Chapter 110 - Mourning Morning (Part IV) (Patreon)

The sounds of weeping in the residential districts and slums had begun at dawn and never lessened. Unable to discover the whereabouts of their loved ones or recover their remains, hundreds of thousands of citizens were forced to rely on city officials to deliver either good or heartbreaking news.

Some households mourned scorched arms and severed legs. Others could not recover even a single memento of the deceased, their bodies thrown into the sea along with their belongings.

Because of the overwhelming number of people searching for missing family members, a curfew had been imposed throughout Three Feathers City. After sunset, only cultivators, workers carrying permits issued by major forces, and city guards were allowed on the streets.

Anyone else discovered wandering outside would either be apprehended or executed, depending entirely on who found them first.

Hidden within the darkness of a narrow alley, Wang Chen listened to middle-aged women sobbing over the loss of husbands and children while younger teenagers shouted furiously toward the heavens over dead brothers and sisters.

He could not help but feel a painful tightening within his chest, fearing that he too would soon become one of those mourners. Only the fear of losing someone outmatched the pain of grief, in his view.

“Tidal Church… West Bo Merchant Chamber…” Wang Chen muttered. “Such ruthlessness.”

A few hours ago, after recovering his human form, Lucian had explained how those two forces had cooperated to imprison Wang Chen. He had also said that they had leaked information on Little Crab and possibly Bai Xiaomeng.

Though Wang Chen did not fully trust Lucian at first, he had heard enough gossip and whispered conversations to understand that public sentiment had already decided who the culprits were.

And although Lucian himself had never directly blamed those forces for the massacre, Wang Chen did. After all, Chairman Bo Huang had died during the chaos while Chairman Bo Qing had vanished entirely!

Rumors claimed the old merchant had secured a hidden escape route and fled before the disaster unfolded, protecting himself from the riot and the bloody aftermath. Only someone who knew about the attack could flee before it happened!

Those rumors spread rapidly through the city, breeding fear and uncertainty regarding what would happen next. And, observing the situation in the darkness, Wang Chen was certain Bai Xiaomeng would grieve deeply over the deaths of tens of thousands.

He only hoped to find her alive before he himself became one more grieving survivor.

While lost in thought, Wang Chen suddenly heard a whisper behind him.

“Move,” the voice said.

Recognizing Lucian’s voice, Wang Chen did not turn around. He darted toward another alley until he heard the voice again.

“Stop,” Lucian ordered.

Wang Chen obeyed.

Farther away, both of them picked up the sounds of violent shouting followed by the clash of battle through their enhanced hearing.

“Go,” Lucian said calmly before Wang Chen had time to react.

After weaving through several alleys and streets, using the random skirmishes erupting throughout the district as distractions against nearby cultivators, Lucian and Wang Chen arrived at a ruined commercial street lined with hundreds of shattered shops.

“Gather whoever you find valuable enough,” Lucian instructed, staring at Wang Chen’s frowning expression.

Confused, Wang Chen glanced toward him and asked, “Gather them where? Better yet, what do you mean by valuable? These are my friends. Of course, they have value!”

Unbothered by the larger man’s tone, Lucian turned toward the next alley. “Choose a few shops and stay inside them,” he said. “If I don’t return within a day, do whatever you want afterward.”

Wang Chen instinctively tried to grab Lucian’s shoulder, but Lucian blurred aside effortlessly and cast him a cold glance.

“What about Little Meng?” Wang Chen demanded, clenching his fists tightly.

“I may not care as much as you do,” Lucian replied, turning away, “but I’m far more interested in finding her than you can imagine.”

Before Wang Chen could ask another question, Lucian vanished into the darkness, leaving only a final sentence lingering in the air.

“Do your task, and I’ll do mine.”

Hearing the fading voice, Wang Chen took a deep breath before entering one of the nearby ruined shops.

