Becoming a martial arts god starting from the mortician.

Street corner.

"Splash—"

The wooden bucket slammed heavily onto the bluestone slab. Clear water spilled out, mixing with the sticky bloodstains on the ground, turning into a dark red stream that flowed into the street ditch.

Dozens of armored soldiers worked silently. They worked in pairs, lifting the mangled corpses onto carts.

The stench of blood seemed to have seeped into every inch of the soil in this neighborhood, and no amount of washing could dispel it.

On the street, in a shop that had been temporarily cleared out.

Jiang Xinyue leaned back in the wooden chair. Her elegant blue robe was now just tattered rags, and her right arm was hastily wrapped in white cloth, faintly revealing a reddish tinge.

Registrar Lin bowed and handed over a register with both hands.

Jiang Xinyue reached out his left hand and took the roster. There were several fingerprint-sized bloodstains on the cover. He turned the pages, the rustling sound of the pages turning was particularly clear in the quiet teahouse.

His gaze swept over the densely packed names. Each name represented someone who had perished in the battle just moments before.

Jiang Xinyue's finger stopped. Her fingertip pressed against the two characters "Chen Wu".

"How did Chen Wu die?" Jiang Xinyue looked up at Lin, the registrar.

Lin, the registrar, lowered his body even further: "Reporting to the chief clerk, when the evil cultivators launched their attack, Lord Chen Wu was the first to be hit, and was attacked by three evil cultivators at the Treasure Body Realm. Lord Chen fought desperately and finally killed two evil cultivators before dying from exhaustion."

Just then, the curtain was suddenly lifted.

He Shan strode in. His heavy armor was covered in semi-congealed black blood, and the armor plates rattled as he walked. A dense aura of bloodlust swept over, instantly filling the small shop.

"This humble general, He Shan, greets the Commander." He Shan knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in salute, and his armor clanged.

"How's the mopping-up operation going in the outer city?" Jiang Xinyue put down the roster.

He Shan stood up, his face grim, and roughly wiped the blood from his face. "We've been blocked. Those bastards from the Hidden Nether Sect, seeing the situation was bad, plunged directly into the group of refugees to the south."

He pulled up a bench and sat down, saying in a deep voice, "The outer city is in complete chaos right now. Those who practice the Hidden Nether Technique do indeed have black Taotie patterns on their wrists. But in this freezing weather, everyone outside is bundled up tightly. I only have so many men under my command; I can't possibly strip tens of thousands of people of their sleeves and check them one by one on the street. Even if I did check, if I pushed them too far, they might suddenly attack and hurt people in the crowd, resulting in even greater casualties."

Jiang Xinyue looked at He Shan, her gaze turning serious: "What do you intend to do?"

"In my humble opinion, the refugees and suspects should be gathered in the open area outside the city," He Shan said, his voice booming as he stared intently at Jiang Xinyue. "The Observatory should send people to use the 'Art of Destiny Observation' to identify them. They can determine good from evil at a glance; for every one found, I will kill!"

Jiang Xinyue frowned slightly, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.

"What kind of fortune-telling technique is this?"

He Shan was taken aback: "Sir, are you joking with me? I was referring to the astronomical observation technique of the Bureau of Astronomy, which allows them to see through the disguises of evil cultivators at a glance."

Jiang Xinyue shook her head: "The Celestial Surveillance Bureau only has the method of tracing veins by identifying bones and pulses. To distinguish martial veins, one still needs careful observation. To distinguish evil cultivators, one can only rely on examining the traces of their cultivation techniques. Our Celestial Surveillance Bureau has been passed down for thousands of years, and we have never had any technique of observing fate and identifying evil from thin air."

He Shan suddenly stood up, his thigh knocking over a bench. "This is impossible!"

His eyes widened in anxiety, and he spoke rapidly: "When I led my troops here, I rescued a young man named Shen Qi at the outer city's execution ground! He was clutching a talisman from the Astronomical Bureau, claiming that he had been personally instructed by Your Excellency in the art of divination! He also said that his eyes could discern a person's face and tell good from evil at a glance!"

Jiang Xinyue's expression changed slightly. Under his guidance?

He Shan spoke faster and faster, even becoming somewhat excited:

"At first, I didn't believe it either. But that kid is truly amazing! With just a glance, he helped me spot three well-disguised evil cultivators in the crowd. If it weren't for his guidance, I would never have been able to get to your side so quickly!"

The shop fell completely silent.

Jiang Xinyue stared at the blood-stained register on the table. Shen Qi's words from a few days ago echoed in her mind like a thunderclap.

"Your Excellency, this gentleman's lifespan has come to an end."

Seeing that Chen Wu was full of energy, he concluded that Shen Qi was talking nonsense and sent him away.

But now, Chen Wuzhen is dead.

Today's events, coupled with He Shan's words, deepened Jiang Xinyue's doubts.

Could it be that this kid actually learned something from an old version of "Yuanming Sui"?

This kid's talent is really that high?

Jiang Xinyue hurriedly looked up at He Shan, "Where is Shen Qi now?"

"When I stormed into the inner city, the situation was critical, so I left him at the crossroads of the main street and told him to find a place to hide himself." He Shan noticed that Jiang Xinyue's expression was off and realized the seriousness of the situation.

"Cease the indiscriminate search of the outer city and seal all city gates. Dispatch two squads of armored soldiers and immediately search for Shen Qi's whereabouts!"

Jiang Xinyue stared at He Shan: "Lord He, this matter concerns the safety of hundreds of thousands of people in Chengping County. I would be grateful if you could personally lead the team."

"Make sure to bring him here unharmed."

He Shan's expression hardened, and he abruptly clasped his hands in a fist salute: "This humble general obeys!"

……

The words are divided into two parts.

After Yan Qing left, Shen Qi stayed at the grain shop for a while longer. Seeing that the shouts of battle outside had completely stopped, leaving only the sounds of armored soldiers clearing the streets, he also sneaked out.

At this moment, Shen Qi, relying on his Surveillance Bureau badge, mingled among a group of laborers and patrol soldiers, helping to clean up the battlefield and collect the corpses.

Beside him lay the corpse of a warrior from the Celestial Surveillance Bureau. The man's chest had been completely hollowed out by bone spurs; his death was extremely gruesome.

Shen Qi squatted down and wrung out a piece of white cloth from the wooden bucket beside him.

He gently wiped the blood from the deceased's face, whispered "Rest in peace, brother," and lightly touched the man's eyelids to close his eyes. Then he gathered up the man's disheveled clothes, trying to cover the horrific, fatal wound and preserve the deceased's dignity.

With a flick of his finger, the dark red life thread that had been floating in mid-air silently burrowed into his palm.

Shen Qi carried the wooden bucket and moved to the next corpse. This was a captain from the patrol battalion.

He dismantled the captain's deformed and dented armor plates and wiped the blood from his face. While the surrounding armored soldiers were busy moving the broken weapons, he flicked his wrist, and another dark red life thread entered his body.

He continued moving forward, carrying the bucket. His gaze settled on a martial artist not far away, whose body was severed in half. The life force atop the man's head was intensely red, like the blazing sun.

Shen Qi felt a surge of warmth in her heart and quickly moved closer.

He had just squatted down, his hand not yet touching the body.

"Clatter".

"Clatter".

The heavy footsteps stopped in front of me.

In Shen Qi's line of sight, a pair of combat boots covered in mud and blood appeared.

He paused, then slowly raised his head.

……