Ten days later.

The convoy slowly moved forward. The guards were scattered in all directions, and there were two groups of people patrolling in the forest.

Yesterday, they had been attacked by three “Mutated Spirit Beasts”, which made everyone in the convoy panic. All of this was to prevent this from happening again.

“I still can’t figure it out.” Rong Ziyi held his chin with one hand and shook his head. His brows were tightly knitted. “At that time, we clearly didn’t feel anything, but those three enormous spirit beasts suddenly appeared?

“I don’t think that my spiritual sense has been so stupid. There’s definitely something fishy about it.”

Lin Bai rode his horse and stood side by side with Rong Ziyi. He nodded slightly. “I didn’t feel it at that time either.”

Although Little Red was patrolling along the border of the Black Cloud Stronghold, Lin Bai had lost a pair of eyes that overlooked the earth from high up in the sky.

But even so, the three huge spiritual beasts that were filled with monstrous murderous aura sneakily approached Lin Bai and successfully ambushed him…

Lin Bai didn’t think that under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be able to notice it.

There must be something fishy going on here.

Suddenly, Lin Bai raised his head and looked up with joy on his face. “It’s here.”

A bright red ball of fire swooped down from the sky and landed steadily on Lin Bai’s right arm.

Lin Bai took out a piece of beef jerky from his carry-on bag and threw it over.

Little Red took the jerky in its mouth and moved its chin upward. With a gulp, the jerky disappeared.

“How was it?” Lin Bai asked.

Rong Ziyi pulled the reins, stretched his neck, and subconsciously moved closer.

He knew what Little Red was doing this time, and he was full of curiosity about the news that Little Red had brought.

Little Red opened its mouth and began to talk animatedly. Rong Ziyi held his breath and listened attentively… but he couldn’t understand it at all!

“Mm, go and hover above the convoy. Try to fly as high as you can. Once you find anything, come and find me immediately.” After Lin Bai heard it, his expression became a little solemn.

Little Red pecked its head, but its two claws tightly grabbed Lin Bai’s arm, not moving at all.

Lin Bai couldn’t help but laugh. After taking out another piece of jerky, Little Red put it in its mouth and left in satisfaction.

Not long ago, Lin Bai was really bored, so he gave a few spirit beasts jerky to try. The other Spirit Beasts weren’t interested in it at all, but Little Red had fallen in love with jerky ever since.

“How, how is it?” Rong Ziyi immediately came over.

“Most of the Spirit Beasts in the Black Cloud Stockade area have mutated. They have become irritable and full of hostility. Moreover, they have gradually begun to rot, and their bodies are surrounded by demonic qi.”

Lin Bai patiently told Rong Ziyi about the news that Little Red had brought.

“What percentage is this?” Rong Ziyi asked.

“Seventy percent.”

“…”

“However, don’t worry. I will have Little Red hover in the surroundings to ensure that the convoy will not be ambushed by those mutated Spirit Beasts again.”

Hearing Lin Bai’s words, Rong Ziyi’s expression became slightly better.

Rong Ziyi pulled the reins, and the horse’s speed suddenly dropped. He muttered, “We have to leave this damned place quickly!”

Rong Ziyi came to Luo Ningyu’s carriage and called out respectfully. Not long after, Luo Ningyu used her jade-like fingers to pull open the curtains and said,

“What’s the matter?”

“Miss, it’s like this…”

Rong Ziyi informed Luo Ningyu of the news. When he spoke, he deliberately lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear clearly.

After all, if the people in the convoy heard this news, they would definitely fall into panic and choose not to continue forward. There would definitely be many people who would want to return the same way.

However, at that time, the convoy would split into two, which would only increase the number of casualties.

Therefore, Rong Ziyi was secretly certain that this matter had to be kept a secret.

Another half a day passed.

Qi Long, Wu Su, and Ren Mu rode their horses back to the convoy in a hurry.

Qi Long’s expression was quite relaxed, while Wu Su was still as calm as an ancient well. Ren Mu frowned slightly, and his eyes flickered as if he was deep in thought.

“Hey, we’re back!”

Qi Long came not far from Lin Bai and suddenly pulled the reins. The horse stopped obediently and said impatiently,

“We rode for more than half a day and ran more than thirty miles. We met four small villages along the way. These four villages, villages, cough, cough, cough…”

“Come, drink some water. Let’s talk slowly.” Rong Ziyi took out a water bag from the side and threw it to Qi Long, who was coughing non-stop.

Qi Long gulped down the water in the water bag and wiped the corner of his mouth with his hand. He burped and continued,

“Thank you. Where were we? Right, those four villages. The villagers were living very peacefully. When we passed by, we could still see them doing farming. Children and old people were sitting at the village head, laughing and scolding. They did not look like they were being bullied by the Black Cloud Stockade at all.

We asked about the four villages. They said that every one to two months, the Black Cloud Stockade would come to collect a some grain and money, but these were all within the scope of the villagers affordability.

And…”

After hearing the news about Qi Long, Lin Bai and Rong Ziyi’s faces became more and more solemn.

These four villages weren’t being oppressed by the Black Cloud Stockade. On the contrary, the Black Cloud Stockade controlled the quantity very well and didn’t kill the chicken to get the egg.

Then, what was going on with the Tuo Tou village that they passed by. The ambush from the Black Cloud Stockade, and the mutated spiritual beasts in the forest..

No matter how they thought about it, these villagers should have been swaying all day long…

Lin Bai raised his head to look at Wu Su. Wu Su said indifferently, “I didn’t sense any demon qi, and those spiritual beasts didn’t approach the village either.”

“No matter how I think about it, it’s a little strange!” Rong Ziyi’s brows were tightly knitted. He wished he could ride his horse and see for himself.

“What’s strange about it? Those mutated spirit beasts are probably killing each other and have no time to care about the village. As for the Black Cloud Stockade, I reckon that the rabbits don’t want to eat grass near their nest, so they’ve kept the balance very well and haven’t aroused any resistance from the villagers.

“Alright, alright, we haven’t eaten lunch yet. Rong Ziyi, do you have anything to eat? My chest is sticking to my back!”

Qi Long didn’t believe that there was anything strange about this. He rode his horse and prepared to find some food.

Wu Su and Ren Mu followed closely behind.

Rong Ziyi wanted to say something, but Qi Long’s trip was made by three people. The three of them didn’t find anything strange, so no matter how confused he was, he could only shut his mouth for the time being.

The sky gradually darkened. The convoy found a waterfall at the foot of a mountain. Under the waterfall was a deep pool, which made it easy for them to set up camp here.

After dinner, the rush and fatigue during this period of time had gradually calmed the convoy down. The guards patrolled one by one, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.

Lin Bai opened the curtain of the carriage. Seeing that the convoy had already quieted down, he quietly walked out.

The news that he had received during the day puzzled him. With how the Black Cloud stronghold acted before, it should not be like this.

After thinking hard but to no avail, Lin Bai planned to secretly make a trip to the black cloud stronghold.

He had already asked someone to investigate the location of the Black Cloud Stockade during the day.

Lin Bai came to the middle abdomen of the carriage. To the east was a forest path, which was exceptionally quiet under the night sky.

“Master Lin, I did not think you would think the same as me.”