Road Ahead

"Royal Uncle!"

He Min, who had chased out after him, happened to run into Wang Dajiang at the entrance. When she saw a familiar face, delight appeared on her face.

When she had been captured by Imperial Court experts earlier, she had thought she was doomed.

Who would have thought that after going inside and sleeping through it all, everything would be resolved when she woke up? The enemies who had captured her were all dead, killed by the Senior Brother Apprentice she had only met once. This Senior Brother Apprentice was so absurdly strong that even now, she still felt as though none of it was real.

"Xiaomin, you're out?"

Hearing her voice, Wang Dajiang's face also filled with delight.

"How is it inside? Where's Eldest Brother? Why didn't he come out with you?"

"Inside..."

He Min recalled the hellish scene in the courtyard and, for a moment, did not know how to describe it.

"Did something happen to Eldest Brother?"

Wang Dajiang immediately grew anxious. Seeing He Min's expression, he thought Eldest Brother had been killed.

"No, my dad is fine."

"He's locked in the prison. Royal Uncle, come with me!"

Coming back to her senses, He Min immediately turned and led Wang Dajiang toward the County Yamen's prison. At that moment, the other women also chased out. Seeing He Min turn back, each of them revealed puzzled expressions. But under these circumstances, they did not dare act alone, so they could only follow the two of them toward the prison.

Chen Luo naturally had no idea that he had forgotten to rescue anyone. But he had killed almost everyone inside, so it was best to leave the remaining trifles to the Sha Lake Gang.

After leaving the County Yamen, he quickly returned to the He Family courtyard.

"Back?"

Crippled Ma was still sitting in the courtyard.

After the earlier slaughter, this place was extremely safe now. Even the soldiers searching the streets had not come here to cause trouble. When "searching for people," they had instinctively avoided this area. The other Sha Lake Gang members had gone to the County Yamen to rescue people after confirming it was safe. Judging by the time, they should have arrived by now.

"I ran into a little trouble, but fortunately, it's all been resolved."

Chen Luo did not go into detail about the process.

In any case, the people who needed killing had been killed, and the people who needed saving had been saved. Today's objective could be considered accomplished.

"What are you planning to do next?"

Crippled Ma glanced at his disciple and asked.

No matter what secrets Chen Luo carried, Crippled Ma still saw him as his disciple. As a senior figure of the martial world, he felt it necessary to point his disciple down the right road with his experience, so Chen Luo would not repeat his old path and waste his years away.

"I haven't decided yet, but I definitely won't stay in Qingya County."

Chen Luo truly had not thought it through.

He had now cultivated the Black Tiger Fist to great mastery. The martial arts Crippled Ma had imparted to him only went this far at most. He had no clue about the realms beyond.

Even his master, Crippled Ma, had never seen them.

He only knew there were higher realms, but he did not know exactly what they were. He had merely vaguely heard rumors of a "Grandmaster."

At the end of the day, the Black Tiger Fist was only a low-level martial art. If he wanted to enter the Dao through Martial Arts, relying on one Black Tiger Fist was unrealistic. Having reached this point, Chen Luo naturally understood that the immortal tales Crippled Ma had told him when he had first started practicing fist techniques were meant to encourage people.

The true Black Tiger Fist could not reach that step.

"Leaving Qingya County is the right choice. The enemies you faced this time were merely arranged on a whim by those Important Figures. If they notice you, the enemies who come afterward will not be so easy to deal with. Although you've broken through to Bone Forging, the Bone Forging Realm is still not enough to roam unhindered in the Yue Kingdom. As far as I know, there are experts in the Capital City who surpass the Bone Forging Realm."

As he said this, Crippled Ma seemed to recall events from his youth. After considering it, he told Chen Luo every rumor he had heard.

"If I could have understood this when I was young, I wouldn't have fallen into this state."

When he was young, Crippled Ma had once been a Heavenly Talent of his region. He had reached the Bone Forging Realm at a young age, his pride boundless and his heart higher than the heavens. Unfortunately, he had failed to see his own place clearly and offended people he should not have offended. In the end, all his relatives around him died, and even he had nearly perished in the wilds. If Chen Laosan had not been bold enough to drag him out of that pile of corpses, the grass on his grave would already be ten feet high.

After that incident, the spirited young expert had died.

