As for Yao Wang.
Since being attacked by Cyan Bamboo Ridge and losing his long-established lair, Yao Wang had become disheartened and lost his ambitions of the past.
At this moment, he only thinks about quickly earning enough money and then finding a place to leisurely retire.
As for brotherhood... how much is that worth anyway?
Actually, Yao Wang has a deeper hidden reason that he hasn’t revealed.
If this young man can really challenge Cyan Bamboo Ridge and succeed, maybe his Jade Pine Mountain can be regained.
Of course.
Even Yao Wang himself finds this idea somewhat ridiculous.
After all, that is Cyan Bamboo Ridge, an entity that anyone hardly dares to provoke!
No matter how strong this young man’s power is, he can’t possibly be a match for a group of hardened bandits, right?
Yet somehow, Yao Wang always vaguely feels that this young man might indeed have a chance to destroy Cyan Bamboo Ridge.
That night passed peacefully under this eerie atmosphere.
Early the next day, after finishing breakfast, Yao Wang’s side discreetly sent two lackeys to respectfully escort them out of the city.
After traveling not far, they arrived at a fork in the road. Tian Heng headed east to catch up with the Gao Family Trading Team, while Zhao Ya went west, towards Wuxiang City.
Thus, the two needed to part ways at this point.
Before parting, Zhao Ya said to Tian Heng, "Commander Tian, your honest nature is an extremely precious quality, but in this world, people’s hearts are unpredictable. You must be careful."
"Young Hero Zhao, the same goes for you. Be cautious in Wuxiang City, don’t act impulsively."
Zhao Ya chuckled freely, then cupped his fist, "See you again someday!"
"See you again!"
As the two moved apart, after taking a few steps, Zhao Ya suddenly remembered something and shouted back, "Commander Tian, in the future, if you have any matters, you can come to Dingtai Martial Arts Hall in the Commandery to find me!"
"Alright!" Tian Heng’s shout came from afar.
Meng Shiwen couldn’t help but ask, "You seem to value this Tian Heng greatly?"
Zhao Ya sighed, "I just feel that people like him are getting rarer and rarer, so helping one is better than none."
The subsequent journey was uneventful, except for some clueless petty thieves who tried to rob them on the road. After being taught a lesson by Zhao Ya, they smoothly entered the territory of Wuxiang City four days later.
Looking at the increasingly familiar scenery, Zhao Ya was filled with emotion.
When he left previously, he was only a Third Realm Martial Artist, pursued by others all the way. Although he managed a comeback relying on his extraordinary Inner Organ Talent, he still ended up having to flee to distant lands.
And now, upon returning, he has already advanced to Half-Step Fifth Realm.
It was finally time to sort out the grudges of the past one by one.
"First, return to Wuxiang City!" Zhao Ya said.
Zui’Er and Meng Shiwen had no objections.
Thus, the carriage traveled west along the main road and finally reached beneath Wuxiang City after two days.
Looking up, the city walls were even more ruined than before, with weeds growing on the road in front of the gate, a scene of desolation.
There wasn’t even a guard at the gate, and Zhao Ya first had Zui’Er and Meng Shiwen take elixirs that could prevent plague before driving the carriage straight into the city.
The situation inside was even worse.
Many houses on both sides of the street had collapsed, foxes and rats openly nesting among them, staring at Zhao Ya’s carriage with beady eyes, crows circling and cawing overhead, resembling apocalyptic scenery.
Seeing this shocking scene, Zui’Er’s face turned slightly pale, and she whispered, "Little... Little Brother Ya, what’s happened here? Is there really no one in the city?"
"There should still be people."
Zhao Ya looked into the distance; it was nearing dusk with faint lights flickering in the ghostly city.
Indeed.
Continuing inside a little further, the houses along the road appeared more intact, and occasionally one could see shadows moving behind windows, presumably sneaking peeks at Zhao Ya and his group.
