Becoming a saint begins with the infinite accumulation of destiny.

Chen Shisheng hadn't expected that this person would have such awareness.

He was slightly taken aback, and doubts crept into his mind.

Is this how all battles at the Bone Forging level are?

If Wang Tie and Liu Shouyuan had been as pragmatic as he was before, he wouldn't have gone so far as to kill them. After all, he wasn't a bloodthirsty person; he only killed to protect himself.

However, since this person isn't making a move, there's no need for him to provoke them.

He immediately took a few steps back, keeping his eyes constantly on the group to prevent them from launching a sneak attack from behind.

After walking several hundred meters, the figures gradually shrank to the size of ants, and Chen Shisheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He glanced back to make sure the others weren't following him, then paused, his blood surging, and quickly walked away.

Behind him, the others remained where they were. The man with the iron dart kept staring at Chen Shisheng's back until he disappeared completely before he loosened his grip on the iron dart, which was covered in sweat.

"Big brother, why didn't you intervene? That guy killed two of our brothers!"

One person was furious.

"What do you know?! If Chen Shisheng undergoes a blood transfusion, I guarantee he won't leave this valley alive. We'll use his corpse to avenge Tiezi."

The man with the iron dart gripped the dart tightly, his eyes filled with malice.

Wang Tieke is his cousin; they've been playing together since childhood.

They went up the mountain together, joined the bandits, ate meat and drank wine, killed people together, and even played with women together.

They were as close as brothers; their relationship was even stronger than that of blood brothers.

"But he's a Bone Forging expert. If I were to intervene, the outcome would be uncertain. But you would all definitely die!"

"How am I supposed to make a move?"

The man with the iron dart sighed helplessly.

Although he was illiterate, he could still distinguish the value between the dead and the living.

It's true that Wang Tie is dead, but he's already dead.

To risk everything for a mere Wang Tie, to find a master of bone forging, and to fight to the death, even losing all your brothers, is simply not worth it.

In other words, Wang Tie is his brother, and the others are his brothers too!

"Let's go, we're not going to get involved in this anymore. Let Lao Jiu and the others deal with this mess in Pingyang Town."

The man with the iron dart glanced at the man's injuries, then got up to prepare to leave.

"Gangzi's body..."

"Bury it on the spot."

......

He ran for dozens of miles until he saw the huge phantom of the city wall in the distance, at which point Chen Shisheng slowed down to avoid attracting attention.

The rugged official road stretches for dozens of miles outside the city, with bare sides and only a few clumps of withered yellow grass in the distance, making it extremely desolate.

Chen Shisheng was not surprised. In this day and age, everything is scarce, and firewood is the most important commodity.

With a population of hundreds of thousands, Wuhe City consumes an astronomical amount of firewood daily for cooking and boiling water.

The trees outside the city had long been cut down by nearby residents, which led to this scene.

When Chen Shisheng arrived outside the city, it was already noon.

The sunlight shone down, illuminating the city wall.

The city walls are tall and built entirely of polished bluestone, with rice paste mixed with straw and clay compacted in the middle, like rows of ancient boulders, separating the inside from the outside of the city.

There were soldiers guarding the city gate, holding long spears and wearing cloth armor, who were blocking the road and collecting tolls.

Most of the people who came to the city were villagers, carrying various goods to sell.

There were cows, sheep, chickens, and ducks—everything imaginable. While queuing at the gate, they would often defecate, making the city gate always smelly.

Chen Shisheng glanced around and noticed a large pile of cow dung on the ground that had been trampled on, so he quickened his pace.

"Stop. One penny."

Chen Shisheng squeezed through the crowd, skipped the queue, and arrived at the city gate, where he was stopped by a soldier.

"I am a martial artist from a scholarly family."

He said in a deep voice, pointing to the insignia on his body.

"So you're a member of the Wen family. No need to pay, please come in."

The soldier's previously fierce expression softened instantly, replaced by a smile, and he stepped aside.

Thank you.

Chen Shisheng thanked him and stepped inside.

