Chapter 128: The Capital of Wen

The group traveled for another half of the night, roughly confirming that no monsters were in pursuit. As the sky began to brighten, they reached a small mountain hollow, finally sitting down to drink some water and prepare a morning meal.

Everyone’s stomach was completely empty.

"We can rest for a while now. Those monsters shouldn't have followed us," said She Shiyi and She Qi.

Qingzhao found a flat spot to lay down his younger sister, Qinghu. He even placed a small blanket under her. "It’s truly hopeless. We’ve been through such a bumpy journey, yet this girl Qinghu didn't even wake up, sleeping soundly the whole time. She really is incredibly carefree. How come I never noticed she was this bold before?"

"It doesn't seem to be a matter of being carefree. Could Shen Qinghu be exhausted from yesterday? I feel like she might be mentally drained, which is why she’s sleeping so heavily," She Shiyi said, leaning in to check Qinghu's complexion.

"Yesterday? Was it the mental energy she spent when she saved us?" Qingzhao mused, proactively finding an excuse for his sister.

Little Doggy listened and said with disdain, "Big Sister Hu at most just called for people to pull you up; she didn't even do it herself. How could there be any exhaustion? Besides, meeting you was an accident; we were just passing by and happened to hear voices. It was Big Sister Hu’s curiosity that led us to look for you."

"But we were speaking in very low voices at the time. How could it possibly have carried outside the shaft?" Qingzhao asked, suspicious.

"Then... did we hear someone else's voice?" Little Doggy wondered. "We heard voices, and as a result, we saved you? Does that mean there are still people squatting underground?"

The others looked at each other in dismay. It felt like the truth was likely exactly that. Were Qingzhao and his group saved by mistake? Did they just get incredibly lucky?

"That’s terrible. Should we go back and look for those people?" Little Doggy asked, frowning.

"Sure, go ahead yourself. We’ll stay here and wait for you to bring them back," Qinghu, who had woken up at some point, interjected directly.

"Wait... Big Sister Hu?" Little Doggy cried out in surprise.

"Go on, go back and find them. It’s not that far anyway," Qinghu said.

"It is far, Big Sister Hu! We’ve already relocated the camp overnight; we’re a long way from that place now," Little Doggy said immediately. He realized he had been foolish—going back to find people would be insane. Even if there were people underground, what did that have to do with him?

Qinghu scanned the surrounding scenery; it was indeed quite different. "Why did you move the camp overnight?" she asked, frowning. "Did the corpse beetles attack?"

"Don't even mention it. Not far from your camp, a bizarre battle broke out between the corpse beetles and a group of stone spirits. We were worried about being caught in the crossfire, so we ran," She Shiyi explained.

A battle between corpse beetles and stone spirits—that was good. Her efforts hadn't been in vain.

"Wait, She Shiyi, why were you at our camp? I remember we left in two different directions," Qinghu asked, greatly surprised.

"We ran into the corpse beetles again, and they wouldn't let us go. With no other choice, we just kept running until we ended up on your side. Then, near your camp, we saw a massive, sky-covering battle between the corpse beetles and the stone spirits. It was a fight to the death across two mountain ridges and valleys," She Shiyi said.

"And who won?" Qinghu asked.

"Cough, we didn't see. As soon as we saw them fighting, we left. If we got caught in that, wouldn't we just be throwing our lives away?" She Shiyi replied.

"So that’s how it was. Fine, not seeing it is fine, too. I suspect the stone spirits will win," Qinghu said with smug satisfaction. "But it seems those corpse beetles never intended to let us go in the first place. They even chased us all the way to the surface." She looked puzzled. "Could they not tell we aren't to be trifled with?"

Qinghu’s words made She Shiyi laugh out loud. "Those corpse beetles have such low intelligence, they probably didn't realize you’re not to be trifled with. Hahaha, Shen Qinghu, you’re too interesting." She really had a high opinion of herself. There were so many beetles; if they had encountered them, they would only have been able to flee again. How would the beetles ever feel they were "not to be trifled with"?

"Your sense of humor is too low. I was just speaking the truth, why are you laughing?" Qinghu gave him a disdainful look.

"I didn't say you weren't speaking the truth. I just think those corpse beetles probably only consider the creatures fighting them to the death as targets that are 'not to be trifled with'."

