Eternal Immortal Dynasty: Starting as a Petty Official

"Whoosh!"

The arrow pierced the air, and a colorful pheasant fell to the ground a hundred paces away.

"Kuro is good at shooting!"

Zhao Ze shouted, and several of his followers stepped forward to pick them up.

"Including this pheasant, Jiulang has shot more than ten wild animals in half a day." Zhao Ze looked at Zhao Xian and grinned. "We'll cook a meal soon, and we can all have a good feast!"

"Uncle Twelfth, you stay here and keep watch. My elder brother and I are delivering some game to Lord Chen!"

"good!"

Zhao Xian smiled, picked up a few prey, and walked away with Zhao Zheng into the distance.

The mountains and forests are lush with vegetation and the roads are unclear. Today, we are searching the mountains and forests. None of us have ridden horses; we have all been on foot.

Before long, Zhao Xian and his companion arrived at the procession of high-ranking officials such as Chen Sheng, Liu Yu, and Chen Yuancheng.

Today's search of the mountains involved several hundred people divided into nine teams, with Chen Yuancheng and others in the center coordinating the most elite teams.

Once each team discovers the monster's whereabouts, they should send a signal, and Chen Yuancheng and the others will come to their aid.

"Mr. Chen has hunted a few game and brought them to you all for lunch!"

Zhao Xian put down his prey and bowed to Chen Yuancheng.

"Bo-Zhang is so thoughtful!"

Seeing Zhao Xian's polite and considerate manners in front of the officials, Chen Yuancheng was very satisfied.

"Lord Chen, Lord Liu, we've been searching for half a day now. It's almost noon; it's time for a rest!"

Chen Yuancheng stepped forward, approached Chen Sheng and Liu Yu, and whispered.

These individuals were all accomplished cultivators who had achieved Qi Refining, so they did not feel fatigued. However, their subordinates were mostly rural Daoists, whose cultivation levels could not compare to their own.

Moreover, the mountains and forests are difficult to traverse, and the people of the various tribes were already exhausted; otherwise, Zhao Xian would not have come to offer them game as a subtle hint.

"Very well, let's cook lunch and then continue searching the mountains!"

Looking around at everyone, Chen Sheng saw that they all seemed quite interested, so he could only nod in agreement.

Zhao Xian and his companion immediately bowed and took their leave, returning to their own ranks.

After lunch and a short rest, the teams got up again and began searching the mountains and forests.

As dusk fell, the group finally returned to the village pavilion.

The first day of the search ended hastily, with no trace of the monster yet found.

Upon returning to Xiangting, the wealthy families who had lost their children had already prepared meat soup and rice porridge for the villagers to enjoy.

As for the officials in the county, several wealthy families were quite sensible and prepared fine wine and delicacies for them to enjoy.

After dinner, everyone sat around the fire and fell into a deep sleep.

This continued for the next few days.

Despite days of searching the mountain, no trace of the demonic beast has been found, but more than twenty Taoist practitioners have already slipped and twisted their ankles.

Chen Sheng could not turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to these wounded civilians, so he ordered doctors to treat them carefully.

After several days of travel and hard work, the villagers were exhausted and complained incessantly.

Seeing this, Chen Sheng ordered the wealthy families whose children had gone missing to pool together some money, first distributing it to the injured Taoists, and then giving each Taoist fifty talismans to appease their resentment.

Now that six or seven days have passed since their nephews and nieces disappeared, those wealthy families are well aware that the missing persons have probably already died in the mountains.

If they continue searching like this, they fear that before they even find the remains, their own family will be eaten clean by these hundreds of Daoist people.

Upon realizing this, these wealthy families also had second thoughts.

The wealthy households, worried about their fortunes, wanted to stop the search of the mountains, so they went to Chen Sheng and Liu Yu and told them to drop the matter.

But now that things had come to this, Chen Sheng and Liu Yu were unwilling to stop searching the mountain, and the search ended rather anticlimactically.

