Chapter 500: Chapter 296: Reform Without Killing—How Does the Young Hero Display His Thunderous Means!
Qinghe City is large, a gathering place for all walks of life, both righteous and evil, with opium dens shrouded in smoke all day, brothels bustling day and night, the sounds of indulgence unceasing.
But for some, Qinghe City is small.
Small to the point of offering hardly any place to stay.
This city is mostly filled with Martial World folks, fighting for treasures in the mountains, for territory profits, with desires swelling, engaging in all sorts of deceit.
Those at the bottom of the Martial World are unwilling to remain at the bottom forever; they come here to try their luck, but luck isn’t so easily found.
Here, the commoners have to work like cattle and horses. Aside from dying from exhaustion, being killed is not common, whereas the bottom of the Martial World has it worse—they’re either cattle and horses or cannon fodder.
People die in Qinghe City every day, and nine out of ten are this kind of cannon fodder.
If you don’t want to be cannon fodder, surviving becomes difficult, with no permanent place.
Now, as Duan Yun and Murong are at a place where they’re eating sweet rice wine eggs, many such people are present.
This street is lined with many ragged shanties, with many people in tattered clothes huddled inside, looking no different from beggars.
But these people are not beggars; they are Martial World wanderers.
From their hands and feet, it’s clear that many have trained in martial arts.
Yet in this city where the Martial World folks are involved in cutthroat competition, they’re no better off than beggars.
"Brother Wang, the docks need people to unload goods, going or not? Moving forty thousand pounds of goods gets you half a pound of meat."
"Didn’t it used to be two pounds of meat for forty thousand pounds of goods?"
"Can’t help it, if you don’t do it, there are others who will. In Qinghe City, even strong men who refine their bodies are scrambling to do work for food."
"No way to live like this! Might as well wait for a chance to be hired for muscle work."
"Brother Wang, in other places, being hired for muscle work is about prestige and it includes meals, but here it’s risky for life. Are you doing it or not? If not, I’m leaving."
"Damn it, I’ll do it! After it’s done, I’m going gambling, as long as I win a lot, it’ll be fine!"
"Life’s really damn hard right now."
...
This is just a snippet of the Martial World folk on this street, yet it is also a microcosm.
Those fantasizing about obtaining the Divine Skill Secret Manual and making a glorious name, yet end up as day laborers waiting for a chance—they’re already considered lucky. There are even more pitiful ones among them.
Since the last time he went deep into the Iron Blood Sect, Duan Yun has felt the plight of the Martial World’s bottom layer here.
It’s not like he injected Heroic Spirit into the Iron Blood Sect’s cultivation technique, reminding them to clean toilets and wash latrines, otherwise, the two would still be paying to toil as laborers.
He thinks the bottom logic of the sect here is broken.
The higher-ups don’t want the lower ones to live well, and the lower ones don’t want those even lower to have it better, making it so that only the ones at the top have it good, while the ones below can only eat dirt.
Looking back now, he has transformed the Iron Blood Sect into people willing to contribute, which can be considered a successful correction.
Just as Murong once said, "If everyone gives just a bit more love, this Martial World will become a wonderful world."
These words, although spoken when practicing the Cow and Horse Skill to the point of mental confusion, are indeed true.
This Martial World is full of deceit and murder, where many only care about their own pleasure and let others suffer, lacking any love.
Transforming the Iron Blood Sect into those rich in Cow and Horse spirit truly marks the first step in reforming the Martial World.
Even though this approach seems somewhat forced, even a bit extreme.
This Martial World must be extreme, you can’t view these Martial World folks as normal people.
We must see them as mental patients.
Yes!
The people of this Martial World are sick, and as a Young Hero cum doctor, he’s here to treat their illness.
Treating mental illness, being a bit forceful—so what?
If you ask me, these people lacking love should be shocked with electricity.
Shock them a few more times, maybe they’ll become normal and loving like him.
After finishing their sweet rice wine eggs, Duan Yun and Murong continued walking inward.
Only moving further inward, the stench grows, and people are even more pitiful.
Those outside can still do some odd jobs, but those inside can’t.
Some appear to be sick, with syphilis-like conditions, thoroughly wasted, others addicted to opium, either borrowing Silver to keep smoking, or lying there like Walking Corpses, completely collapsed.
Midway, there were two syphilis patients attempting to rob their Silver, Murong directly burst two pus-filled sores on them, causing them to writhe in pain, thus stopping their criminal acts.
After exiting that rundown alley, both Duan Yun and Murong agreed this place is sick.
It forms a stark contrast to the area around Yushi Town, where Yuzhu Manor is located.
But now that this group of Yuzhu heroes have arrived, this area falls under the heroic spirit shield of Yuzhu Manor, and will soon become peaceful.
At this moment, a woman rushed over at the alley entrance, saying, "Yun, hurry, Iron Blood Sect men are treating illnesses again."
The Yun brother scratched while sighing, "Iron Blood Sect that’s everywhere picking up patients? But I have syphilis."
"Even syphilis can be treated, Mr. Wang was cured. Better hurry, their blood can only treat when it’s fresh, just a few days each month."
"Can it be treated?"
Yun hesitated for a moment, ultimately gritting his teeth, saying, "I’m not treating! This disease I got from Miss Sisi, as long as I have this disease, it means Miss Sisi has me! I’ll die before I treat it!"
The woman saw this, angrily pounding her chest, "You’re really pathetic! An evil woman from brothel gives you a disease, and you act as if losing your soul."
Yun didn’t get angry, instead he reminisced with a face of nostalgia, "Miss Sisi’s taste is really nice."
Duan Yun couldn’t help but glance at Murong.
Murong retorted, "Why do you look at me? Am I as pathetic as him?"
"No way, I need to return to see Ning Qing. I genuinely miss her too much!"