The storm poured down.
Inside the ruined temple, there were leaks everywhere, damp and dripping, yet Zhao Ge and the others, exhausted from days of running, didn’t take this opportunity to rest well. After a brief catch-up, they began to get busy.
"Rong Niang, gather anything useful from the bodies on the ground. We can’t waste anything. Now that Zhao’s Martial Arts Hall is gone, we are poor and without possession, neither weapons nor money. The strong bows and crossbows carried by Han Sui and Jin Bufen’s group are all top-notch goods from their hall. Even if we don’t use them, they could be sold for money," he instructed while sitting on a stone inside the dilapidated temple.
"Daughter, go and help your elder sister. Her arm is injured, and she’s inconvenienced, remember to search their clothes thoroughly, see if there are any Qi Blood Pills hidden. If you find any, eat them immediately to replenish the Qi-Blood you lost earlier."
"Yes, Master, I’m on it," Zhao Qian nodded and began to help.
Faced with the corpses spread over the ground, the two girls showed no discomfort; they had grown accustomed to life and death in this era.
Zhao Ge continued, "Shou Hou, I need you to make an effort. Go down the mountain and gather the horses left nearby by those people. Lead back as many as you can, and remember, don’t go too far. Once you’ve got enough, hurry back. In these desolate mountains, there’s no telling what dangers might appear."
"Master, wait a moment. I’ll bring those fine horses back soon," Shou Hou nodded, picked up a bamboo hat from the ground to shield from the rain, found a steel knife, and armed himself with a strong bow before braving the downpour and heading out.
Li Yi was standing guard at the entrance of the ruined temple, sheltered from the rain under an eave, quietly observing this new world.
"Big senior brother," Shou Hou greeted, "Master asked me to round up the horses. I’ll be back soon."
"Why do you call me the big senior brother?" Li Yi suddenly asked. "I think I started training later than you."
Seeing that Li Yi responded, Shou Hou couldn’t help but smile, "Within Zhao’s Martial Arts Hall, the first disciple accepted as an in-house student is the big senior brother, and since you were the first disciple Master took in, naturally, you are our big senior brother."
"I see," Li Yi nodded in understanding. "Go ahead; I’ll keep an eye out for you here. If there’s danger, I will come to support you."
With those words from the big senior brother, Shou Hou’s worries diminished significantly, and he dashed off into the heavy rain with swift steps.
Li Yi’s eyes could see in the dark, shining brightly. He could see that at the foot of the mountain, the group that had died earlier left behind more than twenty fine horses. However, due to tonight’s thunderstorm, several horses had bolted in fright because they were not tied up properly. Still, many remained, and if all could be brought over, everyone could ride horses on the next day’s journey.
It must be said, Master Zhao Ge’s considerations were truly thoughtful.
They had just experienced life and death moments ago, yet in the next moment, they were gathering resources, thinking about how to survive the next day.
It all seemed so natural that even Zhao Qian, a young lady around sixteen, was quickly searching for usable items amidst the ground littered with shattered flesh.
She didn’t disdain the blood-stained gold and silver; she washed them with rainwater falling from the leaking roof, then carefully saved them.
The possessions of the dead became the sustenance for the living to continue surviving, with not a bit going to waste.
Everyone thought this was just and reasonable.
It seemed as though the law of the survival of the fittest had deeply infiltrated every inch of this world, and the people, as well as the martial artists born from it, all inherited this trait.
Seeing this, Li Yi fell silent for a moment.
He could sense a kind of indescribable cruelty in this world.
"Now that I’m in this world, I should adapt to its rules. If there indeed is no order here and it follows only the jungle law of the survival of the fittest, then I must stand at the top of this jungle’s food chain, becoming the most powerful predator, otherwise, I will be mercilessly swallowed by this world, let alone protect the people close to me," Li Yi thought to himself in his heart.
He had always understood one thing.
You can’t change a world on your own; you can only adapt to it.
What Li Yi needed to do was to integrate into it while not losing his true nature.
After all, he was an Evolver from the modern city, meant to return to Tianchang City; he couldn’t indulge in lawlessness because of the lack of law here. If he did so, he might indeed become as Sword Coin’s grudge had described – inherently evil with profound wickedness.
After adjusting his mentality, his body felt much lighter.
Amidst the downpour, Shou Hou brought back eighteen fine horses. However, it was strange that as he led the horses to the front of the ruined temple, they became hesitant to move any further, no matter how much he pulled, as if there was something taboo in front that made these horses sense danger.
"Big senior brother, look, what’s with these horses? They won’t move, and they seem to be afraid," said Shou Hou, puzzled.
"Could it be they smell the blood?" Zhao Qian, having finished gathering items, came out and suggested.
Shou Hou immediately replied, "That’s impossible, these are well-trained horses, unafraid of swordsmen, unflinching before crossbows, let alone scared of the scent of blood."