Chen Dengming saw the state of the outer perimeter of the quiet cultivation ground and immediately understood that people must have visited it, and some had even broken in by force.
This was hardly an unexpected matter after all.
Since Xu Ning and the people of Iron Forest Hall would not give up, they were bound to search everywhere, and the place he used to stay was no exception.
Yet these people could not possibly guard this single location for long, waiting for him to walk right into a trap.
After all, he had displayed the strength to severely injure a Qi Cultivation Fourth Level cultivator; what kind of strength level would they need to leave behind to guard for him?
Moreover, at this critical juncture of fierce battle, people of that caliber would never waste time sitting in some remote corner just to wait for someone who might not even appear.
Chen Dengming was well aware of these circumstances, which was why he dared to come to the quiet cultivation ground to retrieve his belongings.
Yet right now, he vaguely sensed through his spiritual energy that someone seemed to be inside the quiet cultivation ground.
It was not just him who had this feeling; the Little Array Spirit, which was extremely sensitive to spiritual energy and life auras, felt it even more strongly and was already transmitting a warning emotion to him from within the array disk.
Is it a rogue cultivator who accidentally wandered in to stay temporarily, or—
Chen Dengming only hesitated for a breath inward before he began to slowly retreat. To be safe, he had already decided to give up, avoiding walking straight into a trap specifically set for him.
However, just as he was about to move away, a voice gathered spiritual energy and transmitted sound, reaching far into his ears.
"Could this be Fellow Daoist Chen in person?"
"Hmm?"
Chen Dengming narrowed his eyes, abruptly recognizing the unique voice. It turned out to be Qian Yuan.
He did not stop his stride, continuing his retreat as his inner vigilance heightened even further, and his two Gu worms also stood by ready at any moment.
At this point, the forest ahead rippled, and the illusion array opened of its own accord, revealing the figure of a white-haired, one-armed old man.
The man's eyes were sharp, yet his face was haggard, and a faint medicinal fragrance emanated from his body. His gaze locked tightly onto the location of Chen Dengming a hundred paces away, and he raised a hand from afar in an inviting gesture.
"Why must Fellow Daoist Chen keep people at a distance? You and I might have had some grievances in the past, but now we are both stray dogs and fellow sufferers at the end of the world. Why not join forces? Only then will we have a chance to break through the blockade line."
"Blockade line?"
Chen Dengming was startled, his steps involuntarily pausing as he frowned and surveyed his surroundings with high vigilance, his hand already gripping the Ice Spirit Blade.
Qian Yuan accurately grasped Chen Dengming's movement and shook his head, saying, "It seems Fellow Daoist Chen does not know what has happened recently. The great battle between the Zhu family and the Luo family has not yet ended."
"However, both sides have temporarily suspended fighting these past few days. The Luo family chose to forbear, while the Zhu family has already set up checkpoints to blockade main roads in multiple areas, primarily to screen and capture stragglers like us..."
Chen Dengming frowned and finally let out a cold snort in response. "Since it's so hard to get by outside, why are you still hiding here instead of going to the Luo family? You are a member of the Luo family, after all."
Hearing Chen Dengming's response, Qian Yuan let out a sigh of relief and smiled bitterly, "Putting aside the fact that the Zhu family now holds the upper hand and has set up checkpoints on various main roads to screen people, the moment I approach that direction, I am bound to be detected."
"Even without this connection, I am no longer favored by the Luo family. Although Xu Ning and I have been doing things for the Luo family all these years, we were still the heads of a faction after all; whose hands are completely clean?"
"Xu Ning has secretly been funneling some women to the Zhu family as transactions. While I haven't cooperated with the Zhu family, I've also embezzled quite a bit cooperating with the Merchant Alliance. Do you think the Luo family would let me off?"
Chen Dengming was silent for a moment, then said, "That being the case, today we'll pretend we never saw each other, and from now on, each will leave it to fate. As for joining forces to break through checkpoints, impossible!"
Qian Yuan let out a sigh, his eyes flashing repeatedly. Remembering the rumors about this person, he finally nodded and said.
"After this place was searched by others, I hid in here. The most dangerous place is the safest place. But later on, I inadvertently discovered the pack you hid here, guessing that you might return."
"Originally, I intended to join forces with you; if you didn't appear recently, I would have left as well."
"Since you are unwilling to join forces, so be it. Take your things, and I only hope that when we meet again in the future, we will be friends, not enemies!"
With those words, Qian Yuan tossed out a bundle, which landed far away and hung from a treetop.
Chen Dengming's brow ridges rose as he gazed at the pack and saw Qian Yuan retreat back into the dwelling, his figure obscured by the illusion array.
With a strange expression, he patted the side of his ear.
The Blood Centipede Gu buzzed as it flew out, burrowed into the pack to investigate for a moment, and then flew back buzzing.
