From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

Having already packed his belongings, Chen Shi rode out of the city on horseback as soon as the city gates opened the next morning.

Zhe Liu was already waiting at the crossroads five miles away. After the two met up, they headed straight for Yongqiu Mountain.

They travel by day and rest by night, covering more than a hundred li in a day.

After walking for two days, that night, a hawk flew over and landed on Zhe Liu's shoulder. There was a piece of paper tied to the hawk's leg.

Upon opening it, one finds the location of another holy son and his whereabouts for the next month.

"Songyinggang".

The two exchanged a glance, and sure enough, the Holy Son was also in Yongqiu City.

Songyinggang is a hill near Yongqiu City. The fact that the other party chose this location suggests that he is most likely also from Yongqiu City.

Chen Shi tossed the note into the campfire and let out a soft sigh.

He never intended to kill the holy son; what he was wary of was the other party coming to Yongqiu Mountain to kill him.

Having already devised a plan, Chen Shi's only concern was that if the opponent happened to be located near Yongqiu Mountain, he could wait in comfort and ambush him there.

In that case, his plan will likely fail.

Fortunately, it wasn't such a coincidence.

His opponent, like him, was located near Yongqiu City. They must have just received the message too; even if they rushed to kill him immediately, they were already two days too late and it was impossible for them to reach the front in time.

Reassured, Chen Shi and Zhe Liu continued their journey as usual, and two more days later, they arrived at the foot of Yongqiu Mountain.

"You go up the mountain first, and I will follow you secretly."

Zhe Liu said something, and then parted ways with Chen Shi for the time being.

The two had already discussed it beforehand, and as usual, one would be in the open and the other in the shadows. This way, they could take care of each other, and if anything happened, they could act unexpectedly.

Another issue is that there's a military checkpoint guarding the mountain ahead, and Zhe Liu can't go directly there without the Marquis's permission.

Yongqiu Mountain was the fiefdom of the Marquis of Jing'an. Because it produced treasures, it attracted a large number of treasure thieves. As a last resort, the Marquis's mansion had to send troops to be stationed there to guard it year-round.

Although it is not the twelfth lunar month now, and the rare and precious materials have disappeared with the north wind subsiding, the exotic beasts still exist. The blood of these beasts can help martial artists improve their cultivation, and is equally rare, still attracting many people to covet and poach them.

Moreover, since the snowstorm had stopped and the mountain environment was less harsh, there were actually more thieves poaching exotic animals.

Therefore, in addition to blocking and guarding all the paths at the foot of the mountain, the army also formed multiple patrol teams to constantly patrol various parts of the mountain.

"So it's Steward Chen."

After verifying the letter bearing the Marquis's seal and learning of Chen Shi's identity, Zhang Henian, the captain in charge of guarding the area, greeted Chen Shi with great courtesy and quickly welcomed him inside.

As a commander, Zhang Henian held the rank of sixth grade, which was one grade higher than that of a typical county magistrate.

Even Zhao Qiancheng, the prefect of Yongqiu, who was a fourth-rank official, had to treat Chen Shi with utmost respect. With the Marquis's mansion behind him, he was not someone that ordinary officials dared to offend.

"Manager Chen is so young, yet he dares to enter Yongqiu Mountain to cultivate. He is truly a hero among young people."

"You flatter me, Commander."

"How could you be making fun of me? I truly admire you. Hehe, Manager Chen, please feel free to ask if you need anything."

"Speaking of which, there is indeed something I would like to ask you, Commander."

Chen Shi paused slightly and lowered his voice.

"Are you familiar with the distribution of these strange beasts in the mountains, sir?"

"Distribution of exotic beasts..."

Zhang Henian pondered for a moment, then couldn't help but smile.

"To be honest, Steward Chen, we do have some knowledge about what kind of strange beasts live in these mountains and where they usually roam."

The mountain-guarding army, except for the twelfth lunar month, mainly guards against those strange beasts during the other months. If they were to patrol the entire mountain, Yongqiu Mountain is so large, where would they find so many people to patrol?

