Zhang Chen looked at the dozen or so towering figures in the distance, his eyes revealing a hint of murderous intent: "It seems that we orphans and widows attract too much attention!"
He mastered the Blood Control Technique and could sense that those people’s bodies lacked Bloodline Power, which is a characteristic of the Blood Control Technique. If there were any Bloodline Powerhouses on the other side, it would be impossible for them to escape the detection of the Blood Control Technique.
"Want to try your hand?" Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Tuowei.
Zhang Tuowei could control Life Souls (the souls within the bodies of others), and now was indeed a good opportunity to practice.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tuowei was eager to try. Zhang Chen patted the Wild Donkey, which continued to walk forward.
"Senior Brother, they’re just a few stupid bandits. I can kill them with a flick of my finger; there’s no need to waste time and effort." Chengyu, who was nearby, was also somewhat excited.
Zhang Chen patted Chengyu’s head: "Focus on your cultivation, it’s not yet time for you to act. They’re just a few stupid bandits, a perfect opportunity for Chengyu to practice."
At this point, Zhang Chen took a deep breath: "This journey to Jiangnan is a long one, and there will be no shortage of opportunities for everyone to practice."
The donkey-drawn carriage continued moving through the desolate landscape, seemingly unaware of the danger, until night fell and Zhang Chen stopped the cart, prepared to set up camp, gather firewood, and light a bonfire.
They ate the goat meat Zhang Chen had previously gathered, the goat being a Sheep Demon slain by Zhang Chen’s Beast Taming Technique, with its blood and flesh considered highly nourishing.
As the aroma of roasted meat spread, a dozen figures emerged from the darkness, surrounding Zhang Chen and his group according to their positions. Looking at Zhang Chen’s group of five, all elderly, women, and children, those with dirty faces revealed an eerie smile.
The leader was a robust man who ignored Zhang Chen’s group and instead focused his gaze on the Wild Donkey, as well as the large box on the cart. His eyes gleamed with interest as he reached out to stroke the robust body of the Wild Donkey: "Good donkey! Good donkey! Truly a good donkey!"
"Do you have any business with us?" Zhang Chen watched the leader’s dirty hand stroke the donkey, and couldn’t help but frown and ask. These dozen people were robust and tall, seemingly unaffected by the disasters of the Northern Land. To maintain such robust figures in these times involved some intricacies.
The leader looked at Zhang Chen by the campfire, and at the sizzling roasted lamb ribs, instinctively swallowing a mouthful of saliva. His eyes were intently fixed on Zhang Chen: "Kid, it’s not easy for you orphans and widows to survive in these times. I’m offering you a chance; if you pledge loyalty to me, I’ll protect you."
The man’s gaze shifted from the roasted meat to Little Fatty with his plump body, instinctively swallowing again. Anyone with that much fat in these times must be a child of a wealthy family, now fallen into hard times, with orphans and widows fleeing for refuge.
The man’s gaze made Little Fatty Zhang Fei’s scalp tingle with fear, so he shuffled behind Zhang Chen, whispering: "Big brother, I’m scared!"
Zhang Chen patted Zhang Fei’s head, his eyes fixed on the robust man: "Eaten human flesh before?"
"In these times, how else can you stay robust and alive without eating human flesh?" the man chuckled, and as he spoke, he sat directly by the fire, reaching for the lamb ribs: "Rest assured, as long as you find me food, I won’t eat you."
However, before the robust man could grab the lamb ribs, his movement froze. Zhang Tuowei’s voice was filled with irritation: "I can’t stand it! My lamb ribs were just perfectly roasted, and if you ruin them, I’ll go hungry for the night!"
The next moment, the robust man drew a butcher’s knife from his waist, suddenly stood, and attacked his companion beside him.
"Big Brother, why are you attacking your own? Have you gone mad?" one of the men said, watching his own intestines spill on the ground, horror in his eyes as he looked at the robust man before collapsing, lifeless.
The other men also looked at the robust man in disbelief, seeing the man’s slightly stiff movements as he wielded the butcher’s knife and continued attacking his companions.
Those companions naturally didn’t sit and take it; they all drew cudgels from their waists and began fighting the robust man.
Although the robust man had a butcher’s knife, two fists were no match for many hands. Within moments, he was bloodied and lifeless, collapsing to the ground.
The others, still in shock, looked at the two deceased, unable to collect their thoughts before Zhang Tuowei’s gaze fixed on one of them, causing them to suddenly explode with rage, cudgel swinging at a nearby companion, leading to another chaotic brawl.
Zhang Chen watched Zhang Tuowei and, through True God Golden Light, could see a faint blue thread in the void, one end connecting Zhang Tuowei and the other connecting one of the men.
