I Cheated While Cultivating

Chapter 226: Chapter 226 Desert Inn

The desert sands billowed, and the scorching sun hung high in the sky.

Zhou Heng found that upon entering this Cave Sky world of Yang Fan, he was actually in an endless desert, where all he could see was endless yellow sand, without any other objects in sight.

The sunlight from above was unbearably toxic, the vast azure sky was clear, with not even a hint of clouds, and naturally, there were no shady spots.

Everywhere was unbearably hot, giving off a sensation of being scorched.

Zhou Heng suddenly felt a bit weak, as if the fierce and blazing environment naturally caused changes in his body, “After all, my current body is just that of a paper man, and though it looks no different from an ordinary person, it’s somewhat afraid of high temperatures and water.”

These were the weaknesses of a paper body.

However, it had its advantages: a paper body did not feel hunger or thirst, nor even fatigue.

As such, as long as he could endure this toxic sunlight, his paper body was indeed quite suitable for walking through this boundless desert.

Still, he had only thirty days, not enough time to waste, so he had to find a way out of this desert as soon as possible.

But Zhou Heng knew nothing about this place. The only way to find a road out of the desert was to quickly find other people and inquire.

And the simplest way to find people was undoubtedly to find a source of water or an oasis in the desert, as there would certainly be people going to places near water.

How to find a water source in the desert?

For Zhou Heng, this was not a difficult task. Although his current body was that of a paper man, and many physical attribute bonuses were ineffective, the bonuses to his spirit and insight remained effective.

Consequently, he could easily discern from the surrounding terrain, insect activity traces, and human footprints buried by sandstorms where there might be water sources in several directions.

Afterward, Zhou Heng employed his Lightbody Technique and quickly moved forward, searching each direction where traces had been found, trying to find water sources or human tracks.

He did not care in the least about the consumption of Inner Qi.

This was because, after having been transformed by Yan Shouyi, when using various martial arts or Taoist formulas, this paper body consumed the power contained in Yan Shouyi’s breath.

And how formidable were the machinations contained in the breath of a Celestial Man? For this paper body at the Seventh Rank, it was an inexhaustible source of Inner Qi, impossible to deplete.

Therefore, Zhou Heng ran non-stop across the desert and along the way saw many skeletons and the possessions they had left behind in life.

Usually, he would stop to bury the skeletons and wrap up the belongings they had left behind, carrying them with him.

Though most of these items were already damaged or even weathered, having lost their practical use, Zhou Heng still planned to take them out of this great desert.

Perhaps there were people outside searching for these “skeletons”, and keeping these relics might bring unexpected surprises.

This desert was indeed vast.

Zhou Heng had been running non-stop for six hours, covering about a thousand li, yet still had not seen its end, nor found a water source.

He had not encountered any living people either, but had seen quite a few dead skeletons, leaving behind many of their possessions.

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Among them were some books, which Zhou Heng briefly looked through; some contained maps, while others were martial arts manuals.

However, perhaps because the laws of this world were unique and did not allow for the emergence of Secret Six Rank Innate tallents, these martial arts manuals, while some had the power that could rival the Seventh Rank or even the Peak of the Seventh Rank, still felt very rudimentary and crude.

Finally, in the evening, as the red sun was about to set and the temperature in the desert began to plummet rapidly.

The days and nights in the desert were like two entirely different seasons, with a tremendous difference in temperature. An ordinary person trying to rest at night with only their daytime clothes might very well freeze to death.

However, for Zhou Heng, such temperatures were just right. His body, slightly withered by the daytime heat, gradually returned to normal.

It was at this time that he finally found traces of people. Hmm, to be precise, clear signs that someone had passed by.

A long line of camel footprints.

From the depth of these camel footprints, it appeared there was one person riding on top.

Before this, Zhou Heng had also been using the method of looking for human or animal tracks to find water sources and traces of people, but those had been buried by the wind and sand. It was only with his extraordinary insight and mental power that he was able to find them.

Now it was different; these camel footprints were very clear, which meant that the camel and the person riding it were most likely just ahead.

