Earthlight

The salve Elder Wu had sent over was indeed effective. For the past few days, Qin Fang had applied it to his sunburned skin every day. It felt cool and slick when spread over him, and after just a few days, the condition of the burned skin had visibly improved.

Though he still had a long way to go before he could be called "fair-skinned," at least all the dead skin had peeled away... It was only a matter of time before he fully recovered.

Don't underestimate skin problems.

Though people in this world generally had rather rough skin... the extensive sunburn suffered by refugees exposed to the sun continuously for just a few months was vastly different from the weathered skin ordinary people developed over years.

And that was one of the main reasons the "refugee stench" on Qin Fang was so strong.

Once his skin issues were resolved, the "refugee stench" on him would not be nearly so pronounced.

When he went out then, people presumably would not immediately recognize him as a refugee.

Just like that, more than ten days slipped by in the blink of an eye.

During that time, Elder Wu did not come again, as though he had forgotten Qin Fang.

Qin Fang was not in a hurry either. Over those ten-odd days, he had not stepped outside the courtyard gate even once, spending every day throwing Flying Darts in the yard.

The wounds at his waist and shoulder had visibly healed further during that time... The wounds had begun to itch, and the scabs were already starting to fall off. Unless he pressed down hard, he could barely feel any pain.

As for the soles of his feet, they had long since formed thick calluses and no longer hurt at all.

...For injuries like these to heal completely in just over twenty days showed how astonishingly effective that black salve was.

Elder Wu's medical skill was plain to see.

No wonder he held such an extraordinary position in True Martial County.

With no one to talk to over the past ten-odd days, Qin Fang had received no news from outside and did not know what had happened after the refugees rebelled.

He still cared somewhat... Had those refugees stormed the villages and market towns around True Martial County? Or had they already been suppressed?

...With a refugee uprising on such a large scale, surely the Great Yu court could not simply turn a blind eye?

If the True Martial authorities lacked the power to suppress the unrest, they would certainly send troops from elsewhere to put it down.

But in the end, he did not dwell on it.

It had nothing to do with him anyway.

He should heal his body first.

He himself was still like duckweed adrift on the water, relying entirely on Elder Wu's charity to survive. He truly had no spare energy to think about anything else.

Just like that, he had spent half a month in this courtyard in the blink of an eye.

That day, while he was sleeping, a sudden peal of thunder exploded with a boom. Qin Fang was jolted awake from his slumber. The entire room trembled violently, roof tiles shaking loose and crashing to the floor with sharp clatters.

"An earthquake?"

Startled, Qin Fang immediately scrambled up and rushed out of the house.

Then he froze in shock, staring blankly toward the distant horizon...

It was already deep into the night, yet a crimson glow now spread across the far horizon, as though the entire sky had caught fire.

The roaring sound came from the direction of that crimson radiance, shaking the ground until it trembled.

Qin Fang was clearly not the only one awakened. Faint cries of alarm rang out from outside.

"W-what's happening?"

"The sky is on fire!"

"Has the earth dragon turned over?"

Naturally, Qin Fang's was not the only household in this quiet alley. Several other families lived here as well, though Qin Fang had never gone out since arriving and thus did not know any of these neighbors.

But this strange phenomenon between heaven and earth had alarmed them all. The wailing sobs of children could also be heard; they had clearly been frightened into tears by the rolling thunder.

"Earthlight?"

Qin Fang frowned to himself as he watched the crimson horizon in the distance.

He naturally knew that when a major earthquake occurred, such a phenomenon could appear. This kind of light was called "earthquake light," also known as "earthlight."

It seemed there had been a major earthquake over there...

Qin Fang thought.

But earthquake lights generally lasted only a few seconds. This crimson anomaly persisted for dozens of breaths before gradually subsiding. The rumbling also vanished, and calm returned.

Qin Fang observed for a while longer. Only after confirming that no other abnormal phenomena appeared did he let out a soft breath and turn around—then he did not know whether to laugh or cry...

Well, the roof had not had many tiles to begin with, and now quite a few more had been shaken loose. At this rate, he could probably lie in the house and watch the stars at night...

