Chapter 343 - 305: Li River’s Specialty: Wild Demonic Beasts

Chapter 343: Chapter 305: Li River’s Specialty: Wild Demonic Beasts

Lin Yi, Wei Nan, and the others boarded the high-speed train to Lishui City.

When they arrived, it was already past six in the afternoon.

This was a bit faster than they had anticipated.

Dusk descended on Lishui City, the twilight heavy.

The golden light of the setting sun paved the streets.

The glare reflecting from the windows was blinding.

Stepping out of the high-speed rail station, Lin Yi and the others sized up the unfamiliar city.

Just like every other city, the area outside the train station was a bustling hub of traffic and people.

Touts for taxis and small inns eyed every passenger exiting the station, trying to solicit business.

Zhou Qi had spent the afternoon doing some quick research.

They weren’t here for tourism.

They had come to Lishui City for Demon Hunting, so his focus had been on their hotel and the surrounding restaurants.

Zhou Qi had already booked a few rooms before they even boarded the train.

So, as they walked out of the high-speed rail station, they saw a middle-aged man holding a sign that listed who he was picking up and where he was from.

Lin Yi, Zhou Qi, and the others approached the man.

"You’re from the Four Seasons Hotel, right? We’re from Songshan City!" Zhou Qi said to the man with a smile.

At these words, the man’s eyes lit up. "You must be Mr. Zhou, right? I’m so glad you’re finally here!"

"Right this way, the car’s in the parking lot just outside. Let me help you with your luggage!"

The man said with a smile, but just as he reached for their bags, he realized Lin Yi, Zhou Qi, and the others were all empty-handed.

Carrying nothing at all. He scratched his head in embarrassment and chuckled. "Ah, I forgot you all have those wristbands. In that case, right to the car!"

The man led Lin Yi and the others toward the parking lot.

It was a black van with the words "Four Seasons Hotel" printed on the door.

Lin Yi and the others got into the car one by one, and the man quickly started it and drove out of the parking lot.

"You’re students, aren’t you? Here in Lishui City for a vacation? Or..." the driver, who seemed quite talkative, asked as he started chatting with them.

Zhou Qi smiled. "You could say that."

"Do you need a tour guide? Our hotel can provide guides and drivers to show you around for a few days!"

"We won’t be needing a guide. We’d prefer to explore on our own."

"By the way, sir, may I ask your name?" Zhou Qi asked from the passenger seat.

"My surname is Yu. You can just call me Old Yu!"

"Okay, Master Yu. I wanted to ask, has the demon problem in Lishui City been bad lately?"

Instantly, the driver’s expression changed slightly, and he glanced back at Zhou Qi.

"Don’t believe what you see in the news. Demon problems? Doesn’t every city in the New District have them? Lishui is no exception."

"It’s not as crazy as they make it sound. What city doesn’t have a demon problem now and then?"

"They get killed, and that’s the end of it. It won’t affect your vacation..."

Clearly, Old Yu was worried that talk of the demon problem would ruin Zhou Qi’s and the others’ vacation mood and scare them out of staying in Lishui City.

However, as Zhou Qi spoke with the driver, Lin Yi gazed at the streetscape outside. ’The situation in Lishui City seems far more serious than we imagined.’

Pedestrians’ expressions were grim, their paces hurried.

Public Security Bureau vehicles, sirens wailing, sped past on the road.

The atmosphere permeating the city was anything but relaxed and joyful.

It was more like the Old District, where people looked tense and were unwilling to linger outdoors.

’An environment like this, and he’s telling me everything is normal?’

Having come from the Old District to the New District himself, Lin Yi saw the difference at a glance.

The difference between here and Songshan City was enormous.

It was a far cry even from Dragon Tiger Mountain.

’Clearly, the demons here have already plunged the entire city into panic.’

Lin Yi turned his head and exchanged a look with Wei Nan, Sun Tao, and Shen Mengyi.

He could see the same realization reflected in their eyes.

That’s right, Wei Nan and the others had also noticed. This city was not at all like the driver described.

"Master Yu, do you have a night market here?" Wei Nan asked with a smile from the back seat.

As a result, upon hearing the two words "night market," Master Yu’s expression shifted slightly.

He said evasively, "It’s your first day here, I don’t recommend you go to the night market!"

"You must be tired from your journey. You should get a good night’s rest and not go out."

"It gets chilly in Lishui at night. We’re in the mountains, after all!"

"At night, the cold wind blows down from the mountains, making it colder than in other cities..."

Master Yu’s expression was a little flustered.

Zhou Qi also noticed his strange demeanor.

He smiled, and no one said anything further. They all knew what was really going on.

The reason Master Yu wouldn’t tell the truth was his fear that it would hurt the hotel’s business, causing it to take a major hit.

Before long, the car drove into the hotel’s parking lot.

After stopping, Master Yu said with a smile, "We’re here. This is it. Let me see you in!"

"Alright, thank you."

The group got out of the car and found themselves before a magnificent, opulent hotel.

The hotel was easily twenty or thirty stories tall, with lavish decorations.

The parking lot was filled with rows of luxury cars.

Nearly every space was taken.

The group walked towards the hotel building.

Inside the lobby, the decor was even more extravagant.

The entire place was a dazzling gold color, as if one had entered a royal palace.

The vast lounge area connected to a cafe and restaurant, and was fully equipped with leisure and entertainment facilities.

There was even a dedicated play area for children.

But right now, the vast lobby felt completely empty.

Only a sparse few guests were sitting around, resting.

