CHAPTER 455: 455 IS THE STORY OF TALENTED SCHOLARS AND BEAUTIFUL LADIES

"Sir, how did you know I was reading..." Zhou Binghai had just finished his sentence when he hurriedly covered his mouth. Damn it! When had the sir realized, when did he discover that I was using the cover of ’The History of the Warring States’ but actually filled with various storybooks? Thinking of this, Zhou Binghai quickly defended himself, "Sir, it’s not erotica; it’s all sorts of storybooks about talented scholars and beautiful ladies."

"It’s all the same," Ye Lanfeng waved him off. "Watch less of that and continue to pay attention to any news about Han Yan."

"Yes, yes," Zhou Binghai retreated with a constipated look on his face.

Ye Lanfeng sat alone in the courtyard, bowing his head and silently gazing at the jade pendant in his hand, lost in thought.

...

Meanwhile, Mu Hanyan in Exotic Beast Valley had no idea that Ye Lanfeng was pining over her. At this moment, she pressed on deeper into the valley. The terrain was complex, offering plenty of hiding places, and danger lurked around every corner. In less than an hour, she had already encountered a Wind Blade Cloud Leopard and a One-Horned Green Python, and even a poison scorpion as large as a platter. However, with Mu Hanyan’s strength as a Tenth Rank Great Swordsman, she easily dispatched them all.

Wu Qiuyun had now completely relaxed. Each time there was danger, he, just like Mu Cheng, couldn’t even be bothered to draw his sword. He simply followed behind, eagerly watching Mu Hanyan fight. What was even more excessive was that he munched on dry food while enjoying the show, only stopping short of bringing out a small stool to watch more comfortably.

Mu Hanyan worried a bit, fearing that by the end of this trial, she might end up with two fat pigs.

But she didn’t press the issue. The Exotic Beasts they had encountered along the way were indeed a bit too strong; appearing and disappearing unpredictably, anyone forced to confront them would likely suffer more bad luck than good.

"Hey, what’s that!" Mu Cheng, who had drawn his longsword and searched the scorpion without finding any Beast Blood Pearl, looked around disappointedly. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he ran ahead.

Pushing through the bushes not far in front, a broken sword and a large patch of blood appeared, along with a few scattered travel bags.

"What happened here?" Mu Cheng exclaimed in surprise.

"It’s people from the Hao Family of Nanxi County," Wu Qiuyun noted, frowning at the family crest on the travel bags.

"It looks like they’ve been scared half to death, abandoning even these valuable items," said Mu Cheng unabashedly as he opened the bags. In addition to the dry food and wound medicine, he found several medicinal herbs and chunks of stone emitting an odd light—clearly not ordinary.

Apart from the common metals gold, silver, copper, and iron, the Holy Court Continent also produced Meteorite Gold Ore, containing rare metals said to hail from beyond the skies, an essential ingredient in alchemy. Hence, it was quite valuable; some top-quality Meteorite Gold was reputed to be worth cities’ fortunes.

While Mu Hanyan and her companions had also discovered several decent-quality Medicinal Herbs along the way, their value couldn’t compare to these pieces of Meteorite Gold Ore.

That the Hao Family members would be so frightened to leave behind even the Meteorite Gold Ore suggested how dire the situation must have been.

"Maybe it wasn’t fright, maybe they’ve already encountered disaster," Wu Qiuyun said with a grave tone, his gaze shifting toward the bushes nearby.

Following his gaze, Mu Cheng felt a chill and a creeping dread up his spine. Several gnawed bones lay hidden in the thicket, still adorned with scraps of flesh. Without much scrutiny, it was evident those were human hand bones.