332: Fang Han appears

The sky was completely bright.

The tofu shop in the village was busy early in the morning.

This family of Stranger had a clear division of labor: grinding soybeans, starting a fire to boil soy milk, adding brine, and finally taking it out of the pot to make tofu.

Day after day, year after year, this family of Stranger had every step memorized by heart.

It must be said that although the earth's surface Cave's Stranger had some differences in appearance from humans,

the steps for making tofu were surprisingly consistent, whether in the earth's surface Cave or on the earth's surface.

In fact, if one ignored the appearance of the Stranger, the entire Earth Cave World could be seen as a microcosm of ancient times, with too many similarities.

It was just that humans on the earth's surface had lit up the technology tree, and development was changing with each passing day.

However, the earth's surface Cave's Stranger had gone further and further down the Martial Artist Dao, with great power concentrated in themselves, leading to little technological progress.

As a result, two different worlds were formed.

And now, or rather, a long time ago, the two worlds intersected.

As time passed, the humans of the two worlds became more and more familiar with each other, and it was no longer surprising.

At this moment, after the tofu was made, it was placed on a wooden cart.

The male owner pulled the wooden cart alone, left his home, walked out of the village, and followed the path, neither fast nor slow, towards Black Furnace City.

Soon.

The Stranger vendor arrived at the city gate.

The tofu on the cart was still dripping brine and emitting the aroma of soybeans.

At this time, there were many foreign Stranger entering and exiting Black Furnace City, lining up one after another, in a relatively orderly manner, not very chaotic.

At the same time, patrolling city defense soldiers walked back and forth around the corners of the city wall.

At the city gate, there were even city defense Stranger soldiers conducting inspections and collecting taxes.

Taxes were either paid in gold or in kind, and the amount of tax was also very flexible.

It was entirely up to the soldier's word; whatever he said was the amount.

Fortunately, these soldiers were still polite or conscientious towards the villagers near Black Furnace City.

They were fellow villagers, constantly seeing each other.

They would let them pass when it was close enough.

If it were an external Stranger caravan, they would be fleeced.

The tofu boss was at the end of the line.

He was a full three hundred meters away from the city gate.

He put down the cart, squatted in the shade of a tree to cool off, and muttered, “I’m late. It looks like I’ll have to sell all day today before I can go home.”

In terms of time, the tofu boss didn’t care much, as the crops in the field were in their growth period and didn’t need care.

But the tofu boss really liked to play a kind of card game, and the delay made him a little annoyed.

He picked up a pebble from the roadside and, as if venting his anger, threw it into the weedy ditch by the road.

Strangely, the tofu boss did not hear the sound of splashing water, but instead heard a 'ding' sound.

The tofu boss tilted his head, his face full of doubt.

“What did I hit?”

He suspected it might be some Vicious Beast lurking in the ditch.

But what was puzzling was that if it were a Vicious Beast, he should be able to sense the fluctuation of life.

However, the ditch covered by weeds was filled with Death Qi, completely unlike something alive.

Just as the tofu boss was about to jump into the ditch to check, he heard the Stranger in front shout, “Let’s go, we’re entering the city!”

The tofu boss mumbled twice, not caring what was in the ditch, and quickly pulled his cart to follow the team forward.

Inside the ditch.

Shen Bei held the fallen mirror, his mouth twitching, “Is this tofu boss too idle! Why is he throwing things around? It’s not good to smash flowers and plants either.”

Zhuang Bifan’s voice came from inside the mirror, “Be careful, don’t smash my mirror!”

Shen Bei scoffed, “How much is it worth? I’ll just get a new one.”

“It’s not a matter of replacement at all. You can’t imagine the complex process of constructing a main mirror.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you heard of Artifact Refining?”

“Forging weapons?”

“That’s not the same thing!” Zhuang Bifan’s voice was like someone facing a student who scored zero on an exam, and he continued, “This ‘artifact’ refers to ‘utensils,’ not ‘weapons.’”

“Or rather, Artifact Refining is more appropriately called refining wonders. Do you think golden teapots and storage-type wonders are naturally occurring? They are also refined through specific methods and the properties of materials.”

