Why did you provoke me?

At noon, Yu Meng was taking a nap.

Zhang Zhen practiced the resilience of his lines and his sprinting ability in Si Jiu's room.

"Brother Zhang, I've said everything I needed to say. Please go back to your room, okay?" Si Jiu was practically bowing and clasping his hands in greeting.

"I'll come back after I finish this set of movements. Can you give me some pointers and tell me if there's anything wrong with it?"

"You've done a very good job. There are some special techniques you'll need to figure out on your own."

"I know, but if the foundation isn't solid, everything else is just a castle in the air. I'll only take up a little bit of your time, just a little bit."

Si Jiu suppressed his impatience; this group of people didn't interact much with each other.

They only talk to each other when they need to work with Teacher Yu. Even when they are in the same team, they are not really familiar with each other.

Someone like Zhang Zhen, who wouldn't leave after you only gave him a couple of pointers, is someone I've never seen before.

Chang Chen knew that what he was doing was very unethical, but he had no other choice.

In order to learn skills as quickly as possible and to gain recognition from his teacher, he had no choice but to swallow his pride.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened during her three days in the small town. Yu Meng decided not to wait any longer.

But she still told Niannian about her discovery. Because there were similar cases in Jing Ancheng's group, she was afraid Niannian might be caught off guard and become a victim of ambush. She also warned Niannian to be discreet, the kind of discreetness that draws no attention.

The two sisters discussed this matter for a long time. In the end, Niannian compromised.

Jingchuan Hall.

Secretary Wu stared at the message on the intercom for a long time without making any move.

In the fourth battlefield, all the forces clashed violently. Chaos reigned. The Jia family's squad was completely wiped out in the process. In the end, no one knew who was responsible.

Seeing that the situation was really bad, Hua Shulang led his men through the exit one night. Although they were injured, no one died.

Yu Meng looked at the message from Secretary Wu without any particular thought. Since the discovery of the two dense forests, the Fourth Battlefield had been in complete chaos. The number of forces operating there was unknown. But after this incident, it was estimated that some of the forces outside would also need a reshuffling.

At this time, it is of course best to remain calm. Therefore, Yu Meng told Secretary Wu to stop all actions and just observe the situation.

Finally, she told Secretary Wu that if the Jia family needed support, they could simply send out the Jing family's guards.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to voice his thoughts: "Ask them if they'd be willing to change the original lines. If they are, they can become reserve members of the sect; if not, then forget it."

In fact, Yu Meng had wanted to burn all their lines to the ground. But she didn't know what the consequences would be, or whether it would attract the attention of certain people, so she put the matter aside. After all, their numbers were too concentrated.

After 10 days of effort, Yu Meng finally arrived at the so-called Fucheng.

This is a small town nestled in the mountains. There are many such towns in the mountains, connected by a narrow mountain path.

The place where they are standing now is said to be a tourist attraction in Fucheng.

Looking at the endless stream of people and listening to the various dialects, Yu Meng was confused. This place seemed too bustling.

After finding a small hotel to stay in, Yu Meng joined the group of tourists.

Using tree roots from the mountains, they have developed their own industry, and lifelike root carvings are everywhere.

Even household items are carved from wood. Yu Meng toyed with the teacup in her hand; it was carved from a single piece of wood, with a warm and delicate texture and a rustic, deep color. It felt warm and smooth like jade in her palm. The wood had a delicate fragrance, its simplicity concealing elegance, and its practicality possessing a unique charm.

Even if you took something like this to the outside world, it would be considered a top-quality item.

When Yu Meng had free time, she made a lot of bracelets using the bark of this tree root, and to her surprise, they sold quite well.

It was only then that Zhang Zhen truly witnessed the ways in which mask revealers made money.

Yu Meng did not hide anything from Zhang Zhen when she did these things, so Zhang Zhen also learned the basic techniques from her.

But clearly, he hadn't quite figured it out yet; his fingers had no rhythm at all, though he learned to find the center point very quickly, and he always found it accurately.

After staying like this for three days, Yu Meng discovered that someone was following her.

Without making a fuss, Yu Meng continued to linger among the various stalls as always.

Sometimes I would stop and sit in front of a small stall to eat a bowl of cheap but delicious wontons.

One morning, Yu Meng discovered that her pancake had been drugged. Without saying a word, she handed the pancake to Zhang Zhen, who was sitting next to her.

Moving on to the next stall, she bought a bottle of fruit wine that was supposedly made from wild fruits from the mountains.

Yu Meng unscrewed the cap and smelled it; it had the aroma of fruit wine, but also a subtle hint of spiciness.

Yu Meng laughed and tossed the bottle of fruit wine to the person next to her.

And so, she visited every food stall on the street.

As expected, almost everything she bought had been laced with unknown drugs.

Back in her room, she told Zhang Zhen about her discovery.

This also shows that Yu Meng has been targeted by the forces here.

Soon after, Si Jiu and Si San Er also arrived at Yu Meng's room, each carrying a pile of food.

The group sat down and checked everything. As expected, all the food they had bought had been spiked with drugs.

Yu Meng looked at Zhang Zhen. "What do you think we should do in this situation?"

"The best solution is to evacuate from this place now. Secondly, from now on, we cannot eat a single thing here," Zhang Zhen calmly analyzed.

"I'm afraid we can't leave now," Si Jiu said from the side.

"Yes, no matter which way we go, we'll fall into their trap." Zhang Zhen nodded in agreement with Si Jiu's statement.

Zhang Zhen was considering the likelihood of a successful attack, but this didn't align with their purpose for being there.

Yu Meng then looked at 432 and asked, "How's that little girl I asked you to keep an eye on?"

"I haven't seen her all day. I tried to find out where she was staying, pretending to be her friend, but the shop owner said they had checked out."

"Have all the people who were with her also disappeared?" Yu Meng asked again.

"I think I saw one of them at the market today," 432 recalled. "It was that old man. He was asking people around him if they had seen his granddaughter."

"It seems that the little girl has already been abducted by them," Yu Meng sighed.

"So what should we do? Go and save that little girl?" Zhang Zhen asked.

Four-Nine and Four-Three-Two looked at him strangely. "You know that little girl? Is she your friend?"

"No," Zhang Zhen replied, confused. "Then why are you all paying so much attention to her? Isn't that what you mean?"

Yu Meng laughed, "We don't know her. I had 432 watch over her just to prove a certain idea in my mind."

"So what do we do now?"

"Of course we'll go to the kitchen and find something to eat. We haven't eaten all day, aren't you hungry?"

"I'm hungry, I'm going right now," Si Jiu said as she went out.

"I'll go check it out too, so I can keep an eye on things."

The two of them went out.

Yu Meng looked at Zhang Zhen, "Can you contact your younger brother?"

Zhang Zhen shook his head. "I have been expelled from the family, and my password has been destroyed. Even if I send a message back, they will not respond."

Upon hearing this, Yu Meng swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

She had originally intended to remind the Zhang family about Zhang Zhen's facial structure, but now it seemed best to leave it at that. She'd leave it at that.