Chapter 19

Under the light of the torches.

Cheng Qing pressed down with one leg, producing a dull sound as it broke through the air.

As a skilled practitioner of qi and blood, her leg technique was orthodox, and her movements were unhurried. Although it was a half-ambush, her posture, strength, and accuracy were all quite remarkable.

Wei He, caught off guard, knew he had been provoked by her words and had lost the initiative. He had no choice but to block with both fists in front of him, protecting his head and chest.

Peng!

Her long leg, carrying the scent of mud from the shoe sole, struck Wei He's arms forcefully.

Leg strength is generally much stronger than arm strength. Even though Cheng Qing was a woman with slightly less strength, her leg power was still greater than Wei He's arms.

This kick hit him squarely, forcing Wei He to retreat several steps.

"Is that all you've got!"

A hint of disdain flashed in Cheng Qing's eyes as she was about to take advantage of the opportunity to attack.

Suddenly, a gust of wind whistled by not far away.

Ah!

A guard standing on the outskirts suddenly let out a惨叫, fell to the ground, and desperately clawed at the earth, scooping up large clumps of soil and grass.

But it was in vain. In the darkness, a powerful force quickly dragged him into the shadows, and his cries soon faded away, then abruptly stopped.

Everything returned to silence.

The guards, unable to watch the duel, quickly raised their torches to illuminate the area.

Unfortunately, they could only see the scratch marks left on the ground and a fresh pool of blood.

"What is it?!" "Old Sun has been dragged away!"

"How is that possible?! Sun Zhu's strength is among the best of us!"

"I saw a black shadow dragging his legs and running away! I wanted to hit it with something, but the shadow was too fast, and I didn't react in time..."

A guard trembled, unsure whether it was from fear or regret for not being able to save him in time.

Wei He and Cheng Qing also stopped fighting and hurried over.

At this moment, Cheng Kai had already squatted down to examine the area.

His face was stern, and his eyes were serious. He touched the ground behind the scratch marks and bloodstains, then brought his hand to his nose to smell it.

"It's the Black Madman! Everyone, get inside the house quickly!!" He suddenly changed his expression and shouted loudly.

Ah!!

Before he could finish speaking, another cry of pain came from the other side.

Another guard was dragged by his legs and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

"Go to hell!!" A new guard threw his torch at the black shadow.

But it was too slow.

The torch only managed to illuminate a small part of the black shadow.

In the brief moment, everyone saw a strange creature with a black and red head.

This creature had a black and red bird head, white eyes, and was over two meters long, with half of its body in the darkness and the other half in the light.

The creature's two front claws were like human hands, with five fingers and extremely sharp, shiny nails, like metal.

The monster grabbed the guard's legs and pulled back, immediately dragging him down and into the darkness, disappearing in an instant.

"Get inside! Quickly!!" Cheng Kai roared, instantly snapping the guards out of their shock.

The group quickly retreated into the bridge house, closed the door, and used thick wooden planks from the carts to block the two window holes.

Most people quickly crouched down, remaining quiet and suppressing their breathing.

A new guard, overwhelmed by fear, couldn't help but breathe heavily, which was clearly audible in the tense environment.

An older guard quickly covered the new guard's mouth with a towel.

Wei He was also startled. The monster had moved like the wind, and even he had only seen a shadow.

He thought to himself that if he had been attacked, the chances of being dragged away or escaping would be about even.

Everyone fell silent, and for a moment, the only sounds in the room were the two bonfires burning, the occasional crackling of the wood, and the howling wind outside, making the silence even more profound.

Wei He looked around and suddenly noticed that the person who had been carving wood beside him was gone, leaving only a small bag of luggage on the ground.

His heart sank, and he quickly looked around.

He remembered the person's face. In the group of about twenty, he had become familiar with most of them over the past few days.

But after a thorough search, he still couldn't find the person who had been carving wood.

The only trace left of that person was the bag of luggage on the ground beside Wei He.

An older guard noticed his thoughts, lowered his eyes, and sighed slightly.

"Life and death are unpredictable..."

Peng!!

Suddenly, the wooden planks blocking the window holes were hit hard.

The force almost knocked over the two guards holding the planks. It took two more guards to press down and barely hold them in place.

The older guard's face turned pale, and his muttered words were cut short by the shock.

Wei He's heart also skipped a beat, but as someone who had seen blood and taken lives, he had grown bolder. He forced himself to remain calm.

"Fire!"

Cheng Kai stood up and shouted.

Someone picked up a torch, lit it by the bonfire, and quickly passed it over.

Cheng Kai reached out to take it.

Peng!!

