Not wanting to waste the villagers' precious food, Xia Nan politely declined their enthusiastic invitation once again after confirming that he could not learn any more information, then left the village directly.
However, instead of heading northeast toward Blood-Cast Fortress, he turned northwest, in the direction the village chief said the Barbarian Fugan had gone.
To be honest, based on his original plans, Xia Nan had not wanted to disrupt his schedule or traveling rhythm.
But circumstances had changed.
According to the village chief, the Barbarian had only left this small village two days ago, and he had not seemed particularly hurried before departing, merely vanishing slowly into the dense forest.
Although they shared the same destination, if Xia Nan could encounter him along the way beforehand, there was no reason not to make the effort.
The only thing that puzzled him was the route Fugan had chosen.
At least according to his Perception, there were no notable dangerous monster territories ahead, nor any extreme terrain that would clearly obstruct travel.
With Fugan's immense strength, Transcendent and close to Legendary, he could have traveled directly to Blood-Cast Fortress far more smoothly than Xia Nan.
Yet he had voluntarily changed direction and headed northwest.
Why?
Had he detected some troublesome danger on the road ahead that Xia Nan had failed to sense, or had he discovered something else in the northwest and decided to change routes?
Xia Nan could not make sense of it, but instinctively heightened his vigilance.
The temporary plan he had made was very simple.
He would follow the direction the village chief had indicated and use combat techniques to pursue the Barbarian through the northwestern mountains and forests for two days, seeing whether he could find anything.
In any case, with the village chief's help, he had