The group carried Er Hei out of the burrow. Even after seeing the sleepless Village Chief, the two still wore the same look of having been scared stiff.
Black Goat kept switching between having all four limbs frozen rigid with terror and trembling as he begged for mercy.
The Village Chief planted both hands on his cane and stared gloomily at the man and goat sprawled on the ground. After a moment of silence, he waved to the others.
"Everyone, go outside first. Yu Ziqing and Er Han stay behind."
Once everyone had left, Old Yang emerged from inside the Earthen Kiln.
The Village Chief and Old Yang exchanged a glance, and the Village Chief said to Yu Ziqing,
"Have you decided how to deal with these two?"
"Uh, Village Chief, do whatever you think is best." Yu Ziqing was somewhat surprised. He knew his place well. In the village, he had never overstepped himself and claimed the right to make such decisions. He always left the final word to the Village Chief.
A faint smile appeared on the Village Chief's face as he looked at Old Yang.
"I wasn't wrong, was I? You were the one who made a mistake this time."
Old Yang grinned, unconcerned. When he had learned what happened, he had assumed Yu Ziqing would kill the intruders on the spot.
Being decisive and ruthless when trouble arose was an advantage in the current environment. However, Old Yang had taught Yu Ziqing many things in the past, including matters concerning killing. Contending with enemies and taking lives was something he would inevitably face in the future, but acting too impulsively was not a good thing.
There were countless methods in this world that could trace a murder back to its perpetrator. It merely depended on whether the opposing force was willing to pay the immense price.
Especially when one did not wish to expose oneself, attacking and killing the other party on sight was the worst strategy.
Anyone who dared do that simply had no fear of others learning that he was responsible. Mu Zhiqiu of Langya Academy's Martial Academy was one such person.
But Yu Ziqing currently lacked that kind of strength and ability. Being able to restrain himself was always a good thing.
"This Black Goat is a demon beast belonging to the Seventh Floor. He has countless Shepherds under him and is one of the people in charge of the Seventh Floor's network of informants.
"Broadly speaking, the Seventh Floor is a force that steals and sells information everywhere. But in Great Qian, Great Zhen, and Great Li, it is classified as an evil path, and everyone has the right to execute its members.
"And this man, according to the Seventh Floor's traditions, should be the one who controls Black Goat. Their combination, together with the many Shepherds under them, forms a standard intelligence-gathering team.
"Every year, countless people are forced to leave their homes and sold to various places because of them. The number of families torn apart and people killed is beyond counting. As long as they are discovered in Great Qian, they will inevitably suffer a thunderous strike."
After Old Yang finished speaking, he looked at Yu Ziqing.
The Village Chief continued,
"Decades ago, when the Wasteland was not yet this desolate, people near the mines who could no longer survive would come to the village. Some families had children they truly could not afford to raise, so they would send those children here as well. At least here, they could have a mouthful of food and would not starve to death.
"But in recent years, the Wasteland has grown increasingly ruined and barren. Fewer and fewer people live there for any length of time, and villages have vanished one after another.
"Those villages had no ability to move away, nor the means to cross the Wasteland and seek a living in Great Qian. They could only remain trapped there, stubbornly enduring until they eventually vanished completely.
"Later, with the help of the Shepherds, the village brought them across the Wasteland and here. On the one hand, they gained a chance to survive. On the other, they replenished the village's population."
At this point, the Village Chief paused, a trace of bitterness in his voice.
"Didn't you notice? There are no children in the village."
"I noticed..." Yu Ziqing nodded. He had noticed on his first day here, but he had never asked. He knew that question was bound to be sensitive.
"Because the people in the village can no longer have descendants of their own. The people brought here by the Shepherds are their descendants.
"I hate those Shepherds, yet I have no choice but to trade with them. Without them, no one else would bring people here. Without them, those people would remain in the Wasteland and would not survive either.
"Today, I heard Old Yang say that the weather in the Wasteland has grown eerily colder and colder, with all life disappearing. I'm afraid there are hardly any villages left, and hardly any living people. You are the last group to come here."
After Old Yang and the Village Chief finished speaking, they looked at Yu Ziqing together. The Village Chief pointed at Black Goat and the black-robed man.
"Now, how should we deal with them? You make the decision."
"Grandpa..." Er Han scratched his head and stared blankly.
"Shut up." The Village Chief harshly rebuked Er Han, not allowing him to speak at all. Judging from Er Han's expression, it was obvious he had understood nothing. The more the Village Chief looked at him, the angrier he became. Apart from growing muscles and strength, the fool had grown nothing else.
How could he dare hand the village over to someone like this in the future?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The Village Chief swung his cane and viciously smacked Er Han on the forehead.
Er Han did not move at all. He stared blankly at the cane resting against his forehead. After a pause, he finally cried out, covered his forehead, and crouched on the ground, putting on an exaggerated show of wailing.
Yu Ziqing remained silent as he looked at Old Yang and the Village Chief before him.
He now somewhat understood why the people in the village seemed both abnormal and perfectly normal.
They had once been a group of people who could no longer survive and were on the verge of starving to death. Their obsession with avoiding starvation was extraordinarily strong—so strong that they would rather never have blood relatives or descendants again than let go of the village, their final lifeline.
The people brought by the Shepherds were once just like them. Coming here was a gamble with their lives.
If they won, they would survive and put down roots in the village, receiving the greatest blessing under heaven. If they lost, they would surrender their lives, without regret.
It was not the Shepherds who needed the village. It was the village that needed the Shepherds. Without the Shepherds leading the way, serving as guards and using Livestock Transformation to drastically reduce their dependence on supplies needed for survival, ordinary people could never cross the dangerous Wasteland and reach the village.
