Chapter 121: Corpse-Chasing Sect Stirs Up Trouble

A few days later.

Outside the Nan Men of Bei Yun City.

Tens of thousands of refugees have already gathered here.

The Wu family is distributing porridge here.

After Shen Qing exterminated the Yuan family with thunderous means last time, these clans have become obedient, locking up the troublesome, loose-tongued juniors in confinement, and each family has opened their granaries to relieve the famine.

The Wu family distributes porridge every day at Nan Men.

At dusk, a Wu family servant was tidying the stall preparing to return to the city; he glanced at the leftover porridge in the bucket and smiled at the servant beside him.

"Hey, don't you find it strange? Over the past few days, the number of arriving refugees has been dwindling, and there's still plenty of porridge left."

"That's right, I haven't even finished handing out the pickled vegetables."

These words fell into the ears of the Wu family's young master Wu Gu, who was reading nearby; he lowered his book and looked at the two.

"What are you saying? The number of refugees coming for porridge these past two days has been decreasing."

"How could that be?"

A servant scratched his head: "Young master, I don't know either. A week ago our daily porridge wasn't enough, but starting a few days ago, the number of people picking up porridge has dropped."

Another servant said: "Could they have fled elsewhere, or gone to another city gate to collect rations?"

Wu Gu knocked on his head, annoyed: "If you can't reason, just shut your mouth."

"Flee elsewhere? Where could they flee to? Is there any other place that distributes porridge daily like we do?"

"The other three city gates are even less likely; their porridge isn't as thick as ours—are they sick, passing up thick porridge for thin?"

The servant rubbed his head: "But I've chatted with a few other families these days, and they haven't mentioned this either..."

Another servant said: "Is it possible they simply don't regard the decrease in refugees as a matter at all."

That's highly plausible, after all these are all great clans; even their servants earn high salaries, so they likely don't treat refugees' lives as lives, and thus wouldn't bother whether refugee numbers rise or fall.

"But with that Shen adult of the Embroidered Uniform Guard having killed to this extent, who would dare cause trouble here? Are they seeking death?"

Wu Gu seemed to think of something, and gooseflesh rose all over his body.

"Even our city gate has lost this many people."

"Then what about the other three city gates..."

"You, hurry back home and inform my father of the situation."

"I'll go inside to scout the situation."

Wu Gu found a refugee, changed into a set of clothes, and sneaked into the refugee camp.

Without much thought, Wu Gu headed straight for the outskirts of the refugee camp; troublemakers would surely choose a sparsely populated spot, otherwise the camp would have already descended into chaos.

After running back and forth several laps, he found nothing abnormal.

Suddenly, a medicinal smell assailed his nostrils.

Wu Gu instinctively felt something was off; refugees can't even afford food, where would they get money for medicinal herbs, and the scent indicated the herbs were definitely valuable.

Following the scent, Wu Gu found a tent; on its floor lay a man with an abnormally pale complexion, and the medicinal odor emanated from him.

Wu Gu looked left and right a few times, confirming no one else was present, then entered the tent and felt the man's pulse.

"How is this a corpse? Why would a corpse use such expensive medicine?"

"Wait!"

"Corpse... using medicine..."

"A walking corpse! Corpse-Chasing Sect!"

Jia Shui Jun indeed has a group of the Corpse-Chasing Sect; their cultivation is high, and basically no power dares provoke them.

Although they rarely appear in daily life, it's said they are extremely arrogant.

Then everything matches up.

Only such an arrogant sect would dare cause trouble on Shen Qing's turf.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded; Wu Gu moved, swiftly darting out of the tent, crouching by the road, restraining his breath to disguise himself as an ordinary refugee.

He saw a black-clad middle-aged man approach; though his face was smeared with a bit of ash, there was no sign of starvation, and he carried a bundle of medicinal herbs.

After the middle-aged man entered the tent, Wu Gu dropped the pretense and rose, running toward the city.

"Good, good, good! The Corpse-Chasing Sect—my Wu family can't afford to provoke them."

"But sorry! You've picked the wrong place! This is Shen Qing's territory—you're doomed!"

"And I, Wu Gu, will earn a meritorious title for reporting! Corpse-Chasing Sect, die, Grandpa!"

Inside the Pacification Office.

