Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

As night falls and the blood moon hangs in the sky, hundreds of ghosts and countless demons roam the desolate forests, hunting for blood and nourishing themselves. The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is vividly displayed at this moment.

The strong prey on the weak, and the weak prey on the even weaker; whoever is exposed first will be hunted down.

In a clearing in the woods, two camp tents stood, and a campfire crackled and burned. A hundred feet away, Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei hid in a tree trunk that was dozens of feet high.

The two lay quietly, draped in a grass coat woven from mixed leaves and vines. Zhou Qingfeng closed his eyes to rest and conserve his energy, keeping his body in peak condition at all times, while Jin Wei was responsible for keeping watch.

Time passed silently, and strange noises occasionally echoed through the forest. Jin Wei knew that these were the sounds of demons hunting each other in the forest, and fear and tension were rising in Jin Wei's heart.

The unknown depths of darkness harbor countless deadly traps; anyone exposed will be hunted down. Jin Wei remained on edge, and even the slightest noise would make him nervously look over.

Maintaining such a tense state for so long rapidly depleted his energy, and Jin Wei soon felt exhausted. Hunger made him feel a little irritable, so he took out a high-grade military ration pill and put it in his mouth.

These military rations are of a different grade, formulated and prepared by alchemists as a nutritional meal, specifically for military scouts. They can quickly eliminate hunger and thirst after consumption, although the taste is somewhat off, they are very filling.

After reaching the realm of food disaster, cultivators can survive without food, but they will still feel hungry and thirsty and feel uncomfortable. If they do not eat for a long time, they will suffer from malnutrition and their qi and blood will gradually decline, and the cultivators will begin to eat themselves.

What is self-eating? To put it bluntly, it means eating oneself.

When unable to obtain food from the outside world, the body will instinctively devour its own useless flesh and blood until all the useless flesh and blood are consumed. At this point, the self-cannibalism will disappear, and the cultivator will fall into a relatively weak state of residual blood.

Although they won't starve or die of thirst, their combat effectiveness will decrease significantly.

Physical techniques may not be fully utilized, because physical techniques consume qi and blood.

This explains why a cultivator's vital energy gradually declines due to prolonged fasting and malnutrition.

Jin Wei remained on high alert for another hour.

Zhou Qingfeng slowly opened his eyes, looked at where Jin Wei was hiding, and nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Jin Wei slowly closed his eyes, relaxed and rested, and Zhou Qingfeng took over the guard duty.

The two men each kept watch for two hours, taking turns on guard duty, until the blood moon set, the sun rose, and sunlight once again shone on the wilderness, at which point most of the demons and monsters in the forest returned to their lurking state.

Being nocturnal is the hunting habit of most demons and monsters.

Even the wilderness during the day is not safe, because there are many demons and monsters that are active during the day and lurking at night.

In the wild, it's normal to encounter one or two monsters or ghosts during the day while keeping moving. It has nothing to do with luck. If you don't encounter any at all, it's either extremely lucky or extremely unlucky. There's no third possibility.

It was extremely lucky because the road we took at that particular time of day happened to be free of demons and monsters hunting. It was extremely unlucky because there must have been a powerful demon lurking nearby, and the weaker demons and monsters had all hidden themselves away.

"They didn't pursue us. It seems the illusion we used yesterday worked." Zhou Qingfeng continued flying through the forest with Jin Wei, his thoughts racing, further confirming that the enemy was tracking them by scent.

Jin Wei gripped the sword hilt with one hand, maintaining a stance ready to draw his sword at any moment, and followed closely beside Zhou Qingfeng: "Young Master, where do we go next?"

Zhou Qingfeng calmly said, "We'll take the waterway, as the current will interfere with the enemy's tracking. Then we'll transfer to an airship and land in the main city near Lion Camel City. That's the plan for now. We'll adapt to any unexpected situations."

He wasn't discouraged that his prepared traps hadn't worked; on the contrary, he was quite pleased because his decisive and clever actions had successfully disrupted the enemy's pursuit, and things hadn't gone astray.

If the enemy had launched a night attack last night, Zhou Qingfeng would not have been afraid. He would have definitely tried to sabotage the pursuers. In any case, he had a backup plan in place so that he could escape if things really came to a head.

Running away is not shameful, because there are many and strong enemies who are hunting you down together. Even though you know you can't win, you still fight them to the bitter end with a surge of passion. To put it nicely, it's a hymn to courage; to put it bluntly, it's foolish passion.

Running away is called a strategic withdrawal. Preserving one's own strength and waiting until one day when one's strength is strong enough to reliably kill the enemy before returning to settle old scores is the way of a true sage.

Zhou Qingfeng is never lacking in wisdom. Reason tells him when to do what, and he will not ruin himself by acting rashly, unless his mind is corrupted and he completely loses his mind.

