But how specific the contents need to be was still uncertain, and even Yu Ziqing felt that there might be some requirements he hadn't categorized yet.
Yu Ziqing raised his head and looked at the burly man with snake tattoos. His eyes narrowed slightly, and the tension in his nerves finally relaxed a little. At least from now on, he wouldn't have his life completely in someone else's hands.
He took out a charcoal pencil and blacked out all the small characters, leaving only the beginning.
"Snake-Tattooed Man, harmless."
He moved on to the next page, where all the information had been blacked out, leaving only one sentence.
"Scar-faced Man, harmless."
He turned two more pages, and it was the same.
Yu Ziqing tightened his large cloak and fell asleep by the campfire.
This time, he slept much more peacefully.
Time flew by, and at dawn, Yu Ziqing was awakened.
It was time to continue on their journey.
With a quick glance, as expected, the few rugged men from yesterday were all gone.
And when the sheep in the herd were counted, there were a few more.
As they continued to travel into the night and found a place to rest, the burly man with snake tattoos seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, pointed to the faintly visible mountains in the distance, and grinned widely.
"Almost there, the mines."
Yu Ziqing seemed to breathe a sigh of relief too and smiled broadly.
According to what these bandits said when communicating in the Alien Clan's dialect, since that disaster struck until today, it was conservatively estimated that within a thousand miles, only this mine was considered inhabited.
Or perhaps only here could be considered relatively stable. At least there was food, drinkable water, and shelter from the wind and snow.
This mine produced an ore called Jinlan, accounting for more than fifty percent of the world's total ore production. The remaining less than half was scattered throughout various regions.
Yu Ziqing didn't know its specific use. He had only heard that it was a necessity for those high-status, mysterious Dao Cultivators of the southern Daqian Divine Dynasty, and it was always in short supply.
With such profits, the mine couldn't possibly become uninhabited.
However, this barren wasteland of over a thousand miles had, for reasons Yu Ziqing hadn't figured out, not been officially included in the Daqian Divine Dynasty's territory.
Yu Ziqing guessed that this might have provided the basis for those bandits to abduct and sell people.
Unfortunately, the overall environment was worsening, and even these bandits planned to move elsewhere after this job, as there was nothing to gain here anymore. sheep herding trip, it took the longest yet yielded the fewest sheep.
Nowadays, traveling dozens of miles, one couldn't even see a rabbit, and edible plants were either frozen or withered. Some, even when dried and buried in the soil, mostly couldn't escape being gnawed clean by animals fleeing the disaster.
Along the way, apart from dry bones, nothing was rarely seen; at least it wasn't such a scene before.
Yu Ziqing stood at the edge of the sheep herd, with his back to those four bandits, clutching a palm-sized naan in his hand, offering it to the mouth of an emaciated old sheep, murmuring softly.
"Eat a bit, survive first, then there's hope."
The old sheep bleated twice, nibbled a few bites of the bread, and then drank some water Yu Ziqing provided.
Just then, the burly man with snake tattoos approached, pointed at Yu Ziqing and then at the emaciated old sheep, and shouted impatiently,
"Hurry up, bring it over."
Yu Ziqing's body paused, and his eyes instantly changed.
Unfortunately, he always kept his eyes squinted, his face covered in black soot, and hadn't washed for a long time; with dead skin stuck to his face and the dog skin hat wrapped around his head, no one could see anything from his face.
Yu Ziqing sighed inwardly and slowly turned around.
"This sheep is old and thin, not even two pounds of meat, not tasty. Aren't there a few fatter sheep?"
Honestly, under normal circumstances, Yu Ziqing couldn't really distinguish which of this sheep herd were victims of Beast Creation Evil Skill and which were real sheep.
But here, he could really tell at a glance.
Nowadays, on this cold and desolate Wilderness, except for the burly man like these bandits, there was no chance of seeing any plump, well-fed ordinary people.
After a few months, no matter how it was before, now, whether alive or dead, everybody was sure to be thinner one than the other.
As for those who weren't thin, they wouldn't fall victim to Beast Creation.
The snake-tattooed man grinned broadly, pointing at Yu Ziqing, laughing heartily.
"Right, there are indeed some fat ones here."
While speaking, the black rope tied around his waist had, without anyone noticing, disappeared.
Upon hearing this, Yu Ziqing instantly understood that this guy did it on purpose.
Now that they were almost at the destination, his value as a chef was far less than his value as a sheep.
To find a relatively stable place, then reconsider plans, just couldn't be smoothly implemented.
Yu Ziqing gently pushed the old sheep, directly saying,
"Old sir, stay away, when the blood splatters, in this damned weather, if it gets wet, it will be fatal."
The old sheep bleated in mourning twice, seeing the mournful look in Yu Ziqing's eyes, he understood that Yu Ziqing didn't want him involved even facing death.
Unfortunately, the old sheep couldn't resist Yu Ziqing and was pushed into the herd, carried away by the flock.
Yu Ziqing turned back, slowly pacing outward, pulling out a rusted short sword from his pocket.
The snake-tattooed man couldn't help but chuckle, he wasn't afraid Yu Ziqing had figured something out and didn't even bother hiding it.
The black rope was already dragging a sheepskin and appeared behind Yu Ziqing.
The rope with the sheepskin lunged, and Yu Ziqing squinted his eyes, left hand holding the sword scabbard, right hand holding the short sword, and drew it with force.
In an instant, a flash of sword light shone on the rusted short sword, cutting the sheepskin and black rope into two.
Accompanied by the black rope's creature-like struggles and wails.
The rust on the short sword peeled off layer by layer, instantly transforming it into a Silver Frost Sword with rippling patterns, radiating a sharp, cold light.
As Yu Ziqing's slightly hunched body slowly straightened, a chilling murderous intent erupted from his frail shell, along with raging Qi-Blood.
His eyes, which had been slightly narrowed, suddenly opened, and they shone like a scorching sun within the star-like pupils.
Without a word, Yu Ziqing drew his sword and rushed forward, his figure like an unsheathed sharp sword, so fast that by the time the sword light was seen, his body had already passed by.
A human head, accompanied by hot, stinking blood, shot up into the sky.
On the snake-tattooed man's face, there remained a look of astonishment and confusion even in death.
Even until his death, he did not comprehend why a seemingly Qi-Blood depleted, emaciated and weak temporary cook.
Suddenly, burst out with such terrifying strength?
After spending so many days together, none of them sensed the slightest anomaly.