The Immortal Clan begins with deductive intelligence.

Xu Tiezhu's legs went weak, and his teeth chattered: "Brother... this... this is too quiet. Where are Er Mazi and the others who are on night patrol tonight?"

"Isn't it good that they're not here? It means even God is helping us!"

Xu Sanshun said this, but he was actually having doubts.

Although the area around the fishpond is usually deserted, the few members of the collateral branches who are responsible for night patrols always come in pairs, carrying torches, to make a small contribution to the family.

Today is terrible; I haven't seen a soul, not even a dog.

It was pitch black all around, with only the surface of the few fishponds occasionally gleaming with a cold light, looking like gaping mouths waiting to devour people.

"Don't scare yourself. Maybe it's just too cold, and everyone's hiding somewhere drinking."

Xu Sanshun spat hard to bolster his courage.

The two made their way to the feeding platform in the dark.

This is the best spot to poison the plant, where the water flow is slowest and the poison's effects are most evenly distributed.

Xu Sanshun took a deep breath, his calloused hand trembling slightly, and struggled to uncork the porcelain bottle.

A faint, sweet scent wafted out, but it vanished instantly amidst the wind and snow.

"Fall...fall down, brother," Xu Tiezhu urged from the side, his voice trembling with tears.

"They're pressuring us to hurry up and kill you!"

Xu Sanshun flicked his wrist, about to pour the bottle of poison into the water.

"Uncle Sam-soon, your hands are shaking so much, I'm afraid you won't be able to spread it evenly?"

A calm voice rang out behind the two of them without warning.

The voice wasn't loud, and it didn't carry any murderous intent; it was just like casual conversation.

But to Xu Sanshun and Xu Tiezhu, it was like a thunderclap from the heavens, striking their very souls.

"Clatter".

Xu San loosened his grip, and the porcelain bottle fell straight down.

Before the bottle even hit the ground, a long, strong hand reached out from the side and caught it steadily.

Xu Changqing held the porcelain bottle in his hand, shook it in front of his eyes, and the half-full bottle of thick black liquid inside swayed gently with the movement.

"This is a good thing, it costs fifty spirit stones a bottle, it would be such a waste to break it."

Xu Changqing had a slight smile on his lips, but the smile didn't reach his eyes; in the dim light of the snow, it looked somewhat sinister.

"Clan...Clan Chief?!"

Xu Tiezhu's legs went weak, and he knelt down in the snowdrift with a thud. He really knelt; the sound of his kneecaps hitting the frozen ground was painful to hear.

"Chieftain, spare me! Spare me! It was all Brother San Shun's fault! I didn't want to do it! I really didn't want to do it!"

Xu Tiezhu kowtowed and howled, his face instantly covered in snot and tears.

Xu Sanshun had seen a bit of the world, and although he was panicking inside, he was quick-witted.

He knew that begging for mercy was useless now; this was a crime that would lead to the extermination of his entire clan.

"Xu Changqing!"

Xu Sanshun's face twitched, and a fierce glint appeared in his eyes.

Since we've been caught red-handed, we have no choice but to fight back!

Although he was only at the third level of Qi Refining, he still had a "Fire Serpent Talisman" that he had bought at a high price before. At such close range, he didn't believe he couldn't kill this pretty boy who became the clan leader by relying on his ancestors' influence!

"Go to hell!"

Xu Sanshun roared and reached into his robes with his right hand to pull out the talisman.

Xu Changqing stood still, without moving an inch, not even blinking.

He simply raised his right hand slightly, joined his index and middle fingers together, and pointed at Xu Sanshun from a distance.

"laugh."

A very faint whooshing sound rang out.

There was no fire, no thunder, and even the fluctuations of spiritual energy were extremely obscure.

Xu Sanshun's hand, which had just reached into his clothes, froze.

The ferocious expression on his face was still there, but his murderous eyes suddenly widened and his pupils contracted violently.

A tiny red dot, the size of a pinhole, had appeared on the Tanzhong acupoint on his chest.

Immediately afterwards, a very thin but extremely domineering stream of green wood spiritual energy drilled into the red dot and instantly exploded in his meridians.

