The afternoon of August 16th was filled with discussions about the Great Brightness Cult Leader taking down the Five Directions Arena. The righteous indignation and bloodlust in the air made her sense that things were spiraling out of control.

She didn't sleep well that night.

As dawn approached, roars echoed through the air. People in the dilapidated courtyard and houses were calling to each other. Some grabbed spears and sabers, others lit torches. She rose as well, shivering as she put on a few more layers of worn clothes. Finding a wooden stick, she tried to project an air of courage.

Fortunately, Auntie Huo waved her off. "You stay here and guard the home. Just take care of yourselves."

Men and women with weapons gathered in the courtyard. Someone even said, "Little Scholar, you don't need to go."

Auntie Huo, whose full name was Huo Qinghua, was a tall, middle-aged woman with a scar across her face. It was said that she had been quite beautiful in the past, but when the Jurchens came, they captured her. To avoid being violated, she slashed her own face. Later, she joined the Fairness Party and became part of the "Seven Killings," specifically the "White Rakshasa" branch. Now, she was the leader of this dilapidated courtyard.

The Fairness Party was currently in a state of chaotic organization.

Across the Jiangnan region, any slightly well-known force would raise its own banner, but half of them were not true members of the Fairness Party. For example, the "Seven Killings" under "King Yama" generally unified new recruits into the "Ephemeral" branch. After assessment, they would be assigned to one of the six major branches: "Heavenly Killing," "Impermanence," "Avici-Naraka," "White Rakshasa," "Slaughtering Fiends," and "Karmic Hindrance." However, because the "King Yama" branch had grown too quickly, many were raising their own banners haphazardly. Anyone with some strength was casually absorbed.

Huo Qinghua's group belonged to a legitimate "White Rakshasa" branch. The dilapidated courtyard was filthy and chaotic. The number of people gathered here was small compared to the diverse mix in Jiangning at this time, but surrounding forces still showed them some respect.

The true "White Rakshasa" were "professionals" who worked with the "Karmic Hindrance" branch. Generally, when the Fairness Party occupied an area, the "Karmic Hindrance" branch, under "King Yama," was responsible for arresting and judging people.

While "Karmic Hindrance" set up the stage, the "White Rakshasa" played the role of victims, stirring up the emotions of the surrounding crowd so that wealthy households on trial could be beaten to death on the spot and their property divided. Therefore, the "White Rakshasa" branch attracted many beggars, women, and disabled people who had suffered hardships. These people were vicious, extreme, and not only eager to harm others, but also fearless and difficult to deal with in a fight.

"Little Scholar" was Qu Longjun's nickname in this dilapidated courtyard.

After the Chengdu Conference last year, the girl named Qu Longjun left the Southwest.

Although she understood that the Southwest was now mostly peaceful, the resentment in her heart over her father's death at Little Cang River lingered. She no longer hated the Black Flag, but she couldn't bear to live peacefully in Chengdu. If her father had a spirit in heaven, he might not be pleased.

Her most familiar place during her formative years was, after all, Jiangnan.

After Wen Shoubin's death, the Dragon Knight applied for his remaining property to be returned to her. It included not only silver but also several estates in Jiangnan. Obtaining any one of them would be enough for a weak woman to live comfortably for half her life.

She left the Southwest with the Huaxia Army convoy, learning some bookkeeping skills. Thanks to Auntie Gu's influence, the Huaxia Army's merchant team also taught her many survival skills. After traveling with them for about half a year, she finally said goodbye and headed to Jiangnan.

Knowing that her appearance was too delicate and easily bullied, she mostly disguised herself as a beggar, applying a piece of fake, burned skin to one side of her cheek as camouflage, keeping a low profile. The skills she had learned from the Huaxia Army merchant team saved her some trouble, but sometimes she still attracted the attention of other beggars. Fortunately, during her half year with the merchant team, she had learned some simple breathing techniques, and she was able to run fairly quickly.

She traveled this way for two or three thousand miles, encountering some danger but mostly fortunate. However, the entire Jiangnan region had been ravaged by the Fairness Party.

When she arrived in Jiangning two months ago, she realized that the deeds and property titles that had belonged to Wen Shoubin were now likely worthless. She went a little further, but before reaching Zhenjiang, she decided to turn back. Near Jiangning again, a thief stole the travel money from her bag, and she had to go from playing a beggar to actually begging.

During this time, she was chased by beggars. Once, she was cornered in an alley, unable to escape. Qu Longjun took out a small knife to defend herself and was about to commit suicide when Huo Qinghua happened to pass by, rescued her, and brought her into the "dilapidated courtyard."

