Chapter 121 121. The Jindai family's motorcade
"Once we've packed our things, we'll set off, but I don't know how it happened, these two groups in the mountains started fighting," Qin Cheng said with some panic.
Listening to the sounds of battle in the mountains that sometimes seemed far and sometimes near, the old man grew restless.
He knew that there were only two groups in this area: the Autumn Hunting Team and the boss of Zhang Tongdan.
But he still felt that something was off. How did these two groups start fighting?
Qin Cheng glanced at Uncle Li Dong and Qing Chen before he couldn't help but ask, "The two of you went into the mountains early this morning, did anything strange happen, like..."
Uncle Li Dong, "No."
Qing Chen, "No."
Now Qin Cheng's teeth began to hurt. He hadn't even finished his sentence yet, and this master and disciple duo were already rushing to dissociate themselves from the matter.
If the fight in the mountains had nothing to do with these two, that would be unbelievable!
At this point, Uncle Li Dong said to him, "Old brother, could you find us two sets of clean, fitting clothes? I think Qin Tong's clothes would fit us."
"Why do you suddenly need clothes?" Qin Cheng wondered.
"After all, wearing this sort of storm clothes is a bit conspicuous," Uncle Li Dong said with a smile: "You can tell at a glance that we're not wilderness people."
Qin Cheng's scalp tingled all of a sudden. He thought to himself, could it be that these two caused some trouble, were spotted by others, and that's why they were in a rush to change clothes?
He hurriedly found two sets of clothes and then instructed the others to get ready to leave.
After a while, Qing Chen, while changing clothes in the woods, asked, "Teacher, do you have a new plan?"
"Oh, the teacher is preparing to give you your fourth lesson," Uncle Li Dong replied after changing his clothes.
Qing Chen suddenly felt someone peering at him. He turned around and saw Qin Yiyi hastily fleeing.
After he got dressed, "Teacher, what's the fourth lesson about?"
"I'll teach you how to be a Hunter," Uncle Li Dong answered.
"What's the prey?" Qing Chen asked again.
"You'll find out soon enough."
The two buried their storm clothes and backpacks in the ground, taking only a few essentials with them, apart from the folding stool Uncle Li Dong insisted on bringing.
Buried with them was that thick handbook of health knowledge.
...
Two pickup trucks were driving on the road.
Two days passed by quickly.
Countdown 16:00:00.
Although the cities of the Inner World and the Outer World correspond with each other, the land area of the Inner World is much larger than the Outer World.
If it were in the Outer World, a car driving on the road for three days would have long crossed provincial boundaries.
However, Qing Chen silently watched as the characters on the roadside stele changed from "18 number 235" to "18 number 644"; they hadn't even left the jurisdiction of the 18th city.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
He suddenly realized that the territorial difference between the Inner and Outer Worlds is very substantial.
At this point, Uncle Li Dong, Qin Yiyi, and Qin Tong were playing cards in the truck bed.
They had originally invited Qing Chen to join them, but Uncle Li Dong simply wouldn't let him play. In the teacher's words, "People who cheat shouldn't play games."
The three of them played a game called 'Anti-Monopoly,' which seemed to have rules quite similar to the card game Fight the Landlord.
Uncle Li Dong used Thor as chips, losing one Thor for each loss, while Qin Yiyi had to give him an apple each time she lost.
As a result, in just half an hour, Qin Yiyi had lost all the apples in her backpack.
Uncle Li Dong didn't show her any mercy and actually took all the apples for himself, adopting an attitude that suggested everyone had to accept their losses in a bet.
Qing Chen was left speechless, wondering why his teacher was so into playing.
Traveling with this teacher, it was the other party who seemed more like a capricious, playful youth.
Seeing the young girl almost getting upset from losing, Qing Chen stood up, took the deck of cards from her hand, and looked at his teacher, "Come on, let's continue."
The originally cheerful expression on Uncle Li Dong's face immediately turned serious.
In just 10 minutes, Qing Chen helped the girl win back all the apples.
The girl cheered as she gathered the apples back into her arms while Uncle Li Dong lamented, "How can you turn your elbow outwards like this, young man?"
However, even though Uncle Li Dong's face bore a look of heartfelt distress, deep down he somehow felt incredibly happy.
He had spent 8 years in that dark prison and seemed to have never been so happy before.
Qing Chen handed the cards back to Qin Yiyi and then continued to rest with his eyes closed.
Uncle Li Dong glanced at the young man, knowing he wasn't just lazing around asleep but was repeatedly going over that morning's lesson in his mind.
Time was of the essence; the young man didn't have many opportunities or time to practice practically. He was going to climb that mountain very soon.
So, Qing Chen recalled every detail: how to choose a climbing route, how to create support conditions for oneself when there is nothing to leverage, how to exert force with arms, legs, and fingers, and how to regulate stamina during the climb.
All this he had to learn.
Just then, the pickup truck's bed started to shake.
Qing Chen opened his eyes to look, only to find that the original road had turned into a dirt path.
Qin Yiyi explained to him, "We just passed the border of City Number 18, and heading south is City Number 1, located at Sanjiangkou. The place where the pickup is now is somewhat ambiguous due to the vague definition of city boundaries in earlier years, leading to no city willing to pay for the roadworks, resulting in this peculiar stretch of dirt road."
Qing Chen thought this was indeed peculiar; such nonsense would never happen in the Outer World.
Qin Yiyi said with a smile, "But once we hit this dirt road, we know that today's camping site isn't far away. It is a place discovered by our family, where there is a shallow creek that one can wade into barefoot, so shallow that those large fish that can eat people would get stranded.
Plus, there is also a persimmon grove nearby, where, in summer, we put persimmons in the water to chill them before eating. There aren't any wild animals around, but south of here, wild animals start to become more frequent."
The girl knew the place like the back of her hand and shared it as if she were sharing her joy.
Qing Chen understood that this must be Old Qin Family's fixed base when they came into the wilderness, a sort of small family sanctuary.
However, just as they turned onto the small mountain road, they found that there were already vehicles parked ahead.
Qing Chen glanced at the Black off-road vehicles with the Mount Fuji logo, then looked at Uncle Li Dong, "Teacher, that's the Jindai family's convoy."
Uncle Li Dong actually laughed, whispering to him, "Why are you so nervous? Afraid to run into acquaintances?"
"I always feel like you're waiting to enjoy a commotion," Qing Chen said, somewhat puzzled.
"What are you two whispering about?" Qin Yiyi asked, confused.
Then, Uncle Li Dong wiped some dust from the sole of his shoe and smeared it carelessly across his and Qing Chen's faces.
At that moment, Qin Yiyi realized she might have misjudged the situation earlier; the other party wasn't hiding in the woods because he couldn't get along with those young nobles, but rather because he was sufficiently distinctive-looking that without a disguise, he would be recognized!