The Two Elders' Choice

The crowd carried Er Hei out of the earthen hole, and when they saw the Village Chief, who had stayed up all night, the two were still frozen in terror, looking utterly shaken.

The Black Goat, meanwhile, kept switching between limbs stiff with fear and trembling pleas for mercy.

The Village Chief leaned on his cane with both hands, his gaze dark and heavy as he looked at the one man and one goat sprawled on the ground. After a moment of silence, he waved a hand at the crowd.

"You all go out first. Yu Ziqing and Er Han stay."

Once everyone had left, Old Yang walked out from inside the earthen kiln.

The Village Chief and Old Yang exchanged a glance, and the Village Chief spoke to Yu Ziqing.

"Have you thought about how to deal with these two?"

"Uh, Village Chief, whatever you decide is fine." Yu Ziqing was a bit surprised. He knew his place well—in the village, he never overstepped on decisions like this, always letting the Village Chief have the final say.

A faint smile appeared on the Village Chief's face as he looked at Old Yang.

"Didn't I tell you? You were wrong this time."

Old Yang grinned, unbothered. When he first learned of the situation, he had assumed Yu Ziqing would kill the intruders on the spot.

Being decisive in the face of danger was an advantage in the current environment, but he had taught Yu Ziqing many things, including matters of killing. Facing enemies and taking lives was something he would inevitably encounter, but acting too rashly was not a good thing.

There were countless methods in this world to trace a killer, depending only on whether the opposing force was willing to pay the heavy price.

Especially when one wanted to stay hidden, striking first and killing the opponent was the worst move.

Those who dared to do that simply weren't afraid of being found out, like Mu Zhiqiu of Langya Academy's martial division.

But Yu Ziqing didn't have that kind of strength or means yet, so holding himself back was never wrong.

"This Black Goat is a demon beast, belonging to the Seventh Floor, with many shepherds under his command. He's one of those in charge of the intelligence network there.

The Seventh Floor, broadly speaking, is a force that steals and sells information everywhere. But in Great Qian, Great Zhen, and Great Li, they're all listed as heretics, worthy of death by anyone.

And this man, following the Seventh Floor's tradition, should be the one restraining the Black Goat. Their pairing, along with the many shepherds under them, forms a standard intelligence-gathering unit.

Every year, countless people are forced to leave their homes and are trafficked to various places because of them. The number of families destroyed is beyond counting. If they're discovered in Great Qian, they'll surely face a thunderous strike."

Old Yang finished speaking and looked at Yu Ziqing.

The Village Chief continued.

"Decades ago, when the Wasteland wasn't so desolate, people who couldn't survive near the mines would come to the village. Some who had children they couldn't afford to raise would also send them here. At least here, they'd get a meal and wouldn't starve.

But in recent years, the Wasteland has grown more and more barren and bleak. Fewer and fewer people live there long-term, and villages have disappeared one after another.

Those villages had no ability to move, nor could they cross the Wasteland to seek a living in Great Qian. They were trapped there, forced to endure until they were completely wiped out.

Later, the village used the shepherds to bring people across the Wasteland here. On one hand, they got a chance to survive; on the other, it replenished the village's population."

The Village Chief paused slightly, a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"Haven't you noticed? There are no children in the village."

"I noticed..." Yu Ziqing nodded. He had seen it on his very first day here, but he never asked, knowing such a question would be sensitive.

"Because the people in the village can no longer have their own offspring. The people the shepherds bring are our descendants.

I hate those shepherds, but I have to trade with them. No one else will bring people here anymore. Without them, those people would stay in the Wasteland and die anyway.

Now, Old Yang told me the Wasteland's weather has been growing eerily colder, with all life vanishing. I'm afraid there are no villages left, no living people. You were the last to come."

Old Yang and the Village Chief each finished speaking and turned to look at Yu Ziqing. The Village Chief pointed at the Black Goat and the black-robed man.

"Now, how to deal with them—you decide."

"Grandpa..." Er Han scratched his head, looking completely confused.

"Shut up." The Village Chief barked at Er Han harshly, not letting him speak. And from Er Han's expression, it was clear he hadn't understood a thing. The more the Village Chief looked at him, the angrier he got. The kid had grown nothing but muscle and strength.

How could he ever hand the village over to someone like this?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. The Village Chief swung his cane and smacked Er Han hard on the forehead.

Er Han stood still, staring blankly at the cane that had hit his forehead. After a pause, he let out an "ow," crouched down, and covered his head, pretending to wail a couple of times.

Yu Ziqing remained silent, looking at Old Yang and the Village Chief before him.

He was starting to understand why the people in the village seemed off yet normal at the same time.

They had all once been people who couldn't survive, on the verge of starving to death. Their obsession with starving was so strong that they would rather have no blood descendants at all than let go of this last lifeline the village offered.

The people the shepherds brought were just like them in the past. Coming here was a gamble.

Win the gamble, take root in the village, and count it as heaven's greatest fortune. Lose the gamble, and give up their lives without regret.

It wasn't that the shepherds needed the village—it was that the village needed the shepherds. Without the shepherds as guards, and without the drastic reduction in reliance on survival supplies after the beast transformation, ordinary people couldn't cross the dangerous Wasteland to reach the village.

