Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery
Chapter 104 - 93: The Journey (Part 2)

Chapter 104: Chapter 93: The Journey (Part 2)

Sobs arose from the Yu family’s ranks, with someone crying out to collect the bodies, only to be fiercely scolded by the Yu family’s patriarch, finally giving up on the idea.

After pausing briefly, the troop set off once more.

But the atmosphere had grown even heavier.

However, when it rains, it pours, and their slow progress was met with a headwind.

It wasn’t even dawn yet.

When the rain suddenly began to pour down from the sky.

In this late autumn season, the rainwater was ice cold and bone piercing.

Even cultivators soaked for long could fall severely ill.

Loose cultivators at the Qi Cultivation Stage were hardly much stronger than ordinary people and were far from being unaffected by the heat or the cold.

Seeing that the party could no longer continue, they had no choice but to rest where they were.

...

In the plains’ forests, there were hardly any caves to take shelter from the rain, but thankfully, the area was populated by many large trees, which everyone used to carve out tree hollows for shelter.

Chen Li gathered a lot of dry firewood while the ground was still not completely soaked, bringing it into the tree hollow.

He lit a bonfire at the entrance of the hollow.

In the damp and chilly tree hollow, it quickly warmed up.

The heavy rain pattered down, the sound of the raindrops was hissing, making one feel drowsy.

"Eat up and then get some good sleep. We ought to keep our spirits up; it looks like we won’t be able to travel during the day," Chen Li said as he took out food and water, and passed it to Zhou Hong.

"Fortunately for this rain; otherwise, if we had to march for two days and nights straight, Shu might not have held up. Such a young age and yet so sensible, not a single complaint of tiredness along the way, just gritting her teeth and persevering," Zhou Hong said with concern.

"I’ll go send some Second Order Demon Beast Meat over there in a bit," Chen Li replied.

Second Order Demon Beast Meat was comparable to Blood Qi Elixir

Such a strong tonic was great for relieving fatigue.

Chen Li ate ten strips of dried meat in a row to fill his stomach and, after drinking some water, stood up, jumped out of the tree hollow, and walked into the rain.

...

"Dad, look at the blisters on my feet, they’ve all burst," Zhang Shuniang said as she took off her shoes and looked at her own feet, discovering that the soles were raw and bloodied.

"What’s a little pain? Even if it hurts, you must persevere. No one here is waiting for you. You’ve seen how dangerous it is here, and it’s only the first day. Keep on enduring; once the soles of your feet toughen up, it will get better," Zhang Yan sighed and encouraged her.

"But I’m really tired!" Zhang Shuniang wiggled her numb feet and said weakly, leaning against the wall of the hollow, "I can hardly walk anymore."

Her eyelids drooped, no longer carrying their usual liveliness, and showing a face of exhaustion.

"Keep on persevering, you’ll get used to it after a few days," Zhang Yan said with pity.

At that moment, a figure appeared at the entrance of the hollow.

Zhang Shuniang’s spirit lifted: "Uncle, what brings you here!"

"Just came to see how you’re doing," Chen Li said with a smile. "Feeling pretty worn out, huh?"

"Just a little bit!"

Chen Li’s eyes turned towards her pale and delicate feet.

Made shy by his gaze, Zhang Shuniang hastily drew her feet back.

"They’re bleeding!" Chen Li noted with a glance, then diverted his gaze: "Hold on, I’ll use a Hemostasis Healing Skill on you, and you’ll feel better soon."

He quickly cast the spell.

The next moment, a healing spell hit Zhang Shuniang.

"Thank you, Uncle!"

Chen Li handed over a large bag of dried meat to Zhang Yan: "Shu’s got a weak body. This is Second Order Demon Beast Meat, help her build up her strength with it."

Zhang Yan was full of gratitude: "Sigh, I owe you too much, Zhang may never repay you in this lifetime."

"Why talk like that? It’s not worth much. Besides, it’s for Shu, not for you. Alright, I’m off."

After Chen Li left.

"Uncle, you’re such a good person!" Zhang Shuniang felt warmth in her heart as she glanced at her feet, "This spell is so powerful. I feel much better now, and my feet hardly hurt."

