Dad Was Tricked!

At Ning Qianqian's call, Chu Xingchen stopped.

He turned his head slightly, looking at Ning Qianqian's conflicted expression.

Although Ning Qianqian had called him back, her wariness might not have lessened.

He needed to play this just right to get her to tell him what had really happened.

"What is it?" Chu Xingchen asked, then turned around and gazed calmly at Ning Qianqian.

Ning Qianqian looked torn, but eventually asked cautiously:

"Great immortal, which sect are you from?"

Chu Xingchen answered without hesitation, "The Myriad Laws Immortal Gate, in the Central Continent."

Chu Xingchen felt no shame about lying. After all, the girl before him had never told him anything truthful either, had she?

Deception went both ways.

Especially since he still knew nothing about this frail girl's background. Besides, the name Heavenly Dao Alliance was far too imposing; he feared it might frighten her too much.

Ning Qianqian put on the expression of someone who had long admired its great reputation.

In truth, however, Ning Qianqian was a mortal who had never set foot in the cultivation world. What did she know about the Central Province or anywhere else?

Calling this world boundless would have been something of an exaggeration, but it was already immense.

Even a small frontier kingdom spanned ten thousand li.

The Southern Zhan Continent alone was a vast realm. Though the Clearwind Sect occupied a remote location, its name was renowned in these parts.

As for the places where the Southern Zhan Continent's spiritual veins converged, sects were even more numerous there.

To those here, the Central Province might as well have been on the other side of the heavens.

Had Ning Qianqian's dad not told her he was going to the Clearwind Sect, she would never even have known its name, coming from a family of farmers in the mountains.

Ning Qianqian had asked purely to hint to the masked man before her that she was not as ignorant as she looked.

He should not try to hoodwink her. It might not do any good, but doing something was better than doing nothing, wasn't it?

Still... the Central Province. Dad said it was a legendary holy land of cultivation.

Besides, the name Myriad Laws Immortal Gate really did sound rather impressive.

The Myriad Laws Immortal Gate!

Now listen to the Clearwind Sect!

Wasn't it obvious which was stronger just from their names?

Moreover, the Myriad Laws Immortal Gate sounded much more like a proper, righteous sect.

But she had heard that when dealing with such righteous sects, one first had to learn to play the pity card.

Only by winning a great immortal's sympathy would he pity her and lend a helping hand.

Just like the beggars pleading for alms by the roadside.

Ning Qianqian disliked doing that, because her dad said it disgraced their ancestors.

But between disgracing their ancestors and losing her life, Ning Qianqian thought... her dad would probably choose disgrace, right?

She certainly would. Besides, as things stood, her own abilities were nowhere near enough to save her dad. All she could do now was take a gamble.

Ning Qianqian stirred up the emotions of the past few days, and tears suddenly streamed down her face. At the same time, she recalled the expressions of beggars she had seen, borrowed what seemed suitable, then said with a somewhat tragic air, "Great immortal! Do you know what that Clearwind Sect..."

As though she had reached a point too painful to speak of, Ning Qianqian let out a wail.

But faced with Ning Qianqian's supposedly heartfelt lament, Chu Xingchen's face twitched behind his mask...

Her features were now scrunched together into an almost contorted knot. Her occasional sobs looked remarkably like spasms, making for quite a spectacle of facial gymnastics.

Moreover, her crying bore every hallmark of a performance. Especially when she stole glances at him, she looked distinctly shifty-eyed.

Snot and tears mingled on her filthy face.

Perhaps... she thinks this makes her so pitiful that anyone would feel for her?

Does this kid not know she can't act?

Who cries in such a bizarre way?

Still, if this is the approach Ning Qianqian's taking, should I play along?

Suppressing his urge to comment, Chu Xingchen took a deep breath and spoke in a tone of shock and bewilderment:

"What did they do?"

Ning Qianqian let out a miserable howl, then began pouring out her story like beans spilling from a sack:

"Dad and I lived in Ning Family Hamlet. Mom was sickly and died early, so Dad worked hard to raise me all by himself."

