CHAPTER 653: CHAPTER 110: THE LEGEND OF THE MOUNTAIN GHOST

Fifth-Order Dark Pill? It can’t even last a single night?

Yue Jinghua and Cheng Ying were astounded upon hearing this.

The consumption of Dark Pills is directly related to the frequency and number of teleportations.

The transmission array in Dawo Village is a large one, capable of teleporting about fifty people or five horse-drawn carriages at a time.

Since it was initially used to transport stones, the consumption of Dark Pills is faster than that of ordinary transmission arrays.

But it should not deplete a Fifth-Order Dark Pill in a single night. After all, the Empire only allocates two Fifth-Order Dark Pills per month to Dawo Village.

In theory, a normal Fifth-Order Dark Pill should last for half a month.

The current rate of consumption in Dawo Village is tens of times higher than usual, which is no wonder the old village chief had no choice but to shut down the transmission array.

However, if it’s just a matter of excessive consumption of Dark Pills, that wouldn’t be much of an issue. For Dawo Village, a Fifth-Order Dark Pill might be a large number, but it’s not worth mentioning for the Southern Expedition Army with scions more numerous than fleas.

But having enough Dark Pills doesn’t mean teleportation can proceed smoothly, especially during transmission—if the Dark Power of the Dark Pill is exhausted, it could easily deviate from the intended destination and teleport the person tens of thousands of miles away.

In response to the mysterious depletion of Dark Pills, Dawo Village did conduct investigations.

They even spent money to hire passing mercenaries to look into this peculiar depletion, but to no avail each time.

As the only able-bodied man in Dawo Village, Mu Hu also spent many sleepless nights guarding the transmission array, but without exception, every night a Dark Pill was replaced and by dawn the next day, that pill would be completely depleted.

Over time, the ignorant villagers started to spread rumors that Mountain Demons were appearing near the transmission array. With no other choice and multiple unsuccessful pleas for aid to the Imperial City, the old village chief had to shut down the array.

Thus, the last channel for the villagers to the outside world was severed.

In the Canglong Continent, there is no talk of ghosts, but there are stories of Evil Spirits, with a similar meaning to that of mountain goblins and stone spirits.

After hearing this, Yue Jinghua did not make an immediate judgment, and Cheng Ying too tilted her head slightly, seemingly contemplating something.

Although neither of them spoke, they could both read disbelief in each other’s eyes.

While they were pondering, Long Jiuzun and Yue Minzhi also returned, accompanied by the old village chief.

Seeing Cheng Ying and Yue Jinghua together, a hint of displeasure appeared on Long Jiuzun’s face, "Yue Jinghua, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you out there helping to get the camps in order?"

Since they were to spend the night in Dawo Village, the Southern Expedition Soldiers had looked around and found Dawo Village to be pitifully impoverished, with no decent houses to speak of. If the Southern Expedition Army wanted to stay here, they had no choice but to set up camp.

Due to the suspicions surrounding the transmission array, Long Jiuzun and Yue Minzhi discussed that they would take turns guarding the transmission array tonight. If all was well, the army would start teleporting after regrouping early the next morning.

The Supply Ship accompanying the Southern Expedition Army was also soon to arrive, and all the supplies and tents would reach by sunset.

After questioning Mu Hu, Yue Jinghua and Cheng Ying calculated the time and realized it was almost time to meet the Supply Ship led by Qing Zizhu.

Before they set off, Long Jiuzun had asked Yue Jinghua about inspecting the army’s strength. Based on the level of strength, the entire Southern Expedition Army had been divided into First-class Soldiers, Second-class Soldiers, and Scattered Soldiers.

First-class soldiers refer to the Dragon Knights and a few high-ranked experts with Dark Heavenly Cultivation. They are responsible for guarding the Transmission Array and patrolling around its perimeter.

Second-class soldiers denote those with Dark Earth Cultivation among the ordinary Southern Expedition Soldiers. They are in charge of building barracks, hunting around, and searching for food and water sources.

