Escape

On the road to Kang Long Village, with Old Hai's help, we encountered some Lingering Spirit again, but we could move forward without fear. They just stood in place as if they couldn't see us.

It wasn't until we reached the location of Zhao Qian's Feng Shui compass that we became fully alert. That place was where the Yin Soldiers passed through.

"Hey, isn't this Zhao Qian's Feng Shui compass? How did it fall here?" Old Hai said with a chuckle, pointing to the compass in the distance.

Zhao Qian was instantly embarrassed and ran over to pick it up. "Yin Soldiers passing through, I almost didn't escape."

"Heh, it's nothing. Those Yin Soldiers aren't really targeting you. They're just ordered to guard here, and although there are many of them, their numbers are quite limited. They're not a problem for me," Old Hai said cheerfully. He then took out a large stack of paper figures from his backpack. I couldn't tell how many there were.

Old Hai was very experienced. When encountering these Yin Soldiers, his method of dealing with them was very clever. He wrote a few characters on each of the paper figures. When he felt it was enough, he boldly walked towards the Yin Soldiers.

"Just watch, I've encountered so many teams of Yin Soldiers since I came from Dead Town, and this is how I deal with them." Although he concealed his Yang energy, a group of Yin Soldiers still intended to question him about why a little ghost from the underworld was here.

As a result, Old Hai directly threw a pile of paper figures into the river by the cliff and began chanting an incantation.

The Yin Soldiers in the distance immediately mistook it for someone crossing the border. All the Yin Soldiers rushed over and completely ignored Old Hai, heading into the river to catch the paper figures.

I watched this supernatural technique with great envy, wondering if Old Hai could teach me a few tricks. Then, if I encountered a powerful fierce ghost, I could just throw some paper figures and escape. But then I thought, that's impossible. It's someone's livelihood and means of survival; it's not something that can be taught just like that.

"Alright, let's hurry. This is the time when Yin and Yang intersect. The Yin Soldiers can't process things quickly and won't pay attention to us few who have concealed our Yang energy," Old Hai beckoned us over.

None of us dared to linger, so we took off running. Zhao He, who had been carrying Huo Dadong for so long, didn't seem tired and ran incredibly fast.

Just like that, we left Kang Long Village as night fell.

"What we thought was incredibly difficult, Uncle Old Hai solved with a few paper figures. Amazing! Much better than our dad!" Zhao He exclaimed, his face full of admiration.

I deeply admired Old Hai. At the same time, I thought that even such a capable elder had to flee Dead Town like a stray dog. If I were to enter Dead Town to break the Blood Cloud Coffin, what would that be like?

I'd probably die a hundred times before even reaching the town.

"Zhao He, Zhao Qian, are you going home or what? Oh, right, I don't think I ever asked you what you're going to Xiao Yi Hamlet for," Old Hai asked.

"We're returning to the county. We... our family asked us to invite Senior Zhou Xian, and then we encountered all these things..." Zhao Qian finished speaking, then looked at me and asked, "Brother Yi Tian, are you returning to the county, or do you have other plans? If you're going back to the county, why don't you ride with us?"

"Invited by your family?" Old Hai frowned. Since it seemed inconvenient to say, he didn't ask further.

Then Zhao Qian pointed to a car parked in Kang Long Village.

It was an Audi Q7 SUV, a luxury car to me, a hefty vehicle worth hundreds of thousands, even millions.

Holding Grandma's leather suitcase and with my travel bag on my back, I stood in the dark Kang Long Village. Staying here for the night would be cheaper, but I had to get to the county town early the next day. The mountain roads were winding, and the travel costs weren't cheap. If I could get a ride, that would be great.

Moreover, Yu Xiao Xue's eyes were already shining at the sight of this luxury car. She was just a student and had never had the chance to ride in a luxury car. Now, even if I pulled her, she probably wouldn't want to leave.

I had no choice but to say, "We're going to the county too. Xue is still attending high school in the county. With the situation in Xiao Yi Hamlet now, who knows how long it will take for anyone to investigate the circumstances."

"Heh, they'll probably put up a sign at the entrance saying they're building some garbage disposal plant, nuclear power plant, or something, and prohibit people from entering," Old Hai said with experience.

"Xue's father is likely beyond saving, and we don't even know where the bodies are. Alas, we can only see what the county says," I sighed, looking at Yu Xiao Xue.

But I found she was already admiringly touching the SUV, completely oblivious to our conversation.

I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking this might be a good thing. People often say, no news is the best news.

If I can become self-reliant in the future, I will definitely take her back to Xiao Yi Hamlet to investigate the whereabouts of the bodies.

"That's great, then let's go together." Zhao He was very happy and was about to pull me into the car. After hearing Old Hai's story earlier, he seemed to have a completely different view of me.

Zhao Qian counted the heads and quickly realized there was an extra person. She said, "Brother, you drive Captain Huo's car. There isn't enough room for all of us."

Zhao He had initially planned to get closer to me in the car, but when his sister told him to drive the police car, he was quite displeased, but he couldn't say anything. He could only put Huo Dadong into the police car.

