"王叔!"
多么巧合啊!追赶的何明在门口撞上了王大江.一看到一张熟悉的面孔,她的脸上顿时露出了惊讶的神色.
当她之前被帝国高手俘虏时,她还以为自己完蛋了.
她万万没想到,在一阵昏迷之后,她醒来后发现一切都解决了.抓到她的敌人都死了,被她只见过一次的哥哥杀死了.这个哥哥太强大了,即使是现在,她仍然觉得这一切都是虚幻的.
"小敏,你出去了?"
王大江听到声音,也显得无比惊讶.
"里面怎么样?老大哥在哪里?他为什么不跟你出来呢?
"里面..."
何敏停顿了一下,回想起院子里血腥般的场景.有那么一刻,她不知道该怎么描述.
"老大哥出事了吗?"
王大靖立刻变得焦虑起来.看到何敏的表情,他还以为她的哥哥被杀了.
"不,我爸爸没事."
"他被关在监狱里.王叔叔,跟我来!
何敏猛然回过神来.她毫不犹豫地转身,带着王大江迅速地向县监所走去.
这时,其他女人也已经跑出来了.看到何敏如此突然地回来,他们的脸上闪过一丝困惑.然而,在这样的情况下,没有人敢单独行动——他们别无选择,只能跟着她和王大江冲向监狱.
至于陈洛,他并不知道自己忘了救俘虏.但这无关紧要——因为里面的大多数人已经死在他的手里了.剩下的琐事最好还是交给沙虎宗的人来收拾.
离开县府后,他如风如影,迅速回到了何家的院子里.
"你回来了?"
马奎子仍然坐在院子里,他的姿势放松,仿佛世界上没有什么能扰乱他的平静.
在之前的屠杀之后,这个地区现在死一般的寂静和出奇的安全.即使是在街道上搜寻的巡逻士兵也本能地避开了这个地方.当需要 "找人" 时,他们毫不犹豫地避开了这个角落.
沙虎宗的其余手下,在确认情况安全后,已经冲向县监狱去营救其他人.到现在为止,从时间来看,他们应该已经到了.
"遇到了点麻烦,"陈洛淡淡地说道,拂去袍子上的灰尘."但一切都已经解决了."
陈洛懒得解释细节.
那些需要死的人已经死了.那些需要拯救的人已经获救.无论如何,今天冒险的目的已经实现.
"你接下来要做什么?"马奎子看了一眼弟子,他的声音平静,但带着多年徘徊武道和仙道带来的重量.
无论陈洛可能隐藏着什么秘密,在马奎子的眼里,他仍然是他的弟子.
作为江湖的老手,马奎子觉得他有责任提供一些指导——至少在经验方面——这样这个男孩就不会重蹈覆辙,浪费他的岁月走上一条遗憾的道路.
"我还没决定,"陈洛停顿了一下后回答道."但有一点是肯定的——我不会留在青雅县."
事实是,他真的没有想得那么远.
他已经将黑虎拳修炼到了巅峰.
在马奎子教过他的所有武功中,这是最高级别的.除此之外,没有明确的前进道路.
即使是他的师父马奎子,也从未达到过更高的境界.
陈洛只知道除此之外还有更高的境界——但究竟是什么,他并不确定.他只听到过一个被称为宗师的境界的模糊提及.
说到底,黑虎拳不过是一门低级的武功.
To tread the path of Dao through martial prowess alone—relying solely on the Black Tiger Fist—was simply unrealistic.
Now that he had reached this point, Chen Luo naturally understood. The tales of immortals that Ma Quezi once spoke of when he first began training were, in truth, no more than stories meant to inspire.
The true Black Tiger Fist… could never take one that far.
"Leaving Qingya County is the right choice.
The enemies you faced this time were merely pawns—sent casually by those powerful figures behind the scenes. If you truly draw their attention, the ones they send next won't be so easy to handle.
Even though you've broken through to the Bone Tempering Realm, in a place like Yue Kingdom, that level alone isn't enough to move unhindered.
As far as I know, there are cultivators in the capital who have already surpassed the Bone Tempering Realm."
At this point, Ma Quezi seemed to drift into memories of his younger days.
After a moment of thought, he began to share with Chen Luo all the rumors and tales he had heard over the years.
"If I had understood this back when I was young, I wouldn't have ended up like this."
In his youth, Ma Quezi had once been a prodigy, a young genius who reached the Bone Tempering Realm at an early age. He was filled with boundless pride and ambition, his heart soaring as high as the heavens.
But alas, he failed to recognize his own position in the grand scheme of things. He offended people he should never have crossed, and as a result, he lost everything. All his loved ones were killed, and he himself was nearly left to die alone in the wilderness.
