Chapter 28: Traces

Ten days flashed by in the blink of an eye. During the day, Chen Fei tried his best to avoid running into Zhang Yuezhen. After finishing the refinement of five batches of Qi and Blood Pills, he would begin practicing the Jingxuan Strength.

The Jingxuan Strength was not far from Great Perfection to begin with, and with Chen Fei's recent diligent efforts to grind his proficiency, he had finally reached the state of Great Perfection.

Inside the pill chamber, Chen Fei slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"Compared to the original Wind-Suspension Breathing Method, the daily cultivation progress provided by the Jingxuan Strength alone has reached 17 points, nearly doubling it."

Chen Fei murmured softly. This was only after integrating the "Jing" Character Technique; what if it were the complete Thunderous Sword Strength?

Chen Fei swallowed hard, wondering if those dozen or so counterfeit copies of the Thunderous Sword Strength might offer him some surprises. However, Chen Fei had no time to deal with those manuals right now, as he still had sword techniques that were not yet fully integrated.

"Whoosh..."

A sudden clamor drifted in from outside the medical clinic, mingled with the roar of a crowd. Feeling somewhat curious, Chen Fei walked out of the pill chamber and toward the clinic's entrance, where he saw refugees passing through the gates.

Chen Fei's brow twitched slightly. Were these refugees allowed to enter the city now?

Previously, the Pingyin County Yamen had prohibited these refugees from entering the city, fearing they would disrupt the stability of the entire county. Only hired refugees were permitted through the city gates.

Many of the casual laborers currently working in the medical clinic had been recruited from among those refugees. The wages they were paid were much lower than what Chen Fei had received back then.

Even so, these refugees were fighting tooth and nail for the chance, because only by entering the city could they hope to eat their fill. Otherwise, they could truly die at any moment outside the walls.

Chen Fei glanced at Liu Jun, who immediately understood and hurried out to gather information. After a short while, Liu Jun returned.

"Something 'eerie' happened outside the city two days ago. Dozens of refugees died overnight. Having no other choice, the Yamen opened the city gates to settle these refugees in the North City."

Speaking of the "eerie," Liu Jun couldn't help but shrink his neck. When ordinary people encountered such things, it was a death sentence. Liu Jun was just an ordinary person without any cultivation; how could he not be terrified upon hearing such news?

The Yamen's decision to allow the refugees into the city was not only due to the fear that too many deaths would trigger a refugee uprising, but also because they were worried the eerie entity would continue killing until the situation became uncontrollable.

Humans can grow stronger through cultivation, but eerie entities grow by devouring humans.

Under normal circumstances, the presence of the Yamen's treasures within the city would cause eerie entities to avoid the area. While the effect outside the city walls was weaker, it should have been relatively safe.

Clearly, however, that particular eerie entity had broken through that boundary, leaving the Yamen officials unable to remain passive.

Throughout the entire day, aside from practicing his internal strength, Chen Fei spent all his other time practicing his sword techniques. Even at night, he did not stop.

The appearance of the eerie entity added a new layer of urgency to Chen Fei. While the entity could not yet break into the city, who could say what would happen in the future?

At night, Pingyin County was noisier than usual; from time to time, Chen Fei could hear sounds drifting from the distance.

The next morning, upon arriving at the medical clinic, Chen Fei saw everyone whispering in groups. Clearly, something had happened again.

"Nineteen people died inside the city last night?"

Chen Fei looked at Liu Jun with some surprise. Although he had expected last night to be restless, he hadn't expected so many deaths.

"There were refugees, and also city residents. In one wealthy household, seven people were killed; only after the family proactively offered up silver were the others spared," Liu Jun said fearfully.

Chen Fei frowned deeply. The refugees shouldn't have had that kind of strength. Generally, wealthy households employed guards. If the refugees were strong enough to defeat guards, they could have entered the city to work long ago; they wouldn't have lingered until now.

"Could it be those bandits disguising themselves as refugees again?"

The figures of Jian Liang and his gang flashed through Chen Fei's mind. If that were truly the case, Pingyin County would truly be unable to find peace in the coming days.

With so many refugees, the Yamen officials had no way of distinguishing which were bandits and which were civilians.

At night, Chen Fei went to the black market.

"Gathering herbs has become truly difficult lately," Chi Defeng complained as soon as he saw Chen Fei.

"Fifty percent above the market price!" Chen Fei said flatly.

"That's why I love doing business with you—straight to the point!" Chi Defeng's expression changed instantly, a smile appearing on his face.

Chen Fei said nothing and lowered his head to inspect the medicinal ingredients.

Gathering herbs had indeed become harder because the refugees were increasingly afraid to go to Mount Pingyin. Especially now that better and safer work was available within Pingyin City, there was no need to risk their lives.

After a moment, Chen Fei stood up, pointed at several herbs, and looked at Chi Defeng. Chi Defeng decisively took those herbs away and replaced them with new ones.

Chen Fei felt somewhat helpless. He didn't know if Chi Defeng had recently taken a grudge against him, but every time, there were fake herbs mixed in. It wasn't many, just a few stalks, but it seemed as if he wanted to trick Chen Fei just once.

However, Chen Fei had already practiced the Grass-Returning Pill to the level of Great Perfection. He was intimately familiar with the various characteristics of these herbs; it was impossible for him to misidentify them.

Seeing that Chi Defeng had no intention of explaining himself, Chen Fei couldn't help but chuckle. Was this his final act of stubbornness?

Leaving the wooden hut, Chen Fei was about to exit the black market when he looked up and saw someone ahead. His footsteps faltered for a split second, but he immediately continued walking naturally.

"It's that gang of bandits!"

Stopping in front of a stall, Chen Fei pretended to pick through items, but his attention was focused on the right side.

In the black market, most people concealed their true identities. That bandit was no exception, and they even used disguise techniques to mask themselves.

However, the disguise was likely applied by someone else for the bandit. Chen Fei's disguise technique had long since reached Great Perfection, making it easy for him to spot the flaws.

Most importantly, Chen Fei had a deep impression of this bandit, because it was he who had kicked and broken Pu Liao's leg after capturing him.

At the time, Chen Fei had subconsciously glanced at the bandit a few extra times, thus memorizing him.

"They really have come. The incident last night was most likely their doing."

Chen Fei wandered aimlessly through the black market for over half an hour. Once the bandit left, Chen Fei trailed him from a distance.

Chen Fei's current movement technique was much superior to that of an average Bone-Tempering Realm practitioner. Although the bandit was of the same rank as Chen Fei and was very cautious, he was still discovered by Chen Fei.

Not just his residence, but even when the man removed his hood and bamboo hat midway through, Chen Fei saw his current appearance clearly.

"It seems this is the face he has been using in the city lately."

Chen Fei identified the man's features from a distance and then vanished.

Inside Pingyin County, the night was deep and silent, but the Yamen was still processing cases. If the events of last night continued to occur within the city, Pingyin County would inevitably undergo a violent change.

Standing in the distance, Chen Fei weighed a stone in his hand and threw it with all his might toward the Yamen.

Chen Fei's figure flickered, and he vanished from the spot. He had done what he could; now, it was up to the Yamen to see how they would respond.