Chaos

"Could you hurry up, idiot?!"

Car horns blared incessantly along the road, urging people onward. Everyone wore expressions of panic, scurrying around like headless flies. The entire commandery city had descended into chaos.

Chen Xu casually grabbed an office worker fleeing past him and swept his gaze over the street. "What's going on? What happened in Qianshui Commandery?"

"You!" The office worker had been seized by a stranger and was about to curse, but when he saw Chen Xu looking down at him, he forcibly swallowed the profanity on the tip of his tongue. Undisguised terror filled his eyes. "A terrorist organization slaughtered nearly all of Qianshui Commandery's upper ranks. Run! It's far too dangerous here."

His left hand gestured frantically. "Have you heard of a corpse mound? It's a mountain made of piled-up bodies.

"It must be some organization targeting the Great Abyss, using the Martial Pavilion to make an example of them. Over a hundred Martial Pavilion staff members—none of them survived. It's just..."

After saying that, he tried to wrench his wrist free from Chen Xu's grasp.

Having roughly understood what had happened in Qianshui Commandery, Chen Xu released him and turned to Nie Mengyin and Ling Youyou. "Looks like we won't have a chance to rest. We need to leave immediately and head to Peace Prefecture City. Once the Great Abyss reacts, it won't be so easy to leave Qianshui Commandery."

Qianshui Commandery was in such chaos precisely because no one was currently in charge. It was foreseeable that once someone took control, sealing off the city would only be a matter of time.

Before entering the commandery, he had already awakened the two of them. After all, carrying two women through the streets would have drawn far too much attention.

"Sir, are you heading to Peace Prefecture City?"

Just as Chen Xu finished speaking, a man in a cheap suit approached him.

"What a coincidence. We happen to have a vehicle going directly to Peace Prefecture City, and there are still a few seats left. Would you and the ladies like to consider it?

"If you do, please give me an answer quickly, sir. Plenty of people want to go to Peace Prefecture City. Delay even a little, and the seats might be gone."

The man in the cheap suit brazenly eyed the mother and daughter, a lewd glint flashing through his gaze.

He did not think this big oaf would refuse. With nearly everyone trying to flee, vehicles that could offer seats were exceedingly scarce.

"Follow me," Chen Xu said flatly, completely ignoring the man in the cheap suit.

As the Honorary Deputy Pavilion Master of Jinning Commandery, wouldn't it be easy for him to get onto a vehicle bound for Peace Prefecture City?

The man in the cheap suit had never expected Chen Xu to refuse so decisively. He hurried forward, intending to grab Nie Mengyin and forcibly bring in the customers.

An invisible force, sharp as needles, brutally pierced the cheap-suited man's mind.

"Ah..."

Chen Xu no longer paid attention to the man clutching his head and rolling nonstop across the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face. He led the two women toward the Qianshui Commandery Martial Pavilion.

"Please step back. Do not disturb public order, or we have the right to arrest you."

More than a dozen Public Security Office officers did their best to maintain order, but due to insufficient manpower, the families of the victims frequently forced their way inside.

Crying, cursing, furious roars, and reporters' questions blended into a cacophony. Occasionally, there were also the sounds of vomiting from teenage brats who had come to gawk and "broaden their horizons."

Paralyzed—nearly everything in Qianshui Commandery had been paralyzed. The Qianshui Commandery Governor, the Martial Pavilion Master, the Director of the Public Security Office, the highest-ranking official of Qianshui Commandery's Military Department, and a whole series of upper-ranking officials had almost all perished. This was practically the most vicious incident the Great Abyss had seen in the past decade.

"Hey, get out of here! Ordinary people aren't allowed inside!"

At the sight of Chen Xu's tall, sturdy frame, the officer could not help taking half a step back. Then irritation flashed over his face. As an officer, he had actually been frightened into retreating slightly by an ordinary person. If his colleagues found out, they would mock him for weeks.

"Call whoever holds the highest position here over to see Chen!" Chen Xu put on the airs of a high-ranking official, carrying an imposing authority without even needing to show anger.

"Who do you think you are, demanding to see Officer Qi? He's busy right now. Can you stop causing trouble?"

The officer stepped forward, intending to shove Chen Xu out.

"Is this enough to get inside?" Chen Xu displayed the identification issued by the Martial Pavilion, while pressing the Anomaly girl, who was trying to poke her head out, back into his pocket.

"Deputy Pavilion Master Chen from Jinning Commandery?" The officer's expression changed slightly. He gave Chen Xu a respectful look, then jogged over to Officer Qi, who was directing medical personnel to move bodies.

"Deputy Pavilion Master Chen?" Officer Qi turned to look at Chen Xu. Why had he not heard that Jinning Commandery had appointed a new Deputy Pavilion Master? As neighboring commandery cities, news should not have traveled so slowly.

Doubts aside, he did not question Chen Xu's identity. Great Abyss officials' identification documents were extremely difficult to forge. It was said that some special material had been used as a marker, and only a tiny handful at the very top of the Great Abyss knew what that material was.

After examining Chen Xu's identification, Qi Jingquan removed his hat and apologized. "Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, please forgive my earlier disrespect. But Qianshui Commandery is in such a state right now. I hope you understand.

"I am Qi Jingquan, a First-Class Public Security Officer of Qianshui Commandery."

Waving a hand, Chen Xu said magnanimously, "Under extraordinary circumstances, that is only proper. Chen rushed here without stopping precisely to do his part.

"May I ask what Qianshui Commandery's actual losses are?"

At that question, Qi Jingquan's face darkened. "Aside from the upper-ranking officials whose deaths have already been confirmed, only one of the remaining officials has contacted me. He is directing matters remotely. I know nothing about the rest.

"We haven't had time to inspect the resources and funds in storage, but the chances of them being intact are slim."

"Not inspected?" A gleam flashed through Chen Xu's eyes. "Very well. I'll personally go inside and assess the losses."

"Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, shall I arrange someone to accompany you?"

"Manpower is already so scarce. How can we waste it on something like this?" Chen Xu gave Qi Jingquan no chance to object and swiftly entered the Martial Pavilion.

"As expected of someone who became a Deputy Pavilion Master. He's far better than that commandery official who only dares hide away and give orders remotely. He doesn't even have the guts to come direct the scene and reassure the public. What kind of official is he?"

Before the officer could say much more, Qi Jingquan stopped him with a look.

"Get back to work. You talk too much."

Stepping over one body after another that had yet to be handled, Chen Xu arrived before the Qianshui Commandery Martial Pavilion's resource warehouse.

The warehouse's metal door had been blown outward, revealing a hole roughly the height of a person.

It had clearly been forcibly blasted open through brute strength by some Martial Dao expert.

Someone had used blood to carve the words "Martial Alliance" into the floor. More than half the shelves had already been emptied, while anything not taken had been directly destroyed. It was clear they intended to leave nothing behind for the Great Abyss.

The Anomaly girl suddenly crawled out of Chen Xu's pocket and scampered toward a collapsed wooden rack.

"Heave-ho, heave-ho." The Anomaly girl's little face was solemn, as though she were carrying out something sacred.

She dug out an irregular, murky crystal larger than her entire body.

Drool dripped down as the Anomaly girl opened her little mouth and bit at it, only to bite empty air.

When she opened her eyes again, the irregular crystal had already been picked up by Chen Xu, who examined it from top to bottom.