Chapter 261 - 182: Establishing a Bond, Making a Move, Slaying

Chapter 261: Chapter 182: Establishing a Bond, Making a Move, Slaying

Behind the stall, the middle-aged woman used her right arm to continue soothing the swaddled infant. She looked up, her clear, bright eyes studying Zhao Zuo. Her expression grew tense when she saw the Storage Bag at his waist.

"Senior, these Spiritual Medicines were picked less than a day ago. The roots are still active, making them an excellent choice for either transplanting or Medicine Refining."

"For these fifteen stalks, I’m only asking for two... no, one and a half Spirit Stones."

Zhao Zuo nodded, his eyes glancing around. He immediately noticed several gazes filled with greed. It was clear that people had already targeted the woman; after all, carrying a child would undoubtedly affect her combat prowess.

"How much for these woven bamboo toys?" Zhao Zuo asked.

"They’re just worthless trinkets. Ten taels of gold for any one you’d like." A flicker of disappointment crossed the woman’s eyes, but she still answered Zhao Zuo’s question sincerely.

Zhao Zuo leaned down and picked out a woven bamboo monkey. He took out two Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag, then gathered up all the Spiritual Medicines on the stall and said lightly.

"Keep the change."

By all rights, the fate of this woman and her child had nothing to do with Zhao Zuo. Yet, for some reason, he had inexplicably stopped here and spent two Spirit Stones on Spiritual Medicines that were useless to him, along with a woven bamboo toy.

"Thank you, Senior," the woman said gratefully. But her movement was too large, startling the infant in her arms, who began to wail again.

"It’s nothing. Be careful. Someone’s watching you," Zhao Zuo said in a low voice.

His momentary kindness had already gone above and beyond. After hearing Zhao Zuo’s warning, the woman hesitated for a few seconds before reluctantly taking out a Communication Jade. As the talisman paper on it burned, she softly spoke a message into it.

After putting away the Spiritual Medicines, Zhao Zuo continued to wander through the stall area. Unfortunately, even after more than a two-hour period, he failed to find any damaged Magical Artifacts worth acquiring. It seemed his luck wouldn’t last forever.

Just as he was about to leave, he happened to see the woman with her baby blending into a crowd. The dozen or so people around her were all Loose Cultivators who lived in the outer areas but worked inside Moyun Workshop during the day. Some were teahouse assistants, some were restaurant waiters, and some were shop clerks.

They stuck together for mutual support, hoping to stand against the Tribulation Cultivator groups within Moyun Workshop. They tried to use their numbers to deter the Tribulation Cultivators and ensure their safety.

Seeing this, Zhao Zuo could finally relax. But the sound of the baby’s cry and the image of the woman’s hopeful face surfaced in his mind, and for some reason, he stopped walking again.

This was the third time he had stopped today.

’Tribulation Cultivators have already targeted that mother and daughter. I can help them this time, but can I save them for a lifetime?’

Zhao Zuo knew that while he could save the mother and child from their current danger, what could he do the next time they were targeted by Tribulation Cultivators? By then, they would be beyond his reach, and he would be powerless to help.

’The world is what it is; it can’t be changed by one person’s strength.’

The woman held her baby and found the Loose Cultivators she knew. The group walked side by side, discussing their earnings from the day’s work. Although their backs were bent by the hardships of life, they still held on to hope.

Zhao Zuo hadn’t intended to meddle, but for some reason, he followed them anyway. As he had started to leave, the sound of the baby’s cry had echoed in his mind, growing incredibly clear.

’The Immortal Dao is a path of endless struggle, but how is a newborn infant anything but innocent?’

The group left Moyun Workshop without dallying. Zhao Zuo saw a Loose Cultivator with a Cultivation at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer waiting for them up ahead. He carried a bamboo basket on his shoulder, wore a conical hat, and was draped in a cloak made from Demon Beast hide. When the woman saw him, a happy smile spread across her face.

Zhao Zuo pressed his right hand to his face, instantly changing his features, and simultaneously put on the Silver Breath Mask. He could sense several intensely greedy gazes fixed on the group.

The hidden Tribulation Cultivators hadn’t given up just because the group was large. After all, more targets meant more loot for them, and an increase in numbers rarely led to a qualitative change in strength.

In the cold wind, the fifteen or sixteen people walked slowly onward, quietly discussing recent events. Their eyes would occasionally scan their surroundings, but they were like sheep lazing on the grass after a meal, completely unaware they had become the target of hungry wolves.

Within the crowd, the woman and her Tao Companion, while also talking with the others, were clearly more alert to their surroundings. The woman had obviously taken Zhao Zuo’s warning to heart.

Finally, after the group had walked another few hundred meters, the person in the lead seemed to trigger a trap. Gray smoke rose around them, obscuring their vision. What left Zhao Zuo dumbfounded was that... the people didn’t organize a counterattack. Instead, they each chose a direction and scattered like birds and beasts.

From the surrounding woods, about a dozen Tribulation Cultivators with black scarves over their faces emerged from four directions. They hid their identities to prevent retaliation should anyone escape. Zhao Zuo also noticed that the moment the ambush was sprung, the Medicine Gatherer had grabbed his wife and child and started running for his life.

Unfortunately... the gray-robed Tribulation Cultivators had already surrounded them from all four directions, with more hidden in the woods nearby to provide support. Clearly, this band of Tribulation Cultivators had no intention of letting anyone go, even if... these people were at the very bottom of the Moyun Workshop food chain and had hardly any Spirit Stones on them.

If Zhao Zuo didn’t intervene, what followed would be a one-sided slaughter. The newborn infant would draw his last breath, even though he’d never had a chance to experience the beauty of the world.

Zhao Zuo sighed.

He had always disliked trouble. Ever since he’d transmigrated, he had avoided anything that might cause it, never actively inviting any Cause and Effect.

But today was different. He wanted to draw his blade and fight for that mother and daughter, complete strangers to him, simply to protect the hope in those eyes, and... the baby in her arms.

Zhao Zuo drew his Black Flame Saber, Mana surging through his body. In the blink of an eye, he had moved nearly a hundred meters, the terrifying Spiritual Pressure making his clothes whip and snap in the wind.

He appeared behind a black-robed Tribulation Cultivator, his Black Flame Saber piercing the man’s heart from an incredibly awkward angle.

Then the second, the third...

He moved through the battlefield like a grim reaper, every strike felling another Tribulation Cultivator. The Loose Cultivators who had been busy fleeing for their lives all stopped in their tracks, watching the one-sided slaughter with fervent hope and shouting their thanks.

A dozen or so seconds later, driven by fear, the gray-robed Tribulation Cultivators scattered and fled, quickly vanishing from Zhao Zuo’s sight.

Zhao Zuo collected a few Spirit Stones from the bodies of the Tribulation Cultivators and, without lingering, strode away from the battlefield.

Some of the Loose Cultivators even fell to their knees to express their gratitude, but Zhao Zuo didn’t stop for them. He had acted only to follow the will of his own heart, not for anyone’s thanks...

The woman, holding her infant, watched the somewhat familiar back retreat into the distance. She decided she would pass down the story of this day, making sure her son would remember the debt of gratitude they owed.

......

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