Chapter 153: Staying the Night in the Village

Looking down, the land below looked like a map spread out before the eyes. Trees, roads, fields, cities, villages, rivers, and mountains combined to form an exquisite ink wash painting. In the distance, clouds of various shapes drifted lazily, with pale blue horizons stretching beneath the deep blue sky, and distant white clouds being pulled apart into wisps of silk. Bai Qingzhou maneuvered the Wind-Riding Immortal Crane, darting swiftly through the air and dragging the white clouds into a long, white trail left behind in the sky.

"Senior Brother! We aren't going to be sleeping out in the wilderness again today, are we?" He Zuo's dejected voice came over.

To this day, they had been traveling for five days since departing from the Xuan-Yang Sect. Throughout these past five days, the three of them had lived entirely outdoors. At first, He Zuo found it rather novel and interesting, but after several days of it, he had grown somewhat impatient.

"Who knows..." Bai Qingzhou chuckled softly, then asked, "What? Is it only the fifth day, and you already can't take it? We might have to live like this for the next two years, you know."

"No, no, not at all!" He Zuo straightened his back and shouted loudly, "I am not finding it unbearable at all! I was just asking casually, just... asking..."

As his voice reached the end, it trailed off lower and lower, turning into a muttered mumble.

"Hahaha..." Bai Qingzhou burst into a hearty laugh, and then said slowly, "These surroundings are all remote wilderness with nowhere to stay. However, if we happen to come across a city, we can go and rest there for the night."

Since the two of them were only at the early stages of Qi Refining, they could not go for long periods without sleep or abstain from food the way Bai Qingzhou could. They still required three meals a day and proper sleep.

At that moment.

He Li's voice suddenly came from beside them, "Senior Brother! Look, there is a black speck down there!"

Hearing this, Bai Qingzhou raised his eyes to look. His eyesight far exceeded theirs, and with just a single glance, he could clearly make out what the black speck was.

"That's just a tiny village, nothing to worry about," he said softly, withdrawing his gaze.

"Senior Brother, Senior Brother!" He Zuo hurriedly raised his hand and suggested, "Then let's go there and rest for the night! It's getting dark anyway!"

Bai Qingzhou looked at the sun in the distance, turned his head, and said, "Nonsense, it's not even sunset yet."

"But I'm hungry. How about we go down there and get something to eat before moving on?" By the end of his sentence, a hint of entreaty had crept into He Zuo's tone.

Seeing this, Bai Qingzhou shook his head helplessly and said, "Alright then, we'll rest here for the night..."

"Yay~" He Zuo immediately raised his arms and cheered.

Even He Li, standing to the side, let out a soft sigh of relief.

Bai Qingzhou concealed the smile at the corner of his lips, then manipulated the Wind-Riding Immortal Crane to gradually slow down before flying toward the village.

As they rapidly drew closer, Bai Qingzhou was able to clearly make out the scale of the village.

The village was not large, appearing to consist of nearly a hundred households. Surrounding it were quite a few farmlands, where a few scattered figures could be seen bending over to do farm work.

Bai Qingzhou directly sought out the largest open space in the village and began a slow descent.

"Ah! Look, look!"

"What is that!"

"Run!"

The massive Wind-Riding Immortal Crane descending from the sky instantly startled the dozen or so people who had been sitting under the large banyan tree, sending them scrambling away in panic.

"Let's go," Bai Qingzhou whispered. With a flick of his spiritual energy, the Wind-Riding Immortal Crane, which had been several zhang wide, instantly shrunk into a small piece of paper. He reached out and retrieved it, slipping the paper directly into his storage pouch.

He Zuo and He Li, who had already prepared themselves, leaped down from the magical artifact in a single bound.

The three of them landed firmly on the ground.

However, when they saw the figures fleeing in all directions around them, they all exchanged somewhat awkward glances.

"Um... Senior Brother, why are they all running away?" He Li asked blankly.

Bai Qingzhou rubbed his nose and smiled sheepishly, "They're probably just a bit scared..."

"Don't run! We are not bad people!" He Zuo raised his hands and shouted at the fleeing crowd.

