Chapter 440 - 205: Killing Intent Under the Night

The light of the flames pushed back the pitch-black curtain of night.

A wild rabbit, sizzling as its fat dripped, gave off a tempting aroma.

Hua Yuerong couldn’t help but quietly swallow.

But when she saw the severed head next to the fire—wrapped in white cloth, still seeping blood—she suddenly felt she wasn’t so hungry anymore.

Jiang Ran slowly turned the rabbit in his hands and spoke softly.

"You weren’t poisoned. You were injured by someone using a strange technique.

"The injury is bizarre. If one doesn’t understand the principles behind it, there’s no way to treat it.

"Who did this?"

In the end, Jiang Ran had accepted the task of escorting Hua Yuerong home.

The reason was simple: it was on his way.

He had to make the journey anyway. Besides, just as Hua Yuerong had said, she was currently defenseless, and he couldn’t just leave her to fend for herself.

If you’re going to save someone, you see it through to the end.

Who starts a job only to leave it half-done?

Even if Jiang Ran’s original goal was just to kill Bai Xichao and trade his head for a bounty, he couldn’t very well let the person he’d saved as a result just perish on her own.

"I don’t know."

Hua Yuerong shook her head.

"On my way home today, this group of people suddenly appeared. Without a word, they attacked.

"Although I had a few family servants with me, we were no match for them.

"In the end, I was injured by a man in black and couldn’t move. If Granny Zhang hadn’t risked her life to get me out, I’m afraid I would have been dead long ago."

’Granny Zhang?’

Jiang Ran recalled the fierce-looking old woman and nodded slightly.

After a moment’s hesitation, he asked,

"Have you ever heard of... the ’Friends of the Setting Sun’?"

"Friends of the Setting Sun?"

Hua Yuerong looked confused. "I’ve never heard of them... But speaking of the setting sun, it does make me think of the Setting Sun Sect, which appeared recently."

"Tell me about it."

Jiang Ran glanced at Hua Yuerong.

After a brief hesitation, Hua Yuerong began to speak.

"The exact origins of this Setting Sun Sect are a matter of speculation. There’s no definitive account.

"Furthermore, this group acts mysteriously and rarely shows themselves.

"The only reason people know about them is that six months ago, a great Demon from the Jianghu Dao appeared near Dong County Prefecture.

"For the sake of the Jianghu Dao, many local sects and families went to besiege him. They thought that even if they couldn’t kill him, they could at least drive him away to prevent him from harming the common people.

"We received news of the Demon’s whereabouts at the time. We immediately led our people there, but we were a step too late.

"The Demon had already been killed... A note was left on his body with the six words: ’Setting Sun Sect, Delivering Heaven’s Justice.’

"From that, everyone learned that a new group, the Setting Sun Sect, had appeared in the world.

"Since then, the Setting Sun Sect has appeared occasionally, punishing the wicked and eliminating evil, often leaving a note behind."

Hearing this, Jiang Ran’s thoughts began to stir.

He shook his head slightly.

"For people like you, that’s probably not a good thing, is it?"

Objectively speaking, the sudden appearance of a mysterious and elusive power was extremely detrimental to the existing balance of power in the region.

Hua Yuerong glanced at Jiang Ran and nodded softly.

"Hero Jiang is perceptive. However, while it is somewhat worrying, everything the Setting Sun Sect has done so far has generally been to uphold the righteous path.

"So, everyone has more or less let them be. Besides, even if some have their doubts and want to find them, they’ve been unable to track them down."

’That last part is the real reason they’re left alone, isn’t it?’

Jiang Ran nodded slightly, but he also seized on a key point.

"’Generally’ to uphold the righteous path?

"Were there times when they didn’t?"

"...It’s not that they didn’t."

Hua Yuerong lowered her head, staring at the rabbit in Jiang Ran’s hands.

Jiang Ran reached out, tore off a rabbit leg, and handed it to her.

Hua Yuerong hadn’t eaten a single grain of rice since the morning. Jiang Ran, having been in pursuit all afternoon, was naturally hungry as well.

After giving a leg to Hua Yuerong, he stuck the wooden spit into the ground and tore off another leg for himself.

He casually uncorked his wine gourd and took a swig.

He then heard Hua Yuerong say,

"It’s just that some of the things they’ve done have been quite controversial.

"About three months ago, they annihilated a prominent local family... They then presented evidence showing that this family had made its fortune years ago at Kanglong Pass by colluding with bandits to massacre commoners and plunder military funds and equipment.

"Afterward, they washed their hands of their past, came to Dong County Prefecture, and transformed themselves into a wealthy household.

"But the crimes of the past, the mountain of blood debts they owed, could not be so easily settled.

"Therefore, the Sect wiped out everyone in the household, from top to bottom, to show that Heaven’s justice is manifest.

"After that incident, everyone felt that the Setting Sun Sect’s methods were far too ruthless."

"How so?"

Jiang Ran frowned, chewing on the rabbit meat.

He had to admit, his cooking skills were a far cry from Luo Qingyi’s.

Unfortunately, he had sent Luo Qingyi to the Flower and Rain Alliance. For a long time to come, he probably wouldn’t be able to eat his cooking.

’Thinking about it now, I rather miss it.’

"First, they killed them first and only presented the evidence afterward.

"Although the evidence was verified by multiple parties—they even went to Purple Moon Manor and had Manor Lord Meng personally inspect it and confirm its authenticity—

"it still lacked the step of a public confrontation.

"Matters of life and death cannot be taken lightly.

"What’s more... when the Setting Sun Sect acted, they slaughtered the entire family, from top to bottom. Not one person was spared, not even the old, the young, or the women.

"Their methods were too cruel."

As Hua Yuerong spoke of this, a shadow fell across her face.