Jinling City Wei Dao Si

Xia Qi'an wasn't cooking human flesh.

Instead, he found a snake and a rabbit that had died of starvation in a tree hollow he'd stumbled upon.

Although the snake and rabbit meat were a bit spoiled, boiling them would still fill their stomachs.

It was better than eating human flesh, anyway.

Plus, this rabbit was quite meaty. If they were frugal, it would be enough for Xia Qi'an and Xiao Cao to last until Jinling City.

After eating a few small pieces of meat and drinking some soup, the two of them managed to recover a little strength.

After hastily burying the bodies of the Wei Dao Si member and the middle-aged refugee.

Xia Qi'an took Xiao Cao's hand and hurried towards Jinling City.

From the dead Wei Dao Si martial artist, besides the three tokens that needed to be delivered to the Wei Dao Si.

Xia Qi'an also found a martial arts manual for strengthening the body called the Golden Body Technique.

Perhaps this technique wasn't important to those Wei Dao Si martial artists, so they hadn't mentioned it.

But for Xia Qi'an, this was a treasure that could change his fate.

So, as Xia Qi'an traveled, whenever he stopped to rest, he would take out the manual and recite it silently, striving to memorize it word for word.

According to the manual, the Golden Body Technique was only an introductory level martial art.

When cultivated to the highest level, it could forge a body of bronze skin and iron bones.

However, Xia Qi'an currently lacked the conditions to cultivate it, as it consumed a large amount of Blood Essence.

He didn't have enough meat to supplement such consumption right now, so he could only plan to cultivate it after entering Jinling City.

Fortunately, Xia Qi'an had also found a banknote for fifty taels of silver.

This was undoubtedly a huge sum for Xia Qi'an.

Once they entered Jinling, fifty taels would be enough for him and Xiao Cao to settle down temporarily.

Three days later. The tall and magnificent city walls of Jinling City finally appeared before them.

"Brother Qi'an! Is that Jinling?" Xiao Cao gazed at the distant blue city walls, her small face filled with awe.

"That's right... we've finally arrived!" Xia Qi'an's expression was solemn.

He looked at the dense crowd of refugees under the city gate and couldn't feel any excitement.

"That's great, I heard Jinling City will provide relief to the disaster victims. We have a way to survive."

"Hungry! Officer, can you give us some food?"

"Please, officer! Let us in..."

Outside Jinling City, the crowd was noisy and chaotic.

"The City Lord has ordered! Disaster victims are temporarily forbidden from entering the city. Do not obstruct the official road. Those who disobey will be killed without mercy!"

As the black-armored soldiers at the city gate announced the decree, Xia Qi'an's heart sank to the bottom.

The Jinling City government would definitely provide relief to so many refugees, but how they would do it would take time.

Yet, there were still those who didn't believe and tried to force their way in.

More than a dozen black-armored guards swung their axes and halberds, killing without mercy.

With one axe strike, a person was cut in half.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of refugees were beheaded.

The rest immediately scattered.

In the chaos, over a hundred people were trampled to death or injured.

Facing the tragic scene before them, the black-armored guards at the gate remained indifferent.

They casually dragged the bodies of the refugees blocking the road to the side, awaiting disposal.

However, there were nearly ten thousand refugees gathered outside Jinling City, and the government couldn't possibly kill them all.

They could only use forceful means to maintain order among these refugees.

And it was unrealistic to make these refugees turn back now.

They could only wait for the government's next move.

About half a day later, the gates of Jinling City finally opened.

A contingent of several hundred black-armored soldiers emerged from the city and began directing the refugees to set up simple rain shelters with coarse cloth.

This way, the refugees finally had a place to rest and no longer wandered around.

The chaos outside the city gradually subsided.

By evening, relief food began to be distributed outside Jinling City.

Everyone could receive a bowl of coarse rice porridge.

Xia Qi'an and Xiao Cao were no exception.

After finishing their porridge.

Xia Qi'an led Xiao Cao through the crowd and approached the city guards.

"Sir! I have urgent matters that require me to enter the city!"

