I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

Bol slowed down and sat up straight.

Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, people were already moving behind the roadblock.

An older church guard walked around the wooden stake, his hand on the weapon handle at his waist. His gaze first swept over the horse's bridle, then looked at the seals on the side of the carriage's logistics department, and finally settled on the two people in the driver's seat.

He must have seen the Night's Watch bridle and seals from afar, but he still came over.

Where to?

"Guber Town." Bor took out the badge from his pocket, turned it over, and showed it to everyone.

The other person glanced at the pattern on the badge, lowered his hand from the weapon hilt, and relaxed his shoulders.

"Okay, got it." He turned his head and waved to the people behind him, signaling them to move the roadblocks.

Bor didn't rush off. He put one hand on the reins and turned his head to look at the guard.

"When did they start setting up roadblocks on this road? In previous years, you wouldn't see a soul on this route."

The guard paused for a moment, glancing at Bor, probably deciding whether or not to answer the question.

"It was arranged by higher-ups," he said, his tone not harsh, but tinged with fatigue. "Recently, it's not just this place; several side roads to the south have been closed."

Bor raised an eyebrow and continued, "The church is setting up checkpoints outside the official road to check people? When was this authority approved?"

The guard took a breath, seemingly a little irritated.

"I don't know if it's approved or not." He glanced at the roadblocks, lowering his voice. "The higher-ups said to investigate, so we investigate. The letter listed a whole bunch of things, but I can't even read a few of them clearly. A team was transferred from the north the day before yesterday; they just removed their posts there and came here. We've been rotating through the same few people."

After he finished speaking, he added, "There's nothing I can do about it."

Bohr didn't ask any further questions and nodded.

The roadblock was half removed, and the carriage drove through the gap.

As Lu Yuan passed by, he glanced around discreetly. There were at least seven or eight guards, which was unusual for a remote south-facing side road.

Their equipment wasn't patrol gear; they carried weapons at their waists, and their face armor was pulled low. Judging from their position and demeanor, they were specifically stationed here.

On the other side of the roadblock, there was a horse-drawn carriage covered with a tarpaulin, so you couldn't see what was inside. Several guards who weren't on duty were squatting by the roadside eating dry rations, and the hems of their robes were covered in mud.

They've obviously been here for a while.

Bor spoke only after the carriage had traveled some distance.

"When did the church start setting up obstacles on this path?"

"Some people in the city have been saying that the church has been frequently sending patrol teams out of the city lately," Lu Yuan added. "It's not just in the south; people in the north have encountered them too."

That was mentioned by the bard Heymond in the tavern.

I didn't pay much attention at the time, but now that I've seen it with my own eyes, it matches up with those scattered rumors.

Bor snorted. "Patrolling is patrolling, setting up roadblocks is another matter. This road is a branch of the imperial main road, and according to regulations, only the Holy Armor Army and the Iron Guard are allowed there."

Imperial forces or the Night's Watch have the authority to set up checkpoints. For the Church to investigate, they must follow the procedures of the Imperial joint law enforcement, requiring the Earl's signature.

He paused. "Unless the Earl actually signs it."

Lu Yuan did not respond.

He didn't know whether the count had signed it or not, but the church's actions were indeed getting bigger and bigger.

From frequent entry and exit from the inner city to setting up checkpoints and garrisons in various places outside the city, the manpower used and the coverage area are expanding.

This doesn't seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision; it's more like a planned deployment that's gradually unfolding.

Ahead lay another dense forest.

The carriage continued south.

The sun slowly sank behind the tree canopy, and the light in the forest gradually dimmed. The dappled sunlight on the road changed from bright gold to a dull orange, and then to gray.

Bohr glanced at the sky.

"I passed through on the road tonight. There's a fork in the road ahead; people who usually take this route stop there to rest."

Lu Yuan nodded.

After the carriage had traveled for another half hour, when it was completely dark, Bor turned the carriage into a slightly open space by the roadside.

Three sides are trees, and one side faces a dirt road. The ground is hard from being walked on, and in the corner there is a pile of burnt charcoal and a circle of stones that have been moved to be used as stools.

Indeed, some people regularly stop here.

Bor jumped off the carriage with swift movements. He first removed the bridles from the two horses and tied them to a tree stump next to them. Then he rummaged through a hidden compartment under the carriage and pulled out a bag of hay, which he then poured onto the ground.

Then he squatted down next to the old charcoal pile, took out a tinderbox from his satchel, and picked up a few dry branches to place on it.

As the fire was lit, the darkness in the woods receded a few steps.

The light didn't reach a wide area; you couldn't see anything beyond four or five meters. The shadows of the trees flickered at the edge of the firelight. Occasionally, something would snap a dry branch in the distant woods with a loud thud and then disappear.

The two horses lowered their heads to eat hay, occasionally snorting.

Bo'er sat on the rock and took out two dry food cakes from his cloth bag. He gave one to Lu Yuan.

The flatbread was hard and cold, and tasted only of flour and salt.

