I defeated the saint with a parry.

The chaos in a bustling city begins with the chaos in people's hearts.

In the southeast of Fancheng, Zhong Song's home is located. The courtyard has been empty for more than a month. A little girl wearing a red dress and with two pigtails appeared at the door of Zhong Song's house. She squatted down at the door with great familiarity and began to enjoy the fragrance of flowers brought by the breeze.

This is a gardenia tree that Zhong Song planted in the courtyard.

In summer, its fragrance can travel far and wide, and you can faintly smell it even across a street.

But the best place to enjoy the flowers is still in Chung Sung's yard. Now that Chung Sung isn't home, sitting at the door is also a good option.

Passersby recognized the girl in red and greeted her, saying, "Little Hongye is here again to wait for your Uncle Zhong to come home. He's out working and won't be back for a while."

"Uncle and Aunt, Hongye knows, she just wants to sit here and look at the gardenias."

"Then don't stay outside alone. It's getting dark, go home early, okay?"

"Okay. Uncle and Auntie too."

An elderly couple passing by gave Xiao Hongye two sweet dates, patted her head, and then left with smiles. The two figures, supporting each other, quickly disappeared at the end of the road.

Xiao Hongye popped a sweet date into her mouth and ate it. The honey-sweet taste brought a smile to her face. Looking at the last date in her hand, she seemed to remember something and ran into the next room.

"Father! Father!"

A man with a cane came out of the house, one leg of his trousers hanging down. He laughed and replied, "Zhu Hongye! You went next door again? I've told you so many times, your Uncle Zhong isn't back, it's pointless to go. Didn't you go in again?"

"Yes, but the gardenias in the house have already bloomed, and they smell so good." Hongye ran over, grabbed her father's hand, and stuffed the sweet date into his hand.

"The jujubes the uncle and aunt at the intersection gave me, and they were very sweet."

"Leave it for your mother to eat." Old Zhu touched the red leaf, smiled, and returned it. "Look at the sky, she should be back by now."

After the old man finished speaking, he sighed. "These days have been anything but peaceful."

"Father, the streets are full of demon slayers today. With such a big incident at the Li family in the east of the city, Uncle Zhong should be coming back, right?"

"That's only right." The old man led Hongye outside, saying, "Let's go pick up your mother."

The two had just stepped out of the house and hadn't taken more than a few steps when they heard a commotion from next door.

The sound came from someone stepping on the paving stones in Zhongsong's courtyard, knocking over a bamboo pole placed against the wall, which then fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

Little Red Leaf excitedly tugged at the old man's sleeve: "Uncle Zhong is back!"

"Hmm?" The old man looked at the street corner but didn't see his wife. Looking down, he saw the girl's expectant eyes. He could only look at Hongye and say, "Alright! Let's go see your Uncle Zhong first."

"Yay!"

"Wait a moment, after you finish picking the gardenias, go pick up your mother, that's settled then."

"No problem, a gentleman's word is his bond!"

"Hahaha, you little rascal."

The two arrived at the house, and Xiao Hongye couldn't wait to knock on the door. A sound came from inside.

"Uncle Zhong! Uncle Zhong! It's Xiao Hongye! You've been gone for so long, have you missed Hongye?"

The door latch was lowered, and the door was slightly ajar. Through the crack, one could see a person lying on a recliner inside.

"Old Zhong, why didn't you say you were coming back?" The old man didn't see the lock at the door, and now that it was open, he didn't think much of it and pushed the door open to go in. "Old Zhong! I brought Hongye to see you. It's not too much to ask to pick some gardenias from your yard for the children, is it?"

"Pick them, pick them all! Little Red Leaf wants them, how can we say no?" "Zhong Song" laughed and channeled his spiritual power, plucking a large handful of gardenias from afar, casually brushing away the tiny insects on them: "Come, come, these are all for you."

Zhongsong handed over the cleaned gardenia, and Xiaohongye beamed with joy.

Old Man Zhu said indulgently, "Hurry up and thank Uncle Zhong."

