"Look, look, what did I see?"
"How unfortunate, I originally wanted to invite my brother Jiang Li to sleep in the tent with me, but now it would seem that he already has a better choice."
Yan Hong walked out from the side with his hands behind his back.
He reached out and removed the bowl of soup from the tray. There was even a thin handkerchief underneath.
In this era, such an action was no longer a hint, but a clear indication.
"Get lost!"
"I'm going to practice tonight. It's not like you haven't heard of the snoring before. I'm fine staying in the carriage by myself."
Jiang Li kept his handkerchief and decisively rejected Yan Hong's invitation.
Yan Hong was actually here to congratulate him, because among the young men and women in the convoy, his reputation had completely reversed. He had gone from a wretched and cowardly pervert to a determined and vengeful pugilistic young master.
He had clearly not done anything good, and there was indeed an attempt at peeping, but after he revealed his strength, his peers' opinions of him changed drastically.
In fact, this was quite normal.
Humans were selfish by nature. In the process of interacting with humans, "value" was always the first standard for others to judge you.
Even family and friends, even parents and lovers, would be subconsciously affected by this "value".
Therefore, a person's character was not that important, especially since they were strangers who met by chance. Would anyone really care about your character? What they cared about was your wealth, status, and power.
In this special world, strength was undoubtedly the first criterion of value. So after he revealed his strength, he even directly became the dream lover of many young girls.
On the other hand, Yan Fengyue was not having a good time recently.
It turned out that her group of friends who were close to her still wanted to be nice in front of her. However, they started saying that she was shameless and seduced men.
The most important thing was that the campsite was not big, so Yan Fengyue heard such gossip several times. The awkwardness was not something a little girl could handle.
It was not right for her to pretend that she did not hear it, but she could not expose those friends either. It was unbearable to hold it in.
...
Time passed day by day on the journey. As their destination approached, several carriages gathered together.
Jiang Li noticed that the markings on the carriage were exactly the same, and the way the robed cultivators conversed was obviously familiar with each other. Obviously, these carriages belonged to the same force.
Every time Yan Hong set up camp to rest, he would communicate with the other teams in exchange for information.
Due to the mysteriousness of those cultivators, or perhaps because they generally looked down on the character of mortals, the useful information they obtained was also very little.
They only knew that these convoys belonged to a force called the Immortal Ascension Pavilion. Every few years, they would send out convoys to test and bring away children with spiritual roots from the secular kingdoms.
According to their speculations, this might be an intermediary organization that connected the mortal world to the cultivation world. With their current knowledge and experience, they were unable to speculate how powerful this organization was.
As expected, if there was a need, there would be benefits. If there were benefits, there would definitely be people who would take this job.
As an intermediary, they would be able to profit from both sides. The owner of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion must have a good financial mind.
Then, on a certain evening when Jiang Li had broken through to Level 7 of the Age Tiger Technique, Yan Hong came looking for him excitedly.
"Jiang Li! Jiang Li! Come out quickly! I have something good to show you!"
Jiang Li slowly ended his martial arts practice and sighed. It seemed that he had to be more careful when practicing his martial arts in the future. If he were to raise the level of his Age Tiger Technique again, he would be able to generate internal force. If he were to be interrupted like this, he would probably cough out three liters of blood from the backlash.
"My young lord, what are you making such a fuss about? If you ask me if I want a wife, I might be interested," Jiang Li came out of the carriage grumpily.
Recently, he had been practicing martial arts in his free time. Because he had those few buffs active the entire time, his energy was always full. If he did not practice martial arts to expend it, it would be unbearable.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Come with me. Another convoy has joined us. This time, you definitely won't be able to guess who is in the car." Yan Hong said excitedly as he pulled Jiang Li towards the back of the convoy.
"Let me guess, a golden-haired girl with blue eyes, a dark-skinned girl with curly hair, or a girl with piercings in her ears, nose, and mouth? Hey, Yan Hong, can you focus on something else besides girls?"
"This time, I guarantee that it's not a girl. No, it seems to be a girl. Actually, it's not a real girl either. Anyway, just follow me."
Soon, Jiang Li noticed that something was not right because Yan Hong and the others were not the only ones that had joined in the fun this time. There were over 200 people in the convoy, and most of them were gathered around the new group.
