Chapter 19: Post Station

Leaving the manor, the road they were traveling on was actually already very close to the County Town, but Wen Gu had no intention of going there.

When planning the itinerary, the County Town had not been taken into consideration.

The survivors from Ge Village had fled from the County Town; the County Town had long since fallen.

As the weather grew colder, the Evil Gu creatures, like wild beasts, needed to find caves to avoid the cold, and the fallen County Town was, to them, an excellent "cave."

For the people who originally lived in the County Town, those who failed to escape—while one cannot say absolutely—mostly had only two outcomes: either becoming food or turning into Evil Gu creatures.

Today, that County Town has become a nest for monsters. In the words of the locals, the Evil Qi is too overwhelming.

Knowing full well that it was more dangerous there, it was impossible for Wen Gu to go.

There were certainly still many supplies in the County Town, but unless the weather turned bitterly cold and there was sufficient armed force, one would not dare to go in and search.

Otherwise, it was better to bypass it from afar.

On a rather cold morning, on the stretch of road closest to the County Town, they took a look from afar at a high vantage point.

At this distance, the entire County Town was just a blurry little clump; under the morning sun, it looked as if it were covered in a layer of dust. It was already shrouded in invisible fear and despair, as if one could hear the lamentations and wailing of the county residents.

Wen Gu and the others, being outsiders, did not feel it deeply, but Xiao Liu was stunned for quite a while; he did not look again, and with firm steps, he followed Wen Gu and the others to continue moving forward.

The once bustling County Town, the once-dreamed-of place, had all become the past.

Let that vibrant County Town remain in memory; do not let it become dilapidated and gray like the Town.

They walked and stopped for another two days.

They had already left the area familiar to Liu Liehu, and the local map Wen Gu had drawn previously was no longer of any use.

Xiao Liu had never been to the neighboring county before; he had only heard his father say that this county was not as prosperous as their own, was relatively far away, and usually had little presence.

He did not know which roads would be safer, nor did he know what the situation was like in the villages and towns here, and he did not dare to go and check them one by one.

They could only choose the path based on the terrain and topography, seeing where the view was more open and where the donkey cart could pass.

Even if they could not find a place to rest, they would light a fire, sprinkle some medicine to repel wild beasts and Evil Gu creatures, burn a stick of incense, and take turns in pairs to keep watch while switching to rest on the donkey cart.

The donkey cart moved slowly on the road, not because the big donkey was slacking off, but because there were many obstacles on the road.

Human skeletons, the carcasses of draft animals, abandoned vehicles, or scattered debris all interfered with their speed of travel.

The four of them, Wen Gu included, used long-handled modified farm tools to push the lighter obstacles on the road to the sides; for those that were not easy to move, they avoided them if they could, and if they could not bypass them, they had to stop and work together to clear them.

Of course, it was not all trouble; occasionally, they could also pick up some practical tools, such as knives, sticks, and so on.

In the dilapidated carriages left on the road, one could still find food left by the original owners, but because too much time had passed, the vast majority had spoiled and rotted.

"What a pity, such a big bag of grain," Xiao Liu lamented.

The owner of the carriage had been quite well-off; Wen Gu found a hidden compartment inside the carriage. The snacks and other dry rations inside could no longer be eaten, but there was a small jar. Upon opening it, Wen Gu revealed a look of joy.

"Honey! Good stuff!"

High in calories and durable for storage, it was excellent food for emergencies and long journeys.

As soon as Xiao Liu heard "honey," his mouth began to water.

When tired from the journey, having a cup of honey water when resting could instantly restore him to full health!

Having found a jar of honey, although he hadn't tasted it yet, Xiao Liu felt he had more strength while clearing road obstacles. If he could also find materials suitable for making arrows, he would be even happier.

In the few days since leaving home, his arrow quiver had gained some new arrows, all of which he had made on the road.

He collected metal scraps and other hard objects in the manor courtyards to make arrowheads, and he could also find materials for the arrow shafts and fletching.

With limited conditions and limited craftsmanship, these new arrows were crudely made, but they could be used for the time being. Every day when resting, he would find time to make a few.

On the journey, the humanoid creatures they encountered were not all Evil Gu creatures.

While passing the outskirts of a village, there was a tea shed there that could serve as a place for them to rest.

Having been unattended for a long time, it was impossible to count on it to block the wind and rain, but the good thing was that the weather had been decent lately, with no rain; it was enough to provide a little shelter from the wind and serve as cover.

While discovering the tea shed, they also saw a large tree not far away with a person hanging from it.

The surrounding view was open, and no other Evil Gu creatures were seen nearby, so Wen Gu and the others walked over to take a look.

The person hanging from the tree, judging by the clothing and figure, should be a villager from a nearby village.

It had only happened recently.

To be precise, suicide by hanging.

Wen Gu looked at the person's dangling arms; on the half of the forearm not covered by the sleeve, there was a Purple-Brown Spot.

People who were afflicted by Evil Gu would develop such spots on their bodies. Spreading from the limbs to the whole body, until they completely lost their human consciousness, it would accelerate the total alienation and turn them into bloodthirsty and ferocious monsters.

Being afflicted by Evil Gu is roughly divided into three stages:

Smell Alteration—Purple-Brown Spots appearing on the limbs—Total Alienation into a monster.

When they were at Ge Village, whenever Liu Liehu and the others returned from outside, they would isolate themselves for a night in a room fumigated with Medicinal Herb to distinguish whether they were afflicted based on the first stage.

Those who were afflicted would suddenly dislike the smell of those medicines.

If there were no conditions for medicinal fumigation, then one would look at the changes in the second stage of the affliction, seeing if Purple-Brown Spots had appeared on the limbs.