Intimidated by the power of the two county officials, the seven or eight wealthy families simply pooled together 100 bushels of millet and 50,000 coins, offering them to the two officials and declaring that the search for demons in the mountains would no longer be their concern.

Although these were not prominent families among the wealthy households in the village, the two men did not dare to pressure them too much, so they reluctantly agreed.

The daily food expenses of hundreds of Daoist practitioners were a considerable burden. After discussing the matter, Chen Sheng, Liu Yu, Chen Yuancheng, Zhao Xian, and others decided to eliminate the dross and retain only the two elite teams of Daoist practitioners.

The remaining Daoist citizens each received another thirty catties of millet before joyfully returning to their respective pavilions with the pavilion chiefs.

The remaining hundred or so people, led by the officials, continued to search the mountains and forests.

......

In the mountains and forests, the sounds of people and dogs filled the air.

More than a hundred villagers, each armed with a strong bow and a sharp spear, and leading more than ten sturdy dogs, meticulously searched every corner of the mountains and forests.

"What a huge paw print!"

Suddenly, a cry of surprise came from ahead.

Chen Sheng, Chen Yuancheng, and others arrived upon hearing the commotion.

The group huddled together, carefully examining the claw marks in the mud.

"Master Chen, judging from these claw marks, that ferocious tiger was probably six or seven feet tall and nearly two zhang long!"

After examining it closely, Liu Yu measured the claw mark with his hand, and when he looked at Chen Sheng, his expression was very solemn.

A tiger roars in the mountains and forests. Not to mention a tiger demon that has become a spirit, even an ordinary tiger is not something that ordinary martial artists can hunt down.

"what!"

As everyone pondered, they heard a howl coming from the mountains and forests.

"Clang!"

With his ring-bladed sword drawn, Zhao Xian rushed off at the sound, followed closely by the others.

When they arrived at the place where the wailing had come from, they found only a pool of blood and messy footprints all around.

"It's that vicious tiger!"

Xu Dekun also arrived quickly and immediately spotted the huge claw mark.

"Help!"

Just as they arrived at this place, they heard a shout about a hundred paces away.

The man's words were abruptly cut off before he could even finish speaking.

A dark yellow figure flashed past everyone's eyes and then disappeared into the forest.

"It's that vicious tiger! I saw it! It's at least ten feet tall!"

Exclamations came from afar, and Chen Yuancheng and the others immediately hurried towards that direction.

Zhao Xian did not follow, but instead drew his bow and arrow, looking warily at the mountains and forests in front of him.

"Huff! Huff!"

Hearing heavy breathing behind him, several figures appeared behind Zhao Xian; they were his father, uncle, and others.

"Ah Xian, have you seen the figure of that ferocious beast?"

Uncle Zhao Li, holding a long spear, surveyed the dense forest before him and asked in a low voice.

They got away!

Zhao Xian replied without turning his head.

"Quack quack quack!"

Suddenly, the cawing of a crow came from overhead, and Zhao Xian felt a surge of anxiety. He immediately shot towards the sound.

"Gah!"

A piercing scream rang out, and a dark figure darted out of the dense forest, flying swiftly into the distance.

"Wow! This crow is so big, it's probably become a spirit!"

Zhao Li shaded his eyes with his hand and looked at the fleeing black shadow, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"It's become a spirit!"

A flash of lightning struck his mind, and Zhao Xian's expression suddenly changed. A flash of crimson light appeared in his eyes, and he looked around at the bushes.

"Here!"

A black feather came into view, and Zhao Xian immediately stepped forward and picked it up.

"There really is a demonic aura here!"

With a gentle sniff, Zhao Xian blurted out.

"A demonic aura?"

Everyone looked puzzled and confused.

"Besides that tiger demon that had become a spirit, that crow from earlier was also a demonic beast!"

