My martial arts skill bar can be infinitely merged.

12. Changes in the Outer City

Looking up, the world before me was a shimmering gold.

The twilight today was even more dazzling, like shattered liquid gold turning into rosy light, the two intertwining and shining on the inconspicuous black cloth robe worn by Lu Feng.

The soles of his cloth shoes sank into the thick earth, and he felt the wind change from warm to cool, blowing two long strands of hair at his temples, his smooth forehead spreading out.

Those bright eyes radiated an astonishing vitality, and his slightly upright figure had grown considerably taller during this time. With powerful strides, he stopped in front of his house in the narrow alley.

I knocked on the door, and the front gate opened.

Pushing open the door, I was greeted by the same scenery I had seen countless times.

Jujube tree, old courtyard, small house.

Continue walking into the house.

On a low chair in the central hall, five special small plaques were neatly arranged. The plaques were made of thin metal, silver-white in color, and covered with very intricate markings for identification.

Second Uncle Lu Zhou spoke in a serious voice, "Everyone is scrambling for the tokens. There are quite a few smart people, and even more with money in the outer city. Each token can only be used once, and these are tokens for staying in the inner city for one day."

Obviously, relying on the sign to hide in the inner city would not be enough in a day.

Lu Feng crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, his gaze fixed on the sign, without speaking immediately.

Lu Chen, the head of the Lu family, took a few deep breaths, his gaze solemn. He glanced at the sign, then looked at his son, and then at his younger brother.

Finally, his gaze lowered, and his voice was low: "Last night, the county government dispatched more than thirty constables, all of whom were skilled with knives and possessed considerable martial prowess. The magistrate of the Fuyi Division personally oversaw the operation to deal with the night ghosts."

Lu Feng automatically filtered out the rest of what he heard, but he was hearing about the official force, Fu Yi Si, for the first time.

It seems that the people outside Cangwu County rarely mention the official forces in this country that suppress evil spirits; they mostly talk about things like the Taoist temples.

This point needs to be noted down; it's considered an anomaly.

Since Lu Chen brought this up specifically, there must be something to discuss later.

Second Uncle Lu Zhou pressed, "Big Brother, finish what you're saying! Have you gotten rid of the Night Demon? If you have, we won't have to live in fear anymore."

Hearing his second brother's question, Lu Chen's weathered face revealed an uncontrollable bitterness, and he uttered a sound.

"I don't know what happened in between. I only received definite news during the day that seven or eight of the constables were killed, and the rest were all injured and terrified of ghosts. Lord Fuyisi also returned to the county to ask for help."

My heart skipped a beat!

Lu Zhou stood up anxiously and paced back and forth in the main hall, sometimes lowering his head in contemplation, sometimes raising his head and stamping his feet, looking like an ant on a hot plate.

These words even made Lu Feng, who was listening nearby, lower his eyes, straighten his posture, and ask in a loud and clear voice, "Father, did you see the Night Demon's corpse?"

Lu Chen's gaze fell on his son. The other son spoke very formally, and the solemn feeling made him unconsciously take it seriously as well.

After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and replied, "I have never seen it, nor do I know its whereabouts."

Pity.

Lu Feng was disappointed. If he could get his hands on the Night Demon's corpse, he would definitely have had a lot of that black liquid.

Lu Zhou finally stopped his pacing back and forth, looked at his older brother, his chest heaving with heavy breathing, and his voice trembling.

"Brother! Aren't the people in this outer city human beings? The Fuyi Division is gone, but there are others. The Cangwu military forces are said to number six hundred! Why aren't they helping? Why aren't they coming?!"

Hearing his younger brother's question, Lu Chen closed his eyes in pain; he too was part of the outer city.

"I have no idea."

That's all he could say.

He may have had ideals when he was young, but as he gets older, he no longer thinks about such things. Being alive is always better than being dead.

