Chapter 102: The Dense Forest South of the City

After setting the table with food and utensils, Liu Yunan and Jiang Youfu called Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao to join them for the meal.

Under the peaceful night sky, the four young men gathered around the table, devouring the food with great gusto. Sun Yigao was more composed, but for the other three, this hearty meal, rich in oil and flavor, along with the large pot of white rice, was simply a feast.

After all, such a meal was something they could only enjoy during festivals in the past ten years.

However, thinking of the spiritual rice they had planted in the sect's spiritual fields, they were full of anticipation.

The taste of that spiritual rice was truly fragrant! They could easily eat several bowls of it without needing any other dishes.

After dinner, everyone washed up and then took out their Peach Blossom Gathering Spirit Formation to start cultivating.

Sun Yigao continued to study his books.

By the time the moon reached its peak, Sun Yigao habitually rubbed his neck, carefully put away his books, and prepared to go to bed.

When he entered the room, he saw that Lin Xiao and the others were still meditating and cultivating earnestly. Not wanting to disturb them, he quietly lifted the quilt and lay down, soon meeting with the god of dreams.

After sleeping for two hours, he got up, and Lin Xiao and the other two also stopped cultivating as if they had made a pact.

Seeing Sun Yigao awake, they heated up their dry rations and ate them.

It was still too early, and even the chickens and dogs were not awake yet. They decided to handle breakfast themselves instead of disturbing the Fang family.

However, just then, there was a sudden knock on the door.

It turned out to be Aunt Fang, who had brought them breakfast.

Aunt Fang didn't enter the house, only speaking from the doorway, "I know you have to get up early for the exam today and might not have time to come over for breakfast, so I brought it over."

The four of them gratefully accepted the food, thanked her, and after saying goodbye to Aunt Fang, they turned back into the house and packed one portion of the breakfast into Sun Yigao's exam basket.

Once he entered the examination hall, he wouldn't be able to leave until evening, so he would have to eat lunch inside.

With fresh food available, they replaced the dried rations that had been packed for two or three days.

Since Sun Yigao couldn't bring his storage pouch into the exam hall, he entrusted it to Lin Xiao for safekeeping.

After tidying up, the four of them set out under the cover of darkness.

The examination site wasn't close to where they were staying, but fortunately, they walked quickly, and by the time they arrived, the queue wasn't very long yet.

The scholar who was to vouch for Sun Yigao also arrived just in time. After exchanging greetings, Sun Yigao went to line up.

For the county and provincial exams, a scholar's endorsement was required, or five examinees had to vouch for each other to take the exam.

However, since the teacher who had taught Sun Yigao was elderly and couldn't handle much exertion, Landlord Sun had hired another scholar to vouch for him.

Since Sun Yigao was near the front of the line, after about half an hour, when the examination hall opened, he smoothly entered after verifying his identity and being searched.

After seeing him safely inside, Lin Xiao and the others bid farewell to the scholar and returned to the small courtyard.

As soon as they returned, they saw Tuan Tuan eating the food they had left by the side.

It was just some crumbled dry rations.

Seeing them return, Tuan Tuan drank some water, licked its paws, and stopped eating. Its golden eyes fixed on the three of them, especially Liu Yunan and Jiang Youfu.

The spiritual energy in their bodies had disappeared!

Although Tuan Tuan had reached the seventh level of spiritual enlightenment, it had lived in the mortal world for so long that it had rarely encountered cultivators. So, it didn't know that cultivators had items that could conceal their cultivation.

Seeing it awake, Lin Xiao smiled and asked, "How did you end up in this state?"

Tuan Tuan glanced at him, remembering how it had been no match for this person before. Thinking of this, a glint of light flashed in its eyes.

"I'll tell you, but you have to help me get revenge. In return, I'll give you a gift."

Lin Xiao was a bit surprised that it still wanted revenge, but he quickly understood. After all, cats are known to hold grudges, and considering how badly it had been beaten, it made sense it would want payback.

"Tell me what happened first," he replied, neither agreeing nor refusing outright.

Tuan Tuan anxiously scratched its forehead with its front paw, "Three hundred miles west of this county is Liaoju Prefecture. To the south of the city in Liaoju Prefecture, there's a dense forest. In that forest is a cultivator equivalent to a late-stage Yuan Accumulation Beast like us demon beasts. He kidnapped many human children around your age. When I discovered it, he tried to silence me to prevent me from leaking the information. Fortunately, he didn't expect us cats to have an escape technique, so he couldn't deliver the final blow."

A demon beast in the Yuan Accumulation stage was equivalent to a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, something Lin Xiao had heard Senior Liao mention before.

Upon hearing this, his expression turned serious as he asked, "You said that person kidnapped many children. Is that true?"

Tuan Tuan frowned in displeasure, its long whiskers twitching twice as it replied, "Why would I lie to you? He did indeed kidnap many children. Those children are still alive, but if more time passes, that might not be the case. I saw that he wasn't feeding them anything. Those kids were so hungry they were eating tree leaves."

Hearing this, Lin Xiao felt that the situation was urgent. He immediately said to Liu Yunan and Jiang Youfu, "You two stay here and take care of this little cat. Later, make sure to pick up Yigao. I'll go to the prefecture city to check it out."

He wasn't going just to help the little cat demon get revenge; he was going for the kidnapped children. He planned to assess the situation first and, if possible, save them.

The two of them knew they wouldn't be much help if they followed him, so they could only nod and remind him, "Xiao Ge, be careful!"

"Xiao Ge, don't forget to use the teleportation talisman!" Jiang Youfu added anxiously.

Reminded by this, Lin Xiao recalled that he had bought a set of mother-daughter positioning talismans when he went to seal the Silver Frost Python Demon earlier. He took out the mother talisman and placed it in the small courtyard.

"I'm leaving. If I haven't returned by the time Yigao finishes his exam, don't worry about looking for me. I will return within three days."

With that, Lin Xiao turned and left.

After exiting the city, Lin Xiao swiftly headed west toward the prefecture city.

He had left early in the morning, and by the time he arrived, the sun was high in the sky—it was noon.

Once inside the city, Lin Xiao slowed down. There were just too many people.

He tried to avoid the crowds as much as possible, moving quickly as he made his way south.

After weaving through numerous alleys and streets, he finally saw the dense forest Tuan Tuan had mentioned after about half an hour.

The forest was vast, and behind it loomed a large, sprawling mountain range.

The southern part of Liaoju Prefecture had no city walls, relying on this mountain as a natural barrier.

Lin Xiao used a concealment technique and quietly entered the vast forest.

He hadn't forgotten that Tuan Tuan mentioned the person had kidnapped many children around his age. What if that person also took an interest in him?

After all, other cultivators couldn't see his cultivation level, so they would naturally assume he was just an ordinary child.

And since that cultivator was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, Lin Xiao needed to be cautious.

Not long after entering the forest, Lin Xiao encountered someone.

However, that person did not notice him.

The man appeared to be around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, dressed in sturdy clothes, with an unremarkable appearance.