A Den of Vipers

Su Qing and her companions didn't have a clear destination. They simply picked a direction and set off. Of course, it wasn't an entirely random direction. After all, they had to avoid circling back to where they started. It would be quite amusing if they walked in a circle and ended up back at their original spot.

After leaving Ningyuan County, they continued their journey, practicing medicine along the way, just as before. In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.

About a month after Su Qing and her companions left Ningyuan County, the county itself had undergone some changes. Ningyuan County, which had previously seemed somewhat lifeless, had regained much of its vitality after a month. Although those who died could never return, the living still had to grit their teeth and carry on. After all, the deceased were gone, but the living could not follow them into death.

Besides Ningyuan County recovering some of its vigor, a major event also occurred there. Not long after the Divine Doctor Su Qing left, the county magistrate suddenly announced he would fund the construction of a shrine. He said it was a living shrine built for the Divine Doctor who had saved all the county's residents.

This decision, while unexpected, received the full support of the county's people. Almost everyone in the county town owed their lives to that Divine Doctor, so she naturally deserved a living shrine and their worship. Moreover, that Divine Doctor was probably an immortal or a saint. After all, even such a formidable demon could be killed by her, and its corpse paraded through the streets—wasn't that proof of an immortal?

Therefore, everyone was naturally very willing to help build her a living shrine and eagerly offered sacrifices and worship to the Divine Doctor who had saved them all.

Now, more than half a month had passed since the magistrate announced the shrine's construction. The massive living shrine already had its framework built. Even though it was only a framework, with just a temporarily carved statue inside, many people still came specifically to offer their respects.

On this day, the magistrate stood outside the unfinished living shrine. Watching the worshippers and the busy construction workers, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

The magistrate thought, “I've done everything I promised you. I hope you're satisfied! Just don't come back to find me over this.” The magistrate still harbored considerable apprehension towards Su Qing. He had no way of knowing if Su Qing could tell whether he had fulfilled his promise, so he naturally dared not act recklessly and diligently carried out everything he had agreed to.

The magistrate stood before the living shrine for quite a while. Passing residents also came forward to salute him. But unlike in the past, where their eyes held only fear and numbness towards the magistrate, now there was an added sense of gratitude and respect. This was not respect born of fear of authority, but genuine respect from the heart.

Feeling the gazes of the residents, the magistrate couldn't help but chuckle. This was truly a win-win situation. “It seems this action has indeed won the hearts of the people...” “I wonder where those few have reached by now,” the magistrate's thoughts drifted away again.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, after traveling for a month, Su Qing and her companions had arrived at a small mountain village.

Su Qing and her companions' route was never fixed, nor did they intend to specifically head towards county towns or similar places. So, as they traveled, they arrived at this mountain village.

The mountain village was small, with only a few dozen households. But the villagers were exceptionally warm. Upon Su Qing and her companions' arrival, even before they had done anything, they were already warmly welcomed.

And after learning that Su Qing and her companions could help treat illnesses, their warmth and respect grew even more, becoming almost excessively fervent, to the point of seeming a little insincere.

Su Qing and her companions stayed in the mountain village for a few days, during which they also treated several elderly villagers. The people here didn't have any major illnesses, and most were very healthy. So, after curing a few elders, Su Qing and her companions resumed their journey.

At this time, the weather was scorching hot. Su Qing and her companions felt somewhat stifled inside the carriage. And the horse pulling the carriage outside also looked a bit listless. If Su Qing hadn't given it some treats, it probably would have wanted to quit.

“The weather lately is truly scorching,” Ao Yiyi said, leaning against the carriage window and looking out at the blazing sun. Su Qing nodded slightly and said, “Indeed... it's really hot. Speaking of which... we haven't seen rain for a long time on this journey, have we?”

“Is it because we're moving too fast?” Ao Yiyi paused, then said, “Maybe it rained in the places we've already passed?” Su Qing shook her head with a smile upon hearing this, saying, “If only that were the case... I'm a bit worried now about whether a drought might occur in the future.”

“Surely not?” Ao Yiyi said blankly, “If we really encounter a drought, I'll think of a way! After all, I am a member of the Dragon Clan; I still have the ability to summon clouds and bring rain.”

“Hmm, we'll see when the time comes,” Su Qing said no more, just looking outside. “Speaking of which... have you noticed that there seem to be people in the woods nearby?”

“Huh?” Ao Yiyi was a little stunned, caught off guard by Su Qing's rapid topic change. She instinctively poked her head out and glanced around. And her observations confirmed what Su Qing had said: there were many people in the woods surrounding them.

Ao Yiyi was about to ask, but Su Qing spoke first: “They're probably bandits! We're already outside of Great Tang, and this isn't a peaceful place. The number of bandits is far greater than in Great Tang.”

“Then, Sister Su... what should we do?”

“Kill them all?” Su Qing pondered for a moment, then said. With Chen Chaoyan not by her side, there was no need for her to show mercy to these murderous bandits. If she didn't kill them, these bandits would sooner or later kill others. As for why they became bandits, that was not within Su Qing's consideration. Those reasons did not justify their acts of robbery and murder, nor did they hold any legitimacy.

“Huh?” Ao Yiyi was taken aback, not expecting Su Qing's decision to be so direct. Hu Lin'er, on the other hand, found it unsurprising. She had more or less figured out Su Qing's personality these past few days.

No sooner had Su Qing's voice fallen. A tripwire suddenly sprang up from the ground. The horse, unable to dodge in time, stumbled and fell to its knees. Though it wasn't seriously injured, it did feel a slight pain. More than that, it was furious. It instinctively wanted to get up and kick the people who set the tripwire. But with the carriage behind it, it couldn't. It could only give up. However, it also knew that Su Qing, inside the carriage, would not let this go unpunished.

