Chapter 78: Ants: Perpetrating Evil

The deep ochre mountains resembled flesh cleaved open by a giant axe, with distant mine caves gaping like cracks, black and filthy streams slowly seeping from the rock fissures.

The exits were all heavily guarded.

Not only that, even the wooden fences were wrapped with barbed iron caltrops.

Compared to the Stone Quarry.

This place was more like a cage.

The carriage was stopped before entering the Stone Quarry. Luo Xiutong, dragging his rotund belly, hurried obsequiously to the side of the carriage and reminded them, “Lord Yan, vehicles are not permitted inside the Stone Quarry. Please dismount and proceed on foot.”

Vehicles were not permitted inside the Stone Quarry?

Hearing this, Hong Xiujie immediately grew tense.

Zhuyu, who had seen her share of storms, kept her composure. She patted the back of Hong Xiujie’s hand, signaling her not to panic. Sure enough, Yan Yiqing coldly glanced at Luo Xiutong and said without yielding an inch, “And if this official insists on driving in?”

“This…” Luo Xiutong’s face showed difficulty.

“Driving in would mean any mishap is this official’s responsibility alone.” Yan Yiqing paused, her eyebrows arching lightly as the pressure of a superior bore down. “But if Magistrate Luo obstructs this official, then you’d best consider… whether you can bear this official’s wrath.”

He had heard plenty of rumors about the woman before him.

At twelve, she survived by eating corpses.

At fifteen, she sacrificed lives to consecrate her flag.

At eighteen, she drank from skulls.

Bear her wrath? With his life…? Just thinking about it made Luo Xiutong shiver in fear, lest his own head become a wine cup. He shrank his neck and said, “This official dares not.”

“Haven’t you all heard Lord Yan’s words?!” Luo Xiutong deliberately raised his voice so everyone could hear. Before Yan Yiqing could speak, he drew out his words and shouted, “Lord Yan wishes to enter by carriage. Those without eyes, hurry and move the fence!”

The private soldiers guarding the Stone Quarry exchanged glances.

But in the end, they followed his orders and cleared the fence.

“Please, Lord Yan!” Luo Xiutong stood aside to lead the way, his tone fawning.

Disgust unmasked in her eyes, Yan Yiqing lowered the carriage curtain, her voice like cold stone infused with moonlight: “Sang Yue, find a shady spot to park.”

“Yes.” Sang Yue, seated on the driver’s perch, reined in the horses.

She understood the general’s intent—

Park where the guards were thinnest in the Stone Quarry.

…

The thatched roof of the western workshop had collapsed halfway, light leaking through the gaps to illuminate moldy millet sacks in the corner.

This spot backed against the mountain.

There were no exits nearby, and the patrolling soldiers were far fewer than elsewhere.

“Protect her well and get the people out as quickly as possible,” Yan Yiqing instructed.

Zhuyu nodded in agreement.

“Don’t stir up unnecessary trouble.” With that, Yan Yiqing turned and stepped down from the carriage.

The air reeked of heavy sweat mingled with blood.

A sour, rotten stench blanketed the mountainside, enough to turn the stomach just from smelling it.

Even Yan Yiqing, who never fussed over her surroundings, wrinkled her nose involuntarily after dismounting.

What the hell was this smell?

It was even more nauseating than the stench of corpses.

Luo Xiutong had followed from the entrance, jogging to catch up to the carriage. Seeing Yan Yiqing alight, he immediately bowed deeply: “This official pays respects to Lord Yan.”

“Why does the Stone Quarry stink so much?” Yan Yiqing covered her nose.

Luo Xiutong was baffled by her mention of a stink. He craned his neck and sniffed, then shook his head. “In response to Lord Yan, this official detects no unusual odors.”

Aside from the smell of the iron ore.

No strange scents at all. This person was far too delicate.

Seeing him sniff several times with no reaction, Yan Yiqing’s stomach churned. Frowning, she said, “Enough. Let’s get to business. Is there a place in the Stone Quarry where we can talk?”