He quickly passed through the city gate, followed the road he remembered, turned into several alleys, and crossed several stone bridges.

As he crossed the stone bridge, he looked closer and saw that the floating corpse in the river was whitish, like a swollen balloon, emitting a foul stench.

Gang members were seen using small boats to retrieve corpses from the river, presumably to prevent water pollution.

The group approached cautiously and gently poked the boat with the bamboo pole they were using to propel it.

puff!

The floating corpses deflated like bursting balloons.

Various kinds of flesh and tissue exploded and flew everywhere, oozing a large patch of green pus, which aroused angry curses from passers-by.

Chen Shisheng glanced at it from afar, then quickly moved away towards the bridgehead.

There are so many floating corpses in the water, no one knows who threw them there, the river is almost like a dumping ground for bodies.

He continued walking towards the Wen family's office, glancing around at his surroundings from time to time.

The road surface is paved with stone slabs, creating a flat road with various shops and restaurants on both sides.

Lanterns and flags hung outside the shop, swaying violently in the wind.

Occasionally, when passing through some remote areas, Chen Shisheng would see several beggar children fighting each other, their faces bruised and swollen, yet they did not back down at all.

They're seizing territory, especially the streets near the inner city, which are where the most beggars are.

Because wealthy young men from the inner city often went out for spring outings there, and occasionally they would give them some rice and grain.

Ding ding!

Gang members dressed in uniform robes were seen repeatedly striking gongs.

The surrounding crowd quickly made way, not daring to block the way.

One of the tall, stout men shouted:

"Banditry is rampant; they ambushed and killed merchant caravans and burned military supplies. Their crimes are unforgivable."

"This is a public announcement to the entire city: anyone who colludes with these thieves will be sentenced to death!"

"Anyone involved will be sentenced to death!"

"Those who are relatives or family members shall be sentenced to death!"

"Anyone who knows the truth but fails to report it will be sentenced to death!"

...

The surrounding crowd looked numb, as if they had long been accustomed to such scenes.

The gang members quickly dispersed and disappeared around the street corner.

Chen Shisheng glanced at it thoughtfully, and was about to walk away.

Suddenly, a small group of people on the right started to murmur and chatter.

"These gentlemen in the inner city have really suffered a major setback this time..."

"Who says otherwise? They even went out of town to suppress bandits a while ago, and what happened? They didn't even make a sound. They also lost several towns for no reason..."

"Shh! Keep quiet, or those lackeys of the Heavenly Fiend Gang will hear us and we'll be ripped off again!"

The men cowered and lowered their voices, but suddenly caught sight of a tall figure appearing beside them.

The figure was like a wall of flesh, with muscles bulging high, making his clothes bulge, clearly indicating that he was a trained fighter.

The group's eyes flickered, sensing something was wrong, and they secretly glanced over.

Chen Shisheng was standing behind the group, listening quietly to their conversation.

"Hero, spare our lives! We...I..."

The leader hurriedly begged for mercy.

Recently, Wuhe City has been in a state of panic, with gang members arresting people everywhere.

If someone overhears and reports even the slightest bad word about you, you'll be beaten and killed. You won't escape without paying five taels of silver.

"I'm not a gang member. What did you mean by 'bandit suppression'?"

Chen Shisheng asked in a deep voice.

Although their clothes were tattered, they were still generally presentable.

In this world, it's already difficult enough to have enough to eat, let alone be able to dress decently. Usually, a family has some extra money or connections.

They generally had some understanding of the situation inside and outside the city.

"So that's not it. Thank goodness. Why are you suddenly so scary? I didn't know... Ouch, ouch... Please have mercy, I'll talk, I'll talk."

The man muttered curses and glared fiercely at Chen Shisheng.

Chen Shisheng's eyes turned fierce. He grabbed the man's arm with one hand and exerted a little force, causing the man to scream in pain.

"It happened some time ago...it was when the three main families went out of the city together to suppress bandits..."

The man winced in pain and quickly told the truth, not daring to hide anything.