Chapter 36

Chong'er shed tears, understanding his meaning, and choked, "Young Master, Young Master Shiheng is a good person, he won't abandon us."

Xu Fei was speechless, thinking to himself, how much do you really know about him? You know nothing!

But at this moment, he couldn't say much.

Yu Qing, walking ahead, took off his soldier's uniform and called out, "Brother Xu, this can't be worn anymore." He didn't explain why it couldn't be worn, just tore a strip of cloth from the clothes and casually tied his hair into a ponytail.

Xu Fei followed suit, also taking off his clothes and tying his hair into a ponytail, but he was empty-handed, his sword having fallen into the waterfall below.

Chong'er was the exception, finding a suitable branch, he simply processed it and used it as a hairpin to tie up his hair, as he was more accustomed to a normal man's appearance.

At the foot of a mountain, Yu Qing asked the two to wait, then climbed to the top to look around.

Based on the direction of the sunset, he determined the cardinal directions, but knowing these directions alone was useless. Walking in one direction could lead them out of the ancient tomb wasteland, but it would be too dangerous to wander around freely.

He hoped to find the source of the smoke, to shorten the distance of their adventure.

He remembered that the place where they were attacked had already caught a large fire, which would be hard to extinguish in half a day. In that situation, vigilance was the priority, and no one would dare to spare the strength to put out the fire for a while. Therefore, the sky above that place must be covered with a large amount of smoke. As long as they found that location, they would have a direction to return to the group.

No matter what happened, Shiheng's matter was the priority, and he had to complete the journey to the capital for the imperial examination.

However, he couldn't see anything. He repeatedly checked the horizon but found no signs of a large fire.

It's over! Yu Qing knew they were in trouble. They had drifted for a long time in the underground river, and he didn't know where the current had taken them. Judging from the situation, they were far from the original battle site. Even if they found the original place, by the time they got there, the examination convoy would have long gone, and it was impossible for them to wait specifically for the three of them.

They were definitely more than fifty miles away from the main road, and they had already entered the territory of the demons.

Breaking the fifty-mile agreement and entering the demon territory was truly a big problem. Now, they had to avoid not just the demons that attacked the examination convoy, but all the demons in the ancient tomb wasteland.

He regretted his greed. If he hadn't been greedy, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

Given the circumstances, he could only take one step at a time. Regret and worry were useless. He waved to Xu Fei and Chong'er to come up the mountain.

On the way up, he had found a cave where they could take shelter. It was almost dark, so they decided to spend the night and wait until morning.

After they settled in the cave with some dry grass, it was completely dark outside, and the sky was filled with stars.

Yu Qing and Xu Fei agreed to take turns keeping watch at the cave entrance. Yu Qing would take the first half of the night, and Xu Fei the second half. Chong'er's watch was just for show, so he was exempted.

Xu Fei lay down and soon snored loudly.

Chong'er also fell asleep quickly amidst the noise, snoring softly.

Yu Qing sat outside the cave, leaning against a rock, looking at the stars, pondering how to leave this place. In the current situation, if he could get a map of the ancient tomb wasteland, it would be very helpful.

Just as he was deep in thought, he saw a "star" in the sky that was moving. He was startled and, upon closer inspection, realized it wasn't a star but a fire.

He slowly stood up and stared, unsure whether the fire was started by a human or a demon. From the direction, it seemed to be on a mountain on the other side of the river.

After some thought, he decided to investigate. He turned and entered the cave, tapping the sleeping Xu Fei.

Xu Fei didn't react, and Yu Qing, getting angry, covered Xu Fei's mouth and nose.

After a moment, Xu Fei woke up, eyes wide open, struggling.

Yu Qing let his nose breathe but kept his mouth covered, whispering, "There seems to be someone on the other side of the river. I'll go check it out. You stay here and keep watch."

Xu Fei nodded.

They both left the cave, and Xu Fei asked in a low voice, "Where?"

Yu Qing pointed to the fire, and Xu Fei, looking carefully, said worriedly, "Be careful."

Yu Qing nodded and was about to leave.

Xu Fei suddenly grabbed Yu Qing's arm, "Brother Shiheng, you must be careful. If Chong'er and I can safely reach the capital, I will offer you four thousand taels of silver as a reward."

He had wanted to say this when they first landed, but he was worried it might be considered insulting, so he didn't dare to speak. After all, he was a scholar.

Now, seeing Yu Qing about to leave alone, he was very worried that Yu Qing might not return.

Putting himself in Yu Qing's shoes, he knew that bringing two burdens in this environment would be troublesome, so he had to offer a "humiliating" price.

After all, twenty pounds of spirit rice were worth two thousand taels, and for two thousand taels, one could risk their life. Xu Fei thought that offering four thousand taels should be enough to persuade Yu Qing.