What kind of person could be so popular?
Moreover, it did not feel like they were looking at a human. Instead, it felt like they were looking at a monkey in a zoo.
Jiang Li and Yi Yun approached. With his brute strength that far exceeded his peers, he forced his way through the crowd.
The carriage that he finally saw stunned him, because the thing on this carriage was not the enclosed box that he was familiar with, but a large iron cage welded together from steel bars the thickness of a thumb.
Inside the cage was a wooden bathtub about half the height of a human. It was the kind that was commonly seen in period dramas.
From the looks of it, could it be that some ferocious beast was locked inside?
Jiang Li looked at Yan Hong with obvious intentions.
"What's inside?"
"Wait and see, it will show itself later."
Yan Hong stood at the front of the crowd confidently.
At this moment, some of the boys got impatient and went up to slap the wooden bucket inside the cage.
Some people even started to throw the remaining pieces of the steamed bun into the wooden barrel.
"Hey, come out quickly! If you don't come out soon, I'm going to throw rocks!"
One of the youths from the other carriages was quite bold. He really began to search for rocks on the ground.
Thump!
A rock the size of a fist was thrown into a wooden barrel by some guy. Something inside seemed to have finally been angered, and water splashed violently.
"Those who don't want to die! Scram!"
The internal martial artist's angry shout rang out, instantly scaring the devilish brat who was throwing the rock, he squatted down abruptly.
No one else dared to stir up trouble. Several black-clothed martial artists appeared and began to forcefully disperse the crowd.
In the end, these soon-to-be cultivators were just a bunch of children. After being frightened, they decisively and honestly dispersed. Jiang Li could only helplessly leave with the others.
At the last moment, he saw a slender arm reaching out to grab the metal bar outside.
"Yan Hong, can you tell me what's inside now?"
Yan Hong scratched his head in embarrassment, "I don't know. But that must be a demon, and it is an aquatic demon."
Jiang Li shook his head. He knew that he should not have held any expectations for Yan Hong's reliability.
"But, a demon…" Jiang Li muttered this word. He did not know if it was the kind of monster he imagined.
...
At night, the moonlight shone down.
In a quiet corner of the camp, Jiang Li was snoring thunderously in his carriage.
Of course, this was not actual snoring. Otherwise, if it was so loud, Jiang Li's throat would be completely ruined the next day.
The sound came from the vibrating resonance of his chest and skin. Under the effect of strengthening his body, his body was slowly and firmly becoming stronger.
At this moment, a melodious and clear song entered his ears.
So comfortable… so gentle.
It was like a baby returning to his mother's embrace. The gentle singing surrounded him, and he only felt at ease and comfort.
Jiang Li let down all of his guard and vigilance. Subconsciously, he only wanted to relax his body. He did not know when he had stopped circulating the Age Tiger Technique which he was practicing.
He lay on the hard wooden board, but it was as if he was lying on a soft bed with eighteen layers of goose feathers. He actually revealed a satisfied smile.
That was until…
[Affected by the song of the Scaled Demon, Mind attribute's immunity failed. Added Status: Hypnosis]
[Hypnosis: Perception is suppressed by 50%, Mind is suppressed by 50%, forced into deep sleep. Duration: 3 hours] (− +)
The two lines of text that suddenly appeared in his field of vision terrified Jiang Li to the point of trembling, and his consciousness slightly cleared up.
But… sleepy! So sleepy!
The intense sleepiness made Jiang Li feel like a ghost was pressing down on his bed. He could not move his limbs at all, and his eyelids were so heavy that it felt like two Yan Hong were pressing down on him. He could not open his eyes at all.
No! I can't fall asleep!
Status! Remove the status!
Five seconds later, Jiang Li abruptly sat up, breathing heavily. He was so close to falling asleep.
Fortunately, the character panel appeared directly in his vision. Even if he closed his eyes, he could still see it clearly.
"What happened?"
Jiang Li's mind was filled with question marks. The Scaled Demon's song was still singing outside. After listening for a while, he began to feel his entire body go soft and drowsy again.
After removing his [Hypnosis] status again, he immediately grabbed the leftover steamed buns from dinner, tore two of them into balls, and stuffed them into his ears.
