Chapter 28

In front of Mountain Stronghold.

"Grandpa."

Watching the Pack Beast's figure vanish into the vast wilderness, Shan Guo'er tugged on the old Wizard's robe and looked up to ask, "You think Gao Jing will come back, right? And bring me candy?"

A trace of unease showed in her innocent eyes.

The old Wizard smiled faintly and rubbed the little girl's head reassuringly. "Don't worry. He'll definitely come back."

He could tell that his little granddaughter was not truly craving the candy Gao Jing had promised her.

She simply could not bear to part with her "little" friend, Gao Jing.

Although Shan Guo'er had quite a few playmates her own age in the Mountain Tribe.

She still seemed very lonely.

The old Wizard knew it was because Shan Guo'er had lost her parents.

And he himself was too old.

Until Gao Jing appeared, suddenly bringing much more joy into the little girl's life.

Over the past half month, Shan Guo'er had often carried Gao Jing on her back and run wild through the village.

At night, she listened to Gao Jing tell stories.

There was far more laughter on her face than before.

Gao Jing clearly liked the little girl as well, treating her much like a father treated a child.

Shan Guo'er's reluctance to part with him was entirely understandable.

"Mm."

The little girl nodded hard, then clenched her fists tightly. "If he doesn't come back, then I won't talk to him anymore!"

Her fierce little expression made the old Wizard burst into hearty laughter.

His aged laughter drifted into the distance with the wind.

At that very moment, Gao Jing, already far from Mountain Stronghold, seemed to sense something and turned to look behind him.

The earth stretched vast and boundless, the mountains rose towering and majestic, and the valley was nowhere to be seen.

Though the Giant Rhino Packbeast was clumsy and short-legged, it ran remarkably fast. Carrying Gao Jing as it raced along in wild abandon, it was impossible to tell how far they had gone.

Gao Jing signaled for it to slow down.

Looking around, Gao Jing found neither danger nor anything unsightly, so he simply had the Pack Beast stop.

This was far enough. There was no need to run too far.

That would be both a waste of time and unsafe.

He leaped into the wicker basket and began sorting through the Copper Anchor's storage space.

One only regretted having too few books when the time came to use them; no one ever complained that their golden finger was too big. When Gao Jing had first obtained the storage space, he had been overjoyed. Now, he was troubled by its insufficient capacity.

The Copper Anchor's storage space could hold roughly one hundred cubic meters of items. Most of it was currently occupied by various supplies and Red Serpent's corpse, making it utterly impossible to store all the Purple Sandalwood in the wicker basket.

So Gao Jing could only take out all the supplies, such as food and drinks, as well as daily necessities like the bow, crossbow, tent, and cooking utensils.

Making room to load the Purple Sandalwood.

But the snake corpse had to be taken back. Every part of the thing was treasure, and it had to be put to full use.

It was far more valuable than the Purple Sandalwood.

When collecting Purple Sandalwood in Mountain Stronghold, Gao Jing had already considered the transportation issue.

He had not been greedy, selecting only around sixty cubic meters of lumber.

Otherwise, if he had simply grabbed without restraint, let alone sixty cubic meters, even sixty thousand cubic meters would have been easy.

After fussing around for more than ten minutes, he finally got everything done.

Gao Jing noticed that there was not much Faith Power left in the Copper Anchor.

Using the storage space to store and retrieve items consumed Faith Power. The more and larger the items, the greater the consumption.

And in the Great World, he had not received even the slightest replenishment of Faith Power.

With only outflow and no inflow, it was perfectly normal for his already scant Faith Power to bottom out.

After returning this time, replenishing Faith Power would undoubtedly become an important task for Gao Jing.

He jumped back onto the Pack Beast's back, bent down, and patted the Giant Rhino. "We'll be right back after the commercials!"

Giant Rhino Packbeast: Ang?

Gao Jing chuckled, straightened up, and took a deep breath.

"Home!"

In an instant, he returned to the Main World.

A rental room in an urban village.

It was still that dark, cramped room. A faint, lingering smell of mildew hung in the air, while the noisy sounds from the street outside and the neighboring tenants seemed as though they would never cease.

Yet Gao Jing had never felt that this all-too-familiar environment was so welcoming.

And safe!

In the Great World, let alone the perilous wilderness, even in Mountain Stronghold, one of Gao Jing's nerves had always been taut, and his vigilance had never faded.

Only here could he truly relax.

Unable to wait any longer, Gao Jing stripped off his backpack and clothes and plunged headfirst into the bathroom.

He took a thoroughly satisfying cold shower.

After scrubbing himself clean, he changed into a clean pair of underwear and threw himself directly onto the single bed.

