"It... it really is them!"
The western courtyard of Three Paths Village's ancestral hall.
Gu Changming, who had come in with Xu Taiping, stared in disbelief at the cultivators kneeling in a row in the clearing.
Xu Taiping, meanwhile, spotted Xiao Moji at a glance.
Like the other cultivators, Xiao Moji was tightly bound and kneeling on the ground.
As though sensing Xu Taiping's gaze, Gu Changming suddenly smiled at him and said:
"I never thought you'd meet again under these circumstances."
Hearing this, Scholar Liu immediately turned to Xu Taiping and asked:
"Young Taiping, do you know these people?"
Xu Taiping shook his head and said:
"Not well."
At that, Scholar Liu nodded lightly and said:
"Since you don't know them well, we'll dispose of them along with the others later."
Xu Taiping counted the cultivators kneeling in the clearing and found there were no fewer than seven. Curious, he asked Scholar Liu:
"Elder Liu, surely you haven't arrested every outsider in the village?"
Scholar Liu frowned and said:
"There may very well be spies for the Green Sand Gang's mountain bandits among them. Better to be cautious."
Xu Taiping nodded.
Scholar Liu then called out:
"Take all these outsiders to the back courtyard. Once we're finished here, execute them all on the spot!"
Hearing this, several cultivators began pleading with Xu Taiping for help through voice transmissions.
Xu Taiping ignored them, however.
Even villagers like Scholar Liu could not trust them, let alone Xu Taiping, a fellow cultivator.
When the villagers hauled Xiao Moji up and led him away, he suddenly sent a voice transmission to both Xu Taiping and Gu Changming:
"So it's you, the True Martial Sword Champion, Xu Taiping!"
He immediately added:
"Xu Taiping, Gu Changming, let's make a deal. As long as you can