My Cousin Is a Great Cultivator

"This humble official failed in his duty of protection; I hope Your Excellency will forgive him!"

The body was dragged off the carriage, and Du Zhou and the others arrived a step too late.

The fierce expert from the Xiong State, who should have put everyone on guard and even made victory a matter of life and death, died in front of the carriage. The opponent's ferocious attack seemed like nothing more than a joke.

Du Zhou and the others couldn't help but gasp as they looked at the corpses on the ground.

"Fortunately, a powerful cultivator who happened to be passing by came to my aid; otherwise, given my serious illness, I fear I would have been doomed if I had been attacked. Has the security situation in your Henan Prefecture always been this chaotic?"

A soft, questioning voice came from inside the carriage, and Du Zhou couldn't help but purse his lips.

"My lord, bandits have been rampant in Henan, Hedong, and Hanoi for years. In the past, these people could find a place to learn from a master, but now that there are few schools of martial arts in various places, and no one is there to discipline and guide them, they are left with only the option of becoming bandits. Some people from Xiong State even use this as an excuse to gather crowds and cause trouble," Du Zhou replied.

Why is banditry so prevalent year after year?

"Human nature is greedy; they crave quick money!"

"Oh!"

Zhang Xuezhou only asked a couple of questions casually and didn't pursue the matter further.

Du Zhou's answer was very official, making it difficult to find fault with the question.

The scourge of a particular school of thought is an extremely versatile excuse; it can be used to shirk any problem.

Zhang Xuezhou must say that there are historical reasons for this classification, but the rise and fall of schools of thought are both problematic, and the real source of this problem has clearly not been eliminated.

Of course, this is not Zhang Xuezhou's business.

Everyone has their own area of expertise, and every profession has its own people in charge. For example, Du Zhou is very likely one of the people in charge of this profession.

Zhang Xuezhou lifted the curtain to take a look, then looked at Zhang An's right hand, where a finger had been severed.

"I can retrieve my finger. I know some Supreme Purity True Technique from the Northern Border, which can help reattach it," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Grown ups?"

"The Supreme Purity True Technique can only heal some internal and external injuries; it cannot save those who have died from broken necks, blinded, rotten eyes, or poisoned eyes!"

Du Zhou had barely asked a question, and before he could even voice his thoughts, Zhang Xuezhou responded.

This made Du Zhou sigh with regret.

He glanced at the corpse in the distance, then at the armed soldiers who were quickly fetching water to wash their comrades' eyes, and couldn't help but fall silent.

This is the norm on the battlefield; no matter if they were brothers just a moment ago, they must accept reality the moment they encounter fierce fighting.

Those who can be saved will be saved; those who cannot will die on the battlefield.

But a newfound brutality crept into his heart beneath the silence.

He lowered his head to reply to Zhang Xuezhou's words, and when he looked at the bandits in the distance again, a sly smile appeared on his face.

"You have all rendered meritorious service in suppressing the bandits, and my word stands. You may all come with us to Nanyang to receive your reward!"

He shouted loudly to the bandits, which delighted many of the bandits who had not left. They hurriedly began to help carry the corpses and the wounded, and some even helped Zhang An look for his fingers.

"Sir, I've found my finger. Can I still use it?"

Holding his five fingers, Zhang An returned to the carriage with his hands covered in blood.

"Place your finger correctly, make sure it's not crooked, otherwise it will grow crooked when it's reattached and we'll have to cut it off again!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, then gestured for Zhang An to position the severed finger and hand correctly.

He chanted incantations and summoned the Supreme Purity True Technique. Immediately, fleshy buds sprouted from his palm and severed fingers, which then quickly fused together.

Aside from being limp and somewhat weak, the fingers are almost the same as before.

This delighted Zhang An, who held up his blood-covered right hand and examined it closely.

After pouring out the water from the kettle, he saw only a white mark at the severed ends of his fingers and palm. He immediately realized that his hand had been saved.

Even if the five fingers of this right hand are not as functional as before, it's still better than losing all the fingers.

