Entering the Mountain

(The weather was bad, so I quickly wrote a chapter as soon as I found a place to write and posted it immediately. I heard there are double monthly votes, An Hei after thinking about it, I'm asking for votes for the sake of my expression and attitude!)

Sometimes, Li Wei admired An Hei.

In fact, he was very similar to An Hei, but there were also some differences. He was sometimes too impulsive, while An Hei would never act rashly. Even if a sharp steel knife was held to An Hei's neck, his heartbeat might not drop much. Because he was not impulsive, he would consider things very carefully. For example, capturing five demonic beasts as backup 'insurance' was a method that Li Wei had not thought of before.

Indeed, everything has two sides. Just like when you try to Assassinate the Wolf King, one possibility is that the assassination will succeed, which is great. The other possibility is that the assassination will fail. The consequences of failure are not pleasant to swallow. But if you have this layer of insurance, you can give up the generous rewards of the hidden mission and only complete the main mission in case of an emergency. Although the rewards will be reduced, your life will be saved, and there will be no other additional losses.

Therefore, Li Wei only rested briefly before continuing to use his powerful divine energy to probe the surrounding demonic energy. In just one day, he captured more than a dozen lesser demons hiding in and around Quyin Town.

For a time, the room was filled with monsters of all sizes, a truly spectacular sight. Li Wei had taken away their spiritual and yin energy, and the An Hei had cut off their limbs, leaving them only with a breath of life. If necessary, killing them would complete the main quest.

Qu Ling, who had fainted, had long since woken up. To avoid suspicion, Li Wei and his group had been staying at her house for the past two days. Meanwhile, Qu Ling's ailing grandfather had recovered thanks to a cheap pill from Shadow Street. The grandfather and granddaughter treated Li Wei and his group, who were incredibly powerful and their saviors, with utmost respect. Furthermore, Zheng Yutong and Xue Yan, overflowing with sympathy, left them all the silver they were carrying, thus completely winning over Qu Ling and her grandfather's trust.

On this day, just as Li Wei was preparing to enter Quyin Mountain, Qu Ling, this young girl, approached him.

"Brother Li, I know you are no ordinary people. Although we don't know what brings you to Quyin Town this time, my grandfather said you are definitely good people. He also said that although his eyesight is failing, he can tell that you are going to Quyin Mountain to handle something very important..."

Hearing this, Li Wei chuckled to himself, thinking that old man Qu was indeed shrewd and experienced. However, there was nothing to hide about this matter. What did Qu Ling mean by saying all this?

As his thoughts raced, the somewhat shy girl opposite him continued, "The Quyin Mountain stretch for thousands of miles, teeming with Venomous Insect, Corpse Jumper, and monsters. Even those with extraordinary skills can easily get lost and encounter danger if they're unfamiliar with the area. I... when I was little, I was playful and secretly went into the mountains once, but my grandfather gave me a severe scolding, which is why I'm too scared to go again. However, I have a very good memory; I know the area for miles around there very well. If Brother Li doesn't mind taking me along, I'd be happy to go with you."

Li Wei was taken aback. He had never imagined that Qu Ling had actually entered Quyin Mountain. But even so, Li Wei would not take her with him. The reason was simple: although she was familiar with part of the area, what he was looking for was the location of the Hundred Wolf Cave, and the captured wolf demon had already revealed the location of the Hundred Wolf Cave.

Shaking his head, Li Wei was about to refuse Qu Ling's kindness, but Qu Ling seemed to have noticed something from Li Wei's expression and quickly said, "Brother Li, the place you're looking for is called Hundred Wolf Cave, right?"

How did this girl know? Li Wei was a little puzzled, but Qu Ling quickly explained, "Yesterday I overheard you interrogating Zhang San... no, it's not Uncle Zhang anymore, it's a monster... Anyway, I heard your questions, and it told you about the main entrance to the Hundred Wolf Cave, but it's very dangerous there, guarded by many monsters. Last time I secretly went into the mountains, I hid nearby. But I know there's another entrance leading to the Hundred Wolf Cave, a place with very few monsters, even the wolf demons rarely know about it. Brother Li, I know you didn't take me there for my own good, but you saved my grandfather and my life, and I must repay you..." As she said this, Qu Ling took out two things from behind her back and handed them to the somewhat surprised Li Wei.

"I know you definitely won't take me, Brother Li, so I've roughly drawn a map of the area around that hidden entrance from my memory. I only said that before because I wanted to try it out... If I can go with you, Brother Li, that would be great, but if not, it's okay too..."

As she spoke, Qu Ling secretly glanced at Li Wei. Seeing that he didn't react, she felt a pang of bitterness in her heart, and her eyes reddened.

