People of the Martial World

After returning to town, Li Mo went to Jimin Hall. Several senior brothers chatting in the front hall all looked toward him, exchanged glances, and did not know what to say. Then Old Man Feng came over.

"Li Mo, come here."

"Yes."

Li Mo followed Old Man Feng into a room. Old Man Feng looked at him and said, "We have all heard about what happened to you."

Seeing that Li Mo was about to say something, Old Man Feng stopped him first.

He said calmly, "You are Zhang Dongliang's disciple. Old Zhang and I are considered close friends, so there are some things I must tell you. Those of us who study medicine must understand the way of life and death—it is a matter of survival and ruin. No matter what decision you make, you must first protect yourself wisely. As the saying goes, as long as the green hills remain, there will never be a shortage of firewood. Do you understand?"

Li Mo stared blankly at Old Man Feng.

"Thank you, Old Man Feng. I understand."

"Alas. Go on, then."

Over the next month, every village in Hua'an Town launched a rat extermination and epidemic prevention campaign.

Thus, the plague that had lasted nearly two months was swiftly wiped out by the villages of Hua'an Town. Li Mo also threw himself into the campaign. With his hands-on attitude toward everything, many villagers became deeply grateful to him.

People gradually returned to their normal lives.

Only during idle conversations after meals would people mention that inspector who rode a giant bird. He had eradicated the great evil spirit of the Tan River and protected the forty-eight villages along both banks. Meanwhile, the villages that worshipped mountain gods had remained safe and sound.

Yet during this past month,

the senior brothers at Jimin Hall could all faintly sense the surging waves beneath Li Mo's seemingly calm exterior.

"If you ask me, we should transfer Little Mo away from here for a while. I heard Quhe Town was hit by disaster too, even worse than here. Why not send him to Jimin Hall in Quhe Town to settle his mind?"

"Staying here, seeing things and thinking of old feelings, he may not say anything, but all that pent-up grief will make him sick."

"Exactly. Some people said that while traveling, he would suddenly leap up for no reason or wave tree branches around wildly. I think he has probably already... alas."

"There is something else. Squire Zhao told me that he actually asked around about how to become a cultivator, asking where he could find a master. How would people in a small place like ours know anything about immortal mountains or sacred lands? He cannot really believe there is some River God Palace, can he..."

"No! He cannot go to Quhe Town yet!"

Ding Jie said in a low voice, "Have you not heard? Ever since Quhe Town suffered disaster, bandits have been everywhere. It lies right beside the Eighteen Mountains. Its security is nothing like Hua'an Town's. I think we should wait a while longer."

After October passed, the weather gradually turned colder.

That day,

Li Mo was returning from a house call. As he hurried along, he practiced Leap, Backward Flash, and Left-Right Sway to strengthen his body and maximize the power of every sword move in Three-Way Swordplay.

He suddenly stopped on a small mountain path in the wilderness and looked up at the sky.

There was a blood-red sunset filled with chill, emanating an indescribable taboo and ill omen. Dark crimson afterglow like fresh blood spread across the heavens, and from the depths where light and darkness met in the sky seeped an aura that was terrifying and unsettling.

"Is it Xi Time?"

Only then did Li Mo realize that it was You Time again—or rather, Sunset Taboo Time.

He was about to open the oil-paper umbrella he carried with him when he suddenly noticed the deepest darkness in the sky. Within that heart-pounding darkness seemed to be an unimaginably vast abyssal maw, ready to swallow heaven and earth whole. The sky itself twisted strangely, as though something wanted to break through the fragile restrictions there and enter this world.

Li Mo's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the anomaly.

Within the darkness, an immense, twisted, hazy monstrous shadow gradually appeared. It was far beyond the end of the setting sun, yet it seemed even larger than the sun itself. It was filled with darkness, distortion, slickness, terror, and despair. It possessed both the terrifying enormity of something real and the twisted, blurred shadow of something unreal. From that hazy black shape seemed to stretch countless slick, twisted tentacles, constantly trying to touch the earth.

