Wen Wuyu still ran over. Chen Shi pretended to pull down his pants, scaring her into hurriedly covering her face, turning around, then secretly turning back to peek through her fingers, finding Chen Shi hadn't actually pulled them down, but had taken the chance to slip away, so she continued to chase.

"Brother Chen Shi!" Her voice was clear and crisp.

Wen Wuyu followed him like a shadow, admiring him greatly. Chen Shi, unable to shake her off, allowed her to stay by his side.

Many people came to the county town, but what Chen Shi remembered most from that time were Wen Wuyu, Zhang You, and a few other playmates.

Zhang You was about the same age as him, very talkative, always talking to himself, incessantly, regardless of whether others were listening.

And then there was Zhuang Wu Jiu, who always pretended to be profound.

As for the young master, he was older than them, already twelve, and more mature.

Following by his side was Ren Xiao, his foster father.

Chen Shi also saw Zhong Wuwang.

Zhong Wuwang was not very old either, always smiling, but very precocious, and there was something strange about the way he looked at him. At that time, Chen Shi was quite naïve and couldn't see the dangerous messages hidden in his eyes.

Beside Zhong Wuwang was his master Wei Luo, the Daoist Wei. Wei Luo had a fair, beardless face and also smiled while looking at Chen Shi, saying, "Child Scholar, let's have another look at your Daoist Embryo."

Chen Shi summoned his Innate Dao Embryo. This Divine Embryo resided in the Divine Shrine, full of Daoist charm, and when summoned, rosy clouds gathered around it, converging toward the Dao Embryo.

Countless gazes fell upon this Innate Dao Embryo. At that time, Chen Shi felt very proud, like a child with a dazzling toy, showing off to others but not noticing the greed and malice in those gazes.

"What a wonderful Divine Embryo, unparalleled in the world," people laughed and said.

At that time, Chen Shi was not tall, and these adults in his vision seemed like towering Heavenly Gods. They wore kindly smiles, speaking in languages only adults could understand, exchanging pleasantries with hidden barbs, signaling to each other to back down.

In the small Xinxiang County town, undercurrents surged, with short clashes breaking out from time to time, often occurring in an instant.

"Someone's dead, someone's dead!"

Zhang You looked pale, saying to Chen Shi, "My great-uncle killed someone!"

Chen Shi asked, "Where?"

Zhang You led them to see, and Wen Wuyu, too scared to go, clung to Chen Shi's sleeve but still followed along.

It was a little alley, empty, with no corpse, and the ground was clean, with no bloodstains.

Zhang You looked distraught, muttering, "Someone was killed. I really saw my great-uncle kill someone."

"What are you doing here?" The voice of Zhang You's great-uncle came from the end of the alley. He stood there, wiping his hands with a golden handkerchief, smiling as he looked at them.

The children lowered their heads, and Chen Shi bravely said, "Nothing."

They walked out of the alley, and soon after, more brief sounds of spell collisions could be heard. Chen Shi and his companions ran towards the sound, seeing many people gathered on the street. Peeking between the adults' legs, they could catch a glimpse of the corner of a corpse.

They tried to see what had happened, but once people dispersed, there was no corpse on the ground, nor was there any bloodstain.

Similar incidents happened many times.

Whenever such things occurred, an ox cart would always leave town at dusk. They wanted to follow, but the cart owner, fierce and menacing, would always spot them and chase them away.

"I'll teach you a Qi Concealing Skill. We'll conceal our presence and see what's really going on," Chen Shi said.

A few children cultivated the Qi Concealing Skill, quietly following the ox cart out of town.

They followed the ox cart to a forest outside the city. At some unknown point, a large pit had appeared there, and the cart owner dragged long objects off the cart, tossing them into the pit.

After a while, the cart owner finished throwing the objects.

The ox cart departed.

The children cautiously approached the edge of the pit, peering down. Inside the pit were scattered corpses, hundreds in number, piled messily.

There were adults and children mixed together, all with ghastly expressions in death.

Some were children who had even played with them a few times, suddenly disappeared, only to have their bodies end up here.

They were scared out of their wits, trembling as they returned to the county town.

A few days later, the number of adults and children around Chen Shi dwindled, gradually leaving only seventeen adults and seventeen children.

The smiles on the adults' faces grew ever more radiant, and they became increasingly polite to each other, impersonating refined gentlemen.

"The Thirteen Families are like branches of one tree!"

This was the phrase Chen Shi heard most frequently during that time.

"People advertise what they lack."

Wei Luo said with a smiling face, "Those lacking virtue must proclaim morality aloud, those lacking smarts feel the need to declare themselves smarter than others, those lacking love will talk of great love incessantly. What do the Thirteen Families lack?"

"And what does Despair Slope lack?" Zhang You's great-uncle said, wiping his hands with a handkerchief, laughing.

The other kindly-faced people also took out handkerchiefs, wiping their hands, smiling as they looked at Wei Luo and others.

Wei Luo remained unafraid, smiling, "Despair Slope lacks an Innate Dao Embryo, do any of you have an objection?"

No more deaths occurred afterward, but soon Zhang You's great-uncle was injured, coughing constantly with a handkerchief to his mouth, coughing up blood.

The other kindly-faced individuals were also injured, coughing repeatedly, covering their mouths with handkerchiefs.

Wei Luo and two other experts from Despair Slope were also injured. Wen Wuyu's master was a beautiful woman, who seemed to be heartbroken, always clutching her chest.

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