Bo'er munched on a biscuit, then took out the small wine flask from his pocket, unscrewed the lid, and poured Lu Yuan a small cup.

Lu Yuan took a small sip. The alcohol wasn't very strong; it was slightly spicy when it went down his throat, with a hint of fermented grain flavor. A warm sensation slid from his throat to his stomach, and the chill in his body lessened a bit.

"How far?" Lu Yuan handed the cup back.

"We should arrive around tomorrow afternoon." Bor put away the wine jug and used his foot to brush away the ashes beside the charcoal pile. "The second half of this road is difficult to travel; there's an uphill bend, and the carriage will be slow."

The two did not talk any further.

Boer added two more thick branches to the fire, which made the flames more stable, crackling and popping.

He leaned against the wheel and pulled his coat collar up.

"This road is clean," Bor said before closing his eyes. "The people at the base patrol this area every month; they cleared out the low-level stuff a long time ago. As long as the fire isn't extinguished, everything's fine."

In a short while, Bo's breathing became even.

Lu Yuan did not go to sleep immediately.

He sat by the fire, looking at the small patch of ground in front of him illuminated by the firelight.

The chirping of insects came from the surrounding darkness, faint and layered.

The wind blew down from the treetops, carrying the scent of decaying leaves and earth.

It's very quiet.

The Worm of Knowledge was quietly deep within the left eye. In the past few days, it seemed to have digested a lot of what it had eaten, and its size appeared to have increased a few more times.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes.

the next day.

When Lu Yuan opened his eyes, it was already dawn, and the fog in the forest was very heavy, with a thin layer of grayish-white floating between the tree trunks.

The fire had gone out, leaving only a pile of ashes and a few pieces of charcoal that hadn't burned through. The embers were still warm, and you could feel a little heat if you got close.

[Sanity: +12...94/110]

My sanity has returned to its maximum of ten points. It's clear that after three days of rest, my sanity has begun to recover gradually. At a rate of ten points per day, my sanity should be fully restored by the time I complete this mission.

Lu Yuan was in a good mood as he thought about it. He glanced at his side and saw that Bo'er had woken up. He was squatting next to the horse, checking its hooves. When he looked up and saw Lu Yuan get up, he raised his chin at him.

"Let's go."

The two men ate a few bites of the remaining dry rations and drank some water from the jug. Bor re-harnessed the horse, covered the fire with earth, and the carriage set off again.

The woods in the early morning looked completely different from yesterday afternoon.

The fog drifted low, the road surface was wet, and the wheels left two dark tracks as they rolled over it.

Dew dripped from the treetops, occasionally landing on the wooden planks of the carriage with a soft thud.

The air was cold and clean, and it felt cool in my throat when I breathed it in.

The road conditions gradually deteriorated.

The once smooth dirt road had become a mix of gravel and mud, with several potholes that had obviously collapsed and then hastily filled in. The carriage was jolting violently, and Bor had to slow down.

There was a section of uphill bend that the horses practically had to pull up step by step, the wooden crates in the carriage clattering and making dull thuds.

After that bend, the road improved.

As the sun rose directly overhead, the forest began to change; the trees grew taller and denser.

Some tree roots bulged out of the ground, lying across the edge of the road. Thick moss, almost blackish-green, covered the bark.

To the edge of the ancient forest.

The afternoon sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, less than yesterday, and the air was filled with a heavy, damp, and rotten smell.

Then Lu Yuan smelled the aroma of charcoal, faintly carried by the wind from a great distance.

As the carriage rounded a bend in the uphill road, the view suddenly opened up, with trees naturally giving way to a clearing, and a gap carved out of the dense forest.

The town of Guber is located there.

A shallow stream flows out from the direction of the woods, runs through the entire town, and divides the houses on both banks into two rows.

The stream was shallow, and the pebbles beneath the surface were clearly visible. The sound of the flowing water was soft and gentle, blending into the tranquility of the forest.

Two stone bridges span the stream; the stones are old, and layers of moss grow in the crevices.

Most of the houses are a combination of wood and stone.

The bottom two or three layers of stone are bluish-gray, with fine lines etched by wind on the surface, and brass rivets embedded in some places.

The original structure has wooden parts that have been added on top, with varying shades of color and many signs of repair.

This town has a long history. The workmanship of the base stone blocks is somewhat similar to the walls of the old town of Bronze City, both being in the style of the early Empire.

In the center of town, there is a stone tablet, not very tall, only up to waist height.

Most of the characters on the monument have been blurred by wind erosion, and only the shapes of a few letters can be vaguely discerned.

The base is still neat, showing that it was made hundreds of years ago.

The afternoon sun slanted down from overhead, shining on the stone roofs and giving them a warm, grayish-white hue.

Several households had herbs drying in front of their houses, spread out on bamboo trays, their colors varying in shades.

A woman was washing clothes by the stream, and the sound of her washing mallet hitting the stone slabs drifted over.

There are no electric lights or inscriptions here; everything in the town seems primitive.