"Disaster struck the hamlet this year. We couldn't even get one meal in two days. That was when the Clearwind Sect people came and tricked Dad into going off to pursue Cultivation."

"They said that once he became an immortal, he could have anything he wanted. Dad was foolish and believed them. He only asked them for food for me, then went with them."

"Dad just abandoned me like that. Lots of the older boys were tricked into leaving with them too."

Chu Xingchen looked at the filthy, scrawny Ning Qianqian before him and sighed softly.

Her dad had hardly been foolish. Perhaps he had only wanted to leave his daughter a little hope.

"Then how do you know they were swindlers?"

At his question, Ning Qianqian hurriedly took a tightly wrapped bundle of cloth from her ragged, hole-riddled clothes. Her trembling little hands hastily unfolded it.

Wrapped inside was nothing precious, only a handful of dry yellow soil.

Chu Xingchen frowned slightly at the handful of soil.

Ning Qianqian cradled the yellow soil in her trembling hands. Now, genuine emotion seemed to emerge, her expression filled with grief:

"Not long after those immortals left... all the food they'd left behind turned into yellow soil."

"The auntie next door and Niuzi ate the white steamed buns those immortals gave them. Not long after, the soil swelled inside them until they died."

"So... so many people in the hamlet died."

"Dad was tricked. The older boys were tricked too."

"They can't become immortals at all. Those Clearwind Sect people aren't good people. They'll die too... Dad is all I have left. Dad can abandon me, but I can't abandon him without trying to save him."

"I have to show this to Dad. Only then will he believe me."

Chu Xingchen said nothing. He merely reached out and pinched some of the yellow soil before him. Traces of spiritual energy still lingered in it.

He had never expected the Clearwind Sect to withhold even the food paid in exchange for people's lives.

Faced with Ning Qianqian's expectant gaze, Chu Xingchen felt somewhat helpless.

As things stood, getting some spirit stones from the mine and making a clean getaway should not be much of a problem. But rescuing someone under the nose of a Golden Core True Person, with the Clearwind Sect providing support, would be far from easy.

Or rather, he most likely would not be able to keep a mortal safe.

Still, nothing was absolute. Acting blindly would inevitably end in failure.

Chu Xingchen sighed and looked sincerely at the frail little girl before him.

The little girl no longer had proper shoes on her feet, only a few vines tied beneath them.

Dried, dark red blood stained the vines.

After eating in the wind and sleeping under the open sky, Ning Qianqian's face was black with grime, and her thin, frail frame looked as though a gust could topple her.

These mountains were rugged and difficult to traverse, with no shortage of sheer cliffs. He had no idea what mountains and rivers this little girl had crossed to get here.

He had no idea what hardships she had faced to reach this place, or how long she had been trapped in the bewildering formation. What was more, wild beasts roamed these mountains.

Looking at Ning Qianqian, Chu Xingchen said earnestly, "We can't rush into saving your dad right now. I need to go back and make a proper plan first. Are you willing to come with me?"

He needed spirit stones anyway. With a sound plan, he should be able to rescue Ning Qianqian's dad along the way.

Ning Qianqian hesitated slightly at his words. She wanted to stay here and see whether she might have another chance to find her dad. Though she knew the chance was slim, she did not want to miss even that faint possibility.

"Can I wait for you here? I..."

Before she could finish, Chu Xingchen raised a hand to interrupt her. "You're not foolish. You should understand that staying here won't necessarily help your dad."

Ning Qianqian fell silent for a moment, then nodded, but her tone was pleading:

"Then if you decide you don't want to save my dad anymore, can you bring me back here?"

"Traveling this road isn't like it is for you, great immortal. It was actually pretty hard for me."

Chu Xingchen lowered his gaze to Ning Qianqian. Now, she seemed to have shed every trace of her performance.

Only an endless plea remained in her eyes.