Inner city, behind the city gate...
In the wide open, terrified eyes of the dead, the stranger in the straw raincoat flipped his hand.
Blood droplets vibrated off the bloodstained Horse-Cutting Blade, with the rest evaporating into red wisps, merging into mist.
The blade was without a sheath.
The dog was without a leash.
In the desolate autumn rain, the youth pressed down his conical hat again, raindrops and blood dripping from its brim like a bead curtain, falling pitter-patter, but whenever it touched the youth, it was scorched by the blood qi, turning into either a blood mist or white steam rising up.
The youth, with lowered eyes, cautiously glanced around, as well as at the distant city walls and alleyways, then took a deep breath to discern unfamiliar living scents. Through this double exploration, after confirming that there were no more living people on-site, he turned... and disappeared far away, his figure vanishing into the bleak autumn rain.
The blood on the ground, under the wash of the rain, faded more and more, yet it spread, as if the ground of a large slaughterhouse was being washed by water...
The gray sky enveloped the area, and within the inner city, the forty-three residences were all silent.
Fortunately, no one dared to risk their life to investigate the outside scene.
Li Yuan used the "ant’s perspective" to scan his home.
All was well.
So, he quickly herded the demon dog back into the Earth Pavilion Cage, relocked it, and then swiftly removed the straw raincoat and conical hat from the original corpse and re-dressed it.
After finishing, he quickly returned to his own home, then climbed over the wall and swiftly ran to the cellar entrance, knocking on the stone slab.
Upon hearing the knocking, the three children under the stone slab shuddered, nervously covering their mouths. The proprietress was also shivering, but she struggled to remain upright, while Lady Yan held a knife, hands tightly gripping it, staring dead at the entrance of the cellar.
"It’s me."
A familiar voice called out.
Then, the stone slab was lifted.
Li Yuan jumped inside, then turned to cover the stone slab.
The proprietress let out a whimper and fell into his arms, her delicate body pressed against his chest, breathing lightly. Lady Yan was also breathing heavily, leaning against his side.
Li Yuan said, "Outside, as expected, there’s an enemy invading. I looked from afar and was fortunately not discovered."
Lady Yan asked, "Then... what do we do now?"
"Keep hiding," Li Yuan said.
Seeing the proprietress trembling, he gently stroked her back, then hugged her shoulders to have her sit on his lap, and said, "Don’t be afraid, it’s okay..."
The proprietress buried her pretty face in his chest, lightly sobbing.
Lady Yan laughed beside them, "Sister Xue is worried about becoming a widow again."
Li Yuan suddenly understood, "So, she’s worried about me?
Am I not fine?"
Having Lady Yan point out her feelings, the proprietress blushed a bit, especially since Aunt Wang and the others were also in the cellar. To change the topic, she said, "Husband, who are these invaders?"
Li Yuan said, "I couldn’t see clearly, but they come with ill intent..."
"Eh..." The proprietress sighed but didn’t say any more.
If the inner city changes flags, Shanbao County might be turned upside down as well, and as for the days after... it’s uncertain how they can go on.
Don’t even mention the future; they don’t even know if they can leave the inner city alive.
...
...
At this moment.
In a dimly lit inner chamber, Blood Scissors wore a smirking smile, leaning back slightly, rubbing his beastly sharp nails.
Rain and dew still clung to him, with wet marks and dust on his boots, evidently having just rushed here from outside.
This Seventh Grade tributor summoned by the Blood Saber Sect was supposed to be in Datong Square, but he had secretly rushed back to Silver Creek Square just moments ago, and it wasn’t just him; many Wild Honored Guests had quietly gathered at Silver Creek as well.
"Did you see clearly?"
"The tributor from the Sun Family has already sent word...
The specifics are unknown, but the Sun-Wei families and the Blood Saber Sect are indeed fighting.
The fireworks signals just now were the trumpets blown before the attack."
"Good, good..." Blood Scissors laughed sinisterly.
"Brother Blood, should we act now?"
"Yes, of course!
When dogs bite dogs and both are wounded, it’s our turn to strike.
Hehehe...
What Sun Family, Wei Family, Blood Saber Sect?
In the future, they’re all ours!
Shanbao County is ours too!
Brothers, good days are coming!"
A group of Wild Honored Guests laughed sinisterly along with him, controlling a county town, wouldn’t that be sheer delight?
Blood Scissors suddenly sat up straight and called out, "One-Eyed!"
"Present!"
"Go tell the tributor at the Sun family that fighting has really broken out here; let them act as needed. After we take Shanbao County, we’ll split everything."
"Got it." A broad-shouldered, fierce-looking one-eyed man responded.
Blood Scissors then called, "Tie Dan!"
"Brother Blood, here."
A dark-skinned man with a gold hoop hanging by his ear stepped forward.
Blood Scissors said, "Hurry and notify General Qing Xiang that the opportunity to breach the city has arrived."
"Yes, Brother Blood!"
Blood Scissors continued, "The other brothers, ambush in Silver Creek with me. Later, when we see any wounded trying to escape, we’ll give them a blow so they can’t escape, haha."
After laughing, he clenched his fist and said, "Shanbao County will be ours: meat fields, money, women, and the legacies of those three families will all be ours!
Then, we’ll eat demon beast meat however we want.
We’ll play with women however we like, hahaha!"
Everyone laughed grimly together.
...
...
Autumn rain, afternoon.
On a concealed hilltop, faintly visible were sparse houses and a mountain gate swaying in the autumn wind...
At the entrance of the mountain gate, a few people wearing chest armor were sheltering from the rain under the eaves while on guard.
These soft armors looked like the armor of government soldiers, because only the Court would produce such mass-manufactured pieces, where due to corruption, the funds were insufficient, leading to armor with singular defense function, yet they still somewhat provided defense.