Chapter 129: 128 Reaches the Hundred-Thousand Great Mountains! 62K Subscribers, Part Two

Yuan Province's economic conditions are clearly much poorer than those of South Province, and Wang Wu and his party of demons, led by Bai Tan, entered Yuan Province's first city only a short time after leaving South Province's borders.

The city is called Yao City, with over half a million people—quite a population—but its urban construction is evidently below South Province's average level.

No wonder you could always hear locals in South Province brag to outsiders before; indeed, it's not baseless, like flies not biting a seamless egg.

Tong Province, South Province, and Yuan Province are the three major border provinces in the south, with South Province being the wealthiest. Though South Province isn't far south, because farther south lies the State of Chu.

The three demons didn't stay long in Yao City and soon left, heading elsewhere; their destination was the Hundred-Thousand Great Mountains.

The entire western border of Yuan Province abuts the Hundred-Thousand Great Mountains, so Yuan Province faces little national defense pressure, because the Hundred-Thousand Great Mountains are truly enormous.

It is a mountain range roughly the same size as Yuan Province, nearly 800,000 square kilometers, of which 40,000 square kilometers lie within Yuan Province's borders, belonging to the Great Zhou territory.

The Hundred-Thousand Great Mountains often see humans; unlike Si Hun Shan, which ordinary people and cultivators avoid at all costs, the various mountain goods here sell very well in the market.

Heavenly materials, earthly treasures, all kinds of wild beasts and demonic beasts, and of course, demons.

Selling demons as edible meat is obviously the lowest cost‑performance method, especially since demon meat sells for less than demonic beast meat; the higher‑value uses must be…

There's even no need to deliberately capture them; many demons will voluntarily sell themselves into the various cities of Yuan Province… uh.

Demons themselves enjoy doing this; a female demon's body quality is excellent, internal temperature is high, muscles can be finely controlled to fit perfectly, even able to… In short, ordinary humans certainly couldn't endure it.

Thus in Yuan Province, demons are very common in certain trades of the major county towns.

"Ha ha, Brother Zhang!! Long time no see!!"

For example, now that Wang Wu entered the city with two demons, a few seconds later he heard this conversation.

"Hey hey! Brother Gu!! It's really been ages!! Let's go, today big brother treats, we'll head to Yan Yao Tower!!"

"Eh, this… sigh… wow, that's too courteous, too courteous…"

"Hey! We're brothers, why the politeness?? Let's go!!"

Watching the two link arms and walk toward some spot in the city, Wang Wu shook his head, his gaze sweeping across the bustling city.

It's indeed different from South Province; demons are common in Yuan Province, and a glance can spot at least two or three.

"Brother Li, have you been to Yuan Province before?" Bai Tan, now with a curious expression, looked around and after a while asked Wang Wu.

Although Wang Wu's strength far exceeds his expectations, and the other even has a master who has clearly surpassed human limits.

But Bai Tan, when interacting with Wang Wu, does not feel that 'restraint' one has when facing other strong individuals.

It's as if Wang Wu were just an ordinary person; his words, actions, and demeanor all feel very friendly to him.

"Never been." Wang Wu now withdrew his gaze; after all, he is from South Province, and Yao City's construction isn't worth seeing, far behind South Province—a half‑million‑population city is less prosperous than He Dong Xian.

"But there's nothing remarkable either." Wang Wu shrugged, "It's a bit poorer than our South Province, but understandable. Yuan Province has many mountains and few plains, unsuitable for agriculture, not as wealthy as our South Province."

"Whoa, another South Province guy?"

A sarcastic voice came from nearby, but Wang Wu ignored it, continuing forward with Bai Tan and Xie Yu.

His indifference doesn't mean others aren't affected; the other's sarcastic 'praise' wasn't deliberately muffled, so naturally others heard it too.

Because his aura is concealed, at this moment Wang Wu appears to most as a slightly 'inner‑Qi' ordinary person, not a notable strong one.

After all, operating under a false identity, he can't be too conspicuous.

"What? What's wrong with what they said? Is Yuan Province poor? What, does it hit a sore spot?"

Behind Wang Wu, another South Province person looked at the sarcastic Yuan Province individual, frowned, and said.

Both are cultivators, and their realms are not low.

Although Wang Wu concealed his aura, the two demons beside him did not—pure true‑realm great demons.

So his status immediately reveals him as a young master from a noble South Province clan, and judging by his looks, most likely from the Si Tu family.

Men of the Si Tu family are famed for their androgynous looks, though occasionally a masculine appearance is also normal.

"I'm not in a hurry either?" The true‑realm cultivator from Yuan Province clearly intended to pick a fight, showing no retreat, retorting, "What about you, why are you impatient?"

"Heh." The South Province cultivator sneered, cutting to the chase: "A duel?"

