Chapter 36: Ambush!

Spring-Come Mountain is located on the outskirts of Huaigu Village. When the spring breeze arrives, it blows into the valley from this spot, hence the name Spring-Come.

A small temple is built on the mountainside, about a dozen square meters in size. The interior is simply furnished, containing only an offering table, two prayer mats, and a painted clay statue.

The clay statue is called Old Man Spring-Locust, and in the past, the people of Huaigu Village would come to pay their respects every time the Beginning of Spring arrived.

As mountain bandits ran rampant, the atmosphere in the hundred-mile Locust Mountain became tense, and the Spring-Locust Temple fell into disrepair.

Nowadays, there is a hole in the temple roof that no one has repaired. The hole is positioned directly above the face of Old Man Spring-Locust, and under the wind and rain, most of the paint on the clay statue has peeled off.

The plump, ethereal-looking old man has now turned into an unrecognizable, ugly creature, making him even more shunned by people.

Only one person still worships him every day.

A thin, small figure runs into the temple, followed by two rabbits and three squirrels.

The one person and five beasts place the food they have gathered on the ground, scraping together a handful of berries and a dozen or so nuts.

He takes a small pile to place on the offering table, then shares the rest with the animals.

To withstand the cold in winter, the body requires more calories; even though he is used to being hungry, this little bit of food is not enough.

He glances secretly at the clay statue, then looks again at the offering he just placed on the table.

If I eat a little more, Grandpa Locust shouldn't blame me, right?

Just as he is hesitating, a voice comes from behind him.

"A young person is in the prime of their growth, and you eat only this?"

Wu Chang waves at the Village Guardian who has turned around, pulling a chicken out from behind him.

"Do you want to eat some together?"

The Village Guardian nods so fast his head becomes a blur.

"Where is there running water nearby?" Wu Chang asks.

"This way!" The Village Guardian trots over to lead the way for Wu Chang.

By the river, Wu Chang uses a Four-Directional Age-Fire Lamp to start a fire and boil water. After scalding off the chicken feathers, he uses a precious sword found in the Chen family treasury to gut and clean the chicken.

The chicken was also taken from Chen Village; it is a wild, exotic breed from the mountains with five-colored feathers. Based on its appearance alone, if it were in the real world, it would definitely be a "prison-sentence chicken."

He chats with the Village Guardian while preparing the ingredients.

"What is your name?"

"Wild Grass."

"No other name?"

"I think I had one, but I can't remember."

Wu Chang sharpens a branch, skewers the whole chicken, and then applies wild spices from the mountains.

These spices grow on the most dangerous cliffs, and every harvest requires risking one's life. Worth more than gold, they are one of the most precious specialties of the hundred-mile Locust Mountain.

The entire hundred-mile Locust Mountain produces only a small box a year; even high-ranking officials and nobles rarely have the chance to enjoy them.

But in Wu Chang's hands, he uses them as if they cost nothing.

Well, they truly cost nothing.

"Do you usually eat with those little guys?"

When he helped the Mountain Guardian get rid of the bullying earlier, he had seen the Mountain Guardian's ability to soothe rabbits. Now it seems the Mountain Guardian can do more than just soothe.

"Yes, sometimes when I can't find food, they will share the food they've hidden with me."

The Village Guardian drools at the roasted chicken while stroking the squirrel beside him.

Wu Chang asks curiously, "You can communicate with them?"

"Yes."

"Is it only them, or all animals?"

"Only them. The big dogs in the village are very fierce; they never let me get close to the village." The Village Guardian shivers.

Wu Chang nods; it seems he can communicate with all animals.

Setting up the fire to roast, the chicken meat is soon cooked. Wu Chang tears off a chicken leg and hands it to the Village Guardian, who devours it ravenously.

Just as Wu Chang is about to tell him to eat slowly, he sees a small bird land on the Village Guardian's shoulder and chirp twice.

The Village Guardian stands up from the ground in a hurry, ignoring the chicken leg in his hand, and trots toward the top of the mountain.

Wu Chang follows out of curiosity, only to see the Village Guardian crouching on the summit, secretly peering toward the distant forest.

"What are you doing?" Wu Chang asks.

The Village Guardian lowers his voice and says, "This is a secret, I can't tell you."

Wu Chang asks, "What do you think of me?" "You are a good person," the Village Guardian replies immediately.