He would sleep until heaven and earth went dark!

By the time Gao Jing woke up, it was already evening.

He had been woken by the incessant ringing of his phone.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, a troublesome commoner requests an audience. Shall he be received or beheaded?"

Gao Jing reached out and grabbed the phone beside his pillow. Without even looking at the caller ID, he answered it directly.

This ringtone was set for friends in his contacts.

Gao Jing did not have many friends.

"Hello?"

"Old Gao, it's Zhang Hongyuan. Why didn't you answer any of my calls? What have you been busy with?"

"Old Zhang."

Gao Jing slapped his forehead and said apologetically, "I was asleep and didn't hear it. What's up?"

Old Zhang, Zhang Hongyuan, was Gao Jing's coworker at Golden Radiance Trading, an employee in the Market Development Department. Gao Jing had known him ever since joining the company, and they usually got along quite well.

Though they were not sworn brothers, he could still be counted among Gao Jing's friends.

"I'm back. I'm at Big Head Stir-Fry right now."

Zhang Hongyuan's voice was full of enthusiasm and delight. "Hurry over. Let's have a good few drinks!"

"Give me half an hour."

Gao Jing answered without hesitation, "Order a few more dishes. I'll pay the bill and give you a welcome-back feast."

He was already starving!

"Pfft!"

Zhang Hongyuan said disdainfully, "Like I'm short on that little bit of money? I'm paying tonight. Get over here!"

With that, he hung up.

Gao Jing laughed soundlessly.

Zhang Hongyuan was a good guy, one of the few coworkers at Golden Radiance Trading Company whom Gao Jing could really talk to.

But half a year ago, Zhang Hongyuan had been sent to another province to develop business, and the two had not met for quite some time.

They had only chatted on WeChat.

He got up, quickly changed clothes, and headed out to meet him.

Woof! Woof!

The instant Gao Jing stepped out of the alley, barking suddenly erupted, startling him.

He saw two Rottweilers on the sidewalk ahead barking wildly at a woman in a white dress who was passing by.

Rottweilers were large, fierce dogs with powerful physiques and vicious presences, so they looked especially frightening when enraged.

The woman in white was so frightened that she nearly dropped her phone, and her eyes had turned red around the rims.

"Come back!"

The Rottweilers had an owner. Their two leashes were held by a fat, burly man.

He tightened the leashes and put on a show of scolding them twice, his greasy face full of mockery.

There was only smug satisfaction, not the slightest hint of apology!

Gao Jing recognized this man with the Big Gold Chain and two dogs. He was the infamous idle rich upstart of the urban village.

He had struck it rich through demolition compensation and spent his days doing nothing. If he was not gambling with others, then he was strutting through the streets while walking his dogs.

Everyone loathed him.

Although Gao Jing despised the man's behavior, he did not meddle, since no one had been hurt.

He merely frowned.

The man with the gold chain led the two big dogs over, his gaze sweeping across Gao Jing's face.

Hmph!

He snorted through his nostrils, looking utterly contemptuous.

He casually shook the dog leashes.

Having received the signal, the two Rottweilers immediately showed vicious light in their eyes and made as if to pounce on Gao Jing!

Big Gold Chain had played the same trick many times before.

He did not truly intend to have his dogs bite Gao Jing. He merely wanted to see Gao Jing make a fool of himself on the spot.

In truth, though Gao Jing had lived here for four years, he had never interacted with him. They were complete strangers, without grievances or enmity between them.

But Big Gold Chain found Gao Jing extremely unpleasant to look at.

So tall and handsome, yet wasn't he still just a poor bastard?

What was he acting so cocky for? Let's see how I mess with you!

The moment the Rottweilers assumed an attacking stance, Gao Jing's face darkened.

He stared at the two vicious dogs that were itching to strike. His pupils suddenly narrowed into vertical slits, and an invisible aura burst forth from his body!

Whine~

The two aggressive Rottweilers instantly seemed to have been struck over the head with a club. They collapsed to the ground on the spot, voiding their bowels and trembling violently, their earlier ferocity completely gone.

Their courage had been scared right out of them.

Gao Jing gave a cold smile and walked away.

"Holy shit!"

Big Gold Chain was completely dumbfounded. No matter how hard he thought, he could not understand why his beloved dogs had suddenly become like this.

"Get up!"

Trying to show off only to be mocked instead, he felt he had lost face and yanked hard on the leashes, trying to pull the two Rottweilers back up.

At the same time, he kicked the dogs with his foot. "Trash! Trash!"

Woof!

The next moment, accompanied by the big dogs' furious barking, a shrill scream rang through the entire street.

"Ahhh~"