It was just noon when Chu Xisheng and his sister galloped up to the outskirts of Firebone Cavern on rented horses.
Chu Xisheng had barely entered the outer reaches of Firebone Cavern when he sensed that something was very wrong with the atmosphere.
There was not a single pedestrian in the market town built against the cavern. Most of the shops stood open, their interiors in utter disarray. There were also bodies on either side of the street, their flesh mangled and bloody.
After inspecting two shops, Chu Yunyun's brows knitted deeply. "The town must have been sacked. There's a large band of mounted bandits."
She saw a great many hoofprints on the street, along with fresh horse dung.
Most of the victims' wounds were on their heads, shoulders, and chests. The cuts ran downward, and the bones beneath them had all been shattered.
They had clearly been hacked from above by riders on horseback. The attackers had borrowed the momentum of their charging horses to deliver blows of tremendous force.
Moreover, the wounds were fresh, and the blood had yet to dry completely. This large-scale pillaging and slaughter had evidently taken place within the past two hours.
Chu Xisheng, meanwhile, was bewildered and uncertain. "Where did these mounted bandits come from? They actually dared attack Firebone Cavern?"
Firebone Cavern was a lawless place, beyond the Imperial Court's jurisdiction.
There was no Embroidery Guard here, no Six Fan Gate, and no City Guard.
Yet more than twenty pharmacies and trading firms from Xiushui Commandery were entrenched here, their influence deeply rooted.
Behind them stood either martial clans with long histories or powerful gangs of the martial world.
Although the Long Clan and the Iron Banner Gang had withdrawn their forces from Firebone Cavern, the market town alone could easily muster