Chapter 29: On the Road

Ten minutes later, the villagers of Qinghe Village had finished packing, pulling seven handcarts loaded with Monster Cured Meat and wild beast furs, and departed from Qinghe Village in a grand procession.

After the village had been sealed off by mist for over a month, this was the first time the villagers had stepped out of Qinghe Village; everyone was very excited, just like prisoners who had regained their freedom.

Meng Yifan carried a loaded Elm Cannon on his shoulder, walking at the front of the crowd; he was currently the strongest among this group and was responsible for clearing the path ahead.

After everyone had walked forward for half an hour, they had already left the territory of Qinghe Village, and then they arrived in the area of Shuanghe Village.

Along the way, everything Meng Yifan saw was fields left barren and land cracked; the once lively Shuanghe Village had now become a ruin, with houses collapsed and the incomplete corpses of villagers visible everywhere in the village. From the jagged wounds on the remains, it was clear they had been gnawed on by wild beasts.

"Shuanghe Village was slaughtered by an army of wild beasts led by a Demon Beast." Meng Dayong's expression was sorrowful, and his eyes were slightly red.

Shuanghe Village and Qinghe Village were neighbors and often traded with each other; Meng Dayong's cousin had married into Shuanghe Village, and she was likely already food in the bellies of wild beasts.

Meng Yifan patted Meng Dayong on the shoulder and comforted him: "Dad, don't be sad. Shuanghe Village was likely within the sphere of influence of that Flying Tiger Demon. We have already finished it off, so we can consider it avenging the people of Shuanghe Village."

Meng Dayong nodded and said: "Let's move faster. It's too dangerous out here. Only by entering Luolong County City early can we be considered safe."

Seeing the tragic state of Shuanghe Village, the villagers of Qinghe Village all sighed incessantly. Under the leadership of the Meng father and son, they one after another quickened their pace and ran toward Luolong County City.

Two more hours passed, and the two villages they passed through had also been slaughtered by wild beasts. Seeing such tragic scenes three times in a row, Meng Yifan's heart was also filled with fury.

He was not only angry that the wild beasts were eating people, but even more angry that so many villages had been ravaged by Demon Beasts, yet the county magistrate of Luolong County had still not sent anyone out to subdue the demons. According to Meng Dayong, Luolong County had experts capable of slaying Third-Grade Demon Beasts; why didn't they come out to save the common people?

The Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty was founded on martial arts, its might shaking all directions and causing demons to retreat. How could it now ignore the fact that so many common people had been killed by Demon Beasts, letting the beasts devour them? How could such a dynasty allow the common people to live and work in peace, and how could it earn their support?

Seeing a leopard through a tube, one can glimpse a spot; this Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty, which had lasted for over a thousand years, was likely finished.

Meng Yifan had not yet truly come into contact with the ruling class of the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty, but in his heart, he was already very disappointed in it. In the history of his past life, whenever a dynasty was strong, the barbarians from all directions would have to bow and submit.

Whoever dared to provoke them would immediately be met with an invading army, fighting until the other side's nation was destroyed and their race extinguished before calling back the troops. That saying, "Those who offend my strong Han shall be punished, no matter how far away they are," was not just empty talk.

The villagers of Qinghe Village continued to walk forward. Before long, they passed by Sanlitun Cun, only to find the village outside sealed off by mist. Such a familiar scene left everyone filled with deep emotion.

Looking at this mist, everyone knew that Sanlitun Cun was also a hunting ground designated by Demon Beasts; whenever they wanted to eat people, they would send wild beasts to kill them.

Looking at the mist outside the village, everyone felt very uncomfortable in their hearts; they also wanted to break the mist and save the villagers.

The only method they knew was to slay the Demon Beast so the mist would naturally dissipate, but their strength was limited, and they dared not create extra complications. They could only wait until they entered the city to report it to the government and wait for the government to send people to rescue them.

Meng Yifan approached the mist and suddenly felt the Stone Disk in his pocket tremble slightly, which startled him, and he hurriedly took the Stone Disk out.

"Eh!" Meng Yifan saw with surprise that after the Stone Disk was taken out, the mist outside the village actually gathered toward the Stone Disk. Soon, a hole one meter wide and two meters high was sucked out of the mist wall.

The villagers of Qinghe Village stared dumbfounded at this magical scene. The villagers of Sanlitun were even more surprised; they discovered that the mist that had trapped them for so long had actually been opened, and they rushed out in excitement.

"Brother Dayong, did you open the mist? Thank you so much." The village head of Sanlitun was Wang Qiang; he was also a hunter and had even collaborated with Meng Dayong when hunting in Jiguan Mountain.

