Sleeping

As he continued to read, he discovered his own wanted poster.

It wasn't exactly his wanted poster, but rather about the murders he'd committed.

"Notice is hereby given that a demon, having murdered people within Lizhou City and fled, was described by witnesses as being eight feet tall, with blood-red skin, possessing astonishing brute strength, and impervious to blades and spears. This demon has killed over a dozen people within Lizhou City, is utterly wicked, and is suspected of possessing the body of a boatman named Li Qi. The demon's current whereabouts are unknown. This notice is issued to all county residents to exercise caution. Should you encounter this demon, flee immediately. A reward of five hundred coins will be given for any leads, one thousand coins for evidence of its demise, and fifteen hundred coins for its capture alive."

So, he'd killed over a dozen people and was only worth fifteen hundred coins, barely a tenth of a gold piece.

At current prices, using Great Deer Wuzhu Coins, it would take at least ten thousand coins to exchange for one gold piece.

Lady Luofu, who could cleave mountains and seal kingdoms with a kill, was worth a hundred gold pieces just for a single piece of information.

One hundred gold… just how much money was that?

He couldn't even begin to imagine.

Li Qi remained composed. Although he was wanted, this was all within his calculations, so there was nothing surprising about it.

However, the part about him being possessed by a demon…

Heh, that must have been Uncle Liu's idea.

He hadn't gone all out and killed everyone. The boatmen from the Mighty Gang who had escaped probably all knew that the red-skinned, immensely strong demon was actually Li Qi.

At this point, Li Qi had already fled.

The government office would definitely question the Wave-Pushing Gang about the situation.

The Wave-Pushing Gang would undoubtedly claim ignorance. Besides, over the years, the Wave-Pushing Gang had always been like this, their cultivation techniques and actions perfectly normal.

Under these circumstances, the government office would likely only suspect Li Qi himself, either that he had coincidentally learned some evil sorcery or that he had been possessed by some demon, killing people under Li Qi's guise before fleeing.

The Demon Eradication Division must have been mobilized, but the gamble Li Qi had taken back then had likely paid off.

He was an outsider, and divination techniques would have difficulty locating him. Without divination, they would have to rely on clues to find him.

Unfortunately, the name Li Qi was incredibly common. There were at least ten thousand people named Li Qi in Lizhou. Finding him by name alone would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

That left only the portrait.

Who would they get the portrait from?

Heh, the person most familiar with Li Qi would be the Wave-Pushing Gang.

He trusted Uncle Liu implicitly. Uncle Liu would surely distort the portrait beyond recognition. As long as he didn't reveal his signature red skin from the Ox-Strength Technique in public, he figured he'd be fine.

Ultimately, the world was too chaotic. If this kind of wanted notice didn't result in his capture within a few months, it would just fade away.

This wasn't even a proper wanted notice; it was merely a public announcement.

A true arrest warrant wasn't something issued so casually; it required yellow paper.

The government office likely knew the chances were slim, which was why they hadn't officially filed a case!

After all, if a case were filed, they'd have to report to their superiors during the year-end review. Without a filed case, it didn't matter. Did the Mighty Gang dare to pressure the government office?

As long as he could outlast this period, change his name and identity, and swagger back into Lizhou City, no one would probably bother him.

It was just like those traveling merchants. Ba Kui and his ilk undoubtedly had blood on their hands. These people didn't care about doing a little something bad when they were out in the wilderness.

They were merchants by day and thieves when the opportunity arose, and they wouldn't be held accountable.

This was the norm. In a world where individual strength was exaggerated to such an extent, would anyone expect it to be peaceful?

"Precisely because of this… I need to obtain the power to protect myself." Li Qi, having nearly met his end alone on this journey, now felt an even greater yearning for strength.

However…

"Sigh, let's go. I need to find a place to sleep." Li Qi turned and left the notice board.

The various organizations were clearly distinct. How easy could it be to join them? Whether it was a sect or a gang, you couldn't just join and expect to be trusted.

Either you grew up within them from childhood, with your background completely clear, making it easy to earn trust.

Or… you had to be prepared to exchange your life for that trust.

If Li Qi hadn't saved the Wave-Pushing Gang multiple times, he wouldn't have earned such trust.

The Wave-Pushing Gang was small, and their affairs were minor, allowing him to showcase his abilities to some extent and gain trust. But what could he be in those large sects and powerful gangs? Even if he joined as a low-level member, he probably wouldn't get access to their core cultivation techniques, and it might even be worse than the Wave-Pushing Strength.

Thinking about it this way… it was incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon a sorcery technique by chance.

So… what should be his next step?

Li Qi paid the one-coin entry tax, a head tax. Upon entering the city, he would receive a wooden token called a chuanyan (identification pass), which he would need to present for lodging or shopping.

The chuanyan system was quite advanced, but Li Qi didn't understand why, in the Great Deer Kingdom, the chuanyan were calculated separately for each city and did not retain records. If lost, you could get a replacement by paying money, and they were not transferable between cities.

This series of measures led to extremely chaotic population management. He couldn't fathom why such a peculiar system was adopted.

Perhaps there were hidden reasons.

Entering the city, Li Qi didn't plan to stay at an inn. He first took out the dried rations from his bag, intending to eat them that night, and then bought some fried rice, rice cakes, and similar items for storage.

There was no other way; rice was the cheapest.

He heard that in the north, flour was the cheapest. However, in this region of the Great Deer Kingdom, with its many mountains and waters, and treacherous terrain, there was little flat land, making it difficult to cultivate wheat. Thus, most people ate rice.

Farmers cultivated terraced fields on the mountains. It was said that farming families had methods to allow their crops to absorb mountain qi, which was why they could achieve a yield of three thousand jin per mu of Spirit Rice.

In this world... even being a farmer requires some skills. It really is...

As Li Qi pondered these thoughts, he bought another pot of tea at a roadside tea stall. He washed down his dry rations with the complimentary rice cakes, his jaw aching from chewing. When his mouth felt too dry to swallow, he took sips of tea to help.

He had a large appetite, able to eat seven to eight jin in one sitting. This time, he had prepared to eat all his stored food. He didn't finish until the sky had darkened, finishing all his rations and drinking the tea. Satisfied and full, he left.

This meal consisted entirely of rice, with no side dishes. But there was no other way; it was better to save money.

The sky had already darkened. Although there were still inns and brothels open for business, those were not places Li Qi could afford to visit. A meal at such places cost dozens of coins. He only had a thousand coins in total. Along the way, tea stalls, dry rations, and the city entrance fee had already cost him eight coins. Now he had just over nine hundred coins left, which needed to last him half a year, so he had to be frugal.

However, Ba Kui was treating him to a meal tomorrow.

He should be able to get some meat then.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, enjoying the pleasure of a full belly, Li Qi found a large house with a long, overhanging roof. He sat down under the eaves, tightened his pack, and prepared to sleep there for the night.