I stood in the woods and was stunned after listening to the old man's words.
Of the four of them, the girl appears to be the youngest, at most sixteen or seventeen years old, if arranged by age.
As it turned out, she was actually the one with the highest seniority among the four, while the old man who looked like an elder was actually the junior brother of the other three.
Xu Le carried a bundle of firewood and placed it in the center of an open area in the woods. He glanced at me and said, "Don't just stand there. Help me clear out the dry grass around here. Once a fire breaks out in this kind of forest, it's no joke."
I felt really awkward being ordered around by such a young girl, but after hesitating for a moment, I went over and started helping.
After Xu Le lit the campfire, he took out several drawn talismans from his backpack, pricked his fingertip, squeezed out a few drops of blood, smeared them on the talismans, lit them with the campfire, and threw them around us.
After the talisman burned out, Xu Le sat down by the campfire and said, "For the next few days, we'll need to work together, but there are some rules we need to agree on! First, the Five Immortals' sparring has its limits; it absolutely cannot result in death! Second, when you're with us, no filming or recording is allowed, and you must not divulge anything you see! Third, you must unconditionally obey what I say; it could save your life!"
"Since we're here to help, we should naturally follow the host's lead."
I didn't have any particular thoughts about Xu Le's conditions: "I've already been deceived once, so before we talk about cooperation, you at least have to make me believe you."
Xu Le opened his backpack, took out a pipe, and showed it to me: "You recognize this, right?"
I saw the mouthpiece of the tobacco pipe in Warring States Red and immediately recognized it as something that Old Ma's wife had used: "Where did this tobacco pipe come from?"
"This is something that the old immortal keeps on her person. She knows that our competition is very important, so she gave it to me for protection."
Xu Le put away his pipe: "Now you should believe my identity, right?"
I don't understand the tricks they use, but Old Ma's pipe is an old item, and in this professional field, I would never be wrong about it.
Having confirmed Xu Le's identity, I finally breathed a sigh of relief: "You should know why I'm here. I can help you with your business, but what about my own?"
Xu Le countered, "What are you looking for that statue for?"
I said very seriously, "I only have six days left to save people. Within that time, I must see that statue. That's my bottom line!"
Xu Le thought for a moment, then took out a paper map and looked at it. After about half a minute, he said to me, "No problem, let's improve our route. If all goes well, we can see the statue within four days."
"Change the route?"
I took a burning branch from the campfire and lit the cigarette in my mouth: "Isn't the area where you're competing this time the Medicine Spring Mountain area?"
"The battle line is longer than you imagine. This time, the competition of the Five Immortals has selected five major mountain ranges in the Greater Khingan Mountains, namely Yaoquan Mountain in Wudalianchi, Heilongjiang Province, Emuer Mountain in Mohe County, Dabai Mountain in Huzhong National Nature Reserve, Halaha Volcanic Group in Arxan, Hinggan League, Inner Mongolia, and Huanggangliang in Keshiketeng Banner."
Xu Le paused for a moment: "The positions of the five families this time were determined by drawing lots. Our location is in Yaoquan Mountain. Originally, our plan was to head north to Huzhong! But now that you're involved, we have to change our route and go southwest to Xing'an League."
I was somewhat surprised: "You're just trying to have a competition, yet you've stretched the distance to over a thousand kilometers?"
"The content of the competition among the five immortal families is random each year. Each of the five families sends a representative to propose a competition format, which is then decided by drawing lots. This year's plan is to capture and remove zombies."
Xu Le paused for a moment: "The so-called 'walking zombie' is actually what ordinary people call a zombie. This thing is considered a kind of spirit. Wherever the zombies walk, all the grass withers, all the beasts are restless, and the land is barren for miles! Zombies are not in the Five Elements, and their existence is against the way of heaven. Wherever they go, the spiritual energy is depleted. Zombies can only survive by constantly walking, hence the name 'walking zombie'."
Zombies consume an enormous amount of spiritual energy. If two zombies are absorbing spiritual energy in one area, neither will survive. Therefore, only one zombie can exist within a given area, which is why the battle line is stretched so long.
"The condition for your competition this time is to catch zombies?"
I was a little curious: "So how did you decide the winner?"
"Each of the five teams will create a zombie within their designated area and wait there! The competition will officially begin at sunrise. Teams that haven't finished creating their zombies by then will be eliminated!"
Xu Le paused for a moment; "After each team leaves the locked area, they can choose their own location to capture the zombies. The team that captures the zombies first will be the winner of this competition."
"Isn't the way you're conducting this competition far too dangerous?"
Although I've never seen a zombie, I can tell how dangerous these things are: "If you create walking zombies and they get into busy urban areas and hurt people, it will inevitably cause huge panic in society. Don't you consider these things?"
The young woman, having finished setting up her tent not far away, came over and said, "Don't worry, there are experts from the Five Immortals Clan stationed in these five areas to ensure that the situation you're worried about won't happen."
Hearing our conversation, the monkey chimed in, "Isn't the way you're doing this too much of a cheating tactic? What if two of these five factions reach an agreement, with one group locking the zombies in a fixed location and waiting for their partner to take them away? Wouldn't you be guaranteed to lose then?"
"The Five Immortals have a deep-rooted lineage, and no one would stoop so low as to cheat in such a matter. If this were to be exposed, not only would other families not let the cheater off, but even the members of the sect would not let him go."
Xu Le paused for a moment: "That's why we'd rather find outside help than have any ulterior motives."
"You don't have any requirements regarding the means of transportation when you travel to other regions, right?"
I said to Xu Le, "The main reason you changed your route is because of me. My private jet is parked at Heihe Airport. If needed, we can fly to Inner Mongolia, which will save time to the greatest extent possible."
"You also have a private jet?"
Xu Le glanced at me with some surprise: "It seems that the old immortal has really found us an unexpected partner this time."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com