The First Order

Drizzle unremitting falls on Qingming Day;

Broken-hearted travelers pass by.

It was not yet Qingming in Luoyang City, but everyone on the streets had sorrowful looks on their faces.

Each of them wore a small white flower on their chests as a tribute to their respected elder.

The intersection outside Qinghe University's campus was cold and quiet. When people passed by, they would place down a bouquet of flowers at the intersection. Spring had just arrived in Luoyang City, but the blooming peonies and winter jasmines had all been picked and placed here.

It looked like a sea of flowers on the intersection.

Someone said that if Mr. Jiang Xu were still around, he would definitely criticize everyone for this. Flowers should be growing on branches, not plucked and placed down here. Everyone should just observe their beauty from afar.

But someone argued that since Mr. Jiang Xu was no longer around, who could be in the mood to enjoy the sight of the flowers?

The Qinghe University students stood on the streets and mourned silently. A number of them even cried until they fainted. It wasn't until the afternoon when something happened to Jiang Xu that they realized why he suddenly wanted to give that lesson.

It was because that was his final lesson. So it turned out Professor Jiang Xu had a premonition of his death.

But an hour before he died, Jiang Xu was still laughing and talking as though everything was fine. When he encountered students greeting him while walking around on campus, he even responded amiably to them.

He had only suggested he wanted to take a walk by himself as he was afraid Zhang Chentong would get implicated.

Remaining so calm even though he knew that he was about to die was probably the greatest composure one could have.

On this day, the entirety of Luoyang City was grieving. In this era, Jiang Xu was the only one who could affect so many people.

It was not only within Luoyang City but also beyond it.

Due to the war in the North, a lot of people had fled to the Zhou Consortium in the South. When they found out Jiang Xu had died, they even made their way to Luoyang City to place a bouquet of flowers for him.

However, the people's opinion of Jiang Xu's death was definitely not just mourning. They were extremely angry too.

On the streets not far from where Jiang Xu had died, people raised banners to condemn the Wang Consortium. Some people even got Wang Shengzhi's portrait and started burning it.

Everything they did was because they could not accept Jiang Xu's sudden departure.

This era was an unfortunate one. That was because The Cataclysm had never truly finished and people had been displaced from their homes. Morality had started crumbling, and laws were no longer effective.

However, this era also had its bright spots. It was precisely because of all these difficulties that light was born out of a dark fissure.

Outside Luoyang City, Luo Lan and Zhou Qi arrived with a floral wreath in their hands. Luo Lan went to the gate and handed over his visa the Qing Consortium had prepared for him.

When the Luoyang City garrison troops stationed at the gate saw Luo Lan's identification, they were surprised. Luo Lan? That Luo Lan from the Qing Consortium?

Everyone was under the impression the Wang Consortium was the one who killed Jiang Xu, so everyone felt they had gone insane.

As an organization the Wang Consortium had constantly targeted, for Luo Lan to suddenly come here to Luoyang City, was he really not afraid of death?!

It was only a three-hour drive from the Wang Consortium's nearest stronghold to Luoyang City, so if the Wang Consortium troops were to rush here, not evenLuo Lan would have enough lives to get out of this.

The soldiers guarding the gate had a look at the floral wreath that Luo Lan was holding and saw a simple condolence message written on it:

On this day, he rode off on a whale.

But someday, he'll return as a crane.

After entering the city, Luo Lan walked slowly under everyone's gaze to the site where Jiang Xu had met his demise. As there was no memorial service yet, he could only place the wreath there.

As for whether he could attend the memorial service, that would depend on whether he was still alive.

However, Luo Lan didn't care to think about those matters right now.

Luo Lan was usually dressed in a very brutish manner. He did not look like a big shot from a consortium at all and instead carried himself more like a mob boss.

But today, Luo Lan looked exceptionally solemn and dignified in his black suit.

News of Luo Lan arriving in Luoyang City to pay his respects to Jiang Xu slowly spread. When Luo Lan walked through the streets, everyone would subconsciously keep their distance from him.

As it rained, Luo Lan kept his eyes focused in front of him. When he arrived at the site of Jiang Xu's assassination, he gave a deep bow before saying, "Sir, I started reading your articles a long time ago and have always admired you. As a member of a consortium, I'm also aware of all the darkness and murkiness that goes on in this world. So I know better than them how difficult it is to stick to the principles you stand for in this world.

"I know you and Xiaosu were on very good terms. He and I are very good friends too, so I can also be considered one of your juniors. If your spirit is still around, please accept my summons."

But even after waiting for a long time, it felt like nothing had changed in the world.

In the end, he just gave a sigh. It looked like Jiang Xu was unwilling to take notice of him.

In fact, the power of the Martyr's Palace was extremely cruel to the dead. The laws of nature dictated that the dead could not be resurrected. So the spirits would also suffer punishment if they were to be resurrected.

In the Martyr's Palace, all martyred spirits would remain in a state of hibernation before they were summoned. It was an endless darkness for them, and the only purpose in their "lives" was to protect the host of the Martyr's Palace.

The host of this power would become stronger, but this was actually very cruel to a spirit who was formerly a living person.

Luo Lan had awakened his power in Stronghold 61 and summoned 12 martyred spirits. However, they were all his former subordinates who had followed him for a long time. Furthermore, the martyred spirits were only willing to become part of the Martyr's Palace to protect him.

Moreover, the host of the Martyr's Palace could only summon the martyred spirits as equals. If the other party refused, the host could not summon them by force.

Luo Lan stared blankly at the street full of flowers. He bowed deeply again. "If I'm not dead in a few more days, I'll come back to see you at the memorial."

A black-clothed sniper was quietly watching Luo Lan through his scope on the roof of a tall building 400 meters away. He had a white earpiece in his ear. "Target in sight."

"Engage."

All of a sudden, the sniper felt a huge force lifting him up from behind. The moment the sniper pulled the trigger, his rifle suddenly flew askew.

The sniper turned around in a panic and saw a calm young man holding him in his hand.

When the sniper rifle rang out, Luo Lan, who was on the street, jerked to look at the high-rise building. When he saw the outline of the young man on the roof, he felt relieved.

Ren Xiaosu was here. He would always show up whenever Luo Lan was about to have a close shave with death.

Luo Lan stood in place and laughed. "It's time for us to settle the score with those troublesome enemies."

Zhou Qi said nonchalantly, "You only dare to say that because Ren Xiaosu has arrived."

"What did you expect?" Luo Lan retorted, "I don't feel safe at all with you protecting me…"

At the same time, the gunshots had not only attracted Luo Lan's attention but also the enemies lurking within Luoyang City. When they realized their sniper companion had been attacked, several hundred black-clothed men walked out of a residential building and headed towards that building to surround it.