Qinghu snorted coldly. *My stone spirits!!*

"Alright, let's rest a bit more, hurry up and cook, and we'll set off once we've eaten and cleaned up," She Shiyi said. "It’s better to stay away from those corpse beetles. With so few of us now, it’s too hard to deal with them."

Everyone accepted this decision, and they started the pots again. Qinghu even took out a large amount of meat, spirit grains, vegetables, and clean water. "Remember to pay me back for the food when you have money later," she reminded them before distributing the supplies for everyone to cook.

"Wow, Qinghu, how did you hoard so many spirit grains and vegetables?" Ruan Qingwu asked happily.

"Naturally, I bought them at the Wuding City market before we came in." Her family had plenty of purple gold coins now, so why not use them? Were they going to keep them until they multiplied? As for the meat, that was naturally the various live fish and shrimp stored in her little seashell.

After everyone had washed up and changed, the meat and rice in the pots were ready to eat. Qinghu ate her rice while crunching on large shrimp as thick as a child’s arm. They had been cleaned, boiled, seasoned by Qingzhao, and then deep-fried. They were crispy and flavorful.

Qinghu loved them. In no time, she finished one, then another.

"Shen Qinghu, slow down! We only fried a few; you’re about to eat them all. I’ve only had one!" Qingzhao shouted.

"Here," Qinghu tossed him twenty or so jumping, live shrimp. "Fry them all."

"You really are a glutton," Qingzhao said, annoyed.

"You’re eating them too, aren't you?" Qinghu replied.

"Fine, fine, I’ll cook them for you. Toss out more. I like them too," Qingzhao said.

"Done, done," Qinghu tossed out another twenty or so.

As a result, even after everyone else had finished eating, the siblings were still eating and drinking, crunching away quite comfortably.

"Why do I feel like these two siblings are living much better than us?" She Qi asked, his voice strained.

"Don't compare. We barely bring any dried rations when we go out, but they have pots, seasonings, a grill, spirit rice, vegetables, live fish, and shrimp. How can we compare?" She Shiyi sighed. "Next time I go out, I’m bringing everything. Watching them eat while I’m drooling—this life is too hard."

She Qi nodded in agreement; it was indeed true.

The key was that watching them eat while he was hungry was unbearable. He had to remember to pack everything next time; that was a must.

When the siblings finished eating, they brewed tea to digest their meal.

"Didn't you go to find people? Why didn't you find any?" Qinghu asked leisurely.

"We looked, but only found about a dozen snake-kin. We don't know where the others went; perhaps they were all eaten by the corpse beetles," She Shiyi said, sounding pessimistic.

"Perhaps they were hoarded by the beetles as emergency rations," Qinghu said, blinking.

"What? Emergency rations? Why?" She Shiyi was confused.

"We haven't seen a single wild beast along the way. Corpse beetles are living creatures; they need fresh meat. Eating zombies certainly isn't their preference," Qingzhao interjected. "So I think Qinghu is right; perhaps everyone who entered the spirit cave was captured and used as emergency food."

"That’s hard to say, because we have no idea how many people actually entered," Shou An said, pursing his lips. The little lion nodded as well.

The little dog was a bit dazed. He wasn't actually interested in these things; if only he could gnaw on a bone. Preferably an ox bone—sucking the marrow looked so delicious. Unfortunately, everything Shen Qinghu took out was fish or meat. It wasn't that it wasn't tasty, it just wasn't his favorite.

"If there's no other way, we should figure out how to leave this place," She Shiyi said after some thought. "Although it’s a bit shameful, it’s better than being wiped out."

"The problem is how to get out. Does anyone know the way? Usually, after the treasures are collected, the spirit cave provides an exit option, right? We haven't found any treasures here yet, so we probably can't leave. At the very least, the cave isn't offering us an exit right now. If the cave won't send us out, it’s difficult. Are we supposed to force open a seven-colored barrier? The question is, does anyone know of a place with a seven-colored barrier we can break to leave?"

Everyone shook their heads in response. Qinghu specifically glanced at Helan Che, but the guy just stared back with a stiff expression. It seemed he didn't know how to leave either.