“Am I finally going to find someone?” Zhou Heng’s heart was filled with joy, and his pace quickened even more. Finally, as the sun was about to set completely, he found a building.

It seemed to be an inn.

This took Zhou Heng by surprise.

In this endless desert, the existence of an inn was truly unexpected.

Moreover, it was a three-story building with a hall on the first floor and bedrooms on the second and third floors. The facilities were quite complete, including wooden posts outside for tethering camels.

Zhou Heng approached and looked at the signboard above the inn’s door.

Tongda Inn.

An ordinary name with nothing special about it, except that the front doors were firmly shut.

Zhou Heng took a brief look around, pensive.

In the end, he pushed open the front door and entered the lobby of Tongda Inn.

As the door opened, a wave of worldly hustle and bustle washed over him.

Inside, the place was packed with guests, filling about sixty tables, with over a hundred people, bustling and lively.

There were men and women, young and old, some happily drinking, others wolfing down food, and some savoring delicious dishes slowly and deliberately.

The food on the tables was also diverse, with meat, vegetables, and fruits—all available, not at all what one would expect from a desert inn in need of resources.

Inside Tongda Inn, Zhou Heng felt a world so different from the desolate silence outside in the desert, with no one in sight for miles, as if he had stepped into an entirely different realm.

“Interesting,” Zhou Heng smiled, withdrew his gaze from around the room, and found an empty table in the corner to sit down.

Not far from this table, there was a large pot, bubbling and steaming. It seemed to contain a stew of bones. The aroma was enticing, but owing to the heat, nobody wanted to sit there.

“What would you like to eat, sir?” a server who looked about fifteen or sixteen ran over, smiling obsequiously at Zhou Heng, “We have everything here. Whatever you’d like to eat, just say the word. As long as the money is right, everything is negotiable.”

“I don’t have any particular cravings. Anything that can fill the stomach will do,” Zhou Heng glanced at the large pot not too far away and said, “Bring me a bowl of big bone noodles, using the broth from there?”

As he spoke, he pointed at the large pot.

“Yes, of course!” The server nodded repeatedly, smiling, “You’ve got good eyes, sir. The old broth in this pot is indeed a signature of Tongda Inn. Please wait a moment, it’ll be right up.”

Following that, the young waiter scurried off, heading to the back hall, disappearing without a trace.

Zhou Heng remained seated, his gaze sweeping around the room, occasionally resting on some individuals. After some contemplation, he resumed his survey of the surroundings, his expression calm and collected, yet his mind was already forming several guesses.

Moments later, the waiter returned, stepping lightly as if floating, and set down a bowl of big bone noodle soup in front of Zhou Heng with a steady hand.

“Honored guest, here are the big bone noodles you ordered. Please enjoy them before they get cold,” the waiter said with a smile on his face. But even after delivering the noodles, he did not leave, instead standing by Zhou Heng’s seat, seemingly waiting for him to eat.

Zhou Heng looked at the bowl of big bone noodles on the table but did not pick up his chopsticks, as if lost in thought.

The bone soup was milky white and somewhat thick, but it had a clear and non-greasy feel; the noodles looked crystal-clear and moist, likely with a pleasant texture.

Scattered green onions on top of the noodles whetted one’s appetite, and ten pieces of meat cooked until tender were placed on the edge of the bowl, just looking at them would make one’s mouth water.

“Good noodles,” Zhou Heng murmured with a slight nod, yet still not reaching for his chopsticks.

“If they’re good noodles, why aren’t you eating, honored guest?”

The waiter’s eyes grew misty, a hand pressing on the table, “Honored guest, even a drop of water is hard to come by in the desert, let alone our inn’s bone soup noodles. You mustn’t waste them.”

“I think these noodles look great; I’d like to appreciate them a bit longer,” Zhou Heng said with a smile, turning his head to look at the waiter, “You seem quite eager for me to eat this bowl of noodles.”

“No, I just want to tell the honored guest that if the noodles are left for too long, they will get cold.” The waiter suddenly grinned, revealing teeth as sharp as those of a wild beast, “If they get cold, they won’t taste good, you know!”

As he finished speaking, it was as if he sent out a particular signal.

