Song Yao paused. “Thank you, but there's no need to trouble yourself.”
Jiang Jin was acting weirder than usual. Traveling with him would be far worse than bringing Lin Shui along.
She turned and left. Before Jiang Jin could even try to catch up, she had already vanished into the sky on her flying sword.
He stood there in a daze, his brow furrowing slightly.
He couldn't remember much of what had happened at the Ming family's estate. He only knew that he had fainted after entering the Antong Shrine, and by the time he woke up, everything had been resolved.
According to Ming Ran, it was all thanks to Lin Mu that everything was resolved so quickly, and they only recovered thanks to Lin Mu's pills.
He had only come to thank her.
Yet she kept keeping him at arm's length.
Why?
Having stood there in a daze for a while, the Seventh Elder patted his shoulder. “Go back and cultivate. Little Wood said she won't be returning to the sect for a few days.”
Jiang Jin pursed his lips, unable to hide the loneliness in his eyes. He cupped his hands and replied, “Understood.”
He stepped over the threshold, but after a long pause, he turned back, hesitating before asking, “Seventh Elder, this disciple has a question.”
The Seventh Elder smiled good-naturedly. “Speak freely.”
Jiang Jin asked, “Is there any precedent for senior brothers and junior sisters of the same sect to marry?”
The Seventh Elder: “?”
...
After a leisurely journey, she finally arrived in Windbell Town by the evening of the following day.
Since Yu Jing had sent word ahead of time, the moment she landed, a plainly dressed woman smilingly greeted her with a horse carriage. “You must be Young Hero Lin! I have heard so much about you. Meeting you today, you truly possess a magnificent and outstanding bearing!”
Song Yao nodded slightly. “And you are?”
“I am Wen Xiao, the Great Elder of the Shilan Sect.”
She rubbed her hands together, looking a bit embarrassed. “Our sect is currently in a difficult situation, so we might fall short in hospitality. Come, come, get in the carriage first. We can talk as we go.”
Song Yao glanced at the drafty carriage, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding.
Weren't they supposed to be incredibly wealthy?
This looked...
...a bit destitute, didn't it?
With Great Elder Wen Xiao staring at her expectantly, Song Yao decided that since she was already here, she might as well get in. She climbed into the carriage in two quick steps.
The carriage creaked and groaned as it headed into the town.
With every rotation of the wheels, the axle let out an overburdened groan.
While driving the carriage, Wen Xiao didn't forget to hand her a few fruits. “It's been a long journey, you must be starving, Young Hero. These are local fruits unique to our region. Please, have a taste.”
The fruits weren't very fresh, and two of them were slightly overripe.
Song Yao took them, took two bites, and looked out the carriage window.
The situation in the town was even worse than she had imagined.
Crooked shanties made of bamboo poles and coarse cloth lined both sides of the street.
Several large pots were set up under the shelters, steam rising from them as porridge swirled inside. Next to them, buns were being steamed.
Long lines of people—men, women, young, and old—stretched in front of the shelters.
Wen Xiao explained, “We don't lack food and drink, as many cultivation sects have sent food and clothing to help. However, the floodwaters have only just receded, and the citizens' homes are still uninhabitable.”
After explaining, she didn't forget to look back and steal a glance at Song Yao.
Unfortunately, Song Yao remained expressionless from start to finish. Her eyes were gentle and calm, watching the scene outside without any joy or sorrow, and she did not say a word.
Wen Xiao cleared her throat again and said, “The only real trouble is this epidemic...”
Song Yao asked, “What kind of epidemic?”
“After the flood, the commoners inexplicably fell gravely ill. They run a constant fever, their bodies break out in rashes, and if left too long, they fall into a coma...”
As she spoke, the carriage came to a halt outside the Shilan Sect.
Song Yao stepped out of the carriage to take a look.
It was even worse than in the town.
The open ground in the center of the front hall was covered in straw mats. The townspeople lay shoulder to shoulder, their hands tied tightly, groaning and whimpering in constant agony.
It looked like a massive crime scene.
Shilan Sect disciples bustled between the mats to care for the sick, their faces covered in soot and showing deep exhaustion.
Wen Xiao explained, “If we don't bind their hands, they will scratch at the rashes constantly. It becomes much more troublesome if they break the skin.”
Suddenly, a little girl squeezed out from the side.
She looked about five or six years old, with two messy little braids. She ran over, grabbed the hem of Song Yao's robe, and burst into tears. “It hurts, Daoist. I feel so bad.”
Her face was covered in a dense red rash, her forehead was burning hot, dark circles bruised the skin under her eyes, and her lips were dry and cracked with blood.
Song Yao's brow furrowed slightly as she reached out to check the girl's pulse.
Strange.
This illness seemed somewhat familiar.
When she had been thrown into the Earth Realm previously, she had seen a similar situation.
Back then, a few water demons in the Earth Realm had run amok and contaminated the river, causing anyone who came into contact with the water to fall ill.
It wasn't a fatal disease, but it was incredibly agonizing.
Could water demons from the Earth Realm have sneaked into the Tianshu Realm?
The Tianshu Realm had barriers, and the Earth Realm was heavily guarded, so it should be highly unlikely.
A disciple quickly ran out, apologized to Song Yao, and coaxed the child away.
“Previously, one of my disciples also contracted this illness. We had someone look at him and fed him a Spirit-grade Poison-Expelling Pill, and he recovered completely,” Wen Xiao stood to the side, rubbing her hands together with a slightly awkward smile. “But Spirit-grade pills are simply too expensive. There are at least a thousand sick citizens in Windbell Town. On top of that, I don't know what's been going on these past few years, but the harvest of windbell grass has been very poor, and this year it was completely destroyed by the flood...”
Her voice grew quiet. After a moment, she added sheepishly, “I heard that your pills have a similar effect, only with side effects, so the price is lower. I wonder... just how low is 'lower'?”
Song Yao's attention was pulled back.
Well, well.
A tailor-made situation isn't necessarily a windfall from the heavens; it might just be a pig-butchering scam.
Seeing her remain silent, Wen Xiao's heart tightened again.
Pills were highly priced and usually bought in ones or twos. Buying thousands of low-priced pills in bulk all at once would likely scare anyone away.
She hastily added, “We can negotiate the price! It's just that we are truly strapped for cash, so we might have to barter. If there's anything in the Shilan Sect you want, you can take it right away. If you only want spirit stones, we can write you an IOU. In short, we won't let you suffer too much of a loss...”
As she spoke, pairs of eyes in the courtyard would steal glances at Song Yao from time to time.
They were filled with absolute tension, clearly terrified that she would walk away, yet equally afraid that she would demand an exorbitant price.
Song Yao rubbed her temples.
With so many people watching.
So many people waiting for her to play the hero.
This really was a pig-butchering scam designed specifically for her.
Fine, then.
With a wave of her Daoist robe, dozens of porcelain bottles landed on the nearby table. “Take them and use them.”
Wen Xiao was stunned. “The... the price?”
Song Yao tossed two fruits in her hand, saying lazily, “Haven't you already paid?”
Wen Xiao: “...”
It took her a moment to process this.
What did she mean?
No charge?
She was giving them so many pills just like that?
That couldn't be right.
Who in the world would willingly take such a loss?
Her eyes trembled slightly. Lifting her Daoist robe, she bowed deeply to Song Yao.
The busy disciples in the courtyard quickly stopped what they were doing and bowed in unison.
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