The woman ran extremely fast, specifically weaving through deep, narrow alleys.
Ning Zhou dragged Song Yao along for a distance. Seeing her pace slow down, he assumed she was running out of stamina, so he simply hoisted her onto his back. “Hang in there a bit longer.”
Song Yao looked a little disheveled. She scratched her messy hair and said, “Actually, we didn't need to run.”
They were going to meet those demons sooner or later anyway.
It would have been better to just wait and see what they wanted to do.
It would save her the trouble of taking a roundabout route and looking for them herself.
But since they had already run...
That was fine too.
After an unknown amount of time spent sprinting, the surrounding voices gradually faded away. Only the wind and their footsteps remained in the alleys, and their pursuers were finally shaken off completely.
The woman hurriedly pushed open a dilapidated courtyard gate, urging them between breaths, “Quick, get inside!”
Ning Zhou stepped into the courtyard and set Song Yao down. He leaned against the wall, panting for a long time, his vision spinning slightly. “Wait, wait, wait... I don't feel so good.”
Song Yao checked his pulse. “You ran too fast and inhaled too much demon toxin. It's fine, you're not at death's door yet.”
Ning Zhou: “...”
He slid down to sit against the base of the wall, trying to circulate his spiritual energy to clear his head.
The woman walked over holding some tea, her face filled with worry. “How are you two? Can you still hold on?”
Song Yao had originally pulled out a Qi-Replenishing Pill to help Ning Zhou detoxify, but upon hearing this, she tucked it back away. Sitting down beside Ning Zhou, she blinked and shook her head. “My junior brother seems like he's about to drop, and so am I.”
The woman hurriedly placed the water beside Ning Zhou and checked his condition.
After that frantic run, he had indeed inhaled a lot of demon toxin.
Right now, his hands trembled slightly as he tried to circulate his spiritual energy. His eyes were shrouded in a layer of mist, and he looked as if he was already beginning to hallucinate. Yet, he still forced himself to shake his head. “I'm fine, I'm fine. I just can't really stand up right now. In a bit, I should... I should be okay.”
As he spoke, he didn't forget to caution the person beside him. “Lin Mu, just sit next to me. Don't wander off...”
Song Yao: “Okay.”
The woman looked at Song Yao again at the sound of her voice.
This young girl was so slim and frail, and she hadn't even been able to keep up during their run just now. Sitting next to this robust body cultivator, she looked like a little white rabbit in need of protection.
Her beautiful, aloof face, which resembled the mountain moon, was tilted up slightly, making her look somewhat helpless and pitiful at this moment.
She didn't seem to pose any threat at all.
The woman stood up, took two steps back, and said, “Rest for a bit and drink some water. I'll go find a room for you to rest in.”
“Sister.”
Song Yao called out to stop her. “We've just arrived and don't know anything. You said just now that they wanted to capture us. What do they want to capture us for?”
The woman paused in her tracks, looking at her with a complex expression. “They want to capture you to exchange for things with the Lord.”
Song Yao: “The Lord? What Lord? Exchange for what things?”
The woman lowered her voice, a complicated emotion swirling in her eyes. “A few months ago, the Lord descended upon Frost City and took control of the entire city, renaming it Frost Country. He set a rule that as long as we capture cultivators and send them to Frost Flower Palace, we will receive a reward.”
“Gold, silver, wealth, power, status—whatever your heart desires can be exchanged. I even... even heard that one can ask for immortality.”
Song Yao raised an eyebrow.
Unsurprisingly, this Lord was likely the demon that had manifested the demon realm.
She didn't know what kind of demon it was to have such leisure, choosing not to make a move itself but instead enticing the entire city's populace to capture cultivators.
No wonder the tavern had been packed with guests and offered exorbitantly priced dishes, with every single patron looking wealthy and influential.
It seemed the townspeople had captured quite a few cultivators recently, allowing them to handsomely reward themselves.
The woman's gaze fell upon their Daoist robes, and she added, “If we capture a cultivator from the Nine Saints Hall, the reward is doubled. You two must be from the Nine Saints Hall, right?”
“Yes.”
Song Yao's focus shifted rather inappropriately as she asked curiously, “But there were so many people trying to capture us just now. If they worked together to take us down, how would they divide the reward?”
The woman curled her lips. “Money. If there are many people, then each person gets one million spirit stones.”
Song Yao let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
One million spirit stones per person.
If they captured a few more cultivators, the accumulated spirit stones would probably be enough for ordinary people to start cultivating.
A path to wealth had been found.
She asked again, “So the waiter insisted on keeping us at the tavern because she wanted us to inhale an excessive amount of demon toxin overnight, lose our ability to resist, and then capture us to trade for rewards?”
The gap between ordinary people and cultivators was undoubtedly as vast as heaven and earth.
Confronting them head-on would be no different from a swarm of ants trying to capture a human.
Conveniently, the demon toxin in this demon realm was exceptionally heavy and pervasive. Once a cultivator lost their ability to resist after a night, it would be the perfect time to capture them.
Layer upon layer, this demon was truly extraordinary.
The woman nodded. “Exactly. It is just as you think.”
Song Yao smiled. “Then did you bring us here because you want to keep us all to yourself?”
The woman's face instantly stiffened, her voice laced with a hint of panic. “What... what nonsense are you talking? I wanted to save you.”
“Alright, then thank you.”
Song Yao patted Ning Zhou's shoulder and transferred some spiritual energy to him to clear his mind slightly. “Get up, we're leaving.”
Still immersed in the dizziness caused by the demon toxin, Ning Zhou forced his heavy eyelids open. “Leave? Where to?”
Song Yao: “Back to the tavern.”
The woman was taken aback. “You... you want to go back to the tavern? But you managed to escape with such difficulty.”
Ning Zhou was also completely baffled. His limbs were weak, but he could only comply with her, struggling to support himself as he followed closely behind. His voice was weak and airy. “Why are we going back? Lin Mu, if... if it really comes down to it, why don't you just leave me here? I'm so dizzy, I feel like I'm done for. You should find a way to escape first...”
Song Yao: “Cut the chatter, just don't get lost.”
She took a step outward, but before she could cross the threshold, the courtyard gate slammed shut with a heavy thud.
“Stop right there.”
The woman's voice, which had been relatively gentle just moments ago, suddenly turned sinister as it drifted from behind. “You are much sharper than I expected.”
Having anticipated this, Song Yao turned around unhurriedly.
Out of the shadows of the ruined courtyard, figures emerged one after another.
They appeared to be ordinary townspeople, men and women, young and old alike. Their gazes were locked tightly onto the two of them, and their hands firmly gripped various implements.
Kitchen knives, shovels, axes—a motley assortment of weapons glinted coldly in the dim light.
The woman stepped forward slowly, her tone icy. “You aren't going anywhere.”
Looking at the dense crowd before her, Song Yao couldn't help but chuckle. She reached out and poked Ning Zhou, whose consciousness was gradually slipping away. “This lineup of yours isn't going to cut it. Even if he's about to go crazy, he can still send you all flying.”
The townspeople surrounding them stiffened in unison, with quite a few instinctively taking half a step back.
A half-grown child's mouth puckered, looking on the verge of tears.
Seeing this, the woman barked sharply, “Don't let her delude you! This man is poisoned by the demon toxin and won't hold out much longer! This girl can only run her mouth; she couldn't even take two steps earlier without running out of breath!”
Rate on N.U.
