Chương 53: The Path Forward (Part III)

Riding two horses, Wang Chen and Bai Xiaomeng traveled through the Azure Magpie Forest in silence. Behind them, four more horses pulled a sealed silver box and an improvised cart filled with goods. They had gold, books, porcelain, and other valuables. As usual, Lucian was inside the silver box, protected from the sunlight. He had barely waited for Wang Chen to recover before waking up Bai Xiaomeng and commanding the duo to prepare for their travel.

Since they left, Lucian remained inside the box and let the two of them take care of the rest.

"Little Meng," Wang Chen suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"It's been two days already. When will you—""Please, Young Master." Bai Xiaomeng interrupted him coldly.

"I ask for your forgiveness, but I am unwell and cannot speak right now." Wang Chen sighed, a headache forming. Then, he said with a wry smile, "I'm sorry, Little Meng. I was wrong." Looking at him with a faint spark of anger in her eyes, Bai Xiaomeng asked flatly, "Oh? What did you do wrong?" Hearing that, Wang Chen felt like vomiting blood. He had no clue what he did wrong, but how could he dare to say it? Frustrated did not begin to describe how he felt.

Despite appearing fine, his entire body still ached, and he trembled whenever he remembered how close he had come to death just a few days ago. He was lucky not to break any bones, and that the Ganshou Village had healing pastes to close his wounds. But right now, he didn't feel lucky. Quite the opposite. The main reason was that, after Bai Xiaomeng woke up in the village, she had helped him treat his wound and, after seeing that he was fine, she began treating him coldly.

It wasn't as if he could talk to Lucian about any of this, so he had to deal with her alone. Inwardly, he prayed for Lucian to leave the box, so that he could break the ice. Wang Chen didn't mind if he was ordered to do stuff, as long as Bai Xiaomeng talked to him! Soon, his thoughts were interrupted by a soft harrumph from Bai Xiaomeng.

"See? You say you're wrong, but you can't even admit why. It's better not to talk about it, Young Master," she said, turning her gaze forward. She had clearly been waiting for his answer, but he failed to give any.

"Come on, Little Meng," Wang Chen forced a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"If anyone saw us like this, they'd think we were a married couple." He waited for a reaction to his teasing, but she kept looking ahead, feigning being deaf. Time passed, and soon dark clouds gathered above the trees. As always, the nights in the Azure Magpie Forest were either cloudy or rainy, so both wore robes to shield themselves from the possible storm. While searching for a place to set up camp, Wang Chen noticed a light ahead, and because of the sudden darkness, Bai Xiaomeng picked up on the faint light.

"Travelers," Bai Xiaomeng whispered.

"Maybe we can talk to them? To trade?" She looked behind to check if Lucian would answer, and to her surprise, the previously sealed box was now open.

"Young Master," she muttered, preparing to dismount her horse.

"I think Grand Cultivator Lu Xian is checking—""Stay on the horse, Little Meng," Wang Chen said with a frown.

"The people ahead aren't good." Clicking his tongue, Wang Chen focused his enhanced vision. With a bit of strain, he could see a group of people sitting silently around a bonfire, eating. That alone wasn't a problem. The real issue was the corpses lying beside them, brutally killed. The group didn't care about the gore by their feat and continued their meal.

"Shouldn't we help him deal with them?" Bai Xiaomeng asked, remaining on her horse. Wang Chen almost laughed, but forced a smile instead.

"Little Meng, are you joking? How can we help him?" From what he could tell, the half-dozen men were armed, clad in armor, and eating while constantly scanning their surroundings. But most importantly, to Wang Chen, they didn't behave like cultivators. And this basically meant that Lucian would deal with them within ten breaths or less.

"You are right," Bai Xiaomeng whispered, as if not wanting to draw attention.

"If Grand Cultivator Lu Xian wanted us to act, he would have already told us to move." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Yes," Wang Chen replied with a wry smile, though his raised eyebrows betrayed his surprise. He had just seen two men drop to the ground, yet he hadn't seen what struck them. A few moments later, without a single scream, every single one of the murderers collapsed dead, one after the other. Then, in the middle of the bonfire, a black-robed figure appeared like a ghost and waved at Wang Chen. Recognizing Lucian, Wang Chen nudged his horse forward.

"Let's go," he said, shaking his head.

"Benefactor Lu Xian is telling us to approach." With some difficulty, Wang Chen's horse moved, followed by the others. From the way it struggled, Wang Chen guessed it was time to switch horses again. Every quarter of a day, he rotated mounts, feeding the ones he rode with better food to prevent strain and exhaustion. After they were close enough to the camp that they could smell the leaked contents from the deceased, Bai Xiaomeng and Wang Chen forced themselves to ignore the mummified corpses and dismounted.

While Bai Xiaomeng silently offered her condolences to the original camp's occupants, a family of three men and one woman murdered, Wang Chen began searching the area for valuables.

