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Chapter 277: Changes in the Mountain Village
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 08:08:45 +0000 UTCWhile Shuishui Village was bustling with activity, Han Weishu and Tong Jialiang, who were traveling southeast from the southernmost part of Pusi Country, encountered some unexpected troubles on their journey.
To save money, the two mostly took smaller roads. These paths were often ones created between villages, which allowed them to bypass the need to constantly stop at county towns for rest, as they could instead stay in villages for a few coins. It was much cheaper than staying in the towns, which sometimes even charged entry fees.
As a result, the two only ventured into cities when absolutely necessary, gritting their teeth and making do with makeshift shelters for a night.
Fortunately, Han Weishu had long adopted male attire, and her mannerisms didn’t resemble those of a typical young woman. To further disguise herself, she smeared dirt on her face and tied dry grass into her hair, creating a rather disheveled look, so no one paid much attention to her.
Their journey had been relatively smooth so far.
Today, instead of entering a town, they decided to cross a mountain. Once they crossed this peak, they would be near the borders of Hufang Province.
However, they underestimated the sheer size of the mountain range. By the time the sun had set, they had only made it halfway through. Wandering in the dark for hours, they were fortunate enough to come across a small mountain village.
This was not a bandit hideout, but rather a small settlement of mountain folk. These people were mostly former refugees without official household registrations, but the authorities turned a blind eye to their existence.
The villagers were warm and hospitable. Seeing the two young travelers exhausted from their long journey, they quickly invited them in to rest.
Han Weishu curiously observed the villagers. Though she often sneaked out of her sect to wander the cities, she hadn’t truly interacted with many people. In fact, her primary encounters were mostly with street thugs and hooligans.
She particularly enjoyed standing up for the weak in the county near their sect. Because of this, she had gained quite a reputation in the area, to the point where the local ruffians had practically vanished after two years of her frequent outings.
Yet, despite her escapades, she hadn’t made many real connections with others. Aside from Tong Jialiang, she hadn’t formed any real friendships.
The person hosting them was the wife of the village chief, a woman in her early thirties. She was kind and welcoming, mentioning that she had a son about their age who worked as an apprentice in the nearby town and only returned home during holidays. The only one at home now was her infant daughter, still swaddled in her arms.
When she showed them her soft, chubby baby, both Han Weishu and Tong Jialiang hesitated to touch the child, fearing they might accidentally hurt her.
The village homes were mostly made of bamboo, easily built, so there were plenty of spare rooms to accommodate travelers.
Late that night, the village fell into complete silence. Han Weishu and Tong Jialiang each had their own room, resting deeply after a tiring day.
However, around midnight, faint noises came from outside the village. The sounds were strange—not the usual rustling of nature. While most people wouldn’t notice, Han Weishu, having cultivated for more than ten years, was immediately alerted.
She opened her eyes but didn’t get up right away. Instead, she summoned her Earth Spirit, Qiuqiu, to quietly investigate the situation. Qiuqiu could move completely silently across the ground as long as it didn’t make noise intentionally.
Unaware that they were being watched, the intruders busily spread knockout powder around the village.
Once they had ensured that the villagers were unconscious, the group of intruders pulled out bundles of rope from their storage pouches and began tying up everyone, from the elderly to children as young as six or seven.
Though Han Weishu wasn’t sure if the knockout powder would affect her, she had already held her breath long before, avoiding any possible danger.
Through the Earth Spirit, Han Weishu saw everything the group was doing, and her heart filled with rage. But she quickly realized that these people were likely cultivators—each one carried a storage pouch, a sign of their status.
Despite her concern for the villagers, Han Weishu didn’t dare to act. She summoned Qiuqiu back to conceal her aura and stayed still.
With Qiuqiu’s abilities, hiding the presence of a low-level Qi Condensation cultivator like Han Weishu was not difficult.
Then, she remembered Tong Jialiang sleeping in the next room. Seeing the intruders approaching their quarters, she had no choice but to hide under Qiuqiu's cover for now and think of a way to rescue him later.
She quickly stowed her bedding in her storage pouch, crouched in a shadowy corner, and had Qiuqiu spread out and completely conceal her, leaving no trace of her presence.
Moments later, she heard the intruders entering Tong Jialiang’s room. One of them whispered, "Senior Brother, there’s another one here."
The owner of the voice tied up Tong Jialiang, slung him over his shoulder, and tossed him outside.
Then, the same person entered Han Weishu’s room, only to find it completely empty. He quickly left.
Once he was gone, Han Weishu, still hidden by the Earth Spirit, breathed a sigh of relief.
Keeping her concealment, she climbed out the window, moving to a higher vantage point to spy on the intruders.
It didn’t take long for the group to round up most of the villagers, throwing them into the middle of the village square.
There were five intruders in total. One of them stood in the center, arms crossed, like a stone statue, watching the others work.
One of the men emerged from the chief’s wife’s house and asked, "Senior Brother, there’s a baby inside. Do we take it?"
The leader, referred to as "Senior Brother," replied in a cold, deep voice, "Can it walk?"
The man shook his head, "No, it’s just an infant, about the size of two hands."
Without a word, the leader shot him a cold glance and turned away, indicating his disinterest.
Understanding the message, the man joined the others in retrieving antidotes from their storage pouches and sprinkling it on the villagers, gradually waking them up.
The confused villagers, groggy and disoriented, tried to make sense of their surroundings but could see nothing in the darkness.
A strange voice echoed through the night, "Get up and move!"
Suddenly, they felt a powerful force pulling them to their feet, dragging them forward against their will.
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