The spiritual energy transformed into countless tiny spikes, flowing upstream along the meridians and directly into the heart.

"you……"

Xu Sanshun opened his mouth wide, wanting to shout, but found that he could only make a "ho ho" sound.

He felt as if all his strength had been drained away; the "Fire Serpent Talisman" was right at his fingertips, but he couldn't hold onto it no matter what he did.

"Thump."

Xu Sanshun fell straight backward, crashing into the thick snow and kicking up a cloud of white mist.

His eyes were still fixed on the night sky, as if he couldn't understand until his death when the usually mild-mannered clan leader had developed such bizarre and ruthless methods.

Xu Changqing withdrew his finger and gently blew a breath, as if he had only flicked away a speck of dust.

The Spiritual Pivot.

It really works!

It specifically targets and destroys protective spiritual energy, disrupts the flow of energy through the meridians, and kills people invisibly.

After practicing for the past two days, it's actually easier to poke out with this finger than I imagined.

Xu Tiezhu, who was kneeling beside him, was terrified.

He stared blankly at Xu Sanshun, who lay motionless on the ground, the stench of urine emanating from his crotch.

"Clan...Clan Chief...I..."

Xu Tiezhu's jaw was chattering, and he couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

Xu Changqing turned his head and looked down at this honest man who was usually timid and submissive, but dared to poison the family at a critical moment.

"Uncle Tiezhu".

Xu Changqing sighed, his tone tinged with helplessness.

"I was thinking that if you didn't do anything tonight, even if you just threw this medicine away, I would pretend I didn't see it and give you a quiet job to retire in the future."

"But you insist on dumping this medicine into this pond."

"That's the livelihood of dozens of people in our Xu family, and also the cultivation resources for those children."

Xu Changqing shook his head.

"You're trying to ruin my business and even sever the Xu family's lineage!"

Xu Tiezhu shook his head frantically, trying to explain himself and say that he had been bewitched for a moment.

But Xu Changqing didn't give him another chance.

Another finger was pointed out.

"laugh."

The almost invisible blue light entered Xu Tiezhu's brow.

Xu Tiezhu's body stiffened, his head drooped limply, and he lay face down on the snow, no longer breathing.

Silence returned to all around.

The only sound was the rustling of the wind blowing through the reeds.

Xu Changqing stood between the two corpses, still clutching the porcelain bottle containing poison in his hand.

This was his first murder.

Having never killed a chicken in his previous life, he felt little disgust or fear at this moment. Instead, he felt an indescribable peace, and even a sense of... relief.

Perhaps it was because if these two people hadn't died, it would have been the dozens of members of the Xu family who would have died.

In this cannibalistic world of cultivation, mercy is the most undesirable luxury.

"Chieftain."

In the darkness, Xu Dayou emerged carrying a dim, yellow lantern.

The light shone on his deeply lined old face, revealing a complex expression.

He glanced at the two corpses on the ground, showing no surprise, only a faint sadness.

They were all clansmen I'd watched grow up, people I'd even shared drinks with at the same table, yet now they'd ended up like this.

"Clean it up."

Xu Changqing put the bottle of poison into his storage bag, his voice returning to its usual coldness.

"How did these two people die?"

Xu Dayou asked a question, as he needed to reconcile his statements to avoid arousing suspicion among the clansmen.

Xu Changqing looked up at the depths of the swamp, his gaze deep and unsettling.

"While patrolling the fishpond tonight, we were ambushed by a mid-stage Tier 1 demon beast, the 'Azure-Eyed Toad'."

"The two fought to the death to protect their family business, and died from exhaustion."

Xu Dayou paused for a moment, then nodded with a wry smile.

"What a fitting description of dying from exhaustion."

"It's a way to leave them with a little dignity and also to give their orphaned children and widows a chance to survive."

According to clan rules, the families of clan members who die in the line of duty are entitled to a pension, and the family will take care of them in the future.

Xu Changqing didn't say anything, and turned to walk towards the inner courtyard.

Decent?

maybe.