Chapter 48: You Won’t Die
Ming Zhaoshuang and others flew on their swords early in the morning, heading towards Shuangyu Mountain.
The closer they got, the hotter the half-broken jade pendant hanging around Ming Zhaoshuang’s neck became, indicating Qin Zhi was nearby.
The other half of the broken jade pendant was in Fei Changxiu’s hand, held tightly.
Ming Zhaoshuang originally wanted to ask Fei Changxiu about the condition of the jade pendant in his hand, but saw that although he was riding his sword, he was drowsy and about to fall asleep.
On the other side, although Ming Chenxing was not as obvious as Fei Changxiu, he also appeared extremely tired.
What did these two do?
Ming Zhaoshuang accelerated and flew to Fei Changxiu’s side, asking, “Senior Brother Fei, what’s wrong with you? Your condition is so poor?”
Fei Changxiu was startled by her sudden approach, and Shen Liqian reached out to steady him at the right moment.
After saying thank you, Fei Changxiu mysteriously smiled at the two of them: “Chenxing and I did something big last night.”
What big thing?
As soon as he said this, the gazes of the remaining five people all turned towards Fei Changxiu.
He Jiusi guessed, “I see Senior Brother Ming’s spirit sword has been replaced with an Earthly Grade Spirit Tool. Could this be the big thing the two senior brothers mentioned?”
Ming Zhaoshuang also noticed that Ming Chenxing’s spirit sword had been changed, but he used to change swords frequently, so she didn’t notice at first.
At this point, she also noticed that this was not the Mysterious Grade Spirit Artifact Ming Chenxing usually used, but an extremely rare Earthly Grade Spirit Tool in the Lower Cultivation World.
Ming Zhaoshuang’s first thought was: If he displays it so openly, won’t it be snatched away?
“Wrong,” Fei Changxiu said with a smile, and then recounted to everyone what he and Ming Chenxing had done yesterday, making everyone burst into laughter.
At the end of the laughter, Ming Zhaoshuang suggested, “Since Senior Brother Xiu’er and Chenxing worked hard all night, why don’t the other two senior brothers give you a ride, and you can rest well for a while.”
Everyone agreed. Finally, the two put away their swords and went to the back to meditate and rest.
Shuangyu Mountain was vast and majestic, the mountainside covered in lush green. However, there was no sign of human habitation. It wasn’t until everyone had rushed for half an hour that they found a village amidst the endless green.
The village was located on the south side of Shuangyu Mountain, with houses built along the mountainside.
The jade pendant symbolizing Qin Zhi was also burning hot to its peak.
It seemed it was here.
Fei Changxiu and Ming Chenxing opened their eyes, their spirits and energy largely restored. Fei Changxiu looked at the village and said, “This godforsaken place, where not even a dog would piss or a bird would lay eggs, actually has people living here.”
Saying this, he was about to enter the village.
Ming Zhaoshuang pulled him back and said, “Wait, don’t forget that Aunt Qin Zhi’s cultivation had reached late Golden Core before she disappeared. The fact that she was trapped in this village means this village is not simple.”
Fei Changxiu was puzzled: “I sensed it with my spiritual power, it’s just an ordinary village, and the people inside might not even have opened their spirit roots.”
At this point, Shen Liqian also said, “I can’t sense any spiritual power in this village either. Covering it with my divine sense yielded nothing.”
Shen Liqian had the highest cultivation among them. If she couldn’t sense anything, it could only mean two things:
Either this village truly had nothing, or the village’s strength was unfathomable, far exceeding theirs.
Qin Zhi had been missing for over thirty years, and the latter was the only possibility left for them.
The most terrifying thing in this world is not power, but the unknown.
In the end, they decided to observe the village for a few days first.
On the first day, nothing happened in the village.
On the second day, nothing happened in the village.
On the third day, nothing happened in the village.
On the fourth day, Fei Changxiu lost his patience and anxiously said, “Isn’t this just a broken village? The people inside just farm and feed chickens every day, and no one even goes out.”
