Reunited

Qin Fei unleashed his Cloud Treader, riding alongside the woman.

The woman was quite competent; she took advantage of the journey to introduce Repel the North City.

According to her, the city has a history of over a thousand years.

It started as a small village, but later, the Great Qi Dynasty, unable to withstand the harassment of the Barbarian Tribe, stationed a large army here, and it gradually grew to its current size.

The city was originally mostly inhabited by cultivators, but as time went by, the number of descendants without Spirit Root gradually increased, which is why so many mortals can be seen.

The city is divided into three areas: Tianshu, Iron Yue, Nether River, each governed by one of the three Nascent Soul True Lords.

The current location is Tianshu, a place where magical cultivation is prevalent and the arts of magic flourish, and the cultivators are relatively peaceful.

The Iron Yue District is the most popular area for body cultivators. It is a place that values strength, and the people there are fierce and will fight at the slightest disagreement.

As for the Nether River, it is a paradise for Evil Cultivator. It is a place where ruthless people such as Devil Cultivator, ghost cultivators, and Gu cultivators gather, making it a lawless place.

In addition, the three major commodities also have considerable businesses here, and their influence should not be underestimated.

However, Repel the North City is very inclusive, and small and medium-sized forces have a great deal of room to survive.

As long as you have a skill, you can generally do well.

Upon hearing this, Qin Fei couldn't help but nod in approval.

The cultivation environment here is much better than that of Shangyu Market, making it quite suitable for Foundation Establishment.

The two walked and talked, and it has to be said that Repel the North City was really too big.

Even with the Purple Flame Deer traveling with them, it still took them half a day to reach the southeast corner.

"The settlement for those cultivators in Shangyu Market is just ahead. Fellow Daoist, would you like me to continue leading the way?"

Qin Fei shook his head and said:

"I'll go myself, this is yours."

He took out a Spirit Stone and tossed it over; the woman caught it excitedly and then said:

"If you need anything in the future, please feel free to find me. I'm usually at the city gate."

Qin Fei nodded, put away the Purple Flame Deer, and switched to walking.

This place is quite remote, and the houses on both sides are mostly dilapidated, far less bustling than the city center.

However, the Repel the North City could provide such a place for the cultivators of Shangyu Market to settle down is already considered extremely kind and righteous.

If it weren't for the achievements of Shangyu Market in resisting the Barbarian Tribe, their treatment would probably be even worse than it is now.

Of course, all of this was irrelevant to Qin Fei; all he wanted to do now was find Tang Zhan and the others.

Qin Fei took out a communication talisman from his Storage Bag and tried again.

Sure enough, this time there was a reaction.

A glint flashed in his eyes, and he selected a direction and sped off.

Before long, a dilapidated old house built of bluestone came into view.

Several figures stood at the entrance; who else could they be but Tang Zhan and his companions?

Two children came running quickly, Qin Fei picked them up, one in each arm.

"In the blink of an eye, Ping An and Lening have grown so much."

The two are Tang Zhan and Xu Meiniang's children, and they are now five years old.

"Uncle Qin, I've missed you so much."

Tang Lening buried her head in Qin Fei's shoulder and said coquettishly.

But then, a voice came from the side, trying to sabotage the performance.

"Are you missing Uncle Qin? I think you're craving peach shortbread."

Tang Ping'an pursed his lips, but his face was full of excitement.

Qin Fei laughed twice, then flipped his wrist, and two peach shortbreads appeared in his palm.

One for each person, go ahead.

He put the two down and then looked at the crowd.

Long time no see, how is everyone doing?

As soon as he finished speaking, he sensed that something was wrong. Tang Zhan, Xu Meiniang, Tiezhu, Wang Hu were all there, but Old Zhang was missing.

"Old Zhang, he..."

"Brother Qin, you've just arrived and must be tired from your journey. Let's go inside and talk."

Tang Zhan greeted him, his expression somewhat forlorn.

Qin Fei's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't ask any more questions and followed the others into the house.

As soon as I entered, I saw a person struggling to get up on the stone bed to the side.

