Tedious journey

Well I'm here for another fanfic recommendation, this is one that I haven't read yet but it looks good : Reverend insanity Calamity Demon Venerable by Magnar

Also don't forget to check out the discord, we have good discussions about Reverend Insanity there, as well as almost all RI fanfic authors being there and talking routinely as for the code : https://discord.com/invite/MhYu8Ju6tg

And don't forget to check my patreon : CreedFollower

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"You weren't wrong when you said the bad smell would keep animals away..." Wang Mei says, cutely covering her nose with her delicate fingers, "...I don't even want to be near us now!"

"It will get worse the more time passes..." Chen Wei says seriously, continuing to lead the way.

"Well, at least it's working to keep the animals away, I think," Yu Lian says, covering her nose like Wang Mei, trying to ignore the horrible smell.

Chen Wei nods while keeping his eyes focused on the path. "That's one of the benefits of having this with us."

"So, what's the main reason, then?" Feng Hua, who has a calm expression unaffected by the smell, asks.

"It's an alibi for future plans, as I mentioned..." Chen Wei says without going into much detail.

"Alright..." Feng Hua feels helpless with Chen Wei's lack of willingness to talk more.

But with the little she knows, she can imagine that he either wants to leave a trail of their journey behind or is being quite reckless since he seems to deliberately making their path through the forest very clear and easy to track.

In fact, to her helplessness most of Chen Wei's plans have been like this; as even for Wang Mei, he only reveals what he will do right before doing it, and even then, he makes sure to reveal as little as possible, which is just a side effect of the constant paranoia he carries with him.

"How much longer until we reach Yu Village, do you think?" Wang Mei looks at the horizon, hoping this moment of walking next to smelly snake hides will end soon.

"Hard to say since we don't know the exact location of the village, but it shouldn't take more than two days," Chen Wei says, looking at the sunset, as after walking all afternoon following the river, his priority now is to reach one of the fishermen's camping spots before nightfall.

"Will you... continue with your current methods?" Yu Lian asks clearly avoiding to talk about the act of killing directly.

Chen Wei simply turns his head, taking his eyes off the sunset to look directly into her beautiful dark green eyes. She sighs helplessly because this look gave all the answers she needed.

"Honestly, you don't know anything other than killing..." Yu Lian murmurs, pouting but not trying to contradict Chen Wei.

And even if she tried, what could she do? So far, in all the situations they've encountered, his basic modus operandi has been killing, which has been working spectacularly, and she isn't confident in changing his perspective on this or suggesting a better strategy to ensure their survival.

In fact, both she and Feng Hua are wondering why they are still alive when he clearly no longer needs them for his safety. And unlike Wang Mei, who carries his child in her belly, they have no reason for him to keep them alive now that they are useless to him.

Of course, she has no intention of raising this doubt with Chen Wei because she definitely doesn't want to risk reminding him that their lives are now just a burden, especially for her now that he has obtained a healing Gu that is better than any herb she could find.

'Is he considering what the toad said about us being his future wives...?' Yu Lian thinks while blushing a little, looking at Chen Wei's face, which is quite handsome not only to her but to any young girl.

In fact, now that she thinks about it, it seems the most logical thought, since it would be natural for a young man to want to take two beautiful girls as his wives, right? In fact, only a man who feels nothing for women would not be moved, and the fact that he has a pregnant wife proves that he isn't the type who dislikes women.

"It looks like that's the place..." Wang Mei says happily when she sees a clearing ahead.

"A large clearing made by a tree with a brown trunk and silver-white leaves, with a small stream of crystal-clear water running through it, forming a small lake on the black sand..." Chen Wei slowly repeats the description given by the fishermen, which matches this location exactly.

"This means we should be a day and a half's walk from Yu Village," Chen Wei places his baggage on the ground and kneels down.

"We don't have much time before nightfall, so it's best if we start setting up camp now," Chen Wei says, grabbing the black sand in his hand.

Feng Hua puts her backpack on the ground and begins checking it before asking, "Do you still plan to make just one tent?"

"Yes, it will be safer for everyone..." Chen Wei removes a large part of the contents of his backpack after confirming the sand is not harmful in any way, "...and it simplifies the implementation of watch shifts."

Yu Lian and Wang Mei nod not very satisfied as they quickly start helping set up the camp, needing to finish as soon as possible since night is almost upon them.

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*A few hours later*

"So tell me, why haven't you killed me and Yu Lian now that we're no longer useful?" Feng Hua, looking at the starry night sky, asks what was on her mind, even though her rational side told her not to.

"You are either braver or more foolish than that Lian girl" Chen Wei's attention is still on the forest, shrouded in the darkness of night and illuminated only by the faint light of the campfire.

"I reasoned that it wouldn't make sense for you to forget something so obvious," Feng Hua frowns as she looks at Chen Wei, who doesn't seem to want to answer her. "...So, are you going to tell me why you're still keeping us alive?"

Chen Wei, hearing the question, turns to look at her and says with a serious face, "Because of the compassion of my good heart."

