Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world.

Chapter 642 Tragedy
The commotion lasted all night, only gradually subsiding at dawn.

The first rays of dawn struggled to pierce the thick clouds, waking the capital from a long and bloody night.

The towering flames that had illuminated half the night sky with a blinding crimson glow seemed to have been extinguished abruptly as the rebels scattered.

Only the thick, black smoke, twisting and coiling like a giant python, stubbornly rises from the ruins throughout the city, piercing the leaden sky.

The imperial city remained sealed off.

As the sun climbed fully above the palace eaves, casting a pale gold hue on the glazed tiles, heavy, orderly footsteps approached from afar, and squads of imperial guards, gleaming in armor and armed with swords and spears, appeared on the imperial road outside the palace gates.

The leader was none other than Hong Wei, the deputy commander of the Southern Imperial Guard.

His face was resolute and iron-like, his sharp eyes scanning every inch of the land surrounding the palace gates. Confirming there was no further threat, he raised the token in his hand and shouted in a deep voice:

"Open the palace gates!"

The heavy palace gates slowly opened inward with the dull creaking of the winch.

The opening of the palace gates was like a silent signal, announcing that the dramatic palace turmoil of the previous night had been completely suppressed.

The imperial city, the heart of the empire, is temporarily out of danger.

The two groups of imperial guards began the handover in an orderly manner.

Liang Jin was originally worried that if someone continued to assassinate Zhao Yu while he was away, it would be very troublesome.

But to his surprise, Zhao Bao actually arrived with his men.

Zhao Bao was dressed in a dark, tight-fitting outfit, covered by the dark blue armor that the police station was known for, with a long, narrow-bladed sword at his waist, and a cold expression.

He was followed by several guards dressed similarly, with eyes as sharp as eagles.

Zhao Bao strode forward, clasped his hands in greeting to the Imperial Guard generals and Liang Jin who were handing over duties, and spoke in a low but clear voice that pierced the morning silence:
"By order of the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Guard shall, effective immediately, cooperate with the Imperial Army to jointly oversee the care of Prince Zhao Yu of Huaiyang!"

His words were concise, yet carried an undeniable authority.

After speaking, he slightly turned his head to signal, and several elite guards behind him immediately stepped forward and silently merged into the Imperial Guard's guard formation, each occupying a key position. Their movements were swift and professional, clearly indicating that they were well-trained.

Seeing that Zhao Bao was personally leading the team and that he had brought the elite of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Liang Jin finally felt relieved.

With their addition, the Prince of Huaiyang's side can be temporarily safe.

He nodded slightly to Zhao Bao, and their eyes met briefly, everything understood without a word.

After the handover was completed, the Imperial Guards, exhausted from working all night, quickly assembled at the officers' command, formed neat ranks, and slowly left the palace, retreating towards the camp located in the south of the city.

It wasn't until he left the palace and stepped onto the street that Liang Jin realized just how devastating the turmoil of the previous night had been.

An indescribable odor wafted towards me, instantly filling my nostrils and penetrating my lungs.

It was the damp, chilly air unique to early morning, the pungent, burnt smell emanating from the embers still burning throughout the city, and... the omnipresent, intensely nauseating stench of blood!

The three elements intertwined and mixed, forming a suffocating, shroud-like mist that permeated the streets and alleys of the capital, clinging thickly to every brick, tile, and leaf.

Liang Jin's gaze swept across the familiar streets, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped by an icy hand.

In the past, this time of day would have been the most vibrant and bustling time in the capital: shops along the street would open one after another, and shop assistants would shout as they unloaded their doors; crowds would gather in front of the steaming breakfast stalls, and the aroma of food and the cries of vendors would rise and fall; peddlers carrying loads, carriages and horses on their way, and officials and scholars in a hurry would all weave together to create a vibrant picture of everyday life.

And now...

All that met the eye was deathly silence and sorrow.

On the wide Suzaku Avenue, large patches of blood, not yet completely dried, were shockingly visible, appearing dark red or blackish-brown.

Several emaciated people were blankly scooping up murky sewage from the street ditch with wooden buckets, repeatedly washing the bloodstains off the stone pavement. The water, carrying the bloodstains, flowed into the ditch, leaving wet traces and a glaring pale red stain.

On both sides of the street, there were piles of unclaimed corpses, most of them dressed in tattered cloth and with knife and sword wounds on their bodies. They were obviously rioters who were killed or executed after the riot last night.

