Chapter 12 - I Met An Immortal
For the rest of the journey, Wang Er was about as cautious as he could possibly be, constantly reminded of the massive pain. Finally, the team made it to the creek just before the stone forest.
Wang Er immediately rushed to wash his wounds in the river, while all the constables laughed on the inside as they saw the scene.
They had seen unlucky individuals, but this was a first.
"Little Chen, the stone forest is straight ahead. It's normally quite empty here. If they want to do something, they will do it here. But given the amount of thorns inside, it's impossible for their horses to go fast, so you have a good shot of escaping."
"If you are able to successfully flee, don't think of avenging anyone, ok? Just keep living on, do you understand?"
Chen Shan and his wife didn't have time to laugh about Wang Er. They knew very well what the stone forest was like. The only reason they didn't oppose Constable Zhou's proposal to go from there was because Chen Chen had a much better chance of fleeing from here than anywhere else.
A horse is a necessity to flee from other places, but how is robbing a horse an easy feat?
"Father, mother, don't worry. I will be good, you will see," Chen Chen comforted them as he looked at Wang Er washing his wounds next to the river, a weird smile blooming on his face.
One moment later.
Wang Er was finally finished with his wound, and as he returned, he stared at Chen Chen with an insidious look.
While washing his wound, he found Chen Chen more and more responsible for his injury.
Were it not for the fact that this lad had been running around for no reason, why else would he be up to this?
Since the stone forest was just ahead, he didn't want to hide anymore. With this in mind, he mouthed towards Chen Chen, "You are done!"
Accompanying that statement was a ferocious smile.
Chen Chen pretended that he simply didn't see it. Instead, he looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, his face full of joy, as if he was going out for a trip.
This made Wang Er even more infuriated.
"Housekeeper Wang, let's go if you're done."
Constable Zhou, who was leading the team, paid extra emphasis on the "go," clearly hinting at something.
Housekeeper Wang nodded angrily, following the group.
This time, the lesson had been learned; not only did he follow the group at all times, he paid extra attention to the ground, walking as carefully as one would on a single-plank bridge.
He just did not believe that he could end up with bad luck with such caution!
...
"In the grass, 8 meteres left from the straight path, there is a wildlife trap."
"Behind the tree in front, there is feces from a wild wolf."
...
Inside the forest, the number of messy items such as the ones the System reported immediately increased.
However, Chen Chen knew, just by looking at the caution Wang Er was practicing, that he was not about to run over any of them.
Therefore, he didn't try to get Wang Er to leave the group, instead choosing to wait for better opportunities.
"There is a beehive thirteen meters right of the straight path; upon contact, it will fall down."
Upon hearing the System's reminder, Chen Chen immediately turned his head to the right.
As expected, on a tree not too far away, there was a beehive.
If they walk normally, they wouldn't touch the beehive in any way.
But was Chen Chen intending to let the group move normally? Clearly not.
Chen Chen secretly picked up a small rock on the ground as he walked, and as he got to the closest point from the beehive, he ejected the rock from his fingers.
Paaaaa!
The beehive promptly fell.
Bzzzzz!
Hundreds of wasps, each about the size of a broad bean, poured out of the beehive and soon discovered the group.
The constables could hear the weird sound, and upon looking at the source, they nearly got heart attacks.
"Wasps! Run!" Constable Zhou shouted as he dashed away with his horse.
At this point, he can't care for anything else.
Wasps in forests were no easy feat: if one were to be attacked by a group of wasps, anything from disfigurement to death may end up occuring. No amount of money was worth such an expense.
The other constables, seeing that their lead had fled, didn't worry about other things either, immediately following their leader and fleeing.
And just like that, Chen Chen's household and Wang Er had been forfeited.
"Father, Mother, quick, we need to move!"
Chen Chen dragged his parents and ran behind the several constables as he spoke, leaving Wang Er standing alone and utterly confused.
He also wished to run, but given his injured feet, he can't go fast enough.
As he looked at the wasps flying towards him, Wang Er called out, "Wait for me!"
He tried to keep up with Chen Chen's household, but his speed was inadequate, and he soon got caught up by the wasps.
Soon, Wang Er's screams poured throughout the forest.
...
"Father, shall we flee with this opportunity?" Qin Rou, seeing that nobody was attending to them anymore, can't help but ask.
Chen Shan, hearing her, was intrigued.
"Father, Mother, there is no need. We need to solve this problem anyway. It's fine if we go to the county office. Stone Village is our home, and we committed no crimes, so why run away?
"Also, Lao Hei is still at home. If we were to flee, Er Ya would not be able to have fully fed him," Chen Chen laughed as he ran away.
Several wasps tried to bite Chen Shan and his wife, but under the force of Chen Chen's stare, they promptly returned to target Wang Er.
Cultivating immortality was a raise in the class of life. He was already able to create absolute deterrence against low-class organisms like wasps.
Chen Shan, after listening to this, wanted to speak up about something, but didn't.
Chen Chen waved his hands and said, "Father, trust me. You will be fine with me. Do you know why I left last night?
"Recently, I had been dreaming about an immortal who asked that I meet him at a specific spot. I disregarded it all as dreams for the last several days, but when I went there last night for a look, the immortal was indeed there."
"What? Little Chen, you met an immortal!"
Chen Shan and Qin Rou were both very surprised. In their eyes, it was extremely unthinkable.
"Yes. Why would I go out in the middle of the night otherwise? After meeting the immortal, I learned so much from him. Trust me, I have enough power to protect you," Chen Chen explained, looking serious.
He couldn't make anything up other than this poorly fabricated lie. At this point, he had to expend the credibility he had accumulated over the course of more than a decade.
He had to tell his parents about his immortality cultivation anyway. Shichuan county was just too small to make full use of the System.
According to his plans, the best place to go was an area with immortals, magnificent mountains and fine water. Using the system, he would most surely be on the right track.
At that point, he would be away from the home.
His only concern was his parents.
"Immortal! I can't imagine my son cultivating immortality!"
Qin Rou was very excited, her face reading, "My son is the best on earth!"
Chen Shan remained silent, but he had a great deal of trust over his child, especially given his extended record of maturity.
Of course, the main reason was that it wasn't the time for talking. Neither did either of the parents know anything about cultivating immortality.
...
Several minutes later, the wasps were gone.
The several constables who had run ahead had also returned.
Constable Zhou's eyes were filled with surprise when he found out that Chen Chen's household didn't just flee.
"Where's housekeeper Wang?" a constable asked.
Chen Chen pointed not too far behind him when he heard the question.
At that point, Wang Er was lying in the center of the path, his head swelling to the size of a pig's head and his body twitching nonstop.
He looked as miserable as he could possibly get.