Return to Baiyun County

Chen Yi chuckled and brushed it off.

"It's not important, not important. You guys can't beat me, so you'd better make way."

Xu Linglong sneered.

"Our twenty brothers can't beat just you? Could it be that your carriage is holding two hundred people? Hahaha!"

Hearing this, Da Chun poked his head out of the carriage.

"What? Are there two hundred people in the carriage? Brother Yi! Where are they?! Why can't I see them!"

Seeing this, Xu Linglong laughed even louder.

"Hahaha! There's only an idiot in the carriage!"

A giant hand wreathed in roaring flames slapped down a row of old trees with a single strike.

Xu Linglong's laughter came to an abrupt halt.

She threw her two hammers onto the ground and fell to her knees before Chen Yi with a loud thud.

"Greetings, boss! This little sister has offended you! Just treat us like a passing fart and let us go!"

The bandit lackeys were also quick to assess the situation and dropped to their knees alongside Xu Linglong.

"Spare our lives, boss!!"

"I have an eighty-year-old mother above me and a flock of wives and concubines below me! I really couldn't feed my large family, so I had to come out and rob!"

"Boss, this is really my first time!"

These bandits were way too well-practiced.

Chen Yi had no intention of making things difficult for them anyway. The local authorities would be coming to wipe them out soon enough, so there was no need for him to do anything extra.

Suddenly, Chen Yi noticed that one of the bandits had a tuft of red hair right on his forehead!

"You! Come here!"

Chen Yi's expression instantly turned stern as he pointed at the lowly lackey and shouted harshly.

Seeing this, Xu Linglong's heart leaped into her throat.

Could it be that one of her brothers was an enemy of this big shot? And he had been recognized?

Xu Linglong made a prompt decision: sacrifice a pawn to save the king!

She was the first to dash over, grabbing the little red-haired man by the ear and dragging him before Chen Yi, loudly warning him.

"Get over here! Confess everything honestly! If you dare utter a single lie, I'll chop your head off!"

The lackey was terrified, trembling as he spoke.

"B-boss, y-you called me over, i-is it..."

"Why do you have red hair on your head?"

"H-hair?"

Xu Linglong was stunned. He put on such an imposing front just to ask about a hairstyle?

The lackey certainly didn't dare to lie and explained everything in detail.

"I-I used to be a disciple of the Crimson Heart Sect. The external martial art our sect cultivates is called the Heart Fire Technique. The deeper one's mastery of this technique, the more red hair grows on their head.

I heard that the sect elders have all cultivated it to perfection, and every one of them has a full head of flowing red hair!"

The realms of martial arts techniques, or rather, the levels of proficiency, were divided into six stages: Entry, Proficient, Mastered, Minor Completion, Major Completion, and Perfection.

This was information Chen Yi had learned during his simulations.

"If you're a disciple of the Crimson Heart Sect, why did you run off to become a bandit here?"

"When cultivating the Heart Fire Technique, one must pay attention to the intensity of the burning blood qi. I failed to control it properly once, causing the technique to go berserk. It burned out my dantian, making it impossible for me to ever cultivate martial arts again, so I was swept out the door.

Later, my hometown suffered a locust plague. The local officials embezzled the relief grain, and my parents starved to death. With nowhere else to go, I had no choice but to become a bandit."

Chen Yi gave a slight nod, signaling that he was dismissed.

The lackey felt as if he had been granted a general amnesty.

Having spent time in a martial arts sect, he was well aware of just how terrifyingly powerful martial arts masters could be.

"Crimson Heart Sect..."

He had managed to uncover another clue.

Later, he could go to the Crimson Heart Sect in the simulation and investigate properly.

By following the trail, he would sooner or later uncover the true culprits behind the village massacre.

Chen Yi wanted to investigate the village massacre not only to avenge his relatives but also for the sake of his own safety.

He didn't know who these people were, nor did he know their motive for slaughtering the village.

