Pingding Village

The city gates were illuminated by the morning sun, and the prelude of dawn gradually unfolded.

Ren Qing and the others packed their bags and walked out of Sanxiang City together.

They looked at the lush forest beside the official road, smearing insect-repellent potion on their bodies, and some even swallowed a few strange pills.

Although the destination wasn't far, they still had to travel through the mountains, so they had to be fully prepared.

This was Ren Qing's first time leaving the city since arriving in this world.

The others weren't much better off either—they were all born and raised in Sanxiang City, so the most experienced among them turned out to be Xiao Wu.

Ren Qing took a simple map from his chest, which marked the path to the rendezvous point, where they would eventually meet up with the Forbidden Guards.

But the actual Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone was still far off, and the Yamen wouldn't leak information about the restricted area so easily.

Ren Qing thought for a moment and said, "Let's set out first. We'll try to reach Pingding Mountain by nightfall—there's a village there where we can rest."

Wang Wen, a Constable and the oldest Yamen runner, had no trust in Ren Qing and couldn't help but repeatedly urge him.

"You'd better keep a close eye on that map. Don't go getting us lost."

"It won't be wrong."

Ren Qing didn't care about Wang Wen's opinion and directed the group to follow the official road.

The Fire Workers were in the middle of the group, while the Constables were at the front and rear to prevent any sudden danger.

Xiao Wu elbowed Ren Qing and whispered, "Qing Ge'er, we'll be walking continuously. Are you sure your body can handle it?"

Ren Qing shook his head and replied, "What's there to worry about? Besides, if all goes well, we'll arrive in two days."

"Mm."

Xiao Wu was still a bit concerned, since Ren Qing's health had indeed been poor a few days ago. It all depended on whether he could hold out.

The group gradually moved away from Sanxiang City.

But the situation wasn't optimistic—the forest beside the official road was clearly filled with the roars of wild beasts, and there were even movements stirring in the grass.

"Officer Ren, there's a corpse..."

The speaker was a man named Guo Qing, another Constable about the same age as Ren Qing, who seemed very uncomfortable in the unfamiliar environment.

Ren Qing went to the spot Guo Qing pointed at and examined it.

He found the corpse lying sideways in a mud pit, sallow and thin, wearing tattered cotton-linen clothes, with multiple knife wounds on the chest and abdomen.

"It should be the corpse of a mountain bandit, chased here by government soldiers."

Ren Qing was slightly puzzled. It seemed the mountain bandits were still living in relative poverty.

Come to think of it, merchant caravans rarely set out from Sanxiang City, so the bandits were just sitting idle and eating their reserves dry. How did they usually make a living?

Zhu Ding couldn't help asking, "Officer, weren't all corpses supposed to be burned clean?"

Ren Qing explained, "Government soldiers won't bother handling scattered corpses—otherwise, it could easily cause continuous mountain fires."

The group suddenly understood and stopped paying attention to the corpse.

Little did they know, when Ren Qing used his foot to shift the corpse aside, he noticed a large patch of charred black on its back.

He instinctively followed the direction of the blood trail from the corpse and saw, in the pitch-black forest, faintly discernible pairs of blood-red eyes.

They were lean wolves with gray fur.

The legendary Mountain Wolves were inherently extremely cunning, even following their prey for days on end to hunt them down.

"They're really about to become spirits."

Ren Qing realized the corpse had probably been dragged from the forest by the Mountain Wolves. They used the corpse to lure prey, showing just how intelligent they were.

Ren Qing naturally wouldn't let himself be targeted. Taking advantage of the others not paying attention, he opened his narrowed eyes and activated the Divine Feet Scripture.

A terrifying aura emanated from him. Xiao Wu and the others couldn't detect it, but the beasts were different.

The pack of Mountain Wolves let out low, whimpering howls and fled into the forest in panic.

The commotion made Guo Qing tremble all over.

He hurriedly drew the saber at his waist, only to find it was a false alarm—the wolf howls gradually faded away from the official road.

Everyone realized they had narrowly escaped danger and felt a instinctive sense of lingering fear.

After this incident, the group unconsciously quickened their pace, even hastily wolfing down dry rations for lunch.

They wanted to reach the open terrain of Pingding Mountain before dark, as Ren Qing had said.

Ren Qing stole a moment of leisure, using the excuse of yawning to stuff some Pig Eyes into his stomach through his Strange Mouth. Heat immediately spread throughout his body.

Mastering the Taotie Method was indeed convenient, but the one year of lifespan it consumed meant his advancement to Ghost Envoy Realm would be delayed again.

Every method had its pros and cons. At least for now, he was quite satisfied.

After traveling peacefully along the official road for most of an hour, it seemed the earlier encounter with the Mountain Wolves was just an insignificant interlude.

Soon, the official road forked, and a path leading into the forest appeared.

Nervously, they left the smooth official road and entered the muddy, difficult mountain path, which hid countless venomous snakes and ferocious beasts.

He could only be more cautious.

Ren Qing compared the map several times to confirm it was correct, then Wang Wen took the lead, gripping his saber as he stepped into the dense, boundless forest.

Light was blocked by the leaves, and faint strange sounds could be heard in the distance.

Ren Qing frequently looked up at the sun to confirm their direction, avoiding any deviation that might lead them astray, while also keeping an eye out for approaching wild beasts.

He had thought his cultivation at the Half-Corpse Realm would be more than enough to handle the wilderness, but he hadn't expected that continuously running his Double-Pupil would already start to wear him out.

This was only the mountains near Sanxiang City; if he went to those places filled with Forbidden Zones, he wouldn't last a few days.

Still, for Ren Qing, this was an opportunity to better master his techniques.

The group continued deeper into the forest.

By the time the sun set, they could faintly make out Pingding Village in the distance.

The mountaintop was surrounded by trees, but the center was an open space with a dozen or so sesame-sized thatched huts.

In this sparsely populated mountain village, most of the villagers were hunters who came to Sanxiang City every few days to sell their local goods.

Guo Qing's spirits lifted; once they reached the village, they could rest comfortably for the night and wouldn't have to eat the dry rations they carried.

Besides, he had a good relationship with the hunters in the village and occasionally drank with them in the city.

"Wait."

Ren Qing called the group to a halt with a strange expression, then found a thick tree and climbed up.

Xiao Wu's mouth fell open in shock—wasn't he supposed to have a Weak Physique?!!

Wang Wen was slightly displeased, but seeing the others waiting patiently, he didn't say anything.

Ren Qing ignored them. Standing at the top of the tree, he gazed toward the village, his Double-Pupil spinning faster.

But a Double-Pupil User wasn't good at seeing far, so he could only vaguely make out a dozen figures in the village stepping into the forest.

Then they vanished.

"What's wrong, officer?"

Guo Qing couldn't help shouting. As the sky grew darker, he just wanted to hurry to the village and rest.

"Nothing."

Ren Qing jumped down from the tree nimbly. Maybe the villagers had suddenly run into something; they might return to the village soon.

Besides, it was still better than camping out in the deep mountains.

He stayed alert and took the lead, replacing Guo Qing at the front.

After seeing Ren Qing's skills, the others had no major objections.

As they drew closer, the isolated Pingding Village came into view.