Chapter 20: The Village Encounter

The eastern part of the village was indeed sparsely populated, with most of the villagers having left. Surprisingly, the old lady’s place seemed lively.

[While Rantie Wang’s words can’t be taken completely at face value, as she can’t see through everything, it is known that the remaining person’s cultivation level is at the sixth layer of Qi Refining.]

The young evil cultivator couldn’t keep his cool, almost fleeing when Rantie Wang knocked on the door. Only the middle-aged evil cultivator stopped him, giving the excuse of a family visit. However, the momentary surge of spiritual energy was detected by the talisman wrapped around Rantie Wang.

Unfortunately, when Rantie Wang entered the house, the talisman in her arms didn’t detect any spiritual energy fluctuations, making it impossible to say for sure if there was no one else inside.

Not far away was the gate to Li Niu’s house. Lian Yueying walked over, knowing she couldn’t pace back and forth. She had only one chance to move forward or back.

[It seems there are no Foundation Establishment cultivators here. Those two sixth-layer cultivators are nothing to worry about. If there are any other evil cultivators, I can quickly reach the trap.]

Lian Yueying gave herself countless reasons, successfully convincing herself—or rather, her greed had convinced her from the start.

The cultivation speed of a five-element root is too slow, and even with a Gathering Spirit Array, it’s not enough. It must be supplemented with pills to speed up the process. However, buying pills is expensive, and even buying spiritual herbs to refine pills is a significant expense. Lian Yueying’s current savings are far from sufficient.

Her moral compass doesn’t allow her to kill and rob, so she can’t let the evil cultivators go.

As she walked to the door, her keen senses told her that the two evil cultivators in the courtyard had noticed her. Without hesitation, she knocked on the door.

After a few breaths, surprisingly, it was the young man who opened the door.

Lian Yueying had considered this possibility, but her acting skills were average at best, so she had to improvise. She feigned surprise and asked, ‘I’m sorry, I must have taken a wrong turn. Earlier, I asked the villagers, and they said the lady who sold me the hairpin should be here.’

Ironically, the young man’s acting was even worse than Lian Yueying’s. Upon seeing Lian Yueying’s beauty, his eyes were filled with unmistakable longing. His gaze then wandered down, almost shamelessly appraising the charming woman before him.

[This person is truly bold, staring at me like this, probably not even considering me a mere mortal.]

During the Qi Refining stage, if one doesn’t use spiritual energy and just conceals their breath, it’s hard for someone of the same level to detect their cultivation.

The young man acted this way, so Lian Yueying could only smile awkwardly. This scene was seen by the middle-aged man in the courtyard, whose eyes deepened with thought. After a moment, he walked over, patted the young man’s shoulder, and looked at Lian Yueying.

‘Sister says you’re looking for her. She’s taking care of her critically ill husband. Please come in and wait a moment.’

[They’re clearly pretending to be relatives to deceive others. But there might be traps set up in the courtyard, so it’s safer to stay at the door.]

‘Oh, I heard from the lady that your family was having difficulties. I didn’t realize it was this bad.’

Lian Yueying smiled and deliberately took a step back, but neither the middle-aged man nor the young man reacted, which confused her.

Behind her, the middle-aged man tapped the young man’s back, who remained unphased, preventing any reaction to Lian Yueying’s movement.

‘It seems you have other business. If it’s not urgent, I can relay your message.’

[Something’s not right. I clearly heard these two evil cultivators tell the lady to find a mortal woman, but now that I’ve come to them, they’re uninterested. Have I been exposed? But the trap is just around the corner, so being careful is enough.]

‘It’s not that urgent, but this hairpin seems to have a flaw. However, I think the lady is honest and kind, so I came to ask about it.’

Hearing this, the middle-aged man thought for a moment before telling the young man, ‘Go check on your uncle. If he’s stable, tell the lady what this young lady said.’

The young man nodded and left, which confused Lian Yueying even more. She heard the middle-aged man say, ‘My sister has worked hard all her life. This time, she had no choice but to sell the family’s jewelry and won’t deceive anyone. Of course, I’m not saying you’re picking a fight, but please wait here for a moment until my sister comes to explain everything.’

[Interesting.]

A confused expression finally appeared on Lian Yueying’s pretty face. She looked around, thought for a moment, and then asked, ‘I may look young, but I’m not a child. You speak like you’re not a commoner, yet you claim to be the lady’s brother. This…’

Hearing this, the middle-aged man showed surprise, then leaned in to look around, confirming no one was nearby before speaking.

‘You’re perceptive, able to tell I’m not ordinary. To be honest, I’m not a commoner. I came down the mountain in disguise because my sister-in-law is critically ill, and we can’t find a doctor. Please don’t laugh, but after failing to pass the imperial examination, I entered the Daoist sect and cultivated for over a decade, thinking I had left the mortal world behind. But I couldn’t resist my family’s plea.’

The middle-aged man spoke with such sincerity that it seemed every word came from the heart. Lian Yueying showed a look of admiration and listened intently as he continued, ‘Fortunately, I have a unique prescription that can save my sister-in-law. It requires the blood of eighty-one women, each no larger than a soybean, to make the medicine and save her life.’

‘You’re telling me this wicked prescription to a woman like me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll report you to the authorities?’

‘Hum, why mock me, fellow cultivator?’

These words finally broke Lian Yueying’s clumsy act. She looked at the man and said, ‘Oh? How did you see through my cultivation? I never showed it.’

