Chapter 49: Not Yet Completely Burned!

The leader crouched down once again in front of Pan Pingping, took the money pouch from his waist, opened it, and glanced inside, his eyes showing a trace of satisfaction.

“So young, yet carrying so many gold coins on you. Aren’t you afraid of being robbed? Truly the son of a wealthy family. Let’s consider this the remainder of your payment. We won’t be playing house with you any longer,” the leader patted his robe and laughed.

“You… you have to let me go…”

“Young master, you’d better pray for yourself. Don’t end up as food for the tiger eagle,” the cold, beautiful woman said indifferently. The five of them quickly disappeared from sight, but instead of heading toward Taixi County, they set off for another city.

Yet Pan Pingping could still hear the leader’s voice ringing in his ears: “If you survive, remember to leave us a good review. If you dare leave a bad one, you’d better keep your neck clean—even if you hide in the imperial palace at Taijing, it won’t help you!”

Pan Pingping was utterly distraught. He’d had a bad feeling about hiring these people today, but pressed for time, and with so few decent mercenaries in Taixi County, he’d had no choice. Now it seemed these five were anything but ordinary. Now that they’ve gone, what’s stopping me from leaving them a terrible review, the worst kind at that? Kidnapping their employer and threatening him for a good review—shameless!

How did people like this even get registered as mercenaries? They’re all scum—trash! Degenerates!

Pan Pingping, after all, was at the level of a sword apprentice. Though one hand was out of commission, he still had the other.

Freeing himself from these ropes was no great challenge. The mercenaries had probably never imagined that Pan Pingping had the skills of a sword apprentice—they’d taken him for an ordinary young master.

“Bunch of riffraff! I’ll leave you endless bad reviews! See if anyone ever hires you again! And I curse you all to lose your hair!” Pan Pingping untied the ropes, cursing under his breath.

But just as Pan Pingping was muttering his curses, his voice abruptly stopped. He froze, not daring to move, for he heard faint footsteps behind him.

Swallowing hard, sweat trickling down his chin, Pan Pingping thought, Could my luck get any worse? Just escaped the wolves, only to meet a tiger. What sort of fate is this? Why am I so unlucky?

Terrified, Pan Pingping slowly turned his head—and in the depths of the forest, a pair of eyes appeared.

They were the cold, ruthless eyes of a beast—one of the infamous creatures of the Sunset Mountains: a tiger eagle.

If his right hand were uninjured, Pan Pingping felt he could at least put up a fight. But now, he was as helpless as a fool. There was only one thing to do: run! Run like his life depended on it!

He held his breath and bolted, running with a speed that surpassed most men, pushing himself to the limit. In his desperate flight, the power within him surged, almost reaching the point of breakthrough.

After Pan Pingping fled, a Harrier hound leapt from the shadows in the woods, staring blankly after the fleeing human. Suddenly, it felt bored. All it had done was show its eyes, and the human had panicked and run off in terror. So much for humans.

With the stride of a king, the Harrier hound seemed to have reached the pinnacle of its existence.

Elsewhere, Ye Kun and the others had finally gathered enough dry wood and laid their teacher atop the pile.

At that moment, the five children stood around with heavy hearts. No matter what, their teacher had died so suddenly and so utterly—it was a tragedy…

“Let’s begin. Night is falling,” Feng Dian said gravely. Though he’d had little interaction with Teacher Wu Chi, he couldn’t help feeling a touch of sorrow.

Ba Wanqing’s eyes were rimmed with red. After all, she was a girl, and more easily moved.

Ye Kun let out a long sigh. “Teacher, rest in peace. In your next life, remember to drink less, especially not under the blazing sun…”

“Brother, let’s do it,” someone said.

“All right, brother…” Ye Qin took out a fire starter and lit it. It was his first time doing something like this, and his heart felt heavy.

Crackle, crackle—the dry wood caught fire at once, and in the blink of an eye, fierce flames consumed Wu Chi’s body.

But just then, torrential rain suddenly poured down, leaving the five children dumbfounded. What could this mean…?

Did their teacher not want to be burned?

But at that moment, a mist began to drift in, slowly enveloping the entire forest. Within ten feet, nothing could be seen.

“Brother! Wanqing!” Ye Qin panicked and called out.

Yuan Zhen and Feng Dian clung to each other, convinced it was the teacher’s spirit causing trouble.

“Ye Qin, brother!” Ba Wanqing was terrified—she was, after all, just a ten-year-old girl.

Ye Kun remained much calmer, quickly following the voices to pull his brother and Ba Wanqing close.

“Yuan Zhen! Feng Dian! Speak up! Let me know where you are!” Ye Kun shouted, sensing something was wrong.

“Kun! Kun! We’re here!” In desperation, all they could do was call out for him.

Guided by their voices, Ye Kun quickly found them, and the five stood together, just able to make out one another in the mist.

“Brother, what’s going on?” Ye Qin clung tightly to Ba Wanqing’s hand, giving her a sense of security she’d never known before.

Ye Kun frowned deeply and said in a low voice, “Do you remember what Teacher said about the Misty Forest?”

“What! That Misty Forest you can enter, but never leave?” Feng Dian blurted out, and promptly fainted.

Yuan Zhen stood dumbly at the side, unable to think straight.

There were two major dangers near Taixi County, places ordinary people wouldn’t dare approach.

The Sunset Mountains were somewhat manageable—if you were careful, you might make it out alive. But the Misty Forest was another matter entirely.

Ye Kun had only ever heard Old Wei describe its features. Now, seeing their situation, he remembered…

“Brother, does this mean we’re not in the Sunset Mountains after all, but in the Misty Forest?” Ye Qin exclaimed. How could they have ended up here? Could it be the teacher’s doing…?

“Sigh… The teacher was drunk all day today. Maybe he led us out the wrong gate…” Ye Kun covered his forehead. Their teacher was gone, but not before dragging his students into this mess. What now—were they doomed to die here?

“Yuan Zhen, what are you doing?” Ba Wanqing asked, seeing Yuan Zhen take out a fire starter.

Yuan Zhen replied coldly, “The body wasn’t burned properly. I have to finish the job!”

“That’s enough! With this rain, the wood’s soaked. We should find shelter and think of a way out. We can make it!” someone said.

“This drunken teacher! He’s gotten us into real trouble!” Yuan Zhen was beside himself, and the thought of dying young made his legs go weak.