Huo Qinghua said she mainly admired her resolve when she tried to commit suicide.

The dilapidated courtyard was filled with extreme personalities. Qu Longjun was terrified when she first joined, and many people tried to bully her, but Huo Qinghua stopped them. She tried to do chores in the courtyard, but things truly improved when they discovered that she could read.

There were five children in the dilapidated courtyard, and they didn't get much discipline in this environment. Qu Longjun once tried to teach them to read, and later Huo Qinghua had her help manage these things. She would also bring back some newspapers every day, and when everyone gathered together, she would have Qu Longjun read the stories aloud to entertain them.

In this "White Rakshasa" courtyard, no one could read. Although the place was dirty and chaotic, no one talked about doing anything for the children. Most of what they said was self-deprecating, but when Qu Longjun started doing these things, she found that although people didn't mention it, no one ever tried to make things difficult for her again. Later, as she read the newspaper day after day, she became known as "Little Scholar."

Sometimes when everyone went out to "fight the landlords," they would take her along to watch, or they would bring back flattened gold and silver objects for her. Qu Longjun would secretly hide them, planning to leave this place secretly one day when she had a good, reliable plan.

Although the people in the courtyard had not harmed her, Qu Longjun still felt disgusted and repulsed by what they did, the way they used lies and deceptions to kill entire families. Despite the many strange arguments within the group, such as, "Even if these people haven't done these bad things, killing them can serve as a warning to those who do," Qu Longjun, who had been educated, couldn't accept such reasoning.

Of course, she didn't dare directly refute such twisted logic when others were discussing it with relish.

Having spent time in the Southwest and experienced the propaganda about women holding up half the sky, Qu Longjun initially had some goodwill towards the Fairness Party, but now she only felt confusion and fear.

Huo Qinghua sometimes talked about the changes in the Fairness Party over the past year or so.

Although she was in the most radical branch of the Fairness Party, she still felt some disdain for the mixed and muddled situation of recent times.

For example, the "White Rakshasa" were originally created in the early days of Zhou Shang's leadership to create convincing scams to get things done, to make the "Fairness King's" law enforcement team speechless, to establish a situation where the world had "nothing to say." Their "scams" had to be so perfect that no one could detect that they were fake. However, with the development of the past year, the "King Yama's" judgments had gradually become extremely common routines.

Even if the accusations and performances on stage were clumsy and the people below didn't believe them, they would pick up bricks, beat the people to death, and then plunder them. As a result, the "White Rakshasa's" performances became dispensable. They even shamelessly blamed "King Yama" after using his name to smash, loot, and rob, saying that King Yama was killing innocent people indiscriminately, which further damaged their reputation.

This kind of thing became more and more frequent. Huo Qinghua and others didn't know if it was good or bad, but occasionally she would lament that "the world is going downhill" and "people's hearts are not as they used to be." If all the "White Rakshasa" performed properly and no one could find fault with them, why would so many people speak ill of them?

They considered themselves "artisans" who made a living with their skills and even wanted to teach these skills to Qu Longjun, but seeing Qu Longjun's reluctance to go on stage, they finally let her go.

Recently, the situation in Jiangning City had become increasingly tense, but the wealthy households had been almost completely killed. Huo Qinghua and others were actually considering leaving, but they hadn't made up their minds. On the morning of August 17th, the signs of this great melee had already appeared. With the order of "Heavenly Killing" Wei Xuwen, thousands of swordsmen launched an attack on the territory of "Wheel-Turning King." The rest of the "King Yama" faction in the city, big and small, also chose to seize the opportunity to grab territory.

As a legitimate branch of the "White Rakshasa," the dilapidated courtyard, even with its small numbers, could not afford to be left behind in this matter.

After a period of gathering and shouting, everyone went out. Those left behind in the dilapidated courtyard were mostly the old, weak, and disabled. Qu Longjun held a stick and hid in the darkness in the corner of the wall, nervously guarding the area for a long time. She knew the price of such a melee. If you attack others, others will attack you without restraint.

Fortunately, the events of that night were ultimately a revenge led by "King Yama." The counterattack from "Wheel-Turning King" had not yet arrived. After about an hour, Huo Qinghua returned with her people, shouting and hollering. Several people were injured and needed bandaging. One woman had a more serious injury, a severed hand, and cried incessantly.