But what Old Yang had said revealed another side. According to him, these two had committed every manner of evil. They were not only active in the Wasteland—the Shepherds under Black Goat had also spread into Great Qian and Great Li. They spared no one, not even children, among those who were living comfortable lives.
By Yu Ziqing's simple standards, these two were doomed to die.
Now, the two elders had thrown the choice into Yu Ziqing's hands, making him decide.
Yu Ziqing remained silent for a long while. The two elders did not urge him and simply waited quietly.
Now, he could either kill the two of them or make a deal, allowing them to continue abducting people from even farther away—places such as Great Qian and the border of Great Zhen—to sustain the village. With the Wasteland already in such a hellish state, the places bordering it certainly would not be blessed lands where every household had grain to spare.
From the villagers' perspective, this was the only hope in their hearts, their anchor for survival. Ensuring the village continued to exist naturally came first. Anyone who obstructed that was a mortal enemy. They could not possibly stand apart as bystanders and become righteous people who hated evil in the traditional sense.
Yu Ziqing lowered his head and glanced at the two on the ground. They immediately rolled their eyes in terror, while Black Goat was so frightened that he once again lost control of his bowels and bladder.
Yu Ziqing did not know how much Spirit-Confusing Medicine the two had consumed or how badly their five senses had been twisted. He also did not know what he looked like in their eyes. Whatever the case, he was certainly terrifying.
"I'll separate them first and detoxify them, then ask for some information. Once I'm done, I'll kill them.
"Even if I let them go this time, they wouldn't behave. Even if they sent more people later, no one could know whether all of them were impoverished families who could no longer survive. Among those sent this time, there was already someone with crooked intentions.
"If there's a next time, even if their greed for Jinlan Ore keeps them from acting openly, they'll certainly bury some hidden danger on purpose.
"Besides, if you yield once, they'll think you can yield a second time.
"The Wasteland is already ruined, and the village can no longer rely on them. Since you can't have children, then we'll slowly study the matter and look for a solution. We'll see whether it's because of the environment and changing environments will fix it, or whether there's something wrong with the people themselves.
"If all else fails, after I leave, I'll find a suitable place where we can settle down, then figure out a way to safely bring everyone from the village there.
"I imagine no one in the village cares about the minerals here, right?"
Yu Ziqing finished in one breath and looked at the two elders.
The two elders nodded together without hesitation.
"Good. We'll do as you say."
Yu Ziqing was somewhat surprised, but he quickly understood. The two elders had never actually been asking him to choose between two options.
They had merely wanted to see what he would do.
Perhaps no matter what he chose, the two elders would have nodded.
After glancing at Er Han beside him, Yu Ziqing suddenly understood. They merely wanted their successor to begin taking charge. The choice itself was not the test; what happened afterward was.
The Village Chief had also truly begun treating him as one of his own. He certainly understood the difficulties facing the village better than Yu Ziqing did, and he knew even more clearly that a change had to be made.
At the same time, he understood even better that the village's core was its people—the people seeking a way to survive—not this land.
Yu Ziqing looked at Old Yang. Old Yang must have told the Village Chief many things. Otherwise, no matter how open-minded the Village Chief was, he would not have suddenly made such a drastic change.
Yu Ziqing walked out and went to the kitchen to refine a dose of antidote for the Spirit-Confusing Medicine. He had Er Han dislocate the joints of the black-robed man, Black Five, restrain his torso and neck, and only then fed him the antidote.
After taking one dose, the black-robed man remained somewhat dazed, but his consciousness had cleared considerably.
He saw that everyone else had returned to normal, and his hearing had recovered as well. Yet whenever he looked at Yu Ziqing, Yu Ziqing still appeared as that indescribable thing.
"I ask. You answer."
"Ask whatever you like, my lord. I guarantee I'll tell you everything." The black-robed man trembled violently, finding even breathing difficult. He did not dare raise his head, terrified of taking another look.
"Name."
"Black Five." Afraid Yu Ziqing would think the name was fake, he hurriedly added, "I never had a name when I was young. I wasn't given one until I was taken into the organization, when they named me Black Five."
"Identity. Background."
"I'm the Black Goat Handler of the Seventh Floor. I've been gathering intelligence for the organization alongside Black Goat for many years..." Afraid that giving too little detail would make him seem evasive, the black-robed man told him everything he knew, sparing no detail. It took half an hour before he roughly finished.
"Cultivation method, spells, divine abilities, Dharma Treasures."
"The Seventh Floor's 'Mist Verification' and 'Secret of the West Wind.' The spells are supporting techniques. I don't know any divine abilities. As for Dharma Treasures, I only have two artifacts..."
As he spoke, the black-robed man pointed at his chest. Only after receiving permission did he take out a Storage Bag, remove several books and two artifacts, and place them all on the ground.
After explaining everything and cooperating completely, Yu Ziqing spent a long while dealing with the matter. When he looked at the rusted sword in his arms, he found that it had passed its judgment at some unknown point.
He continued with the next question.
"Where is the Seventh Floor's headquarters?"
"In the northwest of Great Qian..." The black-robed man's expression was dull and numb as he began to speak, but after only a few words, his voice abruptly cut off.
Horror spread across his face. He clutched his own throat as a circular ring of tattooing appeared around his neck. The tattoos glowed with a dim light, instantly gathering into a single stream that plunged into his head.
In the blink of an eye, the black-robed man slowly collapsed to the ground, his pupils gradually expanding.
He was dead.
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