Knowing the identities of these people explained why they dared to light a fire and cook things in the ancient tomb wasteland in the middle of the night.
They dared to reveal themselves not because of their strength, but because of their identities. As long as the merchants from Youjiao Bu did not cause trouble in the demon realm, the demon side would generally not make things difficult for them. After all, Youjiao Bu gathered all sorts of goods, and it was a place demon cultivators liked to visit. Offending the merchants of Youjiao Bu for no reason was not a wise move.
The woman in the bamboo hat walked to a large tree, held the rope hanging from it, sat on a swing, and began to sway. Her skirt fluttered lightly with the motion.
For some reason, Yu Qing felt that this woman carried heavy worries. Thinking of this, he could not help but mock himself inwardly. What was he imagining?
He gathered his thoughts and returned to his original purpose. Now that he had confirmed their identities, they probably would not act recklessly against him.
After carefully weighing the risks, Yu Qing removed the spirit rice sack from his back, quietly hung it on a tree to hide it, then flashed forward and flew straight towards the campfire clearing, decisively showing himself.
This decision was made out of necessity. Without understanding the environment he was in, relying on luck to escape the demon realm smoothly would be very difficult.
He had to make contact with people. At least the people from Youjiao Bu were easier to talk to than the local demons.
As soon as he flew out and made some slight movement, the three people by the campfire and the woman on the swing all turned sharply to stare at him.
Yu Qing landed lightly, immediately bowed with clasped hands, and saluted the group.
His posture was very low, showing he had no hostile intent.
The three by the campfire had already stood up quickly, looking surprised and uncertain. First, they noticed Yu Qing’s clothing. He wore only an inner garment, with no outer robe.
The swing stopped moving. The woman in the bamboo hat tilted her head and stared at Yu Qing.
The plump, middle-aged woman had a fierce look between her brows. She wiped her hand across her eyes, and suddenly two bright blue colours appeared on her eyelids, as if she had applied some pigment.
Yu Qing had learned some worldly experience from his sect. Seeing what she applied, he immediately recognised it as the “Blue Demon Concubine” refined by demon-discerning masters.
Once exposed to air, this substance easily volatilises. When applied to the eyelids, it allows the user to see through invisible vapours whether a person carries human qi or demon qi. In simple terms, it reveals whether someone is a transformed demon.
The effect of the applied Blue Demon Concubine lasts at most half an hour. When the light blue colour completely fades, the effect is gone.
After the woman confirmed that Yu Qing was human and not a demon, she shouted, “Where did this rude young man come from? Why have you trespassed into someone else’s camp?”
This sentence clearly told the other three that the newcomer was human.
At close range, Yu Qing saw that the plaques at their waists bore the name “Miaoqing Hall”, meaning these four people came from a shop called Miaoqing Hall in Youjiao Bu. He immediately clasped his hands and said, “This humble student is Zhan Muchun, the new top scholar from Lie Prefecture. I have come here rashly out of sheer necessity. If I have disturbed you in any way, please forgive me.”
He did not use the name “A Shiheng” because he did not want these people to associate it with any impression. Also, A Shiheng’s ranking in the provincial exam was not particularly high, whereas the title of top scholar Zhan Muchun carried more weight. A person with some value would naturally receive better treatment in such a situation.
As soon as he spoke, all four showed astonishment. They had never expected to encounter someone of this status in such a place.
The woman in the bamboo hat also left the swing, walked over, circled Yu Qing while looking him up and down, and asked with some curiosity, “The top scholar of Lie Prefecture’s provincial exam, how did you end up here?” Her voice was soft and gentle.
Not only did she have an elegant air, her voice was also pleasant. Yu Qing’s eyes longed to see through the veil covering her face and discover what she truly looked like. He sighed and said, “A few days ago, the three hundred and eighteen candidates from Lie Prefecture gathered at the prefectural office to set out, escorted by over a thousand men and horses. On the way through the ancient tomb wasteland, we were suddenly attacked…”
He briefly described the ambush, naturally omitting what should not be mentioned. He left out the part about escaping the cage and searching for the spirit rice, saying only that he fled in panic, fell into the river, clung to a piece of wood, and drifted here.
The account sounded very realistic and not fabricated. Because of this, the four exchanged glances.
The somewhat stout man pondered and said, “A giant eagle dropping stones from above… There seems to be a demon cultivator in the ancient tomb wasteland named Gao Yuan, nicknamed ‘Eagle King’. He might have been involved in this.”
Yu Qing observed their reactions and noticed that the woman in the bamboo hat seemed to be the one who made the decisions among them. He clasped his hands again and said, “I have not yet asked for your honourable names.”
The woman in the bamboo hat spoke softly, “Who we are is not important. Little brother, you are a scholar on the path of officialdom, while we are people of the martial world. You also have some cultivation and understand a bit about the江湖. Have you not heard that those with different paths do not scheme together? Why did you jump out to meet us at night?”
“You must have already guessed a little,” Yu Qing said with a bitter smile, clasping his hands again in earnest request. “This humble student is lost in the ancient tomb wasteland. Please forgive my boldness, but could you help this student leave? I will surely repay you generously afterwards.”
The woman in the bamboo hat replied, “We have our own important matters and no time to delay for your sake. Besides, whether you are truly lost or not, you have already trespassed into the demon realm. Once you break the fifty-li agreement, everyone in the demon realm can legitimately trouble you. If we take you along, would we not be asking for trouble ourselves? We will not harm you or spread the word. That is already helping you. Do not think too much about the rest. Find your own way to survive.”
