Chapter 82

Densely packed black-armored soldiers, like a swarm of black ants, rushed towards the gray-armored allied troops of the Seven Families in Feiye City.

One by one, martial arts experts and generals wielded their weapons and charged towards the city gate, which should have been sealed shut, but was now slowly opening.

"Enter Nirvana, cross the sea with the scent!"

"Enter Nirvana, cross the sea with the scent!"

Amid the loud shouts, many of the Seven Families' allied troops guarding the city gate took out gray-white cloth strips, tied them around their arms, and roared as they frantically opened the gate, attacking other Seven Families' allied troops.

"Destroy the Seven Families, revitalize Feiye!"

A large number of black-armored soldiers with black shields roared as they surged through the city gate, quickly occupying the area.

Warriors from Hong Family Castle, clad in battle armor, charged in, killing anyone in their path, unstoppable.

The Seven Families' experts rushed forward to intercept them, and the scene descended into chaos.

Wei Heyuan stood on a hilltop, looking towards Feiye.

There, a blaze of fire rose to the sky, as if another building had been set ablaze. The sky, which had just begun to brighten, was already tinged with red in one corner.

He and Jiang Su, Wei Ying, and a few others stood on a sloping hillside, facing a newly built stone tomb.

In front of the tomb stood a rough stone tablet, inscribed with: "Grave of Zheng Shi, Master of Huishan Fist."

Below, the details of Zheng Shi's full name, achievements, and age were finely carved.

All of this was done by Wei Heyuan with his fingers. It looked somewhat crude, but given the conditions, it had to be this way.

In the distance, faint shouts of battle could be heard, but neither Wei Heyuan nor Jiang Su were moved.

Wei Heyuan silently placed the package Zheng Lao had taken out earlier on the ground, carefully opened it, and found a thick letter, three black-green wooden plaques with no inscriptions, and a black, fleshy lump inside.

He opened the letter, unfolded the paper, and read it carefully.

It contained a lot of rambling recollections from Zheng Fugui, along with arrangements for his posthumous affairs. It seemed he had long anticipated that he might not survive this ordeal.

The latter part of the letter introduced his own background.

It turned out that the Huishan Fist Academy he founded was originally an outer branch of a sect called Wushi Sect, set up to screen disciples.

Later, the main sect of Wushi Sect moved, taking away a large number of resources and experts, and abandoned the small outpost of Feiye City.

At that time, Zheng Fugui did not want to leave. He had already married and had a daughter in Feiye City and was unwilling to go.

So he temporarily left the sect, renamed the academy to Huishan Fist Academy, and no longer stayed as a Wushi Sect disciple.

Wushi Sect was very secretive and extremely low-profile, so few people knew that Zheng Fugui was the head of the Wushi Sect's outer branch outpost.

After the Wushi Sect moved and abandoned the outpost, even fewer people knew Zheng Fugui's true identity.

The letter mentioned that Huishan Fist was originally a screening martial art of the Wushi Sect. Those who could reach the third level of qi and blood could hold the token and enter the Wushi Sect.

The process from the third level of qi and blood to the level of strength was extremely important, as the strength developed would determine the completeness and strength of future body training.

Therefore, those three tokens were the marks of passing the Wushi Sect's screening.

He could take one and go to Taizhou Prefecture to join the Wushi Sect, obtain the complete Wushi Huishan Decision, and practice to perfect his strength.

The letter carefully instructed that if Wei Heyuan accidentally broke through to the level of strength, he must return to the Wushi Sect before starting body training.

Finally, the letter recorded information about the red land fish and the meat field.

Zheng Fugui mentioned that the red land fish he caught was nearing the end of its life. So he extracted the special substance, causing the meat field to wither.

As long as he caught another strange creature, he could implant the special substance to recreate the meat field.

The letter carefully reminded that the black fleshy lump was the special substance. The method of use was to let it come into contact with the blood of a strange creature and attach it to the creature's wound to create a meat field. It must not be used on humans or come into contact with one's own blood.

"Three tokens, a letter, and a special substance, worth a fortune, indeed."

Wei Heyuan finished reading and passed the letter to Jiang Su. Here, only he and Jiang Su were inner disciples.

The others... some had gone missing, some had been killed, and some had betrayed.

For example, Jiang Yan had disappeared from the beginning, undoubtedly returning to the Jiang family.

Jiang Su took the letter and read it carefully.

"You... what do you plan to do?" She looked at Wei Heyuan, momentarily at a loss, with a trace of sadness in her eyes.

"There's one more thing to do, then I'll leave." Wei Heyuan said calmly.

"I'll go with you!" Jiang Su said earnestly.

"I'll go too!" "Me too!"

The other two quickly spoke up, afraid of being left behind.

"No need, find a place to meet up, and we'll go together when the time comes." Wei Heyuan was going to investigate One-Ear, and Feiye was no longer safe. Before leaving, he had to find out the truth about his parents and elder sister.

"I have a place to settle you. Jiang Su, you can help protect my sister. I'll be back soon."

Wei Heyuan explained that he was going to investigate the truth about his parents and elder sister, and that going alone would be more convenient. The others did not argue further.

