No Refunds

But whether it was Jian Liang's grudge or that sheet of cowhide paper, Ling HanJun had to find that person and kill him.

"Disguise Technique? That does make things troublesome."

Zhao Chengji thought for a moment and said, "But I can introduce someone to Brother Ling. He has studied the Disguise Technique extensively; perhaps he can be of help to you."

"Oh? Who?" Ling HanJun showed some interest.

"Pingyin County's former chief constable, Xing Wenxiang." Zhao Chengji said with a smile.

The Zhao Family's banquet soon ended, and everyone departed.

The positions at North City Medical Hall remained unchanged. Chen Fei was still the assistant manager. Presumably, the Zhao Family had no suitable candidate to manage it, so it was better to leave things as they were.

In the Zhao Family's eyes, under the current circumstances, no one would dare play tricks. The Zhang Family's fate was right there for all to see.

Days passed one after another. To everyone's surprise, after taking enough supplies, the rebel army did not leave Pingyin County. Instead, it stayed.

The County yamen existed in name only. The rebel army had become the ruler of Pingyin County.

Some of Pingyin County's aristocratic families were left sitting on pins and needles. They had always believed that the rebels would leave after a while. After all, the rebel force in Pingyin County was merely one army unit; the main force was elsewhere.

This rebel force seemed more like it was looting supplies before handing them over to the main army. After all, if the imperial court caught its breath elsewhere, dealing with rebels on the scale of Pingyin County would still be easy.

Yet unexpectedly, the rebels remained and began taking over everything in Pingyin County.

The city gates opened, and supplies began circulating in limited quantities. Shops in Pingyin County also reopened, making it seem as though nothing had changed much from before.

But everyone knew that everything had changed.

Incidents of murder, arson, looting, and plunder had indeed decreased compared to a few days earlier. Yet they still occurred from time to time, and the culprits were the rebel soldiers themselves.

Although Tan Zhen'an restrained his subordinates, the rebel army's composition was inherently too complicated. Orders being carried out without fail was simply impossible. And even when rebel soldiers committed crimes, those enforcing punishment were rebels themselves.

For there to be a fair judgment in that was sheer nonsense.

As for anyone else who dared commit murder, arson, looting, or plunder, they were beaten to death on the spot.

All medicinal pills in Pingyin County, especially pills used for cultivation, began to be requisitioned. Every month, the required quota of pills had to be turned in before any leftovers could remain with the aristocratic families.

As for other resources, while the demands were not as excessive as with medicinal pills, they still had to be supplied to the rebel army first.

The rebels symbolically offered a little silver, but that was all.

The members of the various aristocratic families were dumbfounded. They had never imagined such an outcome. They had been penned up like livestock and made to labor bitterly for the rebels.

No one had imagined this result. And because Pingyin County had already been weak after swallowing up other aristocratic families, it was now even more exhausted. Resistance naturally became out of the question.

Move their entire families out of Pingyin County?

No aristocratic family dared do that. It was like household slaves trying to run away—once caught, they would be beaten to death. If an aristocratic family dared leave Pingyin County at such a time, the consequences upon being caught would be the same.

The guards at all four city gates had been replaced by rebel soldiers. Within Pingyin County, anyone with even a single skill could forget about leaving.

Only ordinary people who truly had no skills at all could enter and leave Pingyin County.

The rebel army seemed to have turned Pingyin County into a logistical base, or perhaps a testing ground. After all, if they wanted to grow stronger, they could not keep destroying forever.

The Zhao Family began stationing personnel at the Medical Hall, urging it to provide medicinal pills. Chen Fei's tasks were piled high, while the money he received no longer included the previous profit share, only the most basic wages.

The aristocratic families' own income had diminished, so how could they possibly give more to others? The rebel army squeezed them dry, and they squeezed everyone else dry in turn.

Chen Fei did not resist and cooperatively refined pills. Whenever the Zhao Family sent people over, they always found Chen Fei looking utterly drained.

His face was pale, his steps unsteady, as though he might collapse at any moment. The crucial thing was that Chen Fei turned in the full quota of medicinal pills every day without shirking.

The Zhao Family's people felt some compassion. More importantly, they feared Chen Fei would truly collapse. If that happened, there would likely be a shortfall in the pills they had to submit each month, and they would be the ones out of luck.

They began giving him more money, while also providing him with good food and drink, hoping Chen Fei could withstand such an intensity of pill refining.

At the same time, they told Chen Fei he no longer needed to go to the Medical Hall and could refine pills in his own courtyard instead. Every day, they would deliver medicinal ingredients and collect the pills.

That night, Chen Fei wearily saw the Zhao Family's people out. The moment he shut the door, his back straightened normally, and the tiredness vanished from his face.

To outsiders, Chen Fei displayed only a Proficient Level of skill in refining Revival Pills, with an ordinary yield. Thus, he needed only a little over an hour to finish that day's task, after which he kept the remaining ingredients for himself.

The large-scale refining of Revival Pills had already raised the Light Spirit Pill's proficiency to the perfected level. In another while, it would likely break through to Great Perfection.

This sort of life did not seem so bad?

But Chen Fei was still searching for a way to leave Pingyin County and head for another city.

Recently, the bone-attached sore on Chen Fei's arm had begun growing extremely active. This had happened once before when he had pursued Sun Shu, indicating that something strange was nearby.

Chen Fei had remained in Pingyin County lately, and there was clearly nothing strange around him. Yet the bone-attached sore was reacting like this, making his heart tighten.

Chen Fei had even considered changing his appearance and infiltrating the rebel army to leave Pingyin County with them. Unexpectedly, the rebels had chosen not to leave at all, completely disrupting his plans.

"Have the strange things outside the city increased recently?" At the Dark market, Chen Fei looked at Chi Defeng and asked.

"Yes. Something has been wrong lately."

Chi Defeng nodded. He could no longer hire refugees to go outside the city. Aside from the aristocratic families offering more money, many people no longer dared venture into Pingyin Mountain.

The rebels had organized several expeditions into Pingyin Mountain, but they had gained nothing.

"If this keeps up, something will happen, won't it?" Chen Fei asked in a low voice.

"Recently, someone has been organizing a departure from Pingyin County. If you want to leave, I'll notify you when the time comes!" Chi Defeng thought for a moment before saying.

"What price?"

"It definitely won't be cheap. You'll pay on the spot, and they'll probably bleed you dry. Prepare yourself mentally!"

"Alright!"

Chen Fei nodded, feeling slightly relieved. As long as he could leave, that was enough. He did not dare say he had a great deal of money, but he should be able to afford the travel expenses.

Chen Fei had now stockpiled quite a few Revival Pills and was already planning to sell them in the Dark market. Given the current market price of pills, they had reached a relatively high point, so Chen Fei no longer needed to wait.

Moreover, Chen Fei had recently discovered an absurd function of the panel: it could store real gold and silver, but once deposited, they could not be withdrawn. Once recharged, no refunds were given; it could only be used for simplification costs.

It truly created happiness with wages!