They were like discarded, broken dolls, their faces pale and their limbs twisted, waiting for the corpse collectors who would appear at any time to drag them to the mass graves outside the city.

More often, however, were the remains of ordinary people.

Some lay inside their own broken doorsteps, while others huddled on the cold ground at street corners. Surrounding these unfortunate victims were heart-wrenching cries.

An elderly woman with white hair collapsed onto her son's cold body, her withered hands stroking his young but lifeless face again and again, a mournful wail escaping her throat like a broken bellows; a young woman held a swaddled baby, but the tiny bundle was already lifeless, her eyes vacant, tears silently streaming down her face, wetting the child's cold cheek; a toddler knelt beside his parents' corpses, shaking their arms blankly, as if trying to awaken his sleeping loved ones, but ultimately only managing a suppressed sob...

The cries did not originate from one corner, but spread like a plague throughout the entire neighborhood, rising and falling, from behind closed doors and windows, from dilapidated courtyards, and from the depths of every family torn apart by the disaster, weighing heavily on everyone's heart.

The buildings on both sides of the street were also badly damaged.

Many doors and windows still had arrows that hadn't been removed stuck crookedly, their white feathers trembling slightly in the morning breeze.

The once smooth wall is now covered with marks from knife and axe cuts, some deep and some shallow.

Burnt window frames, shattered tiles, and collapsed courtyard walls were everywhere, silently telling the story of the fierce and chaotic battle of the previous night.

The officials and yamen runners who were maintaining order had lost their usual slickness or laziness; their faces were all ashen and their eyes were fierce.

Armed with fire and water sticks and with heavy iron chains around their waists, they roamed the streets like fierce demons.

Some people were forcefully slamming the still-wet ink of notices and wanted posters onto the relatively intact wall. The posters depicted the criminals who had robbed and killed people in the chaos of the previous night, and the bounty offered was frighteningly high.

The other group violently kicked open the doors of suspicious residents, rushed in to interrogate and search them, and beat anyone who resisted or spoke unclearly, with the chains rattling and eliciting cries of panic.

Squads of heavily armored Northern Imperial Guards soldiers, led by their officers, patrolled the main streets in orderly, heavy steps.

The sound of cold armor scraping against each other and the dull thud of boots on the stone slabs created an invisible deterrent, preventing the remaining petty thieves from making any rash moves.

Liang Jin walked silently through this hellish scene, his face beneath his helmet as cold and icy as ever.

He had experienced major battles and witnessed mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

But the tragic scene unfolding before him in the heart of the empire, in the bustling capital, still filled him with a profound sense of powerlessness and sorrow.

The power struggle is like an invisible storm, and in the end, it is always these most vulnerable and helpless people who are crushed.

"This is terrible... What... happened?"

Among the ranks, a young Imperial Guard soldier, witnessing all of this, was on the verge of emotional collapse:

"My family won't be like that either..."

The worry on his face seemed contagious, causing the Imperial Guard soldiers around him to become equally anxious.

It wasn't until the officer ran over, shouting and whipping, that everyone shut up.

After a while.

The Imperial Guards finally returned to their camp.

After removing his heavy armor, Liang Jin hurriedly left the camp and rushed towards his secluded residence in the east of the city.

Empress Mu Congshuang was an extremely important yet exceptionally dangerous trump card in his hands.

The secrets she is involved in are enough to stir up a storm in the entire imperial court.

Although Liang Jin's backup plan left in the mansion was not triggered, the whole city was in chaos last night, and no one could guarantee that no unexpected events would occur.

Liang Jin could only feel completely at ease after confirming Mu Congshuang's safety with his own eyes.

Upon arriving at the residence, Liang Jin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Everything in the courtyard was as usual. The flowers and plants looked especially vibrant in the morning dew, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of soil and plants, making it seem like a world apart from the hellish scene outside.

Ji Fei, who was in charge of guarding the area, keenly sensed the commotion and rushed over.

"How was the situation here last night?"

Liang Jin asked directly.

Ji Fei spat and said with a hint of ruthlessness:

"The shouts of killing and the crackling of fire in the distance made a ruckus all night long! The area nearby was no better. A few reckless scoundrels, thinking that the sky had fallen, took advantage of the chaos to climb over walls and break into houses under the cover of night, smashing doors, picking locks, robbing and stealing."

