Thoughts Up

Under the torchlight.

Cheng Jing pressed down with a leg, creating a dull whistling sound as it cut through the air.

As a skilled practitioner who had also broken through to the Blood Essence stage once, her leg techniques were straightforward and her movements composed. Despite it being a semi-surprise attack, the power and precision of her stance were remarkable.

Caught off guard, Wei He knew he had lost the initiative due to the other party's words. He had no choice but to block in front of himself with both fists, protecting his head and chest.

Bang!

Her long leg, carrying the scent of mud and grime from her shoe sole, slammed hard into Wei He's arms.

Leg strength was generally much greater than hand strength. Even though Cheng Jing was a woman and slightly weaker, her leg strength was still greater than Wei He's arms.

This kick landed squarely, forcing Wei He back several steps.

"Is that all!"

A hint of disdain flashed in Cheng Jing's eyes as she prepared to press her advantage.

Suddenly, a gust of wind howled from not far away.

"Ah!"

A caravan guard standing on the periphery let out a scream and fell to the ground, desperately clawing at the earth with both hands, scooping up large amounts of dirt and turf.

But it was no use. A powerful force in the darkness seemed to be dragging him into the shadows. In an instant, his cries faded into the distance and then abruptly stopped.

Silence returned.

The caravan guards, forgetting their spar, quickly raised their torches and shone them in that direction.

Unfortunately, they could only illuminate the finger-scratched marks left on the ground and a pool of fresh blood.

"What was that!" "Old Sun was dragged away!"

"How is that possible!? Sun Zhu had the strength of one of the best among us!"

"I saw a black shadow dragging his legs and running! I wanted to hit it with something, but that shadow was too fast, I couldn't react at all, and then..."

A caravan guard trembled, unsure if it was from fear or regret that he hadn't been able to save the man in time.

Wei He and Cheng Jing, abandoning their fight, quickly moved closer.

At this point, Cheng Kai had already crouched down to investigate the area.

His expression was stern, his eyes heavy with concern. He reached out, touched the ground behind the claw marks and bloodstains, and then brought it to his nose to sniff.

"It's the Black Madman! Everyone get inside quickly!!" His expression suddenly changed as he shouted.

"Ah!!"

Before his words had even finished, another scream echoed from the other side.

Another caravan guard had his legs grabbed and was instantly dragged into the darkness.

"Die!!" A rookie caravan guard hurled his torch at the black shadow.

But it was still too late.

The torch only managed to illuminate less than half of the shadow's body.

In a fleeting glimpse, everyone saw a strange creature with a black and red head.

This thing had a black and red bird-like head, its eyes were white, and it was about two meters long. Half of its body was in the darkness, and half was exposed in the torchlight.

The creature had two forelimbs like a human's, with five fingers. Its claws were extremely sharp, glinting silver like metal.

As soon as this monster grabbed the caravan guard's legs and pulled, its immense strength immediately dragged the man down and into the darkness, disappearing in an instant.

"Get inside! Quickly!!" Cheng Kai roared, jolting the stunned caravan guards back to reality.

Everyone rapidly retreated into the bridgehead house, then closed the door, using thick wooden planks from the caravan carts to block the two window openings.

Most people quickly crouched down, staying silent, suppressing their breathing.

A newcomer, overcome with fear, couldn't help but gasp heavily. In this environment, it sounded like it was right next to their ear, incredibly clear.

An older guard immediately reached out and covered the newcomer's mouth with a towel.

Wei He was also shocked. The monster's movements just now were like the wind, incredibly fast. Even he had only seen a blur.

He thought to himself that if he were attacked, his chances of being dragged away versus breaking free might be fifty-fifty.

Everyone fell silent. Inside the house, only the two bonfires continued to burn. In the quiet environment, the crackling of the firewood occasionally punctuated the silence, echoing the howling wind outside, making the quiet even more profound.

Wei He looked around and suddenly realized that the person who had been carving wood next to him was gone. Only his small pack of belongings remained on the ground.

A chill ran down his spine as he quickly scanned his surroundings.

He remembered the man's face. In a team of over twenty people, having spent these days together, he had become familiar with most of them.

But after a thorough search, he still couldn't find the man who had been carving wood.

The only trace the man had left behind was the pack of belongings placed on the ground next to Wei He.

An old caravan guard nearby noticed his thoughts, lowered his eyes, and sighed softly.

"Life and death are impermanent."

Bang!!

Suddenly, the wooden planks of the window opening were violently struck.

The immense force almost knocked over the two caravan guards holding the door opening. It was only when two others pressed down that they managed to hold their ground.

The old caravan guard's face turned pale with fright. The faint muttering he had started was cut short and he was scared back into silence.

Wei He's heart also skipped a beat from the shock, but after all, he was someone who had seen blood and acted ruthlessly. His courage had grown considerably. He forced himself to calm down.

"Fire!"

Cheng Kai stood up and shouted.

Someone grabbed a torch, lit it by the campfire, and quickly passed it over.

Cheng Kai reached out to take it.

Bang!!

Suddenly, the wooden planks of the window opening were smashed open, and a dark shadow rushed in. It directly knocked away the torch Cheng Kai was trying to grab.

"Get out!"