"We are staying here tonight," Lucian said, walking toward the silver box. He paused beside Bai Xiaomeng, who was staring at the dead woman's cold body in a daze.

"By the marks on her neck, she killed herself before they could touch her," Lucian said in a cold tone, and then continued on his way. Approaching the silver box, Lucian stopped when hearing a surprised gasp from Wang Chen. Turning, he said, "Tell me what you've found."

"Ah… uh…" Wang Chen hesitated, waving for Bai Xiaomeng.

"I need Little Meng to confirm." Seeing his nervous expression, she hurried over.

"This armor," Wang Chen said, gulping dry.

"Doesn't it look familiar?" Bai Xiaomeng frowned for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, it's from the Twin-Neck Crane Kingdom," she said, confusion clear in her voice.

"Why would a soldier from there be in the south?" Lucian approached them.

"Explain your concerns," he said, glancing at the armor.

"The armored men we met before weren't from the south either." Lucian was talking about the bandits who accompanied Liu Tian.

"Uh…" Wang Chen scratched his head.

"It's strange. The war is in the north, so I expected bandits to flee from there. But the Twin-Neck Crane Kingdom is in the west." Lucian frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"If the war is spreading, other parts of the empire could be affected. I fail to understand your concern over this." Bai Xiaomeng shook her head and tried to explain.

"That's not the important part, Grand Cultivator," she said.

"The issue is that the Twin-Neck Crane Kingdom had a big change a few years ago. Maybe you are not aware of this." He nodded inwardly. Xu Hua had lived in an isolated village for a few years, so it would be natural for him to lack updated knowledge. Most of what Xu Hua knew also came from the Resonant Sea Ancestor, and her split soul hadn't been communicative in a while.

"As I said, explain what troubles you," Lucian ordered with a more resolute tone, noticing the uneasy glances they exchanged.

"Three years ago, a new Crown Prince rose in the Twin-Neck Crane Kingdom," Bai Xiaomeng said, her tone distressed.

"His ascension made it clear that no one should touch that place."

"He cannot be a cultivator, since cultivators rarely involve themselves in ruling the secular world," Lucian said, mildly interested.

"There must be a reason for people to treat his kingdom as an untouchable force."

"His surname is Kun." Wang Chen smiled wryly.

"He is a direct relative of the Golden Peng Emperor Kun Wu. Who would have the guts to touch him or his kingdom?" Surprised, Lucian smiled faintly. For him, if anything happened to the Imperial Family, it would mean good news!

"Good. That is trouble for the Ancient Golden Clan to handle," he said, turning back toward the silver box.

"After you take a rest and eat, we will be back to travel." Shortly after their conversation, Wang Chen and Bai Xiaomeng fell asleep, each burdened by their own concerns. Wang Chen was in the mood to talk, but she wasn't, so they ended up doing as Lucian told. Not truly caring about either of them, Lucian retrieved the wooden child puppet and the azure boar's leather, first tracing the markings etched into the leather with his fingers.

It looks nothing like a meridian, he thought, comparing it to what he had done with Wang Chen and to himself. However, I need to experiment to be sure. Biting his finger and commanding his Blood Essence, he guided it, along with drops of blood, through the lines carved into the boar's leather. Inside the dark silver box, he observed whether there would be any reaction.

Since the leather had become unusable after the creature's death, Lucian was attempting to mimic life with Blood Essence, though he held little hope. But, as expected, nothing happened. That makes sense. If it were this easy, these boars would be far more valuable and hunted every day, he thought. Maybe I should catch one alive? Lucian soon shook his head, dismissing the thought.

He was still unfamiliar with Qi, and Xu Hua's memories lacked many explanations regarding its nature, so he doubted he could do a better job than the countless cultivators who had passed through the Azure Magpie Forest over the years. Capturing a boar would be a waste of time compared with reaching Three Feathers City and experimenting on living cultivators. Setting the leather aside, he picked up the wooden puppet.

Through his enhanced vision, he could see carved channels inside the puppet through the openings where its limbs were missing. A mixture of hollow wood and brownish flesh with a bark-like texture formed its interior. Interesting, he thought, narrowing his eyes. These channels resemble redirected blood vessels. Lucian's understanding of the human body was unparalleled, allowing him to recognize most wooden blood vessels at a glance, even though they weren't connected to any organs.

The process used to create this puppet must differ from the others, he thought, recalling the wooden carcasses and corpses from Ganshou Village. Maybe that man used a living child. Why not a strong adult instead? After spending more time studying it, he repeated the previous experiment, guiding blood with the aid of Blood Essence through the carved channels, hoping to trigger a reaction. Alas, despite causing the puppet to glow with a faint crimson light, he failed to activate it.

It seems the Qi that powered it has already been depleted, but unlike the boar's leather, its structure had a minor reaction to foreign energy, he thought. With a curious gaze, Lucian continued studying both the wooden puppet and the leather, determined to uncover the secrets hidden within them and how they might aid his cultivation. Before being the progenitor of the vampire race, he had been, after all, a human scholar.