The boy came to his senses, urgency showing on his face. A gust stirred beneath his feet, and after a few flickers, he had crossed more than ten zhang and plunged into the wilderness.
Besides the main road, there was also a trail leading from here to town, though it took a slight detour.
Su Mu unleashed Startled Sparrow Steps without holding back. In an instant, his figure flashed along the mountain trail like a streak of light, moving so fast that fierce winds rushed in his wake.
Bang!
At such terrifying speed, the wine flask in his hand brushed lightly against branches by the roadside, then exploded with a crash. Wine sprayed through the air, and by the time it mingled with the rain and fell into the mud—
The figure on the trail had already vanished from where it stood, reappearing ten zhang away.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A string of wine flasks burst one after another. Su Mu could no longer spare them a thought. At that moment, all he could see in his mind were Uncle Li, Little Tiger, Master Zhou, and the others in Qingshui Town.
In the end, Su Mu instinctively wrapped his strength around the last flask. Protected by it, that final flask survived.
Traveling at full speed over a short distance, Su Mu outpaced even the Qingyun Army's warhorses and reached the outskirts of town first.
From higher ground, Su Mu saw the Qingyun Army pause briefly outside Qingshui Town before continuing south.
"Most likely, the Qingyun Army got bad information... Those rebel troops never attacked Qingshui Town, so the soldiers kept pursuing them."
As the thought crossed his mind, Su Mu let out a breath of relief.
After the Qingyun Army had gone, Su Mu emerged from the mountain trail. But when he was still half a li from the town gate, his face suddenly changed.
A sharp, salty stench, tinged with rust, drilled into his nose.
Su Mu knew the smell all too well by now. It was the stench of blood.
He took a step forward.
Crying and shouting drifted to his ears on the wind. Before he knew it, his fists were clenched tight.
"Everyone will be all right... They will!"
Bloodied corpses hung from the archway at the entrance to Qingshui Town. Their severed heads had been piled beneath it. Su Mu could almost remember everything he saw, and he recognized at a glance that they were all residents of Qingshui Town.
"The bun shop's helper."
"Madam Zhang from the tailor shop."
"The Old Physician from the Medicine Shop..."
For a moment, Su Mu felt dazed. He clearly remembered that when he left, the town had been peaceful and quiet. Yet in little more than ten days, he had returned to find it awash in blood, attacked by rebel troops.
The rain kept pattering down. Su Mu looked on as streams of blood washed along with the rain, flowing toward his feet.
A terrible foreboding flashed through his mind, and his heart grew heavy.
"May the dead rest in peace..."
Su Mu drew a deep breath, skirted the corpses, and hurried into Qingshui Town, his heart burning with worry.
A mother clutched her dead child and wailed. The shops around her had been reduced to wreckage, and piercing cries came from within them. The streets he had once known so well suddenly seemed utterly strange.
Splash.
Su Mu stepped onto the bluestone pavement, where rainwater mingled with blood. When he reached the Li Family Blacksmith Shop, his whole body trembled.
The Iron Shop's front doors, once standing firm, had been smashed apart and left collapsed. It looked as though someone had forced their way in from outside. The shop, too, reeked of blood.
"Who's there?"
Sensing Su Mu's approach, two wary shouts sounded from inside the shop. Two blacksmiths, soaked in blood and tense, their weapons in hand, cautiously leaned out from behind the doorway.
"You're Xiao Mu?!"
After recognizing him, the two men froze, then relaxed and let out long breaths.
"Xiao Mu, why are you back? Shouldn't you be in Qingyun City?"
Su Mu didn't answer their questions. He hurried into the shop, still clinging to a sliver of hope, and asked, "Uncle Li, Little Tiger, Master Zhou, and everyone else here... are they all right?"
"Xiao Mu's back?"
A familiar voice came from inside the shop, but it carried a note of grief. Li Tie, also covered in blood, walked out holding a long saber. His expression was heavy; the composure he usually carried was gone.
"Uncle Li."
Seeing that Li Tie was unharmed, Su Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Xiao Mu, come inside first..."
Li Tie looked at Su Mu and tried to force a smile, but he couldn't manage it. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then fell silent.
Noticing Uncle Li's expression, Su Mu's heart lurched. His dread grew stronger by the moment.