"I have another concern. Given that the thing can choose how many people to let in, I worry it has already mastered, or partially mastered, the seven-colored barrier. I’m afraid it has sealed the spirit cave. In that case, none of us will escape. So, the best method is still to kill it," Qinghu added.

"We know killing it is the best option. The problem is we can't. It’s too hard. My giant snakes only number in the thousands. The snakes controlled by my clansmen are basically served up as dinner for the beetles the moment they go out. With only this many snakes, and your light-sword fish, it’s still a stretch. We might be eaten clean before we even get close to it," She Shiyi said, feeling frustrated.

"My snakes aren't dinner," She Qi gritted his teeth.

"Mine neither," Shou An said sourly. Why were his snakes being called dinner?

"But against those sky-covering corpse beetles, they are doomed. Do you think you're all stone spirits?" She Shiyi retorted.

She Qi fell silent. He knew they couldn't win. His snakes, having been hungry for so many years, were either dead or too thin to even crawl. They certainly had no combat power for the time being.

She Qi was truly good to his snakes. If a snake died, he wouldn't eat it; instead, he would leave the corpse for the remaining snakes to eat. If he hadn't focused entirely on preserving his beasts, his snake population wouldn't have survived at all. Although the numbers couldn't compare to before, they hadn't been completely wiped out.

As for Shou An, he was about to be promoted to a clan successor. The beasts he had were not bad in terms of combat power or quality—at least within his own tribe. But even if the three of them combined, they were no match for the corpse beetles.

Just as Qinghu was about to continue, she heard the sound of many human footsteps in the forest nearby. *Tap, tap, tap, tap...* The sound of feet stepping on dry branches and leaves echoed toward them.

She Shiyi and She Qi immediately led their people to investigate. Before long, She Shiyi sent a clansman back to report that there was no danger; those people had also been running from the corpse beetles and happened to stumble upon them.

"These corpse beetles are truly a menace," Qinghu sighed. Mostly, there were just too many of them. She wondered how the creature had raised them? Or perhaps she should ask how many years they had been raised to have such numbers.

Qinghu sensed her own stone spirits. *Hmm, hmm,* from the original five thousand, they had grown to over six thousand. They were about to reach seven thousand. *Very good, very good, keep fighting, boys.*

Encouraged by Qinghu, the stone spirits, who never knew fatigue and had been fighting since the previous night, became as excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline. They roared and charged toward the corpse beetles once more.

The corpse beetles were being slaughtered in droves. Their bodies were trodden into meat paste, covering the ground in a thick layer. The poisonous beetles had polluted the entire earth into a foul-smelling, black-green mess. Even the newborn stone spirits had changed color, no longer pure earth-yellow, but a slight yellow-green.

However, for stone spirits born of the earth, poison was irrelevant; they were naturally immune. Whether they changed color didn't matter; once they returned to their master, they would be whatever color they were supposed to be.

The corpse beetles, however, were starting to shrink back. After fighting for so long, they hadn't gained any advantage and had lost so many companions. Those companions could never be reborn because their insect spirits had been devoured. The stone spirits seemed to possess a natural soul-devouring ability, and by eating the insect spirits, they could even split into new individuals. It was too terrifying.

In the simple minds of the insect spirits, fear grew deeper. After the next charge of the stone spirits, a small portion of the insects turned and fled, and then, like a chain reaction, more and more insects turned to flee in a frenzy.

The stone spirits pursued them, managing to bring their total count up to seven thousand. As they chased, the beetles scattered and fled, completely losing their trail. The stone spirits stopped, and then, seemingly hearing a summons, they disappeared back into the earth.

A few breaths later, Qinghu felt something small gently touch her foot. Qinghu signaled for them to stay calm. The small things under her feet quieted down and hid themselves again.

"Here, here! Our camp is here!"

"My god, it’s too terrifying, those corpse beetles are too terrifying."

A group of people was guided toward their camp. Seeing them approaching, those remaining at the camp stood on guard. Even if they were humans, one had to be cautious at a time like this. Who knew who was coming?

Helan Che simply stood with Qingzhao. Here, only he, Qingzhao, and Qinghu were human. The White Sheep brothers also leaned toward Qingzhao and Qinghu. Surrounding them were the lions and dogs.

