With only 8 years to live at the start, I'm going all in.

Chapter 25 Qingfeng City

inside the house.

Li Baozheng looked at the Taoist robe in the pit, and a smile immediately appeared on his lips.

"He's quite a cautious person. He might actually make a name for himself in Qingfeng County, if he can survive the Yin-Yang Fiend..."

Li Baozheng shook his head, then looked around and, finding that he hadn't seen the token he'd tossed to Ding Yi, chuckled and muttered to himself:

"They're being cautious, but the more cautious they are, the more likely they are to carry my token, hehe..."

..

Unbeknownst to Li Baozheng, at this very moment, in a dilapidated hut opposite his own, a pair of eyes were watching him intently.

Ding Yi stood behind the broken window, slightly turned to the side, watching Li Baozheng enter the house. His expression remained unchanged as he waited quietly.

A short while later, Li Baozheng hurriedly came out of the house and headed out of the village.

But Ding Yi didn't rush out. Instead, he waited inside for a while, until about an hour later, when he climbed out of the bedroom window and quietly left in the opposite direction from Li Baozheng.

"It seems that this Li Baozheng is not a member of the Blood and Flesh Temple, otherwise he wouldn't be so interested in the Taoist robe."

As Ding Yi walked, he pondered in his heart.

"Let's take a look when we get to Qingfeng County, but we should still be careful."

After leaving the village, Ding Yi returned to the official road. He opened the Quicksand Map to confirm the direction again before continuing to walk along the official road.

If Li Baozheng wasn't lying, then Ding Yi estimated that he should arrive in Qingfeng County in about two and a half days, based on his current speed.

"It seems that the ruling class here still divides the administrative area down to the county level, but I don't know what the situation is like there."

Along the way, Ding Yi kept wondering about the situation in Qingfeng County, but whenever he thought about his experience in Xiaotan Village, a sense of worry arose in his heart.

There are only two reasons why the ruling class allows such evil deeds to occur within its sphere of influence.

The first reason is that the matter in Xiaotan Village was tacitly approved by them. There was a secret agreement between Xuerouguan and the high-level officials of Qingfeng County, and the management of Qingfeng County was even involved in this matter.

However, Li Baozheng claimed to be from the Qingfeng County Supervisory Office, and his attitude towards the concept of flesh and blood did not seem cooperative, so this reason does not seem to hold water.

The second reason is that Qingfeng County is in complete chaos and too busy to care about the affairs of a small village more than 100 miles away.

Therefore, the second reason seems more plausible, which is precisely why Ding Yi has been uneasy.

"Hopefully, things aren't too bad over there, at least not worse than in Xiaotan Village..."

Thinking of this, Ding Yi couldn't help but stop, pick up the gourd, uncork it, and gulp down several mouthfuls of water. He then looked up at the blazing sun high in the sky, wiped the sweat from his brow with a hint of helplessness, and muttered to himself:

"If only I had a car, but unfortunately, there are too many parts and the assembly is too complicated to even begin. Otherwise, I could try to build one at a low cost."

Shaking his head self-deprecatingly, Ding Yi put away the gourd and continued walking along the official road.

After that, Ding Yi didn't encounter any more trouble on the road. On the morning of the third day, he even noticed a few scattered pedestrians appearing on the official road.

This discovery gave Ding Yi a huge surprise. You see, apart from Li Baozheng, Ding Yi hadn't seen a single person these past few days. He even suspected that he had come to a world similar to the end of the world, otherwise how could there be deserted villages everywhere and not a single person in sight?

However, despite his excitement, Ding Yi did not rashly strike up a conversation with those people. After all, they all looked like they were in a hurry and had sallow complexions. Only their eyes still had a semblance of humanity. Otherwise, Ding Yi would have thought he had met the villagers of Xiaotan Village again.

As he walked further, Ding Yi saw more and more pedestrians, and even groups of people and carriages began to appear, which made Ding Yi realize that he was probably getting closer and closer to Qingfeng County.

Finally, as evening approached, a magnificent city came into Ding Yi's view.