Being inexplicably "good-person-carded" makes Wu Chang almost lose his composure. He suppresses the urge to retort and says, following the flow:

"I am a good person, so I will keep the secret. No one will know that you told me."

This statement challenges the Village Guardian's cognition. His brain freezes for a few seconds, then he says, "Then I will only tell you."

"Uncle Big Beard told me to keep an eye on that red forest and to secretly tell him if anyone enters without his permission."

Red forest? Wu Chang looks in the direction the Village Guardian is pointing, and at the edge of his vision, he can vaguely see a hint of red.

Judging by the distance, that red forest is exactly the one where the players foolishly broke in.

"You can see that far?"

"Hehe." The Village Guardian giggles.

"Who went in?" Wu Chang presses.

The Village Guardian says, "It's the tall, thin uncle who always follows Uncle Big Beard. They are brothers. He told me that if he enters the forest alone, I don't need to tell Uncle Big Beard."

Wu Chang curls his lip; the way they use the Village Guardian is truly something they've mastered.

The tall, thin man who always follows Liu Wei—he recalls carefully and remembers seeing such a person before leaving Huaigu Village; the name seems to be Liu Wu.

As the person who most often follows Liu Wei, could Liu Wu be the guy who called Liu Wei "Big Brother" that night and was the first to suggest making a move on him? Wu Chang says, "What is the tall, thin uncle like?"

"A bit fierce, but not that bad."

"I want to be friends with this tall, thin uncle. Tell me some information about him."

The Village Guardian looks at the chicken leg in his hand and says, "Okay!"

The Village Guardian boy speaks in a stuttering manner, and his topics jump around, saying whatever comes to mind.

An ordinary person would get a headache after listening to just a few sentences, but Wu Chang listens with extreme focus.

"Left-handed blade, hmm, hmm, walks with a bit of a limp."

"Sword technique is very fast, likes to attack the limbs, good."

"Likes to hide hidden weapons in his right sleeve, good, good, good, anything else?"

Ten minutes later, Wu Chang has memorized most of the information about Liu Wu and says to the Village Guardian:

"The roasted chicken won't taste good if it gets cold. Take it back to the temple to eat. I'll go check what's happening over there for you. Don't look over there for a while, and don't tell Uncle Big Beard about what happened today, or our secret will be exposed."

"But..." The Village Guardian struggles a bit.

"I am a good person; I won't let you get into trouble."

The Village Guardian thinks of the roasted chicken down the mountain and finally nods in agreement.

Ghost-Crying Forest, named because the mountain wind passing through the trees sounds like the wailing of ghosts, is a forbidden area of the hundred-mile Locust Mountain.

Long before the monsters appeared, Ghost-Crying Forest was already a famous place of ill omen; after the monsters appeared, it added a few more layers of evil.

Let alone entering the forest, even passing by the edge of it, one could be entangled by dirty things unless it was high noon.

When Huaigu Village wants to scare disobedient children, they all say, "If you don't behave, I'll throw you into the Ghost-Crying Forest."

The Ghost-Crying Forest, which people have always avoided, not only has someone stepping into it today, but they are also coming out unscathed.

And this person is the usually silent and taciturn Liu Wu. If the villagers saw this, their jaws would surely drop.

Liu Wu, carrying his preferred narrow blade, wearing a martial artist's tight-fitting outfit that no one has seen him in before, wearing a bamboo hat, and with half a black mask covering his face, walks slowly out of the Ghost-Crying Forest.

If it were a merchant who frequently travels in and out of the hundred-mile Locust Mountain, they would recognize this as standard mountain bandit attire at a glance.

He carries an invisible killing intent; small animals sense it and actively retreat. Without needing any expression, one can tell he is an expert just by his aura.

He is going to defy his big brother's orders to do something big.

His big brother is still too soft-hearted. With chaotic times approaching, the top priority is to improve oneself.

There is only one chance; there is no time to worry about others.

If that guy surnamed Wu runs away or dies, that massive opportunity will be wasted.

Liu Wu walks for five minutes and arrives at the place where he tied his horse before entering the forest. Looking at the empty tree trunk, he is stunned.

"Where is my horse?"

Bang! A massive roar echoes through the mountain forest. Before Liu Wu can see what happened, he feels a pain in his left hand; his entire palm is pierced by an unknown weapon.

Immediately following are three more gunshots, which pierce his right hand and both knees respectively.

Wu Chang walks out of the shadows, blowing on the muzzle of his gun, "Stop looking, your horse is gone."

(End of chapter)