"It's a small matter," Lou Yi said, "how did you get so deep into the forest without bringing any weapons?"

The old man sighed, "Isn't it because we came to harvest the Sangrong Grass.

If we don't harvest now and it rains later, we'll have to wait until next year.

As for weapons, the two of us don't have much strength, so even if we brought them, we couldn't handle them easily..."

Soon, Lou Yi began conversing with the old man.

The old man's surname was Shen, a local with a simple and honest character, quite talkative.

From his words, Lou Yi gained some understanding of their location.

This forest is called Sangrong Forest, as the name suggests, it's a forest that produces a precious plant called 'Sangrong Grass'.

The juice of the Sangrong Grass, after special processing, has magical effects of promoting blood circulation, removing stasis, and healing injuries.

And the old man came from the village closest to Sangrong Forest.

The village has about five to six hundred people, with main livelihoods in farming, hunting, gathering, and fishing.

Surrounding Sangrong Forest, there are more than ten such villages.

And outside the village, large gathering towns are at least forty to fifty miles away.

The old man thanked Lou Yi for saving them and warmly invited him to the village to rest.

Lou Yi pondered slightly and said, "Uncle Shen, to be honest, I have many companions, I need to discuss it with them."

Uncle Shen laughed, "I have a bit of influence in the village.

I can't promise much, but providing you with a night's stay and some hot water shouldn't be a problem."

The girl in the leather skirt also said generously, "Please, benefactor, stay at my home, take a bath, have some porridge so you have the strength to travel the next day."

As she spoke, she looked boldly at Lou Yi, her bright black eyes held curiosity and a hint of admiration for the strong.

Lou Yi clasped his hands in gratitude, returned to the group, and told them about the situation he encountered.

They finally decided to rest in the village for one night before heading to the nearest town the next day.

As for the Black Bear Spirit, to avoid scaring others, they had to let it stay in the dense forest and call it when they leave.

However, the Black Bear Spirit didn't mind.

Having lived in the wild from a young age, whether or not to go to a human village was another matter.

So, everyone followed the old man with the Shen surname to the village.

Called 'Uncle Shen', the old man was initially startled to see so many people and frowned as he counted on his fingers for a long time: "The Liu family has an empty house, can fit two people... the Wang family's hall is large, laying mats can fit three... the village shrine can accommodate about ten..."

Finally, his frown eased.

Clearly, he had calculated the numbers and arranged everything properly.

Lou Yi couldn't help but laugh, "Just arrange places for the women, the others aren't that fussy, a yard to lay out mats is fine."

Uncle Shen shook his head repeatedly, "If people from other villages heard that I treated benefactors like this, it'd be disgraceful, I wouldn't be able to hold my head high."

Everyone laughed, moved by Uncle Shen's warm and honest nature.

"Benefactor, I wonder where you are from?" the girl in the leather skirt leaned over to Lou Yi curiously and asked.

Though her skin was dark, her figure was slender and her features distinctive, giving her a unique charm.

Along the way, Lou Yi had learned her nickname, which was Nini.

"We came here to do business, but unfortunately, we lost our goods on the road," Lou Yi laughed it off without directly answering the question.

Coming from across the Longjiang River was too shocking to tell them, to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.

The girl in the leather skirt, Nini, didn't mind.

She eagerly stayed around Lou Yi, chattering with him, sometimes even actively offering to massage his back and shoulders, quite bold.

"Little vixen!" Not far away, Shi Caifeng saw all this, anger rising in her heroic yet delicate brows, "So young and already learning to lure people."

"Sister, aren't you jealous?" Beside her, Shi Qingde winked and teased, "You never used to like men, did you?"

'Boom!'

The next moment, Shi Qingde was knocked down by a punch from Shi Caifeng, clearly venting her anger on her younger brother.

Before long, everyone arrived at a village.

The houses in the village were all built of stone bricks, almost all two stories high.

With walls and courtyards, the roads were wide, flat, and paved with pebbles, evidently much wealthier than Erhe Village in Xinxiang.

Seeing so many people arriving, a group of young and strong men quickly emerged from the village, holding spears and bows, all with wary eyes.

Uncle Shen immediately went to explain, making the villagers relax.

He evidently had considerable influence in the village, quickly arranging everything.

He arranged Jia Hong, Shi Caifeng, Elder Aunt Zhan, Old Respected Uncle Liu's wife, and other women together in the village chief's empty house.

For the rest, a few were placed in each house, ensuring everyone had a place to stay overnight.

"Hey, finally a hot shower!" Shi Qingde shouted.

"Is there any food? I can pay with silver coins," the ship captain was very considerate, not wanting to take advantage of anyone.

Lou Yi stayed at Uncle Shen's house.

The Shen family was extremely hospitable, preparing hot dishes, tea, and a large wooden tub filled with hot water for him.

Nini even boldly wanted to come in and help bathe him, which he hastily refused.

Time flew by, and it became midnight, the bright moon hung high, and all was silent.

Those who had trudged here from the Hopeful River, due to the exhaustion, all fell into a deep sleep.

Lou Yi was sleeping on the second floor of the Shen house, lying on a wooden bed covered with soft quilts, feeling a long-awaited sense of relaxation.

On the Longjiang River, life was uncertain, even if he could sleep, it was mostly light sleep, today he could finally relax a little.

Suddenly, his nose slightly twitched, catching a faint fishy smell.

This smell was familiar to him, closely resembling the scent from some mythical creatures he used to hunt.

Lou Yi became alert.

He got out of bed, quietly opened the door, and leapt down from the second floor without a sound.

Then, he moved nimbly and silently towards the direction of the scent.

His five senses were far superior to ordinary people, which enabled him to detect this smell, something even regular Martial Artists might not notice.

Leaving the Shen house, Lou Yi turned into a shadow, invisible to the naked eye.

At this moment, in a courtyard over a hundred meters away from the Shen house.

With high walls surrounding it, a crowd was kneeling densely in the courtyard.

In front of them stood a yellow figure.

Its body was covered with tawny fur, with black shiny eyes emitting a cold gleam, and deep brown mask-like markings around its eye sockets.

Short limbs, with long claws, a fluffy large tail behind larger than a person, resembling a giant weasel enlarged several times.

The giant Weasel, taller than a grown man, stood like a human, opened its mouth, revealing densely packed sharp teeth gleaming coldly.

"Are you sure, they're foreigners from across the Holy River?"

It actually spoke!

A weasel taller than a human uttering a human-like voice was truly shocking and terrifying.

...

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