Bait

[Though it sounded narcissistic, I had already grown into a very pretty child by the age of three. I was only a little thin, but with such delicate, beautiful features, who wouldn't say I was good-looking?

Back then, I lived on meals from different households in the village. There was one family that particularly disliked me and normally never let me eat at their house.

Yet that day, they insisted on having me eat at their home. They had even killed a chicken for it.

I was still young then and didn't understand that unearned kindness hid either treachery or theft. All I thought was that I could finally eat meat, so I followed them.

Actually, I noticed something was wrong on the way, because I saw that man's past. He had contacted a human trafficker to sell children.

And I, an orphan with no father or mother, was the first child he had picked. I wanted to run at once, but that man kept gripping my hand so tightly that I couldn't escape. I was terrified.

Even though I had no relatives here, I still didn't want to leave the village, so I cried and screamed that I didn't want to go with him.

Afraid that someone would notice something was wrong, the man covered my mouth, carried me to their house, tied me up with rope, and stuffed a rag into my mouth.

I was terrified beyond measure. I wanted to run, yet had no power to resist. Just when I thought I was about to be sold, the village chief arrived with others.

The village chief had realized something was wrong as soon as he learned that the Zhang family had killed a chicken and invited me over to eat. That family was so miserly that no one could ever dream of getting so much as a speck of advantage from them.

Why had they suddenly decided to kill a chicken today, and even called me over? It was probably a weasel paying respects to a chicken—harboring no good intentions.

So he called his son, brought some tools, and went to the Zhang family's home. Fortunately, he arrived in time.

When he rushed over, I was struggling with all my strength in the human trafficker's hands. Seeing that, the village chief grabbed a stick and struck the trafficker.

He rescued me, while the trafficker and the Zhang family were all hauled off to the authorities. When I came to take a master, they still hadn't been released.]

Thinking of what had happened in the past, Feng Wuhen felt a surge of vicious fury rise in his heart!

Feng Wuhen held a teacup as he simmered with anger, completely unaware of the expressions on the faces of those around him.

After hearing his inner thoughts and learning that he had nearly been sold by a human trafficker as a child, Shen Ziheng was so furious he nearly lost control. He forcibly endured it by gritting his teeth so hard they were nearly crushed.

Bing Ling had not expected her junior brother to have suffered such hardship in the past, and her heart ached for him.

Meng Hongying silently decided that she would never quarrel with Feng Wuhen again. Qin Leyan had thought she herself had suffered enough, but Feng Wuhen had been just as miserable as she was.

As the young sect masters of their sect, Qin Xiaoran and Hua Yichen had grown up cherished by their elders. Aside from the hardships of cultivation, they had never suffered anything else. Learning that Feng Wuhen had once lived such a life left their feelings tangled and complicated.

Though Xia Jingcheng came from an ordinary household, his family were wealthy merchants. He had never lacked food or drink, and had never imagined that people at the bottom lived such lives.

The three Dao One Sect disciples were both shocked by the inner thoughts they had heard and pitied Feng Wuhen, leaving them quite occupied for a while.

After calming himself somewhat, Feng Wuhen looked up at Shen Ziheng and the others. "Time waits for no one. Let's begin now. If we're too late, who knows what those children might suffer!"

Feng Wuhen and Bing Ling changed out of their clothes and put on ordinary garments.

Bing Ling altered her hair and eyes to look like those of an ordinary person. They tied the storage ring on her finger onto a chain and hid it in her hair.

They also put on talismans that concealed their cultivation and appearances. Now, walking down the street, they looked like two utterly unremarkable people.

They swaggered over to the ancient thousand-year-old tree. On the way, they bought some snacks to eat, then fought each other over them, perfectly acting like children.

When Bing Ling arrived beneath the ancient tree, she was a little dumbfounded. She did not know how to act as bait, so she looked toward Feng Wuhen.

Feng Wuhen got into character quickly and directly shoved Bing Ling. "Stop trying to fool me here. Did you think I didn't know? Your father may be impressive, but he only has a Lower-Middle-Grade Spiritual Root, while your mother is merely an ordinary person. My mother is different. She has a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root. Though my father's talent isn't as good as my mother's, he also has a Lower-Middle-Grade Spiritual Root. One of them is at Foundation Establishment Peak Stage, and the other is at Foundation Establishment Early Stage. What do you have that can compare with me?"

Bing Ling had not expected him to get into character so quickly that she stared blankly for a moment. But she soon reacted and began arguing with him.

"Y-you think your parents' talent makes you so great? Your family has no money, so you can't cultivate properly. My family is richer than yours. I'll definitely cultivate before you do, then surpass you and make you my lackey. I'll torment you every day."

Hearing that, Feng Wuhen angrily rolled up his sleeves and started fighting her. "You want me to be your lackey? You want to hit me? Let's see if I don't beat you into submission today and make you understand who's the strongest!"

They made quite a commotion, and people quickly noticed. Someone came over to break up the fight.

"Hey, hey, hey! You two children can play if you want, but why are you fighting?"

Feng Wuhen glared viciously at Bing Ling, wearing an expression that clearly said it was all her fault. "You can't blame me for this. She was the one showing off in front of me first. When she couldn't beat me, she wanted to hit me, so I only struck first to gain the upper hand."

Bing Ling covered the place where she had been hit and said pitifully, "Even if I said something unpleasant, you can't hit me like this. Look at my face—it's all bruised. I'll never play with you again."

Covering her face, Bing Ling walked off to the side, looking as though she was going home.

Feng Wuhen watched her retreating back and snorted heavily before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

Among the crowd watching the commotion, two people followed Feng Wuhen and Bing Ling respectively. Once no one was around them, they rushed over and abducted them.

The two were knocked out with drugged incense. While they were unconscious, those people searched every inch of their clothes and found nothing suspicious. Then they tied them up with ropes and threw them into the back of a carriage.

When the two woke again, they felt their bottoms swaying back and forth. They were clearly riding in a carriage.

After waking, Feng Wuhen asked Bing Ling through voice transmission, "Senior Sister, how are you? Do you feel unwell anywhere?"

"I'm fine. What about you?" Bing Ling asked him through voice transmission as well.

"I'm fine too. We're on a carriage now. They're probably taking us to their hideout. Let's keep pretending to be unconscious and don't let them discover that we woke up midway."

Bing Ling nodded, leaned back, and went back to sleep.

Feng Wuhen did the same. Being able to fall asleep even at a time like this had to be considered a talent of its own.

When the two woke once more, they were already in those people's hideout.

The moment Feng Wuhen woke up, he smelled a strange fragrance in the air. He could not tell what it was, but it smelled very pleasant.

"Senior Sister, can you tell what this smell is?"

Unable to identify it, Feng Wuhen asked Bing Ling through voice transmission.

Bing Ling carefully discerned it, then shook her head and told him through voice transmission, "I can't identify what kind of fragrance it is either, but it isn't harmful."