The guard commander's face was indifferent. "You look like a refugee! Didn't you hear the decree announced earlier? Refugees are temporarily not allowed to enter."

Xia Qi'an thought for a moment and then truthfully said, "I have urgent matters to report to an official from the Wei Dao Si!"

Hearing the words "Wei Dao Si," the guard commander's expression changed. He asked suspiciously, "You're from the Wei Dao Si? Do you have any proof of identity?"

"Yes!"

As he spoke, Xia Qi'an produced a token and took down the long saber from his back, handing them both to the guard commander for inspection.

After glancing at the pattern on the token, the guard commander said with a serious tone that had softened considerably, "Since you're working for the Wei Dao Si, you have free passage in and out of Jinling City. You may enter!"

Xia Qi'an had transmigrated to this world fifteen years ago.

He had long since understood the Wei Dao Si, this organization of martial artists.

The Wei Dao Si was a martial artist organization independent of secular imperial power.

The Wei Dao Si's duty was to eliminate demons and uphold righteousness, maintaining order in the world.

They were a group specifically dedicated to fighting demons and monsters.

Furthermore, the martial artists of the Wei Dao Si came from all over the world. Not only in the Great Li Dynasty, but every country in the world had a branch of the Wei Dao Si.

Therefore, the Wei Dao Si held a very special status, and in some aspects, their influence even surpassed that of secular imperial power.

However, no matter what, a vast organization like the Wei Dao Si always needed someone to do the dirty and difficult work.

Thus, any secular dynasty would grant certain privileges to the subordinates of the Wei Dao Si.

This was also the source of the Wei Dao Si's strength.

And Su Mu, whom Xia Qi'an encountered, was one such individual.

He was responsible for gathering intelligence from various places and handling strange incidents.

After successfully entering Jinling City.

Xia Qi'an found out the location of the Wei Dao Si and, with Xiao Cao in tow, rushed over without delay.

After witnessing the power of the Wei Dao Si.

Xia Qi'an conceived the idea of joining the Wei Dao Si.

Now that a great opportunity was before him, why not take this chance to seek an opportunity to join the Wei Dao Si?

If he succeeded, he would at least have a stable position.

Moreover, he heard that the Wei Dao Si collected martial arts techniques from all over the world, so joining them would allow him to access high-level martial arts techniques more quickly. For Xia Qi'an at this moment, joining the Wei Dao Si was undoubtedly an action with no downsides.

Of course, these were matters for later. For now, he had to meet someone from the Wei Dao Si first.

The Jinling City branch of the Wei Dao Si was not difficult to find; almost everyone in Jinling knew about it.

Soon, Xia Qi'an arrived outside the main entrance of the Wei Dao Si branch.

The plaque above the door was engraved with the three gilded characters: Wei Dao Si.

The Wei Dao Si branch was no different from a government yamen, likely a place provided specifically for the Wei Dao Si by the Lord of Jinling City.

The entire Wei Dao Si branch had only one gatekeeper and a chief clerk sent by the government to assist.

The chief clerk handled minor daily affairs, while matters involving demons and monsters were relayed by internal personnel of the Wei Dao Si.

The old chief clerk with a gray beard at the desk saw the gatekeeper bring Xia Qi'an forward and stopped his brush to ask, "What is the purpose of your visit?"

"This humble subject, Xia Qi'an, greets the esteemed Chief Clerk! This humble subject has news concerning Su Mu of the Wei Dao Si that I wish to report to an official of the Wei Dao Si!"

The old chief clerk looked troubled for a moment and asked, "Do you have any token of identification?"

"Yes! Please examine it, sir!"

As he spoke, Xia Qi'an placed Su Mu's token on the desk.

However, the old chief clerk did not look at it. "The officials of the Wei Dao Si are usually busy with their cultivation or on official business. Unless it is a matter of great urgency, they generally do not come here. Please wait a moment, I will send someone to notify Lord Chu of the Wei Dao Si! To see if he is in the residence."

Hearing this, Xia Qi'an sighed inwardly. These people from the Wei Dao Si were truly elusive.