He paused, a cold smile playing on his lips, and pointed to the rose garden in the corner:
"They deserved their bad luck; they actually dared to set their sights on the place I was guarding! The moment they reached up to climb over the wall, I chopped off several of their hands with a knife!"

"Upon seeing the blood and losing their claws, these filthy bastards ran away in a panic, not even bothering to pick up their hands."

Looking over, Liang Jin saw several pale, stiff, and bloody human hands scattered among the black soil and green leaves, with many ants crawling around on them.

He nodded slightly; he trusted Ji Fei's methods.

But Ji Fei changed the subject, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible worry:

"However... you should go to the inner courtyard and check on Miss Zhao."

"She... waited for you all night, she was so anxious."

Upon hearing this, Liang Jin frowned slightly, immediately turned around, passed through the moon gate, and strode towards the inner courtyard.

As soon as I stepped into the inner courtyard, a suppressed, intermittent sobbing sound reached my ears, like the whimper of a wounded animal, sounding particularly clear and heartbreaking in the silent courtyard.

I followed the sound of crying to the living room.

Zhao Yiyi was lying face down on a rosewood table, her shoulders heaving violently as she cried. Her dark hair was disheveled and covered half of her face, and her sleeves were already soaked with tears.

Empress Mu Congshuang stood beside Zhao Yiyi, her beautiful face filled with anxiety and confusion, looking somewhat helpless.

She reached out several times, trying to soothe Zhao Yiyi's trembling back, but withdrew as if burned, her slender fingers curling futilely in the air.

Since she arrived, others have comforted her, but she has never comforted anyone.

Now, faced with such profound sorrow from an ordinary woman, she appeared clumsy and powerless, completely at a loss for what to do.

"Yi? What's wrong?"

Liang Jin's voice broke the somber atmosphere in the room. He strode into the hall, his gaze questioning Zhao Yiyi.

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Zhao Yiyi suddenly raised her head.

Her face, washed by tears, was as pale as paper. Her once clear and bright almond-shaped eyes were now swollen and red like peaches, with tiny teardrops still clinging to her long eyelashes.

Upon seeing Liang Jin, a strong sense of dependence and grievance instantly welled up in her eyes. She struggled to stand up, but her legs went weak from sitting and crying for so long, and she staggered.

"Brother Liang! You...you've finally arrived!"

Her voice was hoarse and choked with sobs, trembling with the shock of surviving a disaster, and more tears streamed down her face:

"I...I want to go home! Please...let me go home and see my parents!"

"Last night...last night it was so chaotic outside, the firelight turned the sky red, I...I was so scared..."

By the end, he was sobbing uncontrollably, his words broken and incoherent.

Liang Jin immediately understood what had happened.

To keep it a secret, he specifically instructed Zhao Yiyi to stay in the courtyard and not go out unless there were special circumstances while taking care of Mu Congshuang.

Zhao Yiyi was usually gentle and sensible, and never complained.

However, the city-wide turmoil of last night, which felt like the end of the world, completely shattered the young woman's composure.

She was worried about the safety of her parents and relatives at home, her heart was in agony, but she dared not disobey Liang Jin's instructions and leave on her own. She could only stay in this seemingly safe cage, listening to the terrifying sounds coming from outside, waiting for dawn and Liang Jin's return in boundless fear and torment.

Looking at Zhao Yiyi, who was crying so hard she was almost exhausted, Liang Jin sighed softly and stepped forward, saying:

"Silly girl, since something so serious has happened, we should naturally hurry home to check on things."

"Go back home now. Come back when you're all settled."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yiyi hurriedly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, lifted the hem of her skirt, and was about to rush out.

"and many more!"

Liang Jin called her again.

Zhao Yiyi stopped and turned back in confusion, her eyes still wet with tears.

Looking at her slender figure, and then at the still chaotic scene in the capital outside, Liang Jin said in a steady tone:
"The chaos outside has not yet subsided. It might be dangerous for a young woman like you to go back alone on the road."

"I'll go with you."

He knew that Zhao Yiyi was trapped here because she was trying to help him, and he couldn't let her face the dangers of the journey home alone, neither out of sentiment nor reason.

Zhao Yiyi's eyes instantly filled with tears again, this time tears of gratitude. She nodded vigorously:
"Ok!"

Without further delay, the two quickly left this temporarily peaceful little world and rejoined the devastated streets of the capital, hurrying towards the direction of the Zhao family in the west of the city.

However, the closer one got to the west of the city, the stronger the strange atmosphere became.

