Li Banfeng led Xiao Yeci and the remaining twenty-six people south.

The mountain path grew narrower and rougher the farther they went. By two in the morning, most of them were at their limit. Even Xiao Yeci began to stumble.

Seeing this, Li Banfeng had Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying organize the group to set up camp on the spot. He used the excuse of scouting ahead to slip away from the campsite, but instead of continuing forward, he returned to his Pocket Dwelling.

The others were exhausted from the journey, yet this level of travel barely affected him. He felt no trace of sleepiness. With nothing pressing to do, he took out the history books the Sage had given him, intending to give them a good read.

However, the moment he opened it, drowsiness washed over him. It wasn't because he disliked studying. He could tolerate the vertically printed, right-opening format of ancient texts, and he could endure the dense, archaic grammar of classical prose. What he couldn't stand was reading an annalistic history book.

An annalistic history followed a strict timeline, recording events year by year. For historians, that made it ideal for tracing events and understanding the context of each era. To Li Banfeng, however, it was nothing more than a dry, monotonous record.

This book recorded the history of a dynasty called Great Huan, and the very first line was the date.

Third month, sixth year of Xiankang: a great drought struck Dongping; the emperor dispatched the Grand Preceptor to provide relief.

That was a famine relief record.

Fourth month, sixth year of Xiankang: A son was born to Emperor Xiankang.

Fifth month, sixth year of Xiankang: Emperor Xiankang departed the capital for a hunt.

***

Li Banfeng flipped through the records all the way to the end of the year, yet found nothing further about the disaster relief.

Annalistic histories were already tedious to read, and these records were incomplete. They did not begin with the founding emperor, but instead picked up midway through the dynasty.

There was no clear beginning or end, and the entries had little connection to one another. As Li Banfeng continued reading, his eyelids grew heavy, and before long, he fell asleep.

The next day, Li Banfeng woke up to the Dream Virtue announcing the time to him.

"Sir, on such a beautiful morning, please allow me to sing you a song, "I Want You."

「 I want you,

Stay here by my side,

Through the long and lonely night,

Until the break of light,

I want you... ♪」

Bam!

Li Banfeng flung the history book straight at Dream Virtue's face, got dressed, and stepped out of the Pocket Dwelling. No matter what form it took, an alarm clock was never something anyone liked.

Xiao Yeci and the others had passed the night without incident. They packed up and set out again, following Li Banfeng.

The mountain path grew harder and harder to traverse, until by noon, it disappeared entirely. That was a good sign. It meant they hadn't been walking in circles.

Thorns choked the path ahead, wild grass tangled around their legs, mosquitoes swarmed from every direction, and cobwebs clung to their faces. By dusk, everyone was on the verge of collapse.

Only two showed no signs of fatigue, Li Banfeng and Lu Chunying. If not for keeping pace with the group, Lu Chunying alone could have covered several times the distance.

As night fell, Xiao Yeci wanted to set up camp but did not dare to speak up. Fortunately, they found a water source, and Li Banfeng ordered everyone to fetch water and rest there for the night.

Since they camped early, Li Banfeng had more time to go through the history books.

He skimmed the parts he could understand and skipped those he could not. Forcing himself to stay focused, he worked through all five volumes the Sage had given him and finally found something useful near the end.

Sixth year of Yuanxi: the Blightlanders rose in rebellion; the emperor dispatched Cavalry General Zhao Xiaowan to suppress them. The Calvary General was arrogant and unruly, and was reprimanded by the emperor.

My wifey! That's my wifey!

Li Banfeng finally saw his wifey's name in the history book. It only recorded that she had been sent to fight the Blightlanders and had been reprimanded by the emperor for being unruly.

As for how she was reprimanded, how exactly she had been unruly, or whether the battle was won or lost, none of it was recorded. That was entirely in line with the style of this history book.

Across all five volumes, everything, absolutely everything, revolved around the emperor.

If the emperor so much as ate something wrong and ended up with a bout of diarrhea, the historians would leap into action like overexcited scribes with fresh ink. They would record every tiny detail with great seriousness: what His Majesty had eaten, how the unfortunate incident began, how he dealt with it, and even how much poop there was. Everything had to be written down.

As for everything else, it was brushed aside in a single line.

By the time Li Banfeng reached the end of the book, he did not see his wifey's name again. He did, however, spot another familiar name.

In the eighth year of Yuanxi, the Blightlanders rose in rebellion. The emperor dispatched the Elite Troop General Hongying and the Wave-Cleaving General Cong Shixiang to subdue them.

Who is Cong Shixiang?

Li Banfeng had no idea.

As for Hongying, she too had led a campaign against the Blightlanders as a commanding general. Just what is her relationship with my wifey?

Li Banfeng looked at the gramophone and the spear, as if he had begun to piece something together.

The next day, Li Banfeng led the group onward once more.

They trudged on for twelve long days. By then, they had finished all their food. What little they ate came from whatever creatures they managed to catch along the way.

Then, on the afternoon of the thirteenth day, the sky opened up and poured rain in great, thundering sheets. And yet, quite strangely, the entire group began to smile.

Because ahead of them, there were no mountains. Only a vast, open plain stretched out before them, wide and empty and wonderfully free.

Ever since they had entered Vilefolk Hillock, they had been trapped among endless mountains, one after another, as though the world had decided to fold itself into nothing but jagged ridges and narrow paths. None of them had seen anything like this before.

