Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

Liu Xingmo's words caused a slight stir among the crowd.

"So many people have disappeared in the old forest, including us..."

"How could people in this desolate place possibly..."

"That Black Dragon Stronghold, it's all about blood..."

Liu Xingmo shouted angrily, "What are you saying? Explain yourself clearly!"

Everyone fell silent, terrified.

Liu Xingmo stared intently at one of the people in the crowd: "You! What did you just say about our village being a blood village?"

The man trembled, forcing a smile: "It's...the sacred cultivation ground of a master of the Blood Path!"

"Hoo..." Liu Xingmo took a deep breath, trying to make his expression look better. "Tell me honestly, what are you thinking? Don't worry, I won't hurt you now."

The man's eyes darted around as he rattled off a string of words: "The Black Dragon Stronghold in the Xing'an Mountains is famous far and wide..."

"Forget it! Shut up." Liu Xingmo looked around and met the fearful gazes of the group. Some people even subconsciously shrank back behind their companions.

Good heavens! Is our Black Dragon Village's image to the outside world really that bad?

Seeing that he couldn't get any information out of them, Liu Xingmo said helplessly, "Take me to see your airship, and don't try anything funny. Also, there are three half-dead guys in the tree hollow; you can go and rescue them now."

The old woman straightened her hunched back: "Come with me, young man."

After taking a few pills, the old man barely recovered and darted into the depths of the grass.

The snake's tail coiled around Liu Xingmo, and it quickly followed.

After crossing half a mountain, there was a gap in the dense forest ahead.

Giant trees collapsed, and earth and rocks surged.

Right in the center, there was a massive crushing machine. Blackened canvas, bent hoops, a broken propeller, and a shattered steam engine…

It looks like it really is a crashed airship.

Liu Xingmo confirmed the temperature and that the machine had stopped operating, indicating there was basically no danger.

He walked into the ruins and searched through what used to be the passenger cabin.

A short while later, notebooks and textbooks were found in the bag. The hasty handwriting was identified as study materials for alchemy.

The old woman picked up an iron rod to use as a cane for support and said, "Young man, do you believe me now? We really are teachers and students of the academy."

"Hmm." Liu Xingmo put down his notebook, looked at the gaunt figure before him, and held up two fingers. "You have two choices now. One, come with me to Black Dragon Village; two, stay and wait for rescue. I recommend the first one, because the wolves in the mountains have a very keen sense of smell."

This world lacks long-distance communication technology, and the Xing'an Mountains are so vast, that rescue is impossible. Lighting a fire to create smoke as a marker would only attract who-knows-what kind of monsters.

The old woman was well aware of her situation, and her wrinkles deepened: "Young man, this old woman has seen her share of storms. My old eyes can see you're a good person. Tell me, what will happen if we go with you?"

"The elders of Black Dragon Stronghold will use soul-path techniques to investigate. If you are truly innocent, they will send a caravan to escort you back to Yin Kingdom." Liu Xingmo estimated that this was the case.

"Thank you! I will never forget your life-saving grace!" the old woman said, letting go of her cane, her knees buckling as she was about to kneel down.

"Don't thank me!" Liu Xingmo stepped aside to avoid the kneeling. "They can all leave, but you probably can't. Because our village is desperately short of alchemists, extremely short."

"So be it, so be it," the old woman sighed bitterly. "Alas! If I could get the children away, I would have no regrets."

"Alright, alright, old man, stop acting like you're going to your death." Liu Xingmo pouted and said, "We Black Dragon Village people also have one nose and two eyes, we're not some demons or monsters..."

The old woman's tragic expression remained unchanged.

Liu Xingmo rolled his eyes and said irritably, "What's wrong with staying? It's not necessarily a bad thing. Our village is rich in medicinal herbs and remedies; what kind of good medicine don't we have?"

"You outsiders, you even risk going into the mountains to collect herbs... How many good things can you find in those remote mountain valleys?"

"Let me tell you, even with a hundred-year-old ginseng, I only eat the rootlets! As for the large chunks of ginseng meat as thick as radishes, I feed them to the livestock!"

The old lady twitched her eyebrows.

"Alright, tell your people to pack your things, and then we'll leave." Liu Xingmo waved his hand and left the ruins.

The unexpected encounter with refugees delayed all our important business.

Liu Xingmo continued to collect Penicillium mold from the rotten fruit, filling small bamboo bottles with it.

As for the group of teachers and students, there's no need to be wary of them. Being stranded in the Xing'an Mountains meant certain death anyway.

The only way out is for that third-tier teacher to abandon all his students and spend dozens of days escaping over mountains and valleys. That way, at least one of them will survive.

Dark clouds rolled in, and the sky gradually darkened.

Liu Xingmo stood on the open ground with Gray Wolf. The airship refugees all gathered around him.

There is one third-tier alchemist, four second-tier swordsmen bodyguards, and the rest are first-tier students, mainly studying alchemy and swordsmanship.

Liu Xingmo opened the rattan cage door: "Come in one by one! Hand over everything you have on you, and don't try anything funny."

The crowd murmured for a while, but still obeyed. Dozens of people squeezed into the narrow rattan cage.

On the other side of the gray wolf's cage, there were piles of packages of various sizes and machetes and longswords.

Liu Xingmo gave them a quick inspection and then arranged them.

"Third Sister, let's go."

"Yes, young master."

The large, silver-scaled, red-striped snake opened its mouth and spewed out a thick stream of bloody vapor, which passed through the vine cage and merged into the gray wolf's body.

"Boom—!" The ground shook violently.

The muscles in the gray wolf's paws bulged as it ran swiftly through the mountains, carrying heavy loads on its back.

The violent up-and-down jolting was unbearable, but we could only grit our teeth and endure it. For humans, the dangerous wilderness is a place they never want to linger for even a moment.

Gradually, it became completely dark. A faint light appeared in the distance, and the city walls could be seen in the distance.

A brown bear and two foxes appeared at the same time, confronting the gray wolf carrying a vine cage.

The brown bear stood upright, baring its sharp claws: "What's going on? I smell a stranger!"

The giant snake replied, "Sir, we encountered a group of stranded Yin people outside the city. We brought them back to the elder for judgment."

"Roar!" the brown bear roared to the sky, "Yin people! Why did you bring them back? Let them die out there!"

Liu Xingmo quickly chimed in, "This whole group is made up of alchemists! The leader is at the third rank!"

"An alchemist?" The brown bear brought its massive head close to the vine cage and sniffed loudly.

The people in the cages heard the heavy breathing and knew that a terrifying beast was outside. They trembled with tension.

"Hmm, no dangerous elements." The brown bear raised its front paw, pointing to the city gate. "Pass through!"

The heavy city gates slowly opened, and the gray wolf stepped inside, followed by two fox instructors.

"Third Sister, let's go straight to the central city."

"Yes, young master."