Time turned back fifteen minutes.
Following the Ram Demon's directions, Bear One and Bear Two reached the blank area on the map in less than an hour.
Sure enough, from far away they spotted Song Shuhang resting beneath the shade of a tree, as well as Chen Luo lying on the flatbed cart.
"Big Brother, there are people. Should we go ask if they've seen the Young Pavilion Master of Money Falling Pavilion?"
"Mm... Wait! Second Brother, look at the person on that cart!" Bear One grabbed Bear Two, who was preparing to pounce, and pulled a portrait from his robes. The portrait showed Chen Luo.
"Damn it, isn't that the imperial Earl of Wan'an?"
"Oh, it really is! Hey, Big Brother, your eyesight is good. Take a look at his chest. Is there a toad's head on it?"
"Let me see... Great Ancestor Bear, Second Brother, look again. Isn't that the Young Pavilion Master?"
"Huh? Then... my heavens, it really is the Young Pavilion Master!"
Bear One and Bear Two exchanged glances, then excitedly bumped chests.
"Big Brother, what do we do next?"
"Seize the cart!"
"Right, seize the cart!"
The two bears were about to charge forward when a crow's cry suddenly came from above their heads.
"You two blockheads! Stop!"
The two bears halted and looked back. A crow flew toward them and finally landed on Bear One's shoulder.
"Blockhead! Blockhead!" The crow pecked at Bear One's head with its beak.
Bear One reached out and grabbed the crow, glaring with his bear eyes. "Senior Brother Crow, what brings you here?"
"What do you think? Master Yang sent me to keep an eye on you two!"
Bear Two scratched his head with a foolish grin. "Then that's perfect. The three of us can go seize the cart together!"
Bear One nodded. "Exactly! The Young Pavilion Master and the Earl of Wan'an are both here. We're rich!"
The crow sighed. "Take a good look. Aren't the Young Pavilion Master of Money Falling Pavilion and the imperial Earl of Wan'an both injured?"
The two bears stared again, then nodded in unison. "So what? We weren't the ones who beat them."
"Once you've seized them, if they haven't woken up, you won't be able to explain yourselves!"
Bear Two said, "Then what do we do?"
The crow thought for a moment. "The bounty only says to deliver them back. It never says we have to be the first to find them, right?"
Bear One and Bear Two hurriedly nodded.
The crow glanced again at Song Shuhang, who was enjoying the shade beneath the tree. His eyes rolled, and an idea struck him. He whispered a few words into Bear One's ear...
A sudden sense of alarm rose in Song Shuhang's heart. He turned his head and asked, "Who's there?"
Two imposing figures emerged from the woods. They were none other than Bear One and Bear Two, both wearing honest, simple-minded expressions as they looked at Song Shuhang. "Brother, where are you headed?"
Song Shuhang slowly positioned himself in front of the flatbed cart. "Gentlemen, my little shopkeeper is suffering from a terrible illness. I'm planning to take him to Floating Cloud Market to seek treatment."
Bear One and Bear Two's faces lit up. "Floating Cloud Market? Wonderful! That's a fine place."
Song Shuhang eyed the two bears suspiciously.
Bear One coughed dryly. "Well... there are many demons and monsters along the way. My brother and I are also headed to Floating Cloud Market. Why don't we travel together?"
Bear Two nodded. "Just consider us your escorts. How about it?"
Song Shuhang waved his hands. "I don't have the money to hire you two."
"We met by chance, so we should help each other. Why bring money into it?" Bear One laughed heartily, grabbed Song Shuhang, and set him down in the empty space on the flatbed cart. He then seized the cart's front handles. "Second Brother, let's get moving!"
"Coming..." Bear Two followed behind and lifted the flatbed cart. The two bears transformed a cart that had been pushed along the ground into a stretcher, carrying Song Shuhang, Chen Luo, and Little Frog toward Floating Cloud Market.
