Qi Kingdom, Haiyang Commandery, Luqu County.
Luqu County was the largest of Haiyang Commandery's nine counties. With a hundred thousand households within its walls, it was unrivaled in prosperity throughout Haiyang Commandery.
Because its waterways were exceptionally developed, merchant ships traveling south from the north and north from the southern commanderies often docked at the piers outside Luqu County.
Su Fan sat in a carriage, dozing as he bobbed up and down with every jolt.
"Old Su, we're at Luqu County..."
Hearing the shout, Su Fan jolted awake and looked around blankly.
He saw a burly middle-aged man waving at him and finally realized what was happening.
Su Fan picked up the sword beside him, braced himself with one hand, and jumped down from the carriage. Then he walked over to the burly man.
The other man patted him on the shoulder and laughed heartily. "I'll take you into the city for a meal later. The river delicacies at Wangjiang Tower are absolutely incredible."
Su Fan gave a sheepish laugh and declined. "I think I'll pass..."
"That won't do. Today, the two of us are going to have a good drink. Then we'll find a pleasure house to help you relax. Tomorrow morning, I'll personally see you onto the ship."
Su Fan could not overcome the burly man's insistence and could only be dragged into the city.
After leaving Black Profound City, Su Fan piloted the Yin Wind Boat eastward, flying more than a thousand li.
He stopped only after he saw a town of mortals.
Su Fan disguised himself as a martial-world wanderer and stayed in the mortal town for several days.
Su Fan had originally planned to find a place in the mortal world and live comfortably for a few years.
But after moving into the mortal town, he abandoned that idea.
The Mortal World was prosperous and lively, far more exciting than places where cultivators gathered.
But for cultivators, it was truly unsuitable for long-term residence.
For one thing, the spiritual energy was extremely thin. Even when Su Fan cultivated with the Minor Spirit Gathering Array, after several days, his progress was virtually nonexistent.
The spiritual energy in a mortal town was several times thinner than even the shantytown outside Shaoyang Market Town, let alone Black Profound City.
Fortunately, he still had Origin Returning Pills. Taking one a day could at least improve his cultivation by the tiniest bit.
The cost-to-effect ratio was truly terrible. Still, something was better than nothing.
Moreover, the Mortal World was saturated everywhere with all kinds of turbid energy. Mortals did not feel a thing.
But a cultivator's Spiritual Sense and five senses were extraordinarily sharp, allowing them to sense it clearly.
It was bearable in the wilderness, but once he entered a city, he truly could not stand it after a while.
No wonder those impoverished Rogue Cultivators around Shaoyang Market Town would rather live in the ramshackle shantytown than return to the Mortal World.
Although cultivators also existed in the Mortal World, they were all relatively old Rogue Cultivators.
Either they had no hope of breaking through, or they were nearing their Approaching Lifespan Limit.
In this Cultivation World, people with spirit roots could be called one in ten thousand.
And even among those who possessed spirit roots, more than eighty percent had mixed spirit roots.
The descendants of cultivators, however, had a much higher chance of developing spirit roots than mortals did.
Thus, the cultivators in the Mortal World would marry wives and take concubines on a grand scale, then have a great many children.
They simply hoped to leave behind one or two descendants with spirit roots before they died.
During the several days Su Fan stayed in the town, he carefully studied the map of Liangzhou every day.
His most urgent task was to leave the Controlled Zone of the True Demonic Sect as quickly as possible.
He would continue eastward. In any case, the closer he got to Yongzhou, the better.
Wang Zhi's disappearance would certainly attract the attention of his Lineage.
As long as they investigated Shaoyang Market Town, they would eventually trace the matter back to him.
To be safe, Su Fan decided to hide in the Mortal World before leaving the True Demonic Sect's Controlled Zone.
He also had to cast the Void Spirit Art and Spirit Concealment Art to completely conceal his aura.
Even if the True Demonic Sect sent people to hunt him down, finding him amid the vast sea of humanity in mortal society would be nearly impossible.
