They left the central district.
There were no longer any lights along the roadside.
But the gunshots had also grown indistinct, and the patches of burning flames were gradually falling farther behind.
Lu Tianxiong gripped the steering wheel. The sedan jolted along the uneven Stone Slab road, its tires occasionally crushing out a string of muffled sounds.
Jiang Qiao leaned against the back seat.
His eyelids were half-closed.
He casually picked up the cigarette beside him and lit it with a click.
"I've lived in Ninggu City for decades."
"This is still the first time I've encountered something like this."
Lu Tianxiong still looked somewhat unwilling to accept it. He muttered in a low voice, "My grandfather was a scholar of the previous dynasty. He was learned and highly accomplished in literature."
"At the time, the world was already in turmoil."
"He planned ahead, refused to avoid the flames of war, and took his entire family out of the Capital City, heading north all the way."
"In the end, he chose to put down roots in Ninggu City."
"Although Ninggu City wasn't prosperous enough, that was actually an advantage in troubled times. The borderlands were desolate, so it probably wouldn't attract the covetous eyes of the Major Factions."
"Stability."
"Was a luxury in troubled times."
"Back then, many people didn't understand my grandfather's choice and mocked him for worrying needlessly. Even if the world became chaotic, the Capital City was the finest place under heaven, where the dynasty's spiritual energy gathered. How bad could it be?"
"Cowardly as a mouse."
"Unfit for any great task."
"These were the evaluations my grandfather received from the clansmen and friends he left behind in the Capital City."
"But the facts proved otherwise."
"My grandfather had great foresight and good judgment. Later, the previous