Five Years

"In times like these, human lives aren't worth a thing!"

Even Old Lu, who was used to seeing all kinds of corpses, could not help sighing at the carnage left by the clash between the authorities and the Twin Blades Gang.

But no amount of lamenting would help.

There were so many bodies, all of them killed for opposing the authorities. Even those with families would have no one daring to come collect them just yet.

The County Commandant had handed the task to Old Lu precisely to give those families a chance to collect their dead.

Though it was early spring, the bodies would certainly start to stink if they were left too long.

So Old Lu wasted no time. He set down the handcart and got to work.

After throwing up everything she had eaten that morning, Lu Mingyue also suppressed the nausea in her stomach and helped carry the bodies.

"Girl, just stay home and keep watch. No thieves would dare come to our house, but we can't let stray dogs drag these bodies away."

"All right!"

After bringing three bodies home, Old Lu told Lu Mingyue to stay there. Naturally, she had no objection.

Seeing a scene like that once was enough. She had no desire to see it a second time.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Never mind Lu Mingyue-even Huahua, a dog, sensed something wrong with the atmosphere that day.

"Come here and guard the entrance. If any stray dogs or rats come along, bite every last one of them to death!"

Lu Mingyue stroked Huahua's head and took a deep breath. She silently circulated the Qi-Feeding Spirit-Opening Art, waiting until she felt a stab of pain in her abdomen before going to tend to the bodies.

-After cultivating for some time, Lu Mingyue had discovered that she no longer needed to quiet her mind and concentrate. She could mobilize the food essence within her body even while walking.

Of course, she had just thrown up, so there was no food in her stomach now.

She merely needed that stabbing pain to keep herself clearheaded.

But the workload this time was simply too great.

There were a hundred and forty-five bodies in all. Grandfather and granddaughter worked for two days and two nights, only sitting down to rest briefly when they were too sleepy to go on. At last, by the morning of the third day, they had finished tending to every body.

During that time, the families of the dead came one after another to take their husbands or children home for burial.

Sixty-five of the dead were constables from the county office, and the County Commandant took their remains away. Otherwise, there would have been nowhere left to step in the courtyard.

Lu Mingyue looked carefully. The Second Elder was not among them.

Fortunately, Horse-Face was dead.

Someone had cleaved into his face from the left, splitting even his left eye in two. He had probably died on the spot.

That pleased Lu Mingyue even more than the several hundred taels they received as a reward this time.

"Ah, just the prospect of cultivating immortality, and so many people paid with their lives!"

Once the work was done, Old Lu seemed like a different person. When he spoke of cultivating immortality, there was more fear than envy or curiosity. Clearly, this incident had frightened him badly.

"Girl, from now on, don't go out unless you have to. Don't get caught up in a disaster like this!"

Taking a puff of his dry tobacco pipe, Old Lu spoke to Lu Mingyue again. She could hear the warning in his tone.

"I know. Don't worry, Grandpa. From now on, I'll buy several days' worth of vegetables at once, and stock up on grain and oil too. That way, I won't need to go out every day!"

Lu Mingyue knew perfectly well that her grandfather knew she had obtained an immortal opportunity, so she would not go against him.

Besides, she valued her own life a great deal.

Though she had transmigrated into this world, Lu Mingyue had never thought she could transmigrate back after dying.

How could the god of luck favor her every single time?

What was more, she feared pain. She had yet to get used to even the pain of opening her Spirit Mansion, let alone taking her own life.

"Yes, that's the way. We'll shut our doors and live our own lives. Best not to get involved in what happens outside!"

Old Lu was reassured. He knew the temperament of the little granddaughter he had raised.

Ever since she was small, she had feared he would abandon her and had always lived cautiously. Once she was old enough to eat meat, whenever he fed her, she would always offer it to him first.

She was terribly afraid he might think she was not a well-behaved child.

A girl like that was clever and easy to raise.

She could at least tell good advice from bad.

"Crackle, pop!"

"It's New Year's Eve! The county magistrate is celebrating with the people! There'll be no curfew in the city until the Lantern Festival!"

Year after year passed as grandfather and granddaughter lived with the utmost caution. Though the Great Ye Dynasty could hardly be said to enjoy flourishing fortunes, Yangguan City's magistrate showed some concern for the common people.

With the County Magistrate's support, the County Commandant let no criminal escape.

Thus, although murders occurred from time to time in Yangguan City, and blood was spilled at the vegetable market entrance every month, the number of ordinary people coming and going through the city showed no sign of dwindling.

In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.

Lu Mingyue was twelve.

"Spirit Mansion... open!"

Inside the room, Lu Mingyue sat cross-legged, her delicate little face, its features gradually maturing, set in a serious expression.

With her murmur, the closed window seemed to stir in a gentle breeze, its paper rustling.

At the same time, wisps of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, invisible to the naked eye, gathered toward Lu Mingyue from all directions.

After gathering around her, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi seemed to be drawn by her abdomen, surging toward her Dantian, three inches below her navel.

Take food qi into the body, temper the five viscera, open the Spirit Mansion, draw Origin Power into the aperture... these were the essential cultivation instructions of the Qi-Feeding Spirit-Opening Art.

Now, Lu Mingyue had reached the stage of drawing Origin Power into the aperture, the final step in opening the Spirit Mansion.

Origin referred to the Origin Power possessed by immortal cultivators, and Origin Power was converted from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Thus, being able to draw Origin Power into the aperture meant that Lu Mingyue already possessed a Spirit Mansion within her body capable of containing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Once Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi entered Lu Mingyue's body, it had somewhere to reside. It would no longer rush back out after entering, like flowing water.

Instead, it would remain inside Lu Mingyue's body for a time.

During that time, if Lu Mingyue possessed an Immortal Cultivation Technique, she could refine that portion of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into Origin Power.

Then she would become a true immortal cultivator!

That was the so-called Qi Refining Stage.

"Phew... unfortunately, I still haven't obtained an Immortal Cultivation Technique."

About a quarter of an hour later, Lu Mingyue opened her eyes, a trace of regret appearing on her little face.

Even a single copy of the Qi-Feeding Spirit-Opening Art had brought about a tragedy costing over a hundred lives, and that was only what Lu Mingyue had seen.

Who knew how much blood had stained this cultivation method before Master Shen brought it back?

Master Shen had been able to kill the son of the Second Elder of the Twin Blades Gang. It was easy to imagine that a wealthy household like his had expert guards protecting its grounds.

It was no surprise that he had killed someone.

"Immortal Cultivation Techniques are far rarer than methods for opening the Spirit Mansion..."

Lu Mingyue could not help sighing. Suddenly, her ears twitched, and she hurriedly swung herself out of bed.

"Old Lu!"