"The Hemostasis Healing Skill is a Grade 1 Level 6 spell, after all. As long as the injury isn’t fatal, it can heal rapidly. Your injury doesn’t even count as a flesh wound—it’s like using a cleaver to kill a chicken." Zhang Yan couldn’t help but laugh as he spoke, his mind inexplicably flashing back to the last time he was beaten black and blue, his face nearly unrecognizable. He hadn’t dared to go out for days, and the offender hadn’t even used this spell on him.

It must have been something he learned recently... I guess.

...

Autumn rain drizzled down incessantly.

Although Chen Li didn’t feel very tired, he didn’t overexert himself either. Upon his return, he immediately took the time to rest. Long journeys were exhausting, and without proper rest, one would only grow more fatigued—even an iron body couldn’t withstand it.

Thankfully, even the demon beasts wouldn’t choose to come out to hunt in this kind of weather.

During this time, other than a few wild animals occasionally visiting the area in search of caves to shelter from the rain, startling the group momentarily, they encountered no significant dangers.

They slept well for a day until night fell on the second day when the persistent autumn rain finally ceased.

The team didn’t delay any further and continued on their journey.

The forest, freshly drenched by the rainfall, made the night feel even more damp and chilly. Fortunately, the thick layer of humus on the ground perfectly absorbed the moisture from the autumn rain, making the path underfoot not difficult to traverse.

One day, two days, three days... day after day passed.

Apart from occasionally resting for an entire day, most of the time they traveled both day and night.

The number of Loose Cultivators who died along the way kept increasing, with at least one or two every day, going up to more than a dozen on some days. Many others, due to various injuries, poisoning, or simply lacking the physical strength due to old age, fell behind en route.

The team wouldn’t stop for anyone in particular. Staying longer in this place meant facing more danger.

Many dangers were such that even the elder of the Yu Family could only avoid and stay far away from them, being extra cautious and careful all along the way.

The bird-shaped Magic Artifact, presumably used for scouting, was released almost every half-day to explore the path ahead. Several times the group had deliberately deviated from the path, taking a day or two to make a large detour before returning to the original route.

This clearly indicated they had encountered dangers too difficult to deal with.

As for those who were left behind, if they were lucky, they would be able to make it back to Green River District alive.

But most, I’m afraid, would never return.

Even Chen Li began to feel numb as he walked, his face weathered by the elements.

The chatter amongst the crowd dwindled by the day.

Sometimes, for half a day, not a word would be spoken, and everyone just hurried along with their heads down.

Even Zhao Lin, who usually talked the most, had become silent and reticent.

On the twelfth day of their departure.

"Thud!"

Zhang Shuniang tripped over a vine and fell to the ground.

Her already struggling body couldn’t hold on any longer, and as darkness clouded her vision, she fainted outright.

"Shuniang, wake up, please." Zhang Yan hurried to help her up, seeing her pale as wax and her face haggard with weariness. He felt a pang of guilt and his eyes reddened involuntarily.

"Let me take a look!"

Zhou Hong stopped in her tracks and rushed over to check, "Don’t worry, it looks like she’s just too tired and passed out. She’ll be fine after some rest."

Second Order Demon Beast Meat wasn’t some kind of miracle cure.

For a young girl at the second level of Qi Cultivation who had hardly faced any hardships, to endure for so many days was already the limit.

Seeing this, Chen Li turned to Yu Fan Zhen,

"Fellow Daoist Yu, could you speak with your family about letting Shuniang rest on the pack beast for a while?"

"Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem," Yu Fan Zhen replied without hesitation, forthrightly.

She said this and ran to the front of the group, speaking words unheard. She quickly returned saying, "All is arranged, let’s carry her over there quickly."

Zhang Yan’s face was full of gratitude, "Thank you, thank you so much Fellow Daoist Yu."

Yu Fan Zhen gave a faint smile, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, you don’t need to be so formal, it was the least I could do."

This was naturally done out of consideration for Chen.

Had it been just any Loose Cultivator, how could it have been possible.

ps: This Chapter is for yesterday.