"Currently, Zhang Tuowei’s bloodline is Unranked. He can only control one person at a time, and only ordinary people. But even so, it’s already marvelous. The Zhang Family’s bloodline is indeed powerful; facing Zhang Tuowei’s methods, they have no defense!" Zhang Chen thought to himself.
However, Zhang Tuowei’s methods are not without weaknesses. His body is a weak point. Once someone gets close, even an ordinary man could kill him.
"We must enhance the cultivation of his Divine Soul Dao; the Yin Spirit Technique complements it, and his three souls and seven spirits are strong, which can assist his bloodline power." Zhang Chen thought to himself.
"Ghost! It’s haunted!"
At this moment, the remaining eight men sensed something was wrong, thinking they had encountered something nasty, and turned to run amidst cries of terror.
Their comrades seemed to have gone mad, inexplicably attacking them with lethal force. How could the rest not be horrified?
However, before they could escape, suddenly the ground collapsed, burying their knees, and the soil instantly turned into hard compacted earth, firmly holding them in place.
"Today, it’s perfect timing to feed the Hunting Falcons and the hornets." Zhang Chen patted the beehive, and the next moment a swarm of hornets surged forth, beginning to gnaw at the men. In an instant, the body of the Hunting Falcon grew enormous, swallowing the people on the ground one by one like insects.
For the Hunting Falcon, human blood was also a potent supplement.
Humans awaken their wit at birth, naturally possessing Creation; for the Demon Race, they are highly nourishing.
"Big brother, your little bird..." The group watched the sparrowhawk suddenly grow to three meters tall, devouring the corpses and live humans on the ground before transforming back into a small pigeon, causing them to retreat in shock, not daring to approach the Hunting Falcon.
"This is my pet; it won’t harm people without command, and it’s used for gathering intel in the future," Zhang Chen reassured them with a smile.
At this moment, the hornets were buzzing around, their noise making people’s skin crawl. The three young ones were pale with fear, and Mrs. Zhang’s body was rigid as she trembled, saying, "Zhang Chen, these hornets of yours eat people? They won’t sting us, right?"
"These hornets are all intelligent creatures; mother, don’t be afraid, they won’t harm you." Zhang Chen quickly comforted her, while directing the hornets to stay away from his mother.
Then he called his family to continue roasting meat for their meal, but everyone looked at the buzzing hornets, feeling their scalps tingle. Even Chengyu, who had reached the Exorcism level, looked pale. Although she could move objects with her soul, there were simply too many hornets here. Even if they were just ordinary hornets, their overwhelming numbers were daunting.
If the hornets went into a frenzy, she feared she wouldn’t fare well, and her body might be destroyed.
This revealed the early shortcomings of Divine Soul Dao cultivators; once someone found their physical body, death was near.
After the hornets finished feeding, leaving only a field of bones, they returned to their nest. As silence returned to the field, Mrs. Zhang looked at Zhang Chen, "My son, I’m afraid we’re in trouble. On this long journey south, who knows how many people will target us. We, a lone widow and orphan, are seen as easy prey. I’m afraid this journey won’t be peaceful."
"If there’s anyone with ill intentions, just kill them directly!" Chengyu’s eyes showed a hint of malice, not only awakening her thunder power but also being a top martial arts expert in the world.
"I’m just afraid we can’t kill them all!" Zhang Chen thought to himself.
Indeed, the next day, Zhang Chen and his group continued their journey, but hadn’t gone ten miles before they were surrounded again by seven or eight vagrants who wished to plunder them, once again to be fended off by Zhang Tuowei.
But not long after, before they had traveled ten more miles, three more men surrounded them, delaying their journey again.
By nightfall, the widow and orphan had been robbed over a dozen times and hadn’t traveled fifty miles.
After setting up camp again, Chengyu, with an air of maturity, said, "Too troublesome, petty bandits are not to be feared, but they waste too much time and are a mood killer. The refugees on this road are bandits, and bandits are refugees. It’s impossible to differentiate now, and we are too weak to travel in the Northern Land. We must come up with a plan. Otherwise, there won’t be any travel, just standing and fighting these refugees."
Hearing Chengyu’s complaint, everyone looked at each other, then focused on Zhang. Zhang Chen, seeing this, smiled wryly, "I never thought the Northern Land situation would be this chaotic. These refugees even turn to robbing and looting. Truly detestable!"
"To travel safely, we need to find large families or caravans to follow, which might reduce a lot of trouble," Zhang Chen said, stroking his chin.
This was his first time traveling without experience; previously, he would just vanish in any direction. How could he know human nature had decayed to this point?
Humans were no different from demon beasts!
Those who survived the great drought of the year were far from simple!
"Tomorrow, we’ll first find a wealthy family’s caravan to follow and see if that resolves the trouble," Zhang Chen decided.