At the beginning of the affliction, they could still retain their own consciousness, but they could not see the spots on their own arms.

The Evil Gu parasite within their bodies had already begun to affect their consciousness at this time, making them feel that these spots appearing on their arms were normal and belonged to them, with absolutely no thought of "I am turning into a monster."

Those who did not want to become monsters, if others told them that Purple-Brown Spots had begun to appear on their arms, would choose whether to end their own lives.

At the beginning of the chaos in Ge Village, some afflicted villagers chose to end their own lives after learning they had been struck.

Such situations were not rare.

Having seen it often, the four of them remained quite calm.

"There are still survivors in the villages nearby," Wen Gu said.

However, they did not intend to go and confirm it; the variables were too great.

Preserving themselves was more important now.

They stayed quietly in the tea shed for one night, and early the next morning, they set off again.

After another day of nerve-wracking travel, they spotted a small post station before the sun set in the afternoon.

Compared to a drafty tea shed, the lodging conditions at the post station were much better.

One only had to guard against the potential dangers lurking inside.

Outside the post station were some old bloodstains, from both humans and evil creatures, left at different times.

On the ground were human bones as well as the remains of evil creatures.

Observing the post station quietly from a distance for a moment, Wen Gu signaled to the Daoist Priest: Go ahead, it's time to follow the procedure.

Qingyi Daozhang remained expressionless, took a smoking rattan ball, and tossed it inside, after which there came from within the post station—

"Cough, cough, cough!"

It was a human voice!

The four of them grew alert in an instant.

In chaotic times, the enemies one must face are not just evil creatures. Sometimes, the living are more terrifying than monsters.

After observing for a moment, Wen Gu said aloud:

"Pardon the intrusion, the hour is late, and we would like to borrow a place to stay for the night."

As he spoke, Wen Gu listened carefully to the movements inside, judging exactly how many people were within.

The person inside had no intention of hiding or concealing anything and replied immediately:

"Come in, cough, cough! Don't worry, cough, cough, cough, I'm the only one here."

The person inside was so choked by the smoke that their speech became incoherent.

Wen Gu and the other three did not lower their guard; they waited a while longer, and only when the smoke inside had thinned did they step into the post station.

The post station was not large; upon entering the main door, one could see the situation in the hall at a glance.

A young man in his twenties was leaning against a table, sitting on the floor in a relaxed manner.

He looked somewhat weak; he must have been a tall and sturdy man once, but now his cheeks were sunken and he was severely thin, yet he still possessed a certain sturdiness belonging to a martial artist.

Only his forehead was slightly red, as if he had just been struck by an object.

Wen Gu: "..."

He continued to size the other person up.

Perhaps this person held an official post in the past?

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

In this current world, due to food shortages, most people would starve until they were thin. But compared to the emaciated villagers Wen Gu had seen in Ge Village, the person before him seemed a bit too despondent.

It was a kind of self-abandoning decadence; he carried the scent of alcohol, and a jug of wine sat beside him. When Wen Gu entered, the man was still holding the jug and gulping down a few mouthfuls.

Quite a bit of the wine spilled onto the ground.

Big Donkey smelled the scent, and his hooves began to clatter as he wanted to go over, but he was pulled away. He brayed and whined, acting stubborn.

Wen Gu had Xiao Liu find a jug of cloudy wine from the station to feed a little to Big Donkey.

When they were searching for wine at the manor earlier, what they found in the servants' quarters was all this type of cloudy wine; some were even murkier than the one in the post station.

People from wealthy families would drink clearer wine; those wines went through an extra filtration process and were more expensive. For example, the wine stored by Master Li, which Big Donkey had drunk quite a bit of.

As for those not from wealthy backgrounds, they mostly drank cloudy wine.

Of course, there were also some scholars from good families who loved to drink a little cloudy wine when they were feeling sentimental.

Right now, at a small post station in a remote area, one could not expect any good wine; it was all cloudy wine.

It was enough to fool a donkey.

Once Big Donkey was quiet, Wen Gu, carrying his scholarly air, offered a polite bow to the man sitting on the floor with a slight look of apology on his face: "Pardon the intrusion."

Beside him, Qingyi Daozhang secretly rolled his eyes.

The young man sitting on the floor looked at Wen Gu and the other three, his eyes flickering, but then they turned sorrowful, and his voice was hoarse:

"Please, do as you wish. But I advise you to stay away from me."

As he spoke, he lifted his sleeve and extended his arm toward Wen Gu and the others.

The gazes of Wen Gu and the other three shifted to the exposed arm of the other person, then back to his face.

Then they looked at the arm again, then back at the person.

Their gazes went back and forth several times.

Tietou: Bewildered, very bewildered. Not knowing what to do, he looked at Wen Gu.

Xiao Liu: He wanted to speak but stopped, then wanted to speak again.

Seeing a living survivor, he was happy, but he didn't understand what this big brother in front of him was trying to express. What was wrong with his arm? Did he just have a lot of body hair?

However, he remembered his father's instructions: don't talk nonsense when out and about, and follow the lead of the master.

Thus, he also looked at Wen Gu.

Wen Gu and the Daoist Priest exchanged a look; in that brief moment, the two of them had guessed every possible scenario.

Suspicion, sympathy, emotion, melancholy.

Qingyi Daozhang let out a hum of laughter, then assumed the air of an expert and let out a long sigh.

The five flavors of human emotion in this chaotic world seemed to have been sighed through in that one breath of his.

Watching the reactions of Wen Gu and the other three, the sorrowful and decadent expression of the young man seemed to gradually freeze.

He realized something.

The air suddenly went quiet.