In the Imperial Capital, things have been very difficult for the mortals ever since the war declaration sent by the Baihu empire and the reduced resources for their survival thanks to the hidden fight between the Noble families and the Royal Family.

"Catch them all! Don't let a single one get away!"

""""Yes captain!""""

Captain Zhou roared as he fought against the leader of the gang they were pursuing as his men surrounded the other goons.

"Damn it! You damned dog of the empire! Can't you see that we are not doing anything wrong??"

"Not doing anything wrong?? You just killed an entire family of merchants and stole all of their inventory!!"

The goon with a bald head and scars on his face wielded his saber and deflected Zhou's sword while lashing out with a slash aimed at Captain Zhou's heart.

The imperial soldier barely avoided the attack and counter-attacked with a swipe of his sword, aimed at severing the goon's sword arm.

"And what's wrong with that?? Don't you know how the common people are suffering thanks to the Royal family's neglect? We commoners need to find a way to fend for ourselves. So what if some rich bastard and his family were wiped out? Aren't his goods going to be used for a good deed by us brothers?"

"Shut Up!!"

Captain Zhou felt absolute rage at the thug's words. While there was truth in his words about the suffering of the common people recently, everything else he spoke was pure lies.

Zhou had been on this particular gang's tail for a long time. Everything from extortion, and blackmail to dealing forbidden substances and even murder, there was no crime that this gang had not carried out and succeeded in evading the soldiers until now.

The only reason they were caught this time was because Zhou had received an anonymous tip from someone who told him of their next target.

Unfortunately, Zhou had arrived too late to save the Merchant family, however, he still managed to catch up to this gang.

With a burst of Qi, Captain Zhou disappeared from the Thug's sight and appeared behind his back, causing the Thug to stare in horror.

"F-Foundation establishment stage?? You bastard! You hid your strength??"

Captain Zhou did not waste any words on the thug and directly severed his hands, causing the man to scream in agony and fall to the ground.

Turning around to observe the situation, Zhou felt satisfied as he spotted his subordinates already in the process of tying up the remaining members of the gang.

Another group of soldiers appeared from the entrance of the alley and bowed towards Captain Zhou.

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"Captain. We have found all the goods stolen by these bastards. But, you need to see them for yourself Captain."

Captain Zhou raised an eyebrow at his subordinate's words.

"What happened?"

"….You need to see it for yourself to believe it."

With a nod, Captain Zhou walked with his subordinates while keeping an eye on the quiet streets.

Captain Zhou felt pain in his heart as he saw the quiet streets that should have been bustling at this time of the night.

Ever since the war declaration, the mortals of the Capital had been pushed into a frenzy where they frantically prepared to either flee for their lives or barricade themselves in their homes with enough supplies to last them a long while.

Unfortunately, many unsavory individuals and gangs took advantage of this period of unrest and spread their fingers across many places that they usually would not dare to mess with.

This gang was not the first one nor will it be the last that he dealt with during this time of unrest.

Soon, Captain Zhou arrived at a large warehouse located near the edge of the commoner district.

"…Wait, doesn't this warehouse belong to the Yang family's elixir pavilion?"

"Yes, Captain. The Yang family opened this business under the partnership of the Alchemy guild."

"….Are you saying that those goons were foolish enough to mess with the Yang family and store their stolen goods in this warehouse?"

"…."

The silence from his soldiers unnerved Zhou Yu but he had no choice but to follow through with his duty even if it meant offending a minor noble family.

Pushing open the door to the Warehouse, all he found was a somewhat regular-looking storage for an elixir pavilion. However, these thoughts changed quickly when one of his soldiers moved forward and pulled a well-hidden latch, revealing hidden access to an underground storage place.

Immediately, a foul smell assaulted Captain Zhou's senses and he quickly covered his nose with a cloth.

"What the hell is this smell?"

He received no response for his exclamation other than the grim faces of his subordinates which put him on edge even more.

Zhou Yu had known his subordinates for years, some of whom he trained with as a fresh recruit and others he handpicked to be part of his group. He knew that while they were a little playful at times and loved to make things difficult for him for fun when it came to work, there was no unit more dedicated than his own.

For such people to not say anything and ask him to verify things for himself, Zhou Yu couldn't help but feel frightened at what he would find in that underground storage.

Pulling himself together, the man slowly descended the stairs and finally saw what had caused his subordinates to behave as strangely as they did.

Rows upon rows of cells lined the wall with hundreds of dead bodies and living prisoners strewn about like cattle. Men, women, children, and elderly, there was no distinction between a specific demographic captured in those cells.

Disgust overwhelmed the man as an urge to throw up pushed towards his throat. It was only through sheer will that he controlled himself and slowly walked forward as his subordinates finally started to speak.

"We found nearly four hundred prisoners here. Most of them are dead. Those that are still living would rather die than live as they are now."

"Just what is happening here? What is the Yang family planning with this?"

"….I don't think it's just the Yang family involved in this, Captain Zhou."

At the Captain's questioning gaze, one of his subordinates walked forward and removed the cloth covering one of the dead bodies, revealing the heavily mutilated corpse of a teenage man.

Zhou used his Qi to shut off his sense of smell and enhanced his eyesight, looking for anything suspicious within the corpse until his subordinate pointed out what was wrong with the body.

"The heart is missing. So is the brain. The spinal cord has been hollowed out of all its marrow. Worst of all, his Spirit roots were crippled from the inside out."

"Heart, brain, marrow, and Qi. Wait, you don't mean??"

"Yes, Captain. I think we have Cultivators of the Demon path in the Capital, and they are either infiltrating or cooperating with the Yang Family."