"Looks like we have no choice but to go back and take the main road!" Ye Haochuan looked around and finally said helplessly. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Without a suspension bridge, it was simply impossible for them to cross such a swift river. What’s more, there were cliffs here that couldn’t be overcome.

His heart was filled with frustration.

From that fork to here, it took more than half a day. Going back and forth, they wasted more than a whole day. Initially, he wanted to reach Anxi County quickly to avoid missing Long Keyue. Unexpectedly, they fell even further behind.

Thinking about it, he was almost tempted to tear apart the map in his hand. It was this map that led him to make such a mistake.

This map was given to him by the old seniors of Mist Forest Village. At the time, he didn’t think much of it. Now that he thought about it, the map must have been drawn by the people of Mist Forest Village before they went into seclusion. It’s been so many years, and thus the suspension bridge turned into a broken bridge, and the map hadn’t been updated.

Just as he was feeling frustrated, a woodcutter suddenly walked over and said, "Are you trying to cross the river?"

Seeing the woodcutter, a glimmer of hope appeared in Ye Haochuan’s heart, and he asked, "Yes, do you know if there’s any place nearby where we can cross the river?"

The woodcutter shook his head and said, "Within a range of 500 miles up and down here, there’s no bridge or ferry crossing!"

Ye Haochuan despaired after hearing this. It seemed like he had no choice but to go back to the fork and take another route around.

However, at this moment, the woodcutter suddenly said, "But it’s not completely impossible to cross the river."

Jeez, can’t this guy say everything all at once? Why the suspense?

Ye Haochuan couldn’t help but curse to himself.

Despite being annoyed inwardly, he still put on a sincere face and asked, "How can we cross the river then?"

"Well..." the woodcutter hesitated.

Damn it, it all comes down to money.

Ye Haochuan instantly understood, took out twenty red crystals from his ring, and handed them to the woodcutter.

The woodcutter looked at the red crystals in his hand, and his hesitation dissipated immediately. Accompanied by a smile, he said, "Actually, crossing the river is quite simple. Our village chief has a Purple Crested Crane that can carry people across. It’s just that the price is a bit steep..."

"How much will it cost?" Ye Haochuan asked warily.

"At least five thousand red crystals per person!" The woodcutter held up two fingers, grinning.

What the hell, is this a robbery?

Ye Haochuan cursed to himself.

Five thousand red crystals is a considerable expense even for a cultivator at the Immortal Transformation Stage, enough to buy food for several months. And all of this was just to cross a river.

Moreover, five thousand red crystals was the price for one person; for two people, it would be at least ten thousand.

The money Ye Haochuan made from selling pills was now down to seventeen or eighteen thousand, and losing ten thousand crystals felt like bleeding out.

He even suspected that the broken bridge was deliberately cut by this damn village chief to extort people who needed to cross.

But the situation was such that he couldn’t afford not to bow his head. He urgently needed to cross the river, and avoiding being a victim of extortion was impossible.

"Alright, as long as I can find Keyue sooner, ten thousand red crystals it is!"

With this thought, Ye Haochuan didn’t hesitate any longer and asked the woodcutter to lead him to find the so-called village chief.

The village chief mentioned by the woodcutter was a young cultivator in his thirties, at the Immortal Transformation Early Stage. Having such a powerful cultivator in a village was quite extraordinary.

When the village chief saw Ye Haochuan and his companion, his eyes lit up, as if he was seeing piles of red crystals.

Ye Haochuan didn’t want to waste words, so he got straight to negotiating.

The village chief insisted that Niu Kui was too large and had to charge for two people’s worth of red crystals. No matter what Ye Haochuan said, he refused to budge.

Ultimately, Ye Haochuan had no choice but to agree.

It’s not that he was a big spender, but this village chief was truly unmoved by persuasion and held onto Ye Haochuan’s eagerness to cross the river, refusing to step back. Instead of haggling over five thousand red crystals, it was better to reach Anxi County sooner to avoid missing Long Keyue.

Just when things seemed settled and Ye Haochuan was about to pay, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

"Brother, making a deal?" Suddenly, a woman’s voice came from not far away.

What the...?

Ye Haochuan shivered upon hearing this address.

Hearing this, the village chief turned back with a smile and said, "Yingzi, you’re just in time. They’re about to pay, so give it directly to you. This way, you won’t accuse me of hiding anything!"

This village chief was clearly henpecked, and he showed no embarrassment in saying such soft words.

"Good that you understand!" The woman chuckled, then saw Ye Haochuan and his companion, frowned, and her face darkened as she snorted, "It’s you two?"

When Ye Haochuan heard the term "brother," he had a bad feeling. Clearly, this premonition came true now.

This so-called Yingzi was indeed the woman they encountered on the road, the one who had been having an affair.

"What, you know each other?" The village chief asked curiously.

"Uh~" Ye Haochuan didn’t quite know what to say.

He couldn’t very well say, "We happened to see your wife putting a green hat on you, right?"

If the village chief couldn’t take it and crashed into a wall and died, wouldn’t that be a crime?

Ye Haochuan didn’t know what to say, but unexpectedly Yingzi seemed to have no reservations as she huffed, "Know each other? We almost went deeper together..."

Damn, is this woman out of her mind? Daring to talk about her affair so openly?

Ye Haochuan was utterly amazed.

This woman committed such acts and yet dared to speak so self-righteously. Did the village chief already know about her affair and simply didn’t dare to fight back?

With this thought, Ye Haochuan looked at the village chief with a meaningful gaze.

The village chief glared at Ye Haochuan, demanding, "What exactly is going on?"

"What could it be? These two guys saw me and started having lustful thoughts. If I hadn’t run fast, you’d have been wearing a green hat!" Yingzi looked at Ye Haochuan with a venomous gaze and snorted coldly.

At this time, Yingzi felt so pleased.

She thought those two guys had run away and she couldn’t get back at them for that "neglect." But unexpectedly, they showed up here, giving her the perfect opportunity to settle scores and vent her hatred.

Niu Kui heard Yingzi’s words and anxiously said, "You’re lying! You were the one having an affair with another man. We caught you, and you didn’t feel ashamed at all and even wanted to have a child with me..."

Niu Kui, while a bit slow, wasn’t a fool. The moment these words were spoken, the atmosphere suddenly tensed.

The village chief’s face turned as cold as ice upon hearing this, and he regarded Yingzi with a scrutinizing expression.

However, Ye Haochuan noticed that there seemed to be a trace of joy hidden in his eyes.

Could it be that I was mistaken? Being happy knowing your wife cheated on you, that’s just perverse, right?

Ye Haochuan couldn’t help but grumble in his mind.