Ming Zhaoshuang, however, had sharp eyes: “Senior Brother Xiu’er, haven’t you noticed that this village is missing a type of person?”
He Qingqing asked in confusion, “Which type of person?”
Shen Liqian said, “This village, like Qian City before, is missing women, especially young women.”
Ji Qi looked at the figure running towards them and said, “Isn’t that a young woman?”
The few of them were surprised, and indeed, they saw a girl of about eighteen or nineteen years old crossing the barriers of the village, desperately hoping to run towards them – running only outside the village.
She was dirty and disheveled all over, her hair like a beggar’s, greasy in the sunlight. Upon closer inspection, one could even see lice crawling on it.
As for her clothes, they were even more tattered, even to the point of being indecent, wrapped around her gaunt and yellow body like tattered strips of cloth, revealing skin covered in bruises.
But she didn’t care. She only ran, running all the way, running without stopping.
Behind her, several men with hoes, brooms, and kitchen knives were chasing her, shouting curses.
The girl seemed terrified and fell hard into the mountain forest, but she quickly got up. She dared not look back, as if countless devils were behind her, and she kept running towards the outside of the village.
Ming Zhaoshuang was stunned.
In an instant, something broke through her thoughts. The anomalies of these past few days finally came to light, shaking her with the force of an earthquake.
What do you mean by shelter? That was just a lie they used to deceive the world!
Her body moved before her brain could catch up. Ming Zhaoshuang instantly summoned her long sword and sped towards the girl. In almost an instant, she had firmly grabbed the girl, disappearing from the sight of the group of men.
The girl was trembling all over. She hadn’t even registered what had happened when a choked sob came from her hoarse throat: “Don’t send me back! I don’t want to go back! I don’t want to go back!”
Saying this, she tried to break free from Ming Zhaoshuang’s hand and jump down the mountain: “Let me die! Let me die, okay! Please! I don’t want to go back! I’m not going back!”
I don’t want to go back to that devil’s den.
I would rather die.
Ming Zhaoshuang held the girl tightly, her usually cool voice tinged with a hint of a sob: “I won’t let you die. I’ll take you out.”
This was a girl who had been tricked into the mountains, where she became a tool for childbirth, confined in a place without light, suffering inhuman torment every second of every minute.
But she had tried many methods and finally, by relying on her own will, intelligence, and that tiny bit of strength, she had escaped.
The girl stopped struggling. She seemed dazed for a long, long time. Finally, she looked at Ming Zhaoshuang, who was shorter than her by a head, and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Fairy child, you’re here to save us, aren’t you… right?”
Ming Zhaoshuang shook her head heavily: “No, I am not the fairy child here to save you. You are the ones who have saved yourselves from beginning to end.”
“However, as fairy children, we are very willing to help you complete this act of self-rescue.”
Saying this, Ming Zhaoshuang smiled at the girl, cast a Cleansing Spell on her, and took out a cloak from her storage bag to cover the girl.
The girl felt refreshed all over, followed by warmth.
She peeked her head out from the thick cloak and spoke slowly and heavily:
“My name is Wei Jiao, I am eighteen years old, and I live in Kun City, Pan Gui Lane. There are five people in my family: Grandma Wei Lihua, Father Wei Yi, Mother Zhang Xiao, a brother Wei Qiao two years older than me, and a younger brother Wei Guang two years younger than me. They all love me very much. At my coming-of-age ceremony, they betrothed me to Zhao Lingyun, the butcher from Pan Hui Lane.”
“But I found him unattractive and didn’t want to marry him. After a big argument with my family, I ran onto the street and was tricked by bad people into this village, bought for ten taels of silver. If I die, or if I cannot escape this great mountain, please fairy child, come to my home and tell my parents: Jiaojiao was wrong, Jiaojiao cannot bear to leave them, Jiaojiao… loves them.”
Towards the last few words, she began to sob again.
“You won’t die. With us here, you can tell them these words when you go back.”