The pungent, burnt smell not only didn't dissipate, but became increasingly pungent and scorching.

Looking up, one could see thicker and denser plumes of black smoke rising from the direction of the market town where the Zhao family lived, like giant, filthy black dragons, almost obscuring the sky.

More and more black, wet stains appeared on the ground. Stepping on them made a sticky, squelching sound, and when you lifted your foot, the sole of your shoe was covered in black mud.

That was the ash scattered from a large amount of burning material.

The crowds coming towards us on the street testified to the horrific scene ahead.

Many people were blackened by the thick smoke, and all that could be seen were pairs of bloodshot eyes filled with fear and sorrow.

They either helped each other along, their steps faltering; or they numbly pushed creaking carts piled high with charred wood dug out of the ruins and a few dilapidated pieces of furniture whose shapes were barely recognizable.

More people, carrying large and small basins and buckets filled with murky muddy water, hurriedly ran in the same direction, their faces filled with desperate anxiety.

When Liang Jin and Zhao Yiyi finally turned the last street corner, the scene before them froze them in place, as if they had been struck by a spell.

An entire street!
The street they remembered, though not bustling, was full of life and warmth; now it had been completely reduced to a charred ruin, still radiating the heat of embers!
As far as the eye could see, there was not a single intact house.

The once densely packed houses are now just ruins, with charred wooden beams pointing haphazardly towards the sky like the broken ribs of a giant beast.

The roof frame, burned down to its bare bones, was twisted and deformed, barely supporting the crumbling walls.

Wisps of black smoke, carrying sparks, stubbornly emerged from the cracks in countless ruins, like unwilling, wronged souls, turning the air a hazy gray.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of soft ash, and a choking black mist would rise up with each step.

On this vast, scorched earth, reeking of death, the surviving people are as insignificant as ants, yet they are busy with their lives.

They cried out the names of their loved ones, digging and searching with their bare hands through the scorching rubble; some were severely burned, their clothes and charred flesh stuck together, each movement accompanied by painful groans; some carried basins of water, desperately splashing them into corners still emitting wisps of smoke and faint flames; some found the bodies of their loved ones, but they were already charred and unrecognizable, curled up and blackened, barely recognizable from fragments of clothing or familiar body outlines.

There were also a few survivors who miraculously dug out a few porcelain jars or copper coins that were not completely burned in the corners of their own ruins, their faces showing a look of relief and bewilderment.

"Father! Mother—!"

Zhao Yiyi let out a shrill scream that was so piercing it was inhuman; all her fear materialized at that moment.

No longer caring about the mud and ashes under her feet, she lifted her skirt and ran wildly toward the direction of her home in her memory, tears streaming down her face like a burst dam, leaving two clear streaks on her face covered in soot.

Liang Jin's heart sank, and he followed closely behind.

The two ran across the scorching ruins, their feet sinking into the hot air that burned their lungs, their feet occasionally treading on hard, still-warm broken tiles or charred pieces of wood.

Finally, they arrived at the small courtyard where the Zhao family was renting.

However, where are there any courtyards left?
Before me lay only a patch of scorched earth, completely blending into the ruins of my neighbor's house. Several thick, charred beams lay askew, barely outlining the former shape of the house, still emitting wisps of smoke and a pungent, burnt smell.

On the broken walls and ruins, some blackened blue bricks remain, silently telling the story of a home that once existed here.

Fortunately, the person is still alive!

On the edge of the ruins belonging to the Zhao family, Liang Jin saw two familiar figures. Zhao Xingzhi and his wife were supporting each other, slumped on a relatively clean pile of rubble.

The elderly couple were also covered in soot, their hair was charred and disheveled, and their coarse cloth clothes had several holes burned in them. Their exposed skin showed obvious blisters and swelling, but fortunately, they were all just superficial injuries and not fatal.

However, what made them beat their chests and wail was not the pain on their bodies, but the utter destruction before their eyes!
This home, where they had rented for over a decade and poured half their lives into, along with all the looms, cloth, food, meager savings, and even the old objects that carried memories of bygone years...

Everything was reduced to charred remains and ashes, exuding an aura of death, in last night's merciless fire!

A lifetime of struggle vanished in an instant.

"Father! Mother—!"

Zhao Yiyi cried out and rushed over, hugging her parents tightly.

The family of three embraced and wept bitterly in front of the ruins, their sorrowful cries mingling with countless similar wails around them.

