"It wasn't those two traitorous disciples..."
"It was corpse demons, those mindless corpse demons are what injured me."
Facing Wu Chen's inquiry, Liu Linshan, his face completely drained of color, answered weakly.
"Corpse demons?" Wu Chen searched through his memory, finding the term somewhat familiar, yet couldn't quite place it.
"They're refugees who have eaten human flesh..."
Liu Linshan's face turned bitter: "They undergo a transformation."
At this, Wu Chen suddenly understood.
The refugees with green eyes, devoid of any rationality, and exhibiting bizarre behavior that he had seen when he first arrived in this world—these were the creatures!
Recalling how he had been surrounded upon first opening his eyes, Wu Chen felt a chill run down his spine.
But as his martial skills improved, he had broken through the encirclement with his Body Tempering Realm Third Layer strength. Focused only on making progress along the road, he hadn't encountered any more corpse demons.
He hadn't expected to find them here again, and not only had they reappeared, but they had become extremely powerful.
Even an experienced martial artist like Liu Linshan was no match for them.
"These corpse demons are truly that strong?" Wu Chen's eyes grew serious.
"Indeed."
With the medicine taking effect in his abdomen, Liu Linshan's face regained a hint of color.
He sighed deeply and said:
"If they were just ordinary commoners, it wouldn't be so bad. Their original strength isn't great, so even as corpse demons they'd pose little threat. But the problem lies with those who practiced martial arts."
"Some people have always disregarded the law, killing indiscriminately."
"Now on this refugee trail, they're even more unrestrained. When hungry, they feast on human flesh, eventually losing their minds and degenerating into corpse demons."
"After these people transform into corpse demons, their physical bodies become like beasts, extremely powerful and difficult for ordinary people to deal with."
Liu Linshan recalled the scene from that day, fear still evident in his eyes, but remembering something, he quickly perked up again:
"However..."
He puffed out his chest slightly, looking rather proud:
"These corpse demons are far from invincible. This wound of mine was sustained yesterday after killing three corpse demons, when I momentarily let my guard down."
Recalling the exhilarating battle, his face took on an unusual flush.
But when he thought about what happened after his injury, his mood visibly dropped, and the pride from killing corpse demons vanished from his face.
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.
Wu Chen could tell just from Liu Linshan's expression that what happened afterward was the betrayal by his two disciples.
However, he didn't comment on it.
One matter at a time.
He was responsible only for escorting them, not for providing emotional support.
From a lone ranger to a team of three.
A weak young woman, an injured old hunter—their progress would inevitably be slow.
The three moved along at a leisurely pace, and five days passed in the blink of an eye.
What amazed Wu Chen was that in just these few short days, Liu Linshan's complexion had improved significantly.
Although they still advanced slowly, Liu Linshan no longer needed support to walk. The wound on his abdomen had begun to heal, and his spirit was no longer dejected.
This left Wu Chen somewhat astonished.
"A martial artist's constitution is truly different!"
After carefully examining him to ensure his eyes showed no signs of turning green and that he had no excessive cravings for flesh, Wu Chen quietly let out a sigh of relief.
"No wonder my predecessor was so poor yet still willing to smash his pots and sell his iron to practice martial arts."
Seeing Liu Linshan's improving spirits and increasing talkativeness, Wu Chen marveled to himself and gained new insights into the martial path.
His predecessor had practiced martial arts not only to seek protection and avoid being bullied by village tyrants and local ruffians while living alone.
More importantly, he had been attracted by the stories told by traveling storytellers about martial artists who could split rivers and mountains with their strength.
But just how strong martial artists truly were, and whether they really possessed such incredible power, was beyond what a village youth could know.
Until now, seeing how quickly Liu Linshan recovered from his injuries, compared to his weak state five days ago when severely wounded, the difference was like night and day.
Although the small brown medicinal pills he took daily helped, at the core, it was Liu Linshan's solid physical foundation.
This made Wu Chen crave the martial path even more.
He vaguely felt that regenerating flesh from bone and rebirth from a drop of blood might not be impossible.
Combined with his own cheat system, mastering this otherworld seemed to be within reach.
