Feasibility of Mermaids Infiltrating Qilin

"What happened to the bodies of the dead in the team?"

Su Xingze tilted his head, thought for a moment, and replied, "I remember that they paid the villagers with food and water to take the bodies to the wilderness to be burned."

Because the corpses of the dead have a chance of turning into drought demons, whenever a dead body appears, it is taken away for disposal in a timely manner.

Ordinary corpses are not as difficult to burn as drought demons, so there is no need to use spirit fire talismans. Not all townspeople have stored food, so the team will hire townspeople to do some chores with water or food.

Disposing of corpses is somewhat dangerous, but because the pay is quite generous, townspeople always vie to do it.

The people who assigned tasks were minor officials from the county government. In order to ensure that even residents in need could receive rewards, they would never assign tasks to the same group of townspeople at the same time.

Su Xingze suddenly remembered what Dong Zhile had said: several townspeople would leave the camp for one or two hours every night.

One or two hours, roughly two or three hours, is more than enough time for someone who has practiced martial arts and has good physical strength to travel back and forth between this resting point and the previous resting point.

"You mean?" Su Xingze tentatively looked into the little Qilin's eyes, only to see the little Qilin nod slightly. He was startled. "It's not that dire yet, it shouldn't be."

Zhang Shenglin remained indifferent, regarding the possibility they were speculating about.

We'll know tonight whether my guess is right or wrong.

Night had fallen, and the sky was completely dark.

The team in Qinghao Town stopped and set off again, choosing a flatter spot to set up camp. After a simple dinner, the exhausted people could no longer stay awake and went to sleep.

The camp was filled with snoring. People were too tired during this period, and more and more people were snoring every night. Fortunately, everyone was so tired that they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the ground, so they didn't have to worry about disturbing others.

As time passed and they were certain that most people in the camp were asleep, a few people secretly got up from the ground and entered the forest.

The watchman glanced at them, then looked away indifferently.

Most people who get up at night are just taking care of their physiological needs; there's no need to worry about it.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and the night watchman, seeing that it was almost time, woke up his partner, and the two took over the shift.

The watchman had changed again, and apart from the sounds of snoring, there was no other noise in the camp.

Zhang Shenglin and Su Xingze got up from their simple sleeping bags made of cotton cloth.

Zhang Shenglin nodded to the man on night watch and then chased after the group that had left earlier.

They weren't afraid that after so long they wouldn't be able to find the people. If their guess was right, those people would definitely return to where they rested at noon.

The procession moved very slowly, and the distance between the two groups was only nine or ten li.

The darkness did not affect their eyesight, and after leaving the camp, Su Xingze no longer needed to pretend to be an ordinary talisman master.

As he floated into the air, he didn't forget to cast a lightness spell on the little Qilin. With the lightness spell, the little Qilin's speed doubled again.

He lightly touched the branches with his toes, and like a nimble eagle, he glided a long distance through the air.

He gently landed on the branch again, determined his direction, and then flew up from the branch once more, as if gravity had lost its effect on him.

If someone saw it from a distance, they would probably think it was just a bird that was active at night.

At this speed, the two quickly tracked down the group that had left the camp.

Those were several tall, burly men. This was not surprising, as martial artists exist in this world. Unless the martial arts they practiced were special, most of them would grow tall and strong, and their descendants would rarely be thin and small.

Over time, even ordinary people who don't practice martial arts can easily reach a height of 1.8 meters or more. It's rare to see an adult in this world who is shorter than 1.8 meters, regardless of gender.

The burly men were quite fast, showing that they had some martial arts background. In this world, basic body-refining methods were not difficult to obtain; the difficulty lay in successfully condensing qi and blood to become a true martial artist.

The imperial court will not restrict the spread of basic body-refining methods; ordinary martial artists are no different from children when facing martial artists.

Those who can use basic body-refining methods to condense their qi and blood and become martial artists are mostly quite talented, and the imperial court can also recruit talents from them. Therefore, the imperial court is happy to see the common people practice basic body-refining methods.

Su Xingze and his companion did not show themselves, but silently followed the burly men who were clearly up to no good.

After a while, Su Xingze found that the surrounding scenery looked somewhat familiar. Upon closer inspection, he realized that this was the place where they had rested during the hottest part of the day.

He remembered that at noon, Dong Zhile lamented that someone else had not made it through. Fortunately, he had eaten his fill before leaving, so he wouldn't starve to death.

Far from the camp, the burly men were no longer afraid of being discovered. They quickly lit their homemade torches, and the leader observed the forest, which was somewhat different from the daytime forest. After making a judgment, they continued to move forward.

They walked to the base of a large tree and parted the thick layer of leaves beneath. The leaves were so dry that they cracked and snapped when touched.

The leaves were roughly swept away, quickly revealing a corpse hidden beneath them.

The people in this world are not thin. This corpse is about 1.8 meters tall, and judging from his clothes, he should be a scholar.

The burly man at the head of the group dragged the body out, while his companions had already set up a campfire nearby.

Someone took out a gleaming machete from their bag and, without batting an eye, chopped off the scholar's entire thigh.

Someone took out a water bottle, wet a cloth, and wiped the leg clean. Several people then got to work, each with their own tasks.

Su Xingze and his companion were hiding in the shadows when they saw this scene. He couldn't help but look at the little Qilin beside him.

Zhang Shenglin's face was pale, and a look of disgust flashed in his dark eyes.

"Should we stop them?" Su Xingze asked.

Zhang Shenglin did not give an answer, but his actions spoke volumes.

He leaped out of the darkness like a cheetah, and several men more than twice his size couldn't last more than two rounds against him.

Soon, the three burly men had their jaws and limbs dislocated, and they were limp and piled up together. Because their jaws had been removed, the men opened their mouths wide like idiots, drooling uncontrollably.

Su Xingze glanced at the burly men who were looking at them with fear, not wanting to look at this group of eyesores any longer, and went to the little Qilin's side.

Zhang Shenglin took the human leg off the makeshift grill and picked up another leg wrapped in a strip of cloth, which was clearly meant to be taken away.

He neatly placed the two legs back under the deceased, stood beside the body, and quietly looked at the corpse on the ground with his head down.

A campfire burned nearby, making a soft crackling sound, and its red light shone on half of Zhang Shenglin's face.

The boy's eyes were lowered, and although his face was expressionless, Su Xingze seemed to see a hint of pity on it.