Chapter 734: Even More Disdain for Bald Monks

There was no surprise—five people were indeed directly put on the wanted list.

With the county town as the center, the wanted notice spread outward in all directions.

Fortunately, the Daughter Country belongs to the "ancient" era, so the wanted notice features portraits.

One must know that the five people only had a "brief encounter" with the people of the Daughter Country; the artist, relying solely on description, could not possibly reconstruct a highly similar portrait.

The key point remains the male identities of Dong Feipeng and the other two, along with features such as short hair.

Even if the portraits were placed side by side for comparison, it would still be difficult to find a strong resemblance.

As for Zhao Qiuming and Du Shuqin, the artist, who usually paints women, ended up depicting them more accurately than the three men.

When placed together for comparison, they could at least be recognized.

Thus, Zhao Qiuming and Du Shuqin resolutely chose to remove their makeup and successfully concealed themselves.

In this way, the five people managed to blend in for five days.

A few days earlier, they were discovered once; Tang Luo secretly intervened, expending one use of his ability to help them through the crisis.

Afterwards, they barely managed to stabilize temporarily.

At the same time, they also learned some details about the Daughter Country.

The exact location of the Daughter Country is unknown, but it is said to be remote, a border state surrounded by mountains on three sides—truly a place where no one sets foot, a towering primeval forest.

The natural moat also serves as the Daughter Country's protective barrier.

The only side without mountains is the west, which faces the sea.

To leave the Daughter Country normally, there are only two options: go west and sail out to sea, or head south.

To the south, there is a single land route connecting the Daughter Country to the outside world, requiring no mountain crossing.

However, on this essential route out of the Daughter Country lies the nation's capital.

The emperor guards the national gate.

Trying to sneak past would be extremely difficult.

Heading west to sea also presents difficulties, as the Daughter Country does not develop maritime transport, has no large ships, only a few small fishing boats.

Setting out to fish in the morning and returning by dusk, a single fishing boat can hold at most three to five people—this is the limit.

Moreover, according to the information gathered.

The western sea of the Daughter Country is an extremely dangerous maritime zone, where violent storms and rains arise without warning.

There are also rumors of sea monsters.

This essentially rules out leaving the Daughter Country by sea within a certain range, making mission completion unlikely.

Heading south, however, offers a relatively clear national boundary.

Everyone's current position is in the southeast of the Daughter Country, relatively far from the western sea but somewhat closer to the capital.

Regardless, they must now head westward.

Besides geographical information, the group also obtained some additional intelligence about the Daughter Country.

The first is that the Daughter Country truly has a Mother-Child River, just as in Journey to the West—drinking from it allows one to become pregnant and give birth.

The Daughter Country's population is sustained through the Mother-Child River.

It remains unclear whether the river's effect distinguishes between genders.

The Mother-Child River originates in the north and runs through the entire Daughter Country.

Second, the Daughter Country is not entirely devoid of males; over the years, many men and women who accidentally entered have remained, sometimes in considerable numbers.

Women are absorbed into the "Daughter Country family," while men are all assigned to mining labor.

This clearly shows the Daughter Country's rejection of males.

The Daughter Country has figures like Daoist nuns, but no Buddhist nuns, as Buddhism is banned nationwide.

Not to mention monks—even bald heads do not exist.

The court appears to discriminate against bald heads and monks alike.

Upon hearing this, everyone instinctively looked toward Master Xuanzang.

Fortunately, he still has hair and is a senior figure.

If a novice monk were to join them to complete the task, would the Daughter Country's fierce and vicious women not tear him apart?

Moreover, the most important point is that not all women in the Daughter Country are ordinary people.

Some of them know martial arts!

The martial arts from wuxia novels—leaping high, injuring with falling leaves or flying flowers—are truly extraordinary.

Tang Luo's expended uses of ability were due to the appearance of the Daughter Country's masters pursuing them.

It was a passing divine constable from the Six Gates.

Oh, regarding the Daughter Country's geography, to have a more precise map, it would be this "elite monster" "dropped" equipment.

————

"Is this acceptable?"

"No choice—we have to do this; we can't keep hiding in the wilderness forever."

We need to eat, drink, and rest properly to conserve stamina.

Five newcomers couldn't possibly learn Bear Grylls-style wilderness survival; we must enter the city.

Zhao Qiuming and the others are naturally female, so it's fine for them, but Dong Feipeng and the others have no choice but to disguise themselves.

Fortunately, their appearances are not ugly; barely passable, they look somewhat like masculine women.

Such people are not uncommon in the Daughter Country, so they don't stand out particularly.

However, places like small villages are definitely off-limits.

The probability of the wanted notice reaching small villages is low, but small villages have always been relatively closed-off; the appearance of strangers would inevitably draw villagers' attention and vigilance.

If a villager from the nearby county town happened to see the wanted poster and return, it would be troublesome.

Those bustling county towns are different.

Having more strangers around is quite normal.

Currently, Dong Feipeng and the five of them have not yet risen to the level of "nationwide."

The pursuit intensity is not strong enough.

A little cover-up, and entering most public places is no problem.

That constable from the Six Gates was just passing by, intending to casually resolve the matter by arresting three males and sending them to the mine to dig ore, but unexpectedly, things went wrong.

One can imagine that the constable later reported the incident upward.

The "wanted level" of the few people will rise from one star at the beginning to three stars.

As time passes, it will continue to increase.

The longer one stays in the Daughter Country, the more dangerous it becomes.

To complete the mission, naturally the faster the action speed, the better; this is actually a race against time.

But now, Dong Feipeng and the five of them truly have no extra energy left to race.

