At night in Yi Xiao’s room in County Governor Manor.
She was in a study alone. The candlelight emitted a yellow halo that attenuated at the open window that opened up to a night sky filled with stars.
“Father, I will be fighting Water God tomorrow.” Yi Xiao clenched the jade ornament in her palm and muttered softly, “I might die or live but you probably don’t care. It’s been ten years. After you left to roam the world, you have never returned to see me again. You are my only relative. How heartless you are, how heartless.”
…
At night in Qin Manor.
Qin Yun sat in front of a window. A sword flew out from his palm and rapidly expanded into a three-foot-long sword.
While wielding the silver sword, Qin Yun’s finger caressed the sword’s edge gently. It was ice-cold to the touch. “It’s been thirteen years. I have honed my flying sword all for this day!”
Sitting there alone all night, dawn unknowingly appeared over the horizon.
Qin Yun stood up and sheathed the silver sword in his scabbard. He pretended that it was an ordinary sword and not an Intrinsic Flying Sword.
The door creaked open.
Qin Yun left the yard.
“Second Young Master, good morning.”
“Second Young Master, good morning.”
The servants greeted him respectfully.
Qin Yun instructed, “Ah Gui, prepare my horse.”
“Yes, Second Young Master.” Li Gui immediately went to the stable to lead the horse over.
Outside of Qin Manor, the horse was soon delivered.
Qin Yun mounted the horse and said, “Uncle Li, I will be out on a trip today. I might not return tonight.”
“Alright.” Uncle Li responded with a smile. His young master was a cultivator so it was normal for him to leave for periods as long as half a month.
“Giddy up!”
Qin Yun immediately rode the horse and disappeared into the distance.
It was still very early in the morning and there were few people on the streets. Only hawkers were seen setting up their stalls in the usually bustling Jinglou Street.
“Fatty Liu, give me five buns.” Qin Yun said after riding his horse somewhere to buy some buns.
“Second Young Master?” The fatty that sold buns genially took five meat buns out, placed them in some oilskin, and handed them to Qin Yun. “Second Young Master, the buns are on the house for you.”
“Keep it.” Qin Yun threw ten coins out which neatly landed beside some plates sitting in the stall.
Qin Yun immediately reined the horse away.
Fatty Liu chuckled as he collected the money. The hawkers beside him hurriedly questioned him, “Fatty Liu, is that Second Young Master? Qin Manor’s Second Young Master?”
“I heard that Qin Manor’s Second Young Master is an immortal cultivator.”
“Wow, an immortal cultivator even pays for buns.”
The hawkers broke out into a discussion.
Fatty Liu said smugly, “What do you know? Ten years ago, when Second Young Master was still young, he came to buy buns from me frequently. He loves my buns the most.”
…
As Qin Yun ate the buns he frequently ate in his youth, he could not help but smile. He remembered that just as he moved from the village to the city, his father was still recuperating from his severed arm. Once, his mother had bought meat buns back. He had shared it with his brother and had eaten more than half of them. It was truly delicious. After his father became a constable, he also frequently patronized Fatty Liu’s meat buns.
He finished the meat buns and his horse moved fast. Just as half the sun peeked out in the east, Qin Yun came to the eastern city gates.
“Yi Xiao still isn’t here?” Qin Yun scanned his surroundings and dismounted his horse outside the city gates to wait.
After waiting for a while, he saw Yi Xiao, who was dressed in a light-blue dress, riding a horse out of the eastern city gates. Yi Xiao spotted Qin Yun the moment she came out.
“You’re here?” Qin Yun mounted the horse.
“You came rather early,” said Yi Xiao with a smile.
“I have been waiting for this day for too long. Also, Miss Yi, I have to thank you,” said Qin Yun. The intelligence that Yi Xiao had gathered was a lot more complete than his. If he had stuck to his original plan, it was likely to cause serious regrets.
“I was planning to take action anyway. Besides, I was the one inviting you. Let’s go.” Yi Xiao said.
“Let’s go.”
The duo immediately proceeded on horseback.
The two valiant steeds galloped across the major roads at rapid speeds. Occasionally, they would come across a group of villagers. They would have horse carriages with children in them. Typically, there were twenty children. These children had faces stained with tears. Some were in a daze while others were chomping down on steamed buns.
