Chapter 578: Mountain Stronghold

The horse troop trotted along the dirt road, kicking up clouds of dust.

The troop was not moving fast; after all, there were ox carts fully loaded with grain, so they could only proceed slowly.

Duan Rong and the dozen or so other children had their hands tied together by a long rope, the other end of which was tied to the back of an ox cart, dragging them along as they stumbled forward!

A layer of dust covered Lu Chu's thin, dark face, sticking to it with fine sweat. He glanced with a grim expression at the cold, gleaming blade held by the horse bandit riding a horse beside him, then lowered his head and whispered to Jiang Hanyan, "Hanyan, if we are taken back to the mountain stronghold like this, won't we be killed?"

Lu Chu's worry was also the concern in the hearts of Duan Rong and the others. They were all children now, with no strength to truss a chicken; any horse bandit could easily torture and kill them.

Moreover, if they were killed in this God-Demon illusion, their real lives within the relic would also be erased by the will of the God-Demons. That meant they would truly be dead!

Everyone's life was now extremely fragile, one could say as precarious as a pile of eggs!

Jiang Hanyan shook her head and said, "We won't die for now! They are capturing us to take us back to work!"

"Work?!" A look of confusion flashed across everyone's faces.

Jiang Hanyan said, "This is the consistent practice of the First Chief, Meng Zongqu! After slaughtering a village, he brings the children back to the stronghold to serve as forced labor. Because compared to adult laborers, children are easier to control and pose the least danger."

Hearing this, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief; at least there was no immediate danger of death. Although their bodies were weak and they had lost all their martial arts, they were, after all, adults in mind and had plenty of experience to draw upon. As long as they didn't die, there was still much they could accomplish.

Du Wan said, "Hanyan, tell us about the situation with the three chiefs of this horse gang."

Everyone knew that Jiang Hanyan's obsession was to kill these three people, so they had to know the situation regarding those three first.

Furthermore, the eight of them were huddled together at this moment. Although there were other children, they had been pushed to the side, so the sobbing children could not hear their whispered mutterings.

Jiang Hanyan cast a vigilant glance at the few horse bandits on the side of the road, lowered her voice, and said, "The First Chief is named Meng Zongqu; you should have noticed just now, he is at the Inner Breath Realm Second Layer. The Second Chief, Wu Mingfu, is at the Inner Breath Realm First Layer. The Third Chief is also at the Inner Breath Realm First Layer."

Du Wan touched the side of his abdomen, where his ribs were slightly protruding, and said, "Look at this skin-and-bones appearance! Starved like this, it's hard enough to even kill a dog, so how are we supposed to kill the trained fighters of a horse gang?"

Everyone sighed in their hearts; this difficulty was too great, an almost impossible mission.

Duan Rong stood there with a gloomy face, not saying a word. He also felt that as seven or eight-year-old children, wanting to avenge Jiang Hanyan's parents and eliminate her obsession was simply wishful thinking!

Moreover, he had just tried, and not only was his martial arts gone, but he was also unable to use his Soul Technique.

In fact, if he could use his Soul Technique, killing those three would just be a matter of three Soul Piercing Needles—he could wipe them out in a snap! But now, facing those three horse bandits, Duan Rong could not help but feel like a mayfly trying to shake a giant tree.

Honestly, they were truly too weak!

Du Wan said, "Hanyan, can you change your obsession?"

Jiang Hanyan glanced at Du Wan, her eyes firm as she said, "If it could be changed, would it still be called an obsession?"

In fact, in the real Nine Provinces World, many years later, after Jiang Hanyan had achieved success in her cultivation, she had returned to her hometown, Liangyuan Prefecture, many times to search for the whereabouts of Meng Zongqu and the other two, but despite her extensive searching, there was no trace of them.

Even after she became a personal disciple of the Taiyi Sect, she had used the power of the Sect, but still gained nothing.

At that time, she felt that Meng Zongqu and the other two were either already dead or had fled Qingzhou, which was under the jurisdiction of the Taiyi Sect, and were no longer in this territory.

Being able to use the power of the God-Demon will to re-enter the scene of that year this time actually filled her heart with a sense of being moved. She felt this was the best gift she had received upon entering this God-Demon Relic.

The hole in her heart that had existed for years might finally be mended here. She must exterminate these three!

When Guo Tian heard Du Wan suggest that Jiang Hanyan change her obsession, he turned his head to look at Du Wan and said, "How can she change it? If your father's head were hung on that tree, could you change it? If she changed it, would she still be human?"

"Fine, pretend I didn't say anything!" Du Wan said helplessly. He had only been complaining, but he was immediately rebuked by both Jiang Hanyan and Guo Tian.