Qu Longjun had learned bandaging. While dutifully treating the injured, she listened to everyone's conversation. It turned out that the melee had only just begun when the law enforcement team of "Dragon Sage" Fu Pingbo arrived nearby and drove them back. The group hadn't gained anything. They cursed Fu Pingbo and said he would come to a bad end. But Qu Longjun was slightly relieved. In this way, they could at least give an explanation to their superiors.

It was almost dawn, the darkest hour. The fighting outside had slightly subsided, presumably the law enforcement team of "Fairness King" was gradually quelling the situation.

Among the five major factions of the Fairness Party, the situation of "Fairness King" was relatively better. They had encircled a small area in the northwest of the city. The destruction there was slightly less than outside, and the fighting was not as frequent. It was opposite the territory of "Equality King" in the southeast, and they were the two most prosperous areas in the city. But for people from other factions, "Fairness King" had too many rules, was too "high and mighty," and "looked down on everyone." Not only did they always send out law enforcement teams to point fingers at others, but most importantly, there were fewer opportunities for "riches in danger" than in the other factions. Therefore, unless they had families to support, not many people had recently wanted to join that side.

If you wanted to profit in the short term, ordinary people would follow "King Yama" Zhou Shang and smash and rob along the way. If you were religious, you could also choose Xu Zhaonan, who had a large following and whose faith protected him. If you wanted long-term gains, "Equality King" Shi Baofeng had extensive connections and the most resources. He himself was compared to the Heart Devil of the Southwest, and everyone thought he had great prospects. As for "High Heaven King," he had strict military discipline and strong troops. In this chaotic world, this was the most direct strength to rely on in the long term.

As for Fairness King, he was annoying. At least, that's what everyone in the dilapidated courtyard thought. He was going out of date. Sooner or later, they would have to find a way to break into that area and drag out the rich and unkind people who were too proud and make them "fair" once more.

In the atmosphere of everyone's cursing and complaining, the people who had been left behind were walking around, healing the wounded, and cleaning up. Someone also cooked meat porridge to give the people who had gone out to fight a little sustenance. The woman with the severed hand was placed in a room on the side of the courtyard. Although she had received treatment, it might not have been ideal. She was wailing endlessly. Everyone sat in the courtyard listening to her wailing, talking about this and that for a while. Gradually, it dawned.

"Little Scholar," Wan Yun, the most beautiful and gentle-looking person in the crowd, but actually the most ruthless, spoke. "Take out yesterday's newspapers and read us something exciting to relieve the boredom."

"Oh, okay," Qu Longjun nodded.

She usually read the newspaper in the afternoon before dinner. Yesterday, because the Five Directions Arena had been attacked, everyone had been cursing and shouting for revenge for a long time, so the new newspapers had not been read. Qu Longjun took out the newspapers, sat in front of everyone, and began to read.

The newspapers circulating in the Fairness Party didn't record much news. They were mostly stories and legends of the greenwood from other places, or tales from the Southwest reprinted here, and some vulgar jokes – basically the kind of things that common people loved to read. Qu Longjun read for a while, and everyone laughed. Someone said, "Read louder, I can't hear you."

So Qu Longjun read a little louder.

The reason why everyone felt they "couldn't hear" wasn't that she wasn't reading loud enough, but that the woman with the severed hand in the side room was wailing continuously. Everyone couldn't do anything about it, so they pretended not to notice and listened to the stories, laughing gleefully.

After reading two newspapers, she turned to the third. The wailing from the side room gradually subsided. Sometimes she said some confused words, and those voices echoed in the morning breeze.

"Mother..."

"It hurts..."

"My baby, my darling... ah..."

"I was wrong..."

"It hurts so much... Mother... Father..."

The woman with the severed hand was over forty years old. Her parents had long since died. These wails were hoarse. The final "ah" in each sentence always stretched out for a long time until the last breath in her throat was gone. Qu Longjun felt a chill in her heart. She knew she had to leave this place as soon as possible. "King Yama" had attacked the territory of "Wheel-Turning King" tonight. Wouldn't "Wheel-Turning King" retaliate the next day?

Thinking this, she read a piece of news about Tongshan.

"...This fiend has great martial arts skills. Under heavy encirclement... he kidnapped the young lady of Yan Family Fort... and even left his name..."

"...This fiend is known as the Five-Foot Yin Devil... Long... Long..."

She paused slightly, not realizing anything yet, but after a moment, she looked at the newspaper more closely.

Everyone was talking.

"...What Yin Devil?"

"...Shameless, despicable Yin Devil..."

"...This young lady of Yan Family Fort isn't so great, either..."

