Chapter 97: The Strange Grandfather and Grandson

After receiving the task, Ren Qing immediately set out from Sanxiang City.

He did not plan to go deep into the mountains and forests. Even though the surrounding area had already been mostly explored, that didn't mean there was no hidden danger.

Ren Qing followed the official road toward the town of Annan, searching for clues along the way. He had specifically changed into a straw rain cape and a bamboo hat suited for traveling the jianghu.

The long-unused Great Miao Blade was also strapped to his back.

Before departing, he had carefully inquired with Clerk Zhao. Annan town lay near the southern frontier, and every imperial exam would involve at least more than twenty students participating.

And they would be accompanied by official soldiers, with even a Restraint Officer secretly monitoring them.

With so many people, wild beasts wouldn't dare approach, and since they were traveling on a pre-verified safe official road, there shouldn't have been any accidents.

Yet the students from Annan were two days late and still hadn't arrived at Sanxiang City.

Inquiring with the Restraint Officer, the answer was only that they had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, without the slightest warning.

Unknowingly, dusk had fallen.

Ren Qing noticed that the official road mostly bore marks left by carts and horses, and there were hardly any footprints from large groups of people walking.

According to the estimated distance, he had already come fifty li outside of Sanxiang City.

Though it had only taken him less than an hour, an average person would take at least ten hours of nonstop travel to cover fifty li.

This showed that the students from Annan likely hadn't taken the main official road. If they had entered the forest, then encountering anything would not be surprising.

Ren Qing recorded the situation; the more valuable the information, the more blood crystals he would receive.

Just as he was about to return to Sanxiang City, he noticed a faint light flickering in the distance, it was the glow of a torch.

Ren Qing instinctively squinted his Double Pupils, and his gaze pierced the pitch-black night. Two figures were slowly walking forward.

His expression showed some surprise.

The figures were a pair of an old man and a child, holding hands.

The old man appeared seventy or eighty years old, but his actual age was likely around fifty. He wore relatively thin clothing, and his face was full of wrinkles.

The young boy next to him was a bit different, around five years old, but clearly dressed in thick winter clothing, despite the hot weather.

He was tightly bundled up, his sweat nearly soaking through his clothes.

And on the boy's forehead was a dark purple mark, about the size of a fingernail, as if it had been forcibly pressed there by someone.

Ren Qing felt that the grandfather and grandson's appearance resembled that of the southern frontier tribes, those Miao people who lived south of Xiangxiang and rarely interacted with the outside world.

He lightly tapped his feet on the ground and leapt onto a tree branch not far away.

"Woya Ye, I'm hot..."

The boy panted and spoke, but his physical strength far exceeded that of children his age. After all this traveling, he showed no sign of fatigue.

"Wogu, we'll reach Sanxiang City soon. Then we can rest."

Woya Ye's tone was somewhat wooden. After speaking, he came to his senses and gently patted Wogu's head.

But looking at the old man's feet, it was clear that from prolonged walking, he had developed blood blisters; even his footprints were faintly tinged with blood.

Wogu nodded, wiped the sweat from his face, and continued along the official road.

Ren Qing did not show himself just yet.

He planned to find the right time. The more he looked at these two, the stranger they seemed. There might be clues about the Annan students.

The grandfather and grandson walked another ten or so li and soon grew tired. The old man's gait became increasingly unsteady.

Were it not for the fact that they truly couldn't go on, they still wouldn't have stopped walking. Who knew what was driving them.

As it happened, there was an abandoned temple not far away. The pair decided to stay the night there and continue on to Sanxiang City the next day.

The temple had originally enshrined the City God, but the statue had long been mostly destroyed.

Woya Ye lit a campfire with the torch, then opened all the windows to ventilate. Otherwise, it would be easy to suffocate.

Wogu fell asleep drowsily beside him, not even removing his outer garments.

Compared to the strange aspects of the old man, the grandson seemed a bit more normal.

Ren Qing approached the ruined temple, stored the Great Miao Blade in Prison Within the Abdomen, and deliberately changed into a scholar's attire.

Woya Ye noticed footsteps approaching and immediately became alert.

His right hand instinctively reached behind his waist, where a hatchet was hidden, nearly undetectable unless drawn.

"Old sir, apologies. I'm a scholar heading to Sanxiang City, but I was separated from my group, so I must stay here for the night."

Ren Qing spoke calmly while silently activating Mirror-Faced's ability.

The goal, naturally, was to probe the other party and also make himself appear harmless.

Woya Ye sized Ren Qing up and down for a moment, then nodded.

He picked up his sleeping grandson and specifically made space for Ren Qing, though there were still several meters of distance between them, obviously remaining cautious.

Ren Qing sat by the campfire. In just that short time, the wounds on the old man's feet were visibly healing.

However, the hair on his head had turned a bit more silvery white, as if his lifespan was continuously draining.

Ren Qing took some dry rations from his robe. He tried to offer them to Woya Ye, but the latter refused, though his expression visibly softened.

The night was long. With a stranger nearby, sleep was impossible. The two began chatting idly.

Ren Qing cast a sidelong glance at Wogu. The little boy's face was turning pale, more and more devoid of blood, as if hovering between life and death.

"Is your grandson alright?"

Woya Ye immediately checked on Wogu and, seeing his condition worsen, was startled.

He took out a waterskin made from a cow's stomach, then lifted Wogu and fed him a bit. The boy gradually came back to life.

Ren Qing's expression shifted.

Though the lighting was dim, he noticed that the waterskin held a yellow-brown viscous grease.

There was a strange aroma.

Ren Qing had cooked soy-braised dishes before, and he quickly realized that the grease likely contained various spices, that kind of smell only came from mixed simmering.

But it felt more like the spices were masking the original scent.

"Old sir, are you taking your grandson to Sanxiang City for treatment?"

Woya Ye's gaze momentarily lost focus, as if trying to recall something, then just shook his head without replying.

A moment later, he deliberately changed the subject: "Young man, you're not from Sanxiang City?"

"I came from the town of Annan."

The moment he said this, Woya Ye's face showed a trace of astonishment. Though he quickly concealed it, it did not escape the Double Pupils.

Woya Ye forced a calm expression and muttered a few words of comfort, then used taking care of his grandson as an excuse to distance himself from Ren Qing.

Ren Qing was puzzled. This grandfather and grandson were strange in every way.

Moreover, after interacting with Woya Ye, he was indeed just an ordinary person, but all signs pointed to a possible connection with the Annan students.

Wogu groggily woke up and murmured, "Woya Ye, I dreamed of them again..."

Woya Ye calmly replied, "Sleep, sleep. We'll be in the city tomorrow."

Wogu fell asleep again.

Ren Qing pretended to rest, thinking to himself: "I'd like to see what's in that dream."