The road is vague

Chapter 413 Wind Fox and Thunder Cat
After escorting the rabbit people out of the Needle Ridge area, the bear warriors of the Frost Bear Tribe couldn't wait to head back home.

Without the protection of these bear-men, who knows what obstacles they will encounter on their journey ahead.

Li Mo glanced at the map in his hand, did some quick calculations, and then led the main force to continue forward.

The temperature here has risen significantly, and everyone feels like they've returned to autumn.

In late autumn, the vast marshland is desolate, with everything withered.

This place is inhabited by a variety of races. After more than two months of depletion, the rabbit people have almost run out of food and need to replenish their supplies here before they can continue their journey.

Ironhammer City is one of the inconspicuous small towns in the vast marshland.

The cities here appear to be scattered like stars, but in reality, they are all located on the edge of the great swamp. Various demon races often choose to make a living here before winter arrives. Once the extreme north winds completely freeze the vast swamp, the demons from each city will migrate to the relatively warmer inland areas.

As a result, Ironhammer City is a melting pot of all sorts of people.

The reason Ironhammer City got its name is because there was an iron mine nearby, and the sound of blacksmiths from various races hammering away echoed everywhere, hence the simple and easy-to-understand name.

As usual, Li Mo led a team of elite rabbit-men in disguise into the city.

Sitting by the window on the second floor of the tavern, Li Mo watched the ratmen coming and going in the small town, transporting cartloads of iron ore to the city to exchange for silver coins. He couldn't help but sigh, these ratmen were truly the best miners.

On a distant high platform, a heavily made-up courtesan was playing and singing on the erhu. Her voice was plaintive and beautiful, and people would stop and cheer from time to time.

Li Mo could enjoy a drink and admire the view from the second floor.

"General Donkey, what brings you here? Please come inside!"

The chicken-man shopkeeper greeted them with a smile and led General Donkey to the second floor, gesturing to the duck waiter beside him to bring out fine wine and dishes.

The arrogant General Donkey was exceptionally robust.

He had a precious sword hanging at his waist, which was clearly a magic weapon of the True Nature type, making Li Mo take another look at him.

"The city lord has ordered that all demons in the city must leave in seven days and can only return after the ice and snow melt. Otherwise, it will be too late when those frost demons attack."

"Is winter coming again...?"

Li Mo listened to this and couldn't help but take out the map and look at it again.

They must quicken their pace. If they cannot cross even a small section of the Great Swamp before the cold wave arrives, they will have to spend an extra month traveling with the arrival of the frost creatures.

after awhile.

Seeing the rabbit people leave Stone City with more than twenty carts of food and supplies, Li Mo followed after paying for his drinks, and vaguely noticed a group of kobolds following closely behind.

The Kobolds are one of the small tribes in the wasteland, and they have no glorious history.

It's not as good as the best, but it's better than the worst.

Compared to the powerful clans that rise and fall, the kobolds have always maintained stability and have never fallen to the bottom. They have always played the role of administrators in various places. They can endure extreme hardship when they are in a bad situation, and they will take the initiative to strike when there is an opportunity. They can be said to be the most survival-savvy race in the Thousand Ridges.

"It's the scent of the rabbit people, that's for sure."

"So many rabbit people! We're rich this time!"

"In my opinion, we should sell this information to those high-level experts. There's definitely more than a few dozen people can eat all that food..."

at this time.

Li Mo's figure appeared silently behind these kobolds.

He watched as these dog-headed men, whose cultivation was only equivalent to the Qi Refining stage, were secretly gloating and dreaming of getting rich, while eyeing the rabbit-men ahead. He couldn't help but sneer.

Crack!

With a sudden clap of thunder, the rabbits in the distance were startled and looked around warily. They only relaxed and continued forward when Li Mo appeared.

half a month later.

The frigid north current surged southward, turning the muddy swamp into an endless ice field almost overnight.

The rabbits watched in amazement at the changes on the ice field, some even playing on the ice, clearly unaware of the danger.

On the contrary, the beasts have become restless and want to leave this place as soon as possible.

"We need to speed things up!"

Li Mo had already heard about the terror of these frost monsters along the way, especially the large and small packs of ice field wolves. Small packs were alright, but if you encountered a super-large pack of ice field wolves, it wouldn't be surprising to see a city wiped out and a clan exterminated.