Once inside the shop, the stench of blood grew even more pungent. Su Mu looked closely and trembled all over. Several bodies lay amid the wreckage, every one of them someone he knew well.
They were all blacksmiths from the Iron Shop. Many had guided Su Mu when he was still an apprentice. Now, they were corpses.
Soon, Su Mu's pupils contracted. His empty left hand clenched into a fist with a sharp crack.
"Master Zhou?!"
Among the bodies lay a burly, middle-aged man. It was Zhou Shan, who had taught Su Mu the art of forging, given him the prescription for Three-Complete Body Strengthening Soup, and looked after him in so many ways.
"Can I take a look at this saber?"
"This is a prescription passed down in my family... You look a bit scrawny, kid. Try getting a few doses made from it when you get a chance..."
"This kid can't hold his liquor. That's enough for him."
Their faces and voices still lingered, and scenes from the past rose before Su Mu's eyes one after another. Their last parting had become a final farewell. His eyes reddened, and the last sliver of hope in his heart shattered.
"Uncle Li, can you tell me what happened?"
Su Mu noticed that Zhou Shan's body was covered in saber wounds, but none of them looked fatal. It seemed he had been tortured to death.
Li Tie ground his teeth. "That rebel army calling itself the Black Mountain Army came out of nowhere and attacked the town. They stormed in and started burning, killing, and looting without a word. We could only shut the shop doors, but the armored brute leading them smashed the doors apart with just a few punches."
"That man told us to go with him. The blacksmiths here would never follow a villain like that, so the armored brute seized Master Zhou and several others to force us to submit. Then, right in front of..."
"In front of everyone, he killed Master Zhou and the others. Luckily, word that the Qingyun Army was on its way frightened those rebels. They didn't bother with anything else and fled town."
The anger on Su Mu's face gradually subsided, but deep within him, an intense killing intent unlike anything he had ever felt surged to life.
The Black Mountain Army. Again, the Black Mountain Army!
"Alas, those blacksmiths had worked with me for nearly twenty years. Each of them had a family to care for. I've failed them. How can I ever face their parents, wives, and daughters again..."
Li Tie was consumed by remorse. He sighed again and again, his voice full of grief and fury.
"Rebel army, my ass! They're a bunch of beasts, worse than pigs and dogs. They're just a gang of bandits who deserve to die!"
One of the surviving blacksmiths cursed furiously from inside the shop.
"Isn't there an official government in town? Where were the soldiers? And what about the Black Tiger Gang, who collects protection money? Where were they?" Su Mu asked coldly.
"Alas, the officials and the Black Tiger Gang went out of town yesterday to suppress bandits. None of us expected those scoundrels to take advantage of the opening..."
One of the blacksmiths sighed.
The Black Tiger Gang had left town with the officials to suppress bandits, and then the Black Mountain Army had attacked right afterward?
Su Mu couldn't believe the world could produce such a coincidence. In an instant, he suspected that the Black Tiger Gang had colluded with the Black Mountain Army.
Just then, Su Mu suddenly remembered something. "Uncle Li, where's Brother Little Tiger?"
"Little Tiger's fine. He passed out in the room."
Thank goodness. Thank goodness!
It was a blessing amid misfortune. Su Mu immediately set down the pastries and the last flask of wine, then took several bottles of bruise medicine from inside his robe—the ones the Young Physician had given him before leaving town.
"Uncle Li, here's some bruise medicine. Please hand it out to the others first. Everyone should treat their wounds."
"All right."
Uncle Li took the medicine. Seeing Su Mu turn to leave the shop, he hurriedly called after him. "Xiao Mu, where are you going?"
"Uncle Li... I—I feel stifled. I'm going out for some air. I'll be back soon."
"All right. Just don't go far, Xiao Mu."
After leaving the shop, Su Mu went straight to the Black Tiger Gang's headquarters. Its members hadn't returned. He cast a cold glance at the intact gate, then headed for the entrance to town. No longer hiding the killing intent in his heart, he stared south.
"The Black Mountain Army... and the Black Tiger Gang. They all deserve to die!"
"The Qingyun Army went south earlier. I'll head south and take a look... Uncle Zhou, those blacksmiths from the shop can't have died for nothing. The Black Mountain Army will pay for this!"
Before you continue