Instantly, the more than a hundred people in the inn’s lobby all stopped what they were doing, frozen in place as if under some spell.

The next moment, they turned their heads in unison towards Zhou Heng, their eyes glowing red, their faces stiffening with a vacant expression as they opened their mouths.

Then they began to whisper in unison:

“Eat the noodles! Eat the noodles! Eat the noodles! Finish the bowl, don’t waste it, don’t waste it! Finish the bowl, eat it…”

The overlapping whispers suddenly filled the inn’s lobby, and the previously seemingly youthful waiter had changed completely.

It was actually a headless corpse, its previously neat clothing now stained with blood and corpse oil. The spine protruded from the empty neck, wavering like a white worm, quite horrific.

“Eat the noodles! Come on, eat! They won’t taste as good when they’re cold!”

A sharp, piercing voice suddenly came from the palms of the headless corpse’s hands. It raised both hands towards Zhou Heng.

On each of its ten fingers, there grew an eye, blinking with crimson pupils, while a mouth in the palm opened and shouted angrily.

It seemed as if not eating the bowl of bone soup noodles was an unforgivable offense.

“I’d rather not eat this stuff,” Zhou Heng said, gently shaking his head and gesturing towards the bowl of bone soup noodles on the table.

Now, the noodles had revealed their true form and were no longer the appetizing sight they had been before.

The once clean porcelain bowl had turned into a dirty, broken pottery basin, filled not with milky white bone broth but with dark green corpse oil.

The noodles, previously looking crystal-clear and delectable, were now sections of hair, the green onions were broken fingernails, and indeed, the meat pieces were kneaded dough, but clearly cut from a human face, the traces of facial contours still visible.

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This is anything but bone broth noodles—it’s disgusting stuff that even ghosts and malevolent spirits wouldn’t eat.

“Don’t want to eat, then go die!” the inn’s runner suddenly burst out.

His entire figure swelled in size, instantly growing over ten feet tall, with dense, scale-like armor appearing on his face and hands, and the bones within seeming ready to protrude.

Apart from a rough human shape, he could hardly be considered human anymore.

Whoosh!

Like a sudden squall, the monster the runner had become spread his arms, swinging palms filled with evil power, and struck at Zhou Heng.

Boom!

At that moment, a loud crash was heard as one of the inn’s walls was suddenly smashed, and a camel charged in.

Riding between the two humps of the camel was a person.

This person was dressed in a yellow shirt, with a hat shading their face, and looking at the figure, it should be a woman, holding a long whip in her hand, which she swung forward as she rushed in.

Crack!!

With a sharp snap, the whip directly hit the “runner” who was about to attack Zhou Heng.

The whip was clearly of exceptional quality, and the woman’s strength was also tremendously powerful, as she immediately knocked the terrifying humanoid monster to the ground.

Crack!!

Another sharp sound.

It was the woman gathering her whip, and as she did, the extreme force swept through the great hall’s “diners,” knocking them to the ground as well.

Just as the runner had changed, these “diners” had also revealed their true forms—they were all corpses with missing limbs, rotting flesh, and dangling eyeballs.

“Who’s this greenhorn who dared to enter this haunted inn alone? I see you don’t want to live!” The woman shouted from atop the camel, “Retreat quickly, come with me and get out of here!”

Before her words had fallen silent, she rode the camel to Zhou Heng’s side, reaching out her palm to pull him onto the camel and take him away.

The woman was well aware that these terrifying ghosts and monsters were simply unkillable. Even if they were temporarily knocked down, the creatures would soon stand up again.

If they wanted to survive, escape was the only option, no other way around it.

But her grasp failed to lift Zhou Heng, let alone pull him onto the camel. She felt as if she was trying to lift a huge mountain, no matter how hard she tried, he remained utterly unmoved.

What’s going on?

What does this guy want to do?

The woman’s heart was filled with alarm and extreme urgency. She knew those ghosts and monsters would soon recover, and even more powerful ones would be arriving shortly.

If they didn’t leave now, everyone would die!!

Boom!

Just then, the woman heard a deafening thunderclap. As she watched the youth, a layer of golden lightning suddenly cloaked his body!