Smugly harvesting a fresh pile of gold and silver treasures, Jiang Ke’er watched her Treasure Vault grow a bit fuller, thinking she was one step closer to her dream of becoming a Collector.
The strong man had left, still wrestling with the “five thousand strong men gift” dilemma on his way out.
Those five thousand strong men couldn’t be slaves—slaves harbored long-standing grudges against the Holy Sect and would certainly not serve the Xian diligently. They might even invite disaster.
So they had to be outstanding disciples from within the Holy Sect itself—loyal, fervent disciples willing to sacrifice themselves for the sect.
Even for a massive sect like theirs, five thousand disciples was no small number, and they had to be sturdy men with “tropical rainforest leg hair.”
They also had to be dressed seductively enough while remaining “masculine,” preferably ones who could sing Madier Fa Ke’er.
“They also need to be proactive enough,” Xu Chen had said at the time. “Our disciples at the Tribulation Immortal Hall are rather shy—all passive little Shous. You must learn to make the first move like overbearing presidents.”
“How do we make the first move?” the strong man asked in a trembling voice.
“If they refuse, force it. If they resist, get rough. Don’t worry about the consequences—it’s all part of the mood. The people of our Tribulation Immortal Hall love saying ‘no’ with their mouths while getting seduced until their limbs go weak, then being pinned to the bed and enjoyed.”
Xu Chen said, giving a thumbs up with a healthy grin: “Don’t listen to a word they say. The disciples of our Tribulation Immortal Hall are all old tsunderes—you can’t tell with them.”
“Just go for it directly. You really need to do their ideological work on this, teaching them to make the first move.”
The Xian really knew how to have fun.
The tribes of Southern Zhan didn’t know much about the Tribulation Immortal Hall, but now the strong man suddenly felt that perhaps not knowing much wasn’t such a bad thing.
The nobles of Southern Zhan had always loved copying the high-society games of Dongsheng Shenzhou, thinking it fashionable. If they ever learned how advanced and fashionable the Tribulation Immortal Hall’s games were, it would be a complete disaster!
***
After seeing off the pursuers from Southern Zhan, Jiang Ke’er still couldn’t relax. She returned to the Novice Village, planning to visit the Medical Hall.
At the very least, she needed to find out what kind of menace had arrived and why it had drawn so many Cultivators in pursuit.
But she didn’t need to go looking—the Village Chief had already come to find her personally and was waiting at the entrance of the Blacksmith Shop.
“A young girl showed up in the village, keeps saying the village is in danger and telling us to run,” the Village Chief said. “Shui’er, you’re the wisest person in our village, the one who’s seen the most of the world. Go take a look.”
The Village Chief came to Jiang Ke’er simply because in his eyes, she was the smartest one around.
Jiang Ke’er agreed with a smile and jogged alongside the Village Chief toward the Medical Hall.
After stepping into Gongsun Xiaotao’s sickroom, Jiang Ke’er signaled for the others to step out. She needed to talk with Gongsun Xiaotao alone.
Gongsun Xiaotao was frantic and panicked, her little face pale as death: “Those people are Cultivators from the Shasheng Hall of the Huangtian Sect in Southern Zhan.”
“They kill without blinking—when they wipe out a village, men, women, old, young, even the chickens and dogs don’t survive. They’ll catch up and kill us all soon! You have to run!”
“Why are they chasing you?” Jiang Ke’er asked.
“I was a maidservant at the divine hall beneath the Huangtian Sect’s mountain. But the day before yesterday, I accidentally knocked over a candlestick, and they said I blasphemed the Deity and wanted to kill me.” Gongsun Xiaotao laughed bitterly.
“To the Huangtian Sect, blaspheming the Deity is the most severe crime imaginable. I knew I was as good as dead, so I fled north. I never thought they’d be so persistent, chasing me all this way…”
“Just for knocking over a candlestick? They chased you across half a province?”
“Yes. Anything related to the gods, the Huangtian Sect pursues to the letter, obsessively cautious.” Gongsun Xiaotao said.
“Coincidentally, on that very day, the Sect Leader lost a bet to the chieftains of other tribes, and he decided it was all my fault. He wanted to burn me alive. If God’s wrath isn’t appeased, something terrible will happen…”
She’d thought with all this fuss that Gongsun Xiaotao had gotten into some huge trouble—maybe she was even a princess in distress or something. But it turned out to be a knocked-over candlestick?
Though for those fanatical madmen, that really was a big deal—perhaps even worse than losing all their family members.
The Huangtian Sect? It might as well be called the Absurd Sect.
“Are you absolutely certain everything you’ve said is true?” Jiang Ke’er asked.
“Every word! If there’s a single lie, may lightning strike me dead!” Gongsun Xiaotao said urgently. “So you all need to run!”
“The Huangtian Sect is not something you can afford to provoke! I’m sorry—I brought disaster to this place. I truly didn’t mean to, but if you run now, you might still be saved…”
“What about you?”
“I’m going back to the Huangtian Sect.” Gongsun Xiaotao clenched her teeth. “I can’t keep running. If I run any further, I’ll only drag more people into this…”
With that, she struggled to get out of bed.
Jiang Ke’er stopped her, saying, “No rush. Stay in the village for now. That so-called Huangtian Sect wouldn’t dare cause trouble in Dongsheng Shenzhou.”
Gongsun Xiaotao found Jiang Ke’er’s naivety almost laughable: “There’s nothing the Huangtian Sect wouldn’t dare do, especially when it involves the gods.”
Jiang Ke’er suddenly let out a cold laugh: “This is the territory of the Great Tang—land that an extraordinary hero wrenched from the very hands of the Heavenly Dao! There are no Xian here, and certainly no gods! All that exists here is conscience and law!”
“Whoever dares to cause trouble—even if it’s the true form of some god—must first weigh their own worth! If the Huangtian Sect dares bring their ignorance and folly to this land, this very ground will teach them just how high the heavens are and how deep the earth is!”
Gongsun Xiaotao stared blankly at Jiang Ke’er.
Jiang Ke’er’s tone was filled with a confidence she yearned for—a way of thinking brimming with human compassion, rooted in the heart rather than revolving around the gods. It left Gongsun Xiaotao suddenly enchanted.
Though she’d heard Dongsheng Shenzhou was plagued by all sorts of problems, a land of frequent calamity.
Still, if she had the chance—if there were a next life—she would definitely be reborn here.
At least here, she could live as herself.
“Stay for now. The Novice Village has your back.” Jiang Ke’er smiled mysteriously. “And it’s been this long without any pursuers showing up. Maybe they’ve already given up.”
“The Shasheng Hall never gives up.” Gongsun Xiaotao shook her head in despair.
“Maybe they’ve hit some obstacle and called off the mission for now, but they already saw me enter this Fishing Village… From this moment on, they’ll send a never-ending stream of Killers here. You’re all ordinary people, completely defenseless.”
“Who’s afraid of who!”
An aged, furious roar came from outside the door: “Knocked over one measly candlestick and they want to burn a young girl alive? Outrageous! Let them come! We’ll see if our hoes are harder or their Knives are sharper!”
The Village Chief pushed the door open in fury, and only then did Gongsun Xiaotao notice that a large crowd of villagers had been standing outside the door all along.
Despite Jiang Ke’er telling them to leave, they’d disobediently hidden behind the door eavesdropping, hearing the entire conversation from start to finish.
The Village Chief stomped his cane, his white beard trembling, and bellowed: “Worst case, we die together! But telling the people of our Novice Village to stand by while someone dies? Impossible! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to stand up straight even in our coffins!”