But he lacked the strength and fell heavily onto the bed again.

What happened?

Qin Fei frowned. Old Zhang's face was full of wrinkles, and he didn't look like he was in his sixties at all. Instead, he looked like an old man who was about to die.

"Qin boy, you're back. I knew you'd be alright."

He grasped Qin Fei's hand, a glimmer of light appearing in his cloudy eyes.

Qin Fei patted Old Zhang on the shoulder, gesturing for him to lie down.

"What happened?"

"We don't know either. Ever since we entered the city, Old Zhang's health has been deteriorating. These past few days, he hasn't even been able to get out of bed."

Tang Zhan let out a long sigh, utterly helpless.

Qin Fei raised an eyebrow, placed two fingers on Old Zhang's wrist, and felt a weak pulse, almost unable to feel it beating.

He released his Divine Sense to envelop Old Zhang, but still found nothing.

Qin Fei pondered for a moment, and then a vertical eye suddenly appeared between his brows.

After a while, he suddenly let out a soft "Eh," and extended two fingers to gently tap Old Zhang's chest.

Old Zhang's face suddenly turned extremely painful, and he couldn't help but let out a few howls.

"Brother Qin, you..."

Qin Fei didn't speak, but instead slowly raised his hand, palm up.

Just then, a small black hole suddenly appeared in Old Zhang's chest, and a worm crawled out of it, while the other half was still desperately burrowing into his flesh.

Qin Fei reacted quickly, pinching the worm out with two fingers.

Then a flame ignited at his fingertips, burning the worm to ashes.

Old Zhang has been bewitched.

Qin Fei drew a conclusion.

"How... how could someone have been so cruelly attacked?"

Everyone was puzzled, but Tang Zhan lowered his head in thought, as if he had thought of something.

Seeing this, Qin Fei turned his head and asked:

"Brother Tang, has Old Zhang offended anyone recently?"

Tang Zhan said somewhat uncertainly:

"We did have a conflict with a group of people, but that matter has been resolved. They shouldn't have gone to such lengths."

It turned out that after they rode away on Zhang Yu Motor Vehicle that day, they successfully shook off the beast tide's pursuit.

The barbarian soldiers who were scattered outside did not cause them any harm, so they became the first group of Rogue Cultivator to arrive.

Repel the North City has prepared many empty rooms for them to use at will.

Old Zhang had his eye on a large mansion, saying it had many side rooms, enough for everyone even if Qin Fei returned.

Once the decision was made, Tang Zhan and the others went to buy daily necessities, while Old Zhang stayed behind to plan the rooms.

To their surprise, upon returning, they found Old Zhang arguing with a group of cultivators.

After inquiring, I learned that the group of cultivators had also taken a liking to the house, and that they had joined the local faction of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

To avoid trouble, Tang Zhan and his companions gave up that house and moved to their current location.

If we're talking about targeting Old Zhang, only this group of people seem likely.

Apart from that, they didn't offend anyone.

After hearing what he said, Qin Fei narrowed his eyes slightly.

What's the name of that local force?

"It seems to be called the Blood Gu Sect. The sect leader is a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator. We're new here and didn't want to provoke a powerful enemy, so we didn't clash with them."

Qin Fei glanced at Old Zhang, pulled everyone outside the door, and continued:

"Brother Tang, I'd appreciate it if you could investigate the Blood Gu Sect for a while. If I'm not mistaken, they should be the ones responsible for this."

"Old Zhang is now out of danger, but the Gu worms devoured his life force, greatly shortening his lifespan. This grudge must be avenged in blood!"

After hearing his words, everyone's expressions turned gloomy.

"I'll go check right away."

Tang Zhan left in a hurry.

The rest of the group looked at Qin Fei with concern.

Is Old Zhang's lifespan severely depleted?

Qin Fei shook his head and sighed softly.

"Don't tell Old Zhang about this yet; he needs to rest. You should all be careful and try to keep a low profile."

"I plan to go into seclusion to try and break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. We'll discuss everything else after I emerge from seclusion."