The Empty Village

Chapter 36: As Chu Mu slowly paced around the courtyard, he carefully examined every spot, missing no detail.

After circling the courtyard once, Chu Mu finally looked toward the house before him.

Thatch covered the roof, and earthen bricks formed the walls. The walls had not even been plastered, and their yellow-brown surfaces were already caked with grime, clearly showing their age.

The thatched house's overall layout was much like that of Chu Mu's own little courtyard.

The main hall stood in the center, with one room on either side. There was also a kitchen on the southern side of the house.

The wooden doors to the several rooms all stood open. The rooms were pitch-black inside, and nothing within could be seen.

The Patrol Inspectors following Chu Mu were not particularly brave either. One by one, they stayed close behind him, not daring to move even half a step away.

Chu Mu hesitated for a moment before finally walking into a room.

"Bedroom..."

By the firelight, he examined the furnishings and came to a conclusion.

The room was furnished very simply: one bed and one cabinet.

The bedding had already vanished from the bed, leaving only bare wooden boards.

The cabinet doors stood open, and there was nothing left inside. Other than that, there was nothing else.

The main hall was furnished even more simply. A table sat against the far wall, and it too was completely empty.

With a glance, Chu Mu seemed to notice something. He hurried forward, wiped a hand across the table, then raised it to his nose and sniffed. A faint fragrance entered his nostrils.

"Offering incense?"

Chu Mu furrowed his brows. This scent seemed exactly the same as the offering incense at his own home, where the spirit tablet of the Original Owner's father was worshiped.

In other words, this table had originally been used to enshrine someone's spirit tablet.

A spirit tablet, an incense burner...

Chu Mu pressed his lips together, forming a few guesses in his heart.

He swept his gaze around the empty main hall. Only after confirming that nothing had been overlooked did he walk toward the side room.

The side room was just as simply furnished, no different from the bedroom: a bed and a cabinet, both of which had likewise been emptied.

He also wandered around the kitchen, but still found nothing.

Everything in this house that could be carried away seemed to have been taken, and the place had been cleaned up quite thoroughly.

This was starkly different from the disorderly scenes they had seen in the other houses they had passed.

"Let's go."

Chu Mu waved his hand and headed out of the courtyard. When he encountered Wu Shuo, who had just come over, he told him about the state of the courtyard as well.

As for what happened next, that was no longer Chu Mu's concern.

Qili Village was not large to begin with. With more than a hundred Patrol Inspectors pouring in, it did not take long for them to turn the entire village upside down.

Just as Chu Mu had expected, they found nothing at all, nor did they see a single living person.

The entire village had been left empty.

But it had only been half a day. In this vast, mountainous wilderness in the depths of winter, how far could a village of several dozen households possibly have gone? How could they completely conceal the traces they had left behind?

After resting in the village for only a moment, with the dry rations barely swallowed, they set off again amid repeated shouts.

Their target was clear: to hunt down the Qili Village villagers who had fled—or, to put it another way... the Rebels.

Night hung overhead, and the stars glittered brilliantly.

The mountains were blanketed in endless white snow, reflecting a faint glow beneath the moonlight. The torches that should have been lit were extinguished under He Ping's orders.

The Patrol Inspectors traveled through the night without pause, weaving through the Mountain Forest and advancing along the traces left by the villagers of Qili Village.

They had been traveling for nearly a full day without stopping. Bloodied and exhausted, every Patrol Inspector looked weary, but under the deterrence of the rules, no one dared complain. They all lowered their heads and trudged on in silence.

Aside from the sound of feet treading across the snow, the entire group was utterly silent.

Chu Mu walked quietly near the rear of the group. Though exhausted, he forcibly gathered his spirits.

Everyone knew that once they caught up with the villagers of Qili Village, there would inevitably be a slaughter that no one could avoid.

The several ambushes they had suffered on the way here, along with the scene in that little courtyard just now, made it clear: most of the people they faced might be ordinary commoners, but among them were also ruthless fighters!

Chu Mu's state of mind was conflicted.

On one hand, he hoped they would catch up soon, allowing him to muddy the waters and experience real combat once more, temper his mindset and blade technique, and confirm his earlier guess about his improvement in swordsmanship.

On the other hand, he hoped they had taken the wrong direction. Even if that meant all their efforts came to nothing, it would still be far better than staking their lives in a real fight.

After all, the gains from this journey had already far exceeded his expectations.

If he took further risks, the danger and the rewards would no longer be proportional.

But clearly, none of this was something Chu Mu could decide.

Chu Mu stopped and examined the surrounding gloom. His gaze ultimately settled on the footprints in the ground.

Although the Patrol Inspectors who had passed through earlier had left plenty of footprints, it was not difficult to make out the traces left by the people of Qili Village among them.

Livestock tracks, dung, and the wheel ruts of wooden carts were all clearly visible.

Even if they had taken the wrong direction, judging by these traces, it was unlikely that their efforts would end with nothing.

"Livestock, carts..."

Chu Mu's brows knitted slightly as he once again gazed into the darkness in the distance.

Fleeing with their entire families and carrying all their possessions...

Their speed would inevitably be greatly reduced.

At their pace, it would probably not take long for the pursuers to catch up, adding a few more splashes of blood to these mountains.

"They can't possibly just sit around and wait to die..."

Chu Mu surveyed the darkness around them. The Dense Forest was deep and the night dim. If they launched another attack with hidden arrows as they had during the day...

At that thought, Chu Mu's heart gave a sudden jolt. Things were different now from the daytime.

Though the snow reflected light, the Dense Forest was deep, making that light equivalent to nothing. If an arrow truly came flying, they probably would not even be able to tell where it had come from.

Not to mention that no one knew what sort of terrain lay within the forest's darkness. Charging in might even send them tumbling off a cliff.

As if to confirm Chu Mu's guess, an abrupt, piercing scream suddenly rang out through the Mountain Forest.

The voice was shrill and agonized. In the darkness, it struck the hearts of the already exhausted and frightened Patrol Inspectors like a heavy hammer.

That wail was like a signal. One after another, agonized cries rang out through the Patrol Inspector ranks.

"Light the torches!"

"Quick, light them!"

"Stay concealed! Enemy attack!"

A Patrol Inspector shouted loudly. One torch after another was lit, the firelight driving back the darkness. The sight of the injured Patrol Inspectors crying out after being ambushed was now clearly visible to everyone.

"Careful! Everyone take cover!"

"Northwest! There are people to the northwest!"

"Pursue them! Follow me!"

"There are some over there too! I saw them!"

"Don't panic! Squad Leaders and Squad Leaders, organize your own men!"

"Shield-bearers, advance!"

"Crossbow unit, prepare to counterattack!"

In an instant, the former silence transformed into a clamorous uproar.

He Ping shouted and directed them without pause. While maintaining the formation, he also arranged their response to the attacks from the darkness.

Though the ambush had been sudden, after suffering several attacks in the forest and paying for them in blood, this Patrol Inspector force had clearly improved considerably.

After the initial chaos, they quickly restored effective order.

Yet within the darkness, it seemed... the movement had ceased...