"They really won't report my identity to your superiors?"
The Dingzhen nun Dingzhen watched with concern as 9527 and his group helped each other away, distrusting them greatly.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine!"
Wang Hao, who was squatting to the side lost in thought, offered a casual word of comfort, but his tone was quite certain.
After reading through the booklet Zhao Fengxue had given him, he gained a considerable understanding of the current imperial court. The court was beset by internal and external troubles and was powerless to manage the martial arts world.
The current imperial court's main objective is to maintain stability in all aspects. As long as the Five Mountains Sword Sect does not rebel, the court will turn a blind eye.
Even if Zhao Fengxue and the others receive 9527's report, they will pretend they didn't see it, so he really just wanted to scare the little nun.
"Innkeeper, I'm truly sorry for ruining your inn. I don't have any money on me to compensate you, but those martial arts practitioners all carried Profound Iron, which is a treasure countless times more precious than gold. Once the fire subsides, you can get that Profound Iron and sell it in the Central Plains; you'll definitely make a fortune."
Seeing the innkeeper and others gazing sadly at the inn engulfed in flames, Wang Hao couldn't bear it and made a suggestion.
Although the shopkeeper and his assistants were also herdsmen from a foreign tribe beyond the Great Wall, Wang Hao had no prejudice against these ordinary people.
The only truly hateful members of the nomadic tribes are those in power; the common people are innocent and there's no need to make things difficult for them.
Of course, this is on the premise that these common people do not take up swords and bows and arrows and ride warhorses to wreak havoc on the borders of Huaxia; otherwise, he would not show the slightest mercy when he took action.
"That's really true!"
The shopkeeper was taken aback at first, but then he quickly thanked Wang Hao with great joy, "Thank you so much for your guidance, benefactor! I'm here to kowtow and express my gratitude!"
The innkeepers behind them quickly knelt down and kowtowed in gratitude, for this was a life-saving favor!
Although they didn't know what Profound Iron was, they knew the value of gold. And this Profound Iron was actually many times more valuable than gold, which shows how precious it was.
"Remember, you can only get a good price if you take it to the Central Plains. There aren't many people on the grasslands who know its value, and they don't have enough forging facilities to forge Profound Iron."
Wang Hao also gave timely instructions, as he did not want these Profound Iron to fall into the hands of the grassland tribes. Although it was practically impossible for them to forge Profound Iron weapons with their forging skills, what if something unexpected happened?
"Don't worry, my benefactor, I know what to do. Those noble lords of the grassland tribes are incredibly arrogant. They'll only rob anything they see that's good; they'll never trade with us poor folks. If we really take the Profound Iron, we might not even be able to save our lives!"
The shopkeeper replied with a sincere smile, his expression revealing a shrewdness; he was clearly a smart man who knew what to do.
"Good to know!"
Wang Hao nodded in satisfaction; he loved talking to smart people.
"I have other matters to attend to. You should return to the Mount Heng Sect by yourself first thing tomorrow morning!"
After dealing with the matters concerning the shopkeeper and his associates, Wang Hao turned to look at the little nun Dingzhen.
"No, I want to go with you!"
He shook his head slightly, Dingzhen said resolutely, "I know you're going to continue tracking down Yang Da... that big bad guy. I'm partly responsible that he managed to escape here. I'm going to follow him and help you get rid of him!"
"You're quite responsible!"
Surprised, Wang Hao looked the young girl in front of him up and thought for a moment before saying, "You can come along, but you have to follow my orders in everything. Can you do that?"
As he spoke, Wang Hao looked directly into those bright, large eyes. He would never have brought this girl along if she couldn't do it.
After all, this trip is extremely dangerous and cannot tolerate the slightest mistake.
"I promise I will absolutely obey your orders. If you tell me to go east, I will not go west; if you tell me to go south, I will never go north!"
The Dingzhen nun Dingzhen was overjoyed and quickly agreed.
Aren't you afraid I'll sell you out?
Dingzhen the innocent look on Dingzhen's face, Wang Hao was speechless.
With this kind of personality, going out into the world is tantamount to courting death; you're bound to get scammed and lose your life.
Fortunately, this girl had been with the Five Mountains Sword Sect. Those people were, after all, a reputable sect, and at least their behavior on the surface was quite respectable. Otherwise, this girl would have been in danger.
"Huh? Are you a human trafficker?"
The Dingzhen nun Dingzhen was startled. She blinked her innocent eyes and stared at Wang Hao, as if she was really afraid that Wang Hao would sell her.
"Alright, I'll personally escort you back to the Mount Heng Sect after this is all done!"
Looking at her adorable little face, Wang Hao sighed and decided to personally send the girl back later.
Although this place is not far from the Mount Heng Sect, only a few hundred miles away, anyone can walk back.
But that girl is a different story; she might get sold off on the way.
"Shopkeeper, could you please teach me the language of the grassland people?"
Without saying anything more, Wang Hao walked towards the innkeeper on the other side.
After all, the next tracking mission will likely take him deep into the grasslands, and knowing some grassland language would be much easier. Besides, with his current memory, learning a language isn't difficult; he can always activate his Dao Comprehension Function later.
After learning the grassland language from the innkeeper for most of the night, Wang Hao and the Dingzhen nun Dingzhen followed the tracks left by the cavalry.
After all, that was tens of thousands of cavalry. Even with the sandstorms in the Gobi Desert, they couldn't completely hide in a short time, allowing him to track them down. Now, he didn't even need to call Wangcai over.
