Chapter 24: Great Immortal, Stay Your Steps!

The talisman requested from Qingyi Daozhang here sent this "good brother" on his final journey.

It is imperative to ensure that this "good brother," from body to soul to the next life, and the life after that... will never be able to rise again!

County Lieutenant Zhou had his mind opened, already thinking about what to send the next "good brother."

People in this world value matters before and after death; County Lieutenant Zhou pondered that when he meets others in the future, he must give these brothers "decency."

Some people can share poverty, but cannot share wealth.

Others are the opposite; when life is good, everyone calls each other brothers, with sincere affection. Once life becomes difficult, they betray their trust and harbor their own ulterior motives.

Zhou Shan has no great ambitions now; he only thinks about taking revenge when he encounters it, and surviving with his last three relatives.

Returning to the group, they continued their journey.

County Lieutenant Zhou restrained his murderous aura, keeping an eye on the surroundings while chatting with Xiao Liu.

Xiao Liu likes to hear him talk about official business.

That is a position Xiao Liu would never dare to dream of; in the past, he wouldn't even be able to get a word in when entering the County Town.

And Zhou Shan also wanted to integrate into this small team, so he was willing to say more. He did not put on airs; the world had changed, and let alone a small County Lieutenant like him, even the high-ranking officials above were nothing now.

Zhou Shan chatted with Xiao Liu about that ferry Town. Previously, it was far away, and he still had many family members and friends around him, so he hadn't thought about going there.

Now that they had to head north to take refuge, that Town was not far from their original route.

"The terrain there is not flat, and there are mountain roads that are hard to walk; outsiders might not be able to find the right path, but as long as they find it, it is quite fast to get there."

Zhou Shan said: "Although it is not big, the townspeople are wealthy, and there are inns, teahouses, wine shops, and entertainment houses in the town. I used to go there often... official business, it was all official business!"

In their idle chatter, Zhou Shan recalled that prosperous riverside Town he had visited many times.

In fact, every time he went there to handle cases, there were joys and sorrows.

The joy was that there were many wealthy households there, and they were very well-versed in "etiquette" when receiving government officials.

The sorrow was also this; the wealthy households all had backers behind them, and one move could affect the whole situation. A County Lieutenant of one county like him really wasn't enough to look at, and sometimes he had to turn a blind eye.

He wondered what that Town had become now.

Wen Gu was very cautious.

They were only a small team, and there were three small children in the group, so they could not afford any losses.

They had to make thorough considerations and plans, and the group discussed it many times on the road.

Thus and so, this and that, they planned before taking action.

Then, they discovered that the Town had long been empty.

Literally.

There were no evil things, no people; whether it was the Residence in the town, the restaurants, the pharmacies, or the warehouses where goods were stored, everything was empty.

Standing in the middle of the road in the Town, Wen Gu looked at the Arrow nailed to a tree not far away.

The Arrow carried the remains of an evil thing.

Judging by the degree of decay, it had been at least half a year.

That is to say, there might have been a well-equipped team at the beginning of this year that passed through here by water, cleared out the evil things here, and took away the goods here.

It was highly likely that it was a local army or a powerful family clan migrating from south to north while the weather was cold.

County Lieutenant Zhou's mentality was a bit broken at this moment.

"Someone has already been here!"

He had originally thought he could find more supplies here—the armor on his body, the weapons he used, the portable food, the wine that could ward off evil, and so on—all turned into bubbles when they arrived at this Town.

The Town was not big to begin with, and there were only a few warehouses; now they had all been opened, and the contents were already empty.

Even if what was stored here was not grain or weapons, other fabrics, sundries, seasonings, and medicinal materials were all supplies that would be useful in troubled times and would gradually become scarce and increase in value.

Wen Gu was not that disappointed; he had never underestimated the elites of the feudal era.

"In this world, there are many smart people."

Being able to survive the early stages of the Evil Plague and being able to lead a large group of people north to take refuge meant they could clear out various supply points along the way.

It seems that in the future, when searching for supplies, one should not hold too much hope for the villages and towns near the main roads of land and water transport.

Qingyi Daozhang took a fancy to a few small pieces of ore in the corner of the warehouse that had not been moved away by others. People who came here to search for supplies definitely couldn't identify them and found them troublesome to carry.

But for those of them who practiced Alchemy, it was a surprise!

Wen Gu actually couldn't understand it either, but he believed in the professional competence of this Chemical talent.

Respect the choices of professional talent!

Xiao Liu was very depressed; he had thought he could find more grain, salt, and Iron here.

"So many things, and they were all transported away? That must be a huge boat! Isn't it said that there is dangerous Evil Gu in the water? Why did those wealthy families still take the water route?"

