【You have signed in with Pei Xuan and received an ox cart.】

Gu Qingyan blinked, the ox cart he had been longing for was now in his hands.

He glanced at the system—this was a fully equipped ox cart, with everything it should have all at once.

Looking back at Pei Xuan, Gu Qingyan’s face softened with kindness, as if he was looking at a living, golden Buddha statue—a good person!

Gu Qingyan didn’t hesitate and reached out to lift Pei Xuan.

He couldn’t lift him.

He couldn’t even lift Mother Liu, let alone a grown man with a strong build.

Gu Qingyan gave up on the idea of carrying him and instead grabbed one of Pei Xuan’s feet, pulling him upward.

“Don’t blame me, you’re just too heavy. Why are you so heavy, like a wild boar?”

Pei Xuan, the wild boar, furrowed his brows tighter in his unconscious state, as if bothered by the disturbance.

After using the strength of nine bulls and two tigers, Gu Qingyan finally dragged him onto the slope, exhausted and sweating heavily, then sat down beside him gasping for breath.

“Wake up, come on, wake up.” He tried pinching the philtrum and pinching his nose, but no response. He had to give up on waking him.

With no other choice, Gu Qingyan took out a ginseng nourishing pill and stuffed it into Pei Xuan’s mouth—at least it was made of ginseng, should help keep him alive.

He brought out the ox cart. The sturdy black ox turned its head and affectionately licked his palm.

A living ox!

Gu Qingyan was amazed— the sign-in system could even produce living creatures.

After some effort dragging Pei Xuan onto the cart, Gu Qingyan sat beside him and said, “Drive.”

He shouted once, and the next second felt awkward.

As a young master raised by the Li family, he had no idea how to drive a cart.

Gu Qingyan awkwardly scratched his cheek, just about to think of what to do next, when the black ox started moving steadily.

Wherever he pointed, the ox went, more obedient than a dog, as if it really understood human words.

Gu Qingyan thought, the black ox produced by the system was definitely better than ordinary oxen.

Mother Liu was already anxious, waiting and waiting with no sign of him returning, feeling worried and blaming herself for not following.

She couldn’t sit still anymore and got up to walk in the direction Gu Qingyan left.

“Mom, I’m back.” Gu Qingyan waved at her from the cart.

Mother Liu rubbed her eyes in surprise. “You bought an ox cart?”

“Yes, I got lucky.”

Not just lucky—he had met someone out in the wild, signed in, and got a complete ox cart set.

Gu Qingyan called out, “Get on quickly, we’ll travel by cart.”

Mother Liu then noticed there was a person inside the cart, a big man, and was startled. “Who’s this?”

“He was unconscious by the roadside. I couldn’t just leave him to die, so I brought him along.”

Mother Liu frowned disapprovingly, “Qingyan, I know you’re kind, but this man’s background is unknown. He’s dressed all in black — what if he’s a bad person?”

Gu Qingyan wasn’t sure if he was bad, but he was definitely special — he could sign in!

With the ox cart he got from signing in, Gu Qingyan couldn’t just abandon the man to die in the wild. So he said, “Anyway, he’s unconscious and can’t hurt us. We’ll put him down once we reach a place with people.”

Mother Liu still frowned.

Gu Qingyan thought for a moment and started searching the man’s body. “No weapons, no money, no travel permits — probably robbed.”

He untied Pei Xuan’s belt and tied his hands.

“This should be fine. Even if he’s a bad person, he won’t be able to hurt us when he wakes up.”

Mother Liu reluctantly agreed but emphasized, “Put him down as soon as we find people.”

After walking a bit, Mother Liu felt something was off and asked, “There’s a village up ahead, why not put him down there? Maybe he’s from that village.”

“I forgot,” Gu Qingyan scratched his nose, unable to explain.

Mother Liu smiled bitterly and didn’t press further, instead looking at the ox.

“This ox is really nice-looking. Must be worth a lot, right?”

Gu Qingyan smiled, “The ox not only pulls the cart but can plow fields. It’s valuable.”

“That’s true. I really don’t want to raise it anymore. Selling it would get some money,” Mother Liu said, affectionately patting the ox’s back.

The black ox shook its head.

With the ox cart, Gu Qingyan and Mother Liu both felt much easier.

Gu Qingyan couldn’t help but hum a little tune.

Seeing him so happy, with no shadow of worry on his face, Mother Liu finally felt at ease.

Leaving the Li family was good — the young master had never been this happy while at the Li household.

【You signed in at Old Mountain Village and received 100 jin of millet.】

【You signed in at Qingtian Village and received 50 jin of red dates.】

【You signed in at Taiping Fork and received 300 jin of sweet potatoes.】

Along the way, whenever Gu Qingyan saw a sign-in point, he tried it, but without exception, the village sign-ins all gave food supplies. Though the types and weights differed, the differences weren’t big.

After three attempts, Gu Qingyan stopped wasting points. With so much food, he could only put it in the system backpack.

At nightfall, the ox cart arrived at a place called Changxi Village.

This village was very well situated — at the intersection of several official roads — and seemed wealthy, with every household having blue brick and tile houses.

