But he didn't dare show it at the moment.

When Chen Yuan was fighting the Blood Demon Elder, he and Yan Kai had both focused some of their attention on them and witnessed how terrifying that confrontation was.

He knew that Chen Yuan's strength was many times greater than his, but he still felt somewhat unwilling in his heart.

He had previously disregarded Sun Yuan's obstruction and reported to the Prefectural Office, wanting to eliminate these bandits and add a stroke to his resume, but now... the bandit leader had escaped.

"Do I need you to teach me how to do things?"

Chen Yuan's expression shifted slightly, his gaze sweeping over Zhang Hefeng, causing a chill to rise in his heart. He quickly explained:

"No... no, Commissioner Chen, this official only..."

Zhang Hefeng opened his mouth, wanting to defend himself, but he found it difficult to express what he wanted to say.

"Do you know who this person is?"

Chen Yuan pointed to the headless corpse on the ground.

"No... I don't know."

Zhang Hefeng shook his head slightly. Although he had some impression of the white-haired old man from before, he couldn't immediately recall his identity. After all, the Blood Demon Elder had disappeared from Qingzhou for several years.

"If you don't know, then I'll tell you. This person is the notorious wanted criminal, the Blood Demon Elder." Chen Yuan said calmly.

He killed the Blood Demon Elder in full view of everyone, so it was impossible to hide it. Of course, Chen Yuan didn't have much interest in hiding it, so he simply revealed everything.

He wanted Zhang Hefeng to know the importance of this person.

Indeed, as Chen Yuan had said, the Blood Demon Elder was a wanted criminal who had been pursued in Qingzhou before, but because he had disappeared, most people had forgotten about him.

But Chen Yuan knew, he had investigated the Blood Demon Elder before.

"Blood Demon... the Blood Demon Elder!"

Zhang Hefeng's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking deeply.

He had once been a part of the Prefectural Office before being transferred to Qingshui County. Of course, he had heard of the Blood Demon Elder's notoriety, but he didn't expect this person to be him.

And he also understood Chen Yuan's implication, which was that the Blood Demon Elder was not so easy to kill. Did he really think that Chen Yuan was invincible?

Moreover, the merit of killing the Blood Demon Elder was no weaker than destroying a bandit stronghold.

"But... those bandits."

Zhang Hefeng's gaze was somewhat hesitant. If these bandits were allowed to escape and cause trouble within the county, it would be his responsibility.

"County Captain Zhang, rest assured, a small group of bandits like that won't be able to cause much trouble." Chen Yuan's mouth curved slightly as he watched Yan Kai's departing figure.

By pursuing these bandits, he had a reason to stay in Qingshui County for a few more days without raising suspicion, to investigate the location of the Profound Yang Divine Crystal.

Perhaps, he could even find a breakthrough through these people.

He had planned all of this from the moment he received the guiding information.

Yan Kai still had his uses!

Once Yan Kai left, the remaining bandits had almost no will to resist, and of course, they didn't have the strength to resist. The two Ghost Children brought by the Blood Demon Elder were also successfully captured by Mo Donghe and the others, tied up and thrown in front of Chen Yuan to await his disposal.

Chen Yuan stared intently at the two trembling Ghost Children in front of him without saying anything. The Green Demon he encountered at the beginning had indeed caused him some trouble.

But for him now, the two Ghost Children were really nothing.

He could suppress them with a flip of his hand.

"Lord... Lord Chen."

The two Ghost Children looked up at Chen Yuan's calm eyes and felt a strange sense of fear, as if they were mice encountering their natural enemy, a cat.

"What are your names?"

Chen Yuan asked in a deep voice.

Seeing that Chen Yuan seemed to want to ask something, Zhang Hefeng's mouth twitched, but in the end, he wisely said nothing and turned to deal with the other surrendered bandits.

Mo Donghe and the others also exchanged glances and moved away in perfect harmony.

"This humble one is Ghost Gold."

"This humble one is Ghost Fire."

The two Ghost Children dared not hide anything and immediately announced their names.

"Fire... Gold..." Chen Yuan's eyes flickered.

Perhaps sensing the confusion in Chen Yuan's eyes, Ghost Gold quickly explained:

"Reporting to the Lord, we..."

From Ghost Gold's explanation, Chen Yuan learned that there were a total of five Ghost Children, named after the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

The Green Demon that Chen Yuan had killed earlier was Ghost Wood.

They were a part of the Blood Demon Elder's cultivation, intended to help him enter the Tongxuan realm. This piqued Chen Yuan's interest, and he immediately searched the Blood Demon Elder's body.

Unfortunately, aside from some evil secret techniques and cultivation resources, there was no information on how to use the Five Ghost Children to achieve a breakthrough, which made Chen Yuan slightly unhappy.

As for the Ghost Children themselves, they didn't know any methods either.

The Blood Demon Elder's secrecy was very well maintained.

"Who leaked my whereabouts to the Blood Demon?"

Chen Yuan asked the two.

Ghost Gold looked at Ghost Fire and said in a low voice:

"It was Tang Qian from the Azure Serpent Society."

'As expected, it's him!'

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and a faint hint of killing intent flickered in his gaze.

"You two are very sensible, I'll give you a quick death." Chen Yuan raised his hand, and a strand of Xuan black baleful aura enveloped his palm, after a moment of recovery.

Chen Yuan's inner dantian had recovered a lot now.