Chen Dengming's gaze flashed, and he used the Artifact Control Art to retrieve the pack.
Ten paces in front of him, he opened the pack and glanced at the more than thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones bundled together with a special binding technique; the spirit stone Gu among them had not been moved at all either.
As for the other Spirit Seizing Array Disk, whether Qian Yuan didn't intend to give it to him or whether it had already been taken by the people who searched the place was unknown.
Chen Dengming took the spirit stones, discarded the pack still containing other sundries, and used the Divine Speed Technique to leave rapidly.
Running into Qian Yuan at the quiet cultivation dwelling was entirely an accident.
Chen Dengming guessed that this man was also at his wit's end, otherwise he wouldn't have occupied the magpie's nest and burrowed into his territory to hide.
As for the other party's final willingness to give him the pack, it was also quite easy to understand: it was to steady him, leave a good impression, and turn hostility into friendship, lest he turn around and betray him, or fail to get what he wanted and play some shady tricks out of spite.
From another perspective, as the boss of Hutong Street, the man must have brought a considerable amount of traveling funds when he fled the gathering place. There was no need for him to hang onto those few spirit stones that obviously had something done to them; it was better to go with the flow.
Next, Chen Dengming went to the other two locations where packs were hidden.
He successfully retrieved one of the packs, but an accident occurred when he went for the other one.
This pack had actually already been touched by someone, and there was more than one person who had touched it, yet all of them had been poisoned to death by the spirit stone Gu.
Chen Dengming frowned and bypassed the two corpses already buried in the accumulated snow, picking up his spirit stones scattered all over the ground.
When he counted carefully, a few were still missing.
However, those two spirit stone Gu were still grasped in the hands of the two dead bodies.
"Fellow Daoist..."
The Little Array Spirit suddenly vibrated slightly at his waist.
Chen Dengming's gaze flashed, and just as he was about to retreat, an extremely faint sound of breaking wind arrived abruptly the moment his steps began to move.
He had been prepared long ago, and his figure flashed to evade it rapidly.
He casually slashed out with his saber, the blade light like eyes. With a clang, the Ice Spirit Blade collided with the incoming magical artifact, kicking up a flurry of roaring winds that blew Chen Dengming's entire outfit fluttering backward and snapping loudly.
"Qi Cultivation Third Level!"
The person who ambushed him from the shadows changed expression and immediately prepared to retreat.
Yet Chen Dengming casually hurled the long saber in his hand. Controlled by the Artifact Control Art, the long saber instantly transformed into a cold light, slicing an arc of extraordinary beauty through the air as it pierced through a large tree straight toward the attacker.
The attacker let out a loud shout, an ancient bell abruptly appearing outside his body to instantly intercept the flying blade, producing an explosion of extremely heavy, muffled thunder that echoed near and far.
Boom!—
That golden, gleaming ancient bell cracked slightly, yet it also managed to bounce the flying blade away.
However, in that very instant, a dark shadow flashed instantly through the gap, its thin-as-cicada-wings four wings vibrating as it instantly lunged onto the opponent.
Ah!—
The scream had only just spread before it was abruptly cut short.
Chen Dengming's face was calm, and a single movement of his figure brought him floating close.
The gaze cast from beneath his bamboo hat observed the middle-aged man who had collapsed onto the ground.
He saw that the man's neck and face were bitten until they were bluish-black, and he was already breathing more than he was taking in.
This was also a Qi Cultivation Third Level cultivator, no wonder he dared to use corpses and spirit stones as bait to 'hunt'.
Pity that he ran into a freak like Chen Dengming, who was stepping fast toward the Qi Cultivation Fourth Level and possessed lethal weapons like Gu worms.
Ordinary rogue cultivators, let alone spirit-pet-level treasures like Gu worms, found it difficult even to equip themselves fully with magical artifacts.
Chen Dengming surveyed his surroundings, vaguely sensing that spiritual energies were lingering in the distance before quickly scattering, obviously deterred and startled away.
With a sweep of his large sleeve, he swiftly gathered up the items on the ground, recalled the Blood Centipede and Golden Silkworm Gu that had drunk the spiritual energy from the cultivator's blood, and left rapidly.
Heavy snow fell from the sky, with mortals close to freezing and starving to death, while many cultivators struggled to survive in the wild under the threat of demon beasts, and others relied on their strength to take advantage of the chaos to plot against and murder others.
Yet who could say for sure who was the hunter and who was the prey?
Chen Dengming did not want to be a hunter, nor did he want to become prey. After taking away his cultivation resources, he swiftly returned to the valley.
This time, until he cultivated and consumed all his resources, he did not plan to come out.
(At the end of the month, everyone remember to clear out your monthly tickets before they expire)
Before you continue