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

Mu An did not linger at Ning'an Pass for long.

He was very concerned about the Heavenly Evil Cult using ordinary people to make blood pills, but he did not immediately issue an order. He only instructed Deng Hua to take some people to accompany the four members of the Taihang Sword Sect to Sishui County to kill the local cult members.

The plan is to kill only cult members and, in principle, avoid conflict with the government forces of Sishui County.

Of course, if the government officials are also cult members, then the situation is different.

All crows are black, so Mu An wouldn't be too surprised no matter what unexpected things happened.

It wasn't that he didn't want to get involved in these matters; it was simply because the situation in Daqi had become increasingly complicated in the past two years, with the conflicts between various forces, both overt and covert, constantly intensifying. A slight misstep could lead to a host of troubles.

In just two years, Qishan Dao had swallowed up the entire Lingzhou, and its expansion of power had almost reached the limit of the court's tolerance.

Sending a large army directly into Jiangzhou would further provoke the already tense imperial court, and Mu An couldn't predict the consequences.

Human hearts are unpredictable, and the Great Qi Dynasty will ultimately become the most powerful force in the world.

Compared to other border lords, Qishan Road, located in the heart of Daqi, poses a greater threat to the imperial court. Unless the royal family is a fool, they will not allow Mu An to continue expanding.

More importantly, during this time, the ancient book within his body underwent a slight change, from being completely inactive to being able to be activated slightly.

He needs more time to study it properly.

If it can be further developed, it will be another trump card for Mu'an.

If he were to face the Sage of Literature again, he would still be unable to defeat him, but the Sage of Literature would have no chance of taking him down either, so there would be no need to rely on the Heavenly Master's reputation again.

However, he is not a celestial being, and there are still many things he cannot do.

Once war breaks out, no one knows where the future will lead.

Glory belongs to heroes and great men, but suffering is ultimately borne by millions of ordinary people.

Mu An did not intend to risk the lives of the 20 million people living on Qishan Road.

But now that he knows these things, he can't just do nothing.

With this in mind, Mu An planned to go back and discuss with his advisors how to minimize the impact and maintain the current fragile balance.

If they really can't come up with a reliable plan, he'll personally go to Jiangzhou and wipe out that evil cult in one fell swoop.

If the crackdown is ruthless and severe enough, even if it can't cure the root cause, at least there will be some peace and quiet for a while.

However, those are things for later.

At this moment, Mu An is carrying Mu Ling'er on his back, walking on the street like an ordinary person.

He held up an oil-paper umbrella, under which a faint chill permeated the air, keeping the temperature around Mu Ling'er at around twenty degrees Celsius.

The little one slept soundly, and Mu An walked steadily without the slightest bump.

Wang Pingshan followed two or three steps away from them. The fourteen-year-old boy followed cautiously, glancing at Mu Ling'er every now and then.

At that age when you're just beginning to understand love, what are you looking at indiscriminately!

Mu An glared at Wang Pingshan almost imperceptibly, trying to hold back, but she couldn't help herself.

"Don't follow me, go home."

The sudden sound in his ear made Wang Pingshan's eyes widen. He looked around in surprise and doubt, and finally found that Mu An was looking at him sideways.

Wang Pingshan, who was already somewhat afraid of Mu An, naturally didn't dare to say anything. He bowed to Mu An and slunk away towards his home. On his way back, he would stop every now and then and secretly glance in their direction.

Seeing Wang Pingshan looking back every few steps, Mu An's expression became somewhat strange.

I used to find this guy quite agreeable, but not anymore. I get annoyed just looking at him!

How come I never noticed before that these two kids were such good friends!

He shook his head, too lazy to think about it any further.

The childhood sweetheart is no match for the unexpected arrival of a new love – this is a common plot in novels, and it's not impossible that their relationship might suddenly sour later on.

More importantly, Mu An felt that this was something that belonged to Mu Ling'er herself after she had truly grown up, and he would not interfere too much.

"Selling sour plum drink! Sweet and sour plum drink! Refreshing and cooling, or your money back if you don't like it!"

The sounds of vendors calling out their wares drifted on the summer breeze, and even in the sweltering heat of summer, there were still a few scattered vendors on the streets of Qing'an County.

The man selling sour plum juice was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties or forties. He pushed a cart and called out his wares from under the shade of a tree.

Even though he was selling refreshing plum juice, he was sweating profusely and would occasionally wave a fan around.

Just as Mu An was about to leave, a small hand suddenly grabbed his clothes.

"thirsty……"

Mu Ling'er's voice was very soft, and she seemed very weak.

Mu An didn't turn her head, but asked softly.

"Would plum juice be okay?"

"Um……"

"Okay, there are still a few people ahead of us, so we might have to wait a little while."

"Um……"

Including Mu An and Mu Ling'er, there were only eight people in line.

Ahead of them were three pairs of mothers and children, each with a small basket on their back containing school supplies such as paper and pens, clearly having just returned from school.

In recent years, there have been more and more schools in Qing'an County, and about 30% of the children learn some simple things in these schools.

Rather than having their children help out at home, more parents with ideas and a desire to change their family's fate are starting to focus on their children's education.

This is the result of Mu'an's slow and steady progress, and also an inevitable outcome of Qing'an County's vigorous development over the years.

More and more people are finding that being literate makes it easier to find a decent living.

During a period of rapid development when talent is scarce, education is the most readily available option for conservative families to change their fate.

It is not as risky as traveling merchants, nor as low-paying as working in the fields.

Mu An didn't cut in line; he quietly stood at the end of the queue, waiting for the shopkeeper to serve him cup after cup of plum juice.

Mu Ling'er was also quiet, resting her head on Mu An's shoulder without saying a word.

Perhaps it was the hot weather that made people a little irritable, but the child in front of them said something that angered his mother.

"I've worked myself to the bone to support your education, and you're still not satisfied?"

"If you don't study hard, you'll end up like him, toiling outside in the sweltering summer heat! No one will care if you die from the heat!"

The middle-aged man selling sour plum juice froze, his hand holding the cup trembling. By the time he came to his senses, the sour plum juice had already spilled on the ground.

He quickly lowered his head, bent over, and apologized softly.

"I'm so sorry, madam, I'll make you another cup right away."

The mother, who was disciplining her child, froze for a moment. She hesitated for a while, seemingly realizing that her words had been hurtful.

But she continued to discipline her child by tapping his head with her hand, only this time her voice was much softer, so that only her own child, and Mu An and Mu Ling'er standing behind them could hear it.

"See? If you want to get ahead and become a superior person, you have to study hard. Otherwise, you'll end up like this plum juice vendor. You're so old, and when people talk about you, you can only bow your head and apologize."

The middle-aged man lowered his head, made two more cups of plum juice, and respectfully handed them to the woman who was educating the child.

A cup of plum juice cost five coins. Feeling somewhat uneasy, the woman took out twenty coins from her purse and placed them on the table.

Regardless of what the middle-aged man was thinking, she grabbed her child and walked away into the distance.

Mu An watched everything that happened without saying a word.

"Young master, would you and your sister each like a glass of plum juice? It's delicious!"

"Little sister?" ×2