"Everything should be fine now." Luo Xi saw Wu Youren gathered with the others and found nothing strange about it.
"We should be able to get a good night's sleep tonight. Can you sense anything?"
The youth from Jin nodded slightly. "There's no pressure. That should be it."
The female Knight, however, looked grave. "We killed a Clone Weird outside earlier. Don't let your guard down."
That Weird's actual strength fell short of either hers or Luo Xi's, but it could produce multiple clones.
Under normal circumstances, the two of them would have been satisfied with driving the Clone Weird away.
But wiping out all its clones could very well yield an unexpected reward, with much higher odds than killing other members of the Weird Race.
That was why the two had joined forces, ultimately slaughtering the Weird completely.
There was nothing particularly strange about the Clone Weird being able to influence and control so many leopard cats.
But the female Knight was thinking: This Weird must have followed us from Suotu Town. Clearly, it remembered its old grudge.
Then, if one could follow us here, why couldn't a second?
She had heard what the youth said, too. It was not that she distrusted him; there was simply no harm in being more vigilant at a time like this.
In other words, after their brief cooperation, the two groups once again found themselves with somewhat differing views.
That did not affect the overall situation, however. Everyone's main focus remained on keeping a careful watch and making it through the night first.
Next, the two Knights also heard that the large leopard cat had nearly turned into a member of the Weird Race.
Strictly speaking, this was nothing new. At most, it showed that Wu Youren's perception really was astonishing and that his strength was not bad either.
But after hearing the account, both Knights looked somewhat grave. The female Knight went so far as to say that the situation in Suotu Town really had become serious.
She belonged to the Intelligence Agency and had access to a wider range of information than ordinary Knights.
The Weird that had pursued them from town had not only traveled so far and controlled a pack of leopard cats, but could even subject them to Weird Transformation...
Then there was the fact that two martial academy squads had already been lost in Suotu Town, and the team she led had also suffered heavy casualties.
This matter really would not be so easy to bring to a close.
Fortunately, the Intelligence Agency possessed a vast amount of information on Weird incidents. Though the current situation was bad, it amounted to little when set against the whole of Great Liang.
Afterward, the leopard cat corpses scattered everywhere gave off a powerful reek of blood, drawing some nocturnal carnivores.
Most of the animals that came were small, but there was also a python, and beyond that... there were even night owls!
Some of the small animals posed little threat, but they triggered the alarms, leaving no one able to rest properly for the entire second half of the night.
They finally made it to dawn, and Luo Xi began taking stock of the leopard cats killed the day before.
He had an ability that let him roughly determine whether any Weird Qi remained in a dead animal.
Although these leopard cats had briefly been controlled by Weird Qi, for that Weird Qi to remain in their corpses, it still needed time to permeate them.
Ultimately, as meat-eating wild beasts, leopard cats had quite vigorous qi and blood. Burning them all in one fire would have been a considerable waste.
Besides, although night owl meat tasted somewhat bad, python tasted quite good.
While Luo Xi sorted through the bodies, the female Knight was doing the same-their group had also killed some small animals during the second half of the night.
She even asked Luo Xi to sell her the leopard cat corpses permeated with Weird Qi.
The Intelligence Agency had some techniques for handling such carcasses. More importantly, they could be used for all sorts of experiments.
The price, however, was much lower. For instance, she was only willing to pay five silver dollars for the large leopard cat Wu Youren had killed.
Had that leopard cat not been permeated with Weird Qi, it could have sold for at least twenty silver dollars. Once permeated, its price was halved.
And since she had delivered the final blow, finishing it off on the spot, half of half came to five silver dollars.
Aside from gaining some food, Luo Xi stood to earn at least fifty silver dollars from this battle.
Unfortunately, the Clone Weird he and the female Knight had killed together had not dropped anything good.
Wu Youren did not help clean up the battlefield, concentrating solely on his cultivation.
The female Knight could not resist asking again, "Does this kid always cultivate as if his life depends on it?"
"Of course," Luo Xi answered without hesitation. "That's how people from Red Pine Martial Academy have always been."
"Tch, as if we don't have anyone from Red Pine Martial Academy where I work," the female Knight snorted disdainfully.
"Among the eight middle-ranked martial academies, your Red Pine barely ranks in the middle."
"His combat strength certainly isn't fake." Luo Xi rated Wu Youren's fighting ability highly.
"That I do admit." The female Knight nodded, then glanced at the youth again. "The thing is... he's a little underhanded, too!"
Wu Youren's gains were simply too great. He had no choice but to keep circulating his breath or practice his stances and punches.
That large leopard cat had given him a double harvest-truly one cat, two helpings.
Although this trip had been rather dangerous, the gains were nothing to sneeze at.
Leaving money aside, the experience points alone were worth at least half a year of hard cultivation!
The main issue was that he had no panel and did not know whether these experience points could be stored permanently. It was better to digest them as quickly as possible.
If he failed to absorb them in time and they dissipated, that would truly be a terrible waste.
Once it was fully light, Luo Xi lit a pile of firewood and began making breakfast.
He and Little Wu had brought portable dry rations, which they could have simply gnawed on as they were.
But since conditions allowed it, wouldn't a hot meal with some soup be nice?
Unlike the two of them, the female Knight's group had off-road vehicles and had brought self-heating meals, clearly putting them another notch above.
She even invited the pair. "Come, want to try our food?"
"I've had it before. It's nothing special," Luo Xi replied. "Little Wu, why don't you give it a try?"
"No, thanks." Wu Youren uttered only those two words and sat obediently beside Luo Xi. I'm a man who stands firm.
This youth is called "Little Wu"? The female Knight had finally learned a little more.
But to her, that really was unimportant. She was very busy at present, mainly coordinating matters concerning Suotu Town.
Once she had some free time, she could learn about the youth with a few casual inquiries.
Just as she had said earlier, she had colleagues in the Intelligence Agency who came from Red Pine.
Before they had finished breakfast, her watch vibrated again. Her superiors were contacting her once more.
Around noon, two more members of the female Knight's team left on motorcycles to continue assisting the reinforcements with their investigation.
After lunch, Luo Xi asked Wu Youren how many more days he planned to stay.
Only then did the three remaining members of the female Knight's group realize that, when these two traveled together, the youth's opinion took precedence.
Wu Youren really did not want this sort of limelight, but there was nothing he could do. He could not influence Luo Xi.
In any case, once they returned and those two organizations investigated, his true colors would surely be laid bare. There was no need to fuss over such things.
He said they would stay another three days at most. If nothing new happened, they could go back.
Luo Xi felt a little regretful. He thought they could easily stay a few more days. He had not earned enough on this outing yet.
He certainly could not call it a loss, but he had not made much either. His motorcycle, ammunition, and replenishing his qi and blood-which of them did not cost money?
But he could not say that to Little Wu. A full-fledged Knight trying to persuade a Knight Apprentice to stay-what would that look like if word got out?