Given the number and strength of these rabbit-men, encountering a pack of wolves would simply mean another meal for them.

Two days later.

As the rabbit people hurried away from the ice field and entered the Ten Thousand Mountains, the extreme cold current weakened and the temperature gradually rose. From then on, all they had to do was travel along the river valley.

"Squeak!"

The money-stealing rat suddenly ran back and perched on Li Mo's shoulder, gesturing repeatedly.

The illusory figure of the Foolish Old Man exclaimed, "Luckily we were quick. If we had been half a day later, we would have been finished."

Upon hearing this, Li Mo immediately flew into the sky, activated his True Spirit Eye, and looked at the vast ice plain in the distance. He saw several frost beasts running wildly, with an endless line of ice wolves behind them, each one over ten feet in size.

Hey!
With a loud wolf howl, the sky over the previously snow-covered icy plain suddenly cleared, revealing the sun.

A ray of sunlight shone through a gap in the clouds, and the wolves, encouraged, let out a unified howl.

Tens of thousands of wolves swept through, and the wild beasts were quickly overwhelmed and devoured.

"Great Demon King!"

Li Mo's expression changed slightly. He quickly landed on the ground and directed the rabbits to continue moving forward.

Although these frost monsters generally don't venture deep into the Hundred Thousand Mountains, he didn't dare to gamble.

It's hard to say whether they were just lucky to encounter a great demon king, or whether there were simply too many great demon kings on the far north ice plains. In any case, the fact that these demon beasts in the far north could make the myriad races wary suggests that, like the outer gods in the deep sea, they must be hiding some unknown and terrifying beings.

Some time has passed.

The temperature in the Ten Thousand Mountains began to drop gradually, and the valleys along the way were gradually frozen over. Fortunately, there was a sufficient supply of food, as well as warm clothing and medicinal herbs purchased in the Needle Leaf Ridge. The monsters in the mountains also had their own territories, and their sense of territory was extremely strong.

Although the rabbit people traveled more slowly, they faced fewer dangers, which was better than crossing the peacock tribe's territory. So they continued on their journey, stopping and starting, until spring gradually arrived and flowers bloomed in the mountains.

Until this day.

A loud, piercing cry came from the distant sky, accompanied by the sound of thunder and lightning.

The rabbit people all stopped in their tracks. Li Mo, King of a Thousand Faces, and Princess Dai flew into the sky and saw several thunderbirds continuously releasing lightning, seemingly chasing something.

Upon closer inspection, Li Mo discovered that each of these thunderbirds was riding a catwoman on its back.

On the ground, being chased by a flock of thunderbirds, was an elderly fox woman!

The two sides chased and fled, and coincidentally ended up with the main force of rabbit people. When they saw so many rabbit people suddenly appearing in the mountains ahead, they were both taken aback and did not dare to make any rash moves.

The fox-woman, in particular, was in a dilemma, her face showing some anxiety.

"Gentlemen, we are just a group of travelers on our way. Are we approaching the Qingqiu Mountains?"

When the fox-woman and cat-woman saw that these rabbit-people were following the lead of Li Mo, a human, their expressions changed immediately, and they began to carefully examine this mysterious person.

The cat-man riding a thunderbird was the first to respond.

She wore a rosy crown and held a scepter with a lightning gem that shimmered and exuded remarkable lightning power.

“I am Zhao Zhang, the Inspector Priest of the Thunder Cat Clan. This is the Zhiming Mountain Range, which is our Thunder Cat Clan’s territory. If you are going to the Qingqiu Mountain Range, it will probably take you some more time. This Wind Fox entered our territory and assassinated an important guest. Her crime is unforgivable. If you can capture her, our Thunder Cat Clan will reward you handsomely.”

Upon hearing this, the fox-woman immediately sneered.

She has slight crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, but they still can't hide her charm, which shows that she must have been a beauty in her youth, with an extraordinary demeanor.

"What important guest? He's clearly a fox-man from the Nine-Tailed Fox Organization. Your cat clans are all ruled by queens, yet you pretend to support those fox-men. What a bunch of hypocrites!"

Say it.

The fox woman then looked at Li Mo.

