Qin Liuxi followed his gaze and saw Emperor Kangwu being carried in a rush toward the Imperial Chariot, surrounded by a cluster of high ministers who had just crawled back from the brink of death, with blade-bearing guards nervously forming a circle around them.

She gave a cold snort. "When the Emperor falls, the nation descends into chaos. Now that the Crown Prince is not yet established, if the barbarians and the Alien Race hear of this, when else would they seize the chance to invade if not now? A natural disaster is born, man-made calamity rises, and just like that, an age of turmoil begins."

"Was that a Divine Weapon just now? You can suppress it without using that blood-thing?" Feng Xiu looked a little covetous.

Qin Liuxi summoned the Divine Weapon. That boundless Divine Power surged forth with a ferocious and murderous aura so intense that several hairs snapped off Feng Xiu’s body in his true form; he leapt several steps away from her and said, "Hey, don’t get so close, you’ll end up harming your own allies by mistake."

Even though he was the Demon Emperor, he was still a demon, and naturally wary of such a Divine weapon. Moreover, the aura emanating from it contained not only the might of the Buddhist and Taoist schools, but also the power of Karmic Fire.

"Look at you." Qin Liuxi put away the Divine Weapon and said, "You head back first. I still have to go protect that death-seeking old Emperor a bit."

"Here?" Feng Xiu pointed at the scene of devastation after the disaster.

Qin Liuxi said coolly, "For disasters outside Shengjing, there are places to send the wounded. Now that the calamity is in Shengjing itself, within the bounds of the Imperial City, if they can’t even properly arrange relief for the victims after this earth-shaking, then this country is truly beyond saving."

He understood: everything that was their responsibility, they had already done. The rest was to be left to those officials. If they had to do everything, what was the court even for?

Feng Xiu didn’t waste any more words. He nodded and was about to leave when something occurred to him and he said, "That sound transmission of yours just now was quite the spectacle. Does that count as a provocation?"

"Mm. So when you’re cleaning up, if you run into any crooked and heretical types, kill them."

Feng Xiu muttered, "Listen to you, a so-called Righteous Disciple. How is it you sound more like a demon than I do?"

"Keep them alive for New Year’s? Hurry up and go." Qin Liuxi waved her hand and leapt toward Emperor Kangwu’s direction. She had only gone halfway when she spotted someone familiar; her expression changed at once.

Mrs. Wang was lying on the ground in agony. A chunk of stone and a corpse were pressed down on her body; every attempt to move made her features contort with pain.

She was somewhat in despair. Several of the children at home were not yet married—could she really die here?

Suddenly the weight on her body lightened. She stared blankly for a moment, then turned her head to see a slender woman in a green dress, hair pinned up with a jade hairpin, lifting the male corpse off her and removing the stone.

"Xixi..." Mrs. Wang’s eyes blurred with tears; she was overwhelmed with emotion.

Qin Liuxi’s brows knitted. "Why are you here as well?"

She glanced around and saw no other familiar faces. Then she looked toward Mrs. Wang’s lower body, where blood was seeping out from the hem of her skirt, and her face darkened. She was about to lift the skirt when Mrs. Wang’s hand seized hers.

Qin Liuxi paused, then remembered they were outside, and which woman here didn’t care about her reputation, even with life and death before her?

Mrs. Wang’s hand was ice-cold. Her makeup was long ruined, her clothes soaked by the river water that had surged back in, and she was shivering nonstop, her face a chalky purplish white.

Qin Liuxi held her hand, first using a Spell to dry her clothing, then sending a strand of True Qi into her. She felt her pulse, took a bottle of Elixir from the Qiankun Bag, and fed her one pill.

Mrs. Wang felt warmth spread through her whole body and could not help letting out a sigh of relief. When she moved, however, pain made her groan.

Qin Liuxi felt along her leg over the skirt. Just now the stone had pinned her leg, and the male corpse was on top of the stone, deepening the injury even more.

Her fingers followed the bone. "The bone’s a bit fractured. It needs to be set back in place."

She picked Mrs. Wang up, found a spot sheltered from the wind, and set her down there before asking, "Who else from the family came? Why would you come to this kind of ceremony?"

Mrs. Wang said, "The wives and families of all officials fifth-rank and above are here, except those who called in sick. In our family, only your father and I came to attend this grand ceremony."

"Where’s the old master?"

"The weather turned cold early this year. Your grandfather caught a chill and has been ill for some time, so he also reported in sick." Seeing the crease in Qin Liuxi’s brow, Mrs. Wang went on to explain, "You needn’t worry. The Imperial Physician has already examined him and prescribed medicine. After recuperating for some days, he’s much better. At his age, it’s only natural that his body isn’t as sturdy as it used to be."

"Mm." Qin Liuxi said, "Wait here for now. I’ll go look for him."

Mrs. Wang knew exactly who this "him" referred to. After a moment’s thought, she said, "The earth-shaking came so suddenly, and everything is in chaos. It’s hard to say if there’ll be aftershocks. Be careful. If you really can’t find him, just come back. With a disaster this serious, the court will soon send people to relieve and rescue the victims."