The sky brightened in the misty rain.

In Jiangning City, within the haphazard marketplaces, people were already up and about, starting their day.

A simply dressed woman carried firewood, passing under the dripping eaves to light the stove in the kitchen. The smoke rose through the chimney, blending into the drizzle, bringing a sense of life to the surrounding courtyards and shacks.

An old man, leaning on a cane under the eaves, inquired about breakfast. The woman in the kitchen grumbled about the inconvenience of city life, complaining that even firewood was hard to find. An early rising young man drew water from a nearby usable well, telling everyone that a corpse had been thrown into another well by some heartless person, making it unusable. A young boy, still following old habits, squatted outside the courtyard under the eaves to defecate. Raindrops fell from the eaves, hitting his worn straw hat. The boy, with his rear end sticking out, pulled his stool back, watching the rainwater drip in front of him.

After a busy night, Lu Xian returned from outside, stepping in the excrement.

"Gouzi! How many times have I told you not to shit outside your house? You never listen!"

He looked at the squatting child in front of him, his anger flaring up, and cursed loudly.

The child jumped up, startled, pulling up his pants: "T-that wasn't me."

"It's always you brats! I told you, living in the city means acting like you're in the city, you... you stop running..."

Before he could begin his lecture, seeing the other turning to run, Lu Xian gave chase. The child didn't stop: "Don't hit me!"

"Who's hitting you, you incorrigible fool!"

The child couldn't run far while holding up his pants. Lu Xian, using his Eight Steps Catching Cicadas lightness skill, grabbed him: "You idiot! You didn't even wipe your ass before pulling up your pants, how many pairs of pants do you have to wash... damn..."

While cursing, he pulled down the child's pants, broke off a few small branches from the roadside and stuffed them into his hands: "Wipe yourself clean!"

"Oh." The child took the branches, then squatted down, saw the other glaring at him, and mumbled, "I... I haven't finished..."

"Ugh... if I see you do it again, I'll slap you silly."

Furious, Lu Xian left a harsh warning, turning away to return to the courtyard.

Arriving at the courtyard gate, many people greeted him: "Brother Xian."

"Xian, you're back."

"Lu Xian, busy until this hour again."

"You should be home at night..."

Lu Xian washed the shit off his shoes in the water outside the courtyard, nodding in response.

Originally a two-courtyard residence, it had been transformed into a large communal courtyard, with familiar faces everywhere. Some middle-aged people of similar age joked with him: "Lu Xian, I heard you scolding Gouzi."

"Lu Xian, stepped in shit?"

"Lu Xian, why don't you investigate whose shit it was?"

"I bet it was you." Lu Xian retorted with a laugh, "You smell just like it."

"That's because I stepped in it too, haha, you, conducting investigations without due diligence..."

Several households lived in the outer courtyard, and several more in the inner courtyard, creating a lively morning scene. When he returned to his room, his wife began to nag about the quickly diminishing food supply, the problem of the injured Erzhuzi's wife asking for rice, and a few complaints about how city life wasn't as good as rural life, how firewood was hard to buy, and how things were unstable outside… These were routine complaints, and Lu Xian casually brushed them aside.

With his wife's help, he took off his raincoat, untied his long and short dual sabers, then removed the satchel containing various hidden weapons and medicines, took off his outer coat, unfastened the iron-plated protective vest underneath, untied his leggings, removed the iron plates and small knives from the leggings… After taking off so many items, the table looked like a small mountain, and he felt much lighter.

"Go call Uncle Duanwu over, prepare two portions of breakfast."

After taking off all these things and washing his face, he asked his wife to call for someone. After a moment, a tall man, about fifty years old, with half-white hair but still sharp eyes, entered. Lu Xian bowed to him: "Uncle Duanwu, is your injury getting better?"

"The hand is fully healed, I can go out with you tonight." The man nodded, "Xiao Shan said you took on a strange job. How is it? Any trouble?"

"It's a strange job, catching two children, one fourteen or fifteen, the other thirteen or fourteen, not very old, but their kung fu is indeed powerful. I met them the other night and almost suffered a loss."

"With that kind of kung fu at that age, they probably have a background."

"Yeah, but this matter is just strange, not troublesome. These two kids... want to assassinate Zhou Shang, heh, there's not much to worry about. Actually, I asked Uncle Duanwu to come over today because I have some doubts and wanted to discuss them with you."

"Hmm." The other nodded, "Speak."

"Uncle Duanwu, do you think we should leave Jiangning...?"

After Lu Xian finished speaking, the other thought for a moment, then looked up: "Did you sense something?"

"I can't say for sure." Lu Xian walked to the door, looked outside, then closed the door and lowered his voice, "When the Fair Party conquered Jiangning, they said they wanted to open the doors for business, to invite guests from all directions. I had some merit, so I called everyone over here... At first, I thought the five families of the Fair Party were one, but after being in Jiangning for several months, after the five sides met, I realized it wasn't like that at all..."