Zhao Ya didn’t make a sound and continued walking inside.
Finally, ahead appeared the Inner City’s walls.
Compared to the ruined Outer City, the Inner City walls were much better, and at least there were guards at the gates.
However, these guards were listless, with sunken eyes and wearing very shabby clothes, obviously not living well.
Even when Zhao Ya’s carriage approached, the guards didn’t move, merely lifting their eyelids for a glance before dropping their heads again, as if seeing nothing.
Thus, Zhao Ya’s carriage arrogantly passed through the gate into the Inner City.
The Inner City’s situation was a bit better than outside; at least there were pedestrians on the streets.
Although they were also hasty and ragged, they added some vitality to the city.
But compared to the bustling scene in his memory, the gap was still too big.
So much so that Zui’Er couldn’t help but ask, "What exactly happened here? Did a plague really occur that wiped out all the citizens?"
Zhao Ya did not speak.
Actually, since entering the city, he had been carefully observing, and indeed he detected some clues.
For instance, there’s a distinct rotten stench in the air, while faint it’s clearly ominous to Zhao Ya’s keen senses.
How to describe it?
It’s like the kind of lingering odor left after a body has rotted away.
But this scent evidently couldn’t come from one or two bodies alone.
Moreover, Zhao Ya noticed there were no traces of any man-made destruction on these ruined buildings, which ruled out the possibility of war.
So there’s only one possibility.
Tian Heng was right; there truly had been a widespread plague that swept through the city.
Zhao Ya did not speak, so naturally, Zui’Er dared not say anything else.
The carriage continued forward, turned a corner to a street corner, and ahead lay the Song Manor of the past.
But by now, the once magnificent manor had long been abandoned, with even its walls half-collapsed, revealing a courtyard full of weeds.
Zui’Er covered her mouth, her eyes full of sadness.
Back then, she had followed Zhao Ya and lived here for a long time, not expecting that the passage of time would render everything unrecognizable.
Zhao Ya’s face also grew increasingly somber.
For the sake of obtaining the Song Clan’s Meat Field Cultivation Technique, the Hong and Yang families once waged war, but now the Song Family itself is abandoned, clearly indicating that these two families also faced issues.
Sure enough.
Following the old path to the front of the Yang Family, Zhao Ya found it abandoned too.
But unlike the others, the ground and walls of the Yang Family Manor clearly bore traces of combat.
It seemed someone had fought a battle here.
Zhao Ya got off the carriage for a quick check, then continued towards the Hong Family.
The situation at the Hong Family was noticeably better.
At least the gate and walls were intact, just tightly shut, with many fallen leaves before the door, evidently long uncared for.
Zhao Ya broke the latch with a palm strike and toured inside and out, finding no one.
But the rear courtyard and several places clearly showed signs of struggle or combat.
However, these marks were light, suggesting the fight was swiftly quelled.
Zhao Ya exhaled.
"I understand now!"
"Little Brother Ya, what do you understand?"
"The reason Wuxiang City has become like this is indeed related to the plague, at least many people in the Outer City died from it. But the Inner City is different."
"Most of the people in the Inner City, including those from both the Hong and Yang families, seem to have been abducted!
"Abducted?" Meng Shiwen was stunned, then suddenly thought of a place and instinctively blurted out.
"Cyan Bamboo Ridge?"
"That’s right, Cyan Bamboo Ridge!" Zhao Ya’s face turned grave.
"And I suspect this plague might also be related to Cyan Bamboo Ridge."
"But... why?" Meng Shiwen asked.
"Yes, why?" Zhao Ya sighed, puzzled.
Though they are bandits, they still need civilians under their rule to have wealth to plunder.
If indeed there were no chickens crowing for a thousand miles, then these bandits would have truly succeeded.
Considering their previous large-scale attacks on neighboring cities’ other bandits, and even not sparing former collaborators like Hong and Yang’s families, what exactly does Cyan Bamboo Ridge intend?