Qin Siyang stared at the middle-aged man's back, thinking quickly.
After taking a few steps, the man saw that Qin Siyang was still standing there and turned back.
"Outsider, aren't you coming?"
Qin Siyang was still considering whether to follow him and whether this was some sort of plot.
But however he looked at it, the trial's deadly trap shouldn't be on the road.
"Come on. I'll take you to meet the others. Some arrived before me, some after me. They know different things."
"All right."
Qin Siyang nodded and followed him, deliberately keeping a few steps between them.
With the middle-aged man leading him, he finally left the bluestone well.
The middle-aged man led the way with his lantern. Wherever its light fell, the houses that had seemed impossible to approach gradually drew nearer.
A gaunt old man sat at the entrance to the first house.
A battered wooden chest sat before him. Inside was a pile of copper coins and silver fragments, along with a few objects that looked like antiques.
He counted them one by one with his bony fingers.
After finishing, he started counting again from the beginning.
The middle-aged man said, "This is Tao Gong. He arrived a little later than I did."
The old man looked up and saw Qin Siyang. "An outsider?"
Qin Siyang nodded.
The old man grinned, revealing a few blackened teeth.
"Do you have anything valuable on you? Let me see."
Instead of answering, Qin Siyang asked, "Have you seen a middle-aged man with a bald head covered in scars?"
As though he hadn't heard, the old man stared at the Storage Tools at Qin Siyang's waist.
"Treasure?!"
He lunged off the threshold, reaching for the hem of Qin Siyang's clothes.
Qin Siyang flipped the Godslayer Spear in his hand