Chapter 2212: Entering Split River City

The group of three crossed the mountain and discovered that there was also a small village on the other side. Moreover, the small village was very remote. Its scale was the same as the village that they came out of.

Zhao Hai and the others didn’t enter the village but stopped just outside. He carefully scrutinized the village. Ma Long and Liu Cai were behind Zhao Hai, wondering what he was doing. Although they didn’t know what Zhao Hai was thinking, they didn’t say anything. Their action of crossing the mountain already proved that Zhao Hai’s thoughts were much deeper than them.

After observing the village for some time, Zhao Hai said, “Let’s go. We’ll avoid the village. Don’t be discovered by the villagers.” Then he turned around and left the village.

Ma Long and Liu Cai didn’t say anything and followed Zhao Hai. After some time, Ma Long finally couldn’t help but ask, “Junior Brother Zhao, why didn’t we enter the village? Moreover, just beyond the village is a sect. We will save time if we walk from that sect.”

Zhao Hai replied, “We cannot take the risk. Didn’t you see? From the village’s location, it’s similar to our stronghold. I suspect that it is a stronghold of another sect, it might be our sect’s stronghold. No matter what, we are in a remote area. If several cultivators suddenly appeared, it would be suspicious. Therefore, we cannot get in contact with villages like these.”

Ma Long and Liu Cai nodded. They were aware that they were no longer in the underground world. Although there were also dangers in the underground world, it was different for them in the True Spirit Realm. Once their ident.i.ties are exposed, they will be under pursuit of the entire True Spirit Realm. Therefore, although Zhao Hai was being extra cautious, the two didn’t show any discomfort. They knew very well that if they weren’t careful, they would no doubt die.

The three continued walking through the mountain. After walking for two hours, Zhao Hai stopped. They were already at the end of the mountain. At the foot of the mountain was a road, as if cutting the mountain off.

The road was very long, seemingly endless. Most importantly, the road was quite wide. It was 20 meters wide and was paved with stone. Seeing this, Zhao Hai’s eyes shone. Then he said, “Let’s head down and proceed down the road. We’ll stop if we see a place to rest.”

Naturally, Ma Long and Liu Cai wouldn’t oppose this. Seeing n.o.body in the road, the three jumped down. Then following Zhao Hai’s direction, the group walked left.

The three didn’t have beasts to ride in, so they just walked. Even if they’re cultivators, it would be too wasteful to use qi to travel. Whether they be rogue cultivators in the True Spirit Realm or the underground world, they were all trained on countless lives and deaths. They knew that if they waste their qi, it would be no different to death. Whether in the underground world or in the True Spirit Realm, rogue cultivators were people who encountered danger at any time.

There were rogue cultivators who specialize in hunting down other rogue cultivators. Although robbing sect disciples is more lucrative, only a few rogue cultivators would do this. They were afraid that the sect disciples would have trump cards, and they were also afraid of being hunted down by the sects.

Right now, Zhao Hai and the others have completely regarded themselves as rogue cultivators. The ident.i.ty they were given indicates that they came from a rogue cultivator clan. They weren’t strangers to this situation, naturally they knew what to do.

After walking for half an hour, a dust cloud was seen in the distance. Looking at the dust cloud, Zhao Hai said, “It should be a caravan. Moreover, there seem to be a lot of carriages, probably eight or ten. A caravan of this scale surely has cultivators protecting it. Don’t provoke them. If they ask, tell them that we came from far away. We came here to find a job.”

Ma Long and Liu Cai nodded. The three calmly continued onward. Before long, Zhao Hai and the others could see a group of cultivators. In the middle of the group were several large carriages.

Then not long before that, the bustling sound of movement was heard. Zhao Hai led Ma Long and Liu Cai to the side of the road. Although they got out of the way, they didn’t stop and continued to walk forward.

Before long, both sides were five li away from each other. The caravan stopped and five people ran towards Zhao Hai and the others. The three immediately went alert. They were afraid that the other party would make things hard for them. If they weren’t a bit vigilant, the other party wouldn’t mind taking advantage. After all, there were rogue cultivators belonging to gangs that would take protection missions. Killing strangers wasn’t anything new to gangs.

