Since the gold soul coins on him were still quite sufficient, Shen Hanyu naturally did not wrong himself and hired a double-horse carriage that looked quite high-end, atmospheric, and upscale.
It cost a full fifty gold soul coins, but it was worth it. The interior decoration of the carriage was also very luxurious, with even the carpet and cushions made from the fur of snow foxes.
The snow fox is a very common soul beast in the extreme north, with a large population, generally around ten to a hundred years old. No particularly powerful snow foxes have appeared, so the fur of this species is extremely circulated in the market. Even many nobles in the inland regions specially purchase it, which shows its comfort.
The carriage slowly and leisurely traveled southward on the road covered with ice and snow.
The Shen family did not choose to live on the periphery of the extreme north but instead settled in a warmer area near Element City. Although it was still somewhat cold in winter, it was much better than the extreme north, which was like winter all year round.
As they gradually moved away from the world of ice and snow, green began to slowly appear on the hillsides around them. This made Shen Hanyu, who had not seen green leaves for more than half a year, look at them a few more times.
Although they were not very good-looking, they were pleasing to the eye!
The ice and snow on the road also began to slowly melt, and the speed of the carriage gradually increased. The scenery outside the window quickly retreated backward, and even the wind carried a hint of warm and sticky meaning, no longer as dry and cold as in the extreme north before.
The coachman driving the carriage was a middle-aged man with soul power fluctuations on his body, but he was at most a level twelve or thirteen soul master. Otherwise, he would not be able to afford such a luxurious carriage.
The middle-aged man was very talkative. Along the way, he could chat about anything from family matters to the frictions between several major forces.
Shen Hanyu also became interested. He had been in the extreme north for so long that he had not had a good conversation with people for a long time. Those who did not know might think his personality was very cold.
"Big brother, has anything big happened in the Spirit Hall recently?"
Shen Hanyu leaned against the window, looking at the scenery outside, and asked the middle-aged man in front.
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly and said:
"There are many things about the Spirit Hall. For example, a while ago, the Pope of the Spirit Hall, called something... Bibi seemed to have shown his strength in a big competition. Goodness... Little brother, you may not know, but that Pope's ninth soul ring was actually red. It is said to be the legendary hundred-thousand-year soul ring, which shocked many people at the time..."
"And, the Pope of the Spirit Hall seems to have specially taken in a disciple, which was only announced recently. As for the name, I didn't hear it clearly, but I heard it's a very busty and very seductive..."
Hearing this, Shen Hanyu let out a puff of laughter, almost unable to hold back his hearty laughter.
Good, good, good, very seductive, right? That must be Hu Liena, that white-eyed fox. It seems the plot is still early now. By the time the protagonist group and supporting characters are all on stage, Shen Hanyu calculated that by then, he would already be very strong, at least able to ignore general threats.
After chatting a few more sentences with this interesting big brother, night had actually slowly descended.
The extreme north and the areas radiated by it not only get dark unusually early, but the temperature also drops rapidly at night. However, although it was dark, visibility was still good, probably because of the aurora in the sky and the snow on the ground. It just inexplicably had a somewhat eerie atmosphere in it.
When the carriage drove into a valley, Shen Hanyu, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he quickly lifted the window curtain and looked into the jungle not far away. Something was attracting his gaze.
Under the cover of dense bushes and tree shadows, burly figures quickly moved through the forest, closely following behind the carriage.
Shen Hanyu probed with his mental power to the fullest, but he could only vaguely see the outlines of those things.
They looked very much like humans, but they had heads between wolves and humans, covered with wolf fur, with sharp claws on their hands, but they could walk upright like humans, and even their distribution was well-organized.
Wolf thieves! Such a name flashed through Shen Hanyu's mind.
Wolf thieves are the descendants of Gale Demon Wolves and humans. They have extremely high intelligence and possess the powerful attack power and extremely fast speed of Gale Demon Wolves. They feed on humans and are extremely greedy for wealth. Now that such a group of soul beasts has targeted them, if not handled properly, he and the coachman big brother might both GG tonight.
The coachman's big brother was completely unaware of the abnormality and was even humming an unknown little tune with great interest, driving the carriage unhurriedly forward.
Shen Hanyu secretly thought he was unlucky. This group of wolf thieves probably numbered twenty or thirty, and the leader barely had ten-thousand-year cultivation. The rest were quite ordinary, with three at a thousand-year cultivation, and the others were some hundred-year cultivation cannon fodder.
Listening to the coachman's big brother's leisurely and pleasant little tune, Shen Hanyu no longer knew whether to say big brother had a big heart or a small heart...
It was also fortunate that he did not know; otherwise, the carriage would probably be flying by now.
A hint of mischief suddenly arose in Shen Hanyu's heart. He opened the window and said out of nowhere:
"Big brother, do you know if there are any bandits or the like around here?"
The coachman's big brother's humming a little tune, paused, then his whole body trembled as if he suddenly remembered something. He stiffly turned his head back and said tremblingly:
"Little brother, this is my fault. It's all big brother's fault for drinking half a catty of horse piss in the afternoon and forgetting such a serious matter. This area has always had wolf thieves appearing, but look, we've already walked so far. Probably tonight, those wolf thieves have eaten and drunk their fill and are sleeping soundly. Don't worry, we'll be out of this forest in half an hour."
Shen Hanyu's mouth twitched. He secretly thought what a talent and said angrily:
"Big brother, no need to go further. We've already been targeted by wolf thieves. They've been following us all the way, probably just confirming if there's any danger. If you go another two hundred meters forward, the two of us will probably have to explain ourselves here."
The coachman's big brother trembled all over, then quickly reined in the horses and looked forward in horror.
Through the hazy moonlight, several figures could be seen standing not far away, waving. The night vision was obstructed, and their specific appearances could not be seen clearly. They could only barely see that those people were extremely tall and quite robust.
The coachman's big brother swallowed hard, then said with a trembling voice:
"Little brother, you... You're a soul master, right... This... Big brother is really powerless... You know, big brother is just a level twelve soul master, and the first soul ring is still white... This... Big brother is truly powerless... How about now the two of us first write our last words... Maybe we can still leave a letter for our families..."
Shen Hanyu rolled his eyes, then lifted the door curtain and jumped straight out of the car, saying:
"Big brother, go inside the carriage. I can't guarantee your safety later. If it really comes to it, run in the direction we came from. There are basically no wolf thieves behind, and even if there are, they can't catch up to your two-horned horses. Understand?"
"Understand! Brother, you cheer on, big brother will cheer for you..."
The coachman's big brother nodded like a garlic pounder, then scrambled into the carriage, not even daring to poke his head out.
Shen Hanyu helplessly sighed softly, then the Cold Sky Spear appeared in his hand. Four soul rings rose under his feet, and an extremely cold and sharp aura swept out. In an instant, the nearby flowers and plants were frozen into ice blocks...