"Didn't they say that after this conference, they would truly become one family?"

"I don't think it's that simple." Lu Xian shook his head, "Before, everyone said that they would talk, fight a little, and retreat a little, and eventually they could eat from the same pot, but now it seems that the five sides have very different ideas. Uncle Duanwu, you know that I've been running around trying to get Gouzi, Hutou and the others into school... When we first entered the city, every family wanted to settle down here, so they protected many teachers, but now there are fewer and fewer."

"These last few days... there have indeed been many people leaving the city..."

"It's not just these last few days... in these few months, other than the Fair King's side, which has managed to keep a few schools, there are fewer and fewer educated people here... Some of the big shots above have protected some scholars, calling them advisors, but privately they only let the teachers teach their children to read, not open their doors to us. I originally had my eye on that Mr. Yan in the south, I wanted to ask him to give Gouzi and the others introductory education, but I had something to do and delayed it, and a few days ago I heard that he was beaten to death..."

The two sat at the table, Lu Xian lowering his voice: "He Shuangying took a fancy to someone's daughter and wanted to marry her off to his idiot son. Mr. Yan didn't agree, so He Shuangying brought people to his door and beat him to death. They said outside that these educated guys are useless, but they're arrogant and look down on everyone. Now that our Fair Party preaches equality for all, those who have read books are of course equal to those who haven't. If he looks down on people, he should be beaten to death... Some people outside are even cheering."

"Uncle Duanwu, we're also people who make a living with knives, we know what fighting can do, we can smash the bad world, but I've never heard of not reading, not writing, and not understanding reason being able to accomplish anything. Even if it's equality for all, making a living with knives, you still have to learn the skill from someone. If learning the skill is equal to not learning the skill, I think this equality will sooner or later become a joke..."

"I know about these things you're talking about." Uncle Duanwu nodded after a moment of thought, "But now everyone has come, and suddenly you say we should leave, can we leave? And you're working under General Wei now, if you suddenly leave, wouldn't you offend General Wei... Where can we go? If we run back, don't forget that our village is also in the 'King Yama's' territory."

"Alas, if it weren't for that, we wouldn't have followed this side. Looking at it now, if we could follow the Fair King's side, it might be better, at least Gouzi and the others would have a place for introductory education..." Lu Xian said, then shook his head, "Unfortunately, those people who investigated the 'Reading Club' offended the Fair King's side, so it's probably impossible."

The two talked about these things, and the room was silent for a while. Uncle Duanwu tapped his fingers on the table, then said: "I know you've always been decisive. Since you brought this up to me, you must have some ideas. Why don't you tell me what your plans are."

Lu Xian nodded: "Although our King Zhou's side has gone a bit too far, he has managed to accumulate some silver and gold. The situation in the city recently is not right. I think we need to find a place for everyone to have a way out..."

Uncle Duanwu sighed: "Who isn't trying to scrape together a fortune and then find a place to be free these days? But the problem is, the world is in chaos, where is there a place to go? Moreover, you're working with General Wei and his men, you always need to use people. The able-bodied men here are following you, and it's not easy for the women and children to leave. If we let everyone escort their families out of the city, whether it's going home or to other places, it will probably delay your work here..."

Lu Xian waved his hand: "Uncle Duanwu, these things can be thought about slowly, but since Mr. Yan was beaten to death, I've always felt uneasy. We can first think about where else we can go... Uncle Duanwu, what do you think of General Liu Guangshi? I heard that he treats the people kindly, and General Liu is a scholar-general..."

In the misty morning rain, the city under the blue sky looked like it was always in twilight. Lu Xian, who had been busy all night, began to rest. People were coming and going near the courtyard. In the afternoon, some able-bodied men brought a large cart of firewood, along with some meat, vegetables, rice, and grain, which were some of the benefits Lu Xian had gained from working under Wei Xuwen.

In the evening, some able-bodied men gathered in the courtyard. When Li Duanwu, with his scattered white hair, appeared in black clothes and carrying a long saber, everyone respectfully greeted him, and some cheered.

He was an old-school outlaw, who had a huge reputation in Jiangnan called "River-Breaking Dragon." Although he was old, he had also taught Lu Xian, who had surpassed him. It was because he gathered the able-bodied men in the village when the chaos came that everyone was able to carve out a path in this situation and now had a foothold in the city. Although this place looks shabby now, everyone has accumulated some silver and gold and is living better than many others.

They are united, and they have their own thoughts, positions, desires... and joys and sorrows.

At this moment, they were about to find two ignorant young men. This was just an ordinary task among the many tasks they had carried out in the past year.

Under Wei Xuwen, the people who can get things done are the ones who can survive and survive well, and they all understand this principle. Therefore, after Lu Xian and Li Duanwu's arrangement, everyone scattered in different directions in the rain.

The city darkened, then gradually rippled with light in the drizzle, the lights in the rain, hazy like an oil painting…