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To reach the primeval forest at Immortal's Peak, one first needs to take a bus to a small town named Ningyuan. However, the journey from Dancheng to Ningyuan is quite lengthy.

Such a long distance on land would take at least half a month to walk, so Ding Fan considered it for a moment and decided to take a long-distance bus.

The long-distance bus did not require real-name ticketing, which helped keep his travel plans confidential. Moreover, the bus was much faster than the train.

Upon arriving at the bus station, he learned there was a bus heading to Tongcheng in an hour. Since Tongcheng was not far from Ningyuan, Ding Fan did not hesitate and bought a ticket right away.

With the bus not leaving for another hour, Ding Fan went to a nearby supermarket and bought a large travel bag. In addition, he also purchased some compressed biscuits.

Compressed biscuits have a long shelf life and could be relied on for sustenance in the forest if he found no food.

After buying a whole travel backpack's worth of compressed biscuits, Ding Fan returned to the bus station, where passengers had already begun to board. He followed the visitors onto the bus.

It was the off-season for travel, and there was no rush of students returning to school, so the bus was quite spacious and had many empty seats.

Ding Fan, carrying his luggage, took a seat in the corner at the back.

Ding Fan originally wanted some peace and quiet by sitting alone in the back, but frustratingly, a couple took seats in the same row as him right after the bus started moving.

The couple was about the same age as him. The woman was very attractive, and the man next to her was quite attentive, clearly in pursuit of her.

Since the bus wasn't reserved by Ding Fan alone, there was no helping someone else sitting there. He looked outside the window and paid no mind to the couple beside him.

However, the girl next to him kept glancing over at him from time to time.

Ding Fan didn't know why she kept looking at him, but he wasn't interested in finding out. He just looked up at the scenery outside.

"Excuse me, are you Ding Fan?"

Ding Fan did not intend to interact with them, but the woman came over to greet him.

Seeing that she knew his name, Ding Fan found it difficult to continue ignoring her. He turned his head and nodded. "Do you know me?"

"So it really is you, Ding Fan. I'm a friend of Xu Rui; my name is Ruv Ling. I was also there that night Xu Rui went to your house, following from behind in the crowd."

Xu Rui?!

At that moment, Ding Fan realized she must have been with Xu Rui when they visited his house. There had been many people that night, and Ding Fan hadn't recognized her.

"Brother Fan, are you also traveling?" As Ruv Ling spoke, she scooted closer to Ding Fan.

That night, Ding Fan was extremely heroic, single-handedly taking down four strong men brought by Wang Duo. Ruv Ling was incredibly impressed with Ding Fan, and if it hadn't been for the urgent matter that Xu Rui had with Ding Fan, she would have asked for his phone number then. Now that she had run into Ding Fan, Ruv Ling was very happy.

"Yeah, sort of," Ding Fan nodded.

At this moment, he was somewhat speechless. The more he wished to keep his travels secret, the more likely he was to encounter people who knew him.

"Ruv Ling, you haven't introduced me to your friend here," the man beside Ruv Ling spoke with a tone filled with hostility.

Ding Fan, of course, understood that the man's hostility stemmed from Ruv Ling's overly enthusiastic attitude toward him. However, Ding Fan didn't care what the other man thought; it wasn't as if he was trying to charm Ruv Ling.

"This is Brother Fan..."

Before Ruv Ling could finish, the man interjected, "My name is Jin Luoshan. I just returned from studying in Denmark and now work at the Dancheng Town government."

As Jin Luoshan spoke, he extended his hand across Ruv Ling to Ding Fan.

Ding Fan frowned, sensing the air of superiority in the other man's words. He had always disliked such privileged youngsters who flaunted their background as if afraid others wouldn't recognize who they were.

Ding Fan acted as if he hadn't seen Jin Luoshan's extended hand, instead turning to look out the window. In Ding Fan's view, observing the scenery outside was far more pleasant than engaging with Jin Luoshan.

Jin Luoshan felt slighted by Ding Fan's disregard. Coming from a distinguished background and holding an important position in the Dancheng town government at such a young age, he believed extending his hand to Ding Fan was a significant gesture of goodwill. Yet, Ding Fan didn't offer any acknowledgment in return.

Jin Luoshan was about to explode in anger, but Ruv Ling beside him firmly grabbed his arm. The fury Jin Luoshan was about to unleash was forcefully extinguished by Ruv Ling's stern gaze.

