Five Tigers Soul-Chasing

The two entered the cramped, damp stone hut one after the other.

Chen Xiuzhu wasted no time.

First, he took out a blade manual.

"Lu Mian, this is the Five Tigers Soul-Chasing Blade. You can take a look first."

"And these are all my savings-a little over seven hundred taels of silver."

Chen Xiuzhu took out a black bundle.

Lu Mian accepted it, opened it, and counted the silver, then took only one hundred taels.

"This..." Chen Xiuzhu did not understand what Lu Mian meant.

"Captain Chen, could you use the rest to buy me tonics that replenish blood and vital energy?"

Lu Mian asked.

Medicine was far more nourishing than food, but such things were simply unavailable in the refugee district, leaving Lu Mian with no way to buy them.

"Of course... I know someone in the Agriculture Office. I can get them for you."

Chen Xiuzhu understood his intention.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Lu Mian smiled faintly.

He was not worried that Chen Xiuzhu might secretly skim some of the money.

The man was eager for him to break through as soon as possible so he could avenge him sooner.

"Lu Mian, the Guard Hall's recruitment trials begin in another month."

"I think you should give them a try."

"If you join the Guard Hall, you'll have access to more resources and broaden your horizons."

"Trust me, the outer city and the refugee district are two entirely different places."

Chen Xiuzhu looked serious.

To help Lu Mian grow stronger, he would naturally try every means available.

"Captain, what exactly do the Guard Hall's trials involve?"

Lu Mian was also interested in joining the Guard Hall. After all, its benefits were bound to be much better than those of the Dust-Returning Courtyard.

"The Guard Hall is the only way for refugees like us to enter the outer city."

"People from the Dust-Returning Courtyard, the Agriculture Office, and the General Affairs Office can all participate."

"The Guard Hall first holds screening tests, such as lifting stone weights, to eliminate a large number of applicants. Then come the bouts."

"As long as you place in the top hundred, you can join the Guard Hall."

"If you make the top ten, there's supposedly a reward, too."

Chen Xiuzhu explained the trial process in detail.

"A hundred people? That many?"

Lu Mian sounded surprised.

"Many? It's really not many at all."

"In fact, the Guard Hall is even more dangerous than the Dust-Returning Courtyard."

"You see the patrol squads strutting around the shanty district all day."

"But most patrol squads actually have to clear out all sorts of evil spirits and uncanny creatures outside the city, before they can grow into a threat."

"What they face aren't the newly formed ones. They're horrifying, and quite a few people die every month."

"So you need to be prepared."

Chen Xiuzhu warned him.

"Now that you've put it that way, a hundred sounds like too few."

Lu Mian shook his head with a smile.

"The outer city also has several hundred thousand people. Whether they're local clans or clans from elsewhere, all their power is concentrated there."

"They send their younger members into the Guard Hall to gain experience, too, without having to take the trials."

"So a hundred places is still fairly reasonable."

Having spent so long in Thousand Chimes City, Chen Xiuzhu knew very well how things worked there.

Thousand Chimes Commandery City did not support idlers.

Even native residents of Thousand Chimes City would be driven out of the outer city if they had no clan to protect them.

Conversely, Thousand Chimes Commandery City also brought in clans from elsewhere, allowing them to settle in the outer city.

"This place is pretty complicated..."

"But however complicated or dangerous it is, I'm still going."

Lu Mian said.

Staying in the Dust-Returning Courtyard would lead nowhere.

"I'll also do my best to find you some potent medicinal herbs."

"I'll contact you when I have news."

Chen Xiuzhu did not linger. He rose and left.

Lu Mian put away the hundred taels of silver and began cooking.

While he waited, he read the Five Tigers Soul-Chasing Blade manual.

The blade style was exceptionally vicious, its moves steeped in bloodshed. It emphasized overwhelming momentum, like a fierce tiger devouring its enemy alive.

But Lu Mian had no intention of practicing it just yet.

The timing was wrong.

The Guard Hall's trials would begin in a month.

He planned to focus on practicing the Tortoise-Snake Fist first and bring it to major mastery.

That would make passing the Guard Hall's trials all but certain.

For now, he only needed to study the blade style's moves and underlying intent, laying a foundation for future practice.

By then, the food was ready.

Lu Mian wolfed it down. As he felt warmth begin to spread through his stomach, he was about to start practicing when someone suddenly knocked outside.

Lu Mian frowned slightly and went to open the door.

The person knocking was Wang Fang, the same overly friendly woman from before.

"Have you eaten, young man?"

"I see you only come back in the mornings. You must be exhausted."

"I boiled you an egg. Take your time eating it."

Wang Fang took out an egg and tried to hand it straight to Lu Mian.

"I don't need it."

"Stop bothering me!"

Lu Mian simply shoved her away and slammed the door with a bang.

Wang Fang had not expected such a firm rejection. A venomous look crossed her face, and after muttering a few words, she went to knock on the door next to his.

What exactly is this woman trying to do...?

Back inside, Lu Mian's expression darkened slightly.

There was certainly something suspicious about this, perhaps even something supernatural.

He felt it was better to stay out of it.

Putting the matter aside, Lu Mian began practicing the Tortoise-Snake Fist.

He continued until evening.

As usual, Lu Mian headed out to the Dust-Returning Courtyard for his shift and a meal.

There were no days off at the Dust-Returning Courtyard. As long as you were not dead, you had to keep working.

After what had happened to Old Yao and the other two, three new corpse collectors had been brought in over the past two days.

The newcomers still had some energy in them. Some even followed Lu Mian's example, making use of every spare moment to practice the Tortoise-Snake Fist.

Everyone who entered the refugee district hoped to change their fate through martial arts.

No one wanted to spend their entire life in the Dust-Returning Courtyard, dealing with corpses.

Human lives are worth less than weeds...

Old Yao and the others died just like that... without a sound. Soon they'll be forgotten, as though they never existed.

Lu Mian felt a faint pang of emotion.

"I just heard the deputy head mention that the Dust-Returning Courtyard is going to expand."

"More and more people are dying. We simply don't have enough hands."

Chen Xiuzhu walked over to Lu Mian and spoke quietly.

"No wonder they've been bringing in replacements so quickly lately."

Lu Mian replied calmly.

"But none of that concerns you."

"We're on duty in the shanty quarantine zone tonight. I'll find you a task."

"Once you finish it, go straight back to your stone hut and rest. Come back at daybreak."

Chen Xiuzhu kept his voice very low.

He was the captain. As long as he said nothing, no one would know what Lu Mian was actually doing.

"All right."

Lu Mian knew Chen Xiuzhu was only doing this to give him more time to practice.

A little later, the squad set out and arrived at the shanty quarantine zone.

Chen Xiuzhu soon found Lu Mian a task, sending him to move a corpse by himself.

Collecting, transporting, cremating...

Lu Mian quickly completed the whole process.

He was pushing the cart back through the quarantine zone, about to return to the refugee district, when he suddenly heard strange laughter.

The laughter was shrill and chaotic, as though many people were laughing hysterically at once.