"Alright, I'll hide them well." Jiang Su nodded.

Now, only a few of them remained in the Huishan Fist Academy. Although it was sad, it was better than the other completely disbanded and destroyed martial arts academies. Some had no one left, completely divided by gangs.

"Be careful." Jiang Su said dejectedly.

"Don't worry. Take care of your injuries." Wei Heyuan nodded calmly. For the others, the current situation might be difficult and dangerous.

But for him, it was just a matter of more human wild animals, no different from hunting in the past.

He then led the others to the outskirts of the city, to the area where One-Ear was active.

First, he settled Jiang Su, his second sister, and the other two in a hidden hunting cave he had prepared.

Inside, there were supplies of food, meat, and water he had stockpiled. He had hidden these supplies everywhere in preparation for such a day.

No matter how chaotic the situation, he could always find a way to survive. This was the advantage of being prepared.

After instructing the others, Wei Heyuan ran off, following the information he had gathered, searching the area where One-Ear often operated.

Ten miles outside Feiye City was where One-Ear often roamed, but no one knew where he was hiding.

The vast mountains could hide countless things, and finding a band of mountain bandits in a short time was not easy.

Fortunately, Wei Heyuan's speed was far beyond that of ordinary people. The Flying Dragon Technique saved him a lot of energy, and the third level of qi and blood from the two techniques made his qi and blood surge, with new energy constantly replenishing the old.

After two full days, Wei Heyuan finally found some clues and followed them to the bandit stronghold where One-Ear lived.

In the dense forest of withered leaves, the ground was covered with light yellow and dark yellow leaves, forming a thick carpet.

Every step Wei Heyuan took on the leaves made a crisp sound.

The mountain wind howled through the forest, and the trees, now bare, could not block the airflow.

Wei Heyuan looked ahead.

In front of him were two simple wooden watchtowers, followed by a wall made of wood and stone, about a hundred meters long.

But the wall only had one side.

The entire stronghold was triangular, with the other two sides being steep cliffs, forming a closed environment with the wall.

From a distance, the entire stronghold looked pitch black, and a faint smell of burnt charcoal could be detected.

Wei Heyuan sighed, a bad feeling forming in his mind.

He quickened his pace and approached the stronghold.

The watchtowers were empty, with no one on duty.

Soon, he reached the main gate of the stronghold, which was over two meters high, made of thick logs covered with iron sheets. Half of it had been smashed, and only the other half still vaguely resembled a gate.

Passing through the barely intact wall, inside was a scene of collapsed buildings.

Burnt black logs pointed skyward.

The ruins were littered with curled, charred corpses, and several vultures were feasting on them, tearing at the flesh.

Wei Heyuan ignored them and quickly searched the stronghold. Everywhere were corpses and burnt, twisted objects.

The entire stronghold was in ruins, with no living beings left.

Wei Heyuan found nothing and exited the stronghold through the main gate. From the remnants of the fire, it was clear that the incident had not happened recently.

Looking at the fire, Wei Heyuan already knew that continuing the search would be futile.

In the chaos, he couldn't wander aimlessly like a headless fly. He needed to take care of his second sister, Wei Ying.

After all, the supplies on the mountain would eventually run out, and he needed a steady supply of strange creature meat. The stored meat was almost gone.

Therefore, whether it was him, Wei Ying, or Jiang Su and the others, they needed a stable environment to live in.

Going to Taizhou Prefecture required crossing the provincial border, and following the rough map given by Master Zheng would likely lead to getting lost.

Fortunately, Wei Heyuan had the general map given by Cheng Shaoyou.

Although it was not very clear, it accurately marked the location of Taizhou and Taizhou Prefecture.

From Feiye City to Taizhou Prefecture, one had to cross the wide Night Crow Mountains.

On the map, the mountains had several rivers, dozens of villages, and vast stretches of desolate forests.

Just looking at it made one feel the danger. Not to mention, the map also marked several points where strange creatures were known to appear.

Wei Heyuan roughly calculated that, without stopping, following the speed of a courier team and the scale on the map, it would take at least half a year to reach the destination.

This was under the assumption that there were no delays along the way.

Moreover, this route was likely drawn by Yonghe Courier Service at some point in the past, and it was unknown how outdated it was. It was uncertain whether the villages and the activity ranges of the strange creatures had changed.

These were all issues.

He calculated which was more suitable: going to Yunzhou Prefecture or Taizhou Prefecture.

In the end, he decided to go to Taizhou Prefecture.

Yunzhou, even the peripheral Feiye City, was now in turmoil, and the situation in Yunzhou Prefecture was likely no better.

Most importantly, the Wushi Sect mentioned by Master Zheng had the Wushi Huishan Decision, which he needed.

According to Master Zheng, joining the Wushi Sect would provide a platform for him to reach greater heights.

With the existing tokens and connections, they could smoothly join the sect and gain protection.

The strength of the Wushi Sect far exceeded that of the Huishan Fist Academy.

Wei Heyuan decided to make one last trip around the area, retrieve the food and meat he had hidden, and then leave.

He no longer held any hope that his parents and elder sister were still alive.