Qingshi County

Could something have happened to the Heavenly Dragon Guard stationed here?

Qin Hao felt things were not that simple. The Dragon Mountain Empire was such a vast military organization; it could not possibly be so fragile.

Qin Hao grew more and more eager to see what excitement there was to join in on here.

And there were also those attribute points in the county seat.

At that thought, the corners of Qin Hao's mouth curled upward slightly.

Ma Wei, standing nearby, found Qin Hao's expression rather strange. Shouldn't someone be afraid upon hearing that ghosts were running rampant? Why did Qin Hao seem a little excited instead?

"Xiao Hao! What's wrong? What are you thinking about?"

Only after hearing Ma Wei call him did Qin Hao come back to his senses.

"Ahem, it's nothing."

"All right, Brother Ma, I should get going too. Otherwise, I won't be able to enter the city later."

Qin Hao felt it was getting late. It was time to head into the county seat.

"Fine, then. Goodbye. Come find us in Little Wang Village when you have the time."

"Okay."

"Goodbye!"

With that, he led his horse toward Qingshi County.

Qingshi County.

Outside the county gates.

"Oh—finally here."

A tall, imposing youth appeared before the county gates. By now, Qin Hao had washed his clothes clean in a small stream by the roadside. Otherwise, he feared the guards would refuse to let him in.

His towering frame and powerful muscles made him stand out sharply among the crowd.

"This lad's muscles are too outrageous, aren't they? One of his arms is thicker than my whole body!"

"Stop staring. Be careful he tears you apart. He looks like trouble—hurry up and go."

"Wow, such huge muscles."

"Big sister, at a time like this, you're still swooning over men? Hurry and go, or it'll be too late."

The surrounding townsfolk pointed at Qin Hao and chatted among themselves.

Qin Hao paid them no mind. Instead, he observed the townsfolk entering and leaving the city. Every one of them was in a rush, with far more leaving than entering.

It was probably because ghosts were haunting the county seat, driving these people to flee as quickly as possible.

After thinking that, Qin Hao stopped looking around and headed straight into the city.

When the people nearby saw this conspicuous giant walk into the county seat, they gathered together again.

"Look, look! What's that big guy going into the city for at a time like this?"

"Who knows?"

"I'd say that young man doesn't look ordinary at all."

"Nonsense. Those muscles are like a demonic beast's. Do you need to say whether he's ordinary or not?"

"All right, all right, stop talking about other people. Hurry and go, or the ghosts will come out and harm people again."

"Right, right, hurry."

At the mention of ghosts, these people began moving even farther away from the county seat.

Before long, Qin Hao entered the county seat.

Qin Hao discovered that there were far, far fewer people. Many shops were still shut tight even in broad daylight.

The place looked utterly desolate.

Qin Hao had come to the county seat before with Uncle Ling Kang and the clansmen. Back then, there had been far more people than there were now.

Now, only a sparse few could be seen wandering along the streets.

"Ah, how am I supposed to get anything done like this?"

Qin Hao had considered that ghosts running rampant might make the county seat bleak, but he had never expected it to be this serious.

He had originally come to buy food and clothing, but now that seemed somewhat difficult.

"Forget it. I'll take a look ahead."

Qin Hao shook his head helplessly and continued onward.

After walking for quite a while, Qin Hao finally spotted an inn that was open.

Qin Hao rubbed his stomach. He had not eaten all day, so it was time to fill his belly. Besides, he could also solve his lodging problem there.

With that thought, Qin Hao strode toward the inn.

When Qin Hao entered the inn, he found very few people inside. In such a large inn, there were only a handful of patrons. It was utterly dismal.

The people in the inn all wore expressions as though they had seen a ghost when they saw Qin Hao.

Just then, a girl who looked to be seventeen or eighteen, somewhat afraid of Qin Hao, slowly stepped forward.

"C-customer, hello. What do you need?"

The girl looked fearfully at Qin Hao before her. She had never seen anyone so tall and strong.

Yet when she looked at Qin Hao's slightly baby-faced features, she felt he was not very old. The contrast with his build was simply too jarring.

