Lu Sheng sighed. In the whole family, the only ones he truly cared to protect were his father Lu Quanan, Stepmother Liu Cuizhu, and Little Bao.

He didn't have much emotional connection with the rest. Even after Lu Qingqing was ruined, they didn't seem very sad about it. His niece Lu Yingying even said such words, showing the coldness of her nature.

Although he and Lu Qingqing also lacked attachment, when he thought of his stepmother's condition coupled with Elder Yan's earlier words, his original hopes had utterly crashed. Lu Sheng also felt disappointed.

After sinking into low spirits for a while, he regained his mood.

Although he was an ordinary person, with the modifier he had, even if he couldn't cultivate an exorcist's teachings, that didn't necessarily mean he was inferior to them. He refused to believe he wouldn't be able to handle ghosts, monsters and demons relying on his own power.

"Let's set Qingqing's matter aside for now. We may still have a chance to seek medical treatment for her in the future. But there's another matter we can't delay - I learned from Elder Yan that there are still many evil spirits lurking in Jiulian City. We must take precautions," Lu Sheng said heavily.

"There are still more?" Lu Quanan was startled, and the others also paled in fright.

That level of monster from before was already hopeless to fight through numbers. To think there were still many more such terrifying ghosts!

"This is just asking to die!" Fifth Aunty cried, standing up.

"Quiet!" Lu Quanan slammed the armrest heavily.

Fifth Aunty shuddered and sat back down.

Lu Sheng surveyed the whole family. Everyone resembled frosted eggplants, their spirits utterly defeated with only terror and loss in their eyes.

"So my suggestion is, while we still can, the Lu family should move out of Jiulian City immediately," said Lu Sheng in a low voice.

Lu Quanan shook his head. "It's already too late. An order came from above, none of the four great families can leave Jiulian City. I didn't understand why before, but now..."

Lu Sheng's heart chilled. Were the imperial officials intentionally cooperating? Or was it just coincidence?

"Can we leave bit by bit?" Fourth Aunty asked softly. "Big brother is still here, isn't he..."

"No." Lu Quanan shook his head again. "When I went to the city gates earlier, Eldest Brother didn't see me. He only sent a message saying even the Magistrate won't permit leaving the city now."

Silence descended on the group. Everyone looked towards Lu Sheng with their eyes.

Previously, it was Lu Sheng who desperately resolved the crying female ghost incident in their residence.

"Now..." Lu Sheng lowered his head and said heavily, "We can only stay in the manor and have the purchasing department stock up on as much ingredients, grains and meat as possible, preparing food that can be preserved long-term. We have to make preparations to be trapped here for a while."

"You're right," said Lu Quanan. At this moment, he had regained a bit of spirit and nodded.

Boom!!

Just then, the ground shook and trembled.

A huge explosive blast abruptly came from the west side of the city.

Lu Sheng gave a start and leaped up, rushing out of the hall towards the western sky.

Crimson firelight shot up into the heavens over there, clearly something had exploded and caused a raging blaze.

The red glow lit up half of Jiulian City's sky.

Loud crying, shouting, and people yelling to put out the fire could be heard from afar.

"I'll go take a look first!" Lu Sheng couldn't see the specifics from the inner residence, so he swiftly bid his father goodbye before swiftly rushing to the manor gates.

Just as he exited, he had people bring out horses. As Lu Sheng stood at the gateway, he saw many blade-and-sword-bearing people hurriedly rushing towards the great fire on the street outside the Lu manor.

These people had nimble footwork and appeared to be martial artists. The looks in their eyes as they gazed upon the great fire were not the astonishment or panic Lu Sheng imagined, but rather carried traces of greed and yearning.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

In just over ten breaths that Lu Sheng stood at the gateway, he saw three batches of such martial artists pass by heading for the fire.

Some galloped on horses while others sprinted on foot. There were men and women, young and old. But most were not locals from the Jiulian City area.

Their clothing and accessories seemed more exquisite and delicate compared to the locals, often decorated with small ornaments and the like which clearly distinguished them as hailing from central China.

Just as the frightened servant finally brought a horse over with great difficulty, Lu Sheng was about to vault onto it when he suddenly spotted two familiar faces among the passing martial artists on the street.

Duan Mowan and her ever present male attendant were both riding horses towards the fire at full gallop.

Duan Mowan wore black mourning clothes with a woven bamboo hat, but her alluring figure could still be glimpsed through the veil.

As she passed the Lu manor, she also noticed Lu Sheng and gave a soft exclamation.

"You aren't dead?" She suddenly blurted out, slowing her mount slightly to stare at Lu Sheng as if watching some exotic creature.

"What does Lady Duan mean by this?" Lu Sheng's brows and eyes sank. He didn't understand her implication.

"How interesting. It seems we truly have affinity. I will come find you again afterwards," said Duan Mowan with a smile before spurring her horse on with the male attendant towards the surging blaze, not giving Lu Sheng a chance to inquire further.

