun Changzhi would be possessed by a demon and despite having been around him for so long, they had never noticed.

If it wasn't for Gu Chen exposing it today, merely thinking of the possible outcomes was terrifying; they might well die without knowing how.

"Lord Gu, we were disrespectful earlier, please forgive us," the Zhao family heads and others bowed and offered a salute to Gu Chen. Now, they harbored no more doubts towards him.

A living example was right before them, what else was there to say?

Moreover, having seen Gu Chen's firm and uncompromising approach before, they now fully trusted him after the matter had been clarified, and dared not raise any objections.

"Lord Gu, Patriarch Sun… oh no, Sun Li, could he also be?" The crowd turned to Sun Li, their faces not hiding their wariness.

Now, at just a word from Gu Chen, they would definitely act against Sun Li, apprehending him at the first moment, without any sentiment.

"I…"

Sun Li looked anxious; he wanted to explain but didn't know how to start, after all, his own son had been tainted, and it was only natural for him to be suspected.

Gu Chen glanced at Sun Li, shook his head, and said, "Family heads, rest assured, Patriarch Sun is normal."

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and no longer guarded against Sun Li as before, but they still kept their distance.

Seeing this, Sun Li opened his mouth, and after a long moment, he sighed and bowed deeply to Gu Chen, saying, "Thank you, Lord Gu, for your discernment."

Gu Chen did not speak; he merely stated the facts. If Sun Li had been complicit, he would have taken both father and son into custody just now.

Afterwards, Gu Chen walked past Sun Li and returned to the head of the room to sit down.

"Wu Qian, handle this," Gu Chen instructed Wu Qian.

"Yes, sir."

Wu Qian saluted and was about to drag away the body of Sun Changzhi.

"Wait!"

Seeing everyone looking at him, Sun Li hastily said, "Lord Gu, Changzhi... Changzhi is after all my son. May I take his body back with me?"

At this moment, Sun Li's complexion was ashen. In just a short amount of time, his vitality seemed to have faded significantly. The look in his eyes as he gazed at Gu Chen was tinged with a plea, no longer possessing the earlier arrogance.

"Granted," Gu Chen nodded.

Seeing Gu Chen's approval, Sun Li bowed again to Gu Chen.

"Fellow family heads, since there are no objections to my earlier words, then tomorrow we shall begin the city-wide search. The county office is currently short-handed, so I hope for everyone's full cooperation tomorrow," Gu Chen said slowly as he surveyed the room.

"Rest assured, Lord Gu, we will offer our full support tomorrow," they promised.

The family heads all nodded in agreement. Now that it was confirmed that monsters were still lurking in Ning City, they were obviously even more anxious than Gu Chen to find these creatures.

After all, no one knew if Ning City harbored another case like that of Sun Changzhi.

No one could guarantee whether their closest relatives had been possessed by monsters. If there were truly others like Sun Changzhi, it would be horrifying, as one could lose their life unexpectedly at any moment.

"In that case, the family heads may go back and rest for now. First thing tomorrow morning, we shall start the city-wide search."

"Yes."

The crowd nodded, preparing to disperse, but at that moment, Gu Chen suddenly spoke up, "Mr. Zhou, please stay behind for a moment."

Zhou Rang, who was about to stand up, sat back down. Regardless of the earlier chaos, he had remained calm and composed, demonstrating a mental resilience far superior to the others.

Once everyone had left, Gu Chen approached Zhou Rang and said respectfully, "There is a matter for which I hope Mr. Zhou can offer assistance."

Zhou Rang smiled slightly, "Lord Gu speaks too gravely. You are concerned for the safety of Ning City, and as a member of this community, I will naturally do everything in my power to meet your requirements."

Gu Chen nodded and without delay said, "I would like to ask Mr. Zhou to temporarily assume the position of Ning City's magistrate. With Fang Yong's death, Ning City is like a dragon without a head. With the search commencing tomorrow, I fear that the citizens may become panicked, and the situation could spiral out of control.

Since you are the most respectable person in Ning City, I believe you are the most suitable candidate to stabilize the people."

Zhou Rang nodded, finding Gu Chen's consideration to be very thorough despite his youth, "Since Lord Gu has placed such trust in me, I will not decline and shall accept this appointment."

Gu Chen revealed a hint of a smile upon hearing this, "In that case, I am greatly appreciative, Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Rang stroked his white beard and laughed, "It's nothing, it's my duty. On the contrary, Lord Gu, it's rare to see a young hero handle matters with such meticulous care. It's been a long time since I've seen a young man as outstanding as Lord Gu."

Gu Chen smiled and responded, "Mr. Zhou flatters me."

"Oh, that reminds me, I have a suggestion regarding the search tomorrow," Zhou Rang suddenly said.

"Please speak, Mr. Zhou," Gu Chen gestured for Zhou Rang to continue without concern.

Zhou Rang nodded slightly and explained, "Since monsters are possessing ordinary people, naturally everyone, including my Zhou family and the seven great families of Ning City, are suspects. I'm concerned that the tainted individuals, once they learn of this, may take desperate actions or attempt to flee overnight.

Therefore, my suggestion is that we should immediately seal off the city and increase security to prevent this from happening."

Gu Chen immediately agreed, "Mr. Zhou's point is very valid; this is something I overlooked. Wu Qian!"

Then, Gu Chen called over Wu Qian and ordered him to inform the city guard to lock down the city gates and prevent anyone from passing through.

After that, Gu Chen and Zhou Rang discussed the details of the next day's search throughout the night, and quickly, an entire night had passed.