But when he glanced at his status panel, it was as if he'd been doused with cold water, quickly bringing him back to reality:
[Crimson Host] Wu Chen
[Martial Realm] Body Tempering Realm Sixth Layer
[Martial Skills] White Ape Boxing Great Success, Spirit Snake Steps Great Success
Looking at his unchanged realm and pitifully few martial skills, Wu Chen thought to himself:
"To reach the point of rebirth from a drop of blood and undying immortality, it seems I still have a long way to go."
During these five days, Liu Linshan had not handed over the martial arts manual to Wu Chen, leaving Wu Chen's strength in a state of stagnation.
But Wu Chen understood that this was because Liu Linshan feared he might take the martial art and renege on his promise, leaving the father and daughter to die where they stood.
On this point, Wu Chen didn't express much opinion.
After all, it was just a matter of sooner or later.
No matter when the martial art came into his possession, he could...
Instantly master it!
Though he didn't have the martial art yet, Wu Chen hadn't chosen to continue alone, since moving forward might not lead to a way out, let alone any martial arts waiting for him.
A bird in hand is worth ten in the bush—following Liu Linshan seemed more secure.
Moreover, besides martial arts, Liu Linshan had other skills.
During these few days, Wu Chen learned through casual conversation that Liu Linshan had originally been a village hunter.
Living off the mountains, gathering herbs and hunting, he had accumulated some wealth.
This had allowed him to support a daughter who could read and practice medicine, as well as two disciples.
But later, when drought swept through Qing Province, bringing military unrest and the rampage of evil practitioners, he had no choice but to leave his homeland.
As an old hunter who had lived for over forty years, even in the face of great disaster, he had special survival methods.
As the sun slanted westward.
Wu Chen and Liu Linshan's father-daughter pair stopped beneath a withered tree.
The tree's bark had completely peeled away, and its trunk was covered with crisscrossing teeth marks, a testament to the hardships of the journey.
"Master Wu!"
Liu Linshan cupped his hands toward Wu Chen. Over the past few days, they had introduced themselves to each other, so they knew each other's names.
Hearing Liu Linshan's voice, Wu Chen immediately understood his meaning and stood guard with his saber.
The father and daughter went under the withered tree and began digging with their steel sabers.
With great effort, they dug nearly two feet deep and found a hole the size of a fist.
Following the hole further, before long, gray but plump and round grains of wheat and soybeans appeared before their eyes.
"This drought came so strangely, so fiercely, affecting such a wide area that even these most alert little creatures living underground couldn't react in time, so they left behind their stored food."
"The soil here is firm, making it difficult for rainwater to seep in."
"And because the terrain is a bit higher, when the rainy season comes, water arrives quickly but also recedes quickly, never submerging this area, making it a perfect storage place for these little creatures..."
Yesterday, Liu Linshan had already dug up a rat hole and explained to Liu Wei the reason for digging food from underground.
Today, he patiently explained it again to his daughter, worried that if he couldn't continue on the road ahead, his daughter could survive with this skill.
Carefully picking up the grains and placing them into a cloth bag.
Liu Linshan weighed it and found it to be about one kilogram, which delighted him immensely.
He walked over to Wu Chen, pointing at the bulging grain bag in his arms, and excitedly said in a hushed voice:
"Master Wu, we now have food for the next five days!"
"Mm."
Despite the substantial harvest, Wu Chen didn't even look at it, nor did his expression show any excitement.
He gazed into the distance, his face solemn.
By now, nearly two hours had passed since they began digging at the rat hole beneath the withered tree, and darkness had fallen.
No passing refugees would dare trouble a trio armed with steel sabers, even if Liu Linshan's grain was exceptionally tempting.
However,
The absence of refugee trouble didn't mean the group was completely safe.
Wu Chen's gaze was fixed firmly on the distant wilderness.
In the twilight gloom, visibility was poor, and the distant landscape had merged with the inky darkness as the sun set.
Yet within this heavy darkness, green ghostly fires flickered restlessly.
The rhythm of these ghostly fires' blinking was like the opening and closing of eyes, exuding an indescribable eeriness.
Like eyes hidden in the darkness, coldly observing this world.