24: Dynasty, aristocratic family, commoner

Frost condensed on every building in Heyu Town, as if plating them with a layer of crystalline glaze.

Cold, a bone-deep chill continuously 'pounced' from the air onto people's bodies.

Some town residents, having run out of firewood at home, wanted to open their doors to buy some fuel, only to find the doors already sealed by ice; no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't budge them an inch.

Some residents appeared on the streets, taking off their already thin cotton coats with glazed eyes, muttering incoherently, "So hot... so hot..."

Like the final hallucinations of a person on the verge of freezing to death.

In the tea room of the Town Chief's Mansion, when ice crystals appeared on the ceiling and walls,

Tang Cheng could no longer sit still. He slammed his palm onto the table, shattering all the teacups.

"Is your Liu family planning to use the lives of all the Mortals in town to complete the promotion ritual?"

Liu Qiancheng spread his fingers, and cold air erupted from his palm. The tea splashing from the shattered cups instantly froze into icicles in mid-air.

He smiled at Tang Cheng. "Town Head, don't get angry. They are just some Mortals; if they die, we can simply buy more from elsewhere.

You only need to stay here until the promotion ritual ends. Our Liu family guarantees we will return to you a Heyu Town even more prosperous than it is today."

The [Green Scale Spirit Tiger] appeared behind Tang Cheng, its eyes glinting with a cold light. It only awaited Tang Cheng's command to devour the three people before it.

"The Liu family is so cold-blooded and cruel; you are truly unworthy of holding the status of a Noble Family. I will report the details of this matter to the Prefecture City. Let's see what becomes of you then."

"Cold-blooded and cruel? Town Head Tang, you should have come from a Noble Family yourself. How did they raise such a naive scion? From top to bottom in this Jingyuan Dynasty, which Noble Family didn't climb up by stepping on the blood of ten thousand commoners?

Even the royal family regards us Noble Families as hunting dogs, letting us patrol the four directions and suppress the territories to maintain the longevity of their national destiny, don't they?"

Regarding Tang Cheng's words, the young man from the Liu family, who had remained cold-faced throughout, spoke with disdain.

After hearing him out, Tang Cheng fell silent for a moment, then a look of realization flashed in his eyes.

He ultimately couldn't bear to watch ordinary commoners die before his eyes, yet there was no reply to the message he had sent out.

He knew that everything the Liu family did was permitted by those above. If a Rank Seven Noble Family could truly be born, what would it matter even if two towns were wiped out?

A Rank Seven Noble Family was worth far more than the value brought by tens of thousands of commoners.

Tang Cheng straightened up and said calmly, "Uncle An, I'm counting on you."

An aged sigh echoed in the room. "Xiao Cheng, why bother? Your purpose in coming here was to witness the common occurrences of life and death in this world."

Clearly, the elder also didn't want Tang Cheng to continue interfering in this matter.

Tang Cheng shook his head. "The Liu family has plotted for this for who knows how long. I don't know if I can stop it, but as the Town Head, I must go to the sacrificial altar to see."

"Sigh."

A helpless sigh rang out, and an old man appeared in the wind and snow at the doorway. He stood there quietly, as if integrated with the surrounding heaven and earth, making it impossible to discern his depth.

Coiled around the staff he leaned on was a spirit snake about a meter long, covered in green scales and possessing three eyes.

"I'll hold them here. You go."

These words were spoken to Tang Cheng. Fine vines spread from the staff he leaned on, then grew rapidly along the walls and ceiling.

Before long, the room was enclosed into a prison.

Although they couldn't gauge the old man's depth, the three from the Liu family weren't the type to just give up.

Five Source Beasts of different appearances, all emitting a frosty aura, appeared within the vine enclosure. As soon as they appeared, various ice blades and blizzard storms ruthlessly attacked the vines.

The old man's expression remained unchanged. The third eye of the spirit snake on his staff opened, and its body instantly grew to about a dozen meters long.

The spirit snake watched for gaps created in the vine enclosure by the attacks, using its body as a weapon to force back the people and Source Beasts trying to escape.

Tang Cheng seized the opportunity and quickly left through the gap Old An had left for him.

Old An looked at the tea hall, which had been destroyed beyond recognition, as well as several nearby buildings, his gaze revealing an emotion as calm as a deep well.

"It's fine to let him suffer a bit. This Family Head Liu is a smart man; he won't hurt him."

Old An muttered to himself, though it was unclear if he was speaking to someone else or just himself.

Tang Cheng successfully reached the street, seeing many bodies already lying there, covered in ice crystals.

Some were carrying charcoal on their backs, still in a running posture. Others held thin children, as if that were the only way to provide each other with enough warmth.

Without needing to check, Tang Cheng knew they had lost any chance of survival. This was just one corner of the town; in the distance, others must be struggling and dying in similar agony.

From the frozen corpses on the ground, glowing ice crystals shaped like enlarged snowflakes appeared. They seemed to be drawn by some kind of attraction, drifting toward the center of the town.

Tang Cheng tried to reach out and stop them, but although the crystals looked solid, they became illusory upon contact, continuing their path toward the sky without changing course.

Tang Cheng turned to look at the graceful dancing figure in the center of the ice crystal pillar at the heart of the town. Evil Qi flashed in his eyes as he straddled the [Green Scale Spirit Tiger], galloping over houses toward the central location.

...

Chu Shengfan, who was grinding bright light stone powder in his room, felt something and walked to the window to look out.

He saw the massive ice pillar and the graceful dancing figure within it.

His fingers unconsciously tapped on the glass window pane, making a crisp "da-da" sound.

Suddenly, he seemed to hear faint cries for help coming from outside the courtyard.

A second later, he felt relieved; this was Medicine Heart Hall, so it was only normal for someone injured to come here seeking help.

Chu Shengfan originally intended to go back to grinding the bright jade stone powder, but those faint cries for help made it impossible for him to settle down.

His Source Beast, the [Flower Medicine Butterfly], already possessed healing skills. The cries sounded so piteous that perhaps he could be of some help.

He pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard, only to find that the heavy snow from earlier that morning had disappeared. Looking up, he realized that a transparent dome had appeared over the entire Medicine Heart Hall at some point.

It wasn't that the snow had stopped, but that it was being blocked by the dome.

Chu Shengfan followed the path in his memory to the storefront of Medicine Heart Hall, only to find it in a state of chaos. People were lying, sitting, and standing.

The originally spacious hall had become incredibly crowded, as if everyone from the entire street had come here.

With so many people came a cacophony of sounds: low sobbing, loud wailing, words of gratitude, and curses at the heavens.

Looking through the crowd, Chu Shengfan saw that outside the door, the heavy snow was still falling as if it had never stopped. However, the snow on the ground remained at calf-height without increasing at all. This sight seemed very strange to Chu Shengfan.

Before Chu Shengfan could observe further, a figure suddenly threw herself down on her knees before him.

"You're the young physician of this shop, aren't you? I beg you, please save my child's life. I beg you."

As she spoke, her swollen, frostbitten fingers tightly gripped Chu Shengfan's lower leg. Before this, Chu Shengfan had never imagined an ordinary woman could have such strength.

The people nearby watched the woman's actions, their eyes flashing with numbness.

To others, the woman was just desperately seeking any help she could find. He was just a young child; what kind of illness could he possibly treat?

"Let go of me first. Which one is your child? Let me take a look."