Meanwhile, Lucian moved silently through the streets, his body depleted of Qi and his reserves of Blood Essence overflowing. He had made countless plans and simulations regarding how to approach Grandmaster Miao, including every possible way to avoid meeting the man altogether.

Yet no matter how many possibilities he considered, the conclusion remained the same.

He needed to confirm the situation personally.

Lucian would still confront Grandmaster Miao despite witnessing the terrifying display of power from the previous night, when the cultivator had unleashed attacks comparable to an Archmage or, in this world’s terms, a Core Formation expert. He had confidence he could escape if necessary.

Taking long detours and avoiding every detectable Qi flow, scent, and sound, Lucian eventually arrived at the former West Bo Merchant Chamber mansion. Or at least, he arrived close enough to see that the mansion itself no longer existed.

All that remained were ruins alongside the shattered remains of the surrounding buildings.

Just as Lucian was about to leave, he picked up a peculiar scent hidden within the wreckage, causing his brows to rise slightly.

Avoiding the guards and spies stationed around the destroyed area, he moved swiftly through the debris until he was beside a broken tree where a woman hid carefully among the shadows.

If not for her nimble physique and the lingering Qi fluctuations scattered across the battlefield, Lucian doubted the others would have overlooked her presence.

Approaching calmly, he said, “Chen Yuan, tell me where Grandmaster Miao is.”

Startled, the former Courtesan Yuan Yuan reacted instantly, flashing a knife toward him before recognizing the speaker. More than the concealed face beneath the robe or the familiar cold tone, it was the invisible pressure radiating from Lucian that made her notice who he was.

Taking a breath, Chen Yuan pulled a folded piece of paper from inside a brass cigarette box and handed it toward him with trembling fingers.

Lucian accepted the paper and unfolded it on the spot. Naturally, the darkness posed no difficulty for his eyes, so he read it. Then, after checking the contents twice, he tucked the paper inside his inner shirt, gave Chen Yuan a slight nod, and turned to leave.

“Wait,” Chen Yuan called out.

She flinched the instant Lucian stopped and glanced sideways toward her.

Gathering her courage with difficulty, she asked in a quiet voice, “Am I truly a jiangshi? A monster made to kill people?”

Seeing the uncertainty and sincerity within her eyes, Lucian was reminded of one of his daughters. Lowering his gaze slightly, he answered with a calm tone, “If survival forces you to do something, then that belongs to fate. Everything else is what you truly are.”

Shaking his head faintly to dispel the memory of his daughter, Lucian turned and disappeared toward the docks, heading for Grandmaster Miao’s new location.

Meanwhile, Chen Yuan remained behind, deep in thought. She stared blankly into the darkness, trying to uncover some deeper meaning hidden within Lucian’s seemingly simple words.

Eventually calming her emotions, she lowered herself to the ground and whispered toward the Qi line hidden beneath the soil, “He’s heading toward the docks. Should I move back?”

A moment later, Grandmaster Miao’s roughened voice echoed in her ear.

“Wait until sunrise. Then you’ll receive your next target,” he said. “Avoid unnecessary contact with people. We don’t know if he used any tricks on you. I'll keep watching."

As soon as the message ended, the Qi line burrowed deeper into the earth.

Left alone, Chen Yuan leaned against the trunk, her mind clouded by thoughts of the past few months. She couldn’t help but think about how terrible it was that she had to kill one person every week just to survive.

If Grandmaster Miao hadn’t helped her select suitable targets, she feared what she might have become.

Chen Yuan usually felt fortunate for having deep connections with cultivators across the city, but if she ever killed the wrong person, she feared she would be found easily.

Alas, she was completely unaware that most of her lovers had either forgotten about her entirely, died during the previous night’s catastrophe, or been dealt with by Grandmaster Miao over the past few months.

And if Lucian knew her past connections would crumble so easily, he would never have turned her into a ghoul to save her life.

Fate could be unpredictable sometimes.