Chapter 580: Fingers Snap, Years Pass

It was nearly time for the midday meal, and the courtyard was already bustling, with the fragrance of food wafting through the air...

In the small kitchen, the dishes had all been prepared.

He Laotou personally packed them into three large food boxes one by one. He carefully closed the lid of the last box, turned his head, looked at Duan Rong, and said, "The sides of the food boxes are labeled. This one is for the First Chief, this one for the Second Chief, and this one for the Third Chief. You must remember them clearly. The three chiefs have different dietary restrictions; you must never mix them up!"

Duan Rong looked at the food boxes, nodded, and said, "Old He, don't worry, I won't make a mistake."

He Laotou picked up two of the food boxes, one in each hand, and said, "I've already picked up the Third Chief's box. Today is your first day, so I will take you to learn the way."

Duan Rong was thin and small, and he lifted the third food box with some effort, following behind He Laotou as they walked out of the courtyard.

Although He Laotou looked a bit old, his body was very sturdy, and he carried the two food boxes without any effort. As he walked, he said to Duan Rong, "I will deliver the daily meals for the First Chief and the Second Chief. The Third Chief lives on the other side, so you will deliver his."

Duan Rong said, "Understood, Old He."

He Laotou continued, "I haven't finished yet. You must also remember the way to the First and Second Chiefs' places clearly. Although you don't need to deliver their daily meals, the three chiefs sometimes need things on short notice, such as soup or late-night snacks to go with their wine; you will be the one to deliver those as well."

After He Laotou finished speaking, seeing that Duan Rong didn't respond, he said, "Did you remember?"

Duan Rong said, "I remembered."

He Laotou said, "I mean, the path we walked here, did you remember it?"

Duan Rong had actually been diligently memorizing the path, but at this moment, he feigned ignorance and said, "The path?!"

He Laotou stopped, turned back, and said, "We just turned a corner over there; pay attention."

Duan Rong said, "Understood, Old He. I have remembered it."

The two walked for another stretch when He Laotou suddenly stood by a large overturned millstone on the side of the road and said, "Remember this millstone. Going south from here leads to the First Chief's place, and going east leads to the Second Chief's place."

After He Laotou finished speaking, he continued walking forward.

Duan Rong stood by the millstone, looked left and right, his eyes flickering.

From the millstone, after about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the two had reached the innermost part of the mountain stronghold, near the mountain itself.

From afar, Duan Rong saw a strange building constructed against the mountain, surrounded by high walls on two sides, making it difficult to see the true appearance of the structure inside.

He Laotou said, "That is the bunker where the First Chief lives!"

Duan Rong gasped as he walked.

To think that Meng Zongqiu lived in such a place!

Duan Rong knew without thinking that the gold and silver treasures in the stronghold must all be hidden by Meng Zongqiu inside that bunker.

And inside that bunker, there must be countless traps!

That Jiang Hanyan's obsession was actually to kill Meng Zongqiu—what a pipe dream!

Such a fierce bandit who licked blood from the edge of a blade was the most afraid of death! How could it be so easy to strike!

Duan Rong relied on the Devouring Artifact Spirit to display his knife skills, all so he could get close to He Laotou and make it convenient to use poison!

After all, he had another advantage: he could identify hundreds of herbs and was skilled in the Poison Path! But the moment he saw this bunker, Duan Rong no longer held any hope of being able to poison Meng Zongqiu to death.

Not only did Meng Zongqiu live in this bunker, but on the day of the village massacre, he had stood at the village entrance on horseback with his face wrapped in a headscarf; to this day, Duan Rong had not even seen his face.

All of this spoke to one thing: Meng Zongqiu was an extremely cautious person. For such a person, trying to tamper with his food was equivalent to suicide!

Unless one had an extremely clever method of poisoning or an extremely hidden poison, and Duan Rong possessed neither of these right now.

A so-called extremely clever method of poisoning required a deep understanding of the target person to potentially start from the details of their daily life and achieve the goal of deceiving everyone.

But Meng Zongqiu clearly hid everything about himself very well, precisely so that no one could understand him!

If no one understood him, no one could target him!

This stronghold was full of horse bandits; did Meng Zongqiu even trust his own subordinates? The food delivered every day was likely tested for poison with a Silver Needle!

The moment Duan Rong saw the bunker, he already felt it was impossible to kill Meng Zongqiu using poison.

He Laotou led Duan Rong to the front of the bunker, set down the food box, and pulled a rope there; a pleasant bell sound immediately rang out from within the high walls.

Then, a thick wooden door in front of them opened, and a young man with a sinister, pale complexion walked out, gesturing at the food box and saying something in gibberish.

Duan Rong's eyes shifted. The man looked decent enough, but unexpectedly, he was a mute.

He Laotou handed over the First Chief's food box, then pointed at Duan Rong and said, "From now on, the job of delivering meals is handed over to him!"