After the carriage stopped, Su Qing stepped down and looked around. Just then, many people suddenly burst out from the surrounding woods, brandishing knives and encircling the carriage. These bandits still had bloodstains on them, the blood on their knives hadn't even dried, and their malevolent aura was quite strong. Su Qing could tell at a glance that these people had killed many today, or at the very latest, last night. Upon realizing this, her brow furrowed slightly, and she cast a cold glance at the charging bandits, her killing intent palpable. She had harbored a sliver of hesitation, but now that hesitation vanished.

“You...” The charging bandit was about to utter a threat. But he was so terrified by a single look from Su Qing that he dared not move. It wasn't that Su Qing's gaze was inherently frightening; she had lived for so long and killed countless people and demons. Ordinarily, she felt nothing special. But when she truly unleashed her killing intent, mortals naturally couldn't withstand it. And this was merely ordinary killing intent.

Su Qing had no intention of bantering with these bandits. She simply formed a hand seal and easily dealt with them all. However, she didn't kill every single one, leaving one alive because she still had some questions to ask.

“Monster, monster... no, don't come any closer!!!” The last bandit was clearly scared witless by Su Qing's terrifying combat power. He had considered all sorts of possibilities, but never imagined that their entire group, so many of them, would be killed in such an instant. Without even a chance to resist, he trembled as he tried to retreat, but his weak legs prevented him from moving, and he merely collapsed onto the ground.

Su Qing slowly walked towards the bandit, a long sword appearing in her hand at some point. She held it to the bandit's neck and said, “I'll ask you a few questions; just answer them.” The bandit looked at the long sword at his throat, his body shaking like a sieve. He quickly swallowed, nodding frantically. He was terrified of provoking the killing god before him.

Su Qing asked the bandit a few questions. One was where they had previously robbed and how many people they had killed. The other was why they had targeted her.

Faced with Su Qing's two questions, the bandit naturally dared not hesitate for a moment and hastily spilled everything he knew. It was just as Su Qing had suspected. Before robbing them, these bandits had massacred a small village. Because that village could no longer pay its protection money, so they killed everyone in it. As for what this “protection money” was, to put it nicely, it was a tax; to put it bluntly, it was blood money, protection fees.

Su Qing's eyes narrowed slightly at this answer, and she felt a touch of displeasure. However, the answer to Su Qing's other question somewhat surprised her. The reason they targeted them, besides it being a coincidence, was also because someone had tipped them off and the informant was from the small village where Su Qing and her companions had previously stayed. This left Su Qing a little speechless. So, her kindness had been repaid with malice! She had helped treat them, only for them to turn around and harm her.

Su Qing smiled wryly to herself, thinking, “And I called Ao Yiyi naive; I was a bit naive myself. I more or less underestimated the evil in human nature!” Su Qing shook her head; this incident served as a reminder to her. She needed to pay more attention to such matters. Some people, perhaps, shouldn't be saved.

After asking her questions, Su Qing ordered the bandit to lead her to their bandit lair because she felt there were still some things she could do. To save his life, the bandit had no sense of loyalty to his “brothers.” When told to lead the way, he scurried ahead like a lackey, guiding Su Qing. For a moment, this reminded Su Qing of some ridiculous people.

Su Qing didn't call Ao Yiyi or Hu Lin'er; she was enough on her own. Neither Hu Lin'er nor Ao Yiyi had any objections. Because Ao Yiyi also had some things she needed to do. Although these people were guilty of heinous crimes, since they were dead, she intended to perform rites of deliverance for them. To prevent them from turning into malevolent ghosts and being unable to reach the Underworld to receive their due punishment. As for Su Qing, Ao Yiyi believed that since Su Qing had struck with lethal force, these people were indeed deserving of death. In her opinion, Su Qing would absolutely never harm innocent people. She had her own principles. Ao Yiyi was absolutely certain of this.

After Su Qing followed the bandit away, Ao Yiyi, as she had planned, began performing rites of deliverance for the deceased. Meanwhile, Su Qing followed the bandit all the way to their lair.

There were still many bandits in the lair. These bandits were members responsible for guarding the stronghold and had not gone with them on the raid. However, Su Qing knew that this was merely the case for this one time. The malevolent aura on those people could certainly not be acquired from killing just one or two individuals. So, upon entering the stronghold, Su Qing also conveniently sent these people to meet King Yama. She felt no burden, as these people deserved to die.

“Where are the people you've captured being held?” Su Qing turned and asked. That's right, the reason Su Qing spared the bandit and had him lead her here wasn't solely to wipe them out. It was more to rescue those people who had been captured by the bandits. After all, bandits couldn't kill everyone. They would always leave some people alive. Perhaps beautiful women, or some able-bodied young men worth exploiting.

“Th-they're all locked in the dungeon. The boss, the boss said they needed to be locked up for a few days, starved for a few days, and beaten a few times before they'd become obedient...” The bandit swallowed, quickly replying. Su Qing raised an eyebrow slightly, nodded, and said, “Lead the way.”

“R-right away, leading the way.” The bandit walked ahead, guiding Su Qing all the way into the dungeon.

The smell inside the dungeon was not good; various strange odors mixed together, making it extremely foul. Su Qing couldn't help but frown, forming a hand seal to block out the smell. These unpleasant odors were too much for someone as sensitive to smells as she was.

Passing through a short corridor, Su Qing saw the full extent of the dungeon and the people imprisoned within. In this small cell, more than a dozen people were confined. They were tightly packed together, with hardly any room to move.