Chapter 77: 74 The Thirty-Mile Adventure

74 The Thirty-Mile Adventure

His vision blurred for a moment, a sense of weightlessness washed over him, and Tang Zhao found himself collapsed on a patch of land.

The shadow above his head vanished, revealing the brilliant sun; its warmth shone down on him, making him feel quite at ease.

In the blink of an eye, it felt like a lifetime ago.

Did he really escape?

Tang Zhao relaxed completely, sitting on the ground without getting up, and looked around to survey his surroundings.

All around were large trees, with vigorous shrubs and lush wild grass beneath them—a scene of deep, ancient forests, completely devoid of human presence.

"Sigh, still in the mountains."

Tang Zhao sighed, though he was not surprised.

The Judge had said thirty miles at the end, which likely meant a teleportation distance of thirty miles. That Daoist temple was already deep in the mountains, so thirty miles in any direction would most likely still be mountains.

But he wondered how far he was from Black Spider Villa?

Given: the temple was about fifty miles from the villa, and Tang Zhao was thirty miles from the temple; question: how many miles was he from the villa?

Solution:

Forget the solution; it was anywhere between twenty and eighty miles anyway.

This distance was neither near nor far.

At Tang Zhao's pace, even eighty miles could be covered in a day and a night; he could endure it even without food or water.

But he had to know the way!

While he could use tree rings to identify directions in the mountains, he did not know which direction led back.

If he kept walking in the wrong direction, let alone a day, he wouldn't get out in ten days or half a month, and might even starve to death in the mountains.

No way, he wouldn't escape the Wangliang only to starve to death in the mountains, would he?

Tang Zhao was only thinking about it; he wasn't truly pessimistic.

This was because he had confidence. If he had been abandoned alone in the forest a month ago, it would have been a death sentence. But now, he possessed a decent amount of martial arts, and a Dharma Artifact that was a match made in heaven—the artifact even came with its own fire source—giving him the capital to protect himself.

It was a pity no one had taught him how to survive in the wilderness. Chen Zong had only mentioned the names of a few "Masters" and taught him a few golden phrases like "tastes like chicken, crunchy and crispy," but provided no practical knowledge. He knew about protein content, but who knew where to dig up protein?

Better to walk a few steps first and see if there were any signs of human life.

Tang Zhao first identified the south using the sun, then made up his mind to head south, carving marks along the way to prevent himself from walking in circles.

He walked until the sun was high in the sky, and by the time Tang Zhao was hungry enough to feel his stomach rumbling, he hadn't seen a single household, which left him slightly disappointed.

There really was nothing to eat in the early winter forest; the last of the withered yellow leaves hung listlessly from the branches, and the layers of fallen leaves on the ground had rotted the sour wild fruits that had dropped a month ago into fertilizer. As for hunting, there wasn't even a rabbit under the trees.

Squirrels occasionally ran across the branches, but they were small and cute, making it hard to bring himself to harm them, and they were difficult to catch anyway.

Tang Zhao kept his hands tucked in, thinking: I heard squirrels hoard nuts and grains before winter, should I track one and raid its stash... would that be too heartless?

As he walked and let his mind wander, a riverbed suddenly appeared in front of him.

Tang Zhao felt a surge of joy, thinking: Could there be fish to eat?

Walking to the riverbank, he saw that the water had long since dried up, leaving only a deep trench.

Right, the water channels around here had all dried up; they said it was a precursor to the Yin Calamity.

He felt a bit dejected, then suddenly a thought struck him:

How many rivers could there be in these mountains?

Could this be the one in front of the Xue Clan? If so, if he followed the river, wouldn't he reach Xue Fu, or run into people from the Land Inspection Division?

Even if it wasn't that river, if people lived in the mountains, they should be near water. Even if they had moved down the mountain to avoid the Yin Calamity, they should have left behind a few thatched huts, or at least he could find something useful.

At this moment, having just fought a great battle with a Sword Guest, his mindset was completely different from before; he was no longer afraid of the human trafficker he had met earlier, and if he really ran into him, he could even vent his anger.

Unless another Sword Guest popped out in the middle of nowhere, he really had nothing to fear.

Surely a Sword Guest couldn't just pop out in the middle of nowhere so easily? Since when were Sword Guests in the world so abundant?

He followed the riverbed downstream. After walking for another hour or so, he still saw no sign of a household. Besides hunger, he felt even thirstier, and couldn't help but think: Has all the water in this riverbed dried up? Is there not even a drop left at the bottom?

Thinking this, he leaned over to look at the bottom of the trench.

The bottom seemed to be all mud... wait... what was that?

In a shadow where the sunlight couldn't reach, a silhouette was trembling. Tang Zhao widened his eyes to look closely; it vaguely looked like a...

Suddenly, the shadow moved upward, quickly left the shaded area, and climbed up along the slope!

"A person?!"

Tang Zhao was startled and hurriedly stepped back a few paces, gripping his Dharma Artifact, though he didn't ignite the flame.

The person from the riverbed climbed onto the bank and gently brushed the dust off their body.

Only then did Tang Zhao see clearly that the person was a woman.

The woman didn't look very old, had a tall figure, and was draped in a gray oilcloth cloak, looking as fluffy as an owl. Looking closer, it really was an owl—she was wearing a hat with an owl pattern on her head that covered her hair, and her head and face were covered in dust, making her look a bit gray.

In the sunlight, the woman took off her hat and used her hand to brush the dust from her hair. Seeing Tang Zhao, she said, "Eh, where did this little kid come from?"

