Chapter 143

"Then I'll be going now, Senior Brother, I'm truly sorry."

"It's fine, remember to transfer the money."

"Alright, alright."

"Transfer a bit more."

"This..."

"Haha, go on then, I have a feeling we will meet again."

"I have that feeling too."

"Go."

"Alright.."

"..."

"Ah, Senior Brother, I found three Sword pigs lying here without moving. Did they eat poisonous grass and get knocked out?... Shall we split them?"

"Emmm..."

"Ah, there's a Forbidden Seal nearby. Why is there a Forbidden Seal? It doesn't matter, I can break it!"

"..."

"Senior Brother, you take two and I'll take one, how about that?"

"..."

"Senior Brother, why are you making that expression?"

"Those are mine."

"Alright, goodbye Senior Brother... Ah, wait a second, Senior Brother, have you heard 'Rice Fragrance' by Crown Princess Zhusha?"

"I know the dream from when I was a child."

"Alright, goodbye Senior Brother."

Chen Shu sat back in his original spot, resting his chin on his hand, watching that figure slowly walk away, vaguely hearing her voice:

"Alright, alright, stop being angry.

"I know how to sing this song now. Don't think that I only asked one question; it has already cleared my neural pathways, and I remember everything now.

"By the way, I also had someone check, and among the new good songs that have come out recently, several come from a hidden sect.

"It's called the Hua Yue Sect.

"I'm already looking for it.

"As long as I find this hidden sect, I'll even go serve them tea and water, and then you'll have endless new songs to listen to.

"Smile a little, fame and success are not the goal..."

A smile curled at the corners of Chen Shu's mouth.

After she walked far away, he checked the time; it was about time to prepare dinner.

He was becoming more relaxed day by day, while Brother Jiang was becoming more tired day by day.

Brother Jiang was truly earning hard-earned money.

He had to give him more meat to eat tonight, and it would be best to make some roasted meat for him to take on the road tomorrow, otherwise he wouldn't be able to move it.

He was truly too kind!

Chen Shu sighed deeply.

Immediately, he began searching by the roadside, preparing to catch one or a few smaller non-protected animals to help Brother Jiang build up his strength.

Night fell once again.

The moon tonight was a bit rounder than last night, and it was only a tiny bit away from being a full moon.

Clear light covered the ground, reflecting the outlines of the distant mountains.

Chen Shu sat further away from the campfire, sipping wild vegetable and chicken porridge, watching the quiet mountain forest under the moonlight, where the lights of the distance were faintly visible; other hunters had also arrived in the depths of Qingshan Ridge.

Or perhaps they were Cultivators living in seclusion in the deep mountains.

A bit boring.

He hadn't been online all day today, hadn't visited the young ladies on the short video platform, hadn't teased Qingqing, and hadn't trolled the Ancient Cultivation Group; he felt so uncomfortable.

There was still a bit of signal yesterday.

Chen Shu glanced at Jiang Lai by the campfire: "Brother Jiang, there is a Beggar's Five-Color Chicken under that fire, wrapped in mud. You can smash the mud open, peel off the leaves, and eat it."

"Got it."

"Eat more meat, don't be polite."

Jiang Lai gave a grunt, lacking the strength to speak, and just focused on gnawing on a deer leg.

Seeing this, Chen Shu felt somewhat guilty, but still said: "Tomorrow we will go a little further in, just a little bit, and then we won't go any further. We'll catch a few Sword pigs right there, and you can slowly transport them back. Don't rush; there probably won't be any competitors at that location."

"Good."

Jiang Lai started eating silently again.

Actually, if they wanted to catch Sword pigs, this place was already deep enough, and there were very few competitors; there was no need to go further in and increase transport costs, but he guessed that Chen Shu might have other things to do.

It must be related to the Forbidden Land.

Most likely he wanted to find something inside the Forbidden Land.

Either rare plants or rare animals.

Jiang Lai had been struggling in Yujing since he was a child; when he was young, he always heard about someone or other adventuring into a Forbidden Land and finding some kind of heaven-sent treasure, selling it for a high price. Of course, he had also heard of someone or other entering a Forbidden Land and never coming out, after which their wife was well taken care of by someone else.

"Brother Chen."

"Hmm?"

"What happened here today? Why are so many trees in front broken, and there's even such a large tree that was blown apart."

Chapter 141: An Unacceptable Truth

"How would I know?"

"Oh."

"Oh right, guess what I saw today?"

"What?"

"I saw a tiger, how rare."

"Tigers are rare in these mountains." Jiang Lai swallowed the meat in his mouth and explained earnestly to him, "Because there are Sword Pigs everywhere. Sword Pigs breed fast and are somewhat territorial; they instinctively drive away carnivores. Ordinary tigers can't beat Sword Pigs."

"Living such a miserable life."

"Yeah..."

"If the law didn't forbid it, I'd really want to catch it and raise it like a cat."

"..."

"Eat slowly, I'm going up the mountain to enjoy the moon. If I don't come back, just wash up and go to sleep yourself. I have a satellite tracker, I can find you."

"Okay!"

"Remember the beggar's chicken under the campfire."

Chen Shu gave a word of instruction, then looked up at the highest mountain in his field of vision and set off.

Upon reaching the summit, he looked into the distance. The entire world was shrouded in bright moonlight. The mountains and forests stretched out in layer after layer, forming gentle curves. Occasionally, a patch of mist drifted in a spot, appearing gray-white under the moonlight.

The weather was clear today.

Chen Shu could even see the headlights of cars on the highway twenty kilometers away in a straight line.

He could also see faint, flickering lights on a high mountain, with blue smoke rising under the moonlight; that should be Yuan'an Temple.

Then Chen Shu turned around.

The Forbidden Land was still shrouded in thick mist.