“Please follow this official.” Luo Xiutong flicked his sleeves.

A breeze happened to waft by.

The stench intensified at once.

Her brows furrowed so tightly they seemed about to drip ink. Yan Yiqing’s face turned ashen; she gritted her teeth and walked heavily at his side.

No wonder he smelled nothing…

The odor on him came from the same source as the Stone Quarry’s foul air.

–

Luo Xiutong walked a hundred paces or so in one go before stopping in front of a modest tent. He turned, respectful and deferential. “Lord Yan, the Stone Quarry is rudimentary. Everyone conducts discussions here.”

“Mmm.” Yan Yiqing forced the sound through her clenched teeth.

“Your complexion doesn’t look well. Shall this official send for—”

“No need. Stand farther away.” Yan Yiqing dug her nails into her palm, pointed into the distance, and asked with a frown, “What are those people doing?”

Several men in short shirts were scattered across a low slope.

They held long whips, occasionally raising their arms high.

“In response to Your Lordship, these stone-haulers are inherently lazy; without supervision, they slack off,” Luo Xiutong said proudly, lifting his chin, his shifty eyes gleaming as he boasted. “I’ve had them form teams of five, with the leader naturally managing those below. This ensures every laborer is watched at all times.”

Yan Yiqing furrowed her brows. “Whipping them—won’t injuries reduce how much they can haul?”

“Pah!” Magistrate Luo shook his head, baring a row of sinister teeth as if watching an amusing show. “The whips aren’t from us; the laborers came up with them themselves. Ever since, the team leaders can rest, and the stone-hauling speed has increased dramatically.”

Though many had died from the fights.

But they were killed by their own kind, after all.

“Worse than death”—the four words Hong Xiujie had uttered while pleading for help suddenly flashed in Yan Yiqing’s mind.

“Yumu County needs stone and laborers to rebuild the embankment. That’s why I’ve come,” Yan Yiqing said, clenching her fist silently. She forced her gaze away and asked casually, “Magistrate Luo, do you have a roster of the laborers?”

He had expected Yan Yiqing to praise his clever scheme.

She showed no interest in the laborers devouring each other like wolves. A flicker of regret passed through Luo Xiutong’s heart. He lifted the tent flap and grinned. “Of course there’s a roster. Please come in, my lord?”

Yan Yiqing’s brows remained locked. “No need. Fetch the roster.”

“Yes.” He bowed and ducked into the tent.

An elderly man in his fifties, with a fool.

In an environment like the Stone Quarry… the person Huairen wanted to find might already be gone.

Changlin County had devolved into such chaos—no wonder, when leaving the capital, Elder Sister had insisted on giving her the token.

“Lord Yan!” Luo Xiutong soon returned, holding a ledger as thick as a fingernail, and offered it with both hands.

Black names one by one.

Like ants, pathetically crawling across the roster.

The earlier pages were mostly marked with red circles claiming lives; these souls lingered, eternally trapped in the ledger.

What wrong had these people done?

They had merely sought to earn a bite to eat through hard labor.

Yan Yue’s parting instructions were fresh in her mind: bury everything on this trip, blunt the edges of these two evildoers, and make them tuck tail for Prince Gong henceforth—but now, she only wanted to kill the maggot before her.

Her fingers on the roster’s edge whitened from pressure.

The thick ledger bore a deep indent from the woman’s grip.

“L-Lord… Lord Yan…” Luo Xiutong naturally sensed the aura of death. He retreated two steps, voice trembling. “This official did these things for Prince Gong’s enterprise. The laborers are too lazy; this official truly had no choice…”

Yan Yiqing gritted her teeth. “You’d best shut that stinking mouth.”

The pale, fat maggot trembled.

He nodded while quietly edging farther away.

If she couldn’t even protect the people before her eyes, would the peaceful era she strove for, the future Elder Sister promised… truly differ from the present?

Conflicting voices argued in her mind.

