Translator: AnubisTL
"Senior Sister Chu, are you trying to dump this mess on me because there's a trap here?" Gu Feng smiled and nodded to the crowd, then approached Chu Youhuan and whispered.
"No, absolutely not!" Chu Youhuan shook her head like a rattle drum, a hint of slyness flashing in her eyes. "Oh, by the way, here's a map of the border. The circled area is our station!"
Gu Feng took the animal skin map handed to him by Chu Youhuan, the twisted lines on it making his head spin.
After studying it carefully for a while, he finally understood. The northern border of Chu State stretched nearly 20,000 kilometers, an astonishing number. To put it in perspective, the land border of the Dragon Country he had crossed from was less than 30,000 kilometers, yet it was still the third-largest country in the world by area.
The station assigned to them by the Chu State government was about ten kilometers wide.
"With over 800 people guarding ten kilometers, it's no small task!" Gu Feng muttered. "Senior Sister Chu, is our station a dense forest?"
Gu Feng noticed that while it was also a green forest, the color of their station was a darker shade of green.
"The climate there is cool and pleasant, with abundant water sources and lush vegetation. There are hundreds of species of Spirit Beasts... As the mayor of Northwatch City put it: it's a treasure trove, hard to find even with a lantern!" Chu Youhuan said, pursing her lips.
"That's settled then!" Hearing this, Gu Feng felt a surge of joy and then addressed the crowd loudly, "Brothers and sisters, thanks to Senior Sister Chu's favor, I, Gu Feng, have been entrusted with the position of captain.
I know everyone came to the border with a patriotic heart, but while patriotism is important, we shouldn't neglect ourselves. Let's all prosper together..."
"Wu Qi, take some people and go buy food. No Spirit Rice cakes, only roasted meat, and get some Spirit Wine!"
"Let's have a good meal tonight and enter the station early tomorrow morning!"
Gu Feng generously spent 500,000 Spirit Stones to have Wu Qi and others buy food.
"The captain is so generous!"
The crowd threw the hard-to-eat Spirit Rice cakes on the ground, cheering loudly. Finally, they wouldn't have to eat that unpalatable food anymore.
The new captain might be a bit weak in strength, but his financial prowess was undoubtedly a significant improvement over the previous situation.
...
The next day, the well-rested group, led by Gu Feng, left Northwatch City and headed towards their station.
"Did we take the wrong path?" Gu Feng pulled Wu Qi aside and whispered.
After walking dozens of kilometers, they looked into the distance but couldn't see any sign of the dense forest.
Wu Qi held the animal skin map, flipping it back and forth, also confused. "With the sun as our guide, the direction can't be wrong. The map is from the government, so it can't be wrong either. Let's keep going; we're still some distance from the marked area."
Reluctantly, Gu Feng pressed on, his confidence waning with each step.
"Is that area with the faint black smoke our station?"
"Between the towering mountains and the low-lying area, yes, that's the border line we're supposed to guard!" Wu Qi confirmed after comparing the map.
"This—" Gu Feng glanced in surprise at Chu Youhuan, who was looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, pretending not to know.
"Let's go in and take a look."
With a heavy heart, Gu Feng stepped forward, and the others followed suit, exchanging glances.
"Chu Youhuan, is this the treasure trove you were talking about?" Standing in front of a swamp, Gu Feng's eyelids twitched as he shouted at Chu Youhuan.
What the hell kind of cool and pleasant climate was this? It could only be described as eerie. Black toxic gases floated above the swamp, and a single whiff made one feel dizzy and cold, as if they had stepped into the underworld.
The abundant water sources were no exaggeration, but they were too abundant. Gu Feng threw a piece of wood into the swamp, and it quickly sank to the bottom. How to even step into it was a challenge.
The lush vegetation was also true. The swamp was filled with black vines covered in tiny thorns, emitting black gases that mixed with the swamp's atmosphere, creating the toxic air.
