It Won't Do

"Little Tree Village is remote? How remote?"

This shopkeeper knew. "It's incredibly remote—almost beyond the borders of our Langyuan City. They say if you walk a little farther, you'll reach the territory of neighboring Xishan City."

That remote? "But aren't Langyuan City and Xishan City separated by the Tenfold Mountains?"

"Exactly. Little Tree Village is inside the Tenfold Mountains. The climate in those mountains is damp, and the soil is loose. Later, all the people living there moved out, except for Little Tree Village, which still remained within."

Bian Chunchou's heart suddenly gave a violent lurch. "Then how long would it take an ordinary person to travel from the city to Little Tree Village?"

"If they walk quickly, it would still take around three days and three nights. After all, it's in the mountains, and you can't take a carriage..." The shopkeeper kept talking, never noticing the shock on his employer's face.

"Chen Zui-Zui, do you remember? That old granny we met just now, the one asking you for clothes—she was spotless, without even the faint scent of mud or dampness on her. She... said tonight, right?"

Chen Zui had not looked too closely, but cultivators had excellent memories. He still remembered what the old woman had said. "Tonight. You remembered correctly."

This... was bad. He had listened to some gossip and stumbled into a hornet's nest.

Bian Chunchou scratched his hair. "Do you think she might have been bluffing us? Could she have been a cultivator?" If she was a cultivator, then there would be no problem.

"Maybe."

Bian Chunchou barely managed to find a reason to convince himself. Yet if she was a cultivator, even one cultivating in seclusion, Yonglu Mountain could not possibly have no records whatsoever of her within the range of its protection, could it?