But Old Yang spoke of the other side. According to him, these two had committed countless evils, not just in the Wasteland. The shepherds under the Black Goat also reached into Great Qian and Great Li, targeting even people living decent lives, including children.

By Yu Ziqing's simple sense of justice, these two were as good as dead.

Now, the two elders had thrown the choice to Yu Ziqing, letting him decide.

Yu Ziqing was silent for a long time. The two elders didn't rush him, just waited quietly.

Now, either kill them both, or make a deal to let them keep kidnapping people from farther away—like the borders of Great Qian or Great Zhen—to keep the village alive. The Wasteland was already in this sorry state, and the lands bordering it couldn't be places where everyone had food to spare.

From the villagers' perspective, this place was their only hope, the anchor that kept them alive. Ensuring the village's survival had to come first—anyone who stood in the way was a mortal enemy. They couldn't be expected to stand by as impartial observers, playing the role of righteous justice-seekers in the traditional sense.

He looked down at the two on the ground. They immediately started rolling their eyes in terror, and the Black Goat Handler even soiled himself again from fright.

Yu Ziqing had no idea how much Spirit-Confusing Medicine they'd consumed, how distorted their five senses had become, or what he looked like in their eyes. But one thing was certain—it must have been terrifying.

"I'll separate them first, administer the antidote, then interrogate them for information. After that, I'll kill them."

Even if he let them go this time, they wouldn't behave. If more people were sent later, who knew if they'd all be poor wretches with no way to survive? Among those sent this time, there were already some with crooked intentions.

If there was a next time, even if they coveted the Jinlan Ore and didn't dare make a move openly, they'd definitely plant some hidden dangers.

Moreover, give in once, and they'd think you'd give in a second time.

The Wasteland was already ruined, and the village could no longer rely on them. Since they couldn't bear children, they'd have to slowly find a way to study the problem—see if it was the environment, and a change of scenery would fix it, or if the people themselves were already broken.

If it came down to it, after I leave, I'll find a suitable place to settle down, then figure out a way to safely move everyone from the village over.

I think no one in the village would care about the minerals here."

Yu Ziqing finished in one breath and looked at the two elders.

Without hesitation, the two elders nodded in unison.

"Good. We'll do as you say."

Yu Ziqing was a little surprised, then quickly realized—the two elders weren't giving him a binary choice.

They just wanted to see what he would do.

Maybe no matter which choice he made, they would have nodded.

He glanced at Er Han beside him and suddenly understood. They just wanted the younger generation to start taking charge. The choice itself wasn't a test—what came after was.

And the Village Chief truly saw him as one of his own. The Village Chief definitely understood better than he did the difficulties the village was facing now, and he also knew that change was necessary.

At the same time, he understood even more clearly that the village's core was its people—those struggling to survive—not this piece of land.

Yu Ziqing looked at Old Yang. He must have told the Village Chief a lot of things. Otherwise, no matter how open-minded the Village Chief was, he wouldn't have suddenly made such a big change.

Yu Ziqing walked out, went to the kitchen to brew an antidote for the Spirit-Confusing Medicine, and had Er Han dislocate the joints of the black-robed man Black Five's limbs, pinning down his torso and neck before feeding him the antidote.

After one dose of the antidote, the black-robed man was still a bit disoriented, but his consciousness was much clearer.

He saw that everyone else had returned to normal, and his hearing had recovered too. But when he looked at Yu Ziqing, Yu Ziqing still appeared as that indescribable figure.

"I ask, you answer."

"Sir, ask whatever you like. This humble one guarantees to tell everything I know." The black-robed man trembled, his breathing labored. He didn't dare lift his head, afraid to look again.

"Name."

"Black Five." Afraid Yu Ziqing might think the name was fake, he quickly added, "I never had a name as a child. It wasn't until I was taken into the organization that I was given the name Black Five."

"Identity, origin."

"I'm a Black Goat Handler from Seventh Floor. I followed the Black Goat, gathering intelligence for the organization, for many years now..." Afraid that not being detailed enough would make him seem like he was hiding something, the black-robed man spoke without holding back, talking for half an hour before he was roughly done.

"Cultivation technique, arts, divine abilities, treasures."

"Seventh Floor's 'Mist Verification' and 'Secret of the West Wind.' The arts are all supporting ones. No divine abilities. As for treasures, just two artifacts..."

The black-robed man pointed at his chest. After receiving permission, he took out a storage pouch, pulled out a few books and two artifacts, and placed them all on the ground.

He confessed everything, extremely cooperative. After messing around for a while, Yu Ziqing looked at the rusty sword in his arms. At some point, it had already passed judgment.

He moved on to the next question.

"Where is Seventh Floor's base?"

"In the northwest of Great Qian..." The black-robed man's expression went blank as he spoke mechanically, but just a few words in, his voice cut off abruptly.

Terror filled his face. He clawed at his own neck as a ring of tattoos surfaced around it. Those tattoos glowed with a faint light, instantly coalescing into a single stream that burrowed into his head.

In the blink of an eye, the black-robed man slowly collapsed to the ground, his pupils gradually dilating.

Dead.

Thank you to White Dog Passing By and Weichengnian Puyi for the ten thousand point coin tip. Thank you for your generosity.