"Do you still have food here?"

Qin Hao lowered his head to look at the girl before him and smiled. I don't eat people. Why does it feel like she thinks I'm some kind of villain?

"Yes, yes, we do. I wonder, what would you like?"

Hearing Qin Hao's clear voice, the girl was no longer quite so frightened.

"Then bring me one of everything your inn has."

"Everything?"

"Yes, everything!"

"Uh, all right, all right. Please wait a moment."

With that, the girl ran into the kitchen.

After seeing the girl leave, Qin Hao found a seat and sat down.

A little while later, a head poked out from the kitchen and looked toward Qin Hao's table. Upon seeing Qin Hao's physique, the person also revealed a stunned expression.

Not long after, Qin Hao's table was piled full of dishes.

The dishes were very ordinary, nothing novel—simply the foods common folk usually ate, such as braised pork belly and charcoal-roasted beast meat.

There was also a large basin of rice and steamed buns.

Qin Hao dug in. Rather than eating the spicy food first, he reached out, grabbed a plain flour bun, and stuffed it into his mouth in two or three bites to tide himself over.

The steamed bun was indeed soft and pleasantly chewy. Most importantly, it was hot. Compared to the village stalls, it was better by more than a little.

Qin Hao then sampled the other dishes. They truly did not disappoint him. The pork belly was fatty without being greasy, and it was even more exquisite eaten with green peppers; the beast ribs had plenty of meat and little bone, spicy and satisfying to gnaw on; the pig head meat was merely average, though its texture was springy, while the bone broth was rich and fragrant.

Very quickly, Qin Hao swept the entire table of food clean.

He sat there drinking tea and resting for a while.

Qin Hao raised his hand to signal the girl at the counter to come over and settle the bill.

Upon seeing Qin Hao's gesture, the girl trotted over without stopping.

"Hello, your total comes to ten taels."

The girl said nervously after reaching Qin Hao's table.

Hearing ten taels, Qin Hao felt prices might have gone up a little since before the ghosts appeared. Still, given the current situation, it was acceptable.

He directly paid the girl.

"Oh, right. Prepare a room for me. I'll be staying here for the next few days."

"Sir, you want to stay here?"

The girl looked at Qin Hao in surprise. Ghosts were haunting the county seat everywhere now—how could he still dare to remain here alone? How strange.

"What is it?"

"Ah, nothing. I'll go arrange a room for you right away."

"Come with me."

With that, she led Qin Hao up to the second floor.

Not far away, a gorgeously dressed young man watched Qin Hao with a frown, seemingly lost in thought.

The girl walked to a room at the end of the corridor and opened it for Qin Hao to inspect.

"What do you think? Is this room all right?"

Qin Hao looked it over for a while and nodded.

"Mhm! This one will do."

"All right, then I'll head downstairs first. If you need anything, you can come call for me."

"Oh, right. The county seat may not be very safe lately. At night, sir, it would be better for you to stay in your room. It's safer that way."

"Okay, thank you for the reminder. Take this—it's your tip."

As he spoke, Qin Hao tossed the girl some silver, a small token of appreciation for her kind warning.

"Thank you, sir. Hehehe."

Seeing how generous Qin Hao was, tossing out several taels of silver at once, the girl was overjoyed.

After saying that, she skipped happily out of the room.

After seeing that the girl had left, Qin Hao set down his bundle, stretched lazily, and shut the door.

"Ah, I'll rest first. Tonight, I'll go play with these ghosts."

"Sleep!"

After tidying himself up a little, he lay down on the bed. Thinking about the attribute points wandering the streets, he was just about to drift into dreamland when—

He heard a knock at the door.

Bang, bang, bang...

"Sorry to disturb you."

A voice came from outside the door.

Qin Hao did not immediately respond. It was not the girl's voice, but a man's.

He had only just—

Settled in, yet someone had already come knocking?

Still, Qin Hao did not take it too much to heart. He got up and walked toward the door.

Creak!

Qin Hao gently opened the door.

Before him stood a handsome, refined young man dressed in luxurious clothes.