After checking in at the front desk and getting their key cards, the group took the elevator to their floor.

Master Yu didn’t come up with them; a hotel bellboy showed them to their rooms.

Once they had all entered their respective rooms, Lin Yi found his was a suite with one bedroom, a living room, and a private balcony.

The room wasn’t very big, but it had everything one could need. The decor was simple and the room was impeccably clean.

Lin Yi opened the door and walked onto the balcony.

What met his eye was a tall mountain.

The massive mountain seemed to cut the city off from the rest of the world.

It stretched to the horizon, forming a natural barrier.

Moreover, mountains like this encircled more than half the city.

In other words, Lishui City was nestled in a mountain embrace.

The setting sun gradually disappeared behind the western mountains.

The sky was dyed a blood red.

The entire mountain looked like it was burning in flames.

Yet, it possessed a different kind of breathtaking beauty.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded.

Lin Yi reluctantly tore his gaze away from the beautiful scenery.

He walked into the living room and opened the door.

"Hey, you ready? Let’s go downstairs and get something to eat," Wei Nan said with a smile, standing outside the door.

Lin Yi nodded, picked up his key card, and put it into his Storage Ring.

He then closed the door and took the elevator downstairs with Wei Nan.

This was all part of their plan: arrive, check in, then find a small local restaurant to eat and, more importantly, to ask around about Lishui City’s demon problem. It would be best if they could gather some useful intelligence.

After they got downstairs, they walked straight toward the hotel’s main entrance.

But just as they were passing the front desk, a staff member hurried over.

"Gentlemen, are you heading out?"

"Yes, we’re going out to eat and take a look around. Why?" Zhou Qi asked with a smile.

The staff member’s expression was troubled, but she seemed afraid to reveal anything.

She just said, somewhat cryptically, "Well, it gets chilly in Lishui City at night. You should try to come back early. We wouldn’t want you to get sick from the big temperature drop!"

Zhou Qi smiled and nodded. "By the way, your hotel is open 24 hours, right?"

"Er... yes!" the staff member hesitated for a moment, then nodded with a smile.

"Good. Thanks for the heads-up!"

Zhou Qi said no more and walked straight outside.

Watching their retreating figures, the staff member’s brows furrowed deeply.

From Zhou Qi’s question, she had a vague idea of their intentions.

’These men probably aren’t coming back early at all...’

"I did some research online," Zhou Qi began as they walked. "Lishui City doesn’t have much of a food scene. The local specialties are mostly wild game!"

"It’s a Mountain City, after all, surrounded by mountains on three sides. Online, it says that Lishui City’s inhabitants used to live off hunting. A thousand years ago, this place was just a small county town!"

"Over half the population were hunters by trade, making their living from what they could find or catch in the mountains."

"Then, the world changed. Spiritual energy resurged, and some of the animals in the mountains cultivated into spirits—what we now call demons."

"This shattered their peaceful lives. It was no longer hunters going into the mountains to hunt. Instead, demons started coming down from the mountains to hunt humans!"

"After several hundred years of fighting, they were finally beaten back into the Restricted Areas!"

"So, the dishes that originally featured wild game as local delicacies all disappeared!"

"But the reason the demons in Lishui City have been particularly active recently is mainly related to these mountains!"

"Where there are mountains, there will be beasts. Just give them time, and they can slowly cultivate into demons!"

When Zhou Qi finished his explanation, Lin Yi, Wei Nan, and the others all nodded.

Wei Nan’s eyes lit up. "So, does that mean the demons we’ll be facing are all just... wild animals from the mountains?"

"Like Wolf Demons? Bat Demons, Black Bear Demons, Fox Demons, Leopard Demons, and Tiger Demons? Oh, are there Monkey Demons? Wild Boar Demons..."

Wei Nan rattled off every wild animal he could think of.

Zhou Qi glanced at him with a smile. "No matter what kind of demon, wild ones are always fiercer than domesticated ones!"

"Someone on the internet even did some comparisons!"

"Take the lynx, for example. It looks similar to a domestic cat, but its ferocity can’t be compared to a housecat at all. It’s a true wild beast!"

"Just think about what would happen if it cultivated into a demon."

"And then there are black bears, wolves, and tigers!"

"They’re already incredibly ferocious. After cultivating into demons, they’re on a completely different level from the common demons you see in the city!"

"Which is why this Lishui trip is so risky!"

"We’ll be facing nothing but these wild demons!"

"We just don’t know what the numbers are like, or exactly how many there are!"

"And the news about Lishui has all been blocked by the authorities!"

"Useful information is impossible to find online. So we have two options. First, we could contact the local Demon Hunting Squad and try to cooperate with them. But whether they’d even give us the time of day is another question. After all, we’re just students, not official members of the Demon Hunting Bureau."

"The other option is we figure it out on our own. Learn as we go!"

"Learn as we go? What’s that mean?" Wei Nan looked at Zhou Qi, a look of complete confusion on his face.

Zhou Qi smiled. "It means we hunt demons while getting to know the city!"

Wei Nan: "..."

Just as the group was talking, Lin Yi’s phone suddenly rang.

He took it out and saw it was an unknown number.

But the caller ID location was Lishui City.

’Lin Yi didn’t know anyone in Lishui City. Who could this be...?’

Though he found it strange, he answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Am I speaking with Lin Yi?"

A woman’s voice came from the phone. Lin Yi nodded. "Yes, this is Lin Yi..."

The woman’s voice on the other end chuckled. "I’m from the Lishui City Demon Hunting Squad. My name is Meng Meng. Let’s meet."