Feng Hua hears this and has to hold back from laughing out loud, wondering how he managed to say that with a straight face as if it were an obvious truth.

"...I imagine those four you killed would cough up blood hearing that," Feng Hua chuckles a little as she speaks.

Chen Wei, seeing her reaction, just looks at the campfire grilling some fish. "You're not making it much better, laughing at their misfortune..."

"So tell me, why should I kill you?" Chen Wei says as he stands up to take one of the fish from the campfire.

"..." Feng Hua, seeing this, remains silent, not taking any action to give him a reason to kill her.

"You don't pose any significant risk to me," he says while returning to the spot beside Feng Hua, "and under my watch, you will never be able to obtain a Gu to do so."

"You only gave me reasons why we can't do anything, not why you're doing what you're doing..." Feng Hua interrupts him because she realizes he isn't getting to the point of her question.

Of course, she has some guesses as to why he hasn't killed them, ranging from some agreement made by the toad preventing him, to him taking the toad's talk of them being his fated wives quite seriously, or him wanting to obtain their immortal inheritances before killing them.

But all these are just her guesses, which she can't be certain about, so she is risking asking him directly.

"Well... does a guy need more reasons than just wanting to sleep by the side of three beauties every night?" Chen Wei says while pointing to the only tent in the camp where Wang Mei and Yu Lian sleep soundly. "Honestly, this must be any guy's dream."

"When we were naked in the forest, you didn't even give me or Yu Lian a sideways glance..." Feng Hua says in a low voice, embarrassed to remember it. "...I don't think you're a guy driven by lust."

"You're right, I'm not driven by lust... but you also you just didn't notice my sideways glances," Chen Wei says ironically while approaching the tent.

He is, of course, not keeping them alive out of a good heart but for various reasons that he won't tell her, the two main ones being their immortal inheritances and their status as otherworldly demons.

The first is of greater real value because an inheritance from an ordinary Gu master is already a great find, let alone an immortal inheritance, which is something that not even all the wealth in the mortal world can buy.

So, only a fool would kill them for being minor burdens and give up such a great inheritance, which, according to Kuang Luo To, has the potential of Rank 8 and possibly includes various recipes for immortal Gu.

Of course, if he had a reliable method to extract this inheritance now, this wouldn't be a major reason, but he doesn't have that method, and it's not like torture or other mortal methods would work.

In fact, he believes he will only be able to obtain this kind of methods when he reaches the Three Kings' Inheritance, and even that isn't a certainty since, in this era, soul search hasn't been invented, according to Kuang Luo To.

The second reason is more a direct impediment than him wanting to gain benefits like those from the immortal inheritance.

As he understands the rarity and significance of an otherworldly demon, so four of them in the same mountain can only be a coincidence to a fool, and in this world, only a few existences could make this happen, and all of them are Venerables.

And if Venerables are involved, it doesn't matter which Venerable it is; he knows that as a mere mortal, he can't do anything to go against them.

In fact, this was shown to him firsthand because, even though Feng Hua doesn't know, he tried various times to activate his Gu to harm them just as a test to see if he could, only to find he couldn't.

It was indeed a strange experience knowing you want to do something and can do it, but every time he put his thoughts into it, he found himself unable to, as if his thoughts were being locked by some ethereal and invisible force.

"Hey... Mei'er, it's time for you and Yu Lian to take guard..." Chen Wei whispers in Wang Mei's ear, waking her up, still a bit groggy.

"Already...?" Wang Mei says, a bit sleepy, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hmm, wouldn't it be better if we both stayed on guard together?" Wang Mei refuses to let go of his neck, trying unsuccessfully to pull him to sleep with her. "...Don't you want to stay with your wife? You idiot!"

"...I've told you I don't trust Feng Hua to stay on guard with Yu Lian while I sleep," Chen Wei says, but seeing Wang Mei's pout and how she still acts spoiled, he just sighs.

"Hmph!" Wang Mei gets up with an indignant expression on her face as she goes to wake Yu Lian.

Of course, her indignation is more exaggerated because she's used to acting spoiled with Chen Wei, but she understands the logical reason he wants her awake to watch over him while he sleeps and vice versa.

The same goes for her staying on guard with Yu Lian, who doesn't seem capable of killing someone in their sleep, and even if she did, Wang Mei should be able to restrain her long enough until Chen Wei wakes up from the commotion, which might not be the case if she were on guard with Feng Hua.

"...Ah, complicated girl," Chen Wei doesn't bother contradicting Wang Mei's actions, knowing they're just an act, and he throws himself onto the bed.

It's an action he has become accustomed to in this life because of the countless hours spent cultivating or refining Gu, which are usually even more exhausting than going a day without sleep, even with him using Gu to aid him.

"Ahh, sleep is indeed an old friend..." Chen Wei murmurs as he feels his eyes grow heavy until he can't keep them open any longer, falling asleep on this bed that feels much softer and more comfortable than it should.