Deyang

He quickly distanced himself from the fight. More than two hours later, Bai Yang finally calmed down a little.

He was just an ordinary person—eat too much and you get bloated, drink too much and you throw up, and seeing bloody scenes scared him too!

He gripped Little Cat's hand tightly, refusing to let go, using that to ease the fear in his heart.

"Zhao Shi."

He called out weakly, listlessly.

"Young master, I'm here."

Zhao Shi, who had been keeping watch nearby, quickly answered.

"What are our casualties?"

Bai Yang asked about this first.

The villagers felt a warmth in their hearts. Having a 'boss' like this who cared was worth fighting and bleeding for!

"Young master, we have no casualties. Everyone's fine. Only a few people were coughed up blood by the bandit leader, but it's nothing serious—they're all full of vigor."

"That's good."

Bai Yang let out a sigh of relief. Not losing anyone was the best outcome.

Zhao Shi hesitated for a moment, then said, "Young master, we captured one hundred and thirty-three bandits. We've cut all their tendons. How does the young master want to handle them?"

Huh? There were prisoners?

Bai Yang blinked, finding it especially surreal. It seemed his word alone could decide the life or death of many people?

"Uh, according to custom, how do you usually handle them?"

"There are two ways. One is to kill them outright—these bandits are steeped in evil and deserve death. The second is to send them to the authorities, which might bring some benefit. How to handle it is entirely up to the young master!"

Zhao Shi answered very seriously.

Bai Yang was completely stunned. Although he knew life was cheap around here, he hadn't expected it to be this cheap. Over a hundred lives, and a single word could end them!

Bai Yang thought for a moment and asked, "Zhao Shi, would killing them cause any trouble?"

"No."

Zhao Shi's answer was crisp, as if he were just slaughtering a hundred pigs.

"That's good. Hand them over to the authorities when we get to that Deyang place."

Bai Yang nodded and said.

Huh?

So you asked all that just to make a sudden twist?

"Are you all stupid? They've lost the ability to resist. What difference does killing them make? They probably won't ever stand up and swing a blade at anyone again. Handing them over to the authorities gets us some benefit; killing them does nothing at all!"

Bai Yang said irritably. He wouldn't admit that he really couldn't bear to chop over a hundred people to death. Those guys had their tendons cut—wasn't that suffering enough? Why not show some mercy and spare their lives, right?

Mm, I'm a good person.

As for what happened to those bandits once they were handed over to the so-called authorities, that was none of his damn business...

Without explaining further, he closed his eyes to rest, still not recovered from what had happened before.

But in his heart, he noted that this world actually had something like authorities. It seemed it wasn't as chaotic as he had imagined...

The river channels crisscrossed, and they continued onward.

Bai Yang, who had nearly thrown up until he was weak, had no mood for anything. Along the way, he was all kinds of miserable, his psychological shadow area incalculable.

Little Cat stayed by his side the whole time, carefully taking care of him, afraid something might happen to him.

Next, they passed through several more places with crisscrossing river channels. Nothing eventful happened—no stimulating surprises.

But Bai Yang couldn't help admiring the mountain folk's skill. He couldn't figure out how they found the right path through such complicated waterways...

They didn't encounter any bandits, but they did run into another group of mountain folk along the way.

Bai Yang couldn't be bothered to lift his head. He didn't pay them any attention, nor did he curiously observe how they differed from Zhao Shi's group. He glanced and moved on...

Zhao Shi and his people, however, greeted them, seemingly acquainted.

Maybe because Zhao Shi's group was wearing 'splendid' armor, the other side looked utterly shocked and bewildered. They didn't even dare to get close, preferring to wait for them to leave first rather than travel together...

On and on they went. About eight hours after leaving the village, the group finally emerged from the jungle. The view ahead suddenly opened up wide!