Shen Bei understood a little upon hearing this, “So your mirror can also be considered a wonder.”

“Your brain is finally working.” Zhuang Bifan continued, “This is a gradual process, just like building a building. How can you build floors without laying a foundation?”

“By the way, because Artifact Refining requires heating and melting metal or crystals, and the molten liquid metal or liquid crystals will produce strong interference to Divine Sense, Artifact Refining and Alchemy are definitely two different types of work in terms of Divine Sense application.”

“You will come into contact with this knowledge when you attend Beijing Martial Arts University.”

Shen Bei grunted, wiped the water from his face, and said, “You didn’t attend Beijing Martial Arts University, so how do you know Artifact Refining?”

“Does not attending mean you definitely don’t know? Do you need someone to teach you how to play poker on your wedding night?”

“How can instinct be compared to skill?”

Zhuang Bifan: …

Speechless, utterly speechless!

However, it must be said that instinct is indeed instinct, but skills really do need to be learned from island nation adult films…

At this moment, Shen Bei spoke again, “Then this thing of yours must be very valuable.”

“Don’t say that, I’m scared as hell.”

Zhuang Bifan’s tone was a bit distorted, seriously suspecting that one day his main mirror might be stolen and sold by Shen Bei.

Shen Bei shrugged.

It’s estimated that this main mirror might not even be useful in other people’s hands.

So far, besides Zhuang Bifan, Shen Bei had not seen anyone else who could enter the mirror.

It could be said that it was Zhuang Bifan’s exclusive “wonder.”

Just at this moment.

Zhuang Bifan spoke rapidly, “The tofu boss has entered the city!”

Although Shen Bei was hidden in the ditch, the mirror previously fixed to a large tree two hundred meters away from the city gate could provide Zhuang Bifan with a view.

Every movement at the city gate could be monitored by Zhuang Bifan without blind spots.

If it weren't for the patrolling Stranger outside Black Furnace City, Shen Bei wouldn't have had to suffer by lying in the water; he would have already sneaked to the corner of the wall.

At this moment, in Zhuang Bifan’s view, the tofu boss pulled his cart to the city gate.

With a smiling face, he handed over a few pieces of tofu, and after receiving permission to pass, he pulled his cart into Black Furnace City.

Zhuang Bifan immediately switched perspectives within the mirror world.

He activated the mirror located beneath the cart.

From this angle, nothing could be seen except the stone road.

Zhuang Bifan continuously calculated the controllable distance.

Their current location was three hundred meters from the city gate.

Zhuang Bifan’s maximum control distance still had seven hundred meters remaining.

The cart stopped and went, as if people were constantly buying tofu.

At this moment, Zhuang Bifan opened Ying Hong’s backpack, took out a few newspapers, and rolled them into a long tube.

He extended a finger and pushed the long tube of newspaper into the mirror in front of him.

The next moment.

The mirror under the cart carrying the tofu suddenly trembled slightly.

The long tube of newspaper that Zhuang Bifan had pushed out extended and then dropped directly to the ground.

Zhuang Bifan threw out a newspaper every now and then.

He only stopped when the tofu boss was more than a kilometer away from Shen Bei and him.

The purpose of doing this was simple: to make the newspapers, which were originally to be handed over by Ying Hong and Fang Han, inexplicably scattered in Black Furnace City.

As long as someone picked them up, there was a high chance they would fall into Fang Han’s hands.

At that time, Fang Han would definitely discover something was amiss and would voluntarily leave Black Furnace City to go to their designated meeting point.

As long as Fang Han left Black Furnace City, the rest of the matter would be much easier to handle.

The only uncertainty was how long it would take for Fang Han to get the scattered newspapers.

However, Shen Bei and Zhuang Bifan had enough patience; if one day wasn't enough, then two days, if two days weren't enough, then three days!

...

It had been the fourth day since he parted with Fang Nanxi.

It was also the first day the plan was truly implemented.

During this day, Zhuang Bifan continuously monitored the city gate through the mirror.

He did not see any Stranger resembling a City Lord leaving the city gate with a large entourage.

The fifth day.