As they left, the male attendant also gave Lu Sheng an astonished look. Those eyes... they looked at him as if seeing a man who should have died somehow still alive.

Lu Sheng mounted his horse, originally intending to follow. But a voice called out to stop him - it was Yan Kai.

"Young Master Sheng, it would be best not to go join in the excitement. This has nothing to do with you," said Yan Kai.

He, Duan Rongrong and Zhu Feng were all rushing towards the great fire. Seeing Lu Sheng about to follow, Yan Kai couldn't help but issue a reminder.

"What does the Elder mean by this?" asked Lu Sheng heavily.

"The great fire was started deliberately by a greater monster. There is an endless evil miasma over there. Ordinary people who draw near will go insane. Your life will be endangered!" declared Yan Kai sternly. "Even with Young Master Sheng's superior martial arts, the outcome would be no different."

"But I saw a lot of people hurrying over just now..." said Lu Sheng doubtfully.

"Those people went to seek their own deaths. No one can save them. And it seems someone deliberately lured them there," stated Yan Kai indifferently.

Lu Sheng fell silent. That feeling of clearly witnessing major events happening right by his doorstep yet not knowing what was truly going on left his heart extremely dissatisfied.

He understood Yan Kai had good intentions reminding him. Clasping his fist, he bowed to Yan Kai. "Thank you for the warning."

Yan Kai nodded at him before heading off towards the surging blaze with Duan Rongrong and Zhu Feng.

Seeing this, Lu Sheng suddenly understood Duan Rongrong and Zhu Feng likely also had special qualities. Or rather, they had another objective for purposely coming to this small city located near the North Ocean's polar regions.

Thinking it through, he dismounted once more and called to Yan Kai:

"Elder Yan, Lady Zhu, why don't I arrange horses to get there faster!"

Yan Kai was startled, instantly catching his intention. Considering what might happen over there, preserving strength took priority. He promptly nodded. "Then I will have to trouble you!"

"No need to lead them, the stables are right there. Come, take Elder Yan's group to the stables to pick any horses!" Lu Sheng shouted loudly.

"Young Master Sheng is gracious!" Yan Kai cupped his fist before hurriedly following the servant to the stables.

Lu Sheng stood alone at the gateway with only some confused guards. Gazing towards the direction of the great fire, he fell silent for a time.

The blaze persisted for an unknown period before gradually dying out.

Lu Sheng stood at the gates for a similarly long stretch.

Snap! A blue electric arc flashed.

The skies were blanketed by thick clouds. One couldn't tell if it was the earlier smoke or dark clouds floating up. Soon, pouring rain descended in sheets.

Lu Quanan also came out and stood beside Lu Sheng with servants specially holding up an awning over them against the downpour.

The raindrops rattled as they struck the ground, stirring up a layer of white mist.

The horizon gradually grew brighter as dawn approached. Unknowingly, the entire night had slipped by.

Lu Sheng stood at the doorway, lost in thought. He had an inkling that whatever transpired during last night's explosion and blaze was an extremely momentous event.

It happened right on his doorstep, but unfortunately his lacking strength wouldn't permit even approaching it.

He could tell from Yan Kai's words that ordinary people truly could not go near whatever occurred last night.

"The fire should be extinguished now. I received word that it was a firework shop in the west city that exploded after accumulating too much powder. The blaze grew into a huge fire and killed many..." said Lu Quanan with a sigh.

"A firework shop..." Lu Sheng repeated as he gazed west.

The sky had brightened completely with clear delineations of blue and white at the horizon.

Lu Sheng tightened the sword at his waist and headed towards the direction of the fire.

At the start, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary but as he drew closer and closer to the site of the explosion, some buildings and streets gradually started appearing blackened and charred. Many commoners sat on the main streets clutching bundles of bedding and belongings, rendered homeless.

There were sounds of crying, shouting, clamoring, hubbub and chaos everywhere.

Lu Sheng proceeded further. Gradually, there were fewer and fewer people while the buildings on both sides became utterly burned out husks. Many houses had collapsed with large holes in the rooftops.

Occasionally, charred and incinerated skeletons could be spotted littering the ground. Such skeletal remains were everywhere.

The closer he got, the more alarmed Lu Sheng's heart became. These skeletal remains were far too numerous. He couldn't imagine how many lives were lost in last night's explosion and inferno.

Soon, Lu Sheng spotted the epicenter of the fiery explosion―not a firework shop, but Magistrate Song Duanchi's other manor residence - the Pearl Manor.

The entire Pearl Manor had collapsed beyond recognition. All around were mounds upon mounds of rubble and debris resembling piles of graves in various sizes.

Lu Sheng also noticed it wasn't just him who came. There were also many armed Jianghu wanderers loafing around nearby as if searching for something.

These wanderers all kept their distance from each other with guarded looks while emitting strong auras to some degree. Clearly none were from among Jiulian City's native practitioners.

He also observed these wanderers would frequently dig out all kinds of random objects from the rubble and swiftly tuck them into their clothes.