Important matters? Yu Qing wondered inwardly. What important matters could merchants from Youjiao Bu have in the ancient tomb wasteland?
Since they had spoken to this point, he could not press further. But there was one thing he had to ask. “Allow this humble student one more bold request. Since you all travel freely in the ancient tomb wasteland, you must have a map. If you have a spare one, could you kindly give me a copy? If I manage to escape the ancient tomb wasteland by luck, I will surely repay you handsomely in the future!”
The woman in the bamboo hat was straightforward. She reached into her cloak, drew a rolled sheepskin map from her lower back, and casually tossed it over.
Yu Qing caught it. He could still feel the warmth from her hand on it. Upon opening it, he saw that it was indeed a map of the ancient tomb wasteland. He immediately bowed deeply to the four several times to express his gratitude.
Not daring to disturb them any longer, before leaving, he gazed deeply at half of the woman in the bamboo hat’s face. He very much wanted to ask her to remove the veil and show her true appearance, yet he did not dare to be presumptuous.
For the slight stirrings in his heart, he could only mock himself inwardly. She was someone who could establish herself in Youjiao Bu, while he was merely a common man risking his life for a few thousand taels of silver. No matter how beautiful she was, it had nothing to do with him, and he was not qualified to covet her.
The woman in the bamboo hat seemed to read his eyes. She gave a playful smile.
Yu Qing felt her looking at him as if he were a child. He nodded slightly in farewell, did not mention borrowing paper and pen, turned decisively, leaped away, retrieved his sack of spirit rice from the trees, and vanished into the night.
The woman in the bamboo hat gave a glance to the two men beside her. They understood, quickly flashed into the darkness, and quietly followed Yu Qing.
At that moment, the woman accompanying her suddenly sighed. “Young miss, it seems the temptation of the ‘Evil Spirit Pill’ is truly great. Someone even dared to directly attack the escort convoy from Sinan Prefecture. This boy probably knows nothing about it. He actually carries over a million taels of silver on his shoulders and runs around everywhere. He is simply bullying us for not daring to take it!”
The woman in the bamboo hat said, “If what he said is true, such a scholar who is both literate and martial, a top provincial graduate, is indeed rare. Calling him a talented scholar would not be an exaggeration. It would be a pity for him to fall here. But if we do not take it, others in the ancient tomb wasteland would benefit for nothing. If we confirm it is genuine, since it is a convenient matter, we might as well handle it conveniently.”
The woman nodded in understanding. She knew what her miss meant. Such a huge sum of silver suddenly delivered itself to their door. It still felt somewhat uneasy in her heart. What if it was a trap? Without confirmation and certainty, they dared not act rashly.
After groping through the darkness and crossing the river, Yu Qing returned to his hiding place.
Xu Fei, who was guarding the cave entrance, saw him return and immediately asked, “How was the situation?”
Yu Qing replied, “Even if I told you, you would not understand. Rest first. We will talk about anything tomorrow.” There was indeed no need to mention matters concerning Youjiao Bu personnel to Xu Fei. Explaining to someone who did not understand would only create more problems and endless questions.
Xu Fei obeyed and rested. Yu Qing let him rest longer before taking over the watch.
The next day, after the sun rose, Yu Qing, who had meditated cross-legged for two hours, finished his practice, left the cave, and sat outside. The insect immediately stood up and greeted him. “Young master Shiheng.”
Yu Qing acknowledged with a sound, took out the sheepskin map, climbed to the mountaintop, and compared the surrounding terrain to confirm his location so he could plan the best route to leave the demon realm.
Xu Fei and the insect also climbed up. The two gathered around the map as well. They had not expected Yu Qing to already obtain a map.
The three standing on the mountaintop did not know that at this moment, someone had quietly slipped into the place where they had spent the previous night and was searching inside the cave.
The ancient tomb wasteland was vast. A single map could only roughly mark the overall terrain. The drawing methods could not detail every landform in the entire area. After studying the map for a long time, he still could not find any landmarks from the surroundings. There were many similar rivers nearby, making it hard to use them as reference points, so he could not yet determine his exact position.
However, with the map in hand, by estimating from the approximate location of the ambush and the river’s flow speed, he could roughly narrow down the area.
The three went down the mountain the same way, planning to find some landmark terrain marked on the map. Only by locating a usable reference point could they confirm their position and plan the best escape route.
As they passed the cave where they had stayed last night, the three only glanced at it and did not intend to linger. They had come with almost nothing and had little to pack.
Unexpectedly, just after passing the cave, a woman’s voice came from inside. “Zhan Muchun.”
Xu Fei and the insect both turned back at the same time. Yu Qing’s heart suddenly jumped. This voice was somewhat familiar to him. He slowly turned around and saw a woman in a green cloak and bamboo hat slowly walk out of the cave. It was the beautiful woman who had given him the map last night.
Compared to how she looked by the campfire in the night, under the clear daylight, this woman appeared even more radiant.
Zhan Muchun? Xu Fei looked puzzled, wondering if he had misheard. Was this woman calling the name of the top scholar Zhan Muchun?
The woman in the bamboo hat stood outside the cave entrance, looked at Yu Qing with a half-smile, and said, “Please wait. I thought about it all night and still could not figure it out, so I came specially to ask. Should I address you as Zhan Muchun, or as young master Shiheng?”