Two caravan guards and Cheng Jing, three people, swung their sabers from three directions.

Three sabers fiercely struck the dark shadow, forcefully smashing it back out.

Immediately, someone picked up a torch and hurled it at the dark shadow.

The dark shadow, after all, feared fire to some extent. Using the momentum, it quickly retreated, leaped out, and disappeared through the window opening.

Hoo. Hoo.

Everyone was breathing heavily. In the flickering firelight, everyone's face was deathly pale.

Cheng Jing and the other two dropped their sabers, only to discover that the flesh of their tiger's mouth was already bloody and torn. They had been injured by the recoil from that single blow.

"It's the Black Madman... Block the window opening, keep guarding! Wait until dawn!" Cheng Kai roared.

He was the one who had just picked up the torch.

At this moment, his face was also slightly pale, but there was no fear, only composure and calm.

The elder among the caravan guards quickly obeyed, lifting the heavy wooden planks to block the window opening again.

These planks were not made of ordinary wood but were processed using special methods. They were also wrapped with many tough vines and leather ropes, making them extremely sturdy.

Even after being hit several times by that monster, they only dented slightly in the middle and could still be used.

After the window opening had been blocked for a while, Cheng Kai signaled for people to leave some gaps in the planks to allow air circulation.

With so many people in such a confined space, plus two campfires, it only took a short while for some people to feel stuffy and breathless.

As soon as the gaps were opened, a faint whistling sound of wind came in from outside. The cool mountain breeze, carrying a hint of blood, drifted into the bridgehead house.

It also made everyone's mood even heavier.

No one spoke. Those who intended to speak were pressed down by the elder beside them, who reminded them not to make a sound.

Everyone held their breath.

The people blocking the planks took turns. Every so often, a few people would rotate. Wei He also went up to take a turn twice.

This repeated.

Finally, a sliver of fish-belly white gradually appeared in the sky outside.

Faint bird calls drifted in through the gaps, immediately invigorating everyone's spirits.

Some bird calls were sharp, some were low, and some were insistent, like pecking wood. Sometimes close, sometimes far, sometimes in a chorus.

"It's dawn. Open the door, I'll go take a look," Cheng Kai commanded in a deep voice.

Immediately, an old caravan guard, without a word, slowly opened the wooden door a crack.

Cheng Kai moved like a swift rabbit and darted out.

The door quickly closed.

Everyone waited slowly, and soon, Cheng Kai's somewhat weary voice came from outside.

"It's fine now, everyone can come out."

After a moment of silence, the caravan guards moved away the window and door coverings, and they gradually emerged from the bridgehead house.

Outside, two clear bloodstains were visible on the ground, drying on the grass.

The bloodstains seemed to have been licked by some animal, making them thin in the middle.

But combined with the surrounding marks, it was still possible to see how desperately the two people dragged away last night had struggled before their deaths.

Wei He walked to the bloodstains and squatted down to examine the marks carefully.

He quickly found claw marks that were much deeper than human handprints. Each claw mark showed five digits deeply embedded in the grass, reaching very deep.

At the same time, imprinted between the claw marks were clear, fine lines resembling palm lines.

Not far away, Cheng Kai and a few caravan guards used the luggage and clothes of the two dragged-away people to create a simple grave, and then used some non-corruptible items to make different markers.

This was the only trace the two had left behind.

The group quickly packed up the caravan, not lingering. They swiftly took their belongings, crossed the bridge, and left the area.

Before departing, some poured a few cups of water in lieu of wine for the two cenotaphs, while others silently placed a few items on the graves.

Everyone fell silent, no longer speaking, quietly packing and quietly driving away.

As they were leaving, Wei He noticed that one horse was also missing, likely dragged away by the Oddity, the Black Madman, last night.

They crossed the long, ancient stone bridge until they reached their destination town.

Only after the group handed over the caravan goods did they feel a bit more at ease.

The journey back was silent. Since they no longer had the caravan goods, everyone traveled light, and their speed increased significantly.

The journey there took eight days, but the return trip only took six. They saved two days in total.

However, everyone had lost the mood for idle chatter or sparring. They only spoke and handed over duties according to regulations.

On the way back, when they passed the stone bridge again, they quickly crossed it without any further stops.

As they neared Feiye City, they stopped for a short rest.

Wei He saw Cheng Kai take out a crudely drawn map and make a heavy mark at the stone bridge with something like a red crayon.

He glanced at it and saw that there were at least ten or more red dots along the route on the map.

But during the caravan journey, they hadn't encountered so much danger. The final bridgehouse was likely a new spot they hadn't encountered before.

"Do you feel like we didn't encounter that much danger?" Cheng Jing sat down beside him and whispered.

Once they reached this point, everyone's mood improved slightly, and they had the leisure to talk.

"..." Wei He glanced at her, unsure how to respond.

"Every red dot on that map represents a place where someone has died," Cheng Jing whispered. "The reason we were able to get through most of our caravan journeys smoothly was thanks to the Head Caravan Guard's leadership."

"How to avoid each red dot, what time is best for traveling, what needs to be prepared – the Head Caravan Guard had all of this in mind."

"I've seen maps like this before; the caravan agency has many of them." Cheng Jing held up her hands, indicating a thickness of about the length of her palm.