Episode 27

  "Insufficient elder brother, also don't know how that old man is not afraid of being bullied?"

  "Heh heh, Chen Er, what else does that old man have that those strong men would come to take? That dying old ox or that broken cart? Moreover, this old man is a local, he must know those strong men!"

  "Insufficient elder brother, you're really clever, and you've guessed it right away that this place is the Southern Wilderness!"

  "If you think carefully, you should be able to guess!"

  "I won't go!"

  Then she stopped for a moment, Chang'er said anxiously:

  "But then what should I do? Will I become a burden to my older brother?"

  "Chang Er, don't worry about it! My family will take care of everything! Right now, you go change out of those clothes and dirty up your face!"

  "Insufficient brother, don't get your face dirty! How ugly!"

  "Nothing can be done about it, Qiangwei is always the most beautiful!"

  It's really hard to deceive a girl and get her face dirty.

  "Hehe, sister, this is quite a sight! I've never seen you with a dirty face before!"

  She smiled and transmitted her voice.

  "You little girl, you're going to laugh at me!"

  As they talked and walked, they saw that the sky was getting dark, which made them anxious.

  "Chang'er, it's getting dark soon. It's not safe to travel in this wilderness at night. Why don't we find a quiet place to rest for the night and continue on our journey early tomorrow morning?"

  "It's just as Brother Insufficient said."

  Chang'er was feeling down because she missed her teacher, and although she said it was due to the sudden accident that made her feel scared, she tried to comfort herself in many ways.

  "Chang Er, don't be afraid. On the other side of the hill there is a forest, let's two of us find some dry firewood and look for a place to rest in the lee of the wind, how about that?"

  "But rest assured, brother!"

  Jin Chan'er replied while thinking at the same time

  "It's better to stay outside for a few more days! If you rush back now, some of the Fang family's cultivators will definitely be left behind. At that time, they'll be waiting in ambush, and it won't be easy for Brother to escape their poisonous hands. And I've already reached the 81st level of my cultivation, if I use a powerful attack, I'll suffer heavenly tribulation, at that time I'll be busy saving myself, how can I rescue Brother, and how can I keep my promise to Master?"

  Jin Chan'er and Bu Zu were on a slope facing south, where they found a huge stone. Underneath it was a spacious area about one zhang (a unit of length) in diameter. They gathered dry firewood from the forest and piled it up on the empty ground. As night fell, the darkness deepened. In the vast wilderness, the wind howled, blowing through the trees and making the dry wood creak. The surroundings were pitch black, as if the darkness had swallowed everything around them. The faint moonlight cast a pale glow, projecting the shadow of the mountain rocks onto the empty ground in front of the forest. The swaying branches and leaves also cast dappled shadows on the ground. The shadows seemed to move, like thousands of demons coming at once, making one's heart tremble with fear. Bu Zu, although tall and strong, was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and he couldn't help but feel afraid in his heart. But Jin Chan'er was by his side, so he couldn't show his fear. He quietly took out a fire starter and tried to light the firewood, but after several attempts, it still wouldn't ignite.

  "Brother is coming, listen quickly! The sound of horseshoes is approaching!"

  Jin Chan'er said in a low voice.

  "Hmm, as expected. That old man said during the day that this place is plagued by bandits, could it be true? Let's hide for now, the two of us."

  The two of them didn't dare to speak, and Jing Er quietly hid under a huge rock on the slope. Not enough, she crawled behind another rock and stealthily looked out. Seeing a group of people and horses with torches pointing the way, they all flew away like birds, and only when there was no unusual sound did she dare to get up.

  The night wind grew cooler, and Jin Chan'er leaned tightly against Bu Zu's side. Bu Zu said:

  "Is it cold?"

  "Isn't it cold? Not even enough for brother to feel cold?"

  "Hehe, Chang'er, nothing else, just tired of you!"

  Chang'e was also tired.

  "Chang'er, you go to sleep first."

  "But you're also tired, brother. You should sleep first."

  "Nonsense! You're just a young girl, yet you're telling me to go to bed first? Don't argue anymore, even if it's Yinger who goes to sleep!"

  "Alas! Insufficient brother, whether horizontally or vertically, I also can't sleep, so I'll accompany insufficient brother!"

  "No! We still have a long way to go tomorrow, and you're sleeping now!"

  "Oh! Chang'er has fallen asleep!"