Starting from where they left the jungle, the world seemed to have a clear dividing line. Dense vegetation stretched left and right to the horizon. Ahead lay a vast expanse of river, its waters deep and bottomless, the surface calm and still.

"Young master, we've left Mihe Forest. Continuing forward, crossing this Bibo River will bring us to the Deyang Town dock."

Zhao Shi said softly beside Bai Yang, afraid of disturbing him, who was limp as mud.

Hearing this, Bai Yang perked up a little. With Little Cat's help, he stood up.

Then, looking ahead, his face was a perfect picture of utter bewilderment.

Are you fucking kidding me? This endless expanse of calm water in front of me is clearly a massive lake, right?

In Bai Yang's understanding, even the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers have banks you can see across at their widest points, but here? This so-called Bibo River—straining his eyes, he could only make out a faint, hazy horizon in the distance, right? At least over ten kilometers wide, and you're telling me this is just a river?

Lao Tzu doesn't buy your bullshit!

"Little Cat, is this really a river?"

He wasn't sure, so he quietly asked Little Cat. Little Cat was well-behaved; she probably wouldn't lie to him.

"Yes, doesn't the young master know?"

Know my ass...

Cursing inwardly, Bai Yang stared blankly at the opposite shore. He couldn't imagine how long a river over ten kilometers wide would be, or how vast a region it would cross!

Turning back, the lush, dense Mihe Forest stretched all the way to the horizon. Who the hell knew how big it actually was...

Doing some quick mental math, Bai Yang realized that although they'd spent a long time traveling from the village, the distance they'd covered wasn't that far—at most a hundred and fifty kilometers, tops. There was no helping it; the raft was way too fucking slow...

"If I had a diesel-powered boat, it'd probably take just over an hour, right? But instead, it took seven or eight fucking hours..."

Bai Yang was speechless inside.

Five or six rafts moved forward across the calm river surface. Because the water was so still, it felt like they weren't moving at all.

When they set out, there were only four rafts. Now there were two more, taken from the bandits, carrying a bunch of captives.

The Bibo River lived up to its name—a vast expanse of blue waves, yet utterly placid.

As they continued forward, he spotted a city wall first!

A stone wall lay sprawled across the opposite bank. By his estimate, it was at least twenty meters high. He couldn't gauge its width, but it was definitely very long...

Further beyond, fertile fields stretched for a thousand li, endless and boundless, covered in some green vegetation he couldn't identify. When the wind blew, it rippled like waves rolling into the distance...

"This is a bit of a fucking problem. Such a massive city, and they call it a so-called 'small town'?"

A huge exclamation mark formed in his mind...

Getting closer, he could already see the so-called docks. Along the shore, they stretched for at least several li, packed with a dense swarm of wooden and bamboo rafts shuttling back and forth, filled with the clamor of shouts and noise.

Someone who didn't know better might think they'd arrived at Chaotianmen Dock...

"Zhao Shi, we can't be lying here. Are you sure that place ahead is the Deyang Town you mentioned, just a small town?"

Bai Yang turned and looked at Zhao Shi with extreme seriousness.

"Yeah."

Zhao Shi looked innocent. Would I lie to you for candy?

"No, can you tell me, how big is Deyang Town in circumference, and how many people live there?"

Zhao Shi shook his head blankly, indicating he hadn't studied and didn't know...

Fine. What could Bai Yang say? He'd have to figure it out himself. Those villagers muddled through life without a clue how they'd survived this long. Didn't they have any curiosity at all?

"Eh, I guess I've left the newbie village, right? But even after leaving the newbie village, I'm still just a level-zero noob. Still, I've got a bunch of high-level characters as bodyguards, so it's not too shabby..."

He muttered to himself as he stared at the opposite shore.

This world seemed off. Who the fuck had ever seen a so-called "small town" as big as the ancient Chang'an city in history?

Right now, standing on the surface of the Bibo River, his mind was a jumble of thoughts.

"I'm a frog, just jumping out of a small well to see a wider world."