Yue Hengyi woke up from his dream and quickly asked, "Was there anything just now?"
Yue Hengyi's vigilance was not particularly high, and he had no defense against the dangers around him. Fortunately, he had always followed Shen Feng, and with Shen Feng constantly guarding against danger, Yue Hengyi had been able to turn perils into safety time and again. Now, after being startled awake, Yue Hengyi quickly looked around but found nothing.
"The barbarians!" Shen Feng shrugged and replied. Since they were just a bunch of petty thieves picking up trash, Shen Feng had no interest in teaching them a lesson.
Yue Hengyi was clearly still groggy from sleep. After hearing Shen Feng's answer, he actually asked, "What are barbarians?"
It was evident that Yue Hengyi had forgotten what Shen Feng had discussed with him earlier, which was why he asked such a strange question.
Shen Feng lay down and continued to stay in the grass, saying faintly, "Barbarians are not things!"
Yue Hengyi looked around, his eyes still hazy with sleep. He found no danger, only that the corn cobs he had gnawed on earlier had disappeared from the ground. He figured dogs must have carried them away, so he went back to sleep.
The next morning, Shen Feng set off again, taking Yue Hengyi directly towards the northwest. As long as the direction was correct, they would reach Shandong.
After waking up, Yue Hengyi was full of energy. After replenishing the necessary fresh water in the mountains, they set off again. The most crucial element when flying in the sky is water. One method of preserving meat is by drying it, which involves removing moisture from the meat under strong winds. The wind is strong in the sky, and if water is not replenished in time, dehydration will occur.
According to Shen Feng's estimation, as long as they flew northwest, and the direction was correct, they would reach Shandong, and might even land in Qingdao.
However, Shen Feng flew for a whole day, and only saw land at dusk. Yue Hengyi also found it strange and asked, "Is your stamina so poor? It only took about six or seven hours to fly to South Korea yesterday, why is it taking a whole day now? Thirteen hours, perhaps?"
Shen Feng couldn't answer, but he had a premonition. He then replied, "I think the direction might be wrong. According to the estimate, we should have seen the Shandong Peninsula by noon, but we didn't. This means we flew past it!"
Upon hearing this answer, Yue Hengyi was so angry he felt like spitting blood. "Flew past it? You really are a two-bit hack. I thought you were unreliable enough yesterday, but now your level of absurdity is unimaginable!"
Shen Feng shrugged, unconcerned, and said, "Alright, alright, at least we've arrived. Let's go down and ask. Find a place with people to inquire. Oh, and wear your masks, just in case!"
Then, Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi slowly descended from the sky and found a seaside village, where they went down to ask.
"Elder, where is this place?" Shen Feng asked directly.
However, Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi were wearing masks and descended from the sky, their actions were extremely suspicious, immediately attracting the attention of the surrounding people.
The old man who was asked did not answer but looked at Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi vigilantly. Some people slowly surrounded them, looking like they wanted to capture the two.
Yue Hengyi shook his head helplessly. He never expected to be treated with such suspicion. He was one of the Ten Heroes of Yanjing, yet he was now being treated like this, which was simply unimaginable.
"Where do you come from?" the old man asked vigilantly first.
Yue Hengyi casually replied, "From South Korea, but we are not..."
Just as Yue Hengyi was about to explain his origin, the villagers, upon hearing that these two people who descended from the sky were from South Korea, immediately started shouting, "Villagers, grab your weapons! These two are spies from the barbarians! Capture them and claim the reward!"
With that, the villagers immediately sprang into action. Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi had thought that this place would surely have simple folk and asking for directions would not be difficult, but now, they clearly realized that everyone around them was looking for weapons. This was not simple folk, this was clearly fierce folk!
A group of people picked up their weapons and prepared to subdue the two. Even old ladies in their fifties and sixties, holding their walking sticks, surrounded them, all at the call of the old man. The unity of these people was simply unimaginable.
"I warn you, don't make a move! You'll be the ones at a disadvantage if you do!" Shen Feng did not want to conflict with these ordinary people and issued a warning. Honestly, any evolved being could break out of here, and the sheer number of these people would be meaningless.
However, Shen Feng's warning clearly did not have the expected effect, and the surrounding people closed in even tighter.
"Capture these two barbarian spies and kill them to avenge our kin!" At this moment, a young man raised his arms and shouted, immediately drawing the response of the surrounding crowd. A group of incensed onlookers immediately rushed forward, waving their sickles and hoes and began to attack. Their demeanor clearly indicated that they did not intend to capture them alive but to beat them to death.
Shen Feng quickly activated the "Wind King's Barrier" to protect himself and Yue Hengyi, and said to Yue Hengyi, "It's up to you!"
If Shen Feng were to make a move, the surrounding villagers would inevitably be killed or injured. These people were their compatriots, and Shen Feng was unwilling to act.
Yue Hengyi did not hesitate. He knew that it was inconvenient for Shen Feng to act at this moment, so he quickly activated his gravity field. In an instant, a double gravity field appeared over the town, and everyone was instantly pressed to the ground. The attackers also failed in their attempts, and their cold weapons, upon striking the barrier, left no mark.
Most of the people in the town were ordinary people, how could they withstand the heavy double gravity? They all started to struggle, their bodies feeling incredibly heavy.
At this moment, Shen Feng dispersed the Wind King's Barrier and said to the crowd, "Can't you listen to us finish? We are indeed from South Korea, but we have nothing to do with the barbarians. We are ability users on a mission, and we took a wrong turn on our way back. We just wanted to ask for directions!"