In contrast, as long as you know the approximate location of the strange beast, although it is a strange beast, it is still a beast after all, with similar habits, and most of them have fixed territorial activity ranges.

The mountain-guarding army only needs to patrol near the territory of the strange beasts and keep them from being poached.

"If it were anyone else, I naturally wouldn't be able to reveal a single thing, but it's different for you, Steward Chen. Besides, the Marquis's mansion has already granted you permission to go into the mountains to hunt exotic beasts and improve your cultivation. Telling you the location isn't breaking the rules."

Zhang Henian smiled and then ordered someone to bring a topographical map of Yongqiu Mountain and hand it to Chen Shi.

Some areas are circled, which are the activity ranges of various strange beasts. In addition, there are some lines around these areas, which are the routes that the army usually patrols.

"And these little things, though they're not valuable, are useful in the mountains."

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Henian took out another package and handed it to Chen Shi. It contained some items that the patrol team usually carried.

From small items like flint to start a fire and mosquito repellent ointment to large items like climbing ropes, the selection is extremely complete.

"Thank you, Commander."

Chen Shi didn't stand on ceremony and accepted all the gifts after thanking him.

"Manager Chen, you're too kind. I'm a few years older than you. If you don't mind, just call me Brother Zhang. Calling me 'sir' is too formal."

Zhang Henian smiled, appearing quite forthright.

"Hehe, then I won't stand on ceremony with Brother Zhang!"

Chen Shi just smiled and changed his form of address.

"That's more like it, Brother Chen!"

Zhang Henian was overjoyed and immediately addressed him as "brother".

In just a few words, the two became much closer.

Although Zhang Henian was assigned to guard the mountain for the Marquis of Jing'an, it was actually difficult for him to have any connection with the Marquis's household.

Although Chen Shi was merely a servant, he was still a member of the Marquis's household and could even speak to the Marquis. Establishing a relationship with him would be highly beneficial for Zhang Henian.

"It's getting late, why not go into the mountains tomorrow morning? Since Brother Chen calls me 'elder brother,' how can I not do my duty as a host!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you, brother."

Zhang Henian extended a warm invitation, and Chen Shi did not stand on ceremony with him.

At the military camp at the foot of the mountain, he immediately ordered people to prepare wine and food.

This place is far from any village or shop, and while there aren't many fancy dishes, there are plenty of wild game and delicacies, which gives it a unique flavor.

Zhang Henian took out two jars of his treasured fine wine and asked two of his lieutenants to accompany him. They drank until late at night.

The next morning, Chen Shi packed his things, ate something, declined Zhang Henian's repeated attempts to persuade him to stay, and went straight into the mountains.

"This drawing is quite detailed."

He took out the topographical map from his pocket, and after comparing it with the map, Chen Shi couldn't help but nod.

As expected of a military-style map.

After a moment's hesitation, he walked straight toward the valley marked "Snow-Sealed Valley".

This so-called Snow-Sealed Valley is the valley where the Chi Dragon resides!

Chen Shi's main purpose in entering Yongqiu Mountain this time was to hunt exotic beasts to improve his cultivation, but think about it, which exotic beast could compare to that Chilong?

If I could obtain some more Chilong essence blood, I might be able to reach the peak of the seventh rank directly, without having to go through the trouble of hunting strange beasts everywhere.

Although the probability is not high.

Neither the Marquis's residence nor the army stationed at Yongqiu Mountain had any news about the Chilong. Chen Shi surmised that once the north wind stopped, the cave would likely become inaccessible.

Even if he manages to get back in, the task given to him by the dragon is still nowhere in sight. In fact, Chen Shi hasn't even bothered to investigate, so it's highly unlikely that he'll be given any more essence blood.

But there's no harm in trying your luck.

Roar~!

After walking for only two hours, a low growl suddenly came.

A monster with a tiger's head and a pig's body appeared from behind a large pine tree; it was a tiger-pig.

Chen Shi smiled and drew his one-foot-long sword. Although it was of low grade, it was still a strange beast. Since it had come to him, there was no reason to let it go.

"You beast! Take this!"

He charged straight forward, let out a loud shout, and swung his knife.