Yan Yiqing pressed her lips tight, but her hands never paused.

Finally, she found those two names.

Sun Shi, Sun Yongfu.

Two ants not yet claimed by the red brush.

Yan Yiqing closed the roster, a deep gloom flashing in her eyes, her voice like a dulled dagger: “Summon all the team leaders. Those to be sent to Yumu County must show no flaws to the imperial envoy.”

“T-This official will go at once!” Luo Xiutong could have sent the county lieutenant with the message. But he only wanted to get away from this female killer god.

…

Meanwhile, Zhuyu and Hong Xiujie, changed into ragged clothes, had blended into the laborer ranks.

“Zhuyu, someone’s heading to the tent!” Tears welled in Hong Xiujie’s eyes. Her voice was soft, but joy was unmistakable.

Yan Yiqing had agreed on this signal with them beforehand: if the people were alive, she would draw away the lead guards to facilitate the search. The disturbance in the Stone Quarry now meant—Hong Xiujie’s father and brother were still alive.

Zhuyu pressed her lips.

They exchanged a glance and quickened their pace together.

With the leaders gone, the remaining laborers collapsed like desiccated insect husks across the slope. Everyone saw the King of Hell beckoning; no one noticed the two unfamiliar women among them.

Each step reminded them time was short.

But they had no leads and hadn’t found her kin in the quarrying area.

“What do we do? Could Father and Brother already…” Hong Xiujie trailed off, forcing back tears, though her eyes remained panicked.

Blindly searching like this.

Even until the end of time, they wouldn’t find them.

Her gaze fell on a distant thatched shed. Zhuyu took Hong Xiujie’s hand, made a few gestures, and mouthed her intent.

“But I don’t know who to ask. I don’t see anyone I recognize…”

Asking the wrong person could drag them under, so despite the urgency, they dared not act rashly—

“Ah!” Her shoulder was suddenly patted. Hong Xiujie cried out in alarm, while Zhuyu instantly seized the newcomer’s wrist.

“Little Jie, it’s your sister Juaner.” The woman with a dust-caked face winced in pain, enduring the grip on her wrist as she said to Hong Xiujie, “Luo Juaner—don’t you remember?”

“Sister Juaner?”

Seeing Hong Xiujie knew her, Zhuyu released her hold, though her eyes remained wary.

Luo Juaner rubbed her wrist, stole a glance at Zhuyu, and lowered her voice. “Who’s she? She knows martial arts—where’d you meet?”

“Sister Juaner, I don’t have time to explain now.” Hong Xiujie shook her head, looking at her like a lifeline, pleading, “Sister Juaner, do you know where my father and brother are?”

A complex glint passed through Luo Juaner’s eyes; she didn’t answer immediately.

“Ow!” Luo Juaner’s arm was twisted behind her back. She bared her teeth in pain. “Little Jie, get her to let go.”

Hong Xiujie looked up at Zhuyu, about to speak, but Zhuyu shook her head slightly. Understanding dawned, so she clenched her fist and asked, “Sister Juaner, do you know Father’s whereabouts? Tell me.”

As if conducting an interrogation in tandem.

No sooner had she spoken than Zhuyu tightened her grip slightly.

“I know where they are, but you must promise me one thing.” After saying this, Luo Juaner felt the force behind her intensify. Sweat beaded on her forehead from the pain, but she steadied herself and gritted out, “If you don’t agree, even if she breaks my arm now, I won’t tell you.”

“I’m already a living corpse anyway. Try me if you don’t believe it.”

“Never mind, let her go.” Hong Xiujie said softly, and Zhuyu relented—she knew her own strength; if this didn’t loosen her tongue, continuing would just add another injury.

Seeing their attitudes, noting Hong Xiujie’s lingering softness, Luo Juaner’s eyes brightened. She seized Hong Xiujie’s hand and whispered, “Do you have a way out? Met some noble benefactor?”

“Sister Juaner, what exactly do you want me to promise?”