The young man with the sinister complexion glanced at Duan Rong coldly, then carried the food box inside and slammed the wooden door shut with a bang.

He Laotou seemed accustomed to this and didn't mind the man's rudeness, turning around to say, "Let's go, we're going to the Second Chief's place."

Duan Rong followed He Laotou for a few steps and asked, "Is that man a mute?"

He Laotou said, "He wasn't originally a mute; his tongue was just cut out by the First Chief. Anyone who enters the bunker cannot have a tongue, and they also cannot be literate!"

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong's heart tightened. Without a tongue and unable to read, it was impossible to pass information out.

This Meng Zongqiu was truly ruthless; this way, no one on the outside could ever know what he was doing inside that bunker!

This person was not easy to deal with!

He Laotou and Duan Rong arrived at the courtyard where the Second Chief lived. The Guard at the gate glanced at He Laotou and said, "The Second Chief is not here; just leave the food here."

He Laotou set down the food box and left with Duan Rong.

Duan Rong stood there and took a look at the courtyard; it was just an ordinary courtyard, nothing special.

Next, He Laotou led Duan Rong to the Third Chief's courtyard. As soon as they neared the courtyard, Duan Rong heard a burst of coquettish laughter.

The Guard at the gate saw He Laotou and a child carrying a food box, so he let them in directly.

Duan Rong followed He Laotou as they hurried across the courtyard!

He Laotou stood under the eaves and called out, "Third Master! Your servant has brought your meal!"

The laughter inside stopped, and Li Tang's clear voice came out. "Old He! Come in! I'm starving!"

He Laotou then led Duan Rong into the room.

Duan Rong carried the food box, entered with his head bowed and eyes lowered, not daring to look up.

As soon as He Laotou walked in, he pointed at Duan Rong behind him and smiled, "Third Master, from now on, your meals will be delivered by him. His name is Duan Rong."

"Duan Rong?" Li Tang turned his head to look at Duan Rong upon hearing this. Seeing it was a new face, he asked, "What about Wang Long? Didn't we just change the person two days ago? And now it's changed again!"

He Laotou laughed: "Wang Long won't do. His work is a bit lacking! This kid is sharp, and his work is clever too!"

"Is that so?" Li Tang only asked casually, not really caring. "Whoever delivers it is fine, as long as the food is prepared well!"

He Laotou turned his face away and shouted at Duan Rong. "Duan Rong! Why aren't you hurrying to set the dishes for Third Chief!"

Duan Rong immediately carried the food box to the table, opened it, and served the dishes inside, one plate after another.

Li Tang was sitting at the table, sipping clear tea, with a woman dressed in red and green, wearing a gold hairpin, sitting beside him. When Duan Rong placed the dishes on the table, he took the opportunity to glance at the woman.

He recognized at a glance that the woman was one of the five women held at the village entrance during the massacre yesterday. Now, she was no longer dressed like a village girl; wearing silks and satins, she appeared quite noble, and with rouge on her face, she looked even more like a blooming peach blossom.

Moreover, yesterday at the village entrance, she had been crying and wailing as if mourning her parents, yet now, with Li Tang's arm around her waist, she was smiling and flirting...

This contrast between before and after made Duan Rong sigh in his heart!

For the sake of survival, people can let go of anything!

The heads of her family were perhaps still hanging on that tree at the village entrance, or perhaps even killed by Li Tang himself; otherwise, why would he have abducted her to the village entrance! With her relatives' bodies not yet cold, she was already wearing gold and silver, flirting with their enemy!

Duan Rong finished placing the dishes, then picked up the empty food box and stood there obediently.

He Laotou said: "Third Chief, please enjoy your meal, we will take our leave."

Li Tang ignored him, and He Laotou gave Duan Rong a look, and the two walked out of the courtyard.

As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard gate, He Laotou looked at Duan Rong and asked: "Did you remember the path clearly?"

Duan Rong said: "I have remembered it all."

"Let's go, let's head back!"

He Laotou patted the dust off his body and walked forward with his hands behind his back, while Duan Rong followed behind him with the food box, feeling heavy-hearted the entire way.

It was naturally difficult to poison Meng Zongqiu to death, as he couldn't even enter the bunker!

But perhaps there was an opportunity with Third Chief Li Tang! But even if one wanted to poison Li Tang, the poison couldn't be put into the food!

This required Duan Rong to think of a clever method of poisoning, not only to kill Li Tang but also to find a way not to implicate himself!

This was not just a matter of poisoning techniques; it might even require some special properties of the poisons themselves!

But the current problem was that he was trapped in this mountain stronghold and couldn't get any poisons at all, though there were endless poisonous herbs in the Endless Great Mountains outside the stronghold!

Duan Rong could identify a hundred herbs; as long as he was given half a day, he could obtain a large batch of poisonous substances of various types and properties.

