Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 256 Taking the Unconventional Path, You Are Here in This World
The next morning, before dawn, Chen Xu checked out of the inn.

He carried a small willow basket on his back, inside which sat the little hedgehog Wei Yuan, and at his waist he wore a spirit pouch, in which the little mouse was still fast asleep.

The man and the two demons left Lingxi County under the first light of dawn and began their ascent of Lingxi Snow Mountain.

Unbeknownst to Chen Xu, shortly after he left the inn, a group of mysterious figures rode in a whirlwind from outside Lingxi County and galloped into the city.

Among this group, the most conspicuous at first glance are the numerous guards and servants wearing straw hats. However, upon closer inspection, one can see that at the very center of the group is a thin young man being protected by the servants.

The young man wore a jade crown and had a pale, stiff face. Despite the grand display, his expression was gloomy.

Upon closer inspection, he always seems to lack the air of a scion of a prominent family. He appears to come from a wealthy background, yet there's a slightly odd and incongruous quality to it.

As this group of people rode into the city at full speed, they were stopped by the guards at the city gate.

The leading guard in the straw hat raised his chin and sneered, "Open your dog eyes and see clearly, this person who has come is not someone you can afford to offend. Get lost!"

Before he finished speaking, a whip lashed out.

The guard who tried to stop him let out a scream as he was whipped from head to toe by a powerful lash carrying a strong wind and intense blood energy.

A deep, bone-revealing wound immediately appeared on the guard's face, his clothes torn open, and blood gushing out.

boom!
The guard screamed and fell to the ground, and the other guards quickly drew their swords and spears and surrounded him.

At the critical moment, a guard in a straw hat threw a waist token at the city gate commander, shouting, "Get out of the way, you bastards! If you offend an important person, I'll skin you alive!"

The city gate commander took the token, turned it over, and was immediately shocked.

He immediately ordered the guards to carry the injured man aside. Just as he was about to bend down and say a few words to calm him down, the group of men in straw hats surrounded the pale-faced youth, cracked their whips, and galloped away.

From beginning to end, the pale-faced youth surrounded in the very center never once lowered his eyes to look at the city gate guards.

With a gloomy face, he rode a pack of spirited horses at full speed to the inn where Chen Xu had originally stayed.

"What? You checked out?"

Inside the inn, the expressions of several guards wearing straw hats changed drastically.

The pale-faced youth, sitting high atop a sandalwood-red steed, grew increasingly somber.

He gripped the riding whip tightly in one hand, clearly extremely angry.

"Go, search the inn thoroughly. If anything is left behind, retrieve it and continue the pursuit!"

The so-called "leftovers" are not specific gifts, but rather the hair and skin debris left behind after someone has slept in the inn...

Sometimes, even a wisp of aura can be detected by supernatural forces.

However, these hat-hatted guards stormed into the inn and turned it upside down, but they couldn't find a single thing that was supposedly "left behind".

What they were looking for was what Chen Xu had "left behind".

Unfortunately, Chen Xu had long ago developed a good habit of "never leaving anything behind," because he knew that this was a world full of all sorts of strange and bizarre techniques.

Therefore, wherever he goes, he leaves behind not only no hair or skin flakes, but also very little of his own scent.

No matter where he stayed, he would scan it with the "Celestial Illumination," so it's no wonder that nothing would be left behind.

Therefore, if someone like the pale-faced youth wanted to pursue Chen Xu, he would definitely find nothing by using magic or other means.

Even calculations will be thwarted by the backlash of the calamity and emptiness.

The pale-faced youth chased after them not with any magic, but with clumsy methods like having spies scattered along the way.

Yesterday at the inn, the people chatting amongst themselves didn't recognize Chen Xu, but some of them did. "Let's go! Let's keep chasing him, and wait for him in Black Forest Town!"

The group of men in straw hats remounted their horses and rode away like a whirlwind.

Black Forest Town is the only way to leave Qinglin Prefecture and go to Pingyang Prefecture.

If we don't go through Black Forest Town, we'll have to cross the Lingxi Mountains.

However, the Lingxi Mountains are so high that they reach the sky, and the peaks are covered with snow all year round. Countless mountain spirits and monsters hide in them. Even highly skilled cultivators would not easily venture into the deep mountains, let alone those who are taking the exam.
Therefore, the group of people in straw hats never considered that Chen Xu would not go through Black Forest Town.

The men in straw hats came in a grand procession, and then left in a grand procession.

Unbeknownst to them, as they pursued others, several pairs of eerie green eyes were secretly watching them from the shadows along the alleyway.

The world is full of wonders, with one thing leading to another.

Chen Xu was unaware of these things; he always remembered the great calamity he would face on his journey to the imperial examination, and therefore never took the usual route.

He didn't know if he could avoid this so-called "major calamity".

But even if he can't avoid it, with his greatly increased cultivation level, he might not be unable to handle it.

Therefore, Chen Xu was both confident and extremely cautious in "taking an unconventional path".

He began climbing the mountain from the east side.

At first, he was not in a hurry to use his magic power, but instead strolled leisurely along the mountain path.

While aiming to find snow from the previous year, they also made sure to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.

After leaving Lingxi County, the little hedgehog jumped down from the basket on Chen Xu's back.

Sometimes it sits directly on Chen Xu's shoulder, and sometimes it leaps through the mountains and forests, sometimes disappearing into the earth, and sometimes leaping on the mountain path.

Wei Yuan rarely acted so lively, but now, following Chen Xu, the sense of security Chen Xu brought was indescribable compared to the past when he had to be constantly on guard against natural enemies.

With confidence, the little hedgehog often let its sharp quills droop.

It dared to do this because it knew it would not be in danger.

"Brother Chen, the world is good, and the mountains are good too. The mountains are cool and not hot."

Wei Yuan happily burrowed into the earth for a while on the mountain path, then suddenly popped his head out of the grass, revealing only a small head. With a big smile on his face, he spoke to Chen Xu in a serious tone.

Chen Xu smiled and replied, "So, do you prefer the mountains or the human world?"

“I like them all,” Wei Yuan said. “There are many delicious foods in the mountains, but… it’s all thanks to you in this world.”

After the little hedgehog finished speaking, it suddenly burrowed into the ground again and disappeared from Chen Xu's sight in an instant.

Chen Xu was speechless for a moment.

However, he was not worried that Wei Yuan would get lost. Since both of them had been carrying the Jade Leaf Knot with them, although less than a month had passed and the Jade Leaf Knot had not yet matured, the connection between Chen Xu and Wei Yuan had been deepening day by day.

If they are no more than ten miles apart, they can sense each other.

Chen Xu continued walking up the mountain. His pace was unhurried, but each step he took covered six or seven feet, light and airy, both relaxed and fast.

Suddenly, a booming sound came from ahead.

Then Wei Yuan's voice cheered: "Brother Chen, come quickly, there's something good here!"

(End of this chapter)