Chapter 399: Mushrooms Must Be Eaten While Hot

Lu Zheng blinked, rubbing his chin, "Is it done just like that?"

Liu Qingyan sensed carefully, nodded, and said, "There are only these four; no other ghostly creatures are in the inn."

"Winning so easily feels a bit unreal," Lu Zheng joked.

Liu Qingyan couldn’t help but laugh softly, "Isn’t it good to win easily? Do you want to encounter a fierce ghost and fight three hundred rounds?"

"Haha, I’m just saying," Lu Zheng replied.

The inn was just by the roadside and wasn’t built in a place where Yin Qi gathered, so once the four ghost creatures died, the Yin Qi permeating the inn started to dissipate slowly.

After a few days under the sun, it might turn into an ordinary inn.

The only thing that surprised Lu Zheng was that this inn hadn’t used any Ghost Illusion Technique, and all the things in the rooms were real.

"Impressive! Professional!" Lu Zheng praised, "If encountered by Wandering Strange People, they might really be fooled."

Liu Qingyan’s eyes flashed, and she said softly, "I remember Shopkeeper Luo saying this inn was run by people from a nearby village. If that’s the case, could there be something wrong with that village too?"

"Hmm?"

Lu Zheng thought for a moment, then nodded, "We’ll ask about it tomorrow morning."

The four ghost creatures contributed some Light of Fortune after all, which made Lu Zheng crave more of it.

Judging by these four little ghosts’ strength, I guess that village shouldn’t have any powerful ghosts... right?

Liu Qingyan asked, "Should we tell them the truth?"

Lu Zheng shook his head, "Of course not. They’ve been taking this route for two years. If we tell them, they’ll think we’re robbers who kill and loot."

...

Early the next morning.

Luo Jin’s group got up, dressed, and went to the living room, where they saw Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan already there.

The shopkeeper was behind the counter doing accounts, the sound of a fire and cooking came from the kitchen, one of the waiters was sweeping at the door, and the other was serving breakfast to everyone.

The atmosphere was harmonious and cozy.

"Are you all awake, dear guests? Today’s breakfast includes buns, pickles, and millet porridge," said the waiter serving breakfast. "Please have a seat; there are also big meat buns coming."

"Great, great!"

"After a night’s sleep, I’m just hungry!"

...

After breakfast, they said goodbye and left.

The shopkeeper personally saw them to the door and waved for a long time before returning to the inn.

"Old Luo, I’ve been taking this route for two years, and it’s the first time I’ve met such an enthusiastic shopkeeper. It seems there really aren’t many guests, so he’s not very busy," Luo Jin lamented.

And when the group had walked some distance and turned a mountain corner, the inn they could no longer see behind them—those four people in the inn—vanished into thin air like an illusion.

...

"By the way, Shopkeeper Luo, you said that these people at the inn were from a nearby village?"

Lu Zheng, holding Liu Qingyan’s hand, walked up to Luo Jin and inquired.

"Yes!" Luo Jin nodded.

"How do you know that?"

"They told me!" Luo Jin replied as if it were obvious.

Lu Zheng: "..."

Liu Qingyan asked gently, "So, you haven’t been to that village either?"

"No." Luo Jin shook his head, "The women and children in the village mostly work at a nearby waystation along the official road. The shopkeeper said that they were strong, so they crossed a few mountain peaks and opened an inn here to make more money."

Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan exchanged a glance.

If most of the villagers find work on the official road, then it certainly can’t be a Ghost Village. In that case, the shopkeeper casually made up a background to dispel the suspicions of passing merchants.

Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan did not press on further.

Those accustomed to taking this mountain path naturally wouldn’t go through the process of verifying the veracity of the inn’s information again.

And, of course, the authorities could not manage the hundreds of small roads deep in Ling Mountain.

This Ghost Inn was careful and discreet, only targeting solitary merchant teams, and did so infrequently enough that even if someone heard about it, they would chalk it up to bad luck, being eaten by mountain beasts, or even spirits.

After all, most people were safe, right?

So, not knowing how long this Ghost Inn had been operating, nor how many lives it had claimed, it still remained undiscovered by people.

It was just bad luck that it ran into Lu Zheng.

...

The journey following this was uneventful, especially because, despite being lesser roads, they were traveled by merchants moving between north and south daily, so most roads had been widened quite a bit.

The truly difficult parts were the narrow paths by cliffs about one foot across, climbing uneven peaks, and several suspension bridges spanning between cliff sides.

As for mountain tigers, bears, and tree spirits and the like, none were encountered.

...

By noon on the fifth day, everyone had walked out of the mountains, arriving at a nearby village around mid-1 PM.

"See, this route is close, quick, and safe," Luo Jin laughed as he spoke to Lu Zheng, "I’ve been taking it for two years and nothing has ever happened."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes!" Lu Zheng nodded but still couldn’t help but advise, "But I’ve heard that many people go missing on these small paths annually, so unless absolutely necessary, it’s better not to take small paths. And if you do, it’s best to have more people."

Luo Jin nodded and smiled, "Thanks for the advice, sir. I understand."

Knowing that Luo Jin didn’t take it to heart, Lu Zheng didn’t continue to persuade him.

"Sir, where do you plan to go next? Can we accompany you on the rest of the journey?" Luo Jin asked.

"No need. We’ve crossed Ling Mountain, and we’ll just leisurely enjoy the scenery along the way, so we won’t hold you up on your journey," Lu Zheng declined.

"All right, all right." Luo Jin agreed with a smile. Then, along with his convoy, they resupplied with some dry rations in the village before leaving.

Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan, on the other hand, headed south along the forest by the official road.

...

Once out of Ling Mountain, they were on Lingnan Dao territory.

Other than not taking the official road, Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan did not intentionally avoid crowds. Whenever they arrived in a county or state capital, they would explore, try local specialties of Lingnan Dao, and stay in town inns at night.

In just a few days, they reached the state capital of Lingnan Dao near the Southern Border, Yongzhou.

...

Yongzhou, Wangshan County, Dinghai Tower.

Sitting in an elegant seat on the third floor, they watched the people of the Southern Border moving back and forth on the street, dressed in colorful clothes, wearing a variety of decorations, speaking Da Jing Official Language with an accent, experiencing life and trading with great familiarity.

Liu Qingyan looked curious, "I didn’t expect Yongzhou to have such a scene."

"After all, the Southern Border is chaotic, but the people still yearn for peaceful lives." Lu Zheng said, "I just wonder what the Northern Domain is like."

Just as they said a couple of sentences, the waiter brought in various mountain delicacies native to the Southern Border, with a good mix of meat and vegetables, and a pot of vividly colorful mushroom soup steaming hot.

"These mushrooms..." Lu Zheng looked at the red, yellow, blue, and green mushrooms in the pot, unable to help swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

"These mushrooms, eat while they’re hot!" The waiter called to them enthusiastically and even served each a bowl.

Lu Zheng: (´°Δ°`)

Liu Qingyan: (°ー°〃)