When Lu Chen opened his eyes again, his expression had returned to calm. He spoke again: "I have received a promise from the county magistrate that we will be able to enter the city for refuge by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Lu Feng didn't say anything more. He couldn't get involved in these matters, nor did he have the ability to make any promises.

The discussion passed quickly, and the women in the family had prepared the meal. The two families began to eat, and it became completely dark outside.

Another day has passed.

During the day, Lu Feng goes to work at Zhang's Butcher Shop, where he can have a free lunch with meat. He goes home for dinner and then trains his body in peace.

The stone seemed to be getting lighter and lighter to him.

Another day passed, and Lu Chen returned home with a gloomy face, leaving behind only the county magistrate's promise that it would be a few days later.

Upon hearing this news, Lu Feng became wary, realizing that the government office was no longer trustworthy.

It was just another ordinary day.

Today at the butcher shop, his skills were completely recognized by Zhang Dayou, and Luo Mu also praised him highly, marveling at Zhang Feng's talent.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, starting today, Lu Feng will bring a gleaming pig-slaughtering knife with him every time he goes home. The blade is sheathed in leather and placed inconspicuously on his waist and back.

Zhang Da didn't ask any more questions, because he also carried one with him, as did Luo Mu, who was the first to carry a pig butcher with him.

Over the past few days, Lu Feng and Hu Zi have been in contact more and more frequently, mainly to find out the location of the family wiped out by the Night Ghost, and secondly to try to meet that Taoist disciple.

The last time he saw the Taoist disciple was when he met him at night. He didn't see the two of them again after that. He couldn't find them for several days in a row, and even he felt helpless.

In the past few days, he had collected quite a few martial arts points, which he urgently needed to convert into combat power. The rampant nature of the Night Demons made Lu Feng feel that this danger was getting closer and closer.

Nowadays, the number of pedestrians on the street can be described as sparse; you might walk dozens of steps before seeing a single person, a far cry from the bustling crowds of the past.

A heavy atmosphere hung over the outer city.

Four or five days later, the county magistrate on Lu Chen's side promised to postpone it again, but there was a lot of news on the second uncle's side. He managed to get three permits for living in the inner city for one day.

Including what happened before, eight dollars, or eight taels, have been spent. The people in the outer city have worked hard for a year and a half just to buy the right to live in the inner city for one day.

Lu Feng stood in front of the house, looking at the increasingly dark sky, and murmured to himself.

almost.

More than half a month has passed. If we can just hold on for a few more days and wait for the Taoist academy to accept disciples, we can resolve our current predicament.

Three more days passed, and Zhang's shop also closed down. Zhang Dayou temporarily sent the shop's employees home to wait for this wave of trouble to pass.

But when Lu Feng left, Zhang Dayou took out an oil paper bag, the same paper bag used to pack meat as usual, but it was much smaller than the previous five jin, only about one jin.

Lu Feng looked over with some confusion, because he already had five pounds of meat in his hand.

"Kid, remember to chew this little bag of food slowly and carefully. It's good stuff. The nobles in the inner city are all scrambling for it. I see your body hasn't fully developed yet, so it'll be good for you."

Lu Feng immediately understood that this was probably the good stuff that Manager Cui needed in the first place, and Uncle Zhang must have specially reserved some for him.

Holding the paper package, Lu Feng said earnestly, "Uncle Zhang, please be careful these next few days and wait for my news."

After leaving those words, Lu Feng left the shop, leaving a bewildered Zhang Dayou muttering a few words before temporarily closing the shop.

Because ghosts would appear in the outer city at night, everyone couldn't sleep well. Over time, this led to people spending half the day sleeping and the other half doing necessary farm work.

Shops were deserted, and more and more were closing down. Merchants who used to frequent the area no longer dared to come after hearing about what was happening in the outer city of Cangwu.

As for moving to the inner city, they would have to pay a price to stay there, which is not worthwhile. It would be better to move to another city.