"I'll go ride in the police car too. That one can run red lights, it's fast, haha," Old Hai said with a chuckle, but he gave me a meaningful look, then glanced at Zhao Qian. I didn't understand why, thinking he was just young at heart, otherwise, he wouldn't be running around the world with a backpack like a young man.

After he got into the car, I noticed he even took out a tablet computer, which immediately warmed my impression of him. It seemed he was quite up-to-date.

This way, only Zhao Qian, Yu Xiao Xue, and I would be in the Audi SUV.

"Brother Yi Tian, can you drive? I'm not very used to driving on mountain roads," Zhao Qian said to me politely.

It must be said, compared to the carefree and naturally oblivious Yu Xiao Xue, Zhao Qian had a refined elegance like someone from a well-to-do family. She did everything as orderly as possible. She was probably trying to save face for me, as it wouldn't look good for the man to be lounging comfortably while the woman drove.

I thought if someone married a woman like her, they would probably have a much easier life.

"Yes, I used to drive a minivan in the city." I smiled, implying that I had never driven a luxury car.

"Oh, I see. But I think driving a minivan requires pretty good skills too. How about you drive?" Zhao Qian said with a smile, but without any hint of mockery.

"My skills are average. This car is an automatic, right? I might not be very good at driving it. You'd better drive," I declined. It was a joke; this car was worth over a million. How could I dare to touch it randomly? If I scratched or bumped it, I wouldn't be able to afford it.

Thinking about it, besides the travel expenses for this trip home, my current bank balance was only a little over fifteen hundred yuan. Yu Xiao Xue's family was also poor, and she was probably broke after coming out on this trip. As neighbors, I would have to support her in the county.

"Uh... alright, then I'll drive." Zhao Qian's delicate eyebrows curved slightly, looking a bit troubled. But seeing my insistence, she got into the car.

Upon seeing the luxurious interior of the car's back seat, Yu Xiao Xue immediately sat in the back and started touching everything.

I originally wanted to sit in the back with Yu Xiao Xue, but in the blink of an eye, Yu Xiao Xue was sleeping soundly across the seat. She must have been exhausted from staying up for two days and two nights.

I had no choice but to sit in the passenger seat and watch Zhao Qian drive.

On the winding mountain road, I was almost scared to death by Zhao Qian's driving. Was that even considered driving?

Even a large rock, she would just drive over it, and the car would jump high, making my heart leap into my throat.

The roadside was all cliffs. If it weren't an SUV, we probably would have gone down the mountain for tea. No wonder Old Hai had to run so fast earlier.

I quickly called Zhao Qian to the passenger seat.

Zhao Qian looked embarrassed, her cheeks flushed. She patted her cheeks and finally let out a sigh of relief. "Actually... I bought my driver's license... I don't drive much usually, my brother's driver always takes me around."

"I can tell," I said, patting my forehead, feeling a bit speechless. Women are truly terrifying. She dared to drive with a bought license, her eyes not even blinking.

But there was someone even more impressive behind us, sleeping like a log despite the bumpy ride.

"Brother Yi Tian, I wanted to ask you something, if it's okay?" Zhao Qian started talking after I drove smoothly.

"Go ahead," I replied, curious as to why Zhao Qian was looking for Grandma.

After all, Grandma didn't like to meddle in other people's business. She didn't do these things for money, and wouldn't extend her reach into the county for no reason. There were people with profound cultivation in the county, which had hundreds of thousands of residents, and crossing boundaries would be problematic.

"What kind of work do you do?" Zhao Qian asked.

"Don't call me 'you' and 'your,' I'm not that much older than you, no need to be so polite. Just call me Tian Ge. If that's too difficult, I don't mind if you call me Yi Tian," I said with a smile. This little girl was too proper. People who were overly polite made me feel awkward.

"Oh, okay, Tian Ge." Zhao Qian's face turned red again.

I was speechless for a moment. This girl actually called me that. But it was her freedom to call me whatever she wanted. Seeing how polite she was, her personality was actually quite good. I had previously thought that children from wealthy families would be arrogant and conceited.

"Actually, I'm just unemployed right now. My boss just fired me, and I was thinking I couldn't make ends meet soon. After the funeral, I was planning to go to the county and find a job like sweeping floors or serving food, and then figure out how to investigate the matter of Xiao Yi Hamlet," I said self-deprecatingly.

"Ah? Your boss just fired you? That's great!"

I didn't expect Zhao Qian to clap her hands excitedly. This made me even more speechless. Why was this girl so clueless! She was happy that I got fired by my boss?

Had she caught some kind of natural-born idiocy from interacting with Yu Xiao Xue for half a day?

Seeing my displeased gaze, Zhao Qian realized she had said the wrong thing. "No... I mean, it's not good that you were fired..."

I had no intention of paying attention to her anymore and just focused on driving.

"Then, Tian Ge, are you short on money?" Zhao Qian asked again.

"Just say what you want directly, why are you beating around the bush?" I felt like this girl had lost her soul, constantly asking pointless questions. "Does your family need to hire a long-term laborer?"

Zhao Qian was taken aback. She thought about the meaning of "long-term laborer" and, snapping back to reality, nodded vigorously at me. "Mm."

My eyebrows shot up, and I chuckled, teasing her. "If I go to your house, will I be washing dishes or carrying bricks?"