"Commissioner Chen, we two are willing to serve you, please spare our lives."

Ghost Gold swallowed his saliva and quickly lowered his head to beg for mercy.

Ghost Fire did the same.

"I can't trust you."

Chen Yuan looked at the two with a slight movement of his lips, wondering what else they could say.

Ghost Gold gritted his teeth, knowing that if he didn't say something that satisfied Chen Yuan, he would definitely die. He then revealed his greatest secret:

"The Blood Demon has an evil secret technique to control us, which can easily control our lives. Now that the Blood Demon is dead, we can all pledge allegiance..."

Faced with death, Ghost Gold and Ghost Fire were completely desperate, telling Chen Yuan that he could use a secret technique to control their lives.

And as long as they gathered all five ghosts, they could greatly enhance their strength through a formation, even able to withstand Ning Sha martial artists with Bone Refinement cultivation.

But they currently only had four ghosts, and the other two Ghost Children were still in Tang Qian's hands.

In addition, Chen Yuan would need to re-cultivate a Ghost Wood Child, which made Chen Yuan frown slightly. He felt it was a bit troublesome. By the time he had cultivated the Ghost Wood Child, he would have already broken through to a higher realm and wouldn't need their combat power at all.

To this, Ghost Gold stated that as long as enough people were killed, and with the cooperation of several people, the time it took to cultivate the Ghost Wood Child could be greatly reduced.

And he had actually found a candidate for the Ghost Wood Child a long time ago.

It was just that he was worried that the Blood Demon Elder might take their lives to achieve a breakthrough, so he had never dared to say it.

After listening to this, Chen Yuan was slightly surprised, thinking that these Ghost Children were not stupid. Although they had to obey the Blood Demon Elder, they also had their own little thoughts.

From the Blood Demon Elder's body, Chen Yuan found the method to control the five ghosts, which was a copper bell the size of an infant's fist, containing the heart's blood of several Ghost Children.

As long as Chen Yuan dripped blood to recognize it as his own and assisted it with a secret technique, he could easily make the Ghost Children suffer more than death.

After weighing it for a few breaths, Chen Yuan decided to take them in after all. Since he already had the Four Ghosts of Yunjiang, he wouldn't mind having a few more people to command.

He had witnessed the power of the Ghost Children, who were rarely matched by opponents of the same rank. If he entered the Naqi realm in the future, they might really be able to help him.

Of course, he definitely couldn't show it on the surface.

At Chen Yuan's suggestion, the two Ghost Children were ostensibly imprisoned by Nie Donghe and the others. Once they left Qingshui County, they would find an opportunity to release them.

Publicly announcing that they were dead would be the end of the matter.

Zhang Hefeng wanted to keep them in the prison, but after looking at Chen Yuan's expression, he finally dismissed the idea.

After counting the casualties, Zhang Hefeng and Chen Yuan's group began to escort a group of bandits down the mountain. Riding forward, Chen Yuan looked at Zhang Hefeng and said:

"County Captain Zhang."

Turning to look at Chen Yuan, Zhang Hefeng was somewhat puzzled, but he still cupped his hands and said:

"Commissioner Chen, what is it?"

"Does County Captain Zhang know about Chiyang Mountain?"

Without much preamble, Chen Yuan directly asked. However, to his surprise, when Zhang Hefeng heard the three words 'Chiyang Mountain', his originally calm expression suddenly changed, and his eyes shrank sharply.

He seemed very shocked that Chen Yuan knew about Chiyang Mountain.

"How did Commissioner Chen know about Chiyang Mountain?" Zhang Hefeng's mind raced.

"County Captain Zhang has not yet answered Chen's question."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Hefeng nodded: "I know."

"What is this place?"

Looking at Zhang Hefeng's shocked expression, Chen Yuan knew that this Chiyang Mountain seemed to be very extraordinary.

"This... why does Commissioner Chen ask this?" Zhang Hefeng asked in reply.

"I've heard this name before and am somewhat curious." Chen Yuan smiled mysteriously.

"Could it be that the people from the Sky Survey Division already know about Chiyang Mountain?" Zhang Hefeng immediately became uneasy.

Chen Yuan smiled without explanation.

"Commissioner Chen, please understand, this official..."

"County Captain Zhang, just say what you have to say, and don't mislead yourself." Chen Yuan now believed that there was a problem with this Chiyang Mountain, and Zhang Hefeng seemed to be very aware of it, but didn't want to say it.

In that case, he could only bluff him.

After looking around, Zhang Hefeng's brow furrowed and then relaxed. Finally, he leaned closer to Chen Yuan and said in a low voice:

"This place is related to County Magistrate Sun."

"Continue..."

"This place was originally an abandoned Chiyang stone mine from the previous dynasty, but a year ago, traces of Chiyang stone were discovered here again, and the quality is extremely high, making it an excellent material for refining weapons.

It is controlled by County Magistrate Sun."

Zhang Hefeng said in a low voice.

"County Captain Zhang didn't have a hand in it?" Chen Yuan looked at Zhang Hefeng with a smile that was not a smile.

From his expression just now, he could feel that Zhang Hefeng also knew about this place, and he knew it in great detail.

"This official is wholeheartedly for the people and has never thought about this matter. As for these things, someone recently informed this official through a secret letter. After investigation, it is indeed true.

Sun Yuan has profited greatly from this and has secretly controlled the people to mine for him..."