Jiang Hanyan said, "Although we have lost all our cultivation, all the martial arts routines and Internal Cultivation Methods are still in our brains; we can practice them back!"

"Practice them back?!"

"Yes!" A flash of excitement crossed Jiang Hanyan's eyes. "As long as we also reach the Inner Breath Realm First Layer, by combining the strength of the eight of us and with a proper plan, we will definitely be able to kill those three."

Du Wan said, "With our current state, in this illusion, it will take at least five or six years to reach the Inner Breath Realm First Layer."

Lu Chu curled his lip and said, "Five or six years?! Du Wan, I think you're being too optimistic!"

Jiang Hanyan, however, said, "So what if it takes five or six years? As long as we can kill them, five or six years is worth it!"

This time, not only did Du Wan want to complain, but even Guo Tian looked at Jiang Hanyan with a strange expression.

Time within the God-Demon illusion was a thousand years in an instant; that is to say, once they walked out of the God-Demon illusion, it would be just like having a long dream.

But although it was only an instant in the real world, the passage of time within the God-Demon illusion was real—five years was five years, and five days was five days.

It wasn't that they weren't willing to endure!

It was that the longer they stayed in this illusion, the greater the probability of their death!

Jiang Hanyan actually said they should spend five or six years cultivating their martial arts to reach the Inner Breath Realm First Layer, and then combine the strength of eight people to kill Meng Zongqu and the others!

This idea was simply too crazy!

It seemed that Jiang Hanyan's obsession was truly bone-deep!

Guo Tian suddenly moved his eyes, looked at Duan Rong, who was walking to the side and had remained silent, and asked, "Duan Rong, what is your opinion?"

Duan Rong turned his head to look at Guo Tian and said, "To kill someone, sometimes you don't necessarily need martial arts!"

If they really had to wait to convert the martial arts memories in their minds into actual martial arts realms within the illusion, it would indeed take five or six years.

They simply couldn't afford such a long time, and what if there were some variables in the middle?

Hearing this, everyone felt that Duan Rong's words had a hidden meaning and wanted him to explain more clearly.

Suddenly, a horse bandit on the side of the road rode over with his blade, glared at them, and roared, "You little dog bastards, what are you whispering about over there?"

Everyone was startled and immediately shut their mouths. Du Wan looked up and said, "Sir, I'm so hungry I feel faint! I can't walk!"

The horse bandit sneered, pointed the tip of his blade at the ox's rear end tied in front of their ox cart, and said, "Wait until that ox takes a dump, and you can pick up some ox dung to eat! Fresh, hot ox dung is very nutritious!"

After the horse bandit finished speaking, he burst into loud laughter, and the few horse bandits on the side of the road echoed with loud laughter.

However, after this bit of commotion, the horse bandit rode back to the side of the road.

Du Wan lowered his head with a fierce expression and muttered, "Sooner or later, I'll use ox dung to stuff that stinking mouth of yours!"

Several hours later, the horse troop had reached the end of the dirt road. Looking out, in the distance were rolling mountains, shadowy and indistinct, as if they were endless and had no end in sight.

The ox carts could not enter the mountains! The grain loaded on the ox carts was then loaded onto the backs of the horses. Each of those few oxen could also carry several bags of grain on their backs.

The horse troop paused briefly in front of the mountains to reorganize, smashed the unloaded ox carts, and then entered the mountains along the rugged mountain path.

They walked deep into the mountains, crossed several mountain ranges, and finally saw from afar, in the twilight, a mountain hollow glowing with flickering lights.

By the time the horse troop reached that mountain hollow, in front of the large wooden gate, the sky was already pitch black, and the two lanterns there were emitting a faint red light, swaying in the mountain wind of the night.

The torches held within the horse troop also snapped and crackled in the mountain wind.

On an Arrow Tower standing beside the gate of the large stockade, someone was already holding a torch, beginning to exchange the password with the horse troop.

The firelight was bright; the person on the Arrow Tower had already recognized that the horse troop outside consisted of brothers from the mountain stronghold, but exchanging the password was a rule set by the First Chief to avoid falling for enemy schemes, so he could only comply.

Second Chief Wu Mingfu spurred his horse forward, and in front of the large stockade gate, he shouted back and forth with the person on the Arrow Tower in a gruff voice. It was all gibberish, and Duan Rong and the others could not understand it.

The person on the Arrow Tower, after saying a bunch of mumbling words that were indistinguishable as either beast language or bird language, suddenly shouted: "It's the First Chief and the others back! Open the stronghold gate!"

Immediately, the gate of the large stockade was pushed open by someone, and the horse troop entered the mountain stronghold amidst the bright light of the torches.