With a cry, an eagle descended from the sky and landed in a monster stronghold. It transformed into a bird-headed, humanoid monster and rushed into the main tent. Inside, a scar-faced man who looked to be around forty was drinking wine. Though he had a human face, he possessed a bird's beak curved like a scimitar.
"Chief, a bounty target has been spotted forty li south."
The scar-faced man was overjoyed. "The Earl of Wan'an or the Young Pavilion Master?"
"They're together!"
The scar-faced man burst into laughter, set down his wine cup, and rose to his feet. "Bring the brothers and take them to Floating Cloud Market..."
The bird-headed monster hurriedly said, "Chief, wait! I observed them from the air and found that the Earl of Wan'an and the Young Pavilion Master are both seriously injured and unconscious. Two bear monsters from Qing Zhu House are with them, and it looks like they're also heading toward Floating Cloud Market..."
The scar-faced man froze, hesitation showing in his eyes. "Seriously injured? And escorted by those two dull bears? Could this be muddy water?"
At that moment, a parrot female monster draped in a rainbow-colored outer robe leaned close to the scar-faced man and said, "Chief, this is a fine opportunity to forge ties with both factions..."
"But what if..."
"We only need to take a little benefit and make ourselves known. If something really goes wrong, we can simply say we know nothing and push everything onto Qing Zhu House..."
The scar-faced man's eyes shifted, and he immediately understood the parrot female monster's meaning. They had no credit for discovering the targets, but they could certainly snatch the merit of escorting them. If the origins of the two nobles' injuries couldn't be explained, his side could just claim ignorance—they were only providing an escort. As for the injuries, they could go find those two idiots from Qing Zhu House!
Little did he know that the advice Senior Brother Crow had given the two bears followed the exact same line of thought. The only difference was that Song Shuhang would be the one thrown under the cart.
"Call over the deputy chiefs. This chief will make the trip and serve as an escort..."
The scar-faced man walked out of the main tent. With a shake of his body, he transformed into a Golden Eagle with a wingspan of over ten feet and flew off with a powerful beat of his wings...
Almost an hour later, in the other monster strongholds of Floating Cloud Mountain.
Monster Stronghold One: "What? Old Golden Eagle is serving as an escort? Shameless! How dare he get ahead of me! Let's go!"
Monster Stronghold Two: "What? Old Golden Eagle and Stinky Monkey are serving as escorts? The nerve of them not telling us. Let's go!"
Monster Stronghold Three: "What did you say? Old Golden Eagle, Stinky Monkey, and that Wild Boar Monster are all serving as escorts? Not enough of a beating, these monsters. Screw their ancestors, let's go!"
Monster Stronghold Four: "What? Old Golden Eagle, Stinky Monkey, Wild Boar Monster, and Spotted Leopard are serving as escorts? Good heavens, how could they leave me out? Let's go!"
Monster Stronghold Five: "What are you saying? All those monsters are serving as escorts? How can I be missing? Let's go!"
On the mountain road of Floating Cloud Mountain, a procession made up of all kinds of monsters advanced onward. At the center of the procession was a flatbed cart carried by two enormous bears.
Sitting on the cart, Song Shuhang edged closer to Chen Luo. He couldn't understand why so many monsters had rushed over to escort them to Floating Cloud Market.
At the front of the procession were minor monsters like him, all in the Pure Blood Realm. At the rear, every one of them was a Blood Refining Realm monster like Third Brother Huang. More frightening still, the monsters surrounding the cart had clearly broken through the Blood Realm and reached a level Song Shuhang could not even touch.
And this entire group of monsters was serving as escorts without asking for a single coin!
Was the monsterly atmosphere of Floating Cloud Mountain really this warm and hospitable?
With their addition, the group's speed suddenly increased considerably.
They were less than a hundred li from Floating Cloud Market...
Yo, yo, yo, Godfather Pavilion is still on the first floor.
He awkwardly dug out an underground parking garage.
Before you continue