It seemed to be searching for something, yet could not find it no matter what. The heavens were filled with a suffocating pressure of agitation, terror, despair, madness, and insanity.

Li Mo felt his soul trembling, his body shaking, his blood nearly frozen solid.

A visible layer of goosebumps rose over his skin. His chest bore immense pressure, as though even breathing had become a luxury.

The air around him was like a dark deep sea, dragging him toward an abyss of despair.

The violent mental shock made him want to scream, but he discovered that he did not even dare make a sound. He feared it would draw the attention of that indescribable colossal thing.

Just as Li Mo felt he was about to descend into madness, the corner of his eye caught sight of shadows of other colossal entities at the farther end of the darkness. At that moment, the sunset's afterglow gradually vanished, and those horrifying sights slowly disappeared into the dark.

It all seemed to have been nothing but an illusion.

"It was not alone."

Li Mo's body could finally move again. He gasped heavily, recalling the mad hunter's words as a bead of cold sweat slowly trickled down his forehead.

"Were those the terrifying things he spoke of? They truly were mad enough to drive one to despair—beyond all remedy."

After catching his breath for a while, Li Mo's gaze gradually regained its cold calm.

His fear ebbed away like the tide.

"There truly are no so-called immortals in this world. Otherwise, how could they allow things like that to appear in the sky? Even the River God of the Tan River was merely a monster that spread plague. In the end, I can only rely on myself."

A month later, it was mid-November.

On a moonless night with high winds, Li Mo arrived at the agreed location.

About a quarter of an incense stick later, a figure slowly approached and looked at him.

"Kongzi?"

Li Mo immediately frowned at those words.

"Xiāngjiā? Why is it a woman?"

This was a simple underworld cant: the other party was asking whether Li Mo was an outsider, and Li Mo indicated that he knew some martial arts and belonged to the inner circle.

The female swordswoman dressed in black unexpectedly spoke in a bewitching, soul-stirring voice.

"The martial world does not distinguish between men and women. There are only the living and the dead."

Li Mo took a deep breath, then nodded. "I want to kill several people. Name your price."

"I did not come for money."

Li Mo's brow furrowed even deeper.

"Then what did you come for?"

"You."

"Me?"

Confusion appeared on Li Mo's face. The woman in black chuckled. "A doctor in the Eighteen Mountains is as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. As long as you are willing to join us, I will give you enough status and respect."

"I will not become a bandit."

The woman continued to smile softly. "I will not force you. Since you practice martial arts, you have entered the martial world. One day, you will no longer be able to endure this place. When that time comes, you will come find me on your own."

"Since you do not want money, then leave."

The two of them hurried toward Shanbei Village together.

As they walked, the female swordswoman asked, "Why do you want to kill them?"

A fierce glint appeared in Li Mo's eyes.

"Because I have fallen ill. It is an illness of the heart, and only the medicine for the heart can cure it. I need their lives as the catalyst for my medicine."

There was no night watchman in the village, and the villagers had gone to sleep early.

Li Mo and the female swordswoman arrived before the former Land God Temple. It was now mid-November, and nearly half a year had passed since Xiao Man's death. Looking at the three brick-and-tile houses, already taking shape where the Land God Temple had once stood, his heart felt as though it were being twisted by knives.

"Here."

The female swordswoman nodded and was about to head over when Li Mo stopped her.

"Wait."

The female swordswoman turned back, looking puzzled.

Li Mo said calmly, "Perhaps I did not make myself clear earlier. I want to do it myself. If I cannot manage it, then you can finish the job. In any case, not a single one can be left alive. They all must die!"

A flicker of surprise appeared between the female swordswoman's brows.

So she was only here as insurance against accidents. What a meticulous fellow.

The two came outside a courtyard, leaped up, and easily landed atop the wall. Yet before they could observe the place carefully, a dog began barking incessantly inside the courtyard.

Li Mo instinctively tensed.

In his urgency, he swiftly leaped down. His movements were nimble and flowing as he rushed forward in quick strides. His sword rose and fell, his action as smooth as drifting clouds and flowing water. The yellow guard dog died on the spot.

