Chapter 26: Sleep

As he continued to look, he unexpectedly found his own wanted poster.

Well, it wasn't exactly *his* wanted poster, but rather about the murders he committed.

"There is a demon who murdered people in Li Prefecture City and fled. According to witnesses: the demon is eight feet tall, has blood-red skin, possesses astonishing brute strength, is impervious to blades and spears, and has killed more than a dozen people in Li Prefecture City. It is extremely vicious and evil, suspected of having taken Possession of a Lifter named Li Qi, and is now nowhere to be found. This is hereby announced to the county residents, please be careful. If you encounter this demon, you must immediately flee. Those with clues will be rewarded five hundred coins. Those with evidence who kill this fiend will be rewarded one thousand coins. Those who capture this fiend alive will be rewarded one thousand five hundred coins."

So, he killed over a dozen people, and it was only worth one thousand five hundred coins, barely reaching one-tenth of a gold coin.

According to current prices, using Great Deer Kingdom's five-zhu coins, it would take at least ten thousand coins to exchange for one gold coin.

As for Empress Luofu, who could cause fiefdoms to be granted upon her death, just a single piece of information about her was worth one hundred gold coins.

One hundred gold coins… How much money is that?

He didn't even dare to imagine.

Li Qi's expression was calm. Although he was wanted, all of this was already within his calculations, so there was nothing strange about it.

However, being accused of being possessed by a demon…

Uh, that must have been Sixth Uncle's idea.

He hadn't killed everyone; those Strongmen Gang Boat Towmen who escaped back likely all knew that the red-skinned, powerful demon was actually Li Qi.

At this point, Li Qi had already fled directly.

The government would definitely go to the Paibo Gang to inquire about the situation.

The Paibo Gang would certainly insist they knew nothing, and furthermore, for so many years, the Paibo Gang had always been like that; both their cultivation method and their conduct were very normal.

Given this situation, the only person the government would likely suspect is Li Qi himself. Either he stumbled upon some evil technique through Opportunity, or he was possessed by some demon, killing people in Li Qi's guise, and then fled.

The Demon Extermination Division must have already mobilized, but the gamble Li Qi took back then should have paid off.

He is an outsider to the Dao, making it difficult for divination methods to locate him. If divination cannot do it, then they can only rely on clues to find him.

Unfortunately, the name Li Qi is unbelievably common; there are at least ten thousand people named Li Qi in Li Prefecture, so searching by name is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Then they can only rely on portraits to find him.

Who would they ask for a portrait?

Hehe, no one knows Li Qi better than the Paibo Gang.

He trusted Sixth Uncle greatly. Sixth Uncle would surely make the portrait unrecognizable. As long as he didn't expose the characteristic red skin of the Ox Strength Technique in front of people, he believed nothing would go wrong.

Ultimately, the world was too chaotic. Such a wanted notice, if he wasn't caught after a few months, would simply fade away.

Because this couldn't even be considered a true wanted notice; it was merely an announcement.

A genuine arrest warrant was not such a simple thing; it required yellow paper.

The government must have known the chances were slim, so they didn't even open a case!

After all, if a case was opened, they would have to report to their superiors during the year-end review. Without a case, it didn't matter. Would the Strongmen Gang dare to pressure the government?

As long as he dragged out this period, changed his name and identity, and swaggered back into Li Prefecture City, he estimated no one would even pay attention to him.

Just like those Merchants, Ba Kui and others, surely had blood on their hands. These people didn't care about doing a few bad deeds when out in the wilderness.

They were Merchants normally, but when the Opportunity arose, they became thieves, and they wouldn't be held accountable.

This was the norm. This world was like this. No one would think that a world where individual strength was exaggerated to such an extent would still be peaceful, right?

"It's precisely because of this… that I need to acquire the power to protect myself." Li Qi, traveling alone this time, nearly died without a burial place. In his heart, he had an even greater desire to become stronger.

It's just…

"Sigh, let's go for now. I need to find a place to sleep." Li Qi turned and left the notice board.

Between different groups, the boundaries were distinct; how could joining them be easy? Whether it was a School or a Gang, one couldn't simply join and gain trust.

Either one grew up within it from a young age, with clear roots, making it easy to gain trust.

Or… be prepared to risk your life to earn trust.

If Li Qi hadn't saved the Paibo Gang multiple times, he wouldn't have gained such trust.

The Paibo Gang was small, and their affairs were minor, so his abilities could still be showcased, earning him trust. But for those large Gangs and Schools, what could he be? Even if he joined as a low-level member, he probably wouldn't get core cultivation methods, and it might not even be as good as Wave-Breaking Force.

Thinking about it… to stumble upon a cultivation method through Opportunity was truly incredibly lucky.

So… what should he do next?

Li Qi paid one coin for the city entry tax, which was a head tax. After entering the city, he would receive a wooden token called a "Pass." It needed to be shown whether staying at an inn or shopping.

The Pass system was very advanced, but Li Qi didn't know why Great Deer Kingdom's Passes were calculated separately for each city, with no records kept. If lost, they could be reissued for a fee, and they weren't interchangeable between different cities.

This series of measures led to a very chaotic population, and he didn't know why such a strange system was adopted.

Perhaps there was some hidden reason.

Upon entering the city, Li Qi didn't plan to stay at an inn. He first took out the dry rations from his bag, preparing to eat them tonight, and then bought some fried rice, rice cakes, and other items to store.

He had no choice; rice was the cheapest.

He heard that in the north, noodles were the cheapest, but in this part of Great Deer Kingdom, with its many mountains and waters, and rugged terrain, it was difficult to grow wheat, so most people ate rice.

Farmers cultivated terraced fields on the mountains. It was said that farming families had methods to allow crops to absorb mountain Qi, which enabled them to grow spiritual rice with a yield of three thousand catties per mu.

In this world… even being a farmer required some skill, which was truly…

As Li Qi thought about these things, he bought a pot of tea at a roadside tea stall. Accompanied by the complimentary rice cakes, he chewed his dry rations. When his jaw ached from chewing and his mouth was dry, he would drink some tea to moisten it.

He had a large appetite and could eat seven or eight catties in one meal. This time, he was prepared to eat all his stored food. He ate until it was dark, finishing all his provisions and drinking all the tea. With a full belly, he walked away content.

This meal was all rice, with no vegetables, but there was no other way; it was better to save money.

It was already dark. Although there were still taverns and entertainment venues open, those were not places Li Qi could frequent. A meal in such a place would cost dozens of coins. He only had a total of one thousand coins, and the roadside tea stall, dry rations, and city entry fee had already cost him eight coins. Now he had just over nine hundred coins left. This was half a year's expenses, so he still needed to be frugal.

However, Ba Kui was going to treat him to a meal tomorrow.

He should be able to get some meat then.

With his mind wandering, enjoying the happiness of a full belly, Li Qi found a large house with a particularly long overhanging eave. He sat under the eave, tightened his bundle, and prepared to sleep there for the night.