Chapter 259: Chapter 261: The Monster in the Mountains

The next day early in the morning, Feng Bailing and Ouyang Chenchen arrived at an inn, where they met Zhang Erfa.

Accompanying Zhang Erfa was another man, probably in his early thirties, who looked strikingly similar to Zhang Erfa.

“This is my brother, Zhang Dafa. He’s an old mercenary, no one is more familiar with Ka City’s situation than him. He’ll guide us, and we will definitely find the recipe quickly.”

Zhang Erfa said, smiling broadly.

Zhang Dafa was a no-nonsense type; after sizing up Feng Bailing and Ouyang Chenchen and confirming they were easy targets, he then took them out of the city.

Upon leaving the city gate, they saw quite a few men dressed as mercenaries, all heading out early.

Seeing the Zhang Brothers, all these mercenaries showed a look of disdain.

“Are all these mercenaries? They are in such a hurry; what are they up to?”

Ouyang Chenchen asked curiously.

Ka City is just a medium-sized frontier city, but the mercenaries here are diverse and hail from various countries. The number seems a bit excessive.

“Young Master Ou, you might not be aware, but this only started recently. Ten days ago, a big client came to Ka City and posted a significant mission—delivering a shipment that would earn them one hundred thousand taels of silver. That’s no small amount. Many A-class Corps have been attracted here. If our corps wasn’t short on people, we would have taken it too.”

Zhang Erfa explained.

Zhang Erfa liked to chat; his broad conversations let Feng Bailing and Ouyang Chenchen learn quite a bit about common knowledge regarding mercenaries.

For instance, mercenaries are classified into five grades: A, B, C, D, and E, each split again into two sub-levels.

Mercenary missions are also categorized by the reward amount and difficulty into six levels: Jade, Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Stone.

Missions with a hundred thousand taels are rare, typically seen only a few times a year. And regarding Jade Level missions, only A-class Corps or even Upper Armor Corps are eligible to accept them.

Generally, Jade Level involves national scale missions.

After leaving the city, they bypassed a barren Gobi.

Half an hour later, the Gobi disappeared, and surprisingly, a mountain appeared.

The mountain was also strange—its peak covered in snow, the middle lush and green, but its foot was just more Gobi.

“You both have good stamina.”

Zhang Dafa, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke as he glanced at Feng Bailing and Ouyang Chenchen.

A young master of a rich family and an accountant walking for over half an hour without uttering a word.

“Ah, how could it be, I’m already exhausted. Luckily, I have a secret medicine from my family.”

Saying so, Ouyang Chenchen, gasping heavily, took out a bottle of Spiritual Spring given by Feng Bailing and gulped a mouthful. After drinking, her complexion turned rosy, and she spoke without panting.

Hearing this, Zhang Dafa then withdrew his gaze.

“The recipe is up the mountain, follow me. Don’t make a sound if you hear anything along the way.”

With that, Zhang Dafa made a quick move and started walking up the mountain.

The group of four headed towards the mountain.

Once they entered the mountain, the usually talkative Zhang Erfa quieted down.

The brothers were alert, watching and listening carefully, their expressions solemn.

The scenery in the mountains was bleak, occasionally a thorny bush or leafless tree, and scattered animal bones could be seen, white and chilling to the bone.

Feng Bailing and Xin Lin both wondered secretly where on such barren land could a wax recipe originate from.

After walking for about an hour, it was just before noon, and they were almost at the mid-mountain level.

Along the way, they heard footsteps. Approaching closer, they saw about a dozen more mercenaries ahead, one of them was unmistakably Dongfang Yong.

Five men in front and behind were escorting a cargo cart with a chest on it.

Zhang Dafa’s expression grew stern, and those mercenaries noticed Zhang Dafa too. Upon seeing Feng Bailing and Ouyang Chenchen, Dongfang Yong sneered coldly.

“Zhang Dafa, you brothers are out deceiving people again, you two are nothing but treacherous betrayers to the mercenary community.”

The other mercenaries also showed traces of disdain, clearly looking down on the two brothers.

Zhang Dafa, without uttering a word or defending himself, quickly walked past the group of mercenaries.

Zhang Erfa had a fearful expression, lowering his head as he ran past.

Ouyang Chenchen complained as they walked.

“Slow down, what kind of godforsaken place is this, the mountain paths are rugged, it’s too tough to walk.”

Feng Bailing feigned assistance, deliberately slowing her pace. As she passed by the truck, Feng Bailing quickly used the Seventh Sense to scan the boxes on the truck.

Inside the boxes, there were only some ordinary medicinal herbs.

Feng Bailing wondered, isn’t it a bit overkill for more than ten people to transport a single box of medicinal herbs?

They continued walking for a bit, always keeping a subtle distance from the group of mercenaries.

Intermittently, Feng Bailing also heard the low voices of the group, learning a bit about the mountain.

This mountain is called Liang Mountain, and for some reason, it is seldom visited by people.

As they reached the mid-mountain, the scenery dramatically changed.

The barrenness gave way to lush greenery, with tall trees and low bushes, as if they had entered a different world.

The expressions on both Zhang Dafa and Zhang Erfa’s faces grew serious.

They took out three heavy leather cloaks, which smelled like cowhide, and handed them to Feng Bailing and Ouyang Chenchen.

“Put these on, cover everything except for your eyes.”

After Zhang Dafa spoke, his aura deepened, a red Wuji Seal appeared on his forehead, and a faint layer of Gang Qi also enveloped him.

It turns out he too is a Wuji Earth Seal Martial Artist, as Ouyang Chenchen and Feng Bailing donned the cloaks, Zhang Erfa also put his on.

Along the way, Feng Bailing and others noticed that although Zhang Erfa was also a Martial Artist, he was far less skilled compared to Zhang Dafa, just a common Martial Artist.

Behind, Dongfang Yong and others also grew solemn as they entered the middle of the mountain.

“Brother Yong, should we also put on cloaks? If we encounter that monster…”

A few mercenaries said tremblingly.

Dongfang Yong just sneered.

“You can wear them, but I have been cultivating Gang Qi in my body lately, about to break through. I might as well take this opportunity to confront the so-called Parasitic Monster.”

Confidence filled his eyes.

Those mercenaries also took out leather cloaks to prevent bites from snakes, insects, rats, and ants, for they were not Wuji Masters protected by Gang Qi and didn’t dare to act rashly.

In the midday mountain waist where the sun was even more intense, everyone, burdened with the nearly ten-pound cowhide cloaks, was drenched in sweat.

Ouyang Chenchen, being overweight and prone to sweating, was soon completely drenched.

She complained incessantly but seeing Feng Bailing, she gritted her teeth and continued forward, draped in her cloak.

After a few steps, several animal corpses appeared ahead; these corpses had not yet putrefied.

The corpses emitted a decayed stench, and on the festering bodies, white maggot eggs were visible.

At the sight of the animal corpses, Zhang Dafa became highly alert.

“Quick, quicker.”

He urged everyone repeatedly.

The mercenaries at the back, upon seeing the animal corpses, were also terrified, but Dongfang Yong just scoffed and walked by leisurely.

Not until they reached a cluster of trees whitened with blossoms did Zhang Dafa finally stop, his expression still serious.

“Here’s the wax recipe you wanted.”

He pointed to those trees.