Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing directly brought the military personnel over, and they also directly contacted the local police. With the help of these officers, Ye Qing first used Mu Ling to detoxify the child’s family and then had the officers take them to a safe place to hide. Afterward, Ye Qing dismissed all the police and soldiers, leaving only the three of them and the child to start looking for the Sorcerer.

Ding Lianshun let the child smell the Seeking Descent Incense, and the three followed behind the child, walking out of the small mountain village.

After smelling the Seeking Descent Incense, the child would automatically go to find the Sorcerer’s location, walking in a dazed state. Plus, the child wasn’t very old, so the speed was not fast. The three of them followed the child, taking more than two hours to finally reach the entrance of a cave in the back mountain.

Seeing the child about to walk into the cave, Ye Qing hurriedly ran over to pick up the child. It seemed that the Sorcerer must be hiding inside the cave, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to enter and search for him. However, if the child walked in front and something dangerous happened, that would be troublesome.

Seeing Ye Qing pick up the child, Ding Lianshun also consciously moved to the front. Over the days, Ye Qing, Ding Lianshun, and Yin Xianzi had developed some mutual understanding of each other’s cooperation. In such cases, Ding Lianshun would walk in front. After all, he was very strong, so even if he encountered danger, he could protect himself.

Yin Xianzi closely followed Ye Qing, mainly to protect Ye Qing’s safety. With one person in front and one behind, Ye Qing was sandwiched in the middle, so whatever danger came, the two could protect Ye Qing at any time.

Ding Lianshun was bold, going straight into the pitch-black cave. Then again, there were few people in the world comparable to the Five Uniques. Even if these Sorcerers were exceedingly mysterious, when they encountered a master like Ding Lianshun, they were no match.

The cave was very deep, and it wasn’t clear how far it extended. But fortunately, there was only one path inside, leading to the end. So, the three didn’t have to worry about taking the wrong way; they just had to ensure they didn’t miss the Sorcerer.

After walking for about ten minutes, the three moved slowly, so even after this much time, they hadn’t gone very far, at most about a hundred meters. They were mainly on guard against any unexpected occurrences around them and worried about missing the Sorcerer, hence the slow pace.

There was nothing to discover on the way, and just when the three were about to give up, Ye Qing suddenly smelled a strange rancid odor in his nostrils, something he seemed to have smelled before.

Obviously, Yin Xianzi and Ding Lianshun also caught a whiff of the rancid scent. So they stopped, sniffing the air, and began searching for the source.

The cave was fairly spacious, with a diameter of about ten meters. Moreover, it contained large rocks, which obstructed the view, so someone could easily be hiding behind a stone.

The three followed the scent, slowly moving forward, and as they went deeper into the cave, the rancid smell grew stronger and more pungent, indicating they were getting closer to the source.

Ding Lianshun gestured continuously to the two, signaling them to be cautious and on high alert. He clenched his fists, allowing True Qi to flow through his body, ready to handle any potential emergencies.

Finally, they reached the place where the smell was strongest, the source of the stench. It was behind a large rock. Ding Lianshun circled around and quietly peeked behind, his expression shifting visibly.

Ye Qing and Yin Xianzi didn’t go over. Seeing Ding Lianshun’s expression, they were both a bit taken aback, unsure of what he had seen.

Ding Lianshun beckoned the two over. Ye Qing and Yin Xianzi didn’t hesitate, quickly approaching to see what was behind the rock, and both were stunned.

Behind the rock lay three decomposing corpses from which the rancid smell wafted. Crucially, Ye Qing recognized these three bodies.

These three, they were the child’s parents and grandfather that Ye Qing was holding!

Previously, in the village, Ye Qing and the others had the police escort this child’s parents and grandfather to a safe place to hide, then Ye Qing, Ding Lianshun, and Yin Xianzi came with the child to find the Sorcerer. But who would have thought that the child’s parents and grandfather would be dead here? Plus, judging by the decomposition, it seemed they had been dead for quite some time. What exactly was going on?

