Wait a minute, where is my master?

The sun was setting in the west, and the long night was about to begin.

In Shangjing City, next to the watchman's station, there was a courtyard.

A long line had formed from within the courtyard gate, making several turns on the street, resembling a rice noodle that had been twisted several times.

The queue was not only long but also comprised a mix of people, including armored guards, Cultivators in plain clothes, and uniformed watchmen.

Even early risers, old men and women on their way to buy vegetables, were in the mix!

"Old men and ladies, this is not a place to get free rice; please don't queue up here."

Yu Yaoer was very pragmatic in advising several elderly people in the line, to prevent them from wasting their time.

After persuading an old man and woman, who thought they could get free items here, for the eleventh time, Little Fish Demon wiped the non-existent sweat off her forehead and turned towards the courtyard.

It was time for her to switch shifts with Little White.

Yu Yaoer walked into the courtyard, crossed the front hall, and headed towards the back hall. Along the way, she noticed that the closer the people in line were to the front, the more nervous they seemed.

It was no wonder, receiving a sudden order that one might not be oneself and must undergo a check to prove their identity would confuse, bewilder, and unnerve anyone.

Especially since there were occasional screams from the head of the queue, which made it even scarier.

If not for Commander Kui and two Deputy Commanders from the City Guard appearing to explain the situation, along with Xia Yunzhao personally vouching for the process, the people would not have complied so obediently.

Even so, they were still doubtful.

Ignoring the concerns of the people, Little Fish Demon strode to the innermost part and saw Little White obediently standing by the door, greeted her, "Little White, it's time to switch shifts."

The husky obediently responded and then ran towards the courtyard exit.

Her compliance was entirely because the Taoist had spoken to her earlier,

"If you behave well until the first day of August, your punishment of not eating for a month will be canceled."

And so, to avoid the suffering of missing out on delicious food for a month, Little White was now as well-behaved as ever.

Yu Yaoer, seeing Little White run out, used her Spiritual Sense to check and, finding that she was indeed maintaining order, finally relaxed.

Then, she heard Jin Xu's transmitted message: "Little Fish, let ten people in."

Hearing this, Yu Yaoer opened the door and let ten Cultivators with distressed expressions enter.

Indeed, the little Taoist was currently tasked by Xia Yunzhao and Xia Xuanmin to carefully examine the Imperial court of the Great Xia Dynasty to determine if there were any more members of the Demon Sect present.

That afternoon, Jin Xu indeed found several people whose Sea of Consciousness contained Spiritual Seeds.

However, after undergoing the Taoist's healing-liberating "Body Purification Skill," all were successfully cured.

Inside the room,

Jin Xu gazed at the ten newcomers with his Spiritual Eyes, briefly observing them. Upon noticing a Spiritual Seed hidden deep within the Sea of Consciousness of one individual,

he raised his left hand, ready to heal him with the "Body Purification Skill," but unexpectedly, the person suddenly smiled sinisterly. The Spiritual Power inside his Dantian converged, and he self-destructed!

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Simultaneously, in the long queue outside the courtyard, among the merchants in Shangjing City, and even within the Capital of Great Xia, Cultivators were self-destructing!

"My lord, my lord, are you alright!"

Yu Yaoer waved her hand to disperse the smoke from the explosion and rushed into the now-ruined room.

The exploding Cultivator's cultivation was not high; the incident was startling but did not cause any actual harm. Let alone Jin Xu, even the other nine who had come in with him were mostly unharmed.

"I'm fine."

The little Taoist frowned and shook his head, his Spiritual Sense spreading out over the long street, his pupils suddenly constricting!

He bolted up like a rocket, flying out immediately.

"I'm going to check on Little White, it seems more serious over there."

A transmission was left in Yaoer's ears, but the figure had already disappeared.

Little Fish Demon was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly fled to the outside of the courtyard.

At this time, the cultivators in the courtyard were also quite chaotic, unclear about what had actually happened.

On the long street...

The ground was blasted into a huge deep pit. The self-destructing cultivator was from the Void Refinement Realm, a Great Cultivator, hence the power was quite formidable.

Little White was extremely unlucky to be right next to this person at the time of the explosion, so she was instantly blown away by the powerful impact of spiritual power.

"Swoosh!"

The figure of the little Taoist materialized; he looked at the husky lying in the rubble, flames of rising anger in his eyes.

"Demon Sect, must be exterminated!"

This thought rose in Jin Xu's mind.

Behind him, a golden-red figure flashed past—it was Yaoer, who had arrived later.

"Young Master, how is Little White?"

Little Fish Demon could hardly believe it. Just a moment ago, she had checked with Spiritual Sense that Little White, who had been keeping order so obediently, had suddenly collapsed there.

"I don't know."

The little Taoist dashed into the middle of the rubble, gently picking up Little White. His Spiritual Sense had only detected that Little White was in trouble but had not examined the specific injuries.

Not because he couldn't, but because he was afraid.

Jin Xu had a vague bad premonition in his heart. Little White was only in the Nascent Soul Realm, and though she was a Body Cultivator, could she withstand the blast's impact?

"Little White, how are you?"

The little Taoist softly called to the demon pet in his arms, then his eyes activated the Truth Seeing Skill of the Spiritual Eyes. He saw that the meridians and flesh inside her body were grievously struck by the impact.

But, a bizarre life force was desperately repairing the injuries inside her body.

"Is this the power of the willow branches from Senior Guan Ling?"

Jin Xu felt slightly relieved and murmured softly.

Behind him, Yaoer cast several Healing Skills on the husky, pouring out spiritual power as if it cost nothing.

Under the influence of the life force inside her body and the external healing skills, Little White, who had been unconscious, suddenly gasped for air, then started coughing violently.

After spitting out several mouthfuls of fresh blood mixed with ice chips, she finally regained consciousness.

"Temple master, Sister Little Fish."

"Little White, how are you?"

Yaoer took over the weakened husky from the little Taoist's arms and asked with concerned expression.

Her affection for this little sister was in no way less than Jin Xu's.

"Cough, cough, Sister Little Fish, our Snow Wolf Clan has a robust physique; I'm fine."

Little White forced a couple of silly smiles, then said fearfully, "It's a good thing the explosion happened when I was outside. If it had been you outside, Sister Little Fish, that would have been awful."

Yaoer was a Magic Cultivator, and had she encountered the explosion, the outcome would naturally have been self-evident.

"Okay, Little White. Don't talk anymore, just focus on healing."

Little Fish Demon's hands glowed with gentle water attribute Spiritual Power, silently soothing the husky's body.

"Cough... cough cough, wait, Sister Little Fish. Just one last thing,"

The husky, coughing violently, turned her head towards Jin Xu and said, "Temple master, avenge me!"

The little Taoist nodded calmly and asked the two women to return first to Xia Yunzhao's residence.

Then he stood still, closing his eyes.

Spiritual Sense surged out, gradually covering the entire Shangjing City.