Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

Zhuang Sheng received the message the following afternoon.

At the time, he was standing outside the soup kitchen, enthusiastically explaining his ideas to people who were interested in the new law.

After several days of effort, more and more people are becoming interested in the new law, including ordinary citizens and some hopeful individuals.

Zhuangzi welcomed everyone, explaining his philosophy to them with the utmost sincerity.

As for the fact that the content of his explanation differed from the new law being implemented, Zhuangzi did not care.

He now only wants to take advantage of the little power he still has to sow the seeds as quickly as possible and ignite a spark in the hearts of the people of Qi'an City.

He could be used as a pawn, or he could die in this magnificent capital, but he did not want to die in vain.

At least do something you really want to do.

Until his maid in the Hanlin Academy ran up to him with a mournful face.

"Sir...last night...last night..."

"Don't rush, tell me slowly..."

"Young Master He's entire caravan was wiped out last night. Not a single person survived. They were caught up in a feud within the martial arts world and all of them are dead!"

bang-

The person standing felt a sudden dizziness, as if their tired body had been struck by a heavy hammer, and they involuntarily fell backward, knocking over the pots and pans on the table.

A buzzing sound filled his ears, and all the sounds around him vanished into a jumble of noise as they swept through Zhuang Sheng's mind.

He collapsed to the ground, stunned for a full fifteen minutes.

The crowds thronged, and the world was a mix of black and white.

Several students from the Hanlin Academy who were nearby noticed the situation and stepped forward to help Zhuang Sheng up.

The people busy in the porridge stall had no idea what was happening; the noise was too loud. All they saw was Zhuang Sheng suddenly collapse.

Although they were a little worried, they felt much more at ease when they saw other students had already gathered around and continued to distribute porridge to the long line.

Most of the people who came to collect the porridge knew nothing about it; they only knew that they could get free porridge here, and it was even meat porridge. They were just dragged along by others.

As for the middle-aged man who kept talking non-stop, he looked like a high-ranking official, babbling on and on about something incomprehensible, and then suddenly collapsed.

Tsk, high-ranking officials are different; they can't even stand this little bit of sun. Their health is really poor.

Hey! Don't cut in line! I was here first! Looking for a fight?

Those who knew a little about Zhuang Sheng was a high-ranking official and that the porridge distribution was initiated by Zhuang Sheng were somewhat concerned, but they did not take any action.

Because they had been queuing for a long time, and if they left now, all that time would have been wasted.

In a corner of the street, a beggar girl named Wanshu stood in the shadows, looking worriedly in the direction where Zhuang Sheng was.

A pair of small hands covered in mud clung tightly to the wall, chafing the skin raw.

She longed to go up to the kind Mr. Zhuang and ask him what was wrong, to offer a word of concern, but the sunlit street was not a place for her, much less a place for a "lowly" beggar like her.

Looking at the officials' sons who were surrounding Zhuang Sheng, Wan Shu almost stepped out but then pulled her foot back.

Just then, a young female student seemed to notice something and glanced in the direction where Wan Shu was.

After seeing that it was a beggar covering his face with his clothes, the female student shook her head and then bent down to think about how to comfort Zhuang Sheng, who had lost his disciple.

Birth, aging, illness, and death are all normal occurrences. Although accidents come suddenly, life must go on. She and He Qingmu had only met a few times, so she didn't feel much.

However, it's still necessary to offer comfort, as this will not only demonstrate her magnanimity but also leave a good impression on her other classmates.

As for Zhuang Sheng himself, she didn't care that much. After all, her elders had said that Zhuang Sheng wouldn't live much longer, and all she needed to do was pass on information.

In the dark corner, Wan Shu let out a sigh of relief and hid deeper into the corner.

The streetlights were too intense; they burned my skin.

Although the light emanating from Zhuangzi was warm, it could not illuminate her life, which had long since fallen into an abyss.

This magnificent capital city has too many people who know her, and even if these people have no ill intentions, they can still make her die without a burial place.

All she wanted was to live; that was her father's and mother's last wish for her.

She wanted to truly integrate into these beggars, into the very bottom of this world, and hide herself away.

To achieve these goals, she cannot and should not have unrealistic expectations of anyone.

……

The last rays of the setting sun slanted through the gaps in the soup kitchen and fell obliquely on Zhuang Sheng.

When he got up again, he was surrounded by many students and many ordinary people who had received porridge and were expressing their gratitude to him.

For a fleeting moment, Zhuang Sheng felt he wanted to tear everything in front of him to shreds.

Everything was so hypocritical—the students' concern, the people's gratitude—it was all utterly fake, and to Zhuang Sheng at that moment, it sounded incredibly ironic.

Everything was for profit, for appearances. How many of these students would actually care about He Qingmu's death?

How many of these people who expressed their gratitude truly cared about the new law and genuinely approved of Zhuang Sheng as a person?

They recognized it as porridge, and they recognized the benefits the new law could bring them; no one was truly willing to stand up.

Anyone can say those easy, polite words, but who really cares?

He was filled with grief and indignation, but Zhuang Sheng did nothing, because he was a mature middle-aged man, a schoolteacher who had experienced countless setbacks and had long since come to terms with reality.

He cannot, and should not, vent his emotions recklessly.

Ah Sheng, who could freely express his emotions, had already died in Xinghua Village decades ago on that very day.

But Zhuangzi, who was determined to change the world, could not be weak; all that remained for him was calmness and strength.

Therefore, Zhuangzi stood up, politely thanked his student, and smiled in response to the person who thanked him.

He had already lost his composure badly enough; he couldn't afford to repeat that in the remaining time.

He couldn't cry, nor could he be angry; he had to laugh, and he had to continue promoting his new law.

Because someone is watching, and because he has other things to do.

In this ancient capital city with a history spanning thousands of years, Zhuang Sheng had no one behind him and could only rely on himself.

……

He Qingmu's death caused no ripples; apart from Zhuang Sheng himself, no one cared at all.

The Sihai Trading Company compensated each of the caravan members who died in the caravan with ten taels of silver as funeral expenses.

In the eyes of most people, this is already more than enough.

As for how high the prices were in Qi'an City, how long ten taels of silver would last, and whether the dead could be properly buried, no one cared.

At least there are funeral expenses, which is already quite good.

After all, the world is never short of people who live even more miserable and unbearable lives.