Li Mo stood where he was, breathing heavily in low gasps. His heart hammered violently, and sweat soaked his palms.

The female swordswoman gave him a gesture of praise from atop the wall, but a solemn look flickered in her eyes. Judging from this man's footwork and sword techniques, he did not seem like some nobody on the brink of obscurity. What was going on?

Before she could think further, she heard a commotion from inside the house.

This was clearly Zhao Siman's third uncle's family, awakened by the barking outside.

The female swordswoman had just landed soundlessly from the wall when she saw Li Mo charge straight into the room through the window without the slightest hesitation.

Her mouth fell slightly open, and a grave expression appeared between her brows.

For someone so decisive and ruthless, where would he need her to deliver a finishing blow?

"Just who is this fellow? Did the intermediary not say he was merely a Traveling Doctor who had only recently come of age and possessed decent medical skills?"

The female swordswoman could almost conclude that this man's martial arts had barely reached the level of a second-rate martial artist. He merely lacked experience in the martial world.

But killing people was not the same as killing dogs.

Once he crossed that line, he would be stained with Sha Qi. From then on, he would be a person of the martial world, unable to act entirely of his own will.

"Who is it?!"

Zhao Siman's third aunt lit an oil lamp and looked toward the figure, her eyes filled with terror. None of her usual arrogance remained.

"Little Mo?"

Zhao Siman's third uncle wore a somewhat twisted expression. With his back against the wall, he forced himself to remain calm.

"What is it, coming here so late?"

Li Mo acted decisively, without the slightest trace of hesitation.

After a brief burst of screams, the room fell silent. Li Mo felt none of the discomfort of fear, panic, or confusion. He had waited far too long for this moment.

"Hehe, how does it feel?"

the female swordswoman asked from behind him.

Li Mo gently wiped his sword, his expression exceptionally calm.

"Two more households."

The smile on the female swordswoman's face instantly froze.

Naturally, Li Mo had not forgotten that Zhao Siman's death had not only been caused by her third uncle's family, but also by her eldest uncle's family and youngest uncle's family. Those two households had also built brick-and-tile houses atop the former Land God Temple. All of it had come at the cost of Xiao Man's life. They all deserved to die!

Li Mo walked out of the room and headed toward the homes of Zhao Siman's eldest uncle and fourth uncle.

The female swordswoman curled her lips. She knew she had completely become a decoration, and followed after him in boredom.

Several egg-laying hens inside a cage clucked without stopping. Li Mo casually slaughtered them all before heading to another courtyard.

After the three courtyards had all been settled, Li Mo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt that every breath of air was exceptionally fresh now.

After a long while, he turned to the female swordswoman.

"I still do not know your name."

"Take it."

Wanted: Jade Fox Wang Ying of Northern Peace City, Muzhou. Proficient in Bewitching Art and once the leading courtesan of Misty Rain House. Three months after being redeemed by a wealthy merchant from Tong Prefecture, she slaughtered the merchant's entire household of thirty-seven. Later, she bewitched multiple constables, martial artists, and escort guards into becoming bandits. Her crimes are unforgivable. Anyone who captures her and brings her to justice may claim a reward of two hundred taels of silver in any prefecture or county of Muzhou.

"Jade Fox Wang Ying."

Li Mo said in a low voice, "So you want to add one more doctor after the constables, martial artists, and escort guards on this wanted notice?"

Wang Ying gave a soft, seductive laugh.

"Young brother, I will wait for you at Black Mountain Cliff in the Eighteen Mountains."

As the female swordswoman departed into the distance, Li Mo suddenly leaped up and climbed toward the top of the steep cliff.

Over the past few months, he had not done nothing. Aside from relying on Mystic Dream to practice martial arts constantly, he had piled up a great number of stones on the cliff, using them to strengthen his martial arts and movement techniques. It was precisely through such extreme training that he had made astonishing progress in only four or five months.

Rumble!

Great swathes of mountain rocks crashed down from above, completely burying the Zhao family's three courtyards.