The tofu-selling Stranger boss still pulled his cart into the city.

Zhuang Bifan continued to drop newspapers and A4 papers.

The sixth day.

Zhuang Bifan discovered through the mirror that the city guards seemed to have reprimanded the tofu-selling boss a few times.

The tofu-selling boss argued innocently for a few moments, then continued to sell his tofu.

Although he couldn't hear, Zhuang Bifan knew that someone must have discovered that wherever the tofu boss went, newspapers would fall.

These newspapers, while novel to the earth's surface Cave's Stranger, were not particularly strange.

Were there not enough garbage left by human Martial Artists in the earth's surface Cave?

At this moment, Zhuang Bifan and Shen Bei discussed it.

With hundreds of newspapers thrown out, even the city guards discovered that the newspapers were dropped by the tofu boss, so they felt that Fang Han should also get information about the newspapers.

It was time to reel them in.

Shen Bei fixed the main mirror in the ditch to prevent it from being washed away, allowing Zhuang Bifan to continue monitoring every movement at the city gate.

He then left the ditch and headed to the mountain where Fang Nanxi was hiding.

This time, he returned very quickly, as he didn't need to scout back and forth. Coupled with Shen Bei flying through the air, he entered the mountain in almost ten minutes.

Arriving at Fang Nanxi's hiding place, Shen Bei imitated a few squeaks of a mouse, according to the agreed signal.

Fang Nanxi responded with a cat's meow.

Shen Bei pulled back the weeds covering Fang Nanxi's head and pulled her out, “It’s about time, come with me.”

Fang Nanxi didn't ask much either.

Shen Bei scooped up Fang Nanxi, carried her on his shoulder, and once again soared into the air.

Soon, they arrived and hid outside a mandatory path outside the tofu-selling Stranger's village.

Incidentally, Shen Bei, under the cover of night, destroyed the tofu-selling Stranger's cart to prevent him from entering the city today.

According to Shen Bei and Zhuang Bifan's analysis, if Fang Han got the newspapers and left the city, there were two possible places he might go.

One was their previous meeting point, which was definitely outside the city, without question.

The other was the tofu-selling Stranger's village.

Shen Bei felt that Fang Han had a higher chance of coming here.

After all, the newspapers were dropped by the tofu boss, so Fang Han would definitely come to see what was going on.

...

On the other side.

After the sky completely brightened, Zhuang Bifan kept his eyes glued to the city gate.

Today's city gate was different from usual.

Normally, the city guards would open the gate, then collect taxes from the arriving Stranger.

But today, a team of Stranger, clearly of a higher Rank than the city guards, came out first.

Then, various Stranger from within the city came out one after another, heading to their respective destinations.

This team was dressed more elaborately, looking like soldiers from the City Lord's mansion.

One of them was dressed nobly, and by his demeanor, he should have been the City Lord.

This team inspected the Stranger waiting to enter the city, seemingly finding nothing.

Then they collectively proceeded along the left road.

Zhuang Bifan’s eyes moved, “They’re out!”

Zhuang Bifan was not in a hurry, he waited quietly.

After all the Stranger entered the city, Zhuang Bifan planned to go back to the tofu-selling Stranger village on the right to find Shen Bei. They just needed to intercept that team before they returned.

Of course, Zhuang Bifan also didn't need to worry about being exposed. This ditch was not small; as long as the mirror left this section of weed-covered water, it could flow downstream, and it wouldn't take long to get within one kilometer of that Stranger village.

About half an hour later.

The Stranger lined up by the road entered Black Furnace City.

Zhuang Bifan slowly emerged from the mirror, untied the rope fixing the mirror, and re-entered the mirror, letting the main mirror drift downstream.

In a moment, Zhuang Bifan, inside the main mirror, entered within one kilometer of Shen Bei’s location.

“The City Lord has left the city, and his team is heading to the left. Hurry and gather around me! We’ll intercept him!” Zhuang Bifan shouted, contacting the mirror in Fang Nanxi’s hand.

However, to his utter surprise, Shen Bei roared:

“I’m about to fight Fang Han! Gather around me, quickly!”

Zhuang Bifan: !!!