Chapter 51

After wandering back and forth on Shaoyang Mountain, Wei He didn't see a single strange beast, but he did encounter quite a few people from the Shaoyang Sect.

There were too many of them, so he couldn't act secretly and had to wander around for a while before quickly leaving.

However, this time, quite a few people from the Shaoyang Sect came out, allowing Wei He to see clearly that they actually kept some green-eyed wolf dogs.

These wolf dogs had an extremely strong sense of smell and almost discovered him several times.

Fortunately, he had brought a lot of various mixed-flavor powders, which masked his human scent.

Staying on Shaoyang Mountain until evening, Wei He returned to Feiye City with his final bit of harvest.

As night approached, the setting sun dyed the entire city a dim yellow.

In the desolate outer city, a few months ago, at this time, one could still hear the sounds of people being beaten in the roadside grass or the voices of hooligans.

Now, it was completely quiet.

Walking down the street in the outer city, Wei He felt that the entire street seemed to have lost its human touch even more.

The garbage on the ground was increasing, mostly dead people's clothes or chamber pots, things that ordinary people didn't dare to pick up.

With the hot weather and the rampant plague, no one dared to take these things away, as those who did might already be dead.

Wei He's lonely footsteps echoed continuously on the street.

Creak.

A window in a nearby house suddenly opened a crack, and an eye with bloodshot pupils peered out, looking around.

Thud.

Something was suddenly thrown out of the window crack, and it quickly closed again.

That thing... seemed to be a dried, shriveled rat skin.

A complete, inedible rat skin that had been peeled off.

Wei He paused, seeing that there were more than ten rat skins piled up outside this house.

Sighing, he quickly left this stinky place.

Passing through the outer city, the conditions in Shiqiao Town were much better.

Footprints were everywhere on the ground, probably left by the crowd during the lecture and forum held during the day. Some places still had bloodstains.

Wei He didn't look much and quickly headed home.

Passing by Huishan Boxing Academy, he could still hear the sounds of martial arts practice inside.

"Sister, I'm back."

Wei He pushed open the door to his house and saw Wei Ying carefully hanging clothes in the courtyard.

"Xiaohe, someone from the Cheng family just came to deliver a letter, saying it was for you. I didn't dare to touch it, so I left it at your door."

Wei Ying finished hanging the last piece of clothing and turned to remind him.

"Okay, I know." Wei He closed the door and latched it.

The security issues of this era always made him feel uneasy.

Although the door was thick, it couldn't stop determined intruders. He had been thinking about how to find some good guards for the house.

Taking off his outer coat and putting on a house jacket, Wei He went to his bedroom door.

To the left of the door was a small stool with a small basket on it, containing a square black stone box.

There was a letter on the box.

Wei He was taken aback.

The Cheng family was also in Shiqiao Town, not far away. Why would they send this thing specially? And write a letter?

He walked over, picked up the stone box, and went into the room, closing the door behind him.

Sitting at his desk, Wei He picked up the yellow envelope.

Rip.

The wax-sealed envelope was torn open, and he pulled out the light yellow paper inside.

He unfolded the letter and read it carefully.

The first few words were Cheng Shaojiu's handwriting.

"To Wei He: The wilderness is vast, and I must walk alone. The situation in the city is changing; I hope you will make plans early."

Wei He's heart sank, feeling something was wrong. He quickly read on.

Sure enough, the rest was all written by Cheng Shaojiu.

"Xiaohe, by the time you read this letter, I will have already left Feiye City with the entire Cheng family.

"The current situation in Feiye City, with the Seven Families Alliance and Hong Family Fort leading, the two sides are gradually becoming more confrontational, and they are starting to clear out the surrounding small and medium-sized forces. If you don't choose a side early, it's best to leave the vortex as soon as possible.

"The current outer town, if you don't choose a side, the final outcome will be the same as the Cheng family, forced to leave.

"This staged robbery and plot to seize power has made me see through the true nature of the Seven Families Alliance. If I don't want to be deeply involved, I must stay away.

"I sent someone to look for you before, but you weren't there. Outside the Cheng family courtyard and the escort agency, people have already thrown paper money for the dead. The escort agency has to leave, even if it doesn't want to.

"The only thing I feel guilty about is you. I took all the money you gave me, and the family needs a lot of funds to turn around, so I won't return it to you.

"But you mentioned before that you wanted to collect highly toxic substances and strange beast lures. I have contacted the Guan family. If you need anything, you can go directly to the Guan family's pharmacy.

"Finally, inside the stone box, I left you a few things. You might find them useful.

"If we meet again, the matching jade pendants will be a sign of old friends. — Cheng Shaojiu."

The letter was not long, but it showed Cheng Shaojiu's conflicted feelings when writing it.

Wei He silently put down the letter, feeling a bit empty.

