Bait

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

Back then, I lived off meals from every household in the village. One family in particular hated me and normally never allowed me to eat at their home.

Yet that day, they insisted on inviting me over for a meal. They had even killed a chicken for it.

I was still too young then to understand that unsolicited attentiveness either hid treachery or theft. All I thought was that I could finally eat meat, so I went with them.

Actually, I had already sensed something was wrong on the way there, because I saw that man's past. He had contacted a child trafficker and wanted to sell children.

And I, an orphan with no father or mother, was the first person he had chosen. I wanted to run, but he kept hold of my hand, and I couldn't get away at all. I was terrified.

Even though I had no relatives here, I still didn't want to leave this 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 directly covered my mouth, carried me to his home, tied me up with rope, and stuffed a rag into my mouth.

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

The moment the village chief learned that the Zhang family had killed a chicken and invited me over to eat, he realized something was wrong. That family was so miserly that no one could ever dream of taking advantage of them.

Why had they suddenly decided to kill a chicken today, and even called me over? It was surely a weasel paying respects to a chicken—nothing good could come of it.

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

When he rushed over, I was struggling desperately in the child trafficker's hands. Seeing that, the village chief grabbed the stick in his hand and began beating the trafficker with it.

I was rescued, while the trafficker and everyone from the Zhang family were escorted to the authorities. By the time 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 violent fury in his heart!

Feng Wuhen gripped his teacup as he fumed, unaware of the expressions on the faces of those around him.

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

Bing Ling had not expected his junior brother to have suffered such hardship before, and his heart ached for him.

Meng Hongying silently decided that she would never bicker with Feng Wuhen again, while Qin Leyan had thought she herself had suffered enough. She had not expected Feng Wuhen to have suffered just as much as she had.

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

Though Xia Jingcheng had come from an ordinary family, 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 sympathetic toward Feng Wuhen. For a moment, they had plenty to process.

After calming himself somewhat, Feng Wuhen raised his head and looked 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 his hair and eyes to look like those of an ordinary person. They tied the storage ring on his finger onto a chain and hid it in his hair.

They also put on talismans that concealed both their cultivation and appearance. Now, walking down the street, they looked utterly unremarkable.

They swaggered over to the ancient thousand-year-old tree. On the way, they bought some snacks, ate them, and fought each other over them, perfectly portraying the behavior of children.

When Bing Ling arrived beneath the ancient tree, he was a little at a loss. He did not know how to act as bait, so he looked toward Feng Wuhen.

Feng Wuhen slipped into character quickly and immediately shoved Bing Ling. "Stop trying to fool me. Did you think I didn't know? Your father may be impressive, but he only has a Lower-Middle-Grade Spiritual Root, and your mother is just an ordinary person.

"But my mother is different. She has a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root. Though my father isn't as gifted as my mother, he still 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 to me?"

Bing Ling was dumbfounded by how quickly Feng Wuhen had gotten into character, but he soon reacted and began arguing with him.

"Y-Your parents being talented, so what? Your family has no money, so you can't cultivate properly. My family is richer than yours. I'll definitely start cultivating before you, 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 him. "You want me to be your lackey? You want to hit me? Watch me beat you into submission today and let you know who's the strongest!"

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

"Hey, hey, hey! You two are just kids playing around. Why are you fighting?"

Feng Wuhen glared viciously at Bing Ling, his face clearly saying it was all Bing Ling's fault. "You can't blame me for this. He started showing off in front of me, and when he couldn't beat me, he wanted to hit me. I was only striking first to gain the advantage."

Bing Ling covered the place where he had been hit and said pitifully, "Even if I said some unpleasant things, you couldn't hit me like that. Look at my face—you've bruised it. I'm never playing with you again."

Covering his face, Bing Ling walked off to the side, looking as though he were going home.

Feng Wuhen watched his retreating back and gave a heavy snort before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

Among the crowd watching the commotion, two people followed Feng Wuhen and Bing Ling respectively. Once neither of them had anyone nearby, they rushed over and abducted them.

The two were knocked unconscious by a drug. While they were out, those people thoroughly searched their clothes and found nothing suspicious. They then tied them up with rope and threw them into the back of a carriage.

When the two woke again, they felt the ground beneath them swaying back and forth. They were clearly in a carriage.

After waking, Feng Wuhen asked Bing Ling through voice transmission, "Senior Brother, how are you? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

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

"I'm fine too. We're in a carriage now. They should be taking us back to their lair. Let's keep pretending to be unconscious and not let them discover that we woke up midway."

Bing Ling nodded, leaned back, and continued sleeping.

Feng Wuhen did the same. Being able to sleep 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 lair.

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 Brother, 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 his head and told him through voice transmission, "I can't identify the exact fragrance either, but it isn't harmful."