Liang Jin stood aside, watching this scene of surviving the disaster but also losing their home, his heart filled with mixed feelings, and he could only sigh silently.

He was about to step forward and offer a few words of comfort when his gaze was drawn to a more urgent cry from not far away.

"Help! Someone, come quick and help!"

A middle-aged man, his face streaked with tears and ashes, knelt on a pile of rubble still smoldering, futilely digging through the heavy broken beams and tiles with his hands, his voice hoarse with despair:
"There's still someone trapped here! It's a child! I heard him crying! He's still alive!"

"Please, please save him!"

Most of the survivors around him were numb, either busy trying to save themselves or immersed in the immense grief of losing their loved ones, and few responded to his cries for help.

The man's desperate cries echoed across the empty ruins, sounding particularly desolate and helpless.

Liang Jin's eyes narrowed, and his figure moved like lightning, instantly covering a distance of more than ten steps and appearing next to the pile of ruins.

"Get out of the way!"

He gave a low shout, and the man, intimidated by his imposing manner, instinctively rolled to the side.

With his arms bulging, Liang Jin gripped a heavy, charred broken beam, as thick as an adult's waist, and exerted all his strength!
"rise--!"

Boom! Crash!

He forcefully ripped away the broken beam along with the large amount of rubble and broken bricks covering it, sending smoke and ash billowing into the sky.

As the smoke and dust cleared, a boy of about seven or eight years old could be seen curled up in a narrow space beneath the broken beam.

The child was covered in soot, his face blackened, and he coughed incessantly, only his large, terrified eyes shone brightly.

"Child! My child!"

A woman who was almost crying herself unconscious rushed over and hugged the trembling child tightly in her arms, crying incoherently.

Although Liang Jin saved someone, he felt little joy.

He straightened up and glanced around.

Everywhere you look, there are similar scenes of devastation.

Beneath the collapsed houses, between the twisted beams and pillars, lies the unknown number of lives awaiting rescue, or the already cold remains of corpses.

Groans, cries for help, and desperate sobs could be faintly heard from all directions.

Individual strength seems so insignificant in the face of such a massive disaster!
Even if Liang Jin is skilled in martial arts and has the strength of a thousand pounds, how many people can he save?

Even if he had three heads and six arms, he would be powerless to cover up this vast, devastated capital city!
At this moment, the government was clearly thrown into disarray by the sudden citywide turmoil of the previous night and was completely unable to organize an effective large-scale rescue operation.

The burden of rescuing survivors under the rubble can only temporarily fall on the shoulders of civilian self-rescue efforts.

However, without effective organization, unified command, and resource allocation, grassroots self-help efforts will ultimately be fragmented and inefficient.

Immediately, Liang Jin had an idea and activated [Nine Void Boundless].

Within the [Nine Void Boundless Realms], he neither opened the Capital Ruins nor summoned those martial artists.

He simply disguised himself as the Great Teacher of Goodness and recruited Wei Nan, the Taiping Dao's head in the capital.

Today, the Taiping Dao has grown very large and influential in the capital.

However, after the Great Teacher of Virtue kidnapped the princess, Liang Jin believed that the government might suppress and besiege the Taiping Dao in the capital at any time. Therefore, he did not invest too many resources in the Taiping Dao in the capital and also made them prepare to evacuate the capital at any time.

However, the imperial court subsequently encountered a series of unforeseen events, leaving it unable to attend to the Taiping Dao for the time being.

Now is the time for this hidden force among the people to come into play!
After Liang Jin gave Wei Nan his instructions, the members of the Taiping Dao began to carry out operations in various disaster-stricken areas of the capital.

Relying on the prestige and organizational power that Fu Shui and Taiping Dao have accumulated among the common people, they will surely be able to gather strength faster than the disorganized government in this disaster and save more lives.

Liang Jin then withdrew from [Nine Void Boundless].

As his consciousness returned to reality, Liang Jin opened his eyes, a fleeting glint of light flashing in them.

Without further hesitation, he immediately got up and threw himself back into the tense rescue efforts nearby.

He possessed immense strength and moved with incredible speed, repeatedly lifting heavy broken beams and rubble to drag one by one, still breathing wounded person from the brink of death.

After working for nearly two hours, the sun was already high in the sky.

The ruins in this area have been basically cleared, and all those who could be saved have been rescued. What remains is to collect the remains of the dead and handle the aftermath.

Liang Jin looked a little tired as he returned to the small ruins of the Zhao family's house.