  Two people rushed along the road during the day, Jin Chan'er was naturally unimpeded, but that insufficient sleep had really made her extremely tired and unbearable. As night fell, she gradually became drowsy and fell asleep. At this time, it was already midnight, with the crescent moon sinking in the west, and the world was in great darkness. Even though the stars filled the sky, they couldn't illuminate the darkness of the world. Chan'er sighed:

  "This pattern of dense stars is like the ordinary crowd in the mortal world. Although it's crowded, it can't hide the brightness of a giant star! The heaven and earth, human world are actually one principle!"

  The person who should be sleeping is still awake, while the one who should be keeping watch has fallen asleep!

  Just before dawn, at the time when the light and darkness of heaven are divided. Suddenly, a few loud roars of beasts came from afar to near.

  "What's howling?"

  Startled, he sat up and asked in a low voice:

  "It is the roar of beasts."

  Chang'e replied.

  "Oh no! Quick, set fire to the hay, most beasts are afraid of fire!"

  "Yes, not enough for big brother!"

  Insufficient to touch the ground, he picked up a wooden stick in his hand and jumped up, flashing his body in front of the fire. Relying on the firelight, Insufficient saw that the group of wild beasts were iron-backed black wolves from the southern wilderness, with at least twenty or more! He was so frightened that he almost died directly! The wolves all had green lights in their eyes, and their heads were as big as oxen. They surrounded him from far and near, responding to each other's calls, looking left and right, like they were deploying troops. At the front were two giant wolves, with bodies nearly half the size of an ox, seemingly the main attackers. On either side were several wolves supporting them, and on the outside were several lines of defense, preventing prey from escaping. The group of iron-backed black wolves saw that the fire was very fierce and paused for a moment, but they did not retreat. Instead, they seemed to be facing off against Insufficient and Chen'er. Chen'er thought to herself:

  "It is insufficient to think that one can achieve great things and attain the ultimate goal without cultivating a strong mind and willpower. One must first understand the profound principles and mysterious methods, but this is something that no one else can help with. Although there are countless techniques in the world, and these techniques have boundless power, they can only be used to cultivate the two aspects of spiritual energy and mystical abilities. However, what the ultimate goal seeks is not just the accomplishment of spiritual energy, but also requires the mind to reach its peak. The ancestors only knew how to use external forces and alchemy to help them achieve quick success, but they didn't know that alchemy can only build a strong physical body and enhance mystical abilities, while being far off from what is needed for the mind. Now, I am not even able to go through the many hardships of the mundane world, first my family was destroyed, then my parents died, and later my ancestors were killed, now I have lost everything. The reason why this method is so inferior! If one adds even a little bit of evil intention, they will definitely fall into the demonic path of killing and there will be no escape! It's truly dangerous! However, cultivating the mind is not something that can be achieved with external help. Alas! I can only drag out the days, letting him slowly awaken and understand the underlying principles."

  Thinking so, Chang'er gave up the idea of killing the fierce beast. Instead, she relied on her own inadequacy and quietly waited for herself to face this calamity, allowing herself to experience all the hardships in the world. She would not intervene until the line between life and death was reached!

  "Chang Er, increase the firepower."

  "Yes, younger brother."

  "Hey! Insufficient brother, what are you trying to do?"

  "Chang Er, the fire is raging fiercely here, those beasts won't dare to attack for a while! Let me lure them away. How about meeting here at dawn tomorrow?"

  "Insufficient brother, I won't! Even if I'm afraid of being alone and dying, I still want to be with you! But you can't abandon Chang'er and ignore her!"

  "If they don't lead it away, they will surround us and wait for our patience to run out before attacking. At that time, with just the two of us, how can we possibly escape?"

  "You're really something, brother! Do you think I don't know? You're putting yourself in harm's way to leave me a thread of life! But isn't it too early to be desperate?"

  "I've heard that wolves are good at hunting in packs. Now the two of us are surrounded on all sides, with no way to escape. Haven't we already reached a dangerous situation?"

  "Insufficient brother, I also heard that beasts are afraid of fierce fire. Why don't we make the fire bigger and hide in the trees? Can it be that they will fly up to the tree to eat us?"

  "Hmm! This method is indeed wonderful. But recently, the big tree is also dozens of feet away from here?"

  "As long as we set a big fire and use it to light the way, we can slowly make our way to the foot of the tree. Once we climb up the tree, what can they do to us?"

  "Ah, Chang'er, you go near that withered tree and break off some branches to prepare. Alright, you slowly lead the fire forward, don't rush! Wait until the fire is bigger before moving on. Alright, it's just like that..."

  She hugged the hay and lit it on fire, waving a large wooden stick with flames in her hand, staring tightly at those tall and big iron-backed black wolves. The wolf pack also stepped closer step by step. Just as they were about to reach the bottom of the big tree, the hay was gone!