Thus, he had no idea if they would come looking for him again, or how he should guard against them.

Chen Yi disliked this situation where the enemy was hidden in the dark while he was out in the open.

Fortunately, he had the simulator, which gave him plenty of opportunities for trial and error and exploration.

Chen Yi spurred his horse and left.

Before leaving, for the sake of them providing a small clue regarding the village massacre, Chen Yi casually mentioned that the second-in-command of their mountain stronghold might be a traitor.

Watching the carriage gradually disappear from sight, Xu Linglong and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"What rotten luck. How did we run into a martial artist at the Spirit Gathering Realm or above? I know all the Spirit Gathering Realm martial artists in White Cloud County..."

A martial art like the Burning Cloud Hand couldn't be unleashed without spiritual energy.

Therefore, Xu Linglong deduced that Chen Yi's cultivation was at least at the Spirit Gathering Realm.

"Be careful of the second boss? What's wrong with the second boss?"

Xu Linglong couldn't figure it out.

However, she committed the matter to memory.

The slow-moving carriage bumped along as it entered White Cloud County City.

Since transmigrating to this world, Chen Yi had visited the county city quite a few times while growing up.

Setting foot in this familiar place once again, especially after experiencing three months of inhuman living conditions, filled Chen Yi's heart with endless emotions.

Only Da Chun remained completely carefree. Sitting on the carriage, he pointed at an old man selling candied haws on the roadside, drooling all over the place.

Chen Yi smiled and shook his head. He stopped the horse and bought all of the old man's candied haws.

"Keep the change."

Looking at the silver ingot in his hand, the old man was so excited that tears flowed down his aged face.

"I've met a living Bodhisattva today!"

Chen Yi brought Da Chun to the front of the Yuelai Inn.

"Da Chun, I need to go visit my third sister at her house first. You stay at this inn for now. Remember, you are a guest, not here to work. If someone tells you to do chores, don't just foolishly help them out."

Da Chun stuffed a mouthful of candied haws into his mouth, his face smeared with red sugar syrup.

"Mhm! I know!"

The situation now was different from the simulation.

In the simulation, Chen Yi had no money, so he could only have Da Chun work at the inn to earn a bite to eat.

But the current Chen Yi had looted a large chest of gold, silver, and treasures from the Black Stone Gang, transforming into a wealthy man.

Naturally, there was no need for Da Chun to work anymore.

Chen Yi could even easily buy any courtyard residence in the county city.

It was just that he didn't know whose courtyard was up for sale at the moment, so he let Da Chun stay at the inn first. In any case, he wasn't short on money.

Chen Yi led Da Chun into the Yuelai Inn.

"Please come in, guest! Are you grabbing a bite or staying the night?"

The person greeting them was still an old acquaintance, the enthusiastic proprietress.

"Staying the night. Three meals a day, four dishes and one soup, served on time."

"Alright! Please head upstairs! Hmm... little guest, why are you looking at Sanniang like that?"

Chen Yi asked tentatively.

"Proprietress, don't you think we've met somewhere before?"

The proprietress covered her mouth, laughing so hard she trembled like a flower branch in the wind.

"Guest, do you ask every woman you meet that question? I, Mei Sanniang, don't fancy men younger than me, you know."

Chen Yi chuckled and pretended nothing had happened.

Fortunately, a simulation was just a simulation, not some parallel timeline or anything like that.

If the simulation were considered a parallel timeline, counterparts in parallel universes would sometimes experience intersecting memories.

Chen Yi knew this because he had seen such concepts in sci-fi movies.

That was why he had wanted to test the waters just now.

His romance with the proprietress remained solely within the first simulation, and Chen Yi didn't want to get too involved with her in reality.

After settling Da Chun in, Chen Yi headed straight for his third sister's house.

Once he arrived at his third sister's house, the tutorial quest would be considered complete.

He wondered if this premium trait roll would yield anything useful.