Chapter 983 - Murderous Aura

As Lu Xiucai retreated without turning back, the woman's voice trembled, her emotions overwhelming her.

“Fine, you said it! You think I don’t have other options? I’ll feed another man with the crops I grow from your land! By the time you come crawling back, you’ll regret it!”

Her sobs and footsteps faded away. Lu Xiucai sighed deeply and continued on.

As he walked through the green woods, he began singing a verse his father had taught him. “On my journey under autumn skies~ I come to pay respects in Zhuanzhu Alley!”

An old voice from behind joined him, singing, “A true man will create a world-shaking enterprise~”

Tears glistened in Lu Xiucai’s eyes. He turned to see his father, Lu Zhuangyuan, singing the familiar lines. Though he was still mad, he continued the verses by instinct.

Lu Xiucai continued, “Turn the world around~ Wash the sun in the Milky Way!”

The voices of the old and young overlapped, echoing down the road. “Heroes gather, and stars in the sky exchange words!

“Dragons and snakes of the great marsh rise~ March joyfully down the road!”

The night grew deep, and Lu Xiucai reached a small town before midnight.

He walked through the silent streets, searching for an open inn. He glanced back and saw his elderly father and young niece asleep on the cart. Then, he continued onward.

Suddenly, he heard the crash of ceramics breaking, followed by an angry woman’s voice from a nearby house. “Chen! I’ve had it! I can’t live like this!”

“Crazy woman! You think I’m afraid? I’ll write you a divorce letter right now!”

Recognizing it as a domestic quarrel, Lu Xiucai relaxed and kept walking. However, only a few steps later, another argument reached his ears.

“Are you trying to kill me? Have you ever done a day’s work after coming into this family?”

“Blind old hag! Can’t you see what I’ve done? My hands are chapped from washing clothes in the river all winter! All you care about is that I haven’t given you a grandson! My body, my choice. Try having one with your son!”

Before the two women had finished arguing, another gruff male voice cut in, saying, “Damn! Can’t you people stop bickering? Some of us are trying to sleep!”

The noise of quarrels surrounded him, and the air grew heavy with hostility. Lu Xiucai frowned.

Why are the people here so temperamental? No one would want to listen to theater here. We’ll rush off after staying the night.

He continued forward but felt that something was off. There were too many people with hot tempers here.

It would be one thing if it were just people arguing late into the night. However, even those asleep seemed to be cursing in their dreams.

When he reached the small town’s main road, a dense murderous aura pricked at his senses. He immediately became vigilant, drawing the bronze coin sword strapped to his back. He prepared to lead the carriage out of this strange town.

Soon, the night’s calm vanished as shouts of rage and cursing filled the air. Shadows of people fighting appeared under the candlelight, and faint traces of blood began to appear. It seemed the whole town had gone mad.

A surge of murderous aura slammed into him as he turned a corner. Lu Xiucai looked up and saw the murderous aura almost become something material, spewing out from a small cart.

There was a small black coffin on the cart, its lid open. The murderous aura spread out from there, infecting the people around it.

Lu Xiucai was about to cover the coffin, but a dark figure stepped into his path.

Lu Xiucai brandished his bronze coin sword to fend off his foe. With a clattering sound, a red thread with bronze coins lashed out towards the figure.

The figure suddenly flipped his robe around, wearing it backward and revealing rows of rusty knives hanging from it. The makeshift armor deflected Lu Xiucai’s attack.

Before he could retract his sword, a woman with bronze coins tied around her eyes leaped down from a rooftop. With a flick of her sleeve, she snatched the bronze coin sword away from him.

“Take this!” she shouted, throwing a rusty cleaver at him. Lu Xiucai narrowly caught it and flung it aside.

He pulled out the Profound Records and laid it on the ground.

Before he could do anything, the opponent spoke with a haughty and rather impatient tone, saying, “Ao Jing Sect? Your elders approved the Murderous Aura Command. Do you dare defy your sect’s elders? The Surveillance Bureau is operating here. Leave!”

“Surveillance Bureau?” Lu Xiucai stared at her in disbelief.

He would have never imagined that the people sneaking around in the middle of the night and harming the people here were the Great Liang’s Surveillance Bureau!

The Great Liang’s Surveillance Bureau, meant to help the empire protect the realm, orchestrated this chaos.

Glancing at their waist badges, Lu Xiucai asked in disbelief, “Why are you doing this? Do you understand the consequences of infecting this town with this murderous aura?”

The group exchanged glances, then looked at him with puzzled expressions. “Of course. The murderous aura will lessen their fear, driving them into a rage and making them seek revenge for their past grievances. The town will descend into chaos, and a few hundred will die.

“Leave now, or you’ll find yourself in trouble. This is an imperial order. Every place in the Great Liang is to be infected with the murderous aura. No exceptions!”

“An imperial decree? By Gao Zhijian?”

Even after recalling the evil acts of the White Lotus Sect’s spirits, Lu Xiucai struggled to understand why.

He wondered why his previous acquaintances became so cold-blooded and distant.

Do they not view people as living beings anymore? Don’t they know how many people are going to die here?

“Hold on, did you say the entire Great Liang will be infected with the murderous aura?

“Even Cowheart Village?”

A lump caught in his throat.

“Cowheart Village? The one at the back? Of course, my Senior has already taken his bloodthirsty blade there.”