Chapter 042 The Bodies Must Vanish Without a Trace!

Of course, after more than a year had passed, many of the common folk who had fled south died along the way, and many others had found new homes in southern cities. So even though the war was over, those who returned would likely number less than half of those who had once left. Song Ye had no idea how many of the original villagers of Autumn Whisper Village would come back. Yet, seeing the village in such ruin, it was likely that even the returnees would eventually choose to leave again.

At that moment, a group of Yan soldiers who had deserted entered Autumn Whisper Village. Song Ye estimated there were about twenty of them. Their armor was battered and broken, but their weapons were still in their hands. An uneasy feeling crept over Song Ye—small bands of deserters like this often devolved into bandits, robbing and murdering to survive.

Sure enough, the group made straight for his tea stall. After all, within a hundred miles, Song Ye was likely the only honest person left, making him the ideal target for these desperate men.

Song Yan, seeing the fierce, brutish look of the deserters, grew frightened and hid behind Song Ye.

The leader, a burly man with a tiger’s back and a bear’s waist, shouted at Song Ye, “Boy, bring out everything good to eat from your stall and serve us!”

It was rare to find a stall still operating; naturally, they planned to eat and drink their fill before resorting to robbery.

Song Ye, however, showed no sign of panic. “We’re just a small tea stall, nothing to eat here—only tea. Three coppers a bowl.”

The leader laughed. “You want to make money off us? Ha ha ha!” His men joined in, laughing raucously.

After a while, the leader’s face darkened. He slammed his broadsword onto the table and snarled, “You brat, if you don’t want to die, stop your nonsense and bring out whatever food you have. If we’re satisfied, maybe we’ll let you live!”

Song Ye smiled slightly. “You’ve already drawn your blade and threatened me. My sister and I are in danger—so whatever I do next is just self-defense. Even in the modern world, I’d be innocent for what follows.”

The leader was baffled—what self-defense? What modern world? But his mind soon went blank, never to think again, for he was already dead. With a single, ordinary straight punch, Song Ye knocked his head clean off.

In the blink of an eye, all twenty-three deserters lay dead at Song Ye’s feet.

There was no need for Song Ye to draw his beginner’s iron sword, nor to use any skills. His increased vitality enhanced every aspect of his body—speed, strength, explosive power. Slaying twenty-three deserters took less than a third of a second. Afterward, he quickly covered Song Yan’s eyes to spare her from the bloody scene. His movements had been so swift that Song Yan hadn't even realized what had happened before her vision was blocked.

With the deaths of the deserters, Song Ye gained experience.

“Ding! Player has slain a Yan deserter. Experience +2.”

“Ding! Player has slain a Yan deserter. Experience +2.”

“Ding! Player has slain a Yan deserter. Experience +2.”

…

Since Song Ye was already level 68, killing a mere Yan deserter earned only a pitiful two experience points—but it was better than nothing.

Still holding Song Yan’s eyes closed, Song Ye carried her to the backyard and set her on the back of the saber-toothed black-armored sheep.

This sheep had been left behind by Qin Xuanxi. Song Ye couldn’t bring himself to slaughter it for food. Now, the magical restraints Qin Xuanxi had left on the sheep had faded; its demonic powers had returned. Yet, having once been domesticated, and with a gentle temperament, it quickly accepted Song Ye as its new master and also got along well with Song Yan.

Song Ye hadn’t slaughtered the sheep because he wanted it to keep Song Yan company. Her other companion was Song Ye’s demon pet—the little black tree. Like Song Yan, the little black tree couldn’t speak, but it could understand human words.

After placing Song Yan on the sheep’s back, Song Ye instructed the tree, “Blackie, watch over Song Yan and don’t let her fall off the sheep.”

The little black tree bent its trunk as if nodding to Song Ye—when it came to looking after Song Yan, it was already quite experienced. If Song Yan lost her balance and was about to fall, the tree would reach out a branch to catch her.

Thus, entrusting his three-year-old sister to a tree was not a matter of carelessness; the tree truly was reliable!

Afterward, Song Ye returned to the tea stall to clear the site of the slaughter. Disposing of corpses was nothing new to him. As before, he planned to pile the twenty-three bodies together and burn them. But just as he finished stacking the corpses, he heard the sound of approaching hooves at the village entrance.

Damn, he was about to be caught red-handed.

Yet in that instant, he had already thought of an excuse to explain everything.

A woman rode in, clad in red armor, valiant and striking. She held the reins in both hands, a long sword at her waist. She wore no helmet, her dark hair tied back with a cord. The heavy armor did nothing to hide her graceful figure. Her face was round and radiant, her brows arched like autumn water. Though she wore no makeup, her lips were tinged with red, and in the dazzling sunlight, her exquisite features seemed the work of the world’s finest sculptor.

Instinctively, Song Ye used his domain’s probing ability to inspect the woman in red armor—he could discern both her cultivation and her name.

[Li Xiuling]: Ninth tier, Void-Breaking Realm.

Song Ye was astonished. He had never expected that Li Xiuling—the eldest princess of Li Kingdom whom Zhang Zixuan had mentioned to him three months ago—would appear here alone.

According to Zhang Zixuan, Li Xiuling was the marshal of the Li Kingdom’s army. Even though the war was now over, as the supreme commander, she should have been overseeing her camp. Why had she come here alone? Was she hunting down deserters?

Li Xiuling quickly noticed the pile of Yan deserters’ corpses before Song Ye. Her brows drew together, but after sensing that Song Ye had no trace of cultivation and was but a mere mortal, her frown faded. Clearly, she thought, the killer was someone else; this young man was only disposing of the corpses.

With this in mind, she guided her horse over to Song Ye.