However, he had no such opportunity now. They, these children, were laborers abducted from villages by the horse bandits; how could they possibly be allowed to leave the stronghold?

The stronghold was not small, but the vegetation and weeds were very limited, and Duan Rong really wasn't sure if there were any poisonous plants inside.

As Duan Rong walked like this, he began to pay attention to the weeds along the road and in the corners of the walls, wanting to see if there were any usable poisonous herbs among them.

Duan Rong was carrying the food box and using his foot to rake through a cluster of wild grass by a wall when He Laotou, who was walking in front, suddenly turned his head, looked at Duan Rong with a strange expression, and asked in a deep voice: "What are you doing there?"

"Ah~" Duan Rong was slightly stunned and said: "I accidentally stepped in some dog shit just now, I'm scraping it off here..."

He Laotou said: "Walk faster, don't dawdle!"

Duan Rong immediately followed, but that patch of wild grass grew very well, only there wasn't a single poisonous herb inside.

The two soon returned to the kitchen courtyard, where Guo Tian and the others were already squatting there eating. The lunch was still mixed-flour and wild vegetable steamed buns, but it was a bit better than the morning, with a bowl of pickled cabbage soup with floating vegetable leaves, which was already considered a delicacy for these children who were hungry all year round.

As Guo Tian slurped the pickled cabbage soup, he thought that with their current workload and such food, even if they used martial arts routines and mental cultivation methods in their minds, they would have enough experience, but it was impossible for them to achieve success.

Achievement in the Inner Breath Realm consumes a lot of Qi and blood! The so-called Internal Breath is refined from Qi and blood!

In their current situation, it was impossible to practice it!

What Jiang Hanyan said about everyone practicing martial arts was simply not feasible. And they couldn't possibly endure five or six years in this God-Demon Illusion Realm! But perhaps what Jiang Hanyan said at the time wasn't just nonsense.

Because as long as they didn't kill Meng Zongqiu and the other two, and dispel Jiang Hanyan's obsession, they couldn't leave this God-Demon Illusion Realm. Even Jiang Hanyan herself couldn't decide this point.

Can something that can be changed still be called an obsession?

The reason Jiang Hanyan proposed that plan was because, in her view, there was no better plan to kill Meng Zongqiu and the other two.

And Jiang Hanyan clearly understood this stronghold and Meng Zongqiu and the other two better than any of them. Although Guo Tian and the others had only been here for one day, they already understood what Jiang Hanyan meant.

In their current situation, trying to kill Meng Zongqiu and the other two was truly like a mayfly shaking a tree, a pipe dream!

Could it be that they really had to find a way to survive and master martial arts to get out of the God-Demon Illusion Realm? This was something none of them could accept!

"There must be another way!" Guo Tian thought with a cold expression while biting into a steamed bun, and just then, he saw Duan Rong following He Laotou in, carrying a food box.

Duan Rong followed He Laotou into the small kitchen and put the empty food box in his hand back in its original place.

He Laotou first gave Duan Rong instructions for the afternoon's work, such as what to prepare for the three chiefs' dinner, how to handle the meat bones, and how to handle the vegetables. Once Duan Rong finished all these, He Laotou would have an easier time later.

He Laotou finished giving all the instructions before leading Duan Rong to the stove. He Laotou lifted the pot lid, and a burst of fragrance wafted out.

In the pot were two bowls of food, one large and one small, with white flour steamed buns placed on top of the food.

He Laotou took out the large bowl and said: "Eat! The bowl inside is yours! Work hard, and in the small kitchen, there will always be meat at every meal!"

After He Laotou finished speaking, he carried his bowl and walked out of the small kitchen.

Duan Rong took out the bowl of food and the white flour steamed bun. He took a bite of the bun and a sip of the vegetable soup with floating oil, and as he chewed it in his mouth, he immediately felt a salty, fragrant taste.

He carried the bowl and sat on the threshold of the small kitchen, frowning and deep in thought while eating his meal.

There were actually quite a few strips of fatty meat in the food!?

He was thinking that if he couldn't kill Meng Zongqiu and the others for the time being, he would have to find a way to survive in this God-Demon Illusion Realm! It could take eight or ten years!

Whenever he killed Meng Zongqiu and the others, he could leave! From this perspective, Jiang Hanyan's statement was correct!

Nutrition and martial arts practice were equally important! No one could guarantee that they could kill Meng Zongqiu and the others in a short time and walk out of the God-Demon Illusion Realm!

Especially after Duan Rong saw the bunker where Meng Zongqiu lived just now, he felt even more that this task might not be completed! If that were the case, he could only accept the worst result, which was to endure here! To train himself into an expert again! Although this was very miserable, this God-Demon Illusion Realm was, after all, just a fleeting dream; once the great dream wakes, everything turns to nothing! Whether it's ten years or twenty years, it's nothing more than a snap of the fingers!

(End of this chapter)