"Come on, who's afraid of whom?"

The two cultivators instantly shot upward, flying toward the distance, and even while soaring they didn't forget to attack each other:

"Damned mountain barbarians, if you were in the previous dynasty you'd be fodder for us to use as human livestock, damn it, truly despicable."

"Hey, hey, who doesn't know your Yin people are so mighty? So mighty yet you lost Chaoge, now you let the Zhou become king? You're just like dogs licking Zhou's boots. Look at your South Province Si Tu family, still Si Tu, why haven't you ever sacrificed for the Shang king?"

"Damn you! You're courting death!!!"

"Ha ha, getting nervous?"

Above the city, the two true‑realm cultivators instantly became streaks of after‑images in the sky; their artifacts shattered the air wall, emitting sharp whistles.

Even though it's only one to two Mach speeds, for ordinary people this already feels like the power of a deity.

Wang Wu is unaware of the conflict that occurred at the city gate after he left.

He entered the city intending to shop, buying some food to eat on the road and to spend a bit.

He bought some books, story scripts, and picture books. This world has things similar to comics, but closer to the 'lianhuanhua' from Wang Wu's hometown.

The main purchase was some exquisitely illustrated restricted‑level lianhuanhua… nope, not that; he bought popular folk tales instead.

The three female demons are now cultured and also seek spiritual nourishment. Wu Er Niang likes recipes, Zhu San Niang enjoys strange‑tale novels, and Shu Niang prefers legendary operas; each demon has its own preference.

As for Zi Yuan, she reads everything, but her favorite are books recording local customs and academic subjects.

Educational and academic books are quite pricey, as they say.

While wandering the city, Wang Wu ran into an acquaintance, Li Yuan. But because of Li San's situation, he couldn't greet him and could only observe him as a stranger.

Li Yuan was strolling the street with a plainly dressed middle‑aged man of about fifty, exchanging a few words now and then; their relationship was clearly very close.

Wang Wu initially thought the man might be Li Yuan's father, but the two didn't look alike, so he wasn't sure.

"Brother Little Lu, what do you think of this? How about buying one to take back to Tuan Tuan?" Li Yuan asked the middle‑aged man after picking a cloth tiger from a stall.

The man called 'Little Lu' by Li Yuan bore clear signs of age on his face: deep wrinkles, rough skin, and eyes that had grown somewhat clouded from drifting through the mortal world.

A cultivator's eyes would never become so clouded, even though they have experienced far more than an ordinary person.

Even a two‑hundred‑year‑old cultivator and a seventy‑year‑old person, though they have both endured countless vicissitudes, you can still sense in the former's eyes that youthful 'vitality'.

"This, this one is also fine," the middle‑aged man said, looking at the cloth tiger, his face showing a hint of interest until he turned his gaze to Li Yuan.

"Li, Li…" Staring at Li Yuan's face, unchanged from forty years ago, the middle‑aged man opened his mouth but said nothing, and lowered his head.

Seeing his reaction, Li Yuan fell silent as well, took the cloth tiger in his hand, selected a few more, then produced a string of copper coins from his Qian Kun sleeve and placed them before the stall owner.

"Let's go back, go see Tuan Tuan, Xiao Lu," he said, gently patting the other's shoulder.

The latter's body trembled, he inhaled sharply through his nose, then nodded.

"Alright…"

The two left quickly, and after watching their backs for a moment, the stall owner sighed and shook his head.

"Alas."

"Boss, do you recognize these two?"

After Li Yuan left with Xiao Lu, Wang Wu stepped forward, picking through the children's toys on the stall while asking the boss.

"The older one is my neighbor, Doubao Lu from South City, who sells bean buns at home," the stall owner said after hearing Wang Wu's voice and turning his gaze back.

"As for the other…" the stall owner smiled, "that's probably the good brother Doubao Lu often mentions to his neighbor, right?"

"They grew up together, as close as brothers. Later this brother showed talent and went to the great sect of Southern Province, and has been away for over forty years."

"Doubao Lu is already old, but Li Yuan still looks like a twenty‑year‑old youngster."

"Not bad…" the stall owner rubbed his eyes, "that brother still remembers him."

"He may remember, but I haven't seen Li Yuan give Doubao Lu a hand to let him also go to the Qingping Sect for a good life," said the stall owner from the neighboring booth, joining the conversation with a laugh.

"And he hasn't returned for decades, yet today you suddenly remember?"

"It's already good enough that he can come back to see you, and you're still thinking of taking him to enjoy a good life," the stall owner rolled his eyes:

"Doubao Lu could open that bean‑bun shop only because his brother helped; otherwise, he's just a farmer from a lower village, and wanting to open a bean‑bun shop in Yao City wouldn't be that easy."

