Set Out for the Wilderness

"Don't make jokes like that!"

Gu Sheng (Teng Qinghu) frowned. "Jun is only seven this year. I'm not depraved enough to lay a hand on a little girl."

"Really not going to consider it?"

The smile on Chu Xin's face grew wider, and the air filled with the aura of a fujoshi. "You can raise her! Like Hikaru Genji! Don't look at me like that. I'm very open-minded, you know. I don't mind my teammates playing a raising game."

"Raise her?"

Gu Sheng stood up and walked a circle around Chu Xin, making the pretty girl who had dared to tease the tiger's whiskers grow nervous. After forcing her into the corner beside the stone table,

he reached out and gently stroked Chu Xin's glossy black hair. Lowering his head, he breathed warm air beside her ear and said, "There's a much more suitable candidate right here. Why would I go looking farther away when she's so close?

"Little Xin'er, I think your potential is enormous!"

Gu Sheng reached out and pulled Chu Xin into his arms, pressing her delicate body tightly against his own.

The masculine scent filled Chu Xin's nose. This girl, who had always been well-behaved, had developed a strong interest in certain things after letting herself go. In her daze, she actually took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck and offer him a sweet kiss.

"Ah!"

A sudden cry interrupted the intimate atmosphere in the little courtyard. Chu Xin came to her senses and hurriedly pushed Gu Sheng away.

"Jun!"

Gu Sheng turned his head somewhat gloomily. A petite and adorable girl stood at the courtyard gate, covering her little face as she watched Gu Sheng and Chu Xin. Though, young lady, your fingers are spread so wide. Are you sure you aren't peeking?

"Brother Teng, I came to find you and learn martial arts!"

Li Jun lowered her head, both hands twisting the hem of her skirt, looking like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting for the teacher to punish her.

"Oh!"

Gu Sheng's eyelid twitched. He pointed to the empty space in the courtyard. "Go over there and warm up first. I'll be there in a moment." Teaching Li Jun to cultivate Inner Force was also a side quest.

Li Jun was born with blocked meridians, so cultivating Inner Force would take twice the effort for half the result—or she might not be able to open her meridians at all. However, Internal Fist had unexpected effects in body cultivation. Li Jun was still young, innocent, and naïve, yet she possessed plenty of perseverance. She still had a chance of mastering Internal Fist and opening her meridians.

If Li Jun opened her meridians and cultivated Inner Force, perhaps the Li family would not be exterminated in the future. This was also Gu Sheng's attempt to reverse "fate." He wanted to see whether there truly was an invisible hand manipulating everything.

"Fate!"

Gu Sheng watched Li Jun's back and muttered to himself.

"Huh? What?"

Chu Xin looked at Gu Sheng in confusion. "You lecherous tiger, what did you just say?"

"Nothing."

Gu Sheng waved his hand, swung both arms to loosen up his body, then walked toward Li Jun, who was warming up, with a sunny smile.

Southern Barbarian City was a large city in Wu'an County, Yangzhou. It was about the same size as Yicheng in Jiangning Prefecture and was the city in all of Yangzhou closest to the wilderness. Thanks to the wilderness's many specialties, Southern Barbarian City had developed much better than most cities in Wu'an County.

Southern Barbarian City was highly prosperous, with a huge number of people constantly coming and going. Martial artists who were unafraid of death and went exploring in the wilderness, as well as herb gatherers who went to the outskirts of the wilderness to collect medicinal herbs, all gathered in Southern Barbarian City.

On the third floor of a restaurant by Southern Barbarian City's southern gate, a young man and woman sat at a table by the window. They both looked about sixteen or seventeen, and they attracted many people's attention.

"Are we really going there?"

Chu Xin sat by the window, gazing at the vast, dark expanse in the distance. Farther away, barely visible, were perilous peaks rising into the clouds and mist. That was the wilderness!

"I'm going no matter what. I have reasons I must go. If you... you can stay in Southern Barbarian City and wait for me. The Gui Yuan Sect has a branch here, after all. As a disciple of the Gui Yuan Sect, you'll at least be safe if you stay there."

Gu Sheng took a bite of the lamb leg in his hand. The wilderness was sparsely inhabited, so they would have to rely on hunting for food. They might not even have the conditions to start a fire. Perhaps they would go ten days or half a month without eating cooked food, let alone anything good.

If he did not eat more now, he would regret it once they were inside.

"Don't underestimate me. It's only the wilderness, isn't it? This young lady will risk her life to accompany— I mean, I'll go with you this time, so you won't be all alone without anyone for company."

Chu Xin wrinkled her delicate nose and gave Gu Sheng an indignant snort.

"If you're going, eat your fill first. There won't be such a comfortable, peaceful environment or food like this in the wilderness."

Gu Sheng tapped the rice bowl in front of Chu Xin with his chopsticks. More than half of the rice remained inside. "This isn't the time to diet. If you don't eat more now, you might not get a decent bite for ten days or half a month once we're in there."

"Honestly... muttering on and on like some long-winded—"

Chu Xin complained, but obediently picked up her bowl, took some meat and vegetables, and began eating.

The two of them ate quickly. Before long, only scraps and cold leftovers remained on the table. Gu Sheng called the waiter over to settle the bill, and the two left the restaurant together. As soon as they departed, many of the eyes that had been watching them all retracted in unison, and their owners settled their bills and left one after another.

Outside Southern Barbarian City, corpses lay scattered all around Gu Sheng. They were local thugs who had just tried to harm the two of them. Although Gu Sheng and Chu Xin had not stayed long in the restaurant, their lavish spending had attracted these people's attention early on.

What these people did not know was that Gu Sheng had also been watching them. He needed Luck Points—large amounts of Luck Points—but he was not a wanton killer and could not bring himself to initiate a massacre.

Thus, along the way, they had used this method to bait some "fish." Those who saw them flaunt their wealth and tried to take advantage of them were basically no good. Most had done this to outsiders more than once. These people were no different from Er Gouzi's bandits. Gu Sheng felt no psychological burden killing them.

"Lecherous tiger! Are you done yet?"

Chu Xin's coquettish complaint came from a distance. This girl still was not accustomed to bloody scenes, so she had hidden far away early on.

"Go."

Gu Sheng lifted his foot from the shoulder of the man in front of him. This man was one of the few in the group who had been coerced into committing crimes.

In this chaotic era, there were two kinds of bandits. Some became bandits of their own accord for various reasons. The others had been captured by bandits and forced to offer their "pledge of allegiance." The man before him belonged to the latter group.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

The ragged "bandit" kowtowed twice, then walked toward the other side of the official road without looking back. He had no intention of returning to that law-of-the-jungle Southern Barbarian City.

"What a world this is!"

Gu Sheng let out a long sigh. The bandit he had released was merely an inconspicuous member of this era. There were countless others who were helplessly swept along like him. Even more were the... weak who could not control their own fate.