The one who remained alive was merely a useless cripple.

"I'm planning to return to Chen Family Village first. I was forced to flee north earlier and didn't even go home. I don't know how my father and the others are doing."

While Chen Luo spoke, he was pondering something else.

He intended to inquire about that mysterious "mine." Something that could make even kings and nobles have their hearts moved and turn against each other was certainly no simple thing.

The garrison forces of Qingya County had just been wiped out by him. If he did not seize the chance to do something, would those people not have died for nothing? He also needed to study the Jade Slip he had seized from General Fan.

Chen Luo thought of Third Uncle.

As an experienced corpse burier, he certainly knew Qingya County's hidden terrain and the areas most likely to conceal mines better than anyone.

Earlier, he had asked Third Uncle to return to Chen Family Village ahead of him to report that they were safe.

He himself had remained behind to deal with Qingya County's affairs. Now that he was finished dealing with them, it was time to go back. He could also ask Third Uncle for advice along the way.

"Go without worry. I'll make things clear to the Sha Lake Gang people here. They'll clean up the aftermath."

Crippled Ma patted Chen Luo on the shoulder, rose to his feet, and walked into the house.

That was where the conversation between master and disciple ended.

Chen Luo did not linger. After resting for a moment, he left the city overnight.

The night passed without incident.

Nothing unexpected happened on the road. By the time dawn was just beginning to break, Chen Luo had already returned to Chen Family Village.

The location of Chen Family Village was not some prosperous land, but a genuine remote and backward place.

Back then, it was because they could no longer survive that dad had sent him into the city to seek refuge with Third Uncle. Chen Laosan, who scraped along at the very bottom in the city, was a man of the hour in the shabby place that was Chen Family Village. When Chen Luo had first entered the city to seek refuge with Third Uncle, he too had been full of dreams. Unfortunately, Third Uncle later buried all those dreams in the dirt with a shovel.

"You brat, you're finally back!"

The moment he reached the village entrance, Chen Luo saw Third Uncle.

For the past few days, Chen Laosan had basically kept watch here every morning at daybreak. Chen Luo had been lost under his care, so naturally he had to take responsibility for finding him.

"Third Uncle."

Warmth rose in Chen Luo's heart. Only a place where someone cared about you could truly be called home.

Although Chen Laosan was unreliable on his lips in ordinary times, his feelings for Chen Luo, his nephew, were absolutely genuine.

"You weren't hurt, were you?"

Chen Laosan looked Chen Luo up and down. Only after confirming that he was uninjured did he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Ever since he had parted from Chen Luo last time, he had been unable to set his mind at ease. Now, the heart that had been hanging in the air could finally be put down. Once the Sha Lake Gang dealt with the city's affairs cleanly, this matter would be settled. Eunuch Wei and the other important figures surely would not mention a minor figure like Chen Laosan when reporting to Prince Ning. If they truly reported the situation that way, they would not need to keep making a living under the Prince.

Still, out of caution, Chen Luo gave Chen Laosan an idea and told him to develop somewhere else.

Yanhu County, where the two of them had fled for their lives before, was quite good.

There were no special mineral deposits, the place was not large, and Leader Cai and the others could lend support from the mountains. Life would certainly be safer than it was around Qingya County.

Once the day was fully bright.

News of Chen Luo's return to the village naturally caused another great stir. Father, Chen Dachuan, was so happy that he drank an extra cup of wine, while Mother held Chen Luo and spoke to him at length. Little sister, who was still too young to understand anything, lay crying on the earthen kang bed, likely frightened by the strangers in the house.

Chen Luo stayed in the village for a full three days. Only after news arrived from the Sha Lake Gang and confirmed that everything was calm and peaceful did he choose to leave.

This time, he planned to find a place to properly study the Jade Slip in General Fan's possession, while also excavating that mysterious mine. Over the past three days, he had inquired with Third Uncle about several suspicious areas. He had even used General Fan's way of thinking to investigate the surrounding region, only setting out after making certain there were no mistakes.

It just so happened that Prince Ning's follow-up forces had not yet arrived, and Qingya County was in a power vacuum, its interior thrown into utter chaos.

As he left Chen Family Village, Chen Luo touched the Jade Slip in his robes.

He had a premonition that this Jade Slip might very well be his chance to rewrite his life.