Collective Burial, Steadiness First

The night passed, and dawn was not far off.

After a night of turmoil, Linyuan City finally settled down as dawn arrived.

Numerous Heaven and Earth Incense Cult bandits were all captured or executed.

In addition, two smaller Flying Head Zombies, whose Corpse Driver masters had lost control, were captured and imprisoned together, awaiting the arrival of the Demon Suppressing Division officials.

Although the disturbance stirred up by the Heaven and Earth Incense Cult's Corpse Drivers had been quelled, the city's residents had suffered greatly.

Besides some unfortunate wealthy gentry who were robbed of their wealth and lives, many innocent citizens also died at the hands of the bandits that night, and some young children were also caught up in it and lost their lives prematurely.

After Chu Ge's arms had stopped swelling, he heard the noise outside and immediately left his residence to investigate.

Steward Fu sighed, "Young Master, many people died last night. Some families were wiped out, leaving no one to bury them.

I heard that Magistrate Tian from the County Yamen is personally overseeing the burials despite his injuries, with the expenses covered by the yamen and personnel conscripted from the city to bury the bodies near Snake Coil Mountain outside the city. Magistrate Tian is truly a good man."

Aunt Li from the kitchen, her eyes red, said, "I went to the market and saw it. It was too tragic. Many children, not even as tall as a winnowing basket, were dismembered. Oh, it was so horrific, it broke my heart."

"If Magistrate Tian hadn't led people to fight back last night, I fear even more people would have died in the city now. Alas."

The servant Hei Gouzi chimed in, glancing at Chu Ge again, and grinned with his missing teeth, "We also have to thank Young Master. If you hadn't told us to hide, we might have been in danger too."

"Good deeds are rewarded, which is why we were lucky."

Chu Ge smiled and comforted everyone. As they spoke, their gazes turned to a house across the street.

Inside that house, a fat wealthy man was currently wailing heartbreakingly, not because his family members had died, but because the bandits had looted his home clean the previous night, sparing his life in exchange for his wealth.

Seeing this, Chu Ge couldn't help but feel a sense of shared experience.

Fortunately, Linyuan City had been looted twice, and none of his wealth had been stolen.

Instead, it had increased considerably during several counter-looting efforts.

Chaos!

Linyuan City was still too chaotic.

He needed to prepare to head to the Prefectural City as soon as possible.

Although he had heard news that many towns in Great Zhou had been plundered by evil cults, he hadn't heard of any Prefectural City being attacked yet.

Therefore, upon arriving at the Prefectural City, not only would he be able to obtain more resources, but he would also have a relatively safe and stable environment for cultivation.

If the sky were to fall, the taller ones would bear the brunt of it, which was better than living in constant fear in a small county town.

After all, if the sky fell on Linyuan City, it would either land on the heads of Tian Youji and Hu Xuezhi, or on his own head, the taller one. Sometimes, one was simply caught up in the currents of the world.

After eating breakfast back in his room, Chu Ge went out alone to the observation points where he had hung the Thousand Mile Kites yesterday and collected them one by one.

Along the way, he occasionally saw people washing away the bloodstains splattered on the streets with well water and heard the cries of men and women from the simple houses.

The dead, there were too many dead in one night.

Families with the means prepared funerals and burials for their loved ones themselves.

Those without the means carried the bodies on thin wooden stretchers.

Or transported them on carts to the west city gate, where they were handed over to the funeral teams hired by the yamen for unified transport and burial at Snake Coil Mountain outside the city.

Chu Ge occasionally stopped by the roadside, watching carts or stretchers depart amidst weeping and fluttering white streamers, and looking at the paper money scattered on the ground amidst the sewage and bloodstains.

He felt that Linyuan City, where he had lived for several years, had suddenly become both real and unfamiliar.

Perhaps for many whose families were torn apart, this city had also suddenly become unfamiliar.

Ordinary people lacked the strength to control their own destinies and protect their lives, so they could only be controlled by the strong.

In a world where martial power reigned supreme, once order and rules were trampled and destroyed, everything appeared cold and bloody.

"Strength. I am still weak, I must not be complacent or arrogant, and I must proceed with caution.

If I had rashly revealed my strength and stepped forward before, I might have been targeted by the Soul Chasing Old Man immediately. Who would have won, who would have lost, is still unknown."

"In the future, I must also maintain a steady mindset at all times. For matters that require stepping forward and being high-profile, I will do them under the guise of a porter."

Chu Ge pondered in his heart, reflecting on himself three times a day.

"Senior Brother Chu!"

Just then, a call came from the street nearby.

Chu Ge turned his head and saw a junior martial brother from the martial arts school, accompanied by two yamen runners and Miss Wang Xiuyun of the Wang Family.