‘Just a guess. This village is known for strange happenings. Who else but a cultivator like you would dare enter here? Besides, your bones and blood are solid, only the best martial artists in the mortal world can achieve this.’

[My bones and blood… I guess my disguise wasn’t good enough. But is it really necessary to practice the Breath-Hiding and Body-Refining Method for half a year to achieve this level? How long does it take to complete it?]

Lian Yueying smiled and nodded, stepping over the threshold and passing the man. She kept her hands crossed in front of her abdomen, showing no change. The man, thinking he had won, was about to attack Lian Yueying, but he felt a surge of spiritual energy behind him.

[Unfortunately, you gave yourself away the moment you entered the village.]

Realizing too late, he was caught off guard by the sudden three Green Needle Rafts hitting his back. The powerful wood spiritual energy, combined with high-speed rotation, quickly dispersed his protective golden light.

This effect exceeded Lian Yueying’s expectations. The dispersal of the protective golden light meant his internal spiritual energy was depleted. The Green Needle Rafts exploded as they stopped spinning, violently blowing open the door and knocking the middle-aged man to the ground, his back a mess of bloody flesh.

[Weakling.]

Lian Yueying’s peach-blossom eyes flashed with ferocity as she used a talisman to drive the Green Needle Rafts straight toward the man’s head, killing him instantly.

Lian Yueying didn’t immediately see his storage pouch, so she ran into the house and saw the young man trying to escape through the window. She activated her evasion technique and followed him out.

‘Fellow cultivator, spare my life! I’ll give you all my possessions!’

[You’re dead, and your possessions are mine.]

The young man’s plea didn’t make Lian Yueying hesitate. She immediately scattered Five Elements Talismans toward him. The young man, clearly terrified, quickly cast a spell, and vines spread around, blocking the incoming projectiles.

‘I don’t have most of my possessions on me, fellow cultivator. If you kill me, you won’t get them!’

[If that’s the case…]

A moment of greed made Lian Yueying hesitate, and the young man seized the opportunity. The Five Elements spell quickly formed and headed straight for Lian Yueying’s face.

[You’re asking for it!]

The distance was too close for Lian Yueying to cast a real talisman, so she drew her long sword and used the Three-Inch Mirror to absorb the spell, then reflect it back at the young man, meeting the subsequent Five Elements spells.

Seeing this miraculous Three-Inch Mirror, the young man’s expression was the same as Lian Yueying’s had been. However, he, who only knew how to harm mortals, wasn’t as quick to react as Lian Yueying.

In a breath, Lian Yueying gestured, casting three more real talismans. The Green Needle Rafts shot from three directions toward the young man, who desperately defended himself, shouting, ‘Fellow cultivator, are you from the Qinglin Sect too? We’re family! Stop, stop!’

His words, of course, couldn’t stop Lian Yueying. She used her own Green Needle Rafts to skim the ground and hit the young man’s chin.

‘Fellow cultivator…’

His protective golden light blocked the hit, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Lian Yueying’s pretty face right in front of him. In that moment, he finally noticed the slight glow on her hair bun, which wasn’t a hairband but a talisman.

The seventh layer against the sixth was a significant advantage, and Lian Yueying’s combat experience far surpassed his. The flying-hair beauty and the three Green Needle Rafts were the last things he remembered. One pierced his body, the second his skull, and he died instantly.

The third Green Needle Raft was Lian Yueying’s insurance. Even if it wasn’t needed, it still followed the young man’s head wound, bringing out a mix of white and red, and shot into the ground, exploding.

This time, Lian Yueying felt nothing as she looked at the body on the ground. She calmly took out the storage pouch, avoiding the pools of blood, and activated the Gathering Sea Scripture.

Back in the courtyard, the middle-aged man’s body lay in a pool of blood. Lian Yueying did the same to him before entering the house.

On the bed lay a motionless fifty-year-old man, and the old lady was curled up on top of him, her eyes closed in pain. She only looked up when Lian Yueying approached.

‘Small girl! What are you doing here?’

The old lady wasn’t confused. She immediately recognized Lian Yueying. Lian Yueying went to the bed, felt the old man’s breath, and touched his cold, aged skin, frowning slightly.

‘May the departed rest in peace, grandmother. Don’t be too sad.’

Hearing this, the old lady was startled for a moment, not knowing what to say. She sighed and said, ‘I don’t want to deceive you, you’re such a good girl and should find a good husband. Why did you come here yourself?’

[The gate is a bit far from the house, so the grandmother probably didn’t hear what happened.]

‘Grandmother, don’t worry. Those two have been taken away by the authorities.’

‘I know they had evil intentions, sigh, I’ve hurt people.’ The old lady closed her cloudy eyes again, sighed, and looked at Lian Yueying. ‘But they really could save my old man, I…’

Hearing this, Lian Yueying approached the old man again, confirming he was indeed dead, before saying, ‘Forgive me for being direct, but although I don’t know how long it’s been, this old man is indeed deceased.’

The old lady was surprised. She got up and looked at the old man, puzzled. ‘But they clearly gave him breath, and I lured women here so they could take their blood to make medicine. It’s just that the women I found were too few, the yin energy wasn’t pure enough or something…’

These words stirred up bad memories for Lian Yueying. She frowned, about to speak, when she felt a stronger spiritual energy approaching from afar. She immediately activated her evasion technique, leaped out the window, and fled toward the forest.

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