No Returns Whatsoever

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

"The Disguise Technique, is it? That does make things a little troublesome."

Zhao Chengji thought for a moment and said, "But I can introduce someone to Brother Ling. He has studied the Disguise Technique in great depth, and perhaps he'll be of help to Brother Ling."

"Oh? Who?" Ling Hanjun's interest was piqued.

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

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

The positions within the North City Medical Center remained unchanged. Chen Fei was still Deputy Manager. Presumably, the Zhao Family had no suitable person to manage it either, so it was better to simply keep things as they were.

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

Day after day passed. Contrary to everyone's expectations, after taking enough supplies, the Rebel Army did not leave Pingyin County. Instead, they stayed.

The County Government Office now existed in name only, and the ones holding power in Pingyin County had become the Rebel Army.

The various noble families of Pingyin County found themselves in a tight spot. They had always assumed that the Rebel Army would leave after a while. After all, the Rebel Army in Pingyin County was only one military unit among many; the main force was elsewhere.

This Rebel Army seemed more like it had come to plunder supplies, then hand them back to the main army. After all, if the Imperial Court recovered its strength elsewhere, cleaning up a Rebel Army of Pingyin County's scale would still be very easy.

Unexpectedly, however, the Rebel Army stayed, and began taking over everything in Pingyin County.

The City Gates opened, and supplies began to circulate on a limited basis. The shops in Pingyin County also opened their doors. It seemed as though everything was not much different from before.

But everyone knew that nothing was the same anymore.

Compared with the previous few days, incidents of burning, killing, looting, and pillaging had indeed decreased somewhat. But they still happened from time to time, and the perpetrators were none other than the Rebel Army themselves.

Although Tan Zhen'an restrained the people under him, the Rebel Army's makeup was itself extremely complicated. Making orders obeyed and prohibitions enforced simply could not be achieved. Moreover, even if Rebel Army soldiers committed offenses, the ones carrying out the punishments were still the Rebel Army themselves.

If that could result in a fair judgment, then there really were ghosts.

As for anyone else who dared burn, kill, loot, or pillage, they were beaten to death on the spot.

All pills in Pingyin County, especially pills used for cultivation, began to be requisitioned. Every month, a sufficient quota of pills had to be handed over. Only what remained would be left to the various noble families.

There were other resources as well. Although they were not as excessive as the pills, they still had to be supplied to the Rebel Army first.

The Rebel Army symbolically paid a little silver, but that was all.

The people of the various noble families were dumbfounded. They had never imagined this would be the result. This was directly penning them up like livestock, making them toil entirely for the Rebel Army.

No one had imagined this outcome. And because they had previously swallowed up other noble families, Pingyin County, which had never been strong to begin with, was now even weaker. Resistance, naturally, was out of the question.

Move the entire clan out of Pingyin County?

No noble family dared do such a thing. It was like slaves at home trying to run away—if caught, they would be beaten to death. If a noble family dared leave Pingyin County at this time, the consequences of being caught would be the same.

The people guarding all four City Gates had already been completely replaced by Rebel Army soldiers. Within Pingyin County, anyone with even a single skill to their name could forget about leaving Pingyin County.

Only those ordinary people who truly had no skills whatsoever could enter and leave Pingyin County.

The Rebel Army seemed to be treating Pingyin County as a logistics point, or perhaps a testing ground. After all, if they wanted to grow stronger, they could not keep destroying forever.

The Zhao Family began stationing people in the medical center, urging it to provide pills. Chen Fei was assigned a great many tasks, and the money he was given no longer included the kind of share he had received before. There were only the most basic wages.

The noble families' own income had now shrunk, so how could they possibly give more to others? The Rebel Army squeezed them, and they squeezed everyone else.

Chen Fei did not resist, cooperating very well in refining pills. Every time someone from the Zhao Family came and saw Chen Fei, Chen Fei looked utterly drained.

His face was pale, his steps unsteady, as if he might collapse at any moment. The key was that Chen Fei still handed over the full quota of pills every day, without shirking at all.

The Zhao Family's people were moved to a little pity—mainly because they were even more afraid that Chen Fei would simply collapse. If that happened, the pills handed over each month would probably fall short, and in the end, they would be the unlucky ones.

They began giving him a little more money, and in terms of food, they also supplied Chen Fei with good food and drink, hoping he could withstand this intensity of pill refining.

At the same time, they also allowed Chen Fei to stop going to the medical center and instead refine pills in his own courtyard. They would come every day to deliver herbs and collect the pills.

At night, Chen Fei tiredly saw the Zhao Family's people off. The moment he closed the door, Chen Fei's back straightened normally, and the weariness on his face vanished without a trace.

To the outside world, the level Chen Fei displayed in refining Grass Return Pills was only Proficient Level, with an average pill yield. As a result, Chen Fei only needed to spend a little over two hours to complete that day's task, then pocket the remaining herbs for his own use.

Refining Grass Return Pills in large quantities had already raised the Light Spirit Pill's Proficiency to Perfected Level. After some more time, it would probably break through to Great Perfection.

This kind of life seemed not bad?

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

Recently, the Bone-Attached Gangrene on Chen Fei's arm had begun to become extremely active. This had happened once before, when he was pursuing Sun Shu, indicating that a Weird was nearby.

Chen Fei had recently been staying inside Pingyin County the entire time. There were clearly no Weirds around, yet the Bone-Attached Gangrene had nevertheless shown this kind of reaction. It made Chen Fei's heart tighten somewhat.

Chen Fei had even previously considered changing his appearance and sneaking into the Rebel Army, then using the chance to leave Pingyin County. In the end, he had not expected the Rebel Army to stop leaving, directly throwing Chen Fei's plan into chaos.

"Have the Weirds outside the city been increasing lately?" In the Black Market, Chen Fei looked at Chi Defeng and asked.

"Yes. Something's been off lately."

Chi Defeng nodded. These days, he could no longer hire Refugees to go outside the city. Aside from the noble families offering more money, many people no longer dared go to Pingyin Mountain.

The Rebel Army had organized men and entered Pingyin Mountain several times, but they had gained nothing.

"If this continues, something will happen, won't it?" Chen Fei said in a deep 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, then said.

"What's the price?"

"It definitely won't be cheap. You'll pay on-site when the time comes, and I reckon you'll get fleeced, so prepare yourself!"

"Okay!"

Chen Fei nodded, feeling slightly relieved. As long as he could leave, that was enough. As for money, he didn't dare claim he had a lot, but he should still be able to afford the travel expenses.

Chen Fei had stockpiled quite a number of Grass Return Pills by now, and was already planning to sell them in the Black Market. Judging by the current market price of pills, they had reached a relatively high point, so Chen Fei no longer needed to wait.

Recently, Chen Fei had also discovered a bizarre function of the Panel: it could store real silver and gold, but once the money went in, it could not be taken out. After recharging, there were no refunds; it could only be used for Simplification expenses.

It truly used wages to create happiness!