Finding a plain meant they had finally left Vilefolk Hillock, but if they were no longer there... then where exactly were they?

Li Banfeng had never been here before. He had not, but someone else had.

Xiao Yeci spoke up for the first time. "Benefactor, I know this place. When Nan'nan and I came through before, we passed this way."

Lu Chunying nodded. "We really did pass through here."

Quite a few people present said the same, that they had passed through this place before, but no one could say what it was called.

Now Li Banfeng had a rather important decision to make.

Where exactly are these people supposed to go?

Most of them wanted to go home. Quite a number of them even said, very confidently, that they knew the way back. But knowing the way and actually getting there were two entirely different matters.

"When you came here, you all had travel permits, right? Do you still have permits for the return trip?"

They looked at one another. Aside from Li Banfeng, none of them had travel permits.

His permit could only guarantee his own travel. His current plan was to have everyone settle here first. He would go back to Greenwater Bay on his own and ask Ma Wu to secure a batch of permits so he could send everyone home.

That seemed to be the only workable plan. However, Xiao Yeci told him something important.

"Benefactor, I don't know about other places, but a travel permit is not needed to go from Greenwater Bay to here."

Li Banfeng paused for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"I am sure. You really don't need one."

Lu Chunying could confirm it. Unlike the others, who had been abducted, she and Xiao Yeci had been tricked into coming here.

When they reached this stretch of wasteland, no one had restricted them, and the friend who brought them had not shown any permit either.

Now things are much easier, Li Banfeng thought.

Since no travel permit was needed to reach Greenwater Bay, Li Banfeng could bring everyone there first and figure out what to do next.

They had finally made it out of Vilefolk Hillock.

Since Xiao Yeci remembered the way they had come, and Lu Chunying was a Wanderlust Cultivator, Li Banfeng felt confident letting them lead the way.

They walked from morning until dusk, while the rain poured down without pause, as if the sky had simply forgotten how to stop.

Xiao Yeci kept encouraging everyone along the way. "Hang on a little longer. There's a village ahead. Once we get there, we can find a place to stay."

So they walked and walked until night swallowed the road whole. Still, Li Banfeng did not see any signs of a village. There wasn't a single roof or a flicker of light. Nothing.

Xiao Yeci began to panic. "We didn't go the wrong way. This is the right path. It has to be. So where did the village go?"

"There was a patch of woods earlier. We went around it to the east, right? I didn't remember it wrong... did I?

Lu Chunying shook her head. "No, Mom. You remembered it right. That's the way we came before."

Crack!

A bolt of lightning ripped across the sky and, for a brief instant, lit up a cluster of buildings ahead.

Li Banfeng asked, "Is that the village?"

"Yes, yes! There are houses. It has to be the village!"

Xiao Yeci was very sure. Lu Chunying said nothing, and the group moved toward the buildings.

As they approached, a cold, prickling numbness spread across Li Banfeng's scalp. Something was wrong. He could feel it even before his eyes made sense of it.

Then he saw it. The one sight he had been hoping not to see.

What they had taken for a cluster of buildings was not a village at all, but a single vast estate.

The courtyard walls were a dull, earthen red while the gate was painted a striking vermillion. Rusted nails studded its heavy panels, and two massive iron rings hung at the front.

This kind of building was typically seen on the Sage's Peak.

Li Banfeng stared at Xiao Yeci and asked, "Did we just...loop back to where we came from?"

Xiao Yeci shook her head again and again. "That's impossible. It can't be. This is the way I remember. I didn't get it wrong..."

Lu Chunying looked just as surprised. "This is the same route we took before, but I don't remember an estate like this."

Xiao Yeci and her daughter couldn't be blamed. All of them had been traveling for nearly half a month. If they still hadn't left Vilefolk Hillock, it could only mean the Sage had broken his promise.

Did that bird-dropping bastard trick me? If he really did, I won't back down again. He won't know a moment of peace, Li Banfeng muttered inwardly.

Li Banfeng stepped closer to the estate. A flash of lightning lit it up, and he studied it carefully.

The first thing he confirmed was that this was not the Sage's residence. The Sage lived on a mountain, while this place lay out on the plains.

Even setting aside its location, this estate was not the same as the Sage's.

The walls were mottled. The paint on the doors had peeled away. Cracks ran through the stone slabs, and weeds pushed up through the gaps.

The Sage's residence might have felt lifeless, but it had never looked this worn down.

Li Banfeng glanced back at the group. After a full day of travel in the heavy rain, most of them were barely holding on. If they kept going, several would likely fall ill.

Entering the estate could be dangerous, but staying outside might not be any safer.

In the end, he decided to see what kind of person lived here first. If the owner meant no harm, they could stay the night.

His wifey hadn't eaten in quite some time. If the person inside meant harm, that might work in their favor. Either way, he would deal with it depending on the situation.

Li Banfeng lifted the door ring and knocked a few times.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The heavy metal echoed against the gate, but even after waiting for a long while, no response came from inside.

He pushed the door. It wasn't locked. With a harsh creak, the rusted hinges groaned as the gate slowly swung open.

Through the entrance passage, he saw an overgrown courtyard ahead. Moss crept across the brick walls, spreading in thick patches.

Is this an abandoned estate? Li Banfeng thought.