He didn’t expect this fledgling to be of much help, but in this strange world, the higher her status and the longer she lived, the safer he would be.
He let out a breath.
Lin Shu stepped out of the guest room and gently closed the door behind him.
As he turned, he ran right into a figure dressed in black.
Xie Yutang hesitated for a moment before stepping aside to let him pass.
As she watched the young man about to head downstairs, she couldn’t help but say in a low voice, "Shopkeeper, please be careful for the next few days. We passed by earlier and overheard an old man and a young girl chatting. It sounded like they were talking about you."
Logically, one had to be extremely careful when about to make a big move.
Revealing one’s identity was out of the question.
But she remembered how he had shown mercy and spared Gu Nanzhi.
So, Xie Yutang still decided to offer a tactful warning.
’Besides, this Shopkeeper seems a little slow,’ she thought. ’Whether it was the Immortal Talisman before or our sudden return to Shihu, he didn’t seem to notice anything strange.’
’He probably won’t figure anything out.’
"Thank you for the warning."
Lin Shu’s steps faltered for a second, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
He hadn’t been optimistic about this ragtag group of Little Demons to begin with.
And after what the young woman just said,
their chances of success had just dropped by another thirty percent.
As the saying goes, a kind heart can’t command an army, and a righteous hand can’t manage wealth. Too much benevolence reveals too many weaknesses when it’s time to act.
Then again, it made sense.
According to the one-eared young man, Xie Yutang had rescued every single Little Demon in that room.
If it weren’t for that personality of hers, she never would have been able to gather such a team in the first place.
Lin Shu shook his head, dispelling the stray thoughts, and went downstairs, his expression back to normal.
The inn was strangely quiet at dusk.
It was time for the evening meal.
The cook finished preparing the food, and a servant brought the dishes to the tables.
But even after the braised pork knuckle grew cold, the group of Laborers still hadn’t shown up.
"Shopkeeper... what’s..."
"Take it back to the kitchen."
Unlike the others, who were confused, Lin Shu sat behind the counter, diligently taking stock of the five Storage Bags he had seized from the Enemy Cultivators he’d slain.
As usual, they had been traveling light.
The bags contained only items for Magical Combat, such as Immortal Talismans and Elixirs.
Lin Shu carefully sorted the items and placed them in his own Storage Bag, memorizing their exact positions to ensure he could retrieve them in an instant.
He then infused the Cyan Umbrella Magical Artifact with his Spiritual Power, familiarizing himself with its various functions.
Only after finishing all this,
Lin Shu closed his eyes and began to circulate the Cyan Bird Feeding Body Formulas.
He also recalled the splinter of his soul that had been tracking Chen Xiangzhu and Steward Luo.
He brought himself back to his peak condition.
「Late at night.」
Amidst the silent, pitch-black mountains, points of firelight flickered.
The White Teeth Mine was nestled within the mountain forest, shaped like a broken crescent moon.
The Court conscripted Laborers and handed them over to the Immortal Families.
Although these people could not cultivate proper Inner Techniques of the Immortal Families, the Immortal Sects would teach them some simple Spirit Formulas so they could get close to the Spiritual Ores and Treasure Medicines.
These Spirit Formulas were nothing in the eyes of a Cultivator, but in the mortal world, they were countless times more profound than the techniques of any Martial Artist.
If they could just endure until their term of service was complete,
they could take these skills and the silver taels they had saved, return to their homes, and live a comfortable life.
Of course, the most important part of that process was... enduring until their term of service was complete.
Even at this late hour,
the White Teeth Mine was still packed with people.
Several Immortal Disciples stood impassively at the exit, releasing their auras to force the panicked Laborers back.
"Immortal Masters, spare our lives!"
Many of the more timid Laborers were already on their knees, begging for mercy and kowtowing with all their might.
But even as their foreheads bled and stained the gravel, it failed to stir the slightest emotion in the disciples’ eyes. Instead, their voices grew even colder. "Get back in line and stand still. Obey the arrangements of the Immortal Family."
At these words,
the nearly six thousand densely packed Laborers looked horrified, their bodies swaying like dry grass in the wind.
Standing in the stone pits they had dug with their own hands, they felt as if they had stepped into their own graves.
Behind them, the pale, crescent-shaped mine looked like the maw of a colossal beast choosing its next meal. In the flickering firelight, its shadow gradually swallowed the crowd.
Many of the old Laborers, who had served for over twenty years, sank to the ground in despair.
They had seen this coming all along.
The newly arrived members of the Immortal Family were short on merit; they would never willingly hand that pool of Spiritual Milk over to their seniors.
But it was a pity they were too lowly. Even if they had anticipated this, what could they do?
This was Yongzhou Pass. With the Court within and Signal Towers without, there was no escape!
"Seriously, did you have to do this at night?"
Yu Qing stood on the mountainside, yawning nonstop, clearly exhausted.
"There are too many people and prying eyes during the day. If you don’t want to earn merit, you can go back. I’ll just find Yu Lin. It’s just a matter of rounding up some Laborers, after all. Anyone can do it."
Yu Kui stood with her hands clasped behind her back. Her splendid robes billowed in the mountain wind, causing the Cyan Feather she wore to sway gently.
Her face was delicate and beautiful, like a celestial fairy stepping out of a painting.
But to the Laborers below, she was more terrifying than any beast. The mere sweep of her merciless gaze was enough to send cold sweat trickling down their spines.
Hearing this, Yu Qing forced a smile. "I was just talking. Why bother him? I’ll personally send a message to the family and have four thousand more transferred over from Anren Prefecture. That should settle it, right?"
"That’s more like it. Let’s begin."
Yu Kui gave a slight nod.
She had brought over thirty disciples with her, all of whom were present today. They had the mine on lockdown; not even a fly could hope to escape.
The moment she finished speaking,
a disciple waved their sleeve, forcibly sweeping up nearly a hundred people and hurrying the group of Laborers into the mine shaft.
Mining Blood Spirit Stones at White Teeth Mine naturally caused one’s body to be eroded by Blood Qi, an effect that was difficult to resist even with the use of Spirit Formulas.

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