Shaking his head, Qin Fang returned to the room and continued sleeping.

"Elder Wu, there's a child over there who was also struck on the head. Please take a look."

Before dawn had even broken, Spring Return Hall was already bustling with activity.

In the consultation hall, Elder Wu was bandaging an injured person's head. Hearing an apprentice call out, he turned to look and saw a husband and wife anxiously carrying in a bawling child.

Elder Wu gave the injured person a few instructions, then walked over.

"Elder Wu, please have a look."

"Last night, the earth dragon turned over. A roof tile fell and happened to hit his head."

The couple anxiously explained how the injury had happened.

"Don't panic. Let me take a look first."

Elder Wu calmly reassured them, then examined the child's injury. It was actually not serious—only a small gash on the head. Because it had bled heavily and the child had been crying nonstop, it looked rather severe.

After examining him, Elder Wu said, "It's nothing serious. Some medicine will do the trick."

He walked to one side, found some salve, and treated the child's wound.

The people nearby spoke in a noisy jumble.

"The earth dragon turned over and injured quite a few people."

"We were pretty lucky. It must have been quite far from here. If it had been closer, plenty of people would probably have died."

"Judging by the direction, it seems to have been toward Stone Bay..."

"I heard that group of rebellious refugees headed toward Stone Bay. Could they have run straight into the earth dragon turning over?"

"If that's the case, then Heaven truly opened its eyes! Those bastards deserve to die every last one of them!"

"A bunch of black-hearted bastards. True Martial County saved them, yet not only did they refuse to be grateful, they repaid kindness with vengeance... My third granduncle was killed by those rioters during that refugee uprising! And my poor niece, not even ten years old, was taken by them... Damn it!"

Someone looked grief-stricken and furious, but could not continue.

Expressions of hatred appeared on many faces.

The refugee uprising had not merely involved smashing, looting, and robbing.

Many atrocities that outraged both gods and men had taken place.

...The negative emotions that had built up over many days erupted all at once. Those refugees had even consumed human blood—what cruel deed were they incapable of?

No wonder these people hated the refugees.

Elder Wu remained busy until noon before the number of injured people finally dwindled...

When the earth dragon had turned over yesterday, many people had been struck by objects falling from high places in their homes. Fortunately, none of the injuries were severe.

Elder Wu caught his breath. After thinking for a moment, he headed out on his own.

"Elder Wu."

"Elder Wu."

Quite a few Spring Return Hall apprentices greeted Elder Wu respectfully when they encountered him along the way.

Elder Wu calmly nodded to each of them, leaving Spring Return Hall and heading to a nearby general store.

"Elder Wu."

A simple, honest-looking youth sitting on a flatbed cart at the entrance hurriedly bowed respectfully when he saw Elder Wu.

Elder Wu nodded. "Come with me in a while."

"Sure!" the youth promptly agreed.

Elder Wu entered the general store. Soon afterward, several other young clerks came out and loaded some items onto the cart, after which the honest youth followed behind Elder Wu.

When they passed a butcher's shop, Elder Wu paused before walking inside.

Not long afterward, ten jin of pork had been added to the cart. Then Elder Wu led the honest youth into a quiet alley.

Outside a dilapidated little courtyard, Elder Wu raised his hand to knock on the door.

But he heard a soft whoosh from within, followed by a crisp thunk.

Elder Wu paused in surprise, then narrowed his eyes and waited outside the door for a moment.

Then several more faint whoosh-whoosh sounds came from inside the courtyard, followed by crisp thunk-thunk sounds like something striking a wooden board.

This was...

The sound of Hidden Weapons?

Elder Wu narrowed his eyes, then knocked on the door.

Before long, the door opened, and Qin Fang appeared before him.

Seeing Elder Wu, Qin Fang's eyes brightened slightly, and he smiled.

"Elder Wu."

Elder Wu nodded and entered the courtyard. At a glance, he saw a wooden board erected at the edge of the yard, with a target painted upon it.

At that moment, four Flying Darts were embedded neatly in the bullseye.