"Kill!"
"Die, you bastard!"
Before long, all these bandits died in Liu Yilin's hands. Ning Beichen immediately went to comfort her.
"It's okay, Yilin, you did very well. Remember, being soft-hearted towards enemies is irresponsible to yourself. If I'm not around next time and you encounter enemies, you should only think of one thing: don't show mercy. If you can beat them, kill them. If you can't, run away, understood?"
Ning Beichen said while holding her.
Liu Yilin nodded. Although she was still trembling, she had calmed down under Ning Beichen's comfort, and even felt a hint of excitement. This was the first time she had faced so many enemies.
Actually, these bandits were not as terrifying as she had imagined. As long as she overcame her inner fear, there was nothing to be afraid of.
After dealing with the bandits, Ning Beichen and the others raided their den, making a substantial profit for their arrival.
Soon, they packed up the bandits' belongings and continued towards the town.
However, as they were nearing the town Ye Lanxin had mentioned, they saw a column of black smoke rising into the sky from afar.
Ning Beichen and the others rushed over, only to find the entire town reduced to ruins, with shattered walls everywhere and thick black smoke billowing.
Ning Beichen and the others exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
After all, they came from a peaceful, civilized world. Even with wars, there were few such actions that affected civilians.
"What happened here? Let's split up and search for survivors."
Ning Beichen said.
Everyone immediately split up and searched among the ruins. To their surprise, they actually found someone who was still breathing.
The survivor was a woman. Judging by her clothing, she must have been well-off.
However, although she was still alive, she was on her last breath.
"Tell me, what happened here?"
Ye Lanxin went up to ask her.
"Mad... mad! They've all gone mad..."
The woman cried out, her words incoherent. Clearly, she had suffered too much trauma and had lost her mind, making it difficult to get any information from her.
After a while, Ye Lanxin shook her head at Ning Beichen, indicating she hadn't obtained any useful information.
"Ye Lanxin, you're more familiar with this place. What do you think happened here?"
Ning Beichen asked her.
Ye Lanxin shook her head in response.
"I don't know either. This world has fallen into chaos. I suspect other places might be in trouble as well."
"Let's go and check out the next place,"
Ning Beichen said immediately.
"Alright, there are a few villages not far from this town. Let's go there and see."
Ye Lanxin nodded.
The group left and soon arrived at the village closest to the town.
However, all they found was a ruined village, and the bodies of the villagers had been gnawed by wild beasts.
The horrific scene brought tears to Liu Yilin, a girl from a peaceful world, and Ning Beichen's mood was also somber.
These villagers were not cultivators, yet they had met such a tragic end.
Ning Beichen pushed open the door of a relatively intact house and entered. Inside, he found a complete corpse.
After examining the body, he stood up and said to the women, "This was man-made. The body has knife wounds."
"Damn it, who could be so cruel as to slaughter an entire village?"
Liu Yilin said with heartache.
The other two women also wore expressions of intense anger.
"There are some footprints here, Beichen. Should we follow them?"
Upon coming out, Luo Yingying noticed footprints on the north side of the village. They could belong to escaping villagers or the murderers.
Ning Beichen also saw the footprints but needed to consider whether to pursue them.
Emotionally, he sympathized with the villagers and was enraged by the murderers' brutality.
However, rationally, he was not from this place and didn't have deep feelings for the town or the village. They were none of his concern.
Furthermore, he was responsible for the safety of Liu Yilin and the others, and couldn't act impulsively.
He knew very little about the Mortal Realm, only bits and pieces from Ye Lanxin. He was unclear about the powers, strength, and worldview of this place.
"Beichen, the villagers here died so tragically! The murderer truly deserves to die."
Liu Yilin said indignantly.
"I know, don't worry. Let's follow the footprints first and see. They might not be the murderers'."
Ning Beichen said calmly.
Liu Yilin could be emotional, being a girl, but he could not. The more critical the situation, the more he needed to judge calmly.
"Ning Beichen is right. We need to be careful."
Ye Lanxin agreed with Ning Beichen's decision.
Luo Yingying nodded. With four of them and a Black Flood Dragon that had lived for tens of thousands of years, they might still be able to contend even if they encountered a powerful enemy.
Thus, the group and the dragon began to follow the footprints on the ground.
Before long, they tracked the footprints to a mountain.
"The footprints end here. It's likely that the person who left them is ambushing us. Everyone be careful."
Ning Beichen said.
Soon, they discovered a small stockade. From the outside, they could see people patrolling around it, and they could hear laughter from within the stockade.
Moreover, these patrolling individuals all possessed some cultivation and were not ordinary people. The village massacre was very likely their doing.
"Who's there?"
At that moment, the patrols discovered Ning Beichen and his group and immediately blew a whistle, calling for help.
Ning Beichen didn't attack immediately. Soon, people from inside the stockade surrounded them.
"Hahaha... I knew today would be lucky! So, we have beauties delivering themselves to our doorstep."
The people from the stockade burst into loud laughter upon seeing Liu Yilin, Luo Yingying, and Ye Lanxin.
"Did you kill the villagers?"
Ning Beichen asked calmly.
"So, you've come for the village below?"
A man said, looking at Ning Beichen.
"I'll ask you one question: Did you kill the villagers?"
Ning Beichen asked again.
"We did. Are you going to avenge them?"
The man replied with an arrogant tone.
"It's enough that you admit it. I just want to know why you massacred the village."
Ning Beichen's expression turned cold.