There were hundreds of species of Spirit Beasts, indeed. Standing at the edge of the swamp, Gu Feng saw dozens of different types of disgusting insect-like Demon Beasts in a short time, either crawling in the swamp or clinging to the vines.
Just seeing so many types of Demon Beasts on the surface of the swamp, one could only imagine what lay beneath.
The most critical issue was that these insect-like Demon Beasts were all somewhat toxic. One careless moment, and you'd be in trouble.
The visibility in the swamp was extremely low. With Gu Feng's eyesight, he could only see up to five meters ahead. It was indeed a place hard to find even with a lantern!
When called out, Chu Youhuan hid behind a group of female cultivators, making Gu Feng both angry and amused, yet helpless.
"How far is it to the border line?"
"Eight kilometers!"
Wu Qi's answer made Gu Feng's mouth twitch.
Good heavens, that meant they had to act as customs officers inside the swamp!
Seeing the uncertain expressions on everyone's faces, Gu Feng had to encourage them again, then asked A Fei to try entering the swamp to see if it was passable.
A Fei cautiously stepped onto the swamp, and as soon as both feet were on it, his bulky body sank rapidly. He had to circulate his Spiritual Power around his legs to barely stand firm, took a few steps forward, and returned to Gu Feng's side.
"Boss Gu, walking on the swamp consumes a lot of energy. You have to constantly circulate Spiritual Power to avoid sinking," A Fei said with a bitter face.
What a headache!
"Chu Youhuan, come here!"
"What's the matter? Why are you shouting so loudly?" Seeing Gu Feng's dark face, Chu Youhuan pouted and reluctantly walked over.
"Why did you choose such a place to guard? It's hard to even move around, let alone guard anything!" Gu Feng shouted, spittle flying.
"There was no other option. This was the only station given to us, and we even spent a lot of Spirit Stones to get it!" Chu Youhuan said, hanging her head.
"Spent Spirit Stones? This godforsaken place actually cost money? We're here to assist in guarding the border!" Gu Feng was truly speechless. This was the most absurd thing he had heard in the twenty years since he crossed over.
"Yes, six million Spirit Stones," Chu Youhuan said weakly, then added as Gu Feng's eyebrows shot up, "Although we spent six million Spirit Stones, the Chu State government gave us ten years of development rights, ten kilometers wide and eight kilometers long. It's a large area, very cheap!"
Gu Feng was utterly convinced. This lousy place, ten years? One day would be too long.
"Anyway, let's go in and take a look. Maybe the situation inside isn't bad!"
"Do you believe that yourself?" Gu Feng glanced at her, then addressed the crowd loudly.
"This is the situation. Those who want to leave can do so now!"
At these words, a group of uncertain individuals began to leave one after another. A rough count showed about a hundred people, all pseudo-enthusiastic youths recruited from the Cloud Prefecture government.
Gu Feng didn't make it difficult for them, directly taking out their official documents and tearing them up in public!
"Since everyone has chosen this path, let's move forward!"
The journey forward was even more challenging than expected. After just three kilometers, dozens of people were exhausted and nearly sank into the swamp.
"Use the vines to rest for a while!"
Everyone took out some tools, placed them under their buttocks, and sat on the vines to recover their strength.
"It's no use, we can't recover. The Spiritual Energy here is toxic and can't be absorbed or refined."
A bigger problem emerged: they couldn't recover by absorbing Spiritual Energy from the air as they could outside.
"Xi Xi, get some pills out!"
Helplessly, Gu Feng had to use pills to help them recover.
Gu Feng was in a dilemma. The expenses were already high, and if they could only use pills to recover their strength, it would only make things worse. The financial burden of supporting these seven hundred people would increase exponentially.
"What a mess, and it keeps getting worse," Gu Feng muttered to himself.
After a brief stop, they finally reached the border line.
Gu Feng looked around and noticed that all the disciples in the Qi Refining Realm and below the fifth level of the Postnatal Realm had varying degrees of black aura between their brows.
