The Journey of Immortal Cultivation
Chapter 171 - 116 Birthday Gift

Chapter 171: Chapter 116 Birthday Gift

The second matter to attend to was to capture another boy and girl each.

Originally, both chores had been completed without a hitch, and the individuals were taken from the outskirts to avoid disturbing cultivators attending the gathering. In this day and age, disasters and calamities are incessant, and those living on the remote outskirts are all destitute peasants; a demon swallowing an entire village of people is hardly uncommon, so what’s peculiar about a few people missing now? Therefore, Liu Manzi spread out the days of the captures and managed to do so quietly, without attracting the attention of Yan City Prefecture.

The men, women, and children he captured were temporarily held in a cellar on a farmhouse outside the city, where he had to deliver meals daily. Master Fan specifically instructed that these people should only eat vegetarian food. Liu Manzi was dissatisfied with having to play the role of a meal-serving servant despite being a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, but one must bow their head under another’s roof. However, during yesterday’s visit, he somehow lost track of a young boy who escaped from the cellar. With the "delivery" time approaching and such a blunder occurring, Liu Manzi was out of options, so he took advantage of the tea party to release Yellow Turban Warriors and randomly grabbed a boy from Yan City Alley. The whistle’s guess was correct; Liu Manzi was originally trained in orthodox Daoist Skills and could only command the Ghosts and Spirits of Yellow Turban Warriors, even though he knew they weren’t quite suitable for kidnapping, he was out of ideas.

By the way, the crow used for surveillance in the tree was not Liu’s, but a spirit beast lent to him by Master Fan. As Miss Ning chopped down the crow, Master Fan immediately sensed the death of his spirit beast.

Liu Manzi must have been cursed with bad luck recently. Using Yellow Turban Warriors to abduct children elsewhere in the city might have been unobstructed, but to do it in front of Ning Xiaoxian... It’s said that enemies are often brought together by fate. Changtian knew she must be concerned about the fate of those captured, so he focused his search on this issue. Regrettably, by last night, both adults and two children had already been taken away by Master Fan, their whereabouts unknown.

What exactly is the relationship between Master Fan and Second Young Master Wen? Liu Manzi wasn’t sure, but during the handover yesterday, Master Fan gave a third order—a woman had a secret meeting with Second Young Master Wen at the government office. Master Fan wanted Liu Manzi to go to Tan Qinghe’s home and interrogate her.

That’s roughly the situation. Liu Manzi, cunning by nature, wasn’t so easily trusted by Master Fan, who, when giving him Spirit Stones that day, also forced upon him the "Red Kiss" to consume. Ordinary poisons wouldn’t affect cultivators, so the medicine Master Fan presented wasn’t actually poison but rather a powerful tonic, something Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators often took while expanding their Sea of Consciousness. However, for someone at the Foundation Establishment Stage, such medicine was too potent; without Master Fan’s Divine Dew to relieve the effects every three days, Liu Manzi’s Sea of Consciousness would soon burst.

After hearing Ning Xiaoxian’s account, the whistle frowned deeply. Since slicing the Three-eyed Crow yet still being tracked here indicated that Ning Xiaoxian was right—there must be spies planted by the other side in the Prefecture office, revealing that it was Ning Xiaoxian who took Tan Qinghe and her son to record their testimony. Opposing a cultivator usually doesn’t end well; he might not care, Ning Xiaoxian might not care, but what about Tan Qinghe and her son?

He acted decisively, immediately waking up Tan Qinghe. The Tan Family had a small courtyard on a farmhouse in the remote outskirts; living outside the city was not necessarily safe, but it was better than being remembered by a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

Indeed, in Liu Manzi’s memory, Master Fan was a Middle Stage Golden Core Stage Cultivator. Neither Ning Xiaoxian nor the whistle stood a chance against him. If they couldn’t beat him, they could at least hide from him. Liu Manzi had only been captured for one night, and with his naturally lazy nature, it would take a while before Master Fan noticed anything amiss, so the whistle and the Tan Qinghe mother and son quickly packed up and hurriedly left the city.

To ensure their safety, the whistle had to stay at the farmhouse for a while. Besides death, nothing in life is a big deal; compared to life, repute and all that can be temporarily set aside. But with the whistle gone, he could no longer assist Ning Xiaoxian.

She did not leave. Relying on the effects of the High-level Disguise Pill, she decided to stay within the city to observe the situation. Only by knowing the enemy and knowing oneself can one have greater hope for survival.

That morning, Wen Liangyu’s small courtyard unexpectedly welcomed a visitor. Someone gently tapped on his gate.

"Who is it?" His visitors were only a select few, and the rhythm of this knocking was not habitual to any of them.