"Wow, this is huge? Is this a county town?"

Ding Yi looked at the city before him, somewhat incredulous.

After all, a city with complete walls is quite impactful for a modern person who has just traveled through time.

Even as the sun was about to set, people were still coming and going from the city gate in an endless stream, a stark contrast to the quiet and deserted Xiaotan Village.

"It doesn't seem like they're in a situation where they can't even take care of themselves?"

Ding Yi was somewhat puzzled by this, but as it was getting dark, getting into the city quickly was the most important thing at the moment.

Thinking of this, Ding Yi quickened his pace and finally arrived at the city gate half an hour later.

Upon reaching the foot of the city, Ding Yi truly felt the grandeur of the city before him. The city walls, tens of meters high, were like natural barriers rising from the ground, dividing the area behind and in front of the city into two different worlds.

Above the city gate are three large stone characters that Ding Yi recognized. These were the "Qingfeng County" that Li Baozheng had mentioned!

But it's hard to imagine what the city walls of Qingfeng County were built so high to defend against. Were they for the martial arts masters that Li Baozheng mentioned? Or for the Flesh and Blood Sect?

Ding Yi suppressed all his doubts. There were still many things in this world that he needed to explore, but now was not the time to think about these things.

Everyone entering the city lined up and entered through the side gate next to the main city gate.

On either side of the side gate stood soldiers in armor, each with their chests out and backs straight, their eyes cold and sharp, looking full of energy and exuding an invisible aura of power, completely different from the people Ding Yi had seen along the way.

Under their watchful eyes, not one of the people queuing to enter the city dared to make a sound; they all hung their heads, like displaced people who had committed a crime.

Seeing this, Ding Yi followed the others, shrinking his head and walking into the city. He thought he would enter the city smoothly, but when it was his turn to enter, he suddenly felt a gust of wind beside his ear, and then a long spear with a cold glint was placed in front of him, which made him raise his head in surprise.

"Judging from your appearance, you don't seem to be from around here? Where are you from?"

Looking along the shaft of the spear, one could see a guard holding it with one hand, staring intently at Ding Yi, and shouting loudly.

"Damn, what kind of eyesight do they have? How can so many people tell I'm not from around here??"

Upon hearing this, Ding Yi wondered if he was just too unlucky. Although he was indeed an outsider, he shouldn't have been discovered so quickly, right?

"Um, I...I'm from out of town..."

Ding Yi quickly replied.

"Do you have a letter of recommendation?"

The guard continued to ask.

"without..."

"Go over there to register!!"

The guard pointed to a small shed near the city gate.

Ding Yi looked in the direction the guard pointed and saw a platform in a makeshift thatched shed. Behind the platform sat a thin old man with a thick book in front of him, which looked like it was for registration.

"Go right now, go right now."

Ding Yi quickly spoke to the guard, then jogged towards the small shed.

The old man in the shed was dozing off with his head down when he suddenly heard someone calling him. He looked up and opened his eyes, only to find that a young man had entered the shed at some point.

"Sir, I need to register to enter the city."

Ding Yi looked at the old man whose eyes seemed somewhat vacant and said.

"Registering, right? Oh, you're from out of town."

As the old man spoke, he flipped through the account books on the table and picked up a calligraphy brush, dipping it in ink.

Which state are you from?

"Um... I can't remember, I... I have some amnesia..."

Ding Yi pointed to his head.

"Hehe, you're lucky to have escaped. Amnesia is actually a good thing."

The old man chuckled and then casually began to write on the paper.

"Name?"

"Ding... Ding Hai".

"age."

"23"

"You're so young! I was just as energetic as you were more than ten years ago."

The old man chuckled.

Ding Yi didn't notice the strangeness in the old man's words, and simply asked:

"Old man, will I have a place to stay after I enter the city? I have money."

"Yes, there's no shortage of places to stay. Someone will guide you when the time comes. Also, try to get into the inner city as soon as possible. Don't linger in the outer city."

The old man suddenly looked up at Ding Yi, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.