In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

"Xiao Feng, you betrayed our benefactor! Die!"

Zhao Long replied to Zhao Feng, pulled the crossbow bolt from her chest, and then thrust another arrow into her.

"what!"

Zhao Feng screamed again, blood gushing out, and collapsed heavily to the ground.

At that moment, Zhao Feng felt extremely regretful.

She thought she could rise to the top and become a phoenix, but she never expected that Ma Tianming was nothing in front of Shen An.

She never expected that she would die at the hands of her dull-witted brother, whom she had always looked down upon.

Zhao Long did not stop; he drew another arrow and pierced her chest with it!

Arrow after arrow, more than a dozen times in a row, until Zhao Feng was completely lifeless. Only then did Zhao Long stop, tears streaming down his face.

He picked up Zhao Feng's body and cried his heart out: "Sister, you used to be so obedient and kind, how did you become so mercenary?"

I don't want to kill you, but if I don't, you'll definitely tell the county magistrate, and my benefactor will die.

We cannot let our benefactor down, therefore, you must die! Brother will go with you!

At this moment, Zhao Long showed no trace of his usual dullness, only an unprecedented determination.

He put Zhao Feng down, picked up the crossbow bolt, and turned the arrow to aim at his own throat.

Shen Anfei stepped forward, slapped the arrow out of his hand, and grabbed his wrist: "You can't die!"

"Squad Leader Shen, I killed my own sister. I am a sinner. Let me die! Please take care of my grandfather."

Zhao Long struggled twice but couldn't break free, so he reached for the arrow on the ground.

"Killing her doesn't make you a sinner." Shen An's gaze was piercing. "You were wondering why your sister had become like this. The culprit is this cannibalistic world! What you need to do is not die, but live and change this world!"

Zhao Long froze, his grip on the arrow loosened, and he lowered his head, sighing heavily: "But I can't change this world."

"Follow me, and you will have it! I will teach you everything I know, and together we will change this world, so that there will be fewer people like your sister who have gone astray!" Shen An held Zhao Long's hand tightly, his eyes full of sincerity.

Previously, he only thought Zhao Long was dull and unreliable, but tonight, Zhao Long's willingness to kill his own sister to repay a debt of gratitude and his attempt to commit suicide made him realize that Zhao Long was a rare and loyal person in this world.

Abilities can be cultivated, but loyalty and righteousness are hard to find.

Now that his energy is limited, he needs help from others to expand the calcination of blood charcoal and manage the mass graves.

These secrets concerning him require a loyal and righteous person, and Zhao Long is the most suitable candidate!

Zhao Long was moved.

He saw Shen An's actions tonight and saw that Shen An was omnipotent in his eyes. He believed in Shen An's promises.

He clenched his fist: "Squad Leader Shen, I'm going to change this world!"

"Very good! Kneel down and acknowledge me as your master!" Shen An sat down.

Without any hesitation, Zhao Long knelt down and kowtowed three times.

From then on, Shen An had a disciple in this world with whom he could confidently impart all his knowledge.

Dugu Meng was deeply moved as she watched Shen An resolve the thorny issue with just a few words. When she looked at Shen An again, she was completely mesmerized.

To prevent leaving evidence, Shen An immediately disposed of the bodies of Ma Qiang and the others.

These people were not government officials, and Ma Qiang had lost Ma Tianming's protection. So, how they died was up to him to decide.

After destroying the evidence, Shen An taught Zhao Long how to make blood charcoal.

Although Zhao Long had returned to his usual dullness, he learned very quickly. He memorized the timing and temperature on the first try and began calcining that very night.

The next day, Shen An summoned Old Zhao and told him about the events of the previous night. Upon learning that Shen An had taken Zhao Long as his disciple, Old Zhao's eyes lit up.

They found a propitious burial site for Zhao Feng and buried her separately, hoping that if she could be reborn into a better era, she would not be born into this cannibalistic and chaotic world.

Afterwards, Shen An returned to the mass grave, gathered everyone, and informed them that Ma Qiang and the others had died of the plague the previous day, and that he would be in charge of the mass grave from now on.

The commotion last night was quite significant. Even those who didn't witness it firsthand knew that Ma Qiang and the others must have been killed by Shen An.

Who would dare to offend him? They all obediently obeyed his orders.

Shen An offered no explanation; he simply wanted to recruit these 150 people to his own cause.

That day, he bought a batch of meat so that all the corpse carriers could eat their fill, and at the same time, he raised the price of dead people's hair to twenty coins per catty.

