When the state prospers, the people suffer; when the state collapses, the people suffer.

On the streets of Blackwater City, Lin Guanhuo and a few others slowly advanced, driving the Corpse Carriage.

People on the street, upon seeing them, showed looks of disgust.

To ease the oppressive atmosphere.

Xu Dadao looked at the grand entrance of a martial arts hall in the distance: "Hey, what do you guys think? Wouldn't it be great if we could practice martial arts? If we became Martial Artists, we wouldn't have to do this job of moving dead people."

"Dream on," Li Hu said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Do you know how much the tuition is for the smallest martial arts hall in the city for a year? Ten taels of silver! And that's just for stance training! If you want to learn real skills, you can't get in without tens of taels of silver. We work as Laborers for a year, and we'd be lucky to save two taels of silver."

"Tens of taels..." Xu Dadao clicked his tongue. "That would take me twenty years of not eating or drinking."

Lin Guanhuo pushed the cart, silently listening to the two chat.

Tens of taels of silver was a lifetime's savings for ordinary people.

Without money, without resources, it was harder than climbing to heaven for ordinary people to cross class boundaries and become Martial Artists.

Moreover, even if one had money, one might not pass the test of talent.

Just then.

"Sir... please be kind... spare some food..."

A small figure was huddled in a corner by the roadside.

It was a little girl, only seven or eight years old, holding a broken bowl in her hands, shivering in the cold wind.

Passersby hurried along, most of them ignoring her, some even showing disgust and uttering harsh words.

"Get lost! Don't block the way!"

"Scram, scram, scram~ Go away~ Begging from me??"

A portly merchant passed by, kicked away the outstretched broken bowl, and said with disgust, "Where did this little beggar come from? So dirty!"

The little girl didn't complain, she just quietly walked to the side, picked up the broken bowl, and continued to beg.

"Big brother... I'm hungry... can you give me some food..." The girl came to Lin Guanhuo's side.

Xu Dadao and Li Hu beside him felt some sympathy for the girl, but their pockets were empty. Even they themselves couldn't fill their stomachs.

At this moment, they could only sigh. Lin Guanhuo's footsteps paused slightly.

He looked at the little girl, as if seeing himself who had almost starved to death shortly after transmigrating here a few months ago.

In this cannibalistic world, kindness was the cheapest thing, and the easiest thing to get oneself killed.

But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to be as numb as the local natives.

Lin Guanhuo reached into his robes and pulled out half a piece of coarse dry ration he hadn't finished eating.

While no one was paying attention, he quietly slipped it into the little girl's dirty, tattered bowl.

"Eat quickly," he said in a low voice.

The little girl froze for a moment, then clutched the dry ration tightly, as if afraid someone would snatch it away. She shoved it into her mouth frantically, mumbling through mouthfuls, "Thank you, big brother... thank you, big brother..."

Lin Guanhuo didn't linger, pushing the cart forward.

"Brother Lin, you're too kind," Xu Dadao, standing beside him, sighed as he witnessed the scene. "There are beggars all over the street. You can save one, but you can't save them all."

Lin Guanhuo didn't say much. He didn't have the heart of a Bodhisattva to save everyone from suffering. He just happened to have some dry rations on him.

Li Hu gave him a thumbs-up from the side, exclaiming, "Brother Lin, you're a man of principle! I saw it last time with Zhou Kai's incident. Everyone else avoided him, but only you dared to collect his body. You're the best!"

"This chaotic world turns people into demons. We laborers have hardened hearts, but you're the only one who still treats people like people."

As the three were talking, the crowd ahead suddenly stirred.

"Make way! Everyone, make way!"

"Civilians, get out of the way!"

A flurry of urgent hoofbeats accompanied by shouts approached.

Several burly men in tight-fitting clothes, with long sabers at their waists, rode tall steeds and brandished their whips, forcing their way through.

"Slap!"

A whip cracked against the ground, splashing up a spray of snow.

Street vendors, pedestrians, and beggars alike scrambled to the sides, terrified of being whipped if they were too slow.

Lin Guanhuo and the other two, pushing their heavy corpse cart, were also squeezed into a corner by the crowd.

In the center of the street, a luxurious convoy slowly drove by. Only wealthy families had such grandeur.

Especially the banners hanging from the carriages in the convoy, bearing a huge character 'Luo', attracted countless gazes.

"That's..."

"The Luohe Martial Arts School's convoy??"

"As expected of one of the top powers in our region... so impressive."

Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd.

The Luohe Martial Arts School was extremely famous locally. It was said that even the County Magistrate of Blackwater County would visit the Luohe Martial Arts School whenever he encountered any difficult problems.

As the carriage passed in front of Lin Guanhuo, a slender, delicate hand gently lifted a corner of the curtain embroidered with gold thread.

Revealed was the profile of a young girl.

The girl looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, with skin as white as snow and features as exquisite as a painting.

She merely glanced indifferently at the scenery outside the window, her eyes clear, cold, and arrogant, as if the frozen corpses and beggars by the roadside were merely weeds in her eyes, unable to stir even the slightest ripple.

The Eldest Daughter of the Luohe Martial Arts School, Luo Ziyan.

"Holy cow... this woman is really something!"

Xu Dadao, huddled in the corner, stared with wide eyes and couldn't help but swallow. "If I could marry her, I'd gladly live ten years less! Not only would I win a beauty, but I'd also inherit the Luohe Martial Arts School's vast fortune and become a person of status overnight!"

"Dream on!" Li Hu, standing beside him, slapped the back of his head and sneered, "Why don't you take a look at yourself in a puddle? She's a Phoenix from the heavens, and we're rats in a gutter. She'd find it dirty just to glance at us!"

Xu Dadao rubbed his head and chuckled foolishly, "Can't I even dream? What if a blind cat stumbles upon a dead mouse?"

"What if she has a peculiar taste and likes someone like me??" Xu Dadao said with an air of great understanding, "I've heard that these young masters and ladies from wealthy families have quite unique tastes!"

Meanwhile, Luo Ziyan, inside the luxurious carriage, merely took a glance.

Then, she lowered the curtain and said indifferently, "Hurry up, this batch of medicinal herbs needs to be transported back as soon as possible."

As she spoke, the convoy immediately increased its speed.

Lin Guanhuo stood in the shadows, watching the scene with no discernible emotion.

On one side, a wealthy young lady from a prominent family, adorned in fine clothes and riding in a luxurious carriage pulled by a fine horse, with guards who were all vigorous Martial Artists.

On the other side, beggars who would kowtow for a mouthful of stale bread and could freeze to death by the roadside at any moment.

This was the Great Yan Dynasty, this was Blackwater City.

When the dynasty prospers, the common people suffer.

When it falls, the common people suffer just the same!

Lin Guanhuo remained silent, merely gripping the handles of the corpse cart tighter.

The craving for power, at this moment, was stronger than ever before.

"Let's go."

When Lin Guanhuo and the others returned to the Miscellaneous Room Courtyard, dusk was approaching.

Before they even entered, they heard a noisy commotion from the front courtyard.

Interspersed with the muffled thuds of fists and feet colliding, and the cries of women.

"They're fighting! They're fighting!"

A group of Laborers surrounded the center of the courtyard, craning their necks to watch the spectacle.