The reason

"Why was the county yamen fighting the Twin Blades Gang?"

Seeing Old Lu so out of breath from running, with two corpses still lying on his handcart, Lu Mingyue hurried outside to help him push it into the house.

"How would we know about something like that? Just listen to me and stay home like a good girl. Don't go out to buy groceries today. We'll make do with whatever we've got, as long as we don't starve!"

Old Lu answered her, first lifting Master Shen's remains and setting them on the floor where black cloth had been laid out, then carrying the two bodies he had just hauled back onto the nanmu table.

"Grandpa's going to bring back the last two bodies first. Stay home and don't go out!"

"Grandpa, be careful too!"

"I know!"

Lu Mingyue stood in the doorway, watching Old Lu hurry off with the handcart, then suddenly turned to look at Master Shen's remains.

"Could Master Shen have been killed by the Twin Blades Gang?"

The guess suddenly popped into Lu Mingyue's mind. She wasn't guessing blindly; the Twin Blades Gang had existed in Yangguan City for many years.

In this world, the existence of the Twin Blades Gang wasn't particularly out of place, and she had never seen the county yamen move against them before.

Yet Master Shen had barely been killed before the County Commandant led his constables into battle against the Twin Blades Gang. Lu Mingyue simply couldn't believe the two events were unrelated.

"Woof~"

Huahua's bark brought Lu Mingyue back to her senses. Whether or not the Twin Blades Gang had killed Master Shen's family, she had to prepare the Shen Household members' remains first.

The Shen Household would be coming to collect these five bodies at noon.

She wondered how much reward money the Shen Household would give them this time.

Lu Mingyue almost had to hand it to herself. What a money-grubber she was, still thinking about money at a time like this!

"I heard people saying the Twin Blades Gang was behind the murder of all five people in Master Shen's family!"

When Old Lu returned, he shared what he had heard outside, indirectly confirming Lu Mingyue's guess.

"When did Master Shen offend the Twin Blades Gang?" Lu Mingyue was puzzled and lowered her voice. "Didn't everyone in the city say the Twin Blades Gang didn't usually go around murdering people and setting fires?"

In fact, Old Lu had said this more than anyone. After the Twin Blades Gang had turned their home upside down that day, he had worried she was frightened, so he had mentioned it several times to reassure her.

But now the news Old Lu had heard didn't match what he had said before.

Five whole lives!

"They say it was because of the Shen Household's young master's immortal cultivation technique..."

Old Lu spoke as he worked on the bodies, raising his head to glance at Lu Mingyue.

Lu Mingyue's heart skipped a beat.

So the Twin Blades Gang had attacked all five members of Master Shen's family because of an immortal cultivation technique?

Then the Second Elder of the Twin Blades Gang's son from before...

"The Shen Household's young master cultivated a spirit mansion, and the words he spoke before dying became known throughout the city. The Twin Blades Gang's Second Master-that second elder's son-later sneaked into the Shen Household to steal that immortal cultivation manual, but lost his life instead."

As Old Lu spoke, there was fear in his voice, and his heart was even more unsettled.

He had coveted the Shen Household's young master's immortal cultivation technique himself.

That was a chance at immortality!

"The Twin Blades Gang's second elder found out about this. Whether he wanted to avenge his son or had some other reason, I don't know. In any case, it cost the Shen Household five lives."

"Although the Shen Household's young master committed all sorts of evil, Master Shen donated plenty of money to Yangguan City over his lifetime. Whenever there were roads to repair or bridges to build, he never failed to contribute. So when he died, not only was the County Magistrate furious, but the County Commandant also felt the Twin Blades Gang had broken the law."

"When I was coming back just now, the city was already in chaos. The County Commandant has brought in plenty of men this time. Constables from nearby Baima City and Linhe City have all been transferred here, over a hundred of them. He's clearly planning to fight the Twin Blades Gang until one side wins. Who knows how many people will die..."

As he finished, Old Lu sighed, his hands trembling despite himself.

And to think he had still been coveting the Shen Household's young master's chance at immortality!

Five lives from the Shen Household, over a hundred members of the Twin Blades Gang, and over a hundred constables from three county yamens-which of their lives wasn't worth more than his, a mere corpse collector?

Yet after today, there would definitely be no shortage of dead people!

Old Lu felt nothing but terror deep down. He stole a glance at his little granddaughter, and inexplicably thought of an idiom from a book-a thief's guilty conscience!

Yes!

He had a thief's guilty conscience right now!

Although he was certain he had prepared the Shen Household's young master's body and there hadn't been any immortal cultivation manual hidden on it, still... his little granddaughter had clearly obtained that young master's chance at immortality!

If those people found out, would he and his granddaughter end up like Master Shen lying on the floor, tortured to death?

"Grandpa, I'll go cook. We haven't offended anyone, anyway. You're the only corpse collector in the city. Whether the Twin Blades Gang or the county yamen wins, they might all have to rely on us to tend to those bodies!"

Seeing that only one body remained, Lu Mingyue said this and took Huahua to the kitchen.

Although she hadn't opened a spirit mansion yet, her five senses seemed to have become considerably sharper through cultivation during this time.

She had noticed the look Grandpa had just given her.

Her already flustered heart grew even more anxious.

A mere technique capable of opening a Houtian Spirit Mansion had dragged over a hundred lives into this, and she had obtained that very technique...

"That horse-faced man has to die!"

Lu Mingyue didn't dare pursue that train of thought. She worried her own mind was too dark and twisted, and she was even less willing to use things that hadn't happened to harbor malicious suspicions about the person who treated her best.

In that case, she would cook.

If there was a moment in the seven years since she had transmigrated when Lu Mingyue had finally gained a sliver of security, it was the day she could at last stand on a stool and make egg fried rice.

That familiar taste, and the fact that she no longer needed someone to look after her, meant her life was no longer entirely in other people's hands.

And now, she had unexpectedly obtained an immortal cultivation technique and grown two years older. She was better able to survive in this world than before, so why frighten herself?

"Old Lu, go collect the bodies at the Twin Blades Gang!"

But when the County Commandant came to their door in person, covered in blood, and gave the grandfather and granddaughter their orders, Lu Mingyue still couldn't help growing nervous.

When she followed Old Lu to East Street, where the Twin Blades Gang was based, and saw the courtyard full of corpses, she could barely move her feet.

"Although the Twin Blades Gang has been wiped out, death clears all debts. You two should make them presentable. Of course, tend to the yamen's men first. You won't be shortchanged on your reward!"

Looking at the courtyard, where who knew how many corpses lay sprawled every which way, the County Commandant patted Old Lu's shoulder, took out a hundred-tael banknote, and tucked it into his robes.

With that, the County Commandant left with his men, leaving only a few constables to keep watch.

"Urgh..."

Lu Mingyue finally lost control, ran to the courtyard entrance, and vomited.