Qi Ning and Zhong Cai came in before Chen Miao had to wait long, accompanied by several others.
One of them was a familiar face: Jiang Hong, one of the three people Qi Ning had brought along to help deal with the evil cultivator involved in the Six Livestock incident.
"Oh, Chen Miao, you're awake! How are you feeling?"
Before Qi Ning could speak, the ever-friendly Jiang Hong stepped forward and asked after him.
"Much better. Just a few bruises left-"
As Chen Miao spoke, he suddenly realized his back no longer hurt as much as before, so he sat up.
"The stuff your bureau uses really works."
"What, interested in joining? With your abilities, I could vouch for you if you wanted in!"
Jiang Hong sat at the head of the bed with a grin.
"Let's talk about that another time."
Chen Miao smiled, then took the Peach Wood Sword Qi Ning handed him.
"Did you go into the village?"
Chen Miao asked.
"We did."
Qi Ning's answer caught Chen Miao off guard, and his heart rose into his throat.
"What did you find?"
Qi Ning shook his head.
"When we got there, we inspected the surrounding area first and detected some fluctuations in yin energy."
"If there hadn't been any yin energy at all, I wouldn't have dared go in."
"But the main reason I went in was the elderly villagers."
Qi Ning frowned deeply. Beside him, Jiang Hong jumped in. "Not long after we arrived, we saw all the elderly villagers heading out along the river by the village entrance. They'd even brought food for the journey."
"If we hadn't stopped them, I reckon quite a few would have collapsed if they'd kept going."
Chen Miao asked in confusion, "They came out?"
Qi Ning understood what Chen