Chapter 165

Ah, this…

Alright, although there really are markers, they haven't been maintained in ages—moss has grown over them and no one's bothered to clear it.

"Hei Qing Shan? What place is that?"

Fang Yue asked as he ordered the group to set out toward Man Shui Cun.

"You don't know Hei Qing Shan?"

An Shenyi was taken aback, then remembered that Fang Yue was a refugee.

Like others, he sometimes unconsciously forgot Fang Yue's refugee status—mainly because Fang Yue's position differed too greatly from ordinary refugees, and their frequent interactions gave him none of the usual lowly aura of a refugee.

"Hei Qing Shan is that mountain… oh, right, it's night now—if we saw it by day, you could spot a continuous mountain range from this direction; that range is called the Heiqing Shanmai."

"And Hei Qing Shan is the tallest peak within that Heiqing Shanmai… also, the Heiqing Shanmai stretches endlessly in a basin-like formation, enclosing all our Lianhe Village villages, giving it a somewhat natural fortress-like terrain."

"This terrain means our region has only one proper village road leading outside, besides crossing the mountains—extremely low mobility, plus it's remote, so outsiders have always been few."

"In short, it's a backwater."

"I originally didn't understand why the village was built in such a worthless place, but after checking some ancient village records, I found a clue."

Seeing Fang Yue so interested, and with Man Shui Cun just ahead and his mood good, An Shenyi couldn't help adding a few more words.

"According to what I found, our several villages' ancestors all knew each other—they fled here to escape some disaster, settled down, and gradually developed into villages, expanding over time."

This differed slightly from what Fang Yue knew—he understood that the Lianhe Village villages had originally been separate, each claiming their own territory.

But from An Shenyi's tone, it seemed their ancestors had once gathered as one large tribe, later splitting into individual villages.

Fang Yue felt An Shenyi's account was more accurate, since his sources were relatively recent, while An Shenyi's version sounded like it traced back to the ancestors' generation—when they fled together into this Heiqing Shanmai and banded together for survival.

As the two were speaking, the scout at the front of the escort team suddenly shouted in delight.

"Look! I see it! I see Man Shui Cun!"

What!

Fang Yue and the others hurried to the front of the group; under the bright glow of the massive Human Soul Torch, they faintly saw distant, undulating wall shadows—the unmistakable outline of a village, and upon closer look, faint flickers of light near the village gate.

Everyone burst into cheers, the noise even waking sleeping team members on rotation—only Niu Niu, with vacant eyes, remained dazed.

"Quiet down! Even if we're almost at the village, we're still out in the wild—too much noise might attract the strange!"

After his initial excitement, An Shenyi quickly gave orders.

Without Luo Xin's help, Fang Yue now handled everything himself—he gave the order and the group fell silent at once, though they remained quietly thrilled—after a full day of fatigue, they were finally about to rest properly.

"Woof! Woof! Woof woof!"

As everyone moved in silence, dreaming of the comforts of the village, loud barks suddenly echoed from the rear of the group, shattering the stillness.

"That Blood Hunter's dog is really slow—it just now noticed we're almost at the village. Send someone to tell Blood Hunter to quiet his dog down; if it draws the strange, it'll be bad."

In his relaxed state, An Shenyi's temper was better than usual, but Fang Yue's heart lurched—he rushed back immediately.

Seeing Fang Yue hurry off with such grim tension, An Shenyi froze in surprise.

Meanwhile, the 【Jushou Xuequan】 that had been barking loudly moments ago now emitted only a low, bared-teeth growl—sending unease through the team, who kept glancing back.

"Keep moving! Full speed ahead!"

Fang Yue barked the order; they resumed marching, burying their doubts.

An Shenyi had now rushed from the front of the group to the rear.

"What's going on?"

Fang Yue said nothing, his face grim—he simply pointed at the ground where the 【Jushou Xuequan】 was growling.

An Shenyi wore a waist ornament shaped like crystal-clear jade, emitting a faint glow—it illuminated the surroundings without needing a Human Soul Torch.

So as soon as Fang Yue pointed, he saw exactly what lay there.

"…Chonggui Hua?!"

His pupils shrank; his voice trembled.

He could have stayed calm encountering Chonggui Hua by day—but at night… his mind held only one thought: run!

"It hasn't activated the Pressure Circle…"

Fang Yue was about to ask what this change meant, but saw An Shenyi staring blankly at the Chonggui Hua, his forehead drenched in cold sweat, as if he'd lost his soul.

"An Shenyi? An Shenyi!"

Fang Yue called twice; An Shenyi snapped back—he glanced at Fang Yue, then turned and bolted without hesitation, racing after the main group like a man fleeing for his life.

"Run! Everyone, run straight into Man Shui Cun!!"

Fang Yue had never seen An Shenyi so panicked—he locked eyes with Blood Hunter, and both sprinted off at once.

"Xuedou!"

The 【Jushou Xuequan】 growled once more at the Chonggui Hua, then sprinted after the two.

At night, Fang Yue's stats were one tier higher than by day—he moved faster.

An Shenyi had started running first, yet Fang Yue overtook him.

"An Shenyi, why didn't the Chonggui Hua activate the Pressure Circle like it did by day? How did it catch up to us? Is our running too noisy—will it alarm the thing?"

Fang Yue fired off multiple questions; An Shenyi roared back: "I don't know! I don't know! I don't know! I only know if we don't run now, we're all dead!"

An Shenyi's voice shook with deep terror.

Though he'd once escaped death from a Pressure Ghost, the thing had become his lifelong nightmare.

An Shenyi ran like a madman, as if using every last ounce of strength—he'd never fought so desperately even when battling the Yang Xu Ghost.

At the rear of the escort team, three riders had already galloped forward to meet them.

But just then, An Shenyi, sprinting full speed, suddenly stopped—froze in place!

"An Shenyi?"

"An Shenyi, keep running!"

"What happened? Why did Divine Doctor An stop moving?"

5 updates today.

I've been staying up late these past few days, and my head has been hurting badly—even touching my hair gives me a headache. I don't know what's wrong, I hope it's not a tumor… I'm scared.

I plan to go to the hospital tomorrow to get it checked, so tomorrow's update depends on the situation, somewhere between 2 and 5 updates.

(End of this chapter)