"Go to that Mountain Villa? I can't go there."
Zhang Huaping's expression changed on the spot, and she refused in no uncertain terms.
Deep in the mountains outside the city, that group of Demon Cultivators had wiped out a large clan village with a long-established legacy more than a hundred years ago, then put down roots there. They were ferocious beyond measure.
Travelers and merchant caravans passing through were often slaughtered.
Yet they controlled the largest Magic Copper Mine in the region, one of its core economic lifelines.
More than eighty years ago, the city lord had steeled himself and called on the various cultivator Lineages to join forces and enter the mountains to suppress the bandits. In the end, they suffered grievous losses.
Now, the place had become a forbidden land that struck terror into everyone's heart.
The shopkeeper tried to persuade her:
"Those Demon Cultivators may be evil, but they aren't stupid. They won't attack merchants who've dealt with them before. Otherwise, who would dare do business with them?"
"Other shops have hired people to go there several times before, and nothing happened. This time, it's my turn to send someone. Help me out."
Zhang Huaping fell silent.
It was the end of the year.
If her guess was right, that group of Demon Cultivators was preparing to worship their ancestors and pray for their forebears' blessings, which was why they had begun purchasing supplies on a massive scale.
She had heard that in previous years, they had always used living sacrifices.
If she went there herself and really got sent off as an offering—
Being buried alive as a maid and turned into a living puppet to serve in a tomb for the rest of her life would already be a good outcome. What if they had