The scene before him made him slightly stunned.

In front of the ruins, besides the Zhao family of three who were nearly exhausted from crying, there were two more people.

It was Zhao Yueqing, the second daughter of the Zhao family, and her husband, Wu Hua.

Wu Hua, a man who is usually shrewd and capable, was like a helpless child at this moment.

He slumped onto a charred stone block, pounding his head with his fists, tears and snot streaming down his face, letting out a wild, animalistic howl:
"It's all over! Everything's gone! Our home... everything's burned to the ground! All those fine silks and cotton fabrics I painstakingly hoarded... I couldn't salvage a single piece!"

"It's all burned! Burned to the ground, not even ashes are left! Those damned beasts! They... they weren't here to steal, they came specifically to set fires!"

"Throw torches into my shop, throw them into my storeroom! I...I can't save them...I can't save them!"

He cried out, his voice hoarse and desperate, as if his spine had been ripped out.

Zhao Yueqing stood beside her husband, tears streaming down her face. She bit her lower lip hard, trying to keep herself from crying out loud, but she couldn't stop her body from trembling.

The couple also looked gloomy, clearly indicating that the area where the Wu family lived had not escaped the disaster either.

Liang Jin stepped forward, intending to say a few words of comfort.

suddenly!

A more piercing, more desperate cry, like the mournful cry of a cuckoo, rang out:
"Father! Mother!"

Everyone looked in astonishment toward the sound.

A beautiful woman, looking disheveled, was seen stumbling and running wildly toward them.

Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were covered in mud and... large patches of glaring, semi-congealed dark red blood!
It was Zhao Yiqiu, the eldest daughter of the Zhao family!

Her face was as pale as paper, her lips were bloodless, and her eyes were unfocused, filled with immense fear and grief.

She ran unsteadily, as if she might fall at any moment, letting out inhuman cries as she ran:

"Father! Mother! Xue Chao... Xue Chao... he was killed by those damned villains!!"

As she uttered the last word, she seemed to have used up all her strength. Her body swayed violently, and she fell straight down onto the muddy ground!
"Remembering Autumn!"

Zhao Xingzhi and his wife, along with Zhao Yiyi and others, gasped in surprise and rushed forward in a panic.

Zhao Yueqing, who was closest, caught her sister as she was about to fall to the ground.

The area she touched was damp, cold, and sticky. She looked down and was immediately terrified!

On Zhao Yiqiu's back, near her shoulder blade, a horrifying knife wound, deep enough to expose bone, had ripped through her clothing!

The wound was gruesome, with the flesh torn open and the deep red muscle tissue exposed. Although most of the blood had congealed into dark red scabs, fresh blood was still slowly and continuously seeping from the edges of the wound as her body convulsed and squeezed.

The strong smell of blood on her body came from this!
After Zhao Yiqiu recounted her story through tears, everyone finally understood what had happened.

It turns out that although the area where Zhao Yiqiu's home was located was not affected by the fire, it was attacked by even more brutal thugs!
Last night, a large number of thugs wreaked havoc everywhere, like jackals that had smelled blood, rushing into their relatively affluent neighborhood and killing people indiscriminately.

Her husband, Xue Chao, and several of his associates rose up in resistance, attempting to protect their family and property.

However, two fists can't fight against four hands. Under the frenzied hacking of the thugs, Xue Chao and his companions all died tragically!
Zhao Yiqiu herself was also slashed from behind by the assailant and immediately lost consciousness.

She didn't know how much time had passed before she awoke from immense grief and excruciating pain from her wounds, only to find herself lying in a pool of blood, her husband's cold body beside her.

Driven by immense fear and the instinct for survival, she endured excruciating pain and dizziness from blood loss, struggling to run back to her parents' home for help.

The bumpy ride and the huge emotional fluctuations had already left her extremely weak. When she saw her family, the taut string snapped, and she could no longer hold on.

"Miss!"

When Zhao Yiyi saw the terrible wound on her sister's back, she turned pale with fright and burst into tears.

"Quick! Help her up!"

Zhao Xingzhi was so anxious that he stamped his feet and tears streamed down his face.

The family hurriedly and carefully carried the unconscious Zhao Yiqiu to a relatively flat place covered with a tattered mat they had salvaged from the ruins, and laid her down.

Looking at the hideous wound and their daughter's pale face, Zhao Xingzhi and his wife felt as if their hearts were being torn apart.