Miserable screams still echo continuously.

They are those few traitors and Japanese pirates who were flayed; they basically can't die, and Shen Qing specially fed them some healing pills, enough to keep them suffering for a few more days.

Meanwhile, Shen Qing sat in the courtyard familiarizing himself with his Breaking Illusion Pupil.

Only seen, Shen Qing's purple pupils continually swept over the White Tiger, then he extended a finger pointing to a spot on the White Tiger's body.

"Come, condense the medicinal potency into this aperture."

The White Tiger let out a whimper, gritted its teeth, and condensed the medicinal potency into the aperture Shen Qing mentioned.

After about the time it takes to finish half a cup of tea, the White Tiger's aura surged, successfully breaking through to the Master Realm.

Shen Qing nodded satisfactorily: "That's right; you've lingered in the Innate Realm too long—how could my mount remain merely at the Innate Realm?"

After half a day of testing, Shen Qing also discovered many uses of the Breaking Illusion Pupil; not to mention meridian fractures, as long as the opponent circulates true qi, Shen Qing can see even their internal hidden injuries.

Just then, a scholar entered: "Boss, someone outside requests an audience—it's the Fifth Young Master of the Wu family, Wu Gu."

"He says he has important information to report."

Shen Qing nodded: "Alright, I know."

After saying that, Shen Qing reached out and pinched the white tiger's belly: "Scholar, from now on I'll halve the white tiger's food—it's getting as fat as a pig."

"I don't want to ride a pig out and lose face!"

The white tiger opened its mouth wide, stunned, every hair on its body seemed to be saying "no".

But it was useless; Shen Qing had already left, and the scholar looked at his white tiger, spreading his hands helplessly.

"Tiger Brother, don't blame me either."

Inside the hall.

Wu Gu was pacing nervously, not even noticing when Shen Qing walked into the hall.

Shen Qing spoke.

"Are you Wu Gu? Report the situation."

Wu Gu came to his senses and hastily bowed.

"Wu Gu of the Wu family has met Lord Shen!"

"The situation is like this."

Wu Gu hurriedly explained the situation.

The scholar also flipped through the booklet he carried.

"Boss, I've looked into this Corpse‑Chasing Sect; they act extremely arrogantly, often digging up people's ancestral graves—they're the sort that lack virtue and stir up trouble. Moreover, Boss, you previously unified the martial world of Eternal Peace Commandery and established the Martial Alliance; actually there are many opposing voices out there, and in this Jia Shui Commandery this Corpse‑Chasing Sect is the most vicious in its name‑calling, the insults are really nasty."

A flash of light passed through Shen Qing's eyes.

It turns out there's still some old grudge.

Corpse‑Chasing Sect?

"Damn it, the city's been fixed; I ordered the city to behave, so these clans dare not cause trouble in the city."

"You're fine—not causing trouble in the city, but causing trouble at the city gate, right?"

Corpse‑Chasing Sect? I'll beat you into a Corpse‑Shredding Sect!

Shen Qing patted Wu Gu on the shoulder: "Wu Gu of the Wu family, right? Good job—if it really is the Corpse‑Chasing Sect, you'll earn a merit."

Dark clouds completely covered the moon, taking away the last bit of light.

Outside Nan Men, only a few refugees remained, lit by a tiny bonfire.

Several figures walked out from the edge of the tents.

Several of those figures moved with unnatural stiffness, their hands and feet like puppets, and they occasionally let out low growls like beasts.

A few people arrived outside the refugee camp and were talking in low voices.

A black‑clad middle‑aged man spoke.

"The refugees at South City Gate are the most numerous."

"Finally it's our turn—I'm starving."

At that moment, the man beside him let out a low roar.

The black‑clad middle‑aged man patted his head: "Don't shout!"

Having said that, the black‑clad middle‑aged man licked his lips, pointed at a nearby tent, and said, "Get ready to move—this tent is mine; I just discovered there's a plump baby inside, and I'm going to eat him."

But they didn't notice, in the darkness behind them where you can't see your hand in front of your face.

A pair of eyes slowly opened, flashing a cold purple light.

Overbearing True Qi flashed, and several figures silently exploded into bloody mess.

Only the last black‑clad middle‑aged man remained, seized by the throat and lifted by Shen Qing.

"What the hell?"