"Li Yuan also comes from the countryside; fighting alone within a sect is already exhausting enough—he couldn't even bring his own parents into the Qingping Sect, let alone this brother."

"Do you think that once you enter the sect gate, your family can eat and stay there for free? Dream on."

"I didn't realize the boss knew so much about this," Wang Wu said with a smile after picking a few cloth toys, having listened to the conversation between the two stall owners.

"Hey, it's just hearsay, hearsay…" the boss scratched his head sheepishly, "Sir, have you finished selecting?"

"All set," Wang Wu nodded, pointing at the table, "how many in total?"

"Eight hundred wen per set, sir."

"That's quite cheap," Wang Wu said with a smile, pulling out a piece of broken silver and handing it to the boss, "just two or three hundred wen extra, you don't need to give change."

"Hey, thank you, sir! May your cultivation path be smooth sailing, and may you eventually achieve enlightenment!!"

Having taken a few hundred wen extra, the boss broke into a beaming smile, repeatedly praising the departing Wang Wu.

After collecting the money, he looked again at the neighboring stall's boss and raised an eyebrow at him.

"See? I told you my stall often gets cultivators coming to buy things, and you still don't believe it."

"What the hell, on what grounds?" the neighboring stall owner said with an annoyed expression.

"Haha, of course because my cloth‑toy craftsmanship is good; even cultivators find it appealing."

"To hell with you, lousy luck…"

"Haha…"

After meeting Bai Tan and his two demons on another street and accompanying them for a while, the three had lunch in the city at noon, and left only after finishing the meal.

They didn't plan to leave quickly; after all, demons have plenty of time, and Wang Wu also has plenty of time.

They leisurely appreciated the customs of the human world along the way, passed through several human cities, reached the entrance of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountain, and ventured deep inside to search for the demon city.

Thus, time quickly arrived at the end of January.

At this time, the human world truly entered the work period; the festive atmosphere had completely faded, those who should go out to seek adventure did so, and merchants had already been on the move since the first day of the new year.

With the new year over, more people began to appear in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountain.

Some make a living in the mountains, mining heavenly materials and earthly treasures; some capture demon beasts; some beat fellow villagers for extra cash; and some simply reside within the Hundred Thousand Great Mountain.

Although the forest is vast, Wang Wu feels it is almost as bustling as a human city.

Cultivators, ordinary people, bandits, and various Yao Mo Gui Gui all coexist in this boundless mountain range.

Demons do exist naturally, but their numbers are fewer compared to those in Wang Gu Lin.

This is a place where countless demons live, and not all demons develop the resolve to move to Si Hun Shan when their end approaches. Thus, when consciousness fully fades, they naturally become the wandering 'demons' of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountain.

This great mountain is also a breeding ground for crime; although catching demons is lucrative, demons are hard to capture, and now Yuan Zhou and humans have a more 'cooperative' relationship.

Moreover, there are many demon cities within the Hundred Thousand Great Mountain, and these cities are considered 'good demons' by the Da Zhou court; they are far more united than the wild demons outside, and they show no mercy to slave‑catchers.

The imperial authorities would never support a group of slave‑trading traffickers, so instead of chasing hard‑to‑catch demons, why not simply target easily‑caught human compatriots?

Da Zhou does not restrict human slavery; although privately capturing Zhou people for slavery is strictly illegal, as long as one doesn't sell them on the official market, it's fine.

Moreover, unlicensed slave trading—whether selling humans or demons—is a reckless business; who cares whether the captives are human?

Catching demons is best; if you can't, catching humans works too.

However, slave‑hunting squads usually target cultivators or yang‑energy warriors; ordinary people only have to deal with mountain bandits, so they needn't worry about being taken as slaves.

As they delved deeper, the surrounding forest grew increasingly dense; human traces were now almost nonexistent, unlike the shallow middle layers where small paths left by predecessors dotted the woods.

The three demons had been walking in the forest for over three hours; without speeding up, it was a pure strolling experience.

At sixty kilometers per hour, they took in the primal scenery of the primeval forest.

"By the way, you've never been to Yuan Zhou; are you sure the path we're taking is correct?" At that moment, Wang Wu, who had been trailing behind Bai Tan's rear, suddenly asked.

"Um, this, this…"

Hearing Wang Wu, Bai Tan also stopped, his face showing embarrassment.

"This, this… I actually wanted to ask my own kind after entering the forest, but it's been over an hour and I haven't seen a single fellow…"

He scratched his head a bit embarrassed, "Brother Li, shall we go deeper? If we go a bit deeper, we should be able to see other members of our kind."

"That will probably still take a while," Wang Wu said, "The distance to places where humans are active nearby isn't far; I reckon ordinary demons wouldn't appear here."

"Indeed," Xie Yu also nodded, "except for some demons…"

"Ha ha! Meat!! Meat! Meat!!!"

