Chapter 593: Shuimei (5/10, bonus chapter for 'Ruichi Tianxia'【

Based on Fang Yue's understanding, the road beneath his feet should be the main road called Zhaoyang Dao; its width was far beyond what the village roads of Heiqing Shanmai could compare to.

Also, being a main road, this road had many branching side paths, spreading outward in every direction.

Basically every stretch of road, there would be a fork.

This made Fang Yue somewhat lost; even following the road signs the whole way, he often took the wrong path and ended up dizzy from going in circles.

Just when Fang Yue was hungry, exhausted, and sleepy, he finally saw people.

It was a merchant caravan, only five people in total, yet daring enough to travel on the village road.

His face brightening, Fang Yue hurried over.

But before he could even reach them, the five people across all changed expression dramatically at once, each pulling out their weapons — clearly each of them had some skill.

Only then did Fang Yue realize he had been a bit abrupt.

He lowered his head to look at himself — his body was pitted and gouged, as if chewed on haphazardly by dogs, with some spots even exposing white bone.

Those injuries alone were frightening to look at; coupled with his tattered clothes, disheveled hair, and listless, wretched appearance—

If Fang Yue had seen someone looking like this approaching him out in the wild, he too would have assumed it was a Gui.

Facing these five who hadn't attacked, he had to admit they had steady nerves.

After a brief pause, Fang Yue gave an awkward laugh: "Hello, I'm a Green Guard from Heiqing Shanmai; I only ended up looking like this because I was attacked by a Gui."

"Heiqing Shanmai?"

The five exchanged glances. They first cast a side-Gui talisman at Fang Yue, and only after confirming he wasn't a Gui did they huddle together to confer for a while.

After a moment, the leading man finally said warily, "We don't want any interaction with you, nor will we take you in."

The wilderness was always dangerous.

Danger came not only from Gui, but also from one's own kind!

The leading man was clearly experienced, and his decision was quite reasonable.

However...

"Misunderstanding, gentlemen — I just want to ask for directions."

Asking for directions?

The five men's expressions eased considerably.

If it was just asking for directions, then there was no problem.

But when Fang Yue asked how to get to Chunuan City, the five men's expressions turned subtly strange.

A woman with a single ponytail couldn't help but ask, "Are you also here to fight in the arena?"

The moment the words fell, the leading man immediately tugged at the ponytail woman.

"Shuimei!"

The leading man called out with a frown and a scolding tone.

The ponytail woman stuck out her tongue and giggling, hid behind one of the others.

Seeing this, the leading man only then turned his head toward Fang Yue and cupped his fists in greeting.

"This brother Green Guard, my name is Pi Sanwei. If you want to go to 【Chunuan City】, I can give you a map — follow the map and you'll be able to find Chunuan City on your own."

Fang Yue felt depressed inside.

He had seen maps before; he knew the general terrain and cities around Heiqing Shanmai.

The problem was that even knowing the map, he couldn't find his way.

In an unfamiliar environment, having a map alone still meant getting lost.

But since the others had already said this much, Fang Yue couldn't press for anything more.

These people were clearly afraid of inviting trouble and unwilling to have any entanglement with him — Fang Yue could understand that kind of thinking.

Cupping his fists in return, he accepted the map, left behind a black stone, and under the stunned expressions of the five with their eyes wide open, Fang Yue had already gone far away.

After Fang Yue left, Shuimei snatched the black stone from Pi Sanwei's hand.

"Senior Brother Pi, a black stone! He actually just gave us a black stone like that! How generous!"

"Mm... truly the act of a rich landlord..."

"You mean the landlord's silly son, right, hehehe! If only we were that rich too... Oh right, Senior Brother Pi, why didn't you let him travel with us? We're going to 【Chunuan City】 to fight in the arena too — it's right on the way!"

"When out and about, caution comes first. The five of us are all Outer Sect Disciples of Heilu Sect, of the same sect and school, with close private ties, so naturally we can travel together. But toward outsiders one must always stay alert. A strange man dressed like him, with such severe injuries — better to avoid him if possible; that's never wrong."

"Oh..."

Shuimei wore a thoughtful expression, but in truth her mind was completely blank — she hadn't understood at all.

Shaking his head slightly, Pi Sanzai said nothing more; with them around, it was fine for Shuimei to stay simple.

The encounter with Fang Yue was only a small interlude.

The five chatted idly for a while, then forgot the matter entirely and continued forward along the Official Road.

Suddenly, Pi Sanzai's face changed.

Rumble rumble...

Rumble rumble...

The ground suddenly began to tremble, as if some existence was rapidly approaching from that direction.

"Spread into formation!"

With a low shout, the five quickly took their stances, but each of them looked tense — clearly they didn't have much experience encountering Gui in the wild.

As the source of the sound drew closer, the five men's expressions changed drastically.

They saw nearly a hundred Gui charging toward them in a dark mass.

Each one was at least mid Black Grade in strength.

One had to remember — among the five of them, only Pi Sanzai had the strength of a post-Heaven Second-rate Realm!

Their team's ability to withstand pressure corresponded at most to a Black Grade Initial Stage Gui Yi; anything beyond that would be a death sentence.

"Run!!"

Pi Sanzai let out a great shout and fled with the four of them.

But in terms of speed, they simply couldn't compare to the Gui Yi swarm.

His face changing drastically, Pi Sanzai told them to quickly face the enemy together.

Shuimei was so scared she screamed outright; the other three also went deathly pale, cold sweat soaking palms and backs of hands alike.

Only Pi Sanzai barely managed to stay calm.

Everyone thought a life-and-death battle was about to begin.

However……

When the Gui Yi swarm drew near, the Gui Yi swarm actually passed right by them as if they couldn't see them at all.

"Wh-what's going on!?"

"They didn't attack us?"

"Strange, are there really such nice Gui Yi among them?"

The few were muttering in low voices when they saw the Gui Yi swarm, which had just been gathered into a mass, suddenly as if exceeding some range and losing some kind of connection, with many Gui Yi standing dazed on the spot, motionless.

Others kept running forward by inertia.

And then there was a humanoid Gui Yi with its limbs' joints twisted in reverse, slowly twisting its neck, rotating it one hundred eighty degrees, and looking at the five who had relaxed.

A flash of movement…

Crack!

The short youth among the five had been chatting the second before, and the next second his neck was twisted clean off.

It all happened so fast that Pi Sanzai and the others only felt a gust of wind sweep in, and their companion was already dead.

"Ah… ahhhhhh!"

Shuimei screamed, and Pi Sanzai began roaring as he went to meet the attack.

The scream immediately drew the attention of all the other Gui Yi.

The group, who had only needed to deal with this one Gui Yi, instantly became ones who had to face nearly a hundred Gui Yi!

In an instant, everyone's face went deathly pale; Pangzi in the team hurriedly clamped his hand over Shuimei's mouth.

But Shuimei kept on screaming "mmgh mmgh mmgh," clearly scared to the point of a mental breakdown.

Having always lived in a comfortable environment, how could she have imagined that a martial brother she had been happily chatting with the second before would be lying flat the next second.

(End of this chapter)