Indeed, upon hearing about the four thousand taels, Yu Qing's eyes immediately lit up, and he felt that the trip was worth it. The level of danger in his mind quickly decreased, but he still said politely, "Brother Xu, what kind of relationship do we have? Talking about money is uncouth..." He then changed his tone, "Besides, where do you get four thousand taels? You've even thrown away your luggage, you must be penniless, right?"

Xu Fei knew he had a chance and that his judgment was correct. Money was the most direct and effective motivator for this person. He immediately perked up and, without further ado, said, "I am indeed penniless now, but once we reach the capital, I will have money. My uncle does business in the capital, and although he deals in small trades, he can still come up with four thousand taels. With my current status as a scholar, getting four thousand taels from my uncle is not a problem. You don't need to worry about that, Brother Shiheng."

Yu Qing stroked his ponytail and chuckled, "Words spoken in the heat of the moment are just words. How can they be taken seriously? If you don't give me the money later, I can't do anything about it."

Xu Fei said seriously, "I can write you an IOU. Unfortunately, we don't have paper and pen now, but as soon as we find some, I will write it down as proof."

Yu Qing immediately looked back at the fire, thinking to himself that he needed to get some paper and pen.

He hadn't planned to abandon them, and if there was a way, he wouldn't give up on them. This was just a side job, and he hadn't expected to make money from it.

He had to face reality, right? He knew that after completing his mission in the capital, he would return to Linglong Temple to practice in seclusion, and he didn't know how long that would last. If he could make some money on the side, he shouldn't be polite.

Although he wasn't being polite in his heart, he still said politely, "Brother Xu, you're putting me in a difficult position. I know what you're worried about. If I don't agree, you'll be restless. Fine, I'll agree to help you, and I'll do my best to protect you."

Seeing him act reluctantly, Xu Fei inwardly scoffed but still bowed in gratitude, "Thank you, Brother Shiheng. I appreciate your help."

Yu Qing patted his shoulder and quickly went down the mountain.

He stealthily made his way to the river, jumped in, and quickly crossed it. On the other side, he headed straight for the source of the light.

After stealthily walking for about four or five miles, he climbed a mountain and quietly approached the halfway point, which was the source of the fire. He hid behind a tree and observed.

There was a cave halfway up the mountain, and outside the cave was a clearing with a bonfire. A pot was hanging over the fire, and two men and a woman were cooking around it.

The two old men and the old woman didn't attract Yu Qing's attention, but a woman who just walked out of the cave did.

She was wearing a bamboo hat and a green cloak, with a green veil covering her face, revealing only half of it, making it hard to see her features.

As she passed the bonfire, the firelight illuminated half of her face, and Yu Qing, with his keen eyesight, could see it clearly.

Her skin was very fair, with a prominent red dot on her forehead. Her eyes were like water, with long, curved lashes, making them very beautiful. More importantly, her graceful movements and demeanor exuded a charm that attracted Yu Qing's attention.

Even though he could only see half of her face and couldn't see her fully, Yu Qing subconsciously recognized that she must be a great beauty.

When the woman stood at the edge of the mountain and looked up at the stars, the bonfire was behind her. Through the light, her figure under the cloak was vaguely visible, and the subtle beauty of her silhouette in the light stirred Yu Qing's young heart.

Yu Qing hadn't been in the secular world for long and hadn't had much real contact with women. His knowledge of women mostly came from his junior master, who seemed to know a lot about them.

As a young man, he had developed a fascination with women, with various beautiful fantasies. However, his junior master had warned him that women in the secular world were like tigers, dousing his enthusiasm with many buckets of cold water.

At this moment, Yu Qing felt his fascination with women rekindled by the graceful demeanor of the woman before him, a longing for something he had never experienced.

The woman stood silently at the edge of the mountain for a while, then sighed softly and turned around.

At the moment she turned, Yu Qing's eyes were caught by a glint, and he instinctively focused on it.

It was a round iron buckle hanging from the woman's waist, black, about the size of a coin, which glowed with a cold light when illuminated by the fire.

Seeing the form of the buckle, Yu Qing immediately understood who the woman was. These people were likely merchants from Youjiao Town.

The iron buckle was called a "Youju Plate," which was given to those who had obtained the right to live in Youjiao Town. One side was engraved with the pattern of Youyan, and the other with the name of the shop in Youjiao Town. It was issued by Youyan, the entity that controlled the rules of Youjiao Town, and was used to verify the identity of the merchants.

This item was hard to counterfeit, and no one knew how Youyan had made it. As Yu Qing saw, the "Youju Plate" only reflected such a glow when worn by its true owner. Once it left the owner, it would no longer reflect light, which was quite magical.