"I am Su Rui, the Xuan Sha Elder of Wind Fox City, in charge of matters related to the extermination of the Nine-Tailed Organization. Since you are going to the Qingqiu Mountains, although I do not know why, if you can stop these Thunder Cats for me, I will definitely give you my full support as a way of repaying you!"

The Thousand-Faced King, Princess Dai, the Black Phoenix, and many rabbit-people all looked at Li Mo.

Li Mo glanced at both sides without showing any emotion.

One is the Thunder Cat tribe, the masters of this place. These Thunder Cats, along with Thunder Birds, have all reached the chieftain level.

Choosing to help these Thunder Cats will make the journey ahead much easier, but if the news leaks out, establishing a stable settlement in the Qingqiu Mountains will be extremely difficult.

The other is one of the rulers of Windfox City.

Although Elder Su Rui, who was sent to kill, was not the person in charge of Silver Fox City, his destination, Wind Fox City was a large tribe among the Nine Fox Clan, with a queen in charge.

Choosing to help Su Rui will inevitably lead to many hardships along the way, but once you enter the Qingqiu Mountains, it will be much easier to establish a stable settlement in the future.

But first she has to get back alive.

After a brief moment of thought, Li Mo seemed to have made a decision.

After a slight smile, he instantly transformed into lightning and appeared beside Su Rui, the assassination elder of Fenghu City. His five fingers turned into lightning, and he tried to grab her neck.

Su Rui was shocked and used the Wind Escape Technique to transform into a wisp of green hair and escape.

However, Princess Dai suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her way. Then, the Thousand-Faced King appeared, his feathers transforming into thousands of troops, instantly trapping the woman. In the end, Li Mo grabbed her by the snow-white neck, and the bone-corroding, soul-consuming dark lightning invaded, suppressing her magic power.

"Nascent Soul cultivator."

Elder Su Rui, who had been ordered to kill, revealed a hint of despair.

The Thunder Cats in the distance were also shocked by this sight; they had not expected that these humans were so powerful.

“Priest Zhaozhang, I have captured this fox spirit. Please take her back.”

"it is good!"

After the priest Zhaozhang happily agreed, he pondered whether to inform the nearby Shadow Cat and Moon Cat tribes about the matter, while urging the Thunder Bird to descend and prepare to bring the fox woman back.

suddenly!

A cold glint flashed in Li Mo's eyes, and he released the astonished fox girl Su Rui, transforming into lightning and charging towards the thunder cat priest.

"Do it!"

The Thousand-Faced King, Princess Dai, along with Black Phoenix, Golden Turtle Master, Zhao Ping'an, Liao Qunan, and others, all rushed towards the distant Thunder Bird.

"not good!"

Although the Thunder Cat Priestess reacted quickly, the distance between them was too close. Even though the Thunder Bird she rode was incredibly fast, it still couldn't escape Li Mo's clutches. The scorching Golden Flame Sword severed the Thunder Bird's wing, and it fell to the ground with a scream.

Immediately afterwards, the Thunder Cat Priest transformed into a streak of lightning and fled into the distance, with Li Mo also transforming into lightning in hot pursuit.

About a quarter of an hour later.

Li Mo flew back from afar with the corpse of the Thunder Cat Priest. He looked at the group and, upon noticing the absence of the shipwright master Liao Qunan, his expression showed slight regret. He knew that it was unlikely that all the Thunder Cats could be kept.

Then he looked at the fox-woman Su Rui.

"Elder Su, I am Li Mo, an envoy from the Great Qian Kingdom. I was invited by Silver Fox City to visit the Nine Fox Clan on important business. This corpse of the Thunder Cat Priest is my gift."

"An envoy from the Great Qian Kingdom!!!"

Even Su Rui, the elder who had been tasked with killing, was taken aback upon hearing Li Mo's name.

It wasn't until she saw the imperial edict from the Holy Emperor Qian Yuan that she finally accepted Li Mo's identity.

Therefore, she must treat this matter with caution.

After a while.

Liao Qu returned empty-handed, having failed to hunt down the Thunderbird, and expressed his apologies.

After sighing, Li Mo offered words of comfort and then fed the Thunder Cat Priest's Thunder Scepter to the "Dark Thunder Heavenly Book," signaling the rabbit people to leave as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)