Ye Qing looked up at Ding Lianshun and Yin Xianzi, who were also frowning deeply. Such an occurrence was truly beyond their expectations.

After a long silence, Ding Lianshun turned to Ye Qing and said in a low voice, ”Put the child down for a moment.”

”Why?” Ye Qing was surprised but set the child down anyway.

Ding Lianshun came over, tapping a few points on the child’s body, waking him up instantly. He looked around, seemingly regaining his senses. Before he could stand steady, he vomited abruptly, expelling the Maternal Bug and the fetal sac placed inside him.

”How could this happen?” Ye Qing asked in astonishment. He knew very well what it meant when the child vomited these things. Only once the Sorcerer was killed and the sorcery removed would the child expel them, which meant the child’s life was preserved.

Yet Ye Qing and the others hadn’t found the Sorcerer or killed him. How was the child’s sorcery lifted?

Ye Qing looked at Ding Lianshun and Yin Xianzi, both with furrowed brows. After a moment, Yin Xianzi spoke seriously, ”It seems we’ve all fallen into a trap.”

”A trap?” Ye Qing glanced at the three corpses behind the rock, also furrowing his brows deeply.

”Could it be that the Sorcerer himself removed the child’s sorcery?” Ye Qing speculated.

”That’s the only explanation,” Ding Lianshun nodded. ”We haven’t encountered him, and the child has been with us all along with nothing else happening to remove it. The only explanation is that the Sorcerer himself removed the child’s sorcery, otherwise it wouldn’t be like this.”

”He removed it himself?” Ye Qing was perplexed. ”Why would he do that?”

”It’s evident he knew we were coming,” Ding Lianshun looked at the corpses on the ground, speaking in a solemn tone. ”Moreover, since we arrived here, he could have been hiding in the shadows observing us. These three could have been killed through sorcery while we were looking for him, brought here when we weren’t watching. Therefore, the child found this cave, and there might be other hiding spots inside. After we entered, he removed the child’s sorcery and slipped away when we passed by.”

”Indeed!” Yin Xianzi nodded, ”Those three must have died from the sorcery, or they wouldn’t have decomposed so quickly.”

A little more than an hour ago, Ye Qing and the others had seen them alive. The rapid decomposition within an hour was truly bizarre, and sorcery seemed to be the plausible cause of their deaths.

”But I still can’t understand, since the Sorcerer knew we were coming, why didn’t he escape but chose to kill these three instead?” Ding Lianshun questioned seriously. ”Moreover, he removed the child’s sorcery. What does he intend to do?”

”I think he did it to confuse us and deliberately lure us here,” Ye Qing suggested. ”Had he not removed the child’s sorcery, we could have found him using the Seeking Descent Incense. No matter where he ran, it would have been fruitless.”

”If removing the sorcery could set him free from us, why kill these three, then?” Ding Lianshun asked.

”This...” Ye Qing hesitated slightly, while Yin Xianzi said in a deep voice, ”I feel he might be trying to send a warning to the three of us.”

”Will killing these three serve as a warning?” Ding Lianshun scoffed.

”This matter might be more complicated than that!” Ye Qing fell silent, then said, ”Don’t you think he deliberately made the bodies decompose this way to attract us here with the scent?”

Ding Lianshun and Yin Xianzi’s expressions changed; Ye Qing’s hypothesis could indeed explain the situation. Both were quite astute, and upon considering this, they immediately suspected that the other might have set a trap here, intending to lure them in.

”Not good!” Yin Xianzi suddenly grabbed Ye Qing’s shoulder, pulling him up as she said in a deep voice, ”Run, quickly!”

Ye Qing hadn’t realized what was happening when Yin Xianzi grabbed him and rushed him outside. Ding Lianshun was even more direct, scooping up the child and sprinting out.

Just as the three of them ran a short distance, the cave walls around them suddenly erupted with a thunderous crash, like a bomb had exploded, causing the stones on the ceiling to shudder uncontrollably and start to collapse. The shaking was so intense that the rocks above began to tremble and fall.