Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  “I’m leaving for a few days. You two look after the house!”


  “There’s fifty thousand bullets in the storehouse. If an enemy proves too powerful, shoot his butt!”


  After his lunch, Jiang He called out to Dumbo and Trumbo, issuing a ton of instructions before he left the mansion.

  Then, he glanced at Mu Wanqiu who at the gates and smiled. “You’ve loaded the stuff already? Good, now we can go.”


  “By the way……

  “Could we get some beer and sunflower seeds if we pass by a supermarket?”


  Jiang He had no intention of driving himself, since there was much to carry and his sports car had no baggage space. Moreover, he did not want to reveal his System Backpack to Mu Wanqiu, and was it not just right for him since Mu Wanqiu was driving an off-road vehicle?

  He opened the door and sat beside the driver’s seat, when he found that Mu Wanqiu was glaring at him with clenched teeth.

  “Drive,” he said. “What time is it already? What are you looking at me for?”


  So, you actually could tell the time?

  A little lost for words, Mu Wanqiu said, “Jiang He, we don’t actually need the barbecue rack, do we? I’ve brought vacuum compressed food.”


  “What is those trash compared to smoked meat?”


  “What about the beer and sunflower seeds, then?”


  Then, as the car drove out of the village, Mu Wanqiu forced a smile. “Ferocious beasts and poisonous insects were flourishing on Mount Helan even before the Revival of Qi. The ecosystem changed drastically after that, and there would definitely be many powerful Ferals. With dangers lurking everywhere and since we’re not going for a pleasure trip in the first place, let’s skip the beer and sunflower seeds.”


  “Wouldn’t the spirit of barbecue be lost if there are no beers?”


  Jiang He smiled. “I’ve not been to Mount Helan before, but I heard that the environment there has become lush after the Revival of Qi. The scenery is countless times better than before, so let’s just consider it a pleasure trip…… oh, right, did you bring a camera? My phone’s camera pixels aren’t that high.”


  “.……”


  Mu Wanqiu took a deep breath then.

  At the same time, Jiang He was staring at the small undulation, and suddenly realized……

  Were they smaller?

  Still, they looked as huge as before. Could the reason be her wearing a body-hugging sportswear, which made them looked larger?

  Later, after they had bought sunflower seeds and beers in town, Mu Wanqiu promptly accelerated her car.

  That left Jiang He rather surprised, and he asked her while he continued eating sunflower seeds, “Are you supposed to speed up on a highway?”


  After all, were railways and highways not always destroyed by Ferals after the Revival of Qi?

  “The highway connecting Lingzhou City to Western Xia was not destroyed, although after we get off the interchange on Western Xia, we’ll be moving slower.”


  As a matter of fact, Mu Wanqiu was good at driving—the car was steady even though the car was moving at 140.

  One reason was the fine condition of the road, and secondly……

  She was an Awakened. While she would not match a martial artist of the same level physically, her reflexes and physical conditioning was much better than the average human. As long as the car was good, she could go even faster, let alone 140.

  When they were about to reach Western Xia, Jiang He dialed Great Desert Swordsman’s number.

  “I’m near the highway too,” Wang Meng said. “I’ll wait for you there.”


  Ten minutes later, Jiang He indeed met him.

  He looked every bit as strong as rough as Jiang he thought.

  Standing at 1.9 meters, he was burly and tanned. He was wearing a camouflage suit and had an alloy combat blade slung over his back, as well as a small knife and several flying daggers hanging over his hip.

  There were two other men and one woman with Wang Meng.

  From their aura, one of the men was a rank-three martial artist while the other was rank-four. The woman, who was dressed in red, was a little ugly albeit having a good figure, and she had a rather icy aura.

  That was a far cry from a martial artist’s qi, and she clearly was an Awakened.

  Jiang He had a hunch that she was a water-type Awakened.

  “You’re Great Desert Swordsman?”


  Jiang He walked up to shake Wang Meng’s hand before glancing at the others. “I’m a little curious, but you guys must be a warrior party, right? You don’t seem weak, and since you know about the mutated…… wood-ear, why don’t you go harvest them yourselves?”