Ruv Ling's father worked at the bank, and Jin Luoshan had been pursuing Ruv Ling for more than a day or two. This time, Ruv Ling had finally agreed to come out alone with him. He wanted to seize this opportunity to foster a good relationship with Ruv Ling and perhaps take it a step further. So at this moment, he dared not ignore Ruv Ling's warning and provoke Ding Fan.

After Ding Fan had refused Jin Luoshan's handshake, the three people in the back seat hardly spoke anymore. After driving for two or three hours, they entered a mountainous area.

By this time, they were far from the city, with scarcely a soul in sight, and the surrounding mountains were very steep. Sitting in the car, Ding Fan was observing the changes in the spiritual energy around them, thinking that if there was Spirit Grass here, he would definitely get off the car in advance.

Squeak!

The car's tires emitted a piercing screech from the friction with the ground, and it suddenly came to a stop.

Because the stop was so abrupt, the people in the car were thrown about.

Looking through the car window, Ding Fan saw a white van blocking the road ahead. Next to the van lay a person covered in blood; from the scene, it appeared that the white van had just been in an accident.

However, Ding Fan thought something was amiss.

Not to mention that this was a sparsely populated mountain area where the sudden appearance of this white van was strange enough. But the person who seemed to have been hit by the van,

lying in front of the van, was covered in blood, yet his chest rose and fell evenly with his breaths, which did not at all resemble someone who was seriously injured. This indicated that it was likely a scam.

"Ding ding ding…"

At this moment, a woman ran up to the front of the bus and knocked on the door. "Driver, help, my man's been in an accident. He'll die if we don't get him to the hospital now. Please, open the door and save him. If you take him to the nearby hospital, I'm willing to give you five thousand yuan… Driver…"

The bus driver, however, did not open the door, clearly contemplating whether to help, given the isolation of this area.

"Driver, this is a mountain area, I think we should not get involved," Ding Fan said from the side.

Ding Fan was also in this vehicle and, knowing the other party's malicious intentions, he couldn't help but speak up.

"Brother Fan, you really lack compassion. That person was hit by a car so badly, if we don't help, he might die," Jin Luoshan, who had been previously ignored by Ding Fan, retorted with a cold snort.

Ding Fan slightly furrowed his brows but said no more. He could see that Jin Luoshan was doing this to impress Ruv Ling.

But at this moment, Ding Fan truly had no way to argue with Jin Luoshan. After all, the injured person outside looked pitiful, and most of the people in the car were sympathetic. Influenced by Jin Luoshan, Ding Fan was likely to become the object of their criticism.

Since that was the case, Ding Fan held his peace, knowing that even if there was danger later, he could protect himself. As for the others, he had already warned them. He wasn't a hero or a guardian deity; he couldn't protect everyone.

Seeing that Ding Fan was silent, Jin Luoshan felt a surge of triumph in his heart and turned to Ruv Ling.

"Xiao Ling, the person outside is in such a pitiful state. If we don't treat them quickly, they will surely die. If everyone only thinks of themselves, then what will become of our society?"

After hearing Jin Luoshan's words, Xiao Ling nodded. "Then let's help them a bit."

Jin Luoshan saw Xiao Ling's look of admiration and felt extremely pleased. He stood up, and with a confident stride, approached the driver.

"Driver, that person is in such a pitiful state, let's help him. If you take them to the hospital, you won't need the woman's money; I'll give you five thousand yuan. Besides, I work at the Dancheng Town government, and I will award your company a commendation plaque."

The driver hesitated after hearing Jin Luoshan's words. "This is a mountain area, if something really happens, it would be problematic."

"Don't worry, whatever happens will be on me," Jin Luoshan said, emphatically addressing all the passengers in the bus.

"Everyone relax, if we help the people outside and something unexpected really happens, then I will take all the responsibility alone! We can't just watch others in trouble and do nothing; what would become of our moral traditions then?"

Ding Fan looked at Jin Luoshan, speechless, feeling as if he were giving a speech.

This asshole!

Ding Fan cursed inwardly.

Once Jin Luoshan finished his speech, he glanced at Ruv Ling, who was intently watching him, and felt even more elated.

Then he said to the driver, "Open the door. I mean what I say; anything happens, it's on me!"