Wang Hao sped along without resting for three days before finally arriving at the foot of a treacherous Great Snow Mountain.
At the foot of the mountain was a cavalry force of tens of thousands, which was the target they were tracking.
Wang Hao glanced at the cavalrymen briefly before ignoring them, then turned his gaze to the summit of the Great Snow Mountain.
From this vantage point, one can vaguely see a magnificent temple atop the mountain, suggesting that Yang Jingzhong and his men must have gone up the mountain.
"Wait for me in that mountain hollow over there, I'll go get some horses!"
After observing the general situation, Wang Hao told Dingzhen little nun Dingzhen to wait for him behind the mountain on the other side, and then he used the cover of the forest to head towards the other side.
Dingzhen watched Wang Hao's departing figure, she gritted her teeth and obeyed Wang Hao instructions to sneak into the ravine on the other side.
"Great, I can finally take a shower!"
Upon arriving at this mountain valley, the first thing that catches the eye is a small stream, which fills Dingzhen with joy.
Although it was deep winter and the weather was cold, this bit of cold was nothing to a Super-First-Rate expert.
After looking around to make sure no one was around, Dingzhen quickly took off her clothes and then, like a mermaid, submerged into a pool of water where the stream had stagnated.
On the other side, Wang Hao waited for Nightfall, then quietly took five warhorses from the grassland cavalry's encampment and headed towards the agreed-upon mountain valley.
"Ah!"
As soon as Wang Hao entered the ravine, he heard a low scream. Looking up, he saw half of a bald little head emerging from a pool of water; it was none other than the little nun Dingzhen.
Upon seeing Wang Hao's arrival, the Dingzhen nun Dingzhen shrank into the water, her pretty face flushed as she stared at Wang Hao.
Over the past three days, Wang Hao had explained a lot of common sense to the girl on the way, especially regarding the proper separation of men and women, which gave her considerable knowledge in this area, so she naturally felt shy at this moment.
"You're really brave to take a bath in the wild like this!"
With a helpless sigh, Wang Hao was truly speechless at the little girl's audacity.
Is this a case of exceptional skill coupled with daring?
Or is he just a naive fool?
"I wash very quickly, but the clothes dry slowly, so people have to stay in the water and wait for their clothes to dry."
The little nun Dingzhen, huddled in the water, spoke with a wronged expression, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"It's not that it's drying slowly, it's frozen solid!"
He touched the clothes hanging on a nearby tree branch; they were stiff and hard. Wang Hao was even more speechless.
This girl is such a naive fool!
In the dead of winter, with temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius, trying to dry clothes at night is just wishful thinking!
Aren't you afraid of getting sick from staying in the water like this?
Wang Hao sighed, took the clothes and shoes hanging on the tree branch and put them in the water. He vigorously shook them to break the ice. At the same time, he looked at Dingzhen little nun Dingzhen, who was still huddled in the water, with a concerned expression.
If someone catches a cold in this environment, even a martial arts master wouldn't be able to withstand it, and then he'd have to take care of the girl himself.
"Don't worry, the Lesser Yang Art they're practicing works best when stimulated in a cold environment!"
Shaking her little head, the Dingzhen nun Dingzhen wasn't worried about getting sick at all; in fact, her pretty face was rosy and she looked great.
"Slap! Slap! Slap!"
Noticing that the ice on the clothes had been shaken apart, Wang Hao picked them up from the water and vigorously shook them a few times to dry them off, essentially turning them into human-shaped spin dryers.
Although his cultivation level wasn't high enough to completely dry out the moisture inside, getting rid of 95% of it was no problem, and at that level it was barely wearable.
"Hurry up and get dressed, I need to take a shower too. Oh, and after you're dressed, gather some more firewood."
After placing his wrung-out clothes and shoes on the edge of the pool, Wang Hao got up and surveyed the environment of the ravine. He found a steep slope on the side facing away from the Great Snow Mountain, drew his Shameless Greatsword from his back, and began digging.
With his current strength and wielding the Shameless Greatsword, a divine weapon, he dug faster than an excavator, creating a large hole in half Tokiomi.
Fortunately, as the weather turned cold, the soil was frozen by moisture, so it remained very solid and did not collapse.
Meanwhile, the young nun Dingzhen, who was hiding in the water, saw that Wang Hao was busy and not looking this way. She then jumped out of the water, shook off the water droplets on her body, and quickly put on her clothes and shoes that had been wrung dry.
"That uncle is such a kind person!"
Feeling the clothes and socks were much drier, the little nun Dingzhen smiled Dingzhen much that her bright eyes curved into adorable crescent moons, and she labeled Wang Hao as a really good person.
Once everything was tidied up, the young nun hurriedly started walking around the ravine, gathering dry branches to use as firewood.
Wang Hao, who had finished digging the cave, came out, took off his clothes, and jumped into the pool to wash them. He also took his clothes into the water to wash them.
He had been traveling for more than ten days, and even though he rarely sweated due to the cold weather, he still had a musty smell and needed a good wash.
After vigorously shaking his clothes dry, Wang Hao put them back on and returned to the cave he had previously cleared. A fire had already risen in the cave; it was a campfire that the Dingzhen nun Dingzhen had lit.
"Is this the firewood you gathered?"
Looking at the small pile of firewood in the corner, Wang Hao's lips twitched. It was very different from what he had expected!