Suddenly, the wooden planks were knocked away, and a black shadow rushed in, knocking the torch out of Cheng Kai's hand.

"Get out!"

Two guards and Cheng Qing simultaneously swung their knives from three directions.

The three knives struck the black shadow forcefully, pushing it back.

Someone quickly picked up another torch and threw it at the black shadow.

The black shadow, which seemed to fear fire, quickly retreated and leaped out of the window, disappearing.

Pant... Pant...

Everyone panted heavily, their faces pale in the firelight.

Cheng Qing and the two guards, having dropped their knives, noticed that their hands were already bloody and torn from the impact.

"It's the Black Madman... Block the window holes, continue to guard! Wait until dawn!" Cheng Kai shouted loudly.

He was the one who had just picked up the torch.

His face was slightly pale, but he remained calm and composed.

The older guards quickly obeyed, lifting the heavy wooden planks to block the window holes again.

These planks were not ordinary wood but had been specially treated and wrapped with tough vines and leather ropes, making them extremely sturdy.

Even after being hit hard several times by the monster, they only dented slightly in the middle and could still be used.

After blocking the window holes for a while, Cheng Kai indicated that a small gap should be left to allow air to circulate.

With so many people in the enclosed space and two bonfires burning, it didn't take long for some to feel suffocated and have difficulty breathing.

As soon as the gap was opened, a faint whistling wind from outside entered, bringing a cold mountain breeze and a hint of blood, into the bridge house.

This made everyone's mood even heavier.

No one spoke, and those who intended to speak were silenced by the older guards.

Everyone held their breath.

The guards who were blocking the planks took turns, and Wei He also went up to help twice.

This continued until a faint light of dawn gradually appeared in the sky.

The faint chirping of birds seeped through the gap, instantly lifting everyone's spirits.

"Daybreak. Open the door, I'll go check." Cheng Kai said in a deep voice.

An older guard immediately opened the door slightly.

Cheng Kai moved swiftly, darting out like a rabbit.

The door quickly closed again.

Everyone waited in silence, and soon, Cheng Kai's somewhat tired voice came from outside.

"It's safe, everyone can come out."

After a moment of silence, the guards slowly opened the window and door holes and gradually left the bridge house.

Outside, two clear pools of blood were visible on the grass.

The blood seemed to have been licked by some animal, leaving it somewhat thin in the middle.

But from the surrounding marks, it was still clear how the two people who had been dragged away had struggled fiercely before their deaths.

Wei He walked to the bloodstains, squatted down, and carefully examined the marks.

He soon found four claw marks deeper than human hand marks, each with five fingers deeply embedded in the grass, reaching deep into the ground.

In the middle of the claw marks were clear, fine patterns, like fingerprints.

Not far away, Cheng Kai and a few guards used the clothing and luggage of the two people who had been dragged away to create a simple grave, marking it with items that wouldn't easily decay.

This was the only trace left of the two people.

The group quickly packed up the carts, did not linger, and quickly crossed the bridge, leaving the area.

Some people, before leaving, poured water as a substitute for wine to pay respects to the two graves, while others silently placed some items on the graves.

Everyone fell silent, no longer speaking, and quietly packed up and drove away.

When they left, Wei He noticed that one of the horses was missing, likely taken by the Black Madman last night.

They crossed the long, old stone bridge and continued until they reached their destination town.

After handing over the cargo, everyone felt a bit more relaxed.

On the way back, they didn't speak much, as they were traveling light and moved much faster.

The trip there took eight days, but the return trip only took six days, saving two days in total.

However, no one had the mood to chat or duel anymore, only occasionally speaking to follow the rules.

When they passed the stone bridge on the way back, they quickly crossed without stopping.

As they approached Feiye City, they took a short rest.

Wei He saw Cheng Kai take out a crude hand-drawn map and mark the stone bridge with a red crayon-like pen.

He glanced at it and saw that the map was dotted with at least a dozen red marks along the route.

But during their journey, they had not encountered so many dangers, and the bridge house was a new point they had not encountered before.

"Doesn't it feel like we didn't encounter as many dangers?" Cheng Qing sat down beside him and whispered.

At this point, everyone's mood had improved, and they had some time to chat.

"..." Wei He looked at her, unsure how to respond.

"Each red mark on the map represents a place where someone has died," Cheng Qing whispered. "The reason we can mostly complete our journeys smoothly is because of the leadership of the head guard."

"The head guard knows how to avoid each red mark, the best time to travel, and what preparations are needed."

"I've seen such maps before, and the guard agency has many of them." Cheng Qing used her hands to indicate a thickness, about the length of a palm.