The two fled quickly, and if they spotted a demon in advance, they would immediately choose to detour to escape, so as not to expose their whereabouts by fighting.

After fleeing for three days and three nights, Jin Wei and Zhou Qingfeng finally emerged from the dark forest in a disheveled state.

They flew at a constant speed close to the ground along the official road, passing through valleys, wilderness, snowfields, and swamps. They fled for their lives during the day and set up fake camps and traps at night, hiding the two of them a hundred feet away from the fake camps.

More than ten days later, Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei were exhausted, but fortunately they finally found a large river.

There is a fishing village on the banks of the river.

The fishing village is oval-shaped with an openwork dome that allows sunlight to stream in during the day. It has two main gates on the east and west sides, with high walls and thick doors. This is typical of almost all rural villages and towns, otherwise, demons and monsters could easily break into such small villages and devour people.

At the village entrance, two militiamen from the Shizhuo Realm were standing guard idly. When they saw strangers arrive, before Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei could even ask them anything, they immediately became hostile and said rudely, "Get lost, this is not a place for you."

Upon hearing this, Jin Wei subconsciously tightened his grip on the Sword of Truth.

Zhou Qingfeng raised an eyebrow, looking at the militiaman, pondering whether to kill him. Fortunately, he felt it was unnecessary to kill someone over a single sentence, and he also wanted to go into the village to find a boat to cross the river to the nearby main city, so there was no need to start a conflict.

“I have a travel permit. I need to find a boat to cross the river in the village. Please make an exception for me.” Zhou Qingfeng took out the travel permit and handed it over.

The village militiamen remained unmoved, and as they drew their standard-issue longswords, they hurled insults at them: "Get lost! Can't you understand human language? Our village doesn't welcome outsiders. If you stand here any longer, I'll chop you up!"

Another village militiaman walked over, his weapon already drawn. Judging from the look of it, if Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei didn't turn around and leave immediately, they would be chopped down on the spot.

Seeing this, Zhou Qingfeng glanced coldly at the militiamen, not wanting to cause trouble, and then turned and left with Jin Wei.

After taking only two steps, the two militiamen from the village protection team put away their weapons and mocked, "Two big idiots, dressed like damn beggars, want to get into the village? You cower at the slightest intimidation, spineless cowards."

Zhou Qingfeng paused, his killing intent rising. Seeing that no one was around, he suddenly reached out and drew the Truth Sword from Jin Wei's hand. In an instant, he turned and sprinted, thrusting the sword twice, accurately piercing the militiaman's mouth.

He stabbed two militiamen to death on the spot. Then, Zhou Qingfeng tossed the sword back to Jin Wei, and the Sword of Truth landed precisely in the scabbard in Jin Wei's hand. Without looking back, he walked into the village: "Let's go, find a boat."

Jin Wei looked at the two corpses lying on the ground with a look of satisfaction. He quickly followed and said, "So, Young Master also had murderous intentions. I refrained from killing them just now because you didn't give the order."

Zhou Qingfeng walked inside with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "I didn't intend to kill them and was already planning to leave, but they were so foul-mouthed and kept cursing at me. How could I tolerate them? Since they insist on courting death, then I'll grant their wish."

Jin Wei: "Mm."

Zhou Qingfeng: "Jin Wei, are all people like this in the wild?"

Jin Wei: "Yes, that's mostly true. You're used to staying in the city. When you went out of the city before, you were always surrounded by a large entourage and guards. No one dared to provoke you, and many people would avoid you from a distance."

"The wilderness you saw before was just a glamorous side of your life as a privileged person. You were too well protected."

"Now you are alone and vulnerable, easy to bully, but the outside world is a completely different story."

“These people in the wild are fierce and wary of strangers. It is common for them to speak ill of each other. Sometimes, even just because they are walking on the same road, the person in front may think that they are being followed, which may lead to a deadly fight.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng said nothing more. When they were refugees, everyone was so fierce, which was understandable. Later, when they traveled, they were usually surrounded by people, and they rarely saw the fierce side of people in the wild. Now that he was alone and helpless, the true nature of the world was revealed.

The world has never changed; the only thing that has changed is Zhou Qingfeng. There are so many good people around Zhou Qingfeng in the Sword Tower that he almost developed the illusion that everyone is reasonable, kind, concerned with gains and losses, and civilized and polite.

But once you truly venture into the wilderness, savagery, violence, bloodshed, cruelty, and deception become the eternal theme.

The five turbidities and evils of this world, the eight sufferings tormenting people, the wickedness of human hearts, the lack of cultivation of goodness, the incorrect views, the increase of evil views, and the harm to all sentient beings—this short passage has already fully analyzed the current state of the five turbidities and evils of this world.

Jin Wei remained silent, following closely behind, before reminding him after a moment: "Young Master killed two people. The villagers will soon discover the bodies, and there might be trouble then."