When Long Jiuzun inquired about Yue Minzhi and Yue Jinghua’s cultivation levels.

The earnest Duke Yue Xiao pondered for a moment with all the sincerity he could muster, but he couldn’t come up with a definitive answer. In his eyes, his sister’s cultivation was very strange; she seemed quite strong, but he had never seen her reveal any Dark Energy around her.

Long Jiuzun, who had never actually sparred with Yue Jinghua, interpreted Yue Minzhi’s hesitance as shame, thinking that Yue Jinghua’s skills were simply not up to snuff, and that she had only managed to deceive Ji Yun and others repeatedly through her cunning and scheming.

Since Yue Jinghua had only average strength and didn’t possess any Alchemy Skill like Cheng Ying, Long Jiuzun directly classified her as one of the most inferior Scattered Soldiers within the Southern Expedition Army.

The so-called Scattered Soldiers are those who go wherever they are needed.

"When the Supply Ship arrives around sunset, you will help with the transportation. Qing Zizhu didn’t bring enough kitchen staff this time, so go help out and be a runner," Long Jiuzun deliberately made things difficult for Yue Jinghua by assigning her the most tiring and dirtiest tasks.

"Young General Long, Huahua has never done these things before," Yue Minzhi protested, dissatisfied with his sister being put through such hard work.

"If she is unwilling to do it, she should leave the Southern Expedition Army. In the Southern Expedition Army, everyone is equal. Even Ji Yun and others have been ordered to patrol and hunt. Or are you suggesting you want her to join you and me in watching the Transmission Array in the middle of the night?" Long Jiuzun couldn’t stand the sight of Yue Jinghua, and what better time than now to make her life difficult.

"Big brother, it’s no trouble at all," Yue Jinghua didn’t care and cheerfully walked out of the wooden house.

Then Mu Hu was interrogated again by Long Jiuzun, who arranged the night watch over the Transmission Array for that evening.

Upon arriving in the village, they saw a Supply Ship just docking in the sky above.

Qing Zizhu, with a face as pale as iron, stood by the cabin door. Beside him stood several people, and to Yue Jinghua’s surprise, they were all familiar faces.

"Auntie, Shalman, and Qian Luo, how did you come along," several people descended from the Qing Family’s Supply Ship.

They included Chi Xi, dressed as a mercenary, Shalman who was pulling faces at Yue Jinghua, and the short-haired Qian Luo who had transformed into a human-like appearance with black hair and black eyes.

As it turned out, these people had learned that Yue Jinghua was going to Fandi Port. Shalman and Qian Luo had clamored to come along, while Chi Xi knew that Qing Zizhu would also accompany the troops.

However, the Empire did not permit the Southern Expedition Army to have escorts. After discussing it, they hid themselves aboard the Supply Ship when the Yanyue Chamber of Commerce arranged its departure.

It wasn’t until Qing Zizhu had left the Imperial City and had traveled halfway, inspecting the ship’s cargo and personnel, that he discovered the three people hidden in the grain storage.

Returning the Supply Ship was out of the question, and dropping the three in midair was even more unthinkable. Left with no choice, Qing Zizhu had to bring the people over with an iron-blue face, huffing and puffing with anger.

"With this, the July Mercenary Team’s core members are only two people short. That’s just enough to complete a mission," Yue Jinghua was, of course, very pleased. Having Shalman and others around meant there would be no boredom on the way, and with Chi Xi present, it meant there would be delicious food to accompany them.

Upon hearing the mention of a mission, both Shalman and Qian Luo became excited, pestering Yue Jinghua to find out what was going on.

"Don’t worry for now. Let’s get settled first, and by tonight, we will know what’s happened," Yue Jinghua gently pacified them while waiting. Once the night watch over the Transmission Array by Long Jiuzun and Yue Minzhi was over, they would learn whether Mountain Demons were indeed emerging in Dawo Village.

Aside: The male lead has already made an appearance.