Tang Zhao calmly tucked his Dharma Artifact back into his sleeve and said, "Big sister, I'm lost and haven't seen anyone for a long time. May I ask where this is?"

Little did he know that his sword was not a short sword, and it poked out even when tucked into his sleeve. This action made it conspicuous instead, and the woman saw it at a glance, saying, "Hmm? So you're not an ordinary little kid?"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "Since you ask like that, you aren't an ordinary big sister either, are you?"

The woman looked Tang Zhao over again and smiled, "You don't look like a bad kid, are you really lost?"

Tang Zhao nodded, and his stomach happened to rumble loudly.

The woman smiled slightly and said, "Wait a moment." She then sat on a large rock nearby, reached out from under her cloak, and he saw that she was wearing gloves on both hands, with one hand holding a book.

She took off her gloves, opened the book, which also had a pen tucked inside, and began to record something on it very seriously. The fluffy gray clothes she wore had seemed a bit clumsy, but once she focused on recording, her temperament changed completely, appearing focused and quiet.

It wasn't appropriate for Tang Zhao to see what she was writing, so his gaze shifted to her head, her body, and her wrists, thinking: This big sister is so rich!

That cloak, that notebook, that pen, the bracelet on her wrist, and even the owl hat she had taken off—they were all Art Tools!

If calculated at ten thousand taels of silver per Wooden Sword, how much would this set be worth? Even wearing gold and silver, pearls and gemstones, it cannot compare!

Could it be that another Sword Guest has truly popped up in this desolate wilderness?

The woman recorded for two full pages, then said, "Follow me; I'll treat you to a meal at least."

Tang Zhao was happy in his heart, but after following her for two steps, he thought: Wait, won't there be danger?

One must know that just a moment ago, he was in a life-and-death struggle with a Sword Guest; encountering another mysterious expert now, who knows if they are friend or foe?

But... in this uninhabited place, it is truly difficult to encounter a person; could he really miss such a golden opportunity just because of suspicion?

Actually, if she is an expert, that would be correct. How could one dare to walk alone in this godforsaken place without being an expert? And it seems she came here for serious business, not acting in a sneaky, ill-intentioned way.

Tang Zhao thought to himself, if he hadn't followed her from the start, that would be one thing, but since he was already following her, if he showed signs of suspicion, he would offend her instead; it was better to be open and generous.

While cautiously carrying his Dharma Artifact, he asked, "Big sister, do you live in the mountains?"

The woman said, "I have business here, so I am temporarily living on the mountain for a few days, and I will leave in a few more days. You came at a good time; you would have seen me in seven or eight days."

Tang Zhao calculated the days and thought: It couldn't be that coincidental, could it?

"Are you all alone? Isn't it very hard living on the mountain by yourself?"

"Hmm, water is scarce on the mountain, which is a bit inconvenient. And it's a bit lonely; do you want to stay and keep me company?"

"Ah... no..."

Tang Zhao glanced at the woman and let out a sigh of relief upon confirming she was just saying it casually.

The two walked for a while and saw a small house in the distance.

Just seeing that house, Tang Zhao was startled; no matter how one looked at it, that house did not look like a building one would see in the deep mountains.

No, let alone the deep mountains, such a building wouldn't even appear on the streets.

This building was round and bulbous, looking just like a ball, with two small horns on the roof that looked like two tufts of hair on an owl's head. The color of the house was also very conspicuous, draped in red and green with a touch of pink, making one's eyes dance with color. Several Lamp posts stood in front of the door, hung with strangely shaped lanterns that flashed and shone even in the daytime, and on the highest Lamp post sat a wooden owl carving. Beside it, among several large trees, one had a hammock hanging from it, and another had a swing tied to it.

The woman said, "What do you think of my house?"

Tang Zhao gave a thumbs up and said, "So flashy, like something out of a painting." After thinking, he added, "Cool!"

The paintings he spoke of were not ordinary ink or pastel paintings, nor New Year pictures, but the various illustrations drawn by Chen Zong; although Chen Zong's drawing skills were lacking, his imagination was not, and he could draw any style.

The woman said happily, "You have an eye for it. I'm just staying here temporarily, so I haven't decorated it specially; when there is a chance, I will take you to see the house at my home, which is a hundred times more gorgeous than this. And I also have seventy-seven owl babies that I raise."

Tang Zhao wanted to ask: You aren't an Owl Sword, are you?

But saying that would be too presumptuous.

And it might not be right either; if he were entering Black Spider Villa for the first time now, he might think Black Widow was a Spider Sword, but in fact, she is not a Sword Guest. There are many strange people in the Jianghu, and they are not necessarily all related to Sword Guests.

He said with envy, "I also want to build a house that I like."

In fact, he wanted a very large house to serve as the headquarters for his big corporation even more.

If he could successfully start that big business, he would fulfill his promise, hire Wei Zhangle as a high-level executive, and place Ping Jiangqiu's Time Jar in the innermost, safest place.

The woman said, "Wanting a house is not difficult, but building it yourself is hard. Looking at you, are you planning to be a Sword Guest? That is powerful, but you lose many possibilities."

The two entered through the courtyard gate, and just as they stepped past the Lamp post, they saw the owl sculpture suddenly come to life, cooing twice as if greeting them, followed immediately by the ringing of bells.

A row of bells of various shapes hung under the eaves; they sometimes made light sounds when a breeze blew, but at this moment, the sound of the bells was as dense as rain, ringing incessantly.

The woman originally didn't care and was even smiling at the sculpture, about to pull a rope nearby, when her expression suddenly changed. She stared at Tang Zhao and said word by word:

"Wang—Liang?"

74 The Thirty-Mile Adventure