After this series of moves, he established his position, and most of the people who carried the corpses even hoped that the county would not cause trouble for Shen An.

But just one day later, people from the county government came.

Upon seeing the silhouette of an official in robes in the distance, the corpse carriers all stopped what they were doing and tensed up.

Shen An greeted him with a smile; the visitor was none other than Liu Wenyuan, the county magistrate.

After welcoming him to the tea stall, Liu Wenyuan offered his congratulations: "Congratulations! Starting tomorrow, you will be the new head constable of Qingyang County!"

Shen An raised an eyebrow: "County Magistrate Liu, are you serious?"

"It's absolutely true. When the news of Ma Tianming's murder came back last night, the magistrate immediately appointed you as the head constable. I've fulfilled my promise." Liu Wenyuan said with a smile, taking a sip of tea.

Shen An sneered: "Stop flattering yourself. Tell me the magistrate's real intention in making me a constable."

"You're truly extraordinary; you spotted something fishy at a glance!"

Liu Wenyuan lowered his voice: "The magistrate chose you because it was the magistrate who instructed Ma Tianming to falsify the number of deaths. Most of the benefits were taken by the magistrate. If someone else were to take over, the magistrate would have to resort to coercion and bribery again. It's better to let you, the participant, take the position and continue to serve him."

According to previous reports, someone from above will be sent to investigate in a month and a half, and he needs you as a scapegoat.

Shen An threw his head back and laughed loudly, then suddenly stopped: "Even if I kill Ma Tianming, I still won't get rid of the scapegoat."

If this can't be resolved within a month and a half, I'm doomed.

Liu Wenyuan shook his head: "That's old news. Now that the Western Barbarian Kingdom is attacking Qiangbei County, those high-ranking officials don't have the time to send people to investigate these things. You have more time, but you still can't escape becoming a scapegoat."

He tapped the table with his index finger. "Shen An, I can see that you are no ordinary person, and your ambitions are not limited to being just a mere constable."

The magistrate is using you as a scapegoat. How about we team up and get rid of him?

"Heh, you personally delivered the message, so you wanted to use me to deal with the county magistrate? You really have a good plan." Shen An sneered.

"You can think that way, but in fact you have to do it this way, otherwise there is no way out."

Liu Wenyuan said in a deep voice, and was about to say something more when a fat, dark-skinned man rode up on horseback. He was none other than Hei Laoliu, who had been sent to the front line by Ma Tianming a few days ago.

His appearance interrupted Liu Wenyuan's words.

Upon arriving at the teahouse, he dismounted, drank half a pot of water, and shouted urgently, "Shen An, run! The Western barbarians will attack Qingyang County in a few days. If the city falls, no one will survive!"

"Where did this idiot come from, spreading such rumors!" Liu Wenyuan slammed his fist on the table.

Even he, as the county magistrate, was unaware of this matter, so how did this fat, dark-skinned man know about it?

Old Liu, his face flushed crimson with anxiety, was about to unleash a torrent of curses at someone who dared to contradict him, but his bravado immediately vanished upon recognizing Liu Wenyuan: "So it's Magistrate Liu, sir!"

"Now that you recognize me, stop talking nonsense!"

"Your Honor, everything I said is true!"

Hei Lao Liu said urgently, "I was sent to transport grain the day before yesterday, but I was intercepted by the Western Barbarian army and captured on the spot."

From their casual conversation, I learned that their attack on Qiangbei County was just a pretext. Once the military governor concentrated his forces and transferred them to Qiangbei County, they would bypass the main force and attack other counties, including Qingyang County! I escaped by sheer luck and rushed here to report this!

"Hmph! I think you're a spy from the Western Barbarians, deliberately spreading rumors to make the military governor divide his troops so that he can break through the defenses of Qiangbei County!" Liu Wenyuan said with an air of knowing everything.

Blackie Liu was so anxious that beads of sweat rolled down his forehead: "Your Excellency, I... I didn't do it! I'm telling the whole truth!"

"Come with me to the county government office, and I'll get to the bottom of this!" Liu Wenyuan grabbed his arm and tried to drag him away.

"Wait!" Shen An stood up.

"What's wrong?"

"County Magistrate Liu, he didn't lie, there's no need to take him to the county office."

Shen An stepped forward, blocking the two of them.

Liu Wenyuan frowned: "Why wouldn't I believe you? What evidence do you have to prove he wasn't lying?"