  Wang Meng shook his head, saying, “I would have tried half a year ago, but there’s no way I can do that now. The mutated fungi I found as located at the Rolling Bell Mouth deep in Mount Helan, and with my party’s current abilities, there is little chance we would survive.”


  The Rolling Bell Mouth was a former scenic spot in Mount Helan. It was said that a warlord of the Republic of China had once built a summer villa there.

  “Oh?

  Jiang He’s gaze twitched then as he smiled. “I was about to head to Mount Helan myself. Could something had happened there recently?”


  “Are you heading to Mount Helan right now?”


  Wang Meng’s expression changed as he quickly said, “Buddy, for the sake of our acquaintance, listen to me. It’s not safe up at Mount Helan right now, so don’t go there right now. It’s not too late for you to wait until the storm’s over before you climb up the mountain.”


  He then lowered his voice, adding, “It is said that a treasure had been spotted up on the peak, drawing many powerful Ferals and elites. Allegedly, there are people slaughtering each other on the mountain every day now, and blood-curdling screams could be heard every night.”


  “Buddy, listen to me here. Don’t just get killed up on Mount Helan right after I sold you the information……”


  Jiang He smiled.

  While Wang Meng was not good with words, Jiang He could tell that his advice came out of the goodness of his heart.

  Nonetheless, he handily logged in to Warrior Home and transferred a hundred merit points to Wang Meng, saying, “I’ve credited fifty more merit points to your account. Tell me a bit more about Mount Helan.”


  Wang Meng’s expression changed again, but he stopped persuading Jiang He. After musing to himself for a moment, he then spoke, “This is actually hearsay, but word is that the very soil of Mount Helan devours humans, and there were also rumors that treasure was buried beneath its ground. That said, the appearance of many powerful Ferals and martial artists was definitely real.”


  Jiang He frowned, but soon offered Wang Meng a fist-palm salute. “Many thanks.”


  When he returned to Mu Wanqiu’s car, she asked, “Should we find a different target?”


  “No need. Now, drive.”


  Jiang He was actually more interested in Mount Helan now.

  The soil devoured humans?

  ‘Could the ‘soil’ itself have mutated?

  ‘I wonder if it eats potatoes……

  ‘Or should I dig some of that man-eating soil to see if I could grow something out of it?’


  Meanwhile, as Wang Meng and his group watched Jiang He leave, one of his party members could not help exclaiming, “Bro Meng, where did that kid come from? Is he really that fearless, or is he just new to this? He even brought a chick with him to Mount Helan…… does he think he’s on vacation or something?”


  “Shut up!”


  Wang Meng barked coldly.

  Though his ability was strong and nearing rank-four advanced, he was completely unable to observe Jiang He’s depth, although he did feel a faint signature of fire-type power from Mu Wanqiu.

  So, how could someone chauffeured around by a fire-type Awakened who was stronger than Wang Meng himself be a newbie?

  ***

  Around five in the afternoon, Mu Wanqiu’s off-road vehicle arrived at the foot of Mount Helan.

  As she alighted and observed the chain of towering peaks, a vague fear mysterious crept up her heart…… Because of her family, Mu Wanqiu had not really experienced a life-or-death struggle until now, despite being an Awakened.

  To put it in layman terms: she was still a greenhorn……

  On the other hand, Jiang He was raring to go.

  There would definitely be no lack of Ferals in these mountains!

  Now was the time he observed the effectiveness of his physical beast-taming technique!

  Waving at Mu Wanqiu, he said, “Come, let’s get up the mountain!”


  ***

  Meanwhile, twenty kilometers away on another side of Mount Helan.

  Guilty Star, carrying his alloy combat axe, arrived beneath the mountain with Bound Star, where they met an old man wearing Chinese traditional clothes.

  The old man had a goatee and appeared around sixty.

  “Guilty, Star, Bound Star.”


  The old man smiled. “Wasn’t it already mentioned before that a floral spirit had been spotted on Mount Helan? Why would you need me with your combined ability?”


  “Third Elder!”


  Guilty Star said reverently. “We’ve found a big one in the mountain…… with powers to match a rank-nine!”