But how could ordinary villagers have ever witnessed such a spectacle? They all fled back into their homes, bolting their doors and windows tightly shut.

This left the three of them utterly speechless. They had merely wanted to drop by and ask to stay for the night; why did it feel like a group of bandits raiding a village?

"Oh! Senior Brother, there's a child over here!" He Li suddenly pointed to the side and called out.

By the side of the large banyan tree, a child of about six or seven years old was sitting in a daze. The child stared curiously at the three of them, completely devoid of fear, showing only innocent blankness.

Bai Qingzhou slowly walked closer, just as he was about to reach out and pat the child's head...

"Spare my life!" A woman in her thirties suddenly rushed out from a tightly closed doorway.

"Good heroes! Spare my son's life!" The woman scrambled and crawled over to the child's side, hugging him tightly with a face full of terror.

Bai Qingzhou withdrew the hand he had left suspended in mid-air and said speechlessly, "You've misunderstood. I had no intention of doing anything to him..."

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the previously closed doors and windows throughout the village swung open one after another, revealing numerous figures. Many people rushed out carrying clubs, while others wielded sickles and hoes.

A crowd of people successively rushed up to the three of them and quickly surrounded them.

"Get out of our village!"

"That's right! You are not welcome here!"

"Don't you dare lay a hand on Little Niu!"

"......"

A cacophony of chaotic voices rang out.

Bai Qingzhou smiled helplessly, pressed his hands downward, and shouted in a clear voice, "Everyone! The three of us are merely passing through and would like to stay for a single night. We harbor no ill intentions!"

Hearing Bai Qingzhou's friendly words, the crowd exchanged glances and collectively turned their gaze toward an older-looking man standing in the middle.

"Um..." The elderly man looked at Bai Qingzhou. After a moment of thought, he shouted, "There are no spare houses in our village, you had better leave!"

"How can there be no houses!" He Zuo immediately shouted, "With so many houses in your village, wouldn't it be easy to just spare a few rooms!"

"That's right," Bai Qingzhou continued, "Please rest assured, we will pay you in silver and won't be staying for free."

He had brought along plenty of gold and silver precisely to minimize worldly troubles.

"Er..." Hearing Bai Qingzhou's words, the old man was left at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond.

"Hmph, a few brats playing god and playing ghosts! Let me, Old Liu, beat them away!" Suddenly, an angry roar came from the back of the crowd.

Immediately afterward, a middle-aged, muscular man rushed out from the crowd, wielding a large saber and charging fiercely toward Bai Qingzhou.

Bai Qingzhou narrowed his eyes slightly, his figure standing tall and motionless.

"Hmph!" He Zuo let out a cold snort, took a step forward, and intended to walk toward the muscular man.

Bai Qingzhou hurriedly reached out to stop him, saying, "Xiaozuo! Don't use force!"

As a proper immortal cultivator, even though He Zuo was only a teenager of a little over ten years old and possessed only the third layer of Qi Refining, dealing with mortals was still effortless for him. Bai Qingzhou intervened precisely because he was worried that He Zuo might accidentally kill someone.

"Senior Brother, don't worry!" He Zuo replied in a low voice.

As they spoke, the middle-aged muscular man had already closed in on the three of them.

"You actually dare not to run?!" Seeing this, the man swung his right hand with all his might, bringing the long saber down in a fierce horizontal slash directly at Bai Qingzhou's body.

"Clang!"

The crisp sound of breaking iron suddenly rang out.

The long saber did not strike Bai Qingzhou.

Instead, He Zuo had somehow already stepped in front of Bai Qingzhou, blocking the blow for him.

The long saber struck He Zuo's arm and instantly snapped into two halves.

Against the defense of spiritual energy, mortal weapons were as fragile as eggs smashing against a stone.

He Zuo reached out with his right hand, grabbed the broken blade of the muscular man, and shouted, "Didn't we tell you we aren't bad people?!"

With that, he exerted strength in his grip, and the broken saber was crushed directly by the force of his fist.

"This... this..." The middle-aged muscular man stared in absolute terror and let go of the weapon.

The surrounding villagers were similarly frozen with expressions of pure horror, staring at the scene before them in utter disbelief.