Meng Dayong and Wang Qiang exchanged a few pleasantries and introduced the current situation. Seeing that the villagers of Sanlitun had all come out, Meng Yifan urged: "Dad, Uncle Wang, the Demon Beasts could come over at any time. Let's hurry and leave this place."

Wang Qiang also knew the situation was serious, so he took the surviving villagers and set off with Meng Yifan.

There were only fifty-some villagers left in Sanlitun, including thirty-five young and strong men. They knew it was Meng Yifan who had finished off the Third-Grade Demon Beast, so they were all completely convinced by Meng Yifan and were willing to follow his orders.

Thirty kilometers away from Meng Yifan was a village named Xiaowangzhuang, where another Third-Grade Flying Tiger Demon was leading its subordinate Demon Beasts to slaughter the villagers. Suddenly, it froze.

"Someone destroyed the mist set up by this Great King? Eh! Is this the Tiger Mark of that idiot Hu Dali? It was finished off by humans."

This Flying Tiger Demon was named Hu Dazhuang; it was a Third-Grade High-Tier Demon Beast and was stronger than Hu Dali. Sensing the Tiger Mark, it flapped its wings, preparing to go and avenge Hu Dali.

But just as Hu Dazhuang was about to set off, it suddenly thought that although Hu Dali was not considered an expert among the Flying Tiger Demon tribe, being able to finish off a Third-Grade Demon Beast meant that a Third-Grade or higher human expert had likely intervened, or the humans had used a large number of cannons.

Regardless of the situation, if the humans could finish off Hu Dali, they could also finish off Hu Dazhuang, who was also Third-Grade.

"Report to the tribe elders first and let them decide what to do. Are there only a dozen humans left? Then it's not worth maintaining the Array Disk to seal the village." Hu Dazhuang opened its large mouth and inhaled; the mist outside the village gathered toward a palm-sized Stone Disk, which was then swallowed into Hu Dazhuang's belly.

If Meng Yifan were here, he would surely be surprised; Hu Dazhuang's Stone Disk was very similar to the one in Meng Yifan's bosom, as if they were cast from the same mold.

"Roar!" Hu Dazhuang let out a roar, ordering the army of wild beasts to retreat with it. It had sensed the person carrying Hu Dali's mark and was heading in that direction; it did not want to cross paths with such an expert now, so it was better to retreat early.

The villagers of Xiaowangzhuang had been slaughtered until only a dozen remained; these people were already in despair. Inside and outside the village, wild beasts were gorging themselves, and a large number of wild beasts were charging toward the remaining people. Just at this moment, Hu Dazhuang's roar came; the beasts paused, looked at the remaining humans, and finally retreated with great reluctance.

"The beasts have retreated, we are saved."

"We survived."

"The mist outside the village has also dissipated. Did the government send people to save us? Why did they come so late? Mom, Dad, you died so miserably."

The villagers of Xiaowangzhuang felt like they had survived a catastrophe, one after another hugging the corpses of their dead relatives and crying loudly. Among the dozen villagers who survived the beast slaughter just now, all had relatives bitten to death by wild beasts.

The beasts had retreated, and the villagers looked outside the village, longing to see the constables of Luolong County or the government troops from other cities. However, they looked for a long time but could not see the figures of any constables or government troops.

"Strange, there are no constables or government troops. Why did the Demon Beasts retreat? Could it be they were full and didn't want to eat anymore? It doesn't look like it. At that time, many wild beasts were clearly charging over, wanting to eat the remaining dozen people too. They only retreated in a hurry after hearing the Tiger Demon's roar."

The villagers were completely baffled and could only suppress the doubts in their hearts to collect the remains of their dead relatives.

At the moment the Flying Tiger Demon Hu Dazhuang sensed Meng Yifan, Meng Yifan also felt the mark on his chest burning, which made him terrified. He raised his right hand, and the villagers all stopped, not knowing what Meng Yifan had discovered.

"Yifan, what's wrong?" Meng Dayong asked.

"Dad, the mark on my chest is burning. There are likely other Flying Tiger Demons nearby. Let's prepare for battle," Meng Yifan said with a grave expression.

Meng Dayong was greatly shocked and hurriedly arranged for people to form a circle with the handcarts. The young and strong men held weapons and stood on the outer perimeter, while the old, weak, sick, and disabled hid in the back.

Wang Qiang led the young and strong men of Sanlitun Cun to also follow orders, taking up weapons to prepare for battle.

Meng Yifan ordered four young men to carry four Elm Cannons behind him, while he himself carried one Elm Cannon on his back and held another in his arms, observing the surrounding environment with a grave expression, ready to fire at any moment.