Return

After the war, Qingya County's walls were blackened, its gates damaged. Smoke stains were everywhere, and corpses lay scattered about. Vultures feeding on carrion could be seen atop the trees and city walls. Having eaten human flesh, these vicious birds no longer feared people. Squatting in corners, they watched the refugees below with scarlet eyes, their gazes like they were inspecting food. From time to time, they let out harsh caws, making people's hearts tremble.

Chen Luo returned under cover of night.

After breaking through to the Bone Forging Realm, sneaking back into Qingya County had become extremely easy.

Perhaps because the "bandit suppression" had already ended, the soldiers guarding the checkpoints were no longer as vigilant as before. He encountered no trouble on his way back.

Under the cover of night, Chen Luo hid in a secluded spot, searching for an opportunity to slip into the city.

Soldiers patrolled the recently repaired wall. Since the war had only just ended and no final conclusion had been reached, Qingya County remained under military control.

"The shift change is almost here."

Chen Luo silently counted in his heart.

He had not been watching for so long just to enjoy the show. He had been observing the soldiers' shift-changing pattern.

Sure enough, before long, the soldiers coming off shift arrived. While the two chatted, Chen Luo's figure flashed, and he swiftly slipped beneath the city wall. This was the very breach through which they had escaped to heaven that day. After Qingya County fell, there were even more damaged sections along the wall. A breach like this was not conspicuous at all in the current Qingya County.

Perhaps these soldiers also knew what sort of business they were doing. They looked relaxed throughout, and their vigilance was merely for show, allowing Chen Luo to blend into the city with ease.

The moment he crawled into the breach, a foul stench rushed into his face.

Several charred corpses lay inside with twisted, horrifying expressions. They were the beggars they had encountered while escaping that day. Just that, they had been living people then; now, all were corpses.

From their charred, taut, stiffened arms, it was clear that they had suffered unimaginable torment before death.

"Rest well."

Chen Luo murmured in his heart.

He stepped around the scorched corpses, then flipped over and slipped into the city.

The inner city's defenses were even more lax. Hardly anyone could be seen on the streets.

Compared to the Qingya County of the past, the present Qingya County was like a land of death, withering everywhere. At a glance, not even a few lamps could be seen. Beside some burned-out houses, homeless civilians wept.

After the calamity of war, it was still the common people who suffered.

Chen Luo did not consider himself some excessively good person, but the sight still made fury rise in his chest.

Could those who slaughtered unarmed civilians still be called human?

Suppressing his anger, Chen Luo headed toward the alley entrance according to his memories.

He planned to go back and take a look first. They had left in a hurry that day. After he and Third Uncle dealt with Eunuch Wei's corpse, the two had rolled up their bedding and run away. Returning now would let him know whether anyone had come looking afterward. If someone had visited, it meant the matter was not over, and he would need to be even more careful. If no one had come, it meant the matter was over, and he could boldly do what he wanted.

For instance, taking Qingya County's magistrate's head!

The power of the Bone Forging Realm gave him that confidence. As the saying went: with a sharp weapon in hand, the desire to kill arose of itself!

Right now, Chen Luo truly wanted to kill someone.

Along the way, Chen Luo saw corpses laid outside several homes. There were men and women, but even more elderly people and children. As for the houses, many had been burned down in the blaze. Much of the black smoke he and Third Uncle had seen at Fierce Tiger Stockade had risen from burning residential houses.

"Why are you crying? You filthy bitch, you dare resist? Are you trying to become a Rebel?"

A voice suddenly rang out.

Looking into the distance, he saw two drunken soldiers dragging a girl from within a burned residential house. She looked only twelve or thirteen. Under the soldiers' pulling, terror filled her childish face. Her hands clutched the door plank tightly as tears streamed down her cheeks.

The surrounding civilians' faces were almost entirely filled with fear.

Not one person dared to step forward and speak. Those who had dared to stand up at the beginning were already dead.

They had become these soldiers' military achievements.

In other words, "Rebels."

"What are you dawdling for? If you ask me, we should just do this slut right here in the street." The other soldier grew impatient and staggered two steps forward.

"Good idea! Do it right in the street."

The two men, already drunk beyond north, south, east, and west, simultaneously revealed lecherous expressions. One of them even began untying his belt. The other stepped forward, pinned the little girl down, and began tearing at her clothes.

Bang!!

A black brick flew violently from behind. Before the soldier holding down the girl's limbs could react, he saw a brick slap into him from the side.

The brick, infused with Internal Qi, was like the front of a train. It smashed away half of the man's head. His brain burst, and blood sprayed everywhere.

The remaining half of the corpse was sent flying on the spot, crashing into the wall behind him.

After kicking twice, he stopped breathing.

Chen Luo, hidden in the shadows, finally could not endure it any longer. In his eyes, letting such beasts live one more second was a desecration of the world. After confirming there were no other enemies on the street, he picked up a brick beside a broken wall and slapped it straight toward the man's face.

He did not even use martial arts.

Using martial arts to kill this sort of person would have been an insult. A brick was just right.

"Who!!"

The soldier untying his belt jumped in fright, his drunkenness instantly gone. He instinctively grabbed the weapon beside him and turned around. But before he could turn fully around, the bloodstained brick slapped over again. The light dimmed, then his head buzzed, and after that, he lost all consciousness.

The second corpse rolled away, smashing into the rear wall and splattering red and white everywhere. He was dead beyond dead.

With Chen Luo's current strength, killing these two soldiers was like crushing ants. There was no possibility of failure.

"Shut the door tight. Leave the city after dawn. There's a breach west of the city. You should know where it is."

Chen Luo glanced at the terrified girl, left those words behind, and turned to leave. In the nearby rooms, some civilians who had been peeking at the situation immediately shrank back when they detected his gaze, each of them hiding inside and trembling.

Chen Luo did not concern himself with these people. He could not possibly take care of them all.

Before long, he arrived at the alley entrance.

This was where Third Uncle's home was. At this hour in the past, Old Man Liu would already have opened up to set up his stall. But now the entire place had been burned down. Old Man Liu's noodle stall cart had been dismantled, and several unattended corpses had collapsed among the noodle stall's frame, giving off a thick, putrid stench.

Entering the alley, Chen Luo saw a familiar face after only a few steps.

A hunched old man was burning paper there, and someone lay inside a straw mat before him.

These two were Old Man Liu and his wife, who had once set up stalls at the alley entrance. The one burning paper was Old Man Liu. His leg had been crippled and simply bandaged. The wound had already scabbed over, its color blackened.

Lying on the mat was Old Man Liu's wife, Auntie Wang, who sold breakfast at the alley entrance. Every time Chen Luo went to buy soy milk and buns, Auntie Wang would give him one for free, saying that he looked very much like her son.

"Chunhua, it's because I'm useless. I'm a coward, I'm incapable. You suffered with me your whole life and never had even a single good day."

Old Man Liu had not noticed anyone arriving behind him. He continued speaking before the corpse.

It was as though the old man's Essence, Qi, and Spirit had all been drained away. In an instant, he had aged greatly.

If there were not still a woman for him to care for, he would most likely have gone with his old partner.