He was extremely grateful and felt incredibly lucky to have survived this official mission.

Let's leave this place of trouble as soon as possible!

Zhang Xuezhou pointed, and Zhang An took a big gulp of water, then loudly ordered the bandits to move the rocks and logs.

"Mother, now you believe my cousin is a great cultivator, right?"

Ordinary people cannot see the red glow of Qi and Blood or the faint light of Law Power, but they can see the effects of spellcasting.

For example, Zhang An's finger was severed and then reattached, and the skin of that Xiong State old man was difficult to pierce with a butcher's knife.

Rong Li not only exchanged a few blows with the great cultivator, but also witnessed Zhang Xuezhou's casting of the Supreme Purity True Technique.

This is the world of cultivators.

To ordinary people, cultivators are lofty and unattainable, but in a real battle between cultivators, they are like straws.

It's rare to see a True Spirit Realm cultivator in a small city like Hibiscus City, yet three powerful cultivators have perished in this ambush zone.

Once you step out of that pond in Hibiscus City, everything you see will be completely different.

When the winds of change blow, it is not surprising that even cultivators fall like raindrops.

"That's impossible! If there are so many cultivators in the world, how come we've never seen any in Hibiscus City?" Rong Li, her teeth chattering.

Rong Li had slaughtered pigs her whole life, chased people with a knife, and even witnessed the government administering punishments, but Rong Li had never seen a thug break into a carriage and then have his head chopped off on the carriage.

Even though she has a strong heart and can accept many new things, she is not immune to some fears.

"What is Hibiscus City? I used to think that Daoist Mu's methods were strange, but who knew that his methods were only at the lowest level of those schools of thought, not even worth mentioning," Rong Tianding said. "Besides, we are not at that level. Even if there are great cultivators in Hibiscus City, we won't be able to see them!"

Few cultivators dare to commit violence among ordinary people, partly because they are bound by laws, and partly because it is difficult to gain any benefit from ordinary people.

Without reaching a sufficient level, it's simply impossible to have any interaction with cultivators of various strengths.

They were ordinary people in Hibiscus City, and the people they saw were also ordinary people. It was impossible for any cultivator to come and steal the business of the pig slaughtering stall to earn a dozen or so half-taels of silver, and to eat the unsold pig offal and scraps every day.

However, as long as one possesses sufficient strength and value, one may encounter various cultivators.

One in a hundred novice cultivators, one in a thousand martial arts masters, and one in ten thousand great cultivators—these people, who are usually invisible, suddenly appear out of nowhere, making people think that cultivators are as common as dogs.

However, the actual number of cultivators did not change; what changed was their own network of contacts.

"These aren't just tricks or gimmicks from the martial arts world; these are Law Power and abilities!"

Jia Zhiyuan replied, trembling as well. He secretly lifted the carriage curtain and peeked outside. He saw the old man from the Xiong State with his head crookedly lying on the ground, and black and red blood gushing from the headless corpse. He quickly lowered the curtain and pulled his head back in, exclaiming, "Oh my god, that's terrifying!"

"You better behave yourself, stop yelling all the time!"

Seeing Jia Zhiyuan's cowardly appearance easily angered Rong Li, which somewhat lessened her fear of the old man from the Xiong State dying in front of the carriage.

Rong Li even lifted the carriage curtain and glanced down as well.

Only then did she believe that Zhang Xuezhou and the others had become cultivators.

However, Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding's skills were clearly unreliable. On the one hand, they were strong enough to hide in a carriage to avoid disaster; on the other hand, they were knowledgeable enough that Zhang Xuezhou could even heal injuries with his bare hands and reattach someone else's severed fingers.

"May our ancestors have blessed us!"

Remembering Zhang Xuezhou's words that a powerful cultivator was passing by and would help, Rong Li felt that she had gotten lucky this time.

Faced with the unknown life in Chang'an City, which Rong Tianding said was teeming with cultivators, Rong Li became unusually cautious, fearing trouble and disaster, and no longer had the fiery temper she had in Hibiscus City.