"Brother Li, aren't you even a little surprised that I, a girl, managed to escape safely from Quyin Mountain?" Qu Ling asked Li Wei with red eyes and some expectation, seemingly trying to attract Li Wei attention with this question.

Clearly, Li Wei, who didn't know much about girls, didn't understand the girl's thoughts, but he was indeed curious. The demonic aura around Quyin Mountain was already astonishing, indicating that there were many monsters there. How could a little girl with no ability to protect herself have gone in and escaped safely?

Seeing Li Wei's questioning expression, Qu Ling pouted, took a few light steps in place, and then said, "It's that one! Because of it, I was able to escape!"

What Qu Ling was referring to was the other of the two things she had just handed to Li Wei. It was a leaf, about the size of a child's palm, emerald green in color, with a faint fragrance emanating from it; taking a deep breath of it was quite refreshing.

"This is called Demon-Transforming Grass. Don't let its leaf-like appearance fool you; it's incredibly useful. If you carry it with you, those man-eating monsters won't be able to find you. I escaped because I accidentally discovered it. But ever since then, Grandpa gave me a severe beating, and I've never dared to go into the mountains again..." Seemingly realizing she'd gone off-topic, Qu Ling shook her head and quickly added, "What I really wanted to say is, Brother Li, if you encounter any danger, take it with you, and those monsters will definitely not be able to find you!"

Li Wei's heart stirred, realizing the value of the two items Qu Ling had given him. The secret entrance to the Hundred Wolf Cave undetected. The 'Demon Demon-Transforming Grass' was even more powerful. If Qu Ling's words were true, then relying on it would greatly increase the success rate of his assassination plan.

Li Wei had originally planned to find the Hundred Wolf Cave and figure out how to kill the countless demons entrenched there. After all, without eliminating them, it would be impossible to find the Wolf King hiding deep within the Hundred Wolf Cave. However, even with his divine essence, he wasn't sure he could kill that many demons. Moreover, as far as Li Wei knew, the Wolf King's cultivation was on par with his own, even with his divine essence.

Now that he has these two things, the problems that have been troubling Li Wei have been easily solved.

After seeing off the somewhat resentful Qu Ling, Li Wei found An Hei, Zheng Yutong, and the others to discuss the new situation. Regarding the hidden entrance, while they didn't know if it was real or not, the Demon-Transforming Grass was undeniably effective. An Hei quickly deduced that the fragrance emanating from its leaves could confuse the sense of smell of demons and conceal their own scent. He suspected that Qu Ling's escape from the perilous Quyin Mountain was definitely thanks to this 'Demon-Transforming Grass'.

Since it was effective, Li Wei naturally wanted to make good use of it. After making all the preparations, Li Wei had An Hei and the others stay in Quyin Town and agreed that they would have seven days. If An Hei and the others did not receive the prompt to kill the Wolf King after seven days, they would kill the demon prisoners to complete the main quest.

Feeling completely confident, Li Wei then ventured alone into the Quyin Mountain area.

Although he was prepared, Li Wei still sensed a strong demonic aura when he stepped into this area. During the interrogation of the wolf demon, he revealed that a Demon-Sealing Formation had existed around Quyin Mountain since ancient times. Although he didn't know which powerful figure had set up the formation, there was no doubt that this Demon-Sealing Formation prevented demon kings and other demons from setting foot in mortal territory. It could be said that without that Demon-Sealing Formation, the world would have long been filled with suffering.

Furthermore, this formation has another characteristic: one can only enter, not exit. Li Wei did not feel any obstruction when he stepped in, but when he tried to leave the Quyin Mountain area, he felt a strong resistance. This invisible force prevented Li Wei from breaking free even when he fully activated his divine energy.

"It seems that no matter who you are, as long as your cultivation reaches the level of Demon King or Divine Origin Realm, once you enter this Demon-Sealing Formation, you can forget about leaving. It is indeed powerful. I didn't expect there to be such a strong person in this mission world!" Li Wei was naturally referring to the master who set up the Demon-Sealing Formation. However, Li Wei was just expressing his feelings and had not forgotten his mission.

The first step after entering the mountain is to find the Demon-Transforming Grass that Qu Ling mentioned. The more of this grass Li Wei has, the better. Right now, thanks to the patch left by Qu Ling and Li Wei's deliberate concealment of his aura, he can barely avoid being discovered by the demons in Quyin Mountain. But this is not a long-term solution. If he encounters some powerful demons, they might be able to detect a trace of his presence.

Following Qu Ling's simple map, Li Wei quickly found a large patch of 'Demon-Transforming Grass' in a mountain valley.

"Finally found them!" Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the Demon-Transforming Grass.

To be honest, Li Wei wasn't sure if he could find the Demon-Transforming Grass, after all, Qu Ling had entered Quyin Mountain a few years ago.