Destroying Traces, The Great Gan Dynasty's Situation

Lin Hanzhou stood in the center of the devastated plaza, his expression cold as he surveyed the hellscape before him.

He knew he had to erase every trace of what happened here as quickly as possible.

Although Zhou Fengyu was dead, the Cloud Glow Sect would never let this matter rest.

Once they sent people to investigate, they might be able to piece together clues from the remnants left at the scene.

It wasn't that he was afraid; he simply found it troublesome.

Until he possessed the absolute power to protect himself, keeping a low profile was the only way to go.

He walked over to a collapsed house, picked up a still-burning roof beam, and used it as a torch.

Without a moment's hesitation, he tossed the flames into the piles of firewood.

"Whoosh!"

The fire surged upward, spreading at an astonishing speed.

Soon, the entire Zhang Family Village was engulfed in a raging sea of flames.

The towering fire illuminated the night sky in a deep, crimson red.

This inferno would wipe away every trace of the village's existence.

Lin Hanzhou watched silently until the fire grew too large to be easily extinguished, then turned to leave.

Before departing, his gaze fell upon the longsword Zhou Fengyu had left behind.

He walked over and picked it up.

The sword felt slightly heavy in his hand; forged from an unknown dark iron, it radiated a faint chill.

The blade was incredibly sharp, slicing through stone as if it were tofu.

Lin Hanzhou recalled how his own punch, imbued with second-rank spiritual power, hadn't left a single mark on it.

This proved the sword was made of extraordinary material.

It's at least a low-grade Profound weapon; in this world, it should be considered a divine blade.

Lin Hanzhou thought to himself.

He happened to be lacking a decent weapon, and this longsword would do nicely.

He didn't need to worry about the sword being tracked, as it bore no markings from the Cloud Glow Sect.

He strapped the sword to his waist, took one last look at the village turning to ash in the inferno, and without a hint of reluctance, turned and vanished into the night.

His destination was the nearest town: Green Mountain Town.

He needed to go there to gather intelligence on this world and plan his next moves.

A night of rapid travel was nothing for Lin Hanzhou, who now possessed second-rank cultivation.

As the sun slowly rose in the east, the silhouette of a modest-sized town appeared in his line of sight.

That was Green Mountain Town, the closest town to Zhang Family Village in the original owner's memories.

To avoid drawing attention, he had changed into clean clothes and wrapped the striking longsword in rags.

Dressed this way, he didn't look out of place in the town.

Green Mountain Town was not large, but it was quite bustling.

The streets were paved with bluestone, lined with various shops—rice merchants, clothiers, blacksmiths—all filled with the atmosphere of daily life.

Lin Hanzhou didn't wander around; he walked straight into a place called Yuelai Inn.

"Guest, are you stopping for a meal or staying the night?"

A waiter greeted him enthusiastically.

"Staying the night. I want a premium room. Also, bring your manager here; there are some things I'd like to ask him."

As he spoke, Lin Hanzhou pulled a few taels of broken silver from his robes and slipped them discreetly to the waiter.

The silver, naturally, was a generous sponsorship from the kind-hearted Zhou Fengyu.

The waiter weighed the silver, his smile widening, and he hurriedly led Lin Hanzhou to a clean, elegant room on the second floor, shouting loudly.

"Coming right up! Manager, we have a distinguished guest!"

Soon, a slightly plump middle-aged man with a handlebar mustache walked in, his face wreathed in smiles.

"My good sir, how may I be of service to you?"

Lin Hanzhou got straight to the point.

"I would like to ask you about the current state of the world under the Great Gan Dynasty."

The manager was stunned for a moment, then realization dawned on him.

It seemed this was a martial artist who had emerged from the deep mountains, having been out of touch with the world for too long.

He had seen too many people like this.

"Guest, you've asked the right person."

The innkeeper rubbed his hands together and continued.

"If you're talking about the Great Gan Dynasty today, well... sigh, it's a mess! A complete disaster!"

He lowered his voice, speaking in a mysterious tone.

"You wouldn't know, but the current Gan Emperor has been critically ill and bedridden for several years now."

"According to rumors, his lifespan is reaching its end, and I fear he won't make it through this winter."

"As for the imperial court, it is currently controlled by a bunch of spineless eunuchs."

"They are beasts among beasts, hiking up taxes every year until the heavens are enraged and the people are suffering; in many places, the common folk are being starved to death."

"Not only that, but the Prince of Yan guarding the north, the Prince of Wu in the southeast, and the Prince of Shu in the southwest—these three feudal lords holding heavy military power are all restless."

"Once news of the Gan Emperor's passing breaks, this world will likely shatter into pieces and be plunged into the flames of war once again!"

The innkeeper poked his head out to check the door, his voice dropping even lower.

"Beyond that, there are the three great sects of the martial world: Cloud Glow Sect, Emotionless Gate, and Vajra Temple. None of them are easy to deal with; their disciples are spread across the land, and they have never really obeyed the imperial court's orders."

"And there is the ambitious Great Qing Dynasty to the north, which has been eyeing our Great Gan with hostility for years. The Great Gan Dynasty is truly a crumbling edifice, teetering on the brink of collapse!"

Listening to the innkeeper's words, Lin Hanzhou finally gained a clear and intuitive understanding of this world.

The emperor is dying, eunuchs hold power, feudal lords seek rebellion, sects stand like a forest, and foreign enemies surround them...

This isn't just teetering on the brink; this is clearly a powder keg about to explode.

The complexity of this world is far greater than the Great Sui he was in last time.

A dying dynasty... so that's what it means.

Lin Hanzhou understood.

"Innkeeper, I would like to purchase some more specific intelligence."

As he spoke, Lin Hanzhou took out another ten taels of silver and placed them on the table.

"Regarding the Cloud Glow Sect, the more detailed, the better. Also, I need a basic map of the Great Gan Dynasty."

Seeing the ten taels of silver, the innkeeper's eyes went wide, and he quickly tucked them into his sleeve.

"Easy, easy! Please wait a moment, guest, I will go fetch them for you right away."

Soon, the innkeeper returned to the room with a rolled-up sheepskin map and a thin booklet.

Lin Hanzhou opened the map and examined it carefully.

The Great Gan Dynasty had vast territories, divided into eighteen provinces.

He was currently in Qing Province, located in the northeastern part of the dynasty.

He then flipped open the booklet about the Cloud Glow Sect, which roughly recorded the location of Cloud Glow Mountain and some of its well-known elders and disciples.

"Yun Province, Cloud Glow Mountain..."

Lin Hanzhou found the location of the Cloud Glow Sect on the map.

He discovered that the Cloud Glow Sect was very far from where he was in Qing Province.

There were several large provinces between them.

At such a vast distance, even if a grandmaster expert were to fly through the air, it would take at least a week to arrive.

Learning this, Lin Hanzhou finally set his mind at ease.

A week's time was enough for him to run to the ends of the earth.

By then, for the Cloud Glow Sect to find him would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Regarding his next destination, Lin Hanzhou looked at the map and already had a plan in mind.

He would head south to a more remote province, far from the center of the conflict.

There, he would first find a place to steadily improve his strength.

As the chaotic times begin, only one's own strength is the sole thing to rely on.