Traces

Ten days had passed in the blink of an eye. During the day, Chen Fei tried his best to avoid encountering Zhang Yuezhen. After refining five batches of Vitality Pills, Chen Fei would focus on cultivating the Suspending Force.

The Suspending Force was almost perfect, and Chen Fei had been seriously grinding his proficiency. Now, he had finally achieved perfection. In the pill room, Chen Fei slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.

“Compared to the original Wind Suspending Breathing Technique, the Suspending Force alone now gives me 17 points of cultivation progress every day. It’s almost doubled,” Chen Fei muttered to himself. This was when it was fused with Suspending Force. What if it was the complete Thunderous Sword Force?

Chen Fei swallowed his saliva, wondering if those fake Thunderous Sword Force books could give him a surprise. However, Chen Fei didn’t have time to obtain those secret manuals. After all, he still had sword techniques that he hadn’t completed.

Suddenly, a noisy voice came from outside the medical hall, mixed with the voices of more people. Chen Fei walked out of the pill room with a strange expression. When he arrived outside the clinic, he saw refugees passing by the door.

Chen Fei’s brows twitched slightly. How were these refugees able to enter the city? Previously, the Pingyin County government had forbidden refugees from entering the city due to concerns that it would affect the county’s stability. Only refugees who were hired could pass through the city gates.

There were many handymen in the medical center who were found from among the refugees. The salary they were given was even lower than what Chen Fei originally earned. Even so, these refugees were fighting over the positions because they could only eat their fill after entering the city. Otherwise, they could die at any time outside the city.

Chen Fei glanced at Liu Jun, and Liu Jun quickly went out to gather information. After a short while, Liu Jun returned.

“An evil visited the city outside two nights ago. Dozens of refugees died in one night, and there was no way out. The county government opened the city gates and settled these refugees in the north city,” Liu Jun said.

Liu Jun shrank back when he spoke of the evil. If ordinary people encountered such a thing, they would die. Liu Jun was an ordinary person without any cultivation. How could he not be afraid when he heard such news?

The county government allowed the refugees to enter the city because they feared that if too many people died, it would cause a mutiny among them. They were also concerned that the evil creature would continue to kill people until it became uncontrollable. Humans could cultivate to become stronger, but the evil creature could grow by devouring people in a peculiar way.

Normally, the city had magical objects that the county government used to protect the North City medical center from the creature, so it would avoid the area. Although the effect outside the city walls was weaker, it was still considered safe. However, it was evident that the North City medical center creature had breached this boundary, and the county government couldn’t let the matter just rest.

Chen Fei spent the entire day cultivating his inner strength and sword techniques, feeling a sense of urgency due to the appearance of the evil creature at the North City medical center. Although the creature had not yet broken through into the city, Chen Fei could not predict what would happen.

At night, Pingyin County was noisier than usual, and Chen Fei could hear sounds coming from afar. The next morning, he arrived at the clinic and learned that nineteen people had died in the city the night before. Among the victims were refugees, city residents, and a family of seven who were killed but spared when they offered silver taels.

Chen Fei frowned, as those refugees shouldn’t have that sort of power, considering that wealthy families would usually hire guards to prevent their entry. He wondered if the mountain bandits were pretending to be refugees and had returned to the county.

At night, Chen Fei visited the dark market, where Chi Defeng complained about the difficulty of picking herbs due to the refugees’ fear of going to Pingyin Mountain.

“It’s really difficult to pick herbs recently.” Chi Defeng couldn’t help but complain when he saw Chen Fei.

“I’ll pay 50% above market price,” Chen Fei said calmly.

“I like doing business with you! Quick and decisive!” Chi Defeng’s expression changed as a smile instantly appeared on his face.

Chen Fei didn’t say anything. He lowered his head to check the herbs. After a moment, Chen Fei stood up and pointed at a few medicinal herbs as he looked at Chi Defeng. Chi Defeng automatically took away those medicinal herbs and replaced them with new ones.

Chen Fei felt somewhat helpless. He didn’t know if Chi Defeng had some beef with him recently. Every time he went to the herb store, he would try to mix some fakes in. Not many, just a few. It seemed like he wanted to catch Chen Fei missing them at least once

As Chen Fei left the market, he saw a person who appeared to be a mountain bandit. Chen Fei pretended to browse a stall while focusing his attention on the bandit. In the dark market, most people disguised their appearance, and the mountain bandit was no exception.

However, this disguise technique was probably cast on this mountain bandit by someone else. Chen Fei’s disguise technique had long been perfected, so it was very easy to see through the flaws.

Most importantly, Chen Fei had a deep impression of this mountain bandit because he was the one who broke Pu Liao’s leg with a kick after capturing him.

At that time, Chen Fei had subconsciously taken a few more glances at the Mountain Bandit and thus remembered him.

“It’s really them. They were most likely the ones behind what happened last night.”

Chen Fei wandered around the dark market for more than an hour before the Mountain Bandit left. Chen Fei followed far behind.

Chen Fei’s current movement technique was much more outstanding than an ordinary Bone Tempering realm cultivator. This bandit was of the same rank as Chen Fei. Although he was very cautious, Chen Fei still managed to follow him back to where he lived.

It was not just the residence. The person had removed his hood and bamboo hat halfway through, and Chen Fei also saw his current appearance.

“Looks like this is the appearance he used in the city recently.”

Chen Fei identified this person from afar and then disappeared.

It was already late at night in Pingyin County, but the county government was still in the middle of the case. If what happened last night continued to happen in the city, then Pingyin County would definitely not be the same.

Chen Fei stood in the distance and shook the stone in his hand. He threw it with all his might, and the stone flew toward the county office.

Chen Fei’s figure flickered and disappeared from its spot. Chen Fei had already done what he could. The next step was to see how the county government would respond.