A person stood at the entrance, a small leader responsible for the guard at the stronghold gate. As soon as he saw the horse troop enter the stronghold, he immediately cupped his hands and called out: "This subordinate respectfully welcomes the three Chiefs back to the stronghold!"

Meng Zongqiu sat on his horse and said coldly: "Are the wine and food all prepared?"

That person said: "They are already prepared!"

Meng Zongqiu said: "Brothers, hand over the grain each of you brought! Tonight we drink until we drop!"

A mountain-shaking cheer immediately erupted at the mountain stronghold entrance!

Meng Zongqiu turned his head to look at Li Tang and said: "Third brother, bring the women you abducted today over as well; at the banquet, let the brothers have some fun!"

"Yes, Big Brother!" Li Tang replied.

A series of whistles immediately rang out at the mountain stronghold entrance, and those few women who had been brought in under guard instantly turned pale.

The cattle, sheep, grain, and women were all taken away.

Only two horse bandits, pulling the rope that bound Duan Rong and the other children, walked from the patch of light at the entrance toward a remote, dark corner.

Both of those horse bandits were grumbling.

"They get to eat and drink to their hearts' content! But they left the job of delivering these little puppies to the two of us!"

"Enough. I know you're thinking about those few women, but even if you went now, it wouldn't be your turn."

The two horse bandits escorted the dozen or so children into a courtyard; at this time, the courtyard was completely silent, but there was a distinct, heavy smell of cooking fumes and swill here.

"Old He! Sleeping so early! We've brought you some labor!"

Following a shout from one of the horse bandits, a dim yellow light suddenly lit up on the window of a room in the courtyard, the door opened, and a lean old man of fifty or sixty, draped in clothes and carrying a lantern, walked out.

The old man muttered as he walked: "To prepare the welcome banquet for you lot, my old bones are about to fall apart. Can't I even get a little early sleep?!"

This courtyard was the kitchen of the mountain stronghold, where the food for the entire stronghold was handled. The lean old man before them, named He Chong, was the person in charge of this kitchen.

He carried the lantern, swept his sharp, piercing gaze over the dozen or so children, and sighed: "They're all so thin, what strength could they have!? They're nothing but mouths to feed!"

The horse bandit said: "It's a bad year! They're all starved!"

Old He shook his head and said: "Alright, you two go!"

The two horse bandits, upon hearing this, were about to leave with their blades, but Old He suddenly said: "Wait. Cut the rope binding them." The two horse bandits had no choice but to turn back and use their blades to cut the rope of Duan Rong and the others.

Old He had quite a bit of status in the mountain stronghold, simply because he could cook such good food; not only was he responsible for the food in the mountain stronghold, but even the meals for the three Chiefs were made by him in the small kitchen. Those two horse bandits really dared not offend him.

After the two horse bandits left, Old He carried the lantern, looked at the dozen or so dark, thin children in the courtyard, pointed to a low shed not far away, and said: "Sleeping is in there! It's a large communal bed, go find a spot yourselves! It's too late now, there's no food left, but there is water in the water vat over there! I'll give you a warning: don't think about escaping. This is deep in the mountains, filled with jackals, tigers, and leopards everywhere; if you get lost, you'll only die in the mountains. Furthermore, if you're caught after escaping, the Chiefs will skin you alive!"

Hearing the words "skin you alive," several children visibly shivered.

After saying this, Old He draped his clothes around himself and walked back to his room, extinguished the light, and lay down.

Those children then walked to the large water vat and began to scoop up water to drink. They had long been thirsty and hungry, their stomachs growling, and their lips cracked and peeling.

It would have been better not to drink water; after drinking, they felt even more agonizingly hungry.

At this time, a child on the ground picked up a few rotten vegetable leaves, and those few children immediately began to scramble for them.

Duan Rong and the other seven did not pay attention to the children scrambling for rotten vegetable leaves; they left the water vat and headed toward the place to sleep.

Just as they stepped into the pitch-black room, a smell mixed with stinky feet and farts rushed toward them. The few of them coughed a few times but still walked inside.

In the darkness, the sound of snoring rose and fell!

They stood in the darkness for a while, their eyes gradually adapting to the light in the dark.

They saw that on the large communal bed, a dozen or so figures were sleeping sparsely; judging by their builds, they were all children not much older than them, just like themselves. At this moment, those children were all sleeping soundly.

Just now, Old He said that to prepare the banquet, his bones were about to fall apart; these children were likely suffering even more than him.

Duan Rong and the others found an empty spot, and the eight of them lay down huddled together.

They had originally wanted to lie down and think about their plans for what came next, but they were already so exhausted that as soon as they touched the bed board, they fell into a dead sleep, and even that agonizing hunger could not stop the intense drowsiness that swept over them...

(End of this chapter)