If not for Chen Laosan's boldness, pulling him from the pile of corpses, he would already be forgotten, his grave overgrown with three feet of grass.
After that ordeal, the proud and ambitious young warrior who once soared to the heights... was gone.
What remained of him now was just a useless cripple.
"I plan to return to Chenjia Village for a while," Chen Luo said. "I was forced to flee north before, and I never got the chance to go back home. I don't know how my father and the others are doing."
Although he spoke these words aloud, his mind was occupied with something else entirely.
He planned to gather information about that mysterious 'mine.'
Anything that could make even kings and nobles turn hostile and fight over it was surely no simple matter.
With the garrison forces in Qingya County wiped out by his hand, if he didn't take this opportunity to act, wouldn't those lives have been taken for nothing? There was also the jade slip he had seized from General Fan, which required further study.
Chen Luo thought of his third uncle.
As an experienced grave-digger, he was likely the most familiar with the hidden terrains around Qingya County, and could probably pinpoint areas where a mine might be concealed.
Previously, he had sent his third uncle ahead to Chenjia Village to report that he was safe.
Chen Luo, on the other hand, had stayed behind to handle matters in Qingya County. Now that those issues were resolved, it was time to return and pay a visit to his third uncle, while also seeking his guidance.
"Go ahead and don't worry," Ma Quezi said, giving Chen Luo a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I'll make sure the people from the Shahu Sect take care of things here and clean up the mess."
With that, Ma Quezi turned and walked back toward the house.
The conversation between master and disciple had come to an end.
Chen Luo didn't linger. After resting for a brief moment, he left the city that very night.
The night passed without incident.
The journey was uneventful, and by the time the sky lightened with the first hints of dawn, Chen Luo had already returned to Chenjia Village.
The location of Chenjia Village was far from any place of wealth; it was a true backwater, a desolate and remote corner of the land.
It was only because life had become unbearable that his father had sent him to the city to seek refuge with his third uncle. Back in the city, Chen Laosan lived among the lowest of the low, yet in Chenjia Village, he was a figure of some renown. When Chen Luo first came to the city to seek his third uncle, he had arrived full of dreams and ambitions.
Unfortunately, those dreams were soon buried in the dirt by his third uncle's shovel.
"Little brat, you're finally back!"
As soon as Chen Luo arrived at the village entrance, he spotted his third uncle.
For the past few days, Chen Laosan had been waiting here at dawn. Since it was his responsibility to bring Chen Luo back—since he had lost him in the first place—he made sure to be here.
"Third Uncle."
A warm feeling spread through Chen Luo's heart. A place where someone cares for you... that's what truly feels like home.
Although Chen Laosan often acted unreliable on the surface, his feelings for his nephew, Chen Luo, were undoubtedly genuine.
"You're not hurt?"
Chen Laosan scrutinized Chen Luo from top to bottom. Only when he was sure that his nephew was unharmed did he let out a sigh of relief.
Since parting ways with Chen Luo last time, he had been constantly worried. Now, his heart was finally at ease. Once the people from the Shahu Sect cleared up the mess in the city, this matter would be considered settled. He believed that the adults like Eunuch Wei would never mention someone like Chen Laosan to Prince Ning when reporting to him. If they did, they'd no longer have any place to stand under the prince's rule.
However, out of caution, Chen Luo still offered his third uncle some advice—suggesting that he find another place to settle.
The Salt Lake County, where they had once fled to, would be a good choice.
It lacked any special mineral deposits, the place wasn't too large, and in the mountains, there were allies like Cai Dangjia to help. Life there would certainly be safer than in Qingya County.
They would leave at the crack of dawn.
Chen Luo's return to the village naturally caused quite a stir. His father, Chen Dachuan, was so happy that he drank an extra cup of wine. His mother pulled him aside and spoke to him at length. His little sister, still too young to understand, lay on the earthen bed crying, likely frightened by the strangers in the house.
Chen Luo stayed in the village for three full days. Once news from the Shahu Sect arrived, confirming that everything had settled down and all was peaceful, he chose to leave.
This time, he planned to find a place to thoroughly study the jade slip in General Fan's possession, while also digging up the mysterious mine. Over the past three days, he had gathered information from his third uncle about several suspicious areas, and had also used General Fan's way of thinking to survey the surrounding regions. After confirming everything was in order, he set off.
At this moment, the forces of Prince Ning had not yet arrived. Qingya County was still in a power vacuum, in complete disarray.
Leaving Chenjia Village, Chen Luo reached into his clothes and felt the jade slip.
He had a feeling—this jade slip might just be the opportunity that could change the course of his life.