Not a Shackle
"Strange, making such a provocative gesture as slitting your throat doesn't fit your cautious nature. What's your purpose?"
In the woods, Qing Chen met up with Li Shutong, who asked with some curiosity.
Qing Chen explained, "I'm worried they'll get away. If the hatred isn't strong enough, they won't come after me, and then my plan might not work."
"Oh," Li Shutong nodded, "That makes sense."
As the master and disciple walked side by side, the atmosphere immediately became much more relaxed, as if this were not a Forbidden Zone, but an ordinary forest.
"By the way, Master," Qing Chen asked, "Have those Wilderness People come in?"
"Only the one with the fire pit has come in. Judging from their current route, they are heading straight for the heart of the Forbidden Zone. I have a feeling that their sudden appearance near the Central Plains is very likely also aimed at Qing Huai," Li Shutong said.
"Did they come for Qing Huai?" Qing Chen wondered.
"Of course, it's not like you're the only one who wants to kill him in the Shadow Struggle," Li Shutong explained. "Perhaps someone from the Qing family made a deal with Huotang to help them get rid of Qing Huai. That would be normal, though. It wouldn't seem like Shadow Struggle if it were just you and Qing Huai fighting each other."
"Does the Federation also have connections with the Wilderness People?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.
"Of course there is a connection. As long as there is profit to be made, anything is possible," Li Shutong explained.
Qing Chen looked at Li Shutong and asked, "What did that elder at the fire pit mean by the ancestral reward? From his tone, it sounded like there were tangible benefits involved? How can these people receive the ancestral reward?"
Li Shutong glanced at Qing Chen: "How the ancestors reward him is their business. What you can do is, if he tries to kill you in exchange for the reward, send him to see the ancestors."
Qing Chen: "..."
At this moment, Li Shutong said, "However, Xiao Chen, remember this: just like the Federation, there are good people and bad people everywhere. Or rather, the Wilderness and the Federation have a long-standing feud, and you can no longer tell who is right and who is wrong. For example, the Autumn Hunt is about hunting Wilderness People, and in the eyes of the Wilderness People, these Tuanzi are no different from demons."
Qing Chen seemed to be deep in thought.
At this moment, Li Shutong also took out a sealed bag. "Take this and solve it yourself, but remember, since you opened the sealed bag yourself, you also need to prevent your sealed bag from being found by others."
"Hmm," Qing Chen went to the side to take care of his physiological needs.
Just as he returned carrying the sealed bag, intending to consider where to bury it...
His gaze suddenly shifted to his teacher.
Li Shutong immediately felt disgusted. "Get lost, I'm not keeping this for you."
Qing Chen said earnestly, "But nowhere is this sealed bag safer than with you, Teacher. A teacher for a day is a father for life. I consider you my father in my heart, and you say you consider me your son. What father in this world would dislike his son?"
"What you said makes a lot of sense," Li Shutong said, his eyes wide. "Can I take back what I said before about treating you like a son?"
"I'm afraid it's too late," Qing Chen said.
Li Shutong sighed and pointed to the canopy of a large tree, "Throw it up there."
Qing Chen didn't understand why, but he did as instructed anyway.
After the sealed bag flew into the sky, a hairy little claw stretched out from the tree canopy and caught it.
Then the tree canopy shook, and the furry little animal used the canopy to hide itself and flew all the way to the heart of the Forbidden Zone. Qing Chen could vaguely see the other's huge, snow-white tail.
Qing Chen asked curiously, "Teacher, what kind of animal is that?"
"You'll find out later," Li Shutong said.
The boy glanced at his teacher strangely. He suddenly realized that this teacher not only had absolute immunity from the rules in Forbidden Zone No. 002, but also seemed to have many strange friends.
Is this the Cavaliers' home court?
"By the way," Li Shutong said, "You need to be careful of that Cao Wei, he's one of Qing Huai's men."
"Oh?" Qing Chen was puzzled. His teacher had really investigated every detail before committing the murder, even knowing the name Cao Wei.
"I've looked at Cao Wei's file. He's much more difficult to deal with than Qing Huai. He's a skilled and capable fighter," Li Shutong explained. "I feel that kid is hiding his true abilities, waiting for you to make a mistake."
"Okay, thanks for the reminder, teacher," Qing Chen glanced at Li Shutong, "Shall I go back to causing trouble?"
"Go on, go on," Li Shutong waved his hand.
As he watched Qing Chen's retreating figure, a saying suddenly came to mind: the relationship between parents and children is one of constantly watching each other's backs as they walk further and further away throughout this life.
I should be a qualified mentor, right?
Li Shutong was also a first-time mentor, so he was always a little worried that he wouldn't do a good job.
He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to be impulsive this once. "How about I just kill them for you? Consider it a gift from me?"
However, at that moment, Qing Chen suddenly turned around and looked back at Li Shutong, saying, "Teacher."
"Huh?" Li Shutong was taken aback.
"This time, I said I would try it myself first, not because of my stubbornness," Qing Chen said calmly. "Children who are helped to walk will grow slower than others. I know that you, Teacher, are about to do something very dangerous. You know it's dangerous, so you introduced me to Li Yinuo, letting me know who to turn to if I encounter difficulties in the future. You also helped me kill Qing Huai, helping me eliminate an obstacle on my path to the Shadow Struggle. And then you went to great lengths to help me conceal my identity, afraid that it would implicate me."
"I was thinking that your plan would probably take a while to prepare. If I grow fast enough, I might be able to help you in time."
"In your eyes, this master-disciple relationship may be a shackle for me, but I have never thought so," Qing Chen said.
The boy stood in the dim woods. Although he had only known Li Shutong for a short time and they were not related by blood, he knew who was truly good to him.
Li Shutong stood there, the boy's words echoing in his mind. "If I grow up fast enough, perhaps I will be able to help you in time."
No wonder the boy trained so hard even after returning to the Outer World; he was trying to race against time.
Li Shutong waved his hand with a smile, "What nonsense are you talking about? Hurry up and go."
"Hmm," Qing Chen as he walked into the woods.
In the woods, Cao Wei was personally cutting open the clothes of a dead soldier, leaving nothing behind.
Just as he cut open the other person's shirt, a strange six-winged insect suddenly flew out from the torn fabric.
With quick reflexes, Cao Wei threw the dagger from his hand.
With a clatter, the six-winged beetle, as long as an index finger, was pinned to the ground.
These hexawing beetles do not usually attack large creatures; the venom in their bodies is used to hunt other insects.
Only by violating the rules of this Forbidden Zone will an attack be incurred.
Cao Wei pulled a dagger from the ground and said coldly, "Stop talking about gods and monsters in private. The ones who killed them were six-winged insects, not demons or monsters."
The soldiers' expressions eased slightly.
Cao Wei glanced at Qing Huai: "Commander Qing Huai, shall I take two combat squads to chase after him?"
"No need to chase," Qing Huai calmly shook his head. "The most urgent thing now is to properly store the sealed bags we abandoned. Tell the soldiers to dig out all the bags and carry them in their packs. A rash pursuit will only allow the enemy to lure us away. You see, all they need to do is find our landfill pit to kill us, but right now we can only be led by the nose."
Chapter 1, Requesting Guaranteed Monthly Tickets