Two days passed quickly.
Originally, Wang Sheng had planned to look for people, but early in the morning, Li Yongfeng came to his doorstep with Zhou Gu and Wang Shuwen.
At that time, Wang Sheng was finishing packing his belongings.
He took some useful items, such as Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills and golden sore medicine.
Although he was not going to be gone for a long time, he needed to be fully prepared. As for weapons, he decided not to bring any; his current strength made them unnecessary. If they weren’t suitable, they were less useful than his condensed Qi-Blood.
After preparing—
“Da Bai!”
Roar~
Da Bai was somewhat groggy, having gotten used to sleeping at night while following Wang Sheng.
“Yun Sheng, is this?” Li Yongfeng had assumed they’d walk.
“Of course, we’ll ride Da Bai. It’ll be much faster. Come on up!”
After raising Da Bai for so long, it was time it served its purpose.
“Roar~”
Although Da Bai was somewhat reluctant to have anyone other than Wang Sheng ride on its back, it would not go against Wang Sheng’s wishes and reluctantly lay down.
Wang Sheng and the three men got on.
“Let’s go, Da Bai, to the village we visited before.”
“Roar~”
Da Bai leaped up and began running swiftly.
Wang Sheng chatted with Li Yongfeng and the others.
After practicing cultivation for so long and thanks to Wang Sheng’s supply of Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills, their progress in martial arts was quite satisfactory.
Li Yongfeng, with the best natural talent and with some extra help from Wang Sheng, had already become a Second Grade Martial Artist, while the other four were not far behind.
They chatted like this, and soon they arrived at the location of Qingshan Village.
“As expected, someone has been here!” Li Yongfeng observed the situation inside the village.
Inside the village was a mess, with many wooden doors forcibly destroyed and clear signs of searching.
Wang Sheng didn’t care much, they had already left anyway. He said, “Let’s go, don’t worry about this. Let’s head to the Salt Field first. You should know where the Salt Field is, right?”
“We know, I used to work there. I wish I’d taken more salt back with me when we left!” Zhou Yong, who had worked at the Salt Field and knew the way, was the one speaking.
“Alright, Brother Zhou Yong, you lead the way, and Da Bai will follow the route!”
“Roar!”
Without much sentiment, the group had already anticipated such a situation and quickly left Qingshan Village.
They set off again, with Da Bai heading out under Zhou Yong’s guidance.
Zhou Yong could remember only one route, the usual official road they traveled on. They had thought they would scare people on the road, but there was no one to be found.
However, this was not particularly surprising. With the previous disorder, people wouldn’t venture out without a good reason.
The head of Qingshan Village had allowed them to leave not only to get salt, but also to gather information, as it was problematic to be cut off for so long.
Qingshan Village hadn’t sent people out for over half a year, so they knew nothing of the outside world; looking at the situation on the road now, gathering news might not be easy.
A lot could happen in half a year; it was not known if King Yong Nian had completely occupied Shuzhou and stabilized it.
As they discussed various matters, they soon arrived near the Salt Field.
“We arrived so quickly!” Li Yongfeng and the others marveled. They had reached the Salt Field much sooner than expected. If they didn’t need to go into the city for information, they felt they could even manage a round trip in half a day.
And all this depended on the Mountain Lord.
Da Bai, as the Mountain Lord, had great endurance and speed. Even though it ensured a smooth ride, the several-dozen-kilometers distance took only about an hour.
If Da Bai were running unrestrained alone, it would probably take even less time.
Soon, they entered the bounds of the Salt Field.
The salt in Shuzhou came from wells; the quality was quite good, with some even supplied to the royal family. The place they came to was a small Salt Field that lacked such a privilege.
Of course, the salt here was still quite good compared to other places.
Also, because the Salt Field needed to transport salt out, the roads were actually quite broad.
But as they went deeper—
“Why has this been blocked?”
A ten-meter-high barrier made of stones and dirt blocked the entire road before them.
Wang Sheng, now very sensitive to his surroundings, could sense a different presence behind the barrier. So, he said, “Of course, it’s because there are people inside. Da Bai, jump over it!”
To Da Bai, a ten-meter height was nothing!
“Roar~”
Da Bai took a running start with ease, leaped gracefully as if gliding through the air, and swiftly cleared the dirt wall to arrive on the other side.
At the same time, several arrows were shot towards them.
“Roar~”
Such an attack couldn’t even penetrate Da Bai’s defenses.
But it wouldn’t just take hits for no reason.
In mid-air, it casually swiped its front paws, knocking all the arrows down, then landed steadily on the ground.
Four or five people on the ground were petrified with fear, not daring to move.
“Roar!”
Da Bai was ready to attack again but was stopped by Wang Sheng.
“Hold on, Da Bai!”
Once Da Bai ceased its attack, Wang Sheng turned to the people on the ground and said, “Who here is in charge? Tell me the situation!”
…
A few minutes later, Wang Sheng and his group were respectfully invited into a house within the Salt Field.
There were quite a few people in the Salt Field, men, women, old, and young, and even a Martial Artist.
At this moment, this Martial Artist was respectfully standing in front of Wang Sheng and his group, while outside the house, a crowd of people watched Da Bai guard the entrance with fear.
“Respected sir, may I ask what brings you here?”
“Salt, there should still be plenty left in the Salt Field, right?”
Wang Sheng, acting as the spokesperson, conducted the interaction.
“Yes, yes, the Salt Field had tens of thousands of pounds left before it ceased production. How much do you need, sir?”
“Wang Sheng thought for a moment and then said, “Let’s start with five thousand pounds. Where is the salt?”
With over two hundred people in Qingshan Village, five thousand pounds of salt would last quite a while, easily for a year or two. To carry more would be impractical.
“I’ll take you there right now.”
Wang Sheng stayed put but looked at Li Yongfeng, “Brother Yongfeng, you go with Da Bai.”
Li Yongfeng nodded, knowing that Wang Sheng wanted to ask about other matters, and replied, “Sure.”
After Li Yongfeng and Da Bai left, Wang Sheng turned again to the person in charge.
The overseer understood and said, “Sir, is there something else you wish to ask?”
“You all aren’t from the Salt Field, are you? How did you end up here?”
“You don’t know, sir?” The overseer was taken aback.
“What happened? We come from a distant place.”
“Then surely you aren’t from the counties of Lushui, Dishui, or Yong’an? Right now, you can say that these counties are in despair. We are from Dishui County…”