"...If you ask me, when you meet this kind of man, you should, when he's doing that thing, you should..."

"...It hurts so much... My mother... My father..."

"...Hahahaha..."

Everyone laughed for a while, then began to discuss various ways to deal with such a lecherous thief...

The morning light grew brighter. The crowd that had listened to the newspaper gradually dispersed and returned to their places to rest. Huo Qinghua arranged some patrols and went to her room to rest. The woman wailing on the side of the courtyard gradually fell silent. She was about to die, lying on a tattered mat, with only a faint breath left. If someone went over and listened near her ear, they could still hear her single, drawn-out wail.

"It hurts... Mother..."

"I'm leaving... leaving..."

Qu Longjun sat in the courtyard with the newspaper. Finally, when she walked to the room, she went in and closed the woman's open eyes. The name flashed through her mind.

Long Aotian...

How did he get to Tongshan...

Tongshan... where is that...

***************

In the morning, "Dragon Sage" Fu Pingbo, who was now responsible for the security and law of the Fairness Party in Jiangning, summoned all parties, including "Heavenly Killing" Wei Xuwen and "Wheel-Turning King" Xu Zhaonan, to begin investigating and negotiating. Wei Xuwen stated that he was unaware of what happened in the early hours of the morning. Some Fairness Party members with violent personalities were dissatisfied with the so-called "Great Brightness Cult Leader" Lin Zongwu and took spontaneous revenge. He wanted to arrest these people, but they had already fled the city. He said that if Fu Pingbo had evidence of these people's crimes, he could arrest them and punish them.

On the other hand, Xu Zhaonan said that Lin Zongwu was a respected and unparalleled great cult leader. He was virtuous and had high prestige, plus his martial arts were unmatched. He couldn't stop him from doing anything. If Fu Pingbo had any dissatisfaction with his style, he could talk to him in person. He couldn't manage this matter anyway.

The "High Heaven King" and "Equality King" factions had no opinions on the fighting that happened last night. They supported Fu Pingbo in arresting and punishing people, while subtly warning Lin Zongwu's side not to continue messing around. But Xu Zhaonan's status was higher than theirs, and he didn't care about such warnings.

That same morning, after the negotiations ended without success, Lin Zongwu released news that he would step onto Gao Chang's "Million Soldiers Arena" in three days.

The atmosphere in the city suddenly became more tense and chilling. A tangible storm was gathering.

But it was just a melee. Everyone was mentally prepared, and no one was afraid.

Ning Ji, who had been busy all night, slept until noon in the inn.

For some reasons that he didn't want to think about or admit, he didn't intend to give up the name "Long Aotian." So last night, he beat up quite a few people.

...

Far away in the Southwest, Ning Yi and his son Ning Xi, having spent Mid-Autumn Festival in Zhang Village, were sitting in a carriage on their way to work in Chengdu.

"Dad, where do you think Second Brother is now?"

"Who knows? Hopefully, he hasn't died out there..." Ning Yi sighed.

"We all guessed that he must have gone to Jiangning. With Little Ji's martial arts skills, he won't suffer too much. Don't worry, Dad," Ning Xi said optimistically. "Maybe he's already made a name for himself. I'm so envious..."

"Maybe he's ruined the family's reputation," Ning Yi rolled his eyes. Of course, this was just a habitual mockery from an old father. In his heart, he still had confidence in his second son's martial arts and character.

As for the fact that he had sent people to Jiangning, he didn't need to tell his eldest son too much.

"In that case, Second Brother is the first person in the family to return to Jiangning. Actually, over the years, Mom and several uncles of the Su family have said that one day they want to go back and see the old house."

Ning Xi sighed. Ning Yi thought for a moment, but didn't answer. He often missed the situation in Jiangning, and according to past information, the old house had survived several wars, but it had actually been preserved.

After a moment, Ning Xi shifted the topic away from sadness: "...Dad, this time we go back, Mom said that when you came out of Zhang Village last time, she asked you to bring a roast chicken."

"Did she?" Ning Yi frowned and asked.

"Yes," Ning Xi said opposite him, holding his chin with both hands and staring at his father's eyes.

"These little things, I don't remember too clearly," Ning Yi said calmly, holding a document in his hand. "...Don't mention this. There's a problem with your document..."

"Dad, you can't do this..."

"Let me finish first. Think carefully about whether it makes sense... Look at the first item here..."

Bright sunshine shone on the newly repaired road. The carriage galloped forward, carrying the dust that rose up, all the way forward.