The shopkeeper flipped through the ledger and lowered his head as he spoke. "The government's money all goes to the Imperial Advisor for alchemy these days. They can barely keep from squeezing the common folk dry. How would they ever part with money to hire someone to exterminate demons? We gave up on the Shangxuan government a long time ago." Bai Qiuran said with some embarrassment, "Sorry, sorry. I've gotten on in years, and now I'm so slow and sluggish." Tang Wei sighed. He raised his wine cup and toasted Tang Wei. "I'm glad I got to meet a friend like you on this trip. If fate allows, let's meet again." Tang Wei silently returned to the table. Bai Qiuran was pouring wine, and when he saw Tang Wei's expression, he asked, "What's wrong, Brother Tang? You don't look too good. Is that Yao Mo very powerful?" Tang Wei came back to himself. He didn't tell him about the government's affairs, only saying, "Bai Qiuran, after I take you to the horse market tomorrow to sell your horse, we'll go our separate ways." The two of them had traveled from the Shangxuan Kingdom's border near Qingming Mountain, deep into its hinterlands. After five days on the road, they had finally arrived near Mang Mountain. "I'm starting to regret agreeing to travel with you." "There's no need for them to step in." Tang Wei stayed in town, no one knew what he had to do, while Bai Qiuran, feeling as carefree as if on a spring outing, strode into the now-perilous Mang Mountain. For the five days since then, the two had traveled together, Tang Wei leading the way while Bai Qiuran accompanied him with the carefree air of someone out for a pleasure trip. "Ah, things have been pretty bad lately. Several nearby villages and towns have seen quite a few people killed. People say that Yao Mo moves incredibly fast. When it attacks someone, all bystanders can see is a dark blur. Its victims are left without a whole corpse—horribly mangled. It doesn't fear people at all, either. It appears day and night, bold as brass. Quite a few martial artists have banded together to hunt it down, but none of them came back. We don't even know when it'll come to our town to snatch people. I hope the Immortal masters living up in the mountains will do something about it." Now, as he neared another breakthrough, his pill recipe happened to be missing a few ingredients. Though they were rare, they weren't especially high-grade, nor were they widely used. Sometimes cultivators wouldn't even bother with them when they came across them, so the Azure Nether Sword Sect didn't keep them in stock. Bai Qiuran had no choice but to come down the mountain and find them himself. The person behind him, meanwhile, looked rather clumsy. He seemed completely unused to being on horseback, didn't know how to guide the horse with the reins, and didn't dare let it run, only walking at a snail's pace. He was plainly a novice rider. "It is." Bai Qiuran wasn't the fussy sort. He'd asked to travel together only because they were headed the same way and it was nice to have company. Since Tang Wei had made it perfectly clear that he wanted Bai Qiuran to leave, Bai Qiuran wasn't about to cling to him. Bai Qiuran, lagging behind, called out, "Please wait for me." Tang Wei raised an eyebrow and asked. He had come here only to look for a few auxiliary ingredients that weren't commonly used in Foundation Establishment Pills. Bai Qiuran's Foundation Establishment Pills had long since departed from the standard pills of the Cultivation World. To deal with his own unusual circumstances, he had added all sorts of personal touches to the pills he refined, leaving them utterly unrecognizable. An ordinary Qi Refining cultivator who tried to break through with one of his pills would probably be unable to withstand the medicinal power and die on the spot. When the innkeeper heard this, his face immediately clouded over. Tang Wei said helplessly, "I didn't expect you to be so powerful, yet you can't even ride a horse." Though he didn't feel particularly tired, Bai Qiuran immediately ordered a table full of fine food and drink to reward his stomach, while Tang Wei went over to the innkeeper to ask about the Yao Mo in Mang Mountain. "Hasn't the local government put out a bounty to exterminate it?" Bai Qiuran put down the wine jug and asked, "Why not? I need to go into Mang Mountain too." In Mang Mountain, the rampaging Yao Mo wasn't the only danger; there were also many ferocious wild beasts. "Young master, are you planning to exterminate it?" Tang Wei said, "Since you can't ride anyway, with your cultivation, you'd get there faster on foot." Tang Wei, riding ahead, looked utterly helpless. He slowed his horse until it was walking alongside Bai Qiuran. Tang Wei asked, "Got too much money and nowhere to spend it?" Bai Qiuran smiled sheepishly. "Brother Tang." Tang Wei replied, "Bai Qiuran, take my advice. You're only going in to gather herbs, so once you've gathered them, hurry back out. The Yao Mo in the mountains are dangerous even for Martial Arts Grandmasters like us. Don't go looking for trouble if you don't have to." Of course, none of these things were a concern for Bai Qiuran. His cultivation realm might have been awkward, but in three thousand years he had long since graduated from this beginner's map. He had even trained in the perilous regions of Jiuzhou and the Ten Lands, as well as the even more dangerous and terrifying wilderness and Vast Sea. "Then I suggest you talk to those martial artists. People who roam the martial world seek either fame or fortune. If you can pay them, and offer the reputation of a demon-slaying hero on top of that, I think they'll agree to go with you. That Yao Mo is dangerous. Don't go throwing your life away alone." "What can they do? The Emperor of Shangxuan is obsessed with immortal arts and has no interest in the lives of commoners like us." "Brother Tang." "We should reach the town at the foot of Mang Mountain tonight. Once we get there, take your horse to the market and sell it." On the roads of the Shangxuan Kingdom, two people rode along, one ahead of the other. Tang Wei pointed to several tables in the inn, where people who looked like martial artists were seated. Mang Mountain was a place where Spirit Qi gathered, and it grew many ingredients used by cultivators to make pills. As a result, the wild beasts there were stronger than those elsewhere. Some had even gained intelligence and could wield simple supernatural abilities; these were spirit beasts. After half a day on the road, once they entered Mang Mountain, Bai Qiuran immediately spread out his Spiritual Sense and began searching for the herbs he needed. Bai Qiuran smiled. "What's the problem?" "Because I have proper business to take care of." "If Brother Tang insists, then so be it." "Oh?" The next morning, Tang Wei took Bai Qiuran to the horse market to sell the horses. After that, the two officially went their separate ways. "Heh." On the roads of the Shangxuan Kingdom, two people rode along, one ahead of the other. The person in front wasn't a master horseman, but it was clear he'd received proper riding training and knew how to travel on horseback. Earlier, at a roadside tavern, Bai Qiuran had suggested they travel together. Perhaps considering Bai Qiuran's cultivation, which was "high" by the standards of martial artists, Tang Wei had agreed. Before nightfall, the two reached the town at the foot of Mang Mountain. Tang Wei found an inn with vacant rooms, and they settled in for the time being. "The Yao Mo in Mang Mountain?"
Before you continue