“On the twenty-eighth is the day children from the various villages have to be given to Water God.” Qin Yun explained, “It has to be on the twenty-eighth, not one day earlier or later! As there is a ten-kilometer forbidden zone around Water God Manor, any human that trespasses will be killed without question unless given prior permission.”
“Grand Dominance County is huge. The surrounding twenty county cities have millions of citizens. Some of the further ones have to travel three to four hundred kilometers to bring their children to Water God Manor; therefore, they have to embark a few days earlier. It is common.” Qin Yun said, “As they have to deliver children every year, the villagers have experience with the journey.”
They all have experience.
Qin Yun felt a stab at his heart. Such days had persisted on for more than two centuries.
“They will not need to have such experiences in the future,” replied Yi Xiao.
“Yes, there will not be any need in the future.” Qin Yun nodded.
“Trot. Trot. Trot.”
The horses dashed straight for Water God Manor.
******
In a village in Heightened province.
Chang’er and his family of three were being imprisoned,
A lanky man brought two other men to the prison and opened the lock himself. He said, “Brother Er, come on out.”
The woman inside the prison rushed out and grabbed the lanky man. “Where’s my baby? Where’s my baby?”
“The convoy that delivers the children have departed a day ago.” The lanky man said calmly.
The woman reeled back in shock as she collapsed down to the ground, lost in dazed speechlessness.
“Xiao E, we failed our baby.” Chang’er hugged the other child in his arms with reddened eyes. The child was still sleeping soundly.
“No, no…” The woman sobbed softly. She knew she could do nothing. Year after year, generation after generation, this had gone on for two hundred years!
…
In the villages around the twenty county cities in Grand Dominance County, numerous villagers and families were heartbroken. However, Water God was in power. Failure to meet his demands resulted in punishment. A light one would be to send demons to slaughter an entire village while a serious punishment was to stir floods that would inundate countless villages, causing more death and injury.
Qin Yun and Yi Xiao quickly traversed a hundred kilometers on horseback. The sun was high in the sky when they reached their destination.
“Ahead is Demon Mountain Camp.” Qin Yun pointed in front of him and said, “The various villages in Grand Dominance County will deliver their children to Demon Mountain Camp. It is situated five kilometers away from Water God Manor! Ordinary villagers have no right to approach Water God Manor.”
“Brother Qin, you have already said that the forbidden zone stretches out ten kilometers around Water God Manor. Any trespassers are killed without question. Then, aren’t we just slightly more than five kilometers away from Water God Manor?” Yi Xiao said with a smile.
“Yes, soon, the encampment’s demons will begin attacking us.” Qin Yun nodded. “We won’t be waiting for them. Let’s head straight for them and wipe out the entire encampment! It will be an opening gambit.”
“The array formations distributed around Water God’s manor extends for about nine kilometers. He has likely discovered us. Let’s see if he can continue tolerating us after we wipe out this encampment.” Yi Xiao said as well.
“Both of us are not yet at the Connate realm. If he doesn’t even dare come, he might as well kill himself.” Qin Yun said, “Perhaps, to him, we are just prey.”
The two chatted amid laughter.
Soon, they approached the encampment on horseback. The demons had established a camp at the foot of the mountain so as to receive the children that were delivered by the various villages.
“Oh? It’s not yet the twenty-eighth, why are there people here?” Perched atop a watchtower in the encampment, there were two demons who saw the couple coming from afar on horseback.
“They aren’t bringing children?”
“They dare trespass Water God’s forbidden zone?”
The demons exchanged looks.
“Leader, enemies approach! A man and a woman!” One of the demons yelled loudly.
Soon, there Demon Mountain Camp stirred with commotion. The demons came out with some of them holding roasted human flesh that they were still eating. The demons that were responsible for receiving the children were one of the most trusted demons of Water God. One by one, they came to the encampment’s entrance and saw the horseback couple coming from afar.
“A man and a woman dare storm us?”
“What audacity. Capture them and eat the man! We’ll have some fun with the woman before we eat her.”
There were such exclamations.
“Leader, I heard that the ones that stormed up Green Tooth Mountain were two cultivators, a man and a woman as well.” A demon with sharp ears shouted loudly immediately. Instantly, all the surrounding demons fell silent. The thin demon leader’s eyes stared widely, its eyes resembling a bell. “That man and woman from Green Tooth Mountain?”