Published: September 5, 2025
Chapter 645: Three Traveling Together
The Fu Family Fort was located in the western part of Yuanwu Country, deep within a mountain called Purple Dao Mountain.
This mountain was shrouded year-round in a faint purple mist. Mortals who entered not only found it impossible to see anything, but after lingering in the mist for a while, their eyes would tear up and their throats would swell painfully. If they stayed even longer, they would be poisoned to death.
Although the locals knew well the dangers of this purple mist and treated it like deadly scorpions, never daring to come close, every year still some outsiders who didn’t understand the situation would wander in and perish there.
The deaths of these mortals were of no concern to the Fu Family, who had long regarded this mountain as their own territory.
Mortals die and die — what could be done about it? Moreover, to die beneath the “Poisonous Cloud Purple Miasma Formation” that the Fu Family painstakingly arranged with several formation masters working in unison was actually a sign of great misfortune for those mortals.
However, in recent days, although Purple Dao Mountain remained wrapped in mist, this normally desolate place began to grow lively. From time to time, cultivators would appear just outside the mist, shouting something before flashing a glowing red invitation. Then, they would be taken into the mist and disappear.
The nearest mortal town to Purple Dao Mountain was a small city called Taihe. The town was not large, only about ten miles in size, with a population of around a hundred thousand. However, all amenities like restaurants and inns were complete and nothing was lacking.
“A’er” was a clerk at one of Taihe City’s two inns, the “Yongqu” Inn. Though only eighteen or nineteen years old, he had worked as a clerk for three or four years.
Now slightly thin, he leaned half against the inn’s main door, listlessly calling out to passersby to lodge at the inn.
It wasn’t that A’er was lazy; it was just the height of summer. Anyone who had been shouting under the blazing sun all morning would naturally lose their strength to shout loudly.
So, even though the innkeeper Liu, known for being stingy and difficult, noticed A’er’s spiritless demeanor and showed displeasure on his face, he just muttered a few low words and buried himself in calculating accounts with a yellow wooden abacus and a thick ledger on the table.
A’er looked up at the hazy, whitened sky, silently cursing a few times in his heart. Then, after mumbling some indistinct calls to attract customers, he became even more listless.
He was just thinking about whether he could sneak back to the kitchen unseen by Liu and have a few cups of cold water to quell the heat in his chest. But at that moment, the sky suddenly darkened, and a coolness spread around him. Startled, A’er looked up—and was greatly frightened.
Before his eyes, three strange figures had appeared out of nowhere.
One wore a tall cap and hemp clothes, short and stout, resembling a big soft ball; another was bald and barefoot with bull-like eyes and a scarred face, about ten feet tall; the last had disheveled hair tied back, a face full of deadly aura, and cold, icy eyes.
“Gentlemen, are you looking to stay at the inn?” A’er, not new to his job, quickly mustered a broad smile despite his shock. From his years of experience, though these three looked fierce and intimidating, they were definitely generous patrons.
“Nonsense. If the three of us weren’t staying, why come all the way here? Prepare three upstairs rooms, and a table of the finest wine and dishes. Bring them to our rooms,” said the short, stout one with a small glare, tossing a large silver coin into A’er’s arms impatiently.
“Yes, yes! Please come in, gentlemen. The wine and dishes will be served immediately. A’er, quickly get the three best rooms ready for these gentlemen!” Before A’er could respond, Shopkeeper Liu, who had been watching everything at the door, suddenly sprang forward like a robust man in his thirties, snatched the silver coin from A’er’s arms, and said with a sycophantic smile,