Feiye City was already becoming more desolate, and now the Cheng family had left.

He didn't have many friends, and with Cheng Shaojiu gone, he suddenly felt even more alone in the city.

A sense of loneliness welled up in his heart.

Sighing, Wei He realized he had been sighing a lot lately.

He put down the letter and looked at the stone box.

The stone box had three layers. He opened the first layer with both hands, and inside was a jade pendant.

A fish-shaped jade pendant, emerald green and translucent, of excellent quality.

"Fish, meet? Cheng, you really are... " Wei He sighed, taking out the small, exquisite jade pendant and putting it in his inner pocket. Later, he could ask his second sister to help him thread it and wear it close to his body.

He quickly opened the second layer of the stone box.

Inside was a stack of blueprints.

The paper was new, with a faint ink smell, as if it had just been written.

"This is...!?" Wei He quickly picked up the blueprint and unfolded it.

The entire blueprint was over a meter wide, square, and densely filled with various terrains, routes, locations, and detailed explanations.

"This is a map!" Wei He had never seen such a detailed map in this era.

Compared to the maps he had recorded himself, this one was far more detailed.

Just this map, with all the recorded danger points and response methods, was invaluable.

In this era, the reason common people couldn't or didn't dare to leave the city was that they didn't know where the dangers were and where it was safe.

Only escort agencies and traveling merchants knew these key points, which were hard-earned through the loss of many lives and were not easily shared.

This map, in Wei He's view, was almost the same as the main map of the Yonghe Escort Agency, or even a simulation of it.

"This is a great gift!" Wei He felt reassured.

On the map, he saw the marked locations of strange beasts. At a glance, he saw at least five.

These were all places where strange beasts were rampant, with detailed small text marking what kind of beasts were there, their activity patterns, and how to avoid them.

This map was a treasure to him.

Thinking of the Cheng family who had left, he quickly found a red dot and a red line on the map.

This red line was specially marked, with small text next to it: Prefecture.

"Sure enough, they went to the Prefecture." Wei He understood. The Prefecture was rumored to be the safest place nearby.

Given the current situation, he might also go there in the future, and he might really meet the Cheng family again.

He carefully put away the map and then opened the third layer of the stone box.

In the last layer, there was a small book.

The cover was grayish-white, with three large characters clearly written: Flying Dragon Skill.

Wei He's breath caught.

"Really this...!"

He quickly reached out, took out the book, and carefully flipped through it.

Inside were illustrations of human figures practicing, along with related mantras, practice methods, refining formulas, and the fundamental diagram, all complete.

He had heard Cheng Shaojiu mention before that his uncle's skills came from the Flying Dragon Skill, but unfortunately, this skill was extremely difficult, and no one in the family except his uncle could master it.

Out of desperation, everyone had to find their own way, seeking other martial arts masters to learn from.

This was also why Cheng Shaojiu joined the Huishan Boxing Academy.

Because he couldn't practice the family's Flying Dragon Skill.

Now, as Wei He carefully read through the book, he understood why no one in the Cheng family could master it.

Not only could no one master it, but no one dared to practice it...

The book clearly stated: This skill is powerful, but extremely difficult to break through. There are five levels, each like climbing a floor. If you hesitate, you will face life or death.

Next to it were the last words of Cheng family ancestors.

All in black small text, the last words before breaking through. Each name, though written in black, seemed to exude a fresh red blood.

Wei He counted, and there were five names, all saying they would return to leave their insights after breaking through, but only one, Cheng Zhengxing, returned to leave a message.

The other four were gone.

He carefully flipped through the book, suddenly feeling a sense of familiarity.

The Flying Dragon Skill seemed similar to the Five Ridge Palm, both accumulating qi and blood rapidly but with extremely difficult checkpoints.

Cheng Zhengxing, it was said, came from a humble background with no capital to accumulate qi and blood, yet he managed to break through three times and stabilize his escort business.

Now, it seemed the Flying Dragon Skill was more like a dark path skill.

Wei He's heart raced.

Just the secret manual left by Cheng Shaojiu, if sold, would be worth thousands of gold. Such a thing that could increase one's foundation would never be sold by anyone.

But Cheng Shaojiu left it to him without hesitation.

Sighing, he quickly and carefully put the secret manual away, placing it inside his iron plate.

In this world, nowhere was safer than on his own body.

After putting everything away, Wei He didn't waste time and quickly went out, heading to the Guan family pharmacy.

Now that he had the map and the clues to the strange beasts, the only thing he lacked was the strange beast lure.

This was to avoid being unable to defeat the strange beasts and to use the lure to distract them and escape.

However, Cheng Shaojiu had found out that no one was willing to sell strange beast lures on the market.

Only the Guan family pharmacy was willing to sell them to him.

Previously, Cheng Shaojiu had helped with the contacts, but now Wei He had to go himself.