"I'll go report to Lord Chen; beware of the ferocious tigers in the mountains!"

Zhao Xian clutched the black feather and sped off into the distance.

Upon hearing this, the people behind him all changed their expressions. How come there was another demonic beast?

After a short while, Chen Sheng, Chen Yuancheng, and the others listened to Zhao Xian's detailed explanation, and their expressions all darkened.

"If what Bo Zhang said is true, then our every move is being watched by that crow." Liu Yu pondered for a few moments, then said in a deep voice, "And with the crow as cover, that vicious tiger can also freely ambush us from the mountains and forests."

"Bozhang, do you have a plan?"

Chen Sheng pondered for a moment, then looked at Zhao Xian.

"Lord Chen, Lord Liu, the only solution now is to evacuate the Daoist followers, form an elite squad, take plenty of provisions, and venture deep into the mountains to search and capture them!"

Zhao Xian replied without hesitation.

The group of over a hundred people was still too large, and most of the Daoist people were only third-rate martial artists. Facing the demonic tiger and the crow, they were like lambs to the slaughter.

"Good!" Chen Sheng, worthy of being a high-ranking official, was extremely decisive and immediately ordered, "Everyone below the late stage of Qi Refining and second-rate martial artists, return to your hometown immediately."

"Bozhang, you have a basic understanding of military strategy, so I entrust this matter to you!"

"Bo Zhang obeys!"

Zhao Xian readily agreed and immediately returned to the crowd to gather the Daoist followers.

A moment later, more than a hundred Taoist followers had gathered together, and Chen Sheng told them about the plan.

Those Daoist practitioners whose cultivation was at the Skin Refining level breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, as Crouching Tiger Mountain was indeed quite eerie and terrifying!

Of the more than one hundred local residents, plus county and township officials, a total of thirty remained.

The rest of the group, led by Zhao Xian, returned to their village home first.

......

The sun was high in the sky, and a group of Taoist priests walked orderly through the mountains and forests.

Zhao Xian would occasionally walk from the front of the group to the back, surveying the surroundings with a very wary expression.

Before they knew it, a group of Taoists were about to step out of the forest, and Zhao Xian's guarded expression relaxed a bit.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past their eyes, and then they saw the shadow extend a pair of sharp claws that gleamed with a cold light and forcefully grab into the head of a Taoist.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, the Daoist's head exploded into a cloud of blood mist, spraying white and red blood onto the surrounding Daoists.

Upon seeing this, the people on both sides of the road were immediately terrified and scattered in all directions.

The orderly line turned into chaos in the blink of an eye!

"Don't panic, don't panic!"

"Squad leaders and platoon leaders, keep a close eye on your soldiers!"

Upon seeing this, Zhao Xian immediately shouted loudly, brandished his ring-handled sword, and began to strike the panicked Taoists.

Upon hearing Zhao Xian's call, the hastily appointed squad leaders and sergeants finally snapped out of their daze and rallied their followers to reorganize their ranks.

Just as the team was beginning to take shape, before Zhao Xian could even breathe a sigh of relief, he caught a glimpse of a dark figure approaching out of the corner of his eye.

"Pfft!"

A cold glint flashed, and sharp claws pierced flesh. Using the force of its dive, the dark figure flung the Daoist away.

"puff--"

Blood splattered across the sky as Dao Min crashed heavily into the ranks, barely breathing.

"Hey!"

A piercing scream came rushing in, making one's heart tremble!

Having just calmed their fear, the Daoist people, who were like startled birds, suddenly exploded, ignoring Zhao Xian's shouts, yelling and screaming as they ran wildly into the surrounding mountains and forests.

In the blink of an eye, they scattered like birds and beasts.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Xian stood frozen in place, a bitter smile gradually appearing on his face.

One tree cannot support a forest; if my father, brothers, and other members of the Zhao clan were here, this situation would not have occurred.

As I was pondering, a sudden gust of wind swept over the back of my head!