As it happened, a caravan in town was recruiting guards. Su Fan went to apply and became one of the caravan's guards.
Over the following months, he traveled with the caravan all the way to Luqu County in Qi Kingdom.
According to the map of Liangzhou, if he took a ship at Luqu County and sailed several hundred li along the Qingcang River, he would reach the territory of Zhao Kingdom.
Once he arrived in Zhao Kingdom, he would have left the True Demonic Sect's sphere of influence.
Su Fan's destination was Cangjiu City, several thousand li away, which lay within the sphere of influence of the Yin Luo Sect, one of the demonic sects.
He planned to settle temporarily in Cangjiu City, wait for the situation in Yongzhou to stabilize, and then find a way to return to Yongzhou.
The burly man dragged Su Fan toward Luqu County, which lay not far ahead.
The burly man was named Hu Guanghai. He was also one of the caravan's guards and a native of Luqu County.
He was forthright and loyal, and he and Su Fan got along especially well. The two had grown quite close over the past few months.
Su Fan entered Luqu County. The streets were rather broad, with wine shops, inns, and all kinds of other stores lining both sides in close succession. People streamed in and out, creating a flourishing scene.
The streets teemed with people. Along both sides, various street stalls supported large blue cloth umbrellas. The crowds bustled and surged, making it extraordinarily lively.
The two arrived at Wangjiang Tower and asked for a private table by the window.
Hu Guanghai ordered a tableful of dishes. The two drank and chatted while admiring the beautiful view of the Qingcang River.
"Old Su, you're leaving tomorrow. Let me toast you with this cup..."
Su Fan hurriedly raised his cup and clinked it against Old Hu's.
"Brother Hu, thank you for looking after me all this way..."
Old Hu threw back the wine, then wiped his mouth.
"Brother, if you ever get the chance to come to Qi Kingdom again, you must come find me..."
Su Fan smiled and nodded. Just as he was about to speak, a heart-rending wail suddenly came from the street outside.
The two exchanged a glance and hurriedly rose to leave the private room.
The windows facing the street on the second floor were already packed with people, all diners who had come here to eat.
Hu Guanghai and Su Fan were both tall and powerfully built. After a few shoves, they squeezed through.
They looked down and saw pedestrians fleeing in all directions while wailing. The stalls on both sides of the street had been knocked askew.
"Look at that person..."
A waiter in the restaurant suddenly shouted and pointed toward the end of the street.
Everyone followed the direction of his finger and saw someone sprinting wildly toward them.
Strictly speaking, it could no longer be called a person.
It was a monster that was half-human and half-beast. More than two meters tall, it was completely scarlet, as if its skin had been peeled off alive.
The monster moved on all fours, its back arched and a long tail trailing behind it. It looked like a wild beast poised to attack.
Its pair of eerie, green, cold-blooded eyes gleamed beneath a strange smile frozen at the corners of its mouth, revealing rows of sinister fangs.
Ao Wu!!
The monster threw back its head and howled at the sky, letting out a terrifying shriek that made one's blood run cold.
It lunged forward violently. Several passersby who had not managed to escape in time were instantly knocked to the ground.
After a frenzy of biting, it tore the few passersby to shreds in moments.
The monster leaped sharply. In the blink of an eye, it had bounded dozens of meters, charging viciously into the crowd and tearing into people with savage abandon.
From time to time, someone was ripped apart alive, leaving corpses and mangled remains strewn across the ground.
Hu Guanghai flew into a rage on the spot. He lifted a foot and was about to jump from the tower, intending to fight the monster in the street to the death.
But before he could jump, Su Fan reached out and dragged him back.
Su Fan held Hu Guanghai down firmly and shook his head at him.
"Old Hu, you'll only be throwing your life away if you go down. Wait until the authorities arrive."
Old Hu's eyes instantly reddened. He struggled desperately to break free of Su Fan's hold, but after exerting himself for a long while, he still could not budge.
"Old Su, those people down there are all my neighbors and fellow townsfolk. Let go of me, damn it..."
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