They looked around and saw crying wounded people and busy but futile survivors everywhere.

Looking for a doctor?

It’s simply a fool’s errand!

At this moment, the capital city is filled with wounded people, the remaining clinics are already overflowing, and medicinal herbs are extremely scarce.

Such a severe knife wound as Zhao Yiqiu's could be fatal due to infection and blood loss without timely and effective treatment and medication!

"Get out of the way, I'll do it!"

"I can heal wounds!"

Liang Jin also ran over.

He immediately squatted down and took out a delicate celadon bottle from his pocket.

However, as he prepared to unbutton Zhao Yiqiu's clothes and treat the horrific wound, his fingers paused slightly in mid-air.

He was not a pedantic person; as a chivalrous man, when it came to healing wounds and saving lives, how could he care about the strict separation between men and women?
But the person before me is different.

She is Zhao Yiyi's older sister, a woman from a scholarly family, and already married.

In this era of strict etiquette, it was inappropriate for a stranger, especially a young man who was not related to her, to touch the body of an unconscious woman and treat the wounds in such a private area...

If this gets out, it will be a devastating blow to Zhao Yiqiu's reputation!

Although the surroundings were chaotic, they were not deserted, and it was hard to guarantee that no one with ulterior motives would see them.

This concern made Liang Jin hesitate.

"Brother Liang!"

Zhao Yiyi keenly sensed Liang Jin's hesitation. She rushed to his side, her eyes brimming with tears, and looked at him with unwavering determination, a resolute air of risking everything:
"Please! Don't hesitate! Saving my elder sister's life is the most important thing! Compared to my elder sister's life, reputation and etiquette are unimportant!"

Zhao Xingzhi also wiped away his tears forcefully, his voice hoarse but unusually clear:

"Young Master Liang! Your life-saving grace is greater than heaven! At this moment, how can we care about such formalities!"

"Our family trusts your character, young master! We beg you to save us immediately!"

His words represented the most basic choice made by the entire Zhao family at the critical moment of life and death.

With the approval of Zhao's closest relatives, Liang Jin had no more worries.

He quickly took out the medicine for treating the wound and treated Zhao Yiqiu.

After applying the medicine and bandaging Zhao Yiqiu, Liang Jin felt relieved and continued to help out nearby.

He had no worries about the effectiveness of his healing medicine.

really.

When Liang Jin returned, Zhao Yiqiu had already woken up and looked much better.

Although her condition had stabilized, the grief of her husband's murder by the villains still caused her to faint several times from crying.

From Zhao Yiqiu's intermittent sobs, Liang Jin pieced together more details of the tragic situation in the slums last night.

That chaos was nothing short of a catastrophe targeting civilians!

In areas where wealthy merchants and officials reside, there are usually highly paid martial arts guards who protect the houses, so thugs dare not provoke them easily.

Thus, all the violence and greed poured out like a flood onto the defenseless ordinary people!
Murder, arson, rape, and plunder spread like a plague through the streets and alleys where ordinary people gathered.

Suffering always falls precisely on the heads of the most vulnerable and helpless people!
An indescribable heaviness welled up in Liang Jin's heart.

He silently left the Zhao family members who were gathered together and walked alone to a nearby pile of ruins on higher ground.

This place used to be the site of a two-story teahouse, but now only a few charred ruins remain.

He stood atop the broken wall, gazing into the distance.

As far as the eye could see, devastation remained. The charred ruins stretched endlessly, like gruesome wounds on the earth.

Tomorrow, no, perhaps even tonight, this once-prosperous capital city will likely be a place where "every family wears mourning clothes and every household is in mourning."

In the end, it is always these silent ants who pay the price in the game of power.

Just then, a series of light and hesitant footsteps came from behind.

Liang Jin didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Zhao Yiyi silently walked to Liang Jin's side and stood beside him, gazing at this bleak world.

The tear tracks on her face had dried, leaving faint marks. Her swollen eyes were filled with an overwhelming sadness, as well as an unspeakable embarrassment and tension.

She gripped the hem of her dress tightly with both hands, her knuckles turning white from the effort. Her lips trembled several times before she finally mustered the courage to speak, her voice barely audible and visibly shaking:
"Brother Liang...I...I..."

She seemed to have used all her strength to squeeze the rest of her words out of her throat:
"Can I... ask... ask you for a favor?"

Her voice was filled with shame and unease, as if this request was heavier than carrying a thousand-pound boulder for her.

(End of this chapter)