Soon, a large group of over a hundred people in loose formation approached the camp. They walked out of the forest, and the view opened up.

"Young Master, Young Master!" a young man shouted from afar.

Little Doggy perked up immediately. "Brother Zhan, Brother Zhan, I’m here!" He waved his arms vigorously.

Soon, the man was summoned from the main group and ran to the dog's side, looking him up and down. Behind him followed a squad of twenty or so black dogs.

"I haven't been able to find you for days, I was so worried I thought you were dead," the young man said, looking at the little dog with an expression that suggested he was incredibly lucky.

"I’m fine. I met Big Sister Hu as soon as I came in, and I’ve been following her since," Little Doggy said, pointing at Qinghu.

The new leader of the dog group, Brother Zhan, followed Little Doggy’s finger and looked at Shen Qinghu. He instinctively fell to his knees with a thud. "Up... Up..."

"Up what? From now on, you call her Big Sister Hu," Qinghu scolded immediately.

"Yes, yes, Big Sister Hu," Brother Zhan nodded quickly.

"Your little dog is truly useless. He led a scouting party and ended up losing most of them. Half the group is gone now. Are you even capable of this job?" Qinghu asked with the tone of a superior.

"I can. Hei Zhan once studied in Wendu City for a time and even received rewards from the academy for his scouting skills." Hei Zhan didn't dwell on his experience in Wendu City; he hadn't exactly thrived there, or he wouldn't have come back.

"Wendu City? Where is that city? Is it bigger than Wuding City? Is it more prosperous?" Qinghu asked.

"Wendu City is far larger than Wuding City. And because it’s a port city, the population is much denser. It’s not only more densely populated but also more prosperous. There are many water-kin who bring various fresh goods from the great rivers and the sea. Overall, compared to Wuding City, Wendu City is a proper big city, while Wuding City is more like a village fort—cramped and backward. Even the concentration of spirit energy cannot compare to theirs." Although he hadn't made a name for himself there, Hei Zhan still loved Wendu City. That was a prosperous, grand city.

"Wuding City has a population of one or two million. Does Wendu City have even more?" Qinghu was surprised. She hadn't expected such a remote and backward place to have such large cities.

"Yes, the population there is at least five or six million," Hei Zhan said. Because houses were generally built low and many included courtyards and gardens, Wuding City covered a vast area. It enclosed several large mountains within the city walls. If Wendu had a larger population, its area must be even more vast. Qinghu secretly thought that when she had time, she would go and see it.

"Very well, you stay, too, and take your dogs to scout," Qinghu instructed.

The man knelt down in a grand gesture of respect. "Yes."

This left the others stunned. It was so formal—the kind of deference shown to highly prominent figures. Only Helan Che narrowed his eyes slightly.

After Qinghu waved for him to get up, Hei Zhan stood and merged his squad of black wolves with the remaining ones from Little Doggy’s group. He stood behind Qinghu like a guard, taking his little young master along with him. *What are you doing? You aren't a pet dog, standing there looking sloppy—isn't it embarrassing? Besides, with someone like her around, you should be thinking about how to secure a good position and reach the pinnacle of life.*

The little lion looked at Hei Zhan with trepidation. Little Doggy wasn't much, but he had heard of Hei Zhan. He was a famous young wolf of the Black Wolf Tribe, having defeated everyone in his age group in the White Wolf Tribe and nearby tribes.

Some speculated that if Hei Zhan hadn't been from a branch line, the previous chief might have passed the position to him. The Black Wolf Tribe was famously united. When the previous chief handed over power, the eldest son felt he wasn't fit to be chief, so he gave the position to his younger brother and ran off with his family. The second son was caught by his father, but then the third son ran off with his family. The father only had three sons, so the second one was forced to become chief. He had allegedly spent nights howling and cursing at the injustice of it all. The old chief, tired of the noise, took his wife to Wendu City to recuperate and never returned.

So, although Hei Zhan’s status was lower, if the current chief decided to run away, the position might really fall to him, the fire lion thought.

In fact, he didn't know that Hei Zhan had no intention of becoming chief. The Black Wolf Tribe had too many chatterboxes; even if a wife’s milk ran dry, they wanted to talk to the chief about it. *Damn it, being chief is not a job for a human.*