Zhou Shan explained: "The boats of wealthy families can be bigger than my house, and there is more than one; they can transport quite a lot of things. They store more clean water so they don't have to use the water from the river, and there are stoves on the boats, so if they hoard some firewood, there is no great danger. They only need to guard against attacks from the shore where the river narrows."

Xiao Liu looked at the river ahead: "It is now the dry season; will there still be fleets passing through?"

Zhou Shan said: "Other rivers might. But for this one ahead, the water level drops significantly during the dry season; the wealthy families on both sides of the river either take the land route in the autumn and winter seasons or wait until next spring to take the water route."

Zhou Shan's gaze was melancholy.

The once richest Town in the whole county, the bustling ferry, was now in dead silence.

Only occasionally could the cries of wild beasts in the mountains be heard.

Even the evil things outside did not come here, because there had been no "human blood and Qi" for a long time.

Rustle—

In the withered grass not far away, a yellowish-brown figure flickered past.

Xiao Liu swept away his depression and stood up quickly.

Zhou Shan thought Xiao Liu was going to draw his bow and shoot an arrow to hunt the wild beast.

Yet he saw Xiao Liu bow respectfully toward that side: "Greetings, Great Immortal!"

Zhou Shan:???

Xiao Liu was very happy to share: "When Wen Gu was on his Study Tour in the past, he heard about Huang Daxian asking for a title..."

He told Zhou Shan the story Wen Gu had once told about a weasel asking passersby for a title.

Zhou Shan's expression turned solemn, and he followed Xiao Liu's lead, bowing and saluting toward that yellowish-brown figure.

"Greetings, Great Immortal!"

The County Lieutenant believed deeply in spirits and ghosts; otherwise, he would not have asked the Daoist Priest to chant spells for that "good brother," cursing his soul to death and cursing that "good brother" to never be able to turn over for eternity.

Although Xiao Liu had also recounted the clarification Wen Gu gave afterward, Zhou Shan, like Xiao Liu, believed that Huang Daxian was very likely real.

Facing this suspected legendary Great Immortal, Zhou Shan did not know how to respond, but flattering him first was definitely not wrong.

Thus, imitating the refined scholars he had seen before, he praised:

"All things have spirits; there must be such divine beasts in the world that can exorcise evil and avoid disasters for all living beings, carrying beautiful prayers!"

However, the Huang Daxian in the grass only looked at them vigilantly for a moment, then charged with a clear goal toward a fat rat hiding in the shadows.

The two looked similar in size, and the Huang Daxian even appeared slimmer.

After a brief struggle, the Huang Daxian fully displayed the combat power of the weasel family, finally locking its throat and dragging it into the distance.

Zhou Shan and Xiao Liu stood where they were, not daring to disturb it, and only offered a respectful send-off salute when the Huang Daxian left.

Qingyi Daozhang chuckled under his breath.

He had traveled everywhere in the past and had indeed seen places that demonized or deified certain wild beasts, but having seen so much, he knew that most of those were deliberately fabricated and guided by swindlers.

The common folk at the bottom were the easiest to believe in these things; therefore, the Daoist Priest had always believed that taking action against the commoners was lowering one's own status and lacked class. The people he targeted were mostly those with considerable wealth and status.

However, the state of the world had changed now, so some adjustments had to be made. The hearts of the commoners could be utilized!

It was so in Ge Village, and it was so here as well.

In the small team, certain traits of these two important combat members made Qingyi Daozhang feel that his status of "primary discourse power" was not far off.

Favorable for this Daoist Priest!

The advantage is with me!

The highest discourse power in this northward-bound team would eventually lean toward me!

Just as he was preparing to find an opportunity to prick Wen Gu with a few words, he suddenly felt a sense of alarm in his heart.

He waited for a moment, but there was no movement.

That's not right; why is Gou Shusheng not making a sound?

He looked up and saw that Wen Gu was just staring at the fat rat being carried away, lost in thought.

"What is it?" the Daoist Priest asked.

"Why is that rat so fat?" Wen Gu said.

"Of course it is because..."

County Lieutenant Zhou and Xiao Liu, who were in the middle of saluting the Huang Daxian, paused at the same time.

On certain issues concerning survival, as long as they were given a slight reminder, their minds would quickly start turning:

The people and goods in the Town were all gone; forces had already come to clean it out, and the grain and goods had all been looted. Now, the Town did not look like anyone lived there.

After so long, what did the rats in the Town eat to grow that layer of fat?

It must be...

Hidden grain!

Could it be hidden in the rat holes?

Or perhaps someone still had stock that hadn't been looted?

Following the fat rat would definitely lead to the location where the grain was hidden!

The expressions of County Lieutenant Zhou and Xiao Liu changed drastically; they immediately straightened up, one grabbing his sword and the other nocking an arrow.

"Great Immortal!"

"Wait a moment, Great Immortal!"

You damn thing, hurry up and leave that fat rat for us!!

Supplement to the previous chapter