Zhao Hai and the others also stopped and looked at the five people das.h.i.+ng towards them. Before long, the two groups were a hundred meters away from each other.

Seeing the five people, Zhao Hai’s pupils couldn’t help but shrink. This was because the five were riding Wind-chasing Horses. They are docile beasts and were very fast. Because of this, these beasts weren’t cheap. Most rogue cultivators couldn’t buy them.

The group of five also inspected Zhao Hai and the others. Zhao Hai’s group were wearing gray robes and looked weary of travel. They immediately knew that Zhao Hai and the others were rogue cultivators that were traveling. This realization caused their vigilant looks to slowly turn back to normal.

One of the five people cupped their fist and said, “I have to apologize to you. Since our caravan is pa.s.sing by, we need to inspect everyone we come across. I hope you aren’t offended.”

Zhao Hai cupped his fist and said, “No problem. If there’s nothing else, we’ll hurry along.”

The person from before cupped his fist and said, “Please.” After giving a final salute, Zhao Hai and the other two proceeded to walk. Before long, they were side by side with the caravan.

The people in the caravan looked at them with vigilance. They were afraid that Zhao Hai and the others would suddenly spring up and attack them.

When Zhao Hai’s group were gone, only then did the caravan move forward. However, they were more cautious. It seemed like they were afraid of encountering enemies.

When he was sure that the caravan couldn’t hear them, Ma Long said, “This caravan is too careful. There are only three of us, but they look like they are facing an army.”

Liu Cai nodded and said, “Their reaction is too exaggerated. Could it be that the True Spirit Realm has reached this level of chaos that someone will come out and rob anyone?”

Zhao Hai replied, “Be careful of your words. The reason they are vigilant isn’t because it’s chaotic. It’s because the goods they’re transporting are valuable. Forget it, let’s leave them alone.” The two nodded and hurried along with Zhao Hai.

After walking the entire morning, the group finally saw the outline of a city from afar. However, they were still dozens of kilometers away from the city. They needed to rush to reach the city. If they used their normal speed, they would arrive when it was already dark.

The three looked at each other. Then Zhao Hai said, “We’re not far from the city. It should be safe here. We can speed up. We need to reach the city as soon as possible.”

Ma Long and Liu Cai nodded. Then the three of them released their qi and began to speed up. In less than an hour, they were already two kilometers away from the city. Then they stopped. They knew that there were gangs in cities like this. If they continued to release their qi, it was likely that they would be perceived as hostile. In this case, they might be attacked by the gangs.

Zhao Hai let out a long breath. Then he said, “Let’s enter the city and find a place to live in. Then let’s slowly inquire about the city’s situation. Let’s see their relations.h.i.+p with the Forbidden Path Sect.” The two nodded and then they slowly walked towards the city.

The three quickly arrived outside the city. The city walls were very high. From what Zhao Hai could see, it should be around 50 meters tall. There are five city gates, one big and four small. Above the biggest gate were two characters, 离江 (Split River).

Split River City. Zhao Hai recalled the jade slip that Wei Tiande gave him. There was a simple map in the jade slip which showed the territory controlled by the Forbidden Path Sect. Split River City was a city controlled by the sect.

Split River City wasn’t a big city under the Forbidden Path Sect’s control. The city had about 5 thousand people. There was also a Forbidden Path Sect branch in the city. Besides this information, there wasn’t anything else regarding Split River City.

Zhao Hai stood outside Split River City’s gate and looked up. Then he led his group to the city. After entering the city, the three immediately found a small inn and rented three rooms.

After settling themselves down, Zhao Hai and the other two walked out of their rooms. Ma Long and Liu Cai looked at Zhao Hai and asked, “Senior Brother Zhao. What do we do next?”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “What else? Let’s have a meal first. We’ll look for the most popular restaurant and see if we can get anything.”

Ma Long and Liu Cai stared, then they immediately nodded. They were also rogue cultivators in the past. They naturally knew that in any city, restaurants were the places with the most information being exchanged. If they want to know more about Split River City, going to a restaurant was a good idea.