Zhou Qingfeng said calmly, "There are no witnesses. I checked before I took action, and there's no need to worry. We'll be leaving here by boat today. Let them look for the murderer if they want. By then, we'll be gone."

Jin Wei was relieved after hearing this.

At this moment, Zhou Qingfeng grabbed a villager, reached out and strangled the villager by the neck, and pushed him into a room.

The villagers skillfully raised their hands high: "Hero, spare our lives!"

Zhou Qingfeng coldly threatened: "I'll ask you a question, you answer it. If you don't say a word, I'll crush you."

The villagers nodded repeatedly.

Zhou Qingfeng asked, "What's the name of this river? What's the name of this village? Where can I find a boat to cross the river?"

Villager: "Guanjiang, Quark Village, we make our living by fishing. Go to the ninth room on the left on the third floor and find Captain Qu. He is the best captain in our village and also owns the largest fishing boat."

Zhou Qingfeng grunted, then gripped the throat with his palm and tightened his grip slightly. The villager's eyelids rolled back, and he fainted. Zhou Qingfeng then turned and went out, looking for the stairs to go up to the third floor.

The village is oval-shaped, with houses connected one after another, spiraling upwards and connected by external corridors. It has thirteen floors in total, which is not very tall or large, but enough to house hundreds of villagers.

Soon, Zhou Qingfeng found the location. Seeing that the wooden door was open, he knocked on the door before going in.

"Is anyone there? Is Captain Qu home?"

"Come in, city folk, cough cough cough..." A violent coughing sound came from inside the house.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei entered the house and saw a middle-aged man wrapped in a thick blue cotton coat, smoking tobacco leaves while holding a pipe in the dead of winter, coughing as he smoked.

Zhou Qingfeng was stunned when he saw the pipe.

Captain Qu chuckled: "Never seen this before, city folk. This is called a pipe, and these are tobacco leaves. It's delicious to smoke, and it can relieve pain and calm your emotions. This is an ancient relic from ancient times. It's normal for a city folk like you not to have seen it."

Zhou Qingfeng's expression was strange, and a jumble of thoughts rushed through his mind. One idea popped into his head, but he shook his head to himself, thinking it was unlikely and probably just a coincidence: "Captain Qu, how did you know I'm from the city?"

Captain Qu coughed twice, chuckled, and pointed to the door with his pipe in hand: "City people have many rules; they know to knock and ask before entering. Country people don't have so many rules. It's not hard to tell that you seem to have fallen on hard times."

Zhou Qingfeng hummed in agreement. He and Jin Wei were indeed not dressed very well. They were dirty and their clothes were very filthy. They looked like poor, run-down people. "I need to cross the river to the nearest main city. How much will it cost to leave immediately? Name your price."

Upon hearing this, Captain Qu narrowed his eyes and held up five fingers: "Five thousand magic coins."

Zhou Qingfeng nodded: "Okay."

Upon hearing this, Captain Qu realized that the price was too low and immediately changed his mind and raised the price: "Ten thousand magic coins."

Zhou Qingfeng nodded: "Okay."

Seeing this, Captain Qu became suspicious and greedily changed his offer, raising the price to "fifty thousand coins."

Zhou Qingfeng smirked and shook his head helplessly, saying, "I told you to name your price, but at least give me a fixed price: 50,000 magic coins. It's settled, no change."

Captain Qu was scratching his head. With his limited imagination, he felt that the price was already outrageous, but the other party didn't even try to bargain and agreed immediately. This almost left Captain Qu completely bewildered. After hesitating for a moment, he still said, "Fifty thousand coins per person, no change. If you agree, I will immediately prepare manpower to take you across the river."

Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly: "Okay, here's the money."

Jin Wei took out the banknotes he carried with him from his pocket, pulled out five of them and handed them over: "These are five banknotes with a face value of ten thousand. You can exchange them for cash at any Mangque Money Shop in the main city. This is a deposit. After you take us to our destination, I will settle the remaining fifty thousand with you."

Captain Qu's eyes widened when he saw the large stack of banknotes in Jin Wei's hand. It looked like at least several million. The sheer amount of money startled him so much that he coughed repeatedly, almost coughing up his lungs.

He began to regret not asking for more money: "If I had known you were so rich, I would have asked for five million. But never mind, we agreed on fifty thousand each, so I won't go back on my word."

“If you trust me, then go and wait for me by the river. The biggest boat is mine. I need to get the crew. I can’t cross the river alone.”

"I'll be waiting for you by the river!" Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly and led Jin Wei out of the village.

For him, money is a means to improve efficiency, save time, and achieve goals.

The amount of money doesn't matter; I'm willing to give it to you if you dare to ask. What matters is how to achieve the goal quickly.

But if you keep raising the price and changing your mind, that's challenging my bottom line and treating me like an idiot. So sorry, here's your money, take it. Once I'm done with you, I'll take you back and get both my money and yours.