After several days of experience, their energy and physical strength have been completely exhausted.

Using the money taken from that incapacitated constable, the few people checked into an inn in two batches to rest.

Without recovering a bit, they truly cannot continue the mission.

After resting for two days, the few people basically recovered their condition and began planning how to escape the Daughter Country.

That constable is quite wealthy, so expenses in the short term are no problem.

Even buying horses is not an issue.

But no one knows how to ride horses, so this fastest means of transportation is useless in front of these few modern people.

Horses and carriages capable of long-distance travel are now beyond what the few people can afford.

The few people mobilized their wisdom, based on their usual experience watching various films, TV dramas, and novels.

They barely came up with a plan: to mix into a merchant caravan.

This is not some whimsical action.

Those merchant caravans that travel south and north indeed bear the responsibility of "transporting people" to a certain extent.

If one needs to go far away but worries about encountering danger,

one can give the merchant caravan some money and travel with them to one's destination.

Generally, merchant caravans will not refuse, as making money is the point—escorting people and goods are the same, as long as it's along the way.

Taking advantage of the current one-star wanted status, the few people paid two sums of money and successfully mixed into a merchant caravan that happened to be departing, with its destination being the state.

They set out on the journey.

The five people were arranged into a carriage specifically for "transporting people," traveling together with other travelers, which made for a decent disguise.

Dong Feipeng and the three others tried to curl up as much as possible to reduce attention.

Fortunately, the three of them were not from poor backgrounds and had never done rough or heavy labor.

The exposed skin was still fairly fair, not making people realize they were three smelly men.

They just felt that these three more masculine women were not fond of speaking.

Of course, such concealment absolutely cannot last too long.

The five people decided to act at the "next transfer point."

At night, the merchant caravan did not reach the next county town where they could rest, so they rested on the spot.

Living in the wild, Dong Feipeng and the others barely adapted; at least having a carriage made it much better than the first few days.

"I really envy the Master, by the way, is the Master a cultivator?" Bao Tian and Lin Zixuan accompanied each other to the toilet, and after relieving themselves, they did not immediately return.

"Are there really any cultivation skills that allow one to cultivate? Cultivation is good—eating wind and drinking dew, no, it's absorbing heavenly essence. No worries about food and drink, daily expenses would be small." Lin Zixuan pondered, thinking about how much money he could save after cultivation.

Bao Tian naturally would not have similar thoughts about reducing expenses; he was thinking about how strong he could become after cultivation.

For example, whether one could have a strong waist and kidneys, and so on.

The two were chatting idly when a sound of horse hooves came from the darkness at the end of the road, rapidly approaching.

Soon, they saw a group of people and horses approaching.

Altogether six people and six horses, holding lanterns, they moved forward in the night, arrived at the place where the merchant caravan had set up camp, and stopped.

The merchant caravan's camping site would not be far from the road.

After the group of people and horses stopped, they dismounted and walked directly toward the merchant caravan's camp.

Bao Tian and Lin Zixuan exchanged a glance and immediately felt something was wrong.

Through the dim, flickering firelight, seeing these people's attire, they looked like constables!

Could they be coming to arrest us? The efficiency is too high!

Can martial arts masters truly make up for the productivity gap caused by insufficient production?

"Master, Master, are you there?" Bao Tian immediately thought of the limited-use golden thigh, lowered his voice, and shouted.

"Speak normally."

Tang Luo's voice came from above their heads.

The two looked up simultaneously and saw Xuanzang Master floating in midair, sitting cross-legged on a blooming jade lotus, the standard image of an immortal.

"Master, are those people here to arrest us?" Bao Tian saw Tang Luo appear and immediately asked.

"Yes." Tang Luo nodded slightly, "The leader is precisely that Six Gates constable from that day."

"What!"

The two faces changed drastically—how could this be handled?

Just at this moment, a burst of noisy commotion came from inside the camp.

A moment later it stopped.

Through the flickering firelight, Bao Tian and the others saw three people being pressed out.

Needless to say, it was definitely Du Shuqin, Zhao Qiulu, and Dong Feipeng.

What happened to the agreed-upon one-star warrant!

"How did they find us so quickly!" Bao Tian was greatly alarmed and lost all color.

He had originally thought they could hold out for at least a while.

"How did they know we would be in the caravan, would take this road..." Lin Zixuan said.

"Easy to guess," Tang Luo reminded, "As people who strayed into the Kingdom of Women, what is the thing you most want to do?"

"Leave!"

"Run!"

The two instantly realized, wasn't that exactly it?

If they wanted to escape, whether going out to sea or crossing the pass, heading west now was definitely fine.

This road counted as a national highway, and was also the only main road; chasing along this road was perfectly normal.

Running into a caravan, stopping to interrogate them was only right and proper.

As a result, they directly crashed into them.

"Run fast, run fast!"

Lin Zixuan reacted, shoving Bao Tian; now they could only flee.

The Six Gates' Divine Constables, their martial arts are very high.

Five people tied together wouldn't be her opponent either; last time it was the Grandmaster who acted, this time would it consume Golden Thigh's uses again?

The uses aren't many!

Run first; as long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of lacking firewood.

Wait until we gain a foothold, then come back to save you three; now everyone can only fly off on their own.

"Wait!"

Bao Tian gritted his teeth, "I have a method!"

Before Lin Zixuan could react, Bao Tian voluntarily jumped out and shouted loudly: "Halt!"

His voice trembled a little, his legs were also shaking, but looking at the expression he forced himself to maintain, it was extremely righteous and indignant!

He had a bold idea.