Chapter 1787: Chapter 1787: Zeng Family Ridge

Zeng Family Ridge.

Located within the foothills of a mountain range, surrounded on three sides by mountains serving as natural barriers, with only a stream originating from the mountains flowing out, forming an entrance.

If you are unfamiliar with the terrain or lack a map, finding this place would require some effort.

Ran Yue looked up at the falcon in the sky. The falcon let out an eagle’s cry and swung its wings left and right.

"Head to the left front."

Ran Yue glanced at the falcon and pointed to the left front. At this moment, there were hardly any visible paths in the area. If it weren’t for Ran Yue’s ability to command spiritual beasts to provide direction, getting lost wouldn’t be impossible.

The wilderness had few people, so the vast area beyond the Purple Bamboo Sea was mostly uninhabited. Any family setting territory here was usually not prestigious and newly risen.

The closer you got to Ancestor Dragon City, the more the fertile lands were already occupied by larger families.

Chasing the falcon on horseback, maps could only provide a rough position, as there were few landmarks in this vast region.

After galloping for more than an hour, some undulating mountains finally appeared ahead.

Ran Yue pointed forward and said, "It should be there. The marked position on the map is about right, plus the falcon seems to have spotted people there. Even if we’ve come to the wrong place, we might learn something useful."

"Yes, before night falls."

Li Feng nodded, urged his steed, and both he and Ran Yue galloped towards the area where the falcon hovered.

With time ticking away, the ridges ahead became increasingly clear.

Ran Yue turned to Li Feng, "Will those people still be here? According to you, they were duel arena war slaves. Letting them out of Ancestor Dragon City is like sending fish into the sea. Would they still be waiting for you?"

Ran Yue expressed doubt. A group of war slaves who had lost their freedom—would they still obediently follow after being freed from Ancestor Dragon City?

"They will."

Li Feng replied firmly.

Just as Ran Yue was about to question his confidence, she suddenly felt a cold sensation graze her cheek.

A strand of hair flew loose from her head, and Ran Yue was startled. There was an ambush.

"Li Feng, there’s...!"

Ran Yue turned her head back towards Li Feng, only to see a black-haired woman in black tight clothes appear behind him, sitting closely behind him and toying with a short blade.

"You?"

"Heh, I am Shadow, the war slave you thought had escaped."

Ran Yue was rendered speechless, but seeing the woman stuck so close to Li Feng with her seductive demeanor, Ran Yue felt a burst of displeasure in her heart.

"Shadow, lead the way."

Li Feng directly instructed the Shadow behind him.

Shadow pursed her lips and said, "Continue forward for a while, and you’ll see a stream. Follow it upstream, and you’ll find the mountain pass."

"But why did you take so long? If you had delayed further, we would have really left by now," Shadow complained.

Although not even half a month had passed since their agreed meeting time of waiting at this place for a month.

"What happened?"

Hearing the grievance in Shadow’s tone, Li Feng wondered if something had happened.

"What’s happened is that this Zeng Family Ridge is a poor and remote place, with only about two or three hundred households, all living in sheds with hardly any food," Shadow grumbled.

"We are five hundred people. After arriving, we ran out of food in just two days. If there weren’t any spiritual beasts around these parts, we would have starved to death here."

Shadow was filled with discontent. Zeng Family Ridge was supposed to be a family territory, but the Zeng Family had barely invested resources here. It was so far from development, and transporting the locally grown grain back to Ancestor Dragon City was impractical due to the small quantity and long distance. The Zeng Family kept this area out of old family habits.

They initially put people here, just assigning a few servants or exiling wrongdoers from the family, not paying attention to its development.

Thus, when Zeng Family gave this place to Li Feng, they didn’t have any qualms, for if it had been a prosperous village near Ancestor Dragon City, they wouldn’t have given it away.

Listening to Shadow’s complaints, traveling upstream between the two mountain ridges, they reached a gourd hollow about a few hundred meters long. Passing through it, the view suddenly opened up.

There was a vast valley among the ridges. Streams converged into a river passing through, and a village, backed by the mountain and facing the water, came into view.

This place, like a hidden paradise, isolated from the world. The Zeng Family discovered it by sheer coincidence, found it nice, and decided to buy it as their own territory. However, being too remote and off the main roads with no special produce, Zeng Family Ridge remained lukewarm after its establishment.

"You finally arrived." Lei Ba and Lan appeared near the valley entrance, along with hundreds of war slaves.

Li Feng pulled the reins, Shadow leaped off the horse, and Li Feng dismounted, looking at the bear-like build of Lei Ba and the boyish appearance of Lan on the other side.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Let’s first head into the village," Lei Ba said without much small talk. Their relationship was only employment-based, and aside from briefly fighting together in the Duel Arena Underground City, they had little interaction.

Lei Ba and the others did well by waiting here for Li Feng, keeping their promise.

Li Feng nodded. This Zeng Family Ridge, now to be called Li Family Ridge, for Zeng Family had given it to him, but he had no one to manage it and never sent anyone to take over.

Following Lei Ba and the others into the village, the houses, made of wood, were few and scattered, with clusters of simple huts outside. A hut was just a pit dug in the ground with a cover, and a single small door for entry.

This village resembled those remote countryside settlements from decades ago.

Li Feng entered the village but saw no villagers. However, he felt many eyes peeking at them.

Though the houses were dilapidated, the village had a fairly decent multi-courtyard house made of bricks and stones. Worthless in Ancestor Dragon City but luxurious in this village.

Lei Ba led Li Feng into the courtyard. Ran Yue frowned, tugging at Li Feng’s sleeve to remind him to be cautious, as she smelled a heavy scent of blood.

Shadow, sharply noticing Ran Yue’s subtle actions, stated, "Smell the blood? Can’t help it, with hundreds of people eating, drinking, and living here, it’s surprising it doesn’t smell like death."

"But, indeed, a few were killed—those oppressors within the courtyard claiming to be from the Zeng Family, rattling on, and Lei Ba killed them on the spot."

"As for the villagers and slaves, we haven’t killed a single one and even shared our meat with them these days."

"Zeng Family members—killed, just like that. But they sent this place to me without recalling their own people. Ha, maybe they expected to take it back quickly." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Li Feng wouldn’t speak for the Zeng Family members stationed here. He’s taken plenty of Zeng Family lives already.