"Do we have any detoxifying pills? Let them take some," Gu Feng whispered to Yan Xixi.
She nodded and began distributing pills to the poisoned disciples.
"Was there no garrison here before?"
"There was, but I don't know where they went!" Chu Youhuan frowned and whispered.
As the two looked around, a rustling sound came from the mist on one side, indicating the presence of dozens of people.
"Be alert!" Gu Feng said cautiously, signaling everyone to prepare for battle.
The rustling sound grew closer, and when the figures emerged from the mist, everyone was stunned, then their expressions turned strange.
Judging by their attire, they should be the soldiers guarding this place, but they were so black, like African children, with only their teeth and the whites of their eyes being white.
"Hahaha, you've finally arrived! A few months ago, I heard rumors that some fools were coming to guard this place. I thought it was just a rumor, but I never thought we'd actually see you!" The burly man at the front laughed, resembling a black gorilla, extremely comical.
Gu Feng's face darkened. Fools? It was indeed an unpleasant term, but it was fitting. What else could they be but fools?
"Uncle, are you the officer in charge of guarding this place?" Gu Feng asked with a smile, cupping his hands.
"What uncle! I'm only twenty-eight, call me big brother!"
Twenty-eight? Gu Feng was stunned. This man looked twenty-eight? Who would believe that? Eighty-eight would be more like it. If not for politeness, he would have called him grandpa.
"My name is Fan Wei, and I've been guarding this place for three years. Out of the five hundred people I brought, only these few are left. If you had come a year or two later, I would have been all alone."
At these words, the dozens of soldiers behind Fan Wei showed expressions of gratitude.
Gu Feng's heart stirred, and he immediately signaled Guo Renkai to bring out food and Spirit Wine to treat them!
"Young man, you're quite good at handling things!" Fan Wei laughed heartily, took the roasted meat and Spirit Wine, and sat on the vines, eating and drinking voraciously, as if he hadn't eaten in days.
Gu Feng also noticed a peculiar phenomenon: Fan Wei and the others were no longer afraid of the thorns on the vines. Had they practiced some iron butt technique?
"Brother Gu, don't be surprised. We haven't eaten in three days!"
"Haha, I understand. Guarding the border is tough!" Gu Feng laughed.
"Are you curious why our butts aren't afraid of the thorns on the vines?" Seeing Gu Feng nod, Fan Wei gave a strange smile. "When we first arrived, we were like you, placing weapons under our butts, but no matter how careful you are, the weapons would eventually fall.
"In this godforsaken place, once a weapon falls, you can't retrieve it before it sinks into the depths of the swamp.
"Later, a genius in our team came up with an idea: tie the weapons to our butts. He was indeed a genius, but this genius idea led to the loss of dozens of our men in one go!
"That time, we were resting on the vines when we encountered 'Black Crocodiles' emerging from the swamp, along with a group of smugglers. In this place with low visibility, encounters are life-and-death situations. Because the weapons were tied to our butts, we couldn't retrieve them quickly, and dozens of brothers died instantly.
"After that lesson, we never tied weapons to our butts again. When the pills ran out, and the Spiritual Energy in the air was toxic, we still needed to rest.
"So, we gritted our teeth and sat directly on the vines. Our butts broke into calluses, broke again, and formed new calluses. After hundreds of repetitions, the thorns on the vines could no longer harm us.
"Look at our butts; they're all big and perky because they're covered with over an inch of calluses!"
Fan Wei's voice carried like a microphone, and the seven hundred cultivators led by Gu Feng heard it clearly. They instinctively touched their butts, imagining what it would feel like to have an inch-thick callus there.
The male cultivators looked strange but didn't feel much, while the female cultivators were different. They looked horrified, thinking about how they would marry in the future with calluses all over their butts.
At night, wouldn't they grind their future husbands' tongues into blisters and their penises into peeling skin!
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