"Did you hear clearly?" Yue Hengyi asked, while retracting his gravity field. If the gravity field continued, the frail old men and women would die.
The villagers looked at Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi in disbelief, still not trusting their words. They continued to ask, "Are you telling the truth? Do you have nothing to do with the barbarians?"
Yue Hengyi was truly helpless. He said seriously, "If I were a spy, I would have killed you directly just now, wouldn't I? Can you still stand in front of me? Can you use your brains? And why would you assume we are spies?"
"Because you two are wearing masks, your actions are suspicious, and you descended from the sky. Naturally, we have to be suspicious. Are you really our people?" an elder stood up, patting the dust off his clothes and asked.
Shen Feng said, "If you don't believe us, ask us questions that only Chinese people would know the answers to, and we will definitely be able to answer them!"
"Alright, then I'll ask, 'Black cat, white cat, what's the next line?'" the elder asked directly. This saying is known to almost everyone, old or young. If they couldn't answer this, their identity would truly be in doubt.
"'The cat that catches mice is a good cat!'" Shen Feng answered directly, without any hesitation. At this, the crowd finally believed Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi's identities. They were their own people, definitely their own people!
"Excuse us, could you take us to a place to rest? We've been flying all day and are a bit tired. Also, where is this place?" Shen Feng continued to ask.
The elder replied, "This is Wangjiashan, in Dalian. You flew from South Korea to Dalian in one day, that's truly remarkable!"
Hearing this answer, Yue Hengyi immediately frowned and looked at Shen Feng, saying, "See? Your sense of direction is off by a thousand miles. You said you were going to Shandong, but you ended up in Liaodong! I'll never ride in your glider again!"
Shen Feng could only shrug helplessly after hearing about the region. He had indeed intended to reach Shandong and then part ways with Yue Hengyi. However, plans couldn't keep up with changes, and he had flown in the wrong direction, accidentally ending up in Liaodong.
"It's alright. Tomorrow, I'll take you straight to Yanjing. With a reference point, it definitely won't be wrong!" Shen Feng said nonchalantly, preparing to correct the route the next day.
A hospitable elder took Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi to his home and warmly offered them cornmeal steamed buns. The elder was alone in his large house, with no family left. Now, the arrival of Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi brought him much comfort.
"You two young men, eat slowly!" the elder said quickly.
Seeing the food placed before them, Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi did not stand on ceremony and began to eat. Although the steamed buns were also made of cornmeal, they tasted much better than the corn cobs they had gnawed on yesterday because these steamed buns contained sugar.
To eat, Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi took off their masks. The elder saw the faces of these two young men and felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen them somewhere before, but too much time had passed, and he couldn't recall it at the moment.
Just then, Yue Hengyi casually asked, "By the way, do you have any grievances with South Korea here? Why did you want to attack us as soon as you heard we were from South Korea?"
Yue Hengyi was very confused. Logically, even if people in the north were more robust, they wouldn't attack on sight. Without grievances, it was impossible to harm people casually. However, the agitated state of the crowd earlier clearly wasn't fake, which was very strange.
"Alas, don't mention it, it's all sad news! These South Koreans are all ungrateful wretches, they've caused us so much suffering!" The elder spoke of the matter, and a wave of sadness washed over him.
Then, the elder slowly recounted the recent events. It turned out that two months ago, South Korea had a grain shortage and requested aid from China for a batch of grain, otherwise, many people in their country would starve. China immediately agreed and sent a large ship of grain, mostly corn kernels, about 50,000 tons.
However, after the cargo ship departed, it was long overdue. When China called to inquire, South Korea denied receiving the grain and accused China of fraud. Subsequently, South Korea began to provoke incidents, frequently detaining fishermen at sea, and the conflicts escalated to the point where South Koreans would shoot at fishermen at sea.
The fishermen of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea were the first to suffer. Thousands of people were successively killed by South Koreans. However, China, due to floods in the North China Plain, was temporarily unable to punish South Korea. Recently, fishermen have been afraid to go to sea because of this!
"Those South Korean barbarians are truly despicable! They ate our grain and then killed our fishermen. Sooner or later, I will make them understand the consequences!" Yue Hengyi was immediately indignant, his heart filled with rage.
Last night, Yue Hengyi regretted stealing a bag of corn, but now, Yue Hengyi regretted stealing so little. Dealing with these scoundrels, one couldn't show mercy; making them feel pain was the most important thing.
Shen Feng, upon hearing this, thought of something and quickly asked, "Was the cargo ship carrying corn kernels at the time! Is that right?"
"That's right. I heard that the South Korean barbarians only eat corn, so of course, we would support them with corn. Logically, they should be grateful to have something to eat, and they shouldn't be picky about this matter!" the elder also complained.
Shen Feng nodded at Yue Hengyi at this moment and said, "Xiao Yue, do you remember when we were being chased? What was the ship carrying?"
Yue Hengyi recalled carefully and was immediately shocked. He remembered that when he was attacked in the Strait of Malacca, the cargo on the ship was corn! Now it seemed that this ship had not reached South Korea but had been hijacked by ability users midway.
"Could it be that the ship these people were on was the one transporting grain?" Yue Hengyi asked.
"It's highly possible! Now, I have a clue to track down those scoundrels! We'll start with this ship!" Shen Feng said in a deep voice.