Little Red Leaf bowed obediently: "Thank you, Uncle Zhong."

The two adults looked at each other and smiled.

Old Man Zhu: "Why did you stay out for so long this time? You didn't come back until after the period of demonic calamity had passed."

Zhong Song shook his head: "It's too chaotic outside, so I took a detour and rushed back as soon as the period of demonic calamity was over. If it had been any later, I'm afraid I really wouldn't have been able to come back."

"Yes, this year is much more chaotic than in previous years. The Li family in our Fancheng was completely wiped out."

"When did this happen?" Chung Chung asked, his face full of surprise.

Old Man Zhu sighed, "It happened just last night. Of course, you wouldn't know when you came back today. Even the garrison commander was alarmed. That divine power was so overwhelming! The entire city was suppressed, and it took several breaths before they could move. Even so, the culprit hasn't been found yet. The whole city is under martial law now, and everyone is in a state of panic."

"Then I dare not stay at home any longer; I must hurry to the Demon Suppression Division to report for duty."

Zhong Song stood up, his face serious. Without bothering to explain to the Zhu family father and daughter, he leaped away.

When Zhong Song arrived at the Demon Suppression Bureau, two lions stood guard at the entrance.

"Are you here for a performance review too?"

Zhong Song bowed respectfully and said, "Indeed."

He was puzzled, because the two doormen were always asleep when he came to report for duty, and had never treated him like this before.

"Two seniors?"

"Hey, hold on a minute, the one next to you is one too." The Moon Lion pointed to another lion who had been stopped, and another lion was asking him questions.

Zhong Song looked over and, upon seeing the man's appearance, his eyes widened in surprise, and he exclaimed, "Brother Zhao!"

"Brother Zhong!"

"How could it be you?"

Zhong Song was horrified, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight: "Weren't you dead?"

The man addressed as Brother Zhao was delighted to see Zhong Song, but upon hearing this, his face darkened: "You, Zhong Song! I, Zhao Xiong, have treated you like a brother, yet you curse me to death in broad daylight! What are you up to!"

Zhao Xiong shrugged behind his back, turned his face away, not wanting to see Zhong Song, and ignored Yue Shi's question.

Zhong Song's face was contorted with grief, his tiger-like eyes already wet with tears: "Brother Zhao, please don't be offended! It was truly too terrifying... We took on a mission together, to slay a demon in a mountain village a hundred miles away, but that demon was an evil cultivator who raised and ate ghosts, do you remember?"

Zhao Xiong nodded: "Of course I remember."

Zhong Song gritted his teeth, tears welling in his eyes and sliding down his cheeks. He finally managed to squeeze out a sentence from his throat: "Do you still remember how you sacrificed yourself to save us, taking that evil cultivator with you?"

"What?" Zhao Xiong's face turned pale. He opened his mouth to refute, but seeing Zhong Song's expression, he closed his mouth again.

Based on his understanding of Chung Chung, he could naturally tell that Chung Chung was not lying.

As the two were still reviewing the events, they heard the two Lion Masters sigh and say in unison, "Zhong Song, stop crying. Not only Zhao Xiong, but you died too. Don't you remember?"

"A dilapidated temple in the mountains, a tiger with a human face?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Song froze, his face blank, just like Zhao Xiong's.

"Alright, you two don't need to overthink it. The garrison commander will handle this matter."

As the Lion Lord continued speaking, each of the two Lion Lords exhaled a breath of moonlight, which merged in front of them, opening a barrier.

"Go inside, I'll take you to see someone later."

Through the barrier opening, the two saw many familiar faces inside, including many memorial tablets that they had personally obtained from the True Spirit Tower.

With just one glance, the two realized how bad things were.

At this time, the Demon Suppression Division was not the only entity in Fancheng facing this situation.

Zhang Li, who was tracking Li Yang, was already numb. Several of his fellow disciples who had been killed by the ghost cultivators in the martial arts school suddenly returned alive.

The dead have returned, throwing the bustling city into chaos, and throwing people's hearts into turmoil.