"Chu Ge, you're here too. Looking at you, you didn't encounter any danger last night."

Wang Xiuyun, dressed in a green silk dress, graceful and slender, looked at Chu Ge's tall and sturdy figure with some surprise. She then glanced at the kite in his hand, looking somewhat bewildered.

Who exactly was this childhood friend of hers?

He had such a big heart.

After the turmoil of last night, with so many people dead, he still had the mood to fly a kite?

"I this..." Chu Ge raised the kite in his hand, unsure of what to say.

Wang Xiuyun, however, smiled beautifully and said first, "Magistrate Tian invited me to a house ahead to take a look. I heard that a mysterious expert made a move last night and helped resolve the powerful enemy."

"That expert, the one who saved me last time, Chu Ge, you should go take a look too!"

"Yeah, Senior Brother Chu, let's go take a look together."

A junior brother from the martial arts school chimed in, his gaze fixed on Chu Ge's sturdy, well-built figure with evident admiration.

News of Chu Ge already being a Bone Training Realm martial cultivator had spread like wildfire.

With such strength, he was considered top-tier in all of Linyuan City, and many of his fellow disciples at the Tiger Martial Arts School regarded him as their senior disciple.

"No need, I have other things to do. You all go ahead, and please send my regards to Lord Tian and thank him for dealing with the bandits yesterday."

Chu Ge smiled and politely declined the invitation.

He had just been to that place last night; what was the point of going again?

Did criminals like to linger at the scene of the crime to observe?

Although he wasn't a criminal, but rather one who punished evil and promoted good, it still felt rather strange.

Wang Xiuyun and the others didn't say much upon seeing this.

Before the martial arts school disciple left, he did offer a reminder: Hu Xuezhi had been severely injured, losing a section of his hand.

"Oh? Master Hu lost a section of his hand?"

Chu Ge stood rooted to the spot, watching Wang Xiuyun and the others depart, a flicker of surprise in his heart.

In the hurried glance he'd gotten last night, he hadn't noticed that Hu Xuezhi's hand was actually missing a piece.

Hu Xuezhi's Qi and Blood were already depleted; now with a section of his hand gone, he might be in danger of his realm falling within two years.

Chu Ge pondered for a moment, then continued along the city's bluestone path to collect a few more kites before changing course for the Tiger Martial Arts School.

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

Inside the Tiger Martial Arts School's building, the scent of medicine was strong.

Chu Ge looked at Hu Xuezhi's bandaged right hand and sighed, "Master, did you cut it off yourself?"

"Nonsense!"

Hu Xuezhi rolled his eyes and leaned back against the chair, his pale face creased into a wry smile. "I'm not that ruthless. Old Tian cut it off. That Flying Head Zombie is formidable. If you get bitten, and don't quickly sever your hand, the corpse poison will enter your body, and you'll lose more than just your hand."

As he spoke, he surprisingly took out a pipe, lit the tobacco, and began to smoke, puffing clouds of smoke.

Chu Ge asked in surprise, "And what about that Lord Lin...?"

Hu Xuezhi kicked off his shoes again and squatted on the chair, frowning. "He's not doing well. Unless the adults from the Demon Suppressing Division arrive quickly with good medicine... it's difficult."

"The corpse poison is that potent?"

Chu Ge was also shocked and felt a lingering fear.

Fortunately, he hadn't gotten into too much of a prolonged struggle with that Flying Head Zombie yesterday, nor had he been stingy with using the wine poison.

Otherwise, if he had been bitten too, he might only be able to bid himself farewell and offer himself as a sacrifice to the Dragon Bell to die with some dignity.

He chatted with Hu Xuezhi for a few more moments, his words filled with concern and flattery, thanking him for his valiant fight last night.

Hu Xuezhi, however, paused, his expression turning solemn, and asked if Chu Ge had seen a mysterious demon martial cultivator in the city.

"Demon martial cultivator? What is that? Like the snake-headed, snake-bodied, snake-skinned monster from the storytellers?"

Chu Ge's eyelids didn't even flutter. His eyes were vacant as he began his usual Oscar-worthy performance, completely feigning ignorance.

What demon martial cultivator, what porter senior—those were powerful big shots, unrelated to him, an ordinary young master from a wealthy family.

"Demon martial cultivators are very powerful, but most people in this group have their personalities twisted after being tainted by the blood of strange demons and devils. They are very evil. It's rare to find someone like the senior who acted last night, who upholds justice."

Hu Xuezhi said, exhaling a puff of smoke, and sighed. "Alas, if anyone is to be thanked, it's that senior. Otherwise, Old Tian and I would probably be in deep trouble this time. If you ever meet that senior in the future, kowtow a few times for me, your master."