Just in time, it shows up as soon as it's mentioned.

A frantic voice rang out, and all the demons' gazes instantly turned toward its source.

A figure rushed toward them from afar; Wang Wu, even from a distance, could smell the other's scent, but he didn't care.

A demon with an extremely beautiful face, whose lower half was still wrapped in tattered rags, smashed giant trees one by one and lunged toward where Wang Wu and the others stood.

Yet the three demons' expressions were all very calm; Xie Yu stepped in front of Bai Tan, because that true‑realm demon's strength surpassed that of her own fiancé.

The demon was half human, half demonic, holding in its hand a half‑opened, already hollowed‑out person; its blood‑red eyes were filled with hunger for food.

"Alas."

Seeing a compatriot in this form always made Wang Wu feel a bit of compassion. Yet he also knew that for them in this state, death was the only good ending.

So he stepped forward, and while the excitement still glimmered in the compatriot's eyes, a cold ray shot from his fingertip, instantly piercing her abdomen and shattering her demon core.

Now that he had high‑quality supplements, Wang Wu naturally no longer needed demon cores.

"Rest in peace."

Wang Wu approached the fallen compatriot; Yin‑extreme true qi entered her body, turning her into an ice statue. He bent down and lightly tapped his finger on her forehead.

Her body then shattered, turning into countless fragments.

"Thank you, sir, for your righteous intervention."

Another unfamiliar voice echoed from the forest; Wang Wu looked toward a tree ahead, where a beautiful figure stood silently.

A face with striking features—by far the most distinctive Wang Wu had ever seen—because it was quite "handsome‑type."

This "handsome‑type" refers to the kind of "handsome" faces seen in the fantasy works Wang Wu's hometown enjoyed, but rendered more realistically.

Yet it was still very different from these completely realistic demons.

Moreover, Wang Wu noticed that this bird‑person also bore many demonic traits.

For example, the feathers at the wrists, the four toes below, and the claw‑like talons resembling knives.

The moment he saw those feet, Wang Wu lost all interest.

Boring—no interest at all.

"I am Bai Tan, son of the lord of White Horn City; may I ask which demon city you hail from, miss?"

Upon seeing the demon, Bai Tan's expression froze, and with a very proper demeanor he respectfully cupped his hands toward the female demon and asked.

Then he brushed up to Wang Wu and muttered a few sounds into his ear.

After hearing that, Wang Wu's gaze toward him became even more indifferent and desire‑free.

Not all bird demons are the type that are extremely loyal in love; there are countless ultimate playboys among birds.

Moreover, because birds naturally have a higher average intelligence, they can be even more extraordinary than those low‑intelligence animals in some respects.

Just as among parrots there are lovebirds such as the peony parrot and short‑term (but not long‑term) owl parrots, birds' mating perspectives cannot be generalized.

But there's no choice; after the demons have been shortchanged in this area, they would rather kill the bird demons by mistake than spare them.

"Brother Li, Brother Li, don't have any thoughts about this guy—it's a bird demon, a bird demon!"

These were Bai Tan's words whispered into Wang Wu's ear.

That sentence instantly made Wang Wu's gaze toward him become crystal clear, like that of a newborn child.

"Miss Hero."

Wang Wu also mimicked his companion Bai Tan's gesture, respectfully cupping his hands toward the other.

So did Xie Yu.

This bird‑demon species is avoided by ordinary demons like Wang Wu and his group, and the reason is actually simple:

She will fall in love with you, but if you're not a monogamous demon, she'll kill all female demons connected to you, then kill you, and then commit suicide.

If she can defeat you and those demons, then the outcome is this.

And if she can't beat them, unless you kill her, she will never stop pursuing you.

Regardless of gender, it's the same.

That's the reason.

"I come from Blazing Feather City." At this moment, the bird demon leapt down from the tree, cupped her hands toward the three demons, then looked at Wang Wu:

"May I ask why you bring your own demon slaves here…"

"They aren't my demon slaves," Wang Wu said, "I'm responsible for escorting them here."

"Not escorting, not escorting," Bai Tan interrupted Wang Wu at this moment, "We are friends…" but he stopped there, glanced at Wang Wu.

"Oh right, we're friends," Wang Wu said cheerfully, patting Bai Tan's shoulder, "I was afraid something would happen to him on the road, so I escorted him."

Hearing Wang Wu's proactive words and feeling his hand on his shoulder, Bai Tan's eyes brimmed with almost overflowing emotion:

"Yes, indeed." He also nodded vigorously, "We are, friends indeed."

Bai Tan was indeed a good guy—loyal to friends, generous in action, and capable.

So Wang Wu thought for a moment and then lifted the transformation.

"Actually I look like this, and I don't even have the surname Li," he said, looking at the unsurprised Bai Tan.

(End of chapter)