The melodious song became almost inaudible, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
"Should I… go out and take a look?"
"The risk seems a little high."
After struggling with these two thoughts for a long time, Jiang Li finally chose a compromising outcome.
He dug a hole in the carriage and looked outside.
He carefully unsheathed his longsword and climbed up the wooden planks of the carriage.
Jiang Li's current strength was several times that of an ordinary mortal, and the sword in his hand was a treasured sword that was difficult to obtain even with a fortune in the mortal world. Wood shavings fluttered about, and an inconspicuous small hole was quickly drilled out.
Through the small hole, he discovered that the outside was already filled with thick fog. The visibility was extremely low, and he could barely see the bonfire not far away.
"The fog smells so fishy!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
In the forest on the side, the vegetation suddenly swayed, as if there was a big-sized creature running in it. However, in order to guard against the singing, his ears were stuffed full of steamed buns, so he could not hear clearly.
Jiang Li cursed in his heart, and he tightened his grip on his sword as he prepared himself for any sudden events.
A moment later, a large number of black shadows emerged from the forest. A portion of them headed towards the carriage that held the "monster", while the other portion headed straight for the tent area in the center of the camp.
Jiang Li cursed in his heart. Those Immortal Cultivators were all so arrogant but no one could find them at the critical moment.
Before the enemies got close, he quietly opened the wooden door and jumped out.
From the status notification on the interface, this non-stop song was called the song of the Scaled Demon. The person who created this song should be the Scaled Demon, right?
Could it be that it was here to seek revenge for the captured 'demons'?
The shadow approached quickly, and the singing stopped abruptly, replaced by a series of awful howls.
They pounced towards the tent, but the thick cloth could not stop them. One by one, young boys and girls who were sleeping soundly were dragged out of their blankets.
When they woke up from their dreams, they found a group of monsters on their stomachs eating their internal organs!
At this moment, a Scaled Demon seemed to be attracted by something. After sniffing, it actually ran towards Jiang Li.
Its throat made a heavy and hoarse sound, completely different from the beautiful song.
It opened the wooden door of the carriage and poked its head in to take a look. It was puzzling to find that there was no one inside.
At this moment, a sharp blade extended from beneath the carriage and quickly sliced through the Scaled Demon's legs.
The fishy smell of blood flowed out and the monster fell to the ground.
Jiang Li got out of the carriage and went up to take a look. What surprised him was that not only was this monster not ugly, it was actually quite good-looking.
Its skin was fair and smooth, and it had an exquisite young girl's face. Black hair reached its waist, and clung to its streamline body.
It was no wonder that Yan Hong would describe them as "young girls". However those pitch-black and enlarged pupils, as well as the two rows of sharp teeth that were revealed, ruined its appearance.
The longsword instantly pierced through the Scaled Demon's chest. After killing this beautiful monster, Jiang Li no longer hesitated and ran towards Yan Hong.
Earlier, he saw that a few Scaled Demons were already heading in that direction.
The miserable screams of the young men and women before they died pierced through the night sky. In another direction, human voices finally came from the location of those cultivators.
"Damn it! I'm going to make a loss on this mission!"
"Bold demons! How dare you come ashore to seek death!"
"Hurry up and wake up!"
The continuous roars shook the air, and even Jiang Li's eardrums buzzed.
This finally awakened everyone who was under the influence of hypnosis.
The young men and women woke up in a daze. After sensing the commotion outside, they were helpless and confused, it was obvious that they would only increase the intensity of the chaos.
Fortunately, there was no need to count on them.
Flames streaked across the thick fog and hit the Scaled Demons. They were burning talismans.
When the wet Scaled Demons were struck by the talisman, they began to burn fiercely without any delay. No matter how they rolled on the ground, the flames could not be extinguished.
The black-clothed martial artists were also shocked and angry. They grasped their sharp blades and rushed towards the Scaled Demons, cutting them down as if they were vegetables. Compared to humans who were not that tall and strong, these internal martial artists completely suppressed the demons.
Soon, with a roar, they turned around and fled.
At this moment, white figures flashed over and the talismans in their hands changed again. The Scaled Demon that was hit was no longer burning. Instead, it lay on the ground, unable to move.
"Capture them alive!"