In fact, whether it was Qingshan Ridge or any of the surrounding mountain ranges, they were just a buffer zone on the periphery of the Forbidden Land, only about twenty kilometers wide, while the Forbidden Land itself spanned at least one hundred kilometers at its widest points on satellite imagery.

Chen Shu set off again.

Full Moon See blooms on the night of the full moon, emitting a faint white light. At that time, it will also release a weak, special Spirit Power fluctuation, which is highly identifiable.

Chen Shu can use his Spirit Eye to observe; the better one's Spirit Power Talent, the more sensitive they are to Spirit Power, and they can detect this subtle change. Besides that, he can also catch a night owl every so often or after climbing to a high point, borrow its vision, and fly into the high sky to scan a very wide area at once.

It doesn't feel hard to find.

Zhang Suannai heard a crow calling overhead.

In the customs and traditions of Yiguo, crows are a symbol of auspiciousness and bring good luck.

Zhang Suannai looked up at the creature, confirmed it wasn't being controlled by any Spirit Cultivator, then lowered her head again to continue waiting for Meng Chunqiu.

She had already returned to University City tonight.

She had played in Qingshan Ridge for two days and caught over a dozen Sword Pigs, earning quite a bit of money. But the reason she returned so quickly was because she was itching with curiosity and couldn't wait to confirm who exactly Qingcai Keke was; for this, she didn't even want to earn money.

Today, she came directly to the entrance of the Red Building at the Literature Academy of Yujing Academy.

Not long after, a flamboyant figure walked under the streetlights, dressed in traditional clothing, holding a folding fan in his hand, enjoying the moon as he walked.

A complete idiot.

Zhang Suannai reached this conclusion in her heart.

This trait was actually quite like Qingcai Keke.

Previously, she had thought about observing Meng Chunqiu in secret, using her own intelligence to analyze who was Qingcai Keke and reaching a conclusion like a great detective, but she later gave up. Because truly intelligent people wouldn't engage in these boring tricks just for the sake of style. The so-called demeanor of an expert is nothing but a fool's fantasy. True wise people often choose the simplest, most foolproof, and most cost-effective way to solve problems; that is rational enough.

Zhang Suannai is a true wise person.

So she came to intercept Meng Chunqiu.

Prepared to ask directly.

Seeing that flamboyant, androgynous figure walking closer, Zhang Suannai also set off and blocked his path directly.

"Hmm?"

Meng Chunqiu was startled and stepped to the left.

Zhang Suannai moved to the left at almost the same time.

Meng Chunqiu moved to the right.

Zhang Suannai moved to the right at almost the same time.

Meng Chunqiu was startled, then closed his folding fan and began to carefully size up this woman who was blocking his path to learning.

At this look—

Oh my, this girl is truly beautiful. A melon-seed face, snow-white skin, every feature is perfect. Combined, they create a stunning, heroic, and spirited feeling. She is tall, seemingly even a bit taller than himself.

Meng Chunqiu pondered for a moment and looked at Zhang Suannai: "Classmate, are you a fan of mine?"

"..."

"Classmate, why block my path and say nothing? I'm in a rush to get to class."

"You aren't!"

"What? I'm not what?"

"You are Qingcai Keke!"

"Classmate, trying to attract my attention with this method is a bit old-fashioned." Meng Chunqiu flicked his folding fan open with a 'swish'. "Besides, I have no interest in romance for now. Classmate, you'd better move aside quickly. Tonight is the Ancient Poetry class; don't stop me from roaming in the ocean of poetry."

"..."

A few black lines appeared on Zhang Suannai's forehead.

Seeing this, Meng Chunqiu could only sigh helplessly. What could he do when facing a fan? He could only indulge them: "If you want my social media..."

"Bang!"

By the time Meng Chunqiu clutched his head and straightened up, that tall, slender figure was already gone from before his eyes, leaving only a twitching pain atop his head.

He had just wanted to shout that a villain was attacking someone, but after hesitating, he sighed and let it go—that classmate was merely acting out of love turned to hate; it was a pity, for if he weren't so single-mindedly devoted to poetry, it wouldn't have been a bad thing to get to know that classmate, given her outstanding appearance and her infatuation with his talent.

"Sigh..."

Meng Chunqiu sighed, waved his folding fan in front of him, and continued walking toward the Red Building.

Ten meters away, in a small pavilion.

Zhang Suannai ignored the couple being intimate beside her, still staring at Meng Chunqiu's back, her fists clenched tight, gnashing her teeth—

It really wasn't him!

It really was Xiaoxiao's brother-in-law!

The boyfriend Ning Qing hadn't dated!

This person had actually been playing her for a fool!

And the two people beside her were actually his informants.

Zhang Suannai's brain spun at high speed.

In other words, while he was fooling her in the group chat and watching her make a fool of herself, he was simultaneously spying on her information in reality through her two roommates, the better to fool her further.

No wonder even with her own intelligence and wit, she couldn't outmatch him!

It was truly abominable!

It was fortunate that when she met him yesterday, she hadn't rashly gone up to greet him; otherwise, if she hadn't seen through him immediately, he surely would have pretended to be ignorant, even interacting with her under the identity of her roommate's boyfriend who hadn't dated, and while she was chatting happily with him, he would have been laughing to himself inside.

Zhang Suannai gritted her teeth until they clicked.

But then, a thought occurred to her—

Qingqing and Xiaoxiao were most likely innocent.

Given their cold personalities, they wouldn't be bored enough to help someone else play pranks, let alone the fact that they never lied.

They must have been used by that scheming man!

A multitude of memories flooded her mind, and those seemingly unrelated scenes connected, piecing together more information, making her face burn just thinking about it, wishing she could dig a hole and crawl inside.

For a moment, she even felt like she didn't want to know the truth anymore.