Alright, don't say I didn't warn you.
From here on, things were much easier.
When they reached the Mountain God Temple, Sun Gui and the others had already been waiting there.
Upon seeing Chen Xiaobei, the group nodded in greeting.
Sun Jian, being decent enough, had someone bring some food over. "Come on, Brother Xiaobei, have a bite before we go."
Chen Xiaobei thought to himself, this is probably a way to win favor. But I'll be getting lost anyway.
At this moment, Chen Xiaobei didn't realize that his decision was, by chance, saving his life.
As they followed Chen Xiaobei up the mountain, Sun Jian gently pulled Sun Gui to the back and whispered, "Once we find the dragon's head, kill Chen Xiaobei immediately, got it?"
Sun Gui grinned. "Don't worry, big brother. I'll take care of it with one clean strike."
They walked for about four or five miles, and by then, the road had become untraceable, as no one had walked here for years.
Chen Xiaobei could only judge where to go by the distribution of loose stones and weeds—where it was possible to walk and where it wasn't.
As a result, their pace slowed down.
After walking another two miles, the weeds thinned out, and the ground was covered with loose stones.
Ahead, there were four or five forks in the road, with some winding paths faintly visible.
At this point, Sun Jian and the others exchanged looks and came to a stop.
Chen Xiaobei stood there, hesitating, trying to decide which path to take.
In his mind, he recalled the elder's words. He stepped onto the leftmost small path and walked a few steps, then looked this way and that, pretending to hesitate.
Hmm, I can't see the mountaintop from here. That's ruled out.
He looked through each of the paths in turn and finally pointed to the rightmost path. "Let's take this one."
Upon hearing this, Sun Jian and Sun Gui exchanged glances, both looking surprised.
Yes, this path was the correct one, and the others were dead ends. They had spent many days confirming this.
Yet, this Chen Xiaobei figured it out so easily.
This showed that the mountain boy really knew something. Sun Jian was even more resolute—this person must not be left alive.
After guiding everyone through a few more forks, Chen Xiaobei felt exhausted.
Though he had been to the county a few times, which had built some stamina, walking on flat roads and mountain paths was completely different.
Moreover, they had already walked over ten miles from the Mountain God Temple, and now, he truly couldn't go any further.
Seeing that ahead were four more forks in the road, Chen Xiaobei knew the time had come.
He stood at the first fork and could faintly see the mountaintop in the distance.
But he remained calm and collected, walking along the other forks one by one. Finally, he pointed at a random path and said, "Let's go this way."
Sun Jian and the others didn't have the slightest doubt and immediately followed him.
After walking about two miles, they reached a small hill.
It seemed to be only about ten or so feet high.
They continued up, reaching the top of the hill, and everyone was dumbfounded.
Ahead, there was no path—it was a deep, bottomless cliff.
This...
Chen Xiaobei secretly sighed to himself. It seemed the elder's words were right. If the path didn't lead to the mountaintop, it shouldn't be taken.
He acted disappointed, sitting down heavily on the ground.
"Brother Sun, I'm sorry, I took the wrong path."
Sun Jian was quite forgiving. "It's fine. Let's rest here for a while."
After resting for a while, eating some food, and drinking some water, the group headed back the way they came.
Chen Xiaobei thought to himself that he might as well keep messing up, so he chose another wrong path.
After walking less than five miles, they came to a large forest.
Looking at the dark forest, Chen Xiaobei felt a little hesitant, unsure if they should continue deeper.
Sun Jian, however, was cautious. He stopped Chen Xiaobei and gave Sun Gui a look.
Sun Gui understood and quickly stepped forward. He climbed a large tree nearby and observed the forest from above.
After a long while, Sun Gui slid down from the tree. "Big Brother, this forest is huge. I can't see the end."
Sun Jian's expression became serious.
He turned to Chen Xiaobei again. "Brother Xiaobei, are you sure this is the right path?"
Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "I don't know. I've never been here before. I just looked for the path with the least loose stones and followed it. But... this trick doesn't seem to be working now."
Of course, this path was made of large stones, so where would the loose stones be?
Sun Gui and the others' gazes all turned toward Sun Jian.
At this moment, Sun Jian was ready to explode in anger, wanting to curse.
He obviously believed it, not expecting that Chen Xiaobei's method of leading them was so unusual.
But now, Chen Xiaobei was starting to lose his shine.
The continuous wrong turns had made Sun Gui lose his patience. With a swift movement, he pulled out a dagger and walked over to Chen Xiaobei. "Chen Xiaobei, are you doing this on purpose?"
Chen Xiaobei looked flustered and turned to Sun Jian.
Although Sun Jian was also furious, it wasn't yet time to kill Chen Xiaobei. They had worked hard for a long time and hadn't come this deep into the mountains. Chen Xiaobei's performance had already exceeded his expectations.
Therefore, they had to continue to placate him.
"Brother Xiaobei, do you have any other ideas?"
Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "I'll go back and ask the elders in the village to see if there's any new method."
Sun Jian immediately understood that Chen Xiaobei wanted to go home.
"Alright, then let's go back, and tomorrow..."
Before he could finish, Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "Tomorrow doesn't work. I need to go to the city to sell vegetables."
"Your vegetables are useless, you're delaying the national advisor's affairs..." Sun Gui started to speak, but Sun Jian quickly coughed to stop him. "Alright, Brother Xiaobei, growing vegetables isn't easy. How about we come back the day after tomorrow?" He then looked at Chen Xiaobei with a questioning glance.
Chen Xiaobei inwardly groaned. This damn situation was like trying to shake off an unshakable nuisance.
However, Sun Jian's words had given him an idea. Didn't Liu's family want him to keep an eye on the mountain? This was the perfect excuse.
"Brother Sun, don't worry. I'll arrange for people to keep watch at the foot of the mountain. Anyone who enters or exits will be carefully questioned, so it won't delay your business."
Sun Jian seemed momentarily surprised, then laughed heartily. "Good, good, carefully question everyone."
As the saying goes, it's easy to climb the mountain but hard to descend. By the time Chen Xiaobei returned to Hetou Village, it was already completely dark.
Cui Hongyu and Qiao'er had already hidden inside the western side room of the courtyard.
When Cui Hongyu saw Chen Xiaobei return, she nearly cried.
"Husband, have you eaten?"
Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "That damn Sun Jian didn't even offer me a meal."
"Husband, what does 'damn' mean?" Cui Hongyu asked seriously.
This question made Chen Xiaobei feel embarrassed. "Oh, it just means I'm complimenting him, saying he's clever."
Cui Hongyu laughed through her tears. "That word is really strange. So, by that logic, husband, you're also 'damn'."