Seeing the ox cart, someone called out, “Guest, it’s almost dark. Would you like to stay a night in our village? We offer free hot water.”

Having experienced the fear of traveling at night, Gu Qingyan and Mother Liu both decided it was better to stay the night.

【You signed in at Changxi Village and received 100 jin of rice.】

Gu Qingyan tried again stubbornly. Sure enough, it was rice. Though Changxi Village was clearly more affluent than the other villages, the rewards were about the same.

He pushed his worries aside and first helped Aunt Liu brew some medicine.

After drinking it, Aunt Liu said, “I’m all better now, no pain anywhere on my body. But you’ve been working hard these past few days—if anything feels off with you, you have to tell me.”

Gu Qingyan gestured toward his arm. “I’m fine. I don’t know why, but ever since leaving the Li family, I feel refreshed.”

Maybe it was the effect of the ginseng tonic pills.

These past two days, he had been kicked out, rescued someone, traveled long distances, even spent a night at the Earth Temple, and now he had been on the road all day—but his body still felt good.

If it were before, he would have gotten sick for several days.

Gu Qingyan had already decided to take one ginseng tonic pill every day for a month or so, maybe then his health would fully recover.

As soon as Aunt Liu heard this, she immediately said, “It must be because the Li family did something immoral—bad luck in feng shui.”

She didn’t want to say more about the Li family, then asked, “What about that person? Are we leaving him in Changxi Village?”

Pei Xuan still hadn’t woken up.

Gu Qingyan hesitated. “Let’s see tomorrow morning. It’d be best if he wakes up; if not, we’ll leave some money to hire villagers to take care of him until he does.”

Accommodations in the village were cheap; Gu Qingyan and Pei Xuan shared a room, Aunt Liu had her own.

Pei Xuan remained unconscious. If it weren’t for his steady breathing, Gu Qingyan would have suspected he was dead.

He reached out and touched Pei Xuan’s forehead—no fever.

There was no doctor in the village, so this was the best they could do.

Gu Qingyan was conflicted, so he took out another ginseng tonic pill and slipped it into Pei Xuan’s mouth.

He also loosened the rope binding him to avoid cutting off circulation.

“You’d better wake up soon—I can’t keep carrying you forever.”

After speaking, he rolled into bed and fell asleep quickly, utterly exhausted from the past two days.

In the dark of night, Pei Xuan, still unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was someone nearby, and instinctively he wanted to strike.

Before grabbing the young man’s neck, Pei Xuan forcibly restrained himself—it was this person who saved him.

The boy was about fifteen or sixteen, handsome but somewhat thin, clearly a kind-hearted person.

He slept sprawled out carelessly, without a hint of suspicion.

Pei Xuan frowned—too unguarded. To rescue someone so recklessly, even sleeping in the same bed, what if he was a bad guy who would kill and rob him upon waking?

Quietly, Pei Xuan loosened his bindings and got up, quickly figuring out the small village’s layout.

He fired off a signal flare into the sky, then looked back at the room.

He didn’t leave but slowly walked back and lay down in his original spot.

After a while, Pei Xuan brought back the rope binding his wrists—so loose, even a pig could slip free.

If Gu Qingyan were awake, he would be shocked that the guy they searched thoroughly earlier still managed to hide a signal flare.

But Gu Qingyan was sound asleep, sleeping better than ever.

Waking refreshed, Gu Qingyan stretched and yawned, then suddenly noticed the man lying next to him.

“Still not awake?”

Gu Qingyan was puzzled how someone could sleep so deeply.

Suddenly, he froze.

Above the sleeping Pei Xuan’s head, a big inverted triangle appeared clearly.

The exact same inverted triangle from the day before had appeared again!

Gu Qingyan couldn’t believe it.

Back in Qingzhou Prefecture, he had observed that the same sign-in point could only be signed in once, like a bank: after signing in, the marker disappeared.

The next day, he had returned, and the marker was gone.

But now, the bright inverted triangle above Pei Xuan’s head had reappeared.

Gu Qingyan was torn, then hesitantly reached out his “sinful” hand.

Last time, he got a cattle cart; this time, what would it be?

[You have signed in with Pei Xuan and obtained a set of four linked medicine bottles.]

He really could sign in again.

Gu Qingyan looked at his system backpack.

The four linked medicine bottles were small and exquisite, connected by hinges, opening and closing easily—very portable.

Inside the four bottles were: Ruyi Pill, Peace Powder, Wolong Pill, and Red Spirit Pill—common essential medicines for travel and adapting to unfamiliar environments.

Each bottle cap had a silver spoon for convenient medicine intake.

Gu Qingyan had only seen such exquisite four-linked medicine bottles at the Xu family’s residence.

His eyes sparkled as he looked at Pei Xuan glowing.

What kind of humanoid sign-in point was this that could be reused?

Suddenly, Pei Xuan opened his eyes, and their gazes met.

Gu Qingyan froze, because at this moment he was sitting on the sign-in point, his hands still pressed against Pei Xuan’s chest, looking like a shameless flirt.

Surprised but awkward.