Paying for Outside Help
Zhou Residence in Dangwu Village.
Under the dim light of an oil lamp, Tang Tiansong waited quietly for the withered-faced old village chief Zhou Yi, to start talking.
After smoking another pipe, Zhou Yi looked at Tang Tiansong and sighed, "Tiansong, you are now a mid-level martial artist and the captain of our Dangwu Village's night patrol team. You have the highest martial arts skills in the whole village."
I understand your intention in distributing crayfish meat to the whole village this time, but the matter of your fifth and sixth brothers offering sacrifices to the rat demon outside the village two months later cannot be changed."
"Isn't there any room for discussion?" Tang Tiansong frowned.
Zhou Yi did not directly answer Tang Tiansong, but instead began to talk to himself:
"Our Dangwu Village, also known as Dangwu Garrison, is located on Dangwu Yuan Mountain, which is a table mountain surrounded by cliffs."
For ordinary people, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Because it turns out that this is also a battleground for military strategists, and there are military camps, so they are named "tun".
However, the military settlements have been abandoned for over two hundred years.
We have a total of 32,846 mu of fertile land here, which can support more than 6,000 people. According to local records, our population at its peak reached 6,983.
Your family moved to our Dangwu Village six years ago. Actually, about two hundred miles northwest of our Dangwu Village, there is a powerful rat demon, a mortal village that plagues our Dangwu Village area.
This rat demon had been in seclusion for forty years, cultivating and had not harmed the villagers. However, four years ago, the rat demon ended its seclusion and began to harm us mortals again.
This demonic rat not only demands huge amounts of grains and livestock from us every year, but also requires us to offer ten boys and ten girls every two years for it to eat.
In the past four years, the villagers of Dangwu Village have either left, fled, or died.
Currently, our Dangwu Garrison has only 432 households, with a total of 2,316 people, including men, women, the elderly, and children.
According to the lottery system, your fifth and sixth children should have been offered to the demon rats two years ago.
As the former village chief, I stepped in to mediate, and you also offered two hundred taels of silver as compensation, which led to other villagers offering their children in place of your sixth and seventh sons.
Your family is really unlucky; your fifth and sixth brothers have both won the lottery again this year.
Logically and emotionally, at least one of your fifth or sixth children must be offered to the rat demon this year.
Do you know why I intervened two years ago?
"I know, one of the reasons is that everyone in the village says my father is a cultivator, a cultivator of immortality." Tang Tiansong frowned.
"The cultivation levels of cultivators are divided into six major realms from low to high: [Meridian Opening], [Qi Refinement], [Foundation Establishment], [Heavenly Gate], [Golden Core], and [Spirit Transformation]."
I've heard that in some places, this [Heavenly Gate] is also called [Purple Mansion], and [Spirit Transformation] is also called [Lodge Transformation].
The [Meridian Opening] realm is further divided into eight realms: Conception Vessel Opening, Governing Vessel Passage, Thoroughfare Vessel Spirituality, Girdle Vessel Qi, Upper Yin, Lower Yang, Linking Vessel Gathering, Linking Vessel Origin.
Only mortals, who are born with "Aperture Opener," can cultivate immortality.
It's a pity that our village has no naturally Aperture Opener Aperture Opener, or even if someone were, there's no opportunity to discover it.
I asked the people of Miao Household Stronghold to have a cultivator examine it. The demon rat that poisoned several villages around us is at most at the sixth level of the [Meridian Opening] stage, a cultivator in the Lower Yang Stage.
Therefore, we must find at least one cultivator at the Meridian Opening Seventh Layer Linking Vessel Gathering Stage to kill it.
I wonder what your father's cultivation level is now? Could you ask him to help kill this damned demon rat?
"If we can defeat this demon rat, you, Tang Tiansong, will become the clan leader of our Dangwu Village. I'm telling you." Zhou Yi looked at Tang Tiansong expectantly.
Tang Tiansong frowned for a few breaths, remaining silent, thinking to himself, "One night half a month ago, my father came to our house and said that his cultivation level was now higher than the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer."
My father would find dealing with a mere Meridian Opening Realm demon rat a piece of cake.
However, my father also instructed me that he would not interfere too much in the lives of Tianlan and my siblings, even in life-or-death crises, for fear that a high-level cultivator's divination might bring about an even more cruel and catastrophic disaster.
Meanwhile, my third sister, Tianzi, knows some divination techniques. She has also calculated that this crisis of the demon rats is a calamity destined for Tianya and Tianshu, and only we, as their older siblings, can help resolve it. We cannot let our father get involved.
At the same time, I don't know where my father went; I only know he's somewhere within a thousand miles."
With a sigh, Tang Tiansong said helplessly, "My father is indeed a cultivator, and at least Qi Refinement cultivator, but he has never returned home since he left six years ago."
Moreover, six years ago, my father told me that he might not be able to come home again for at least ten years.
However, Old Zhou thought to himself, "As the captain of our Dangwu Village's night patrol team, and among the young men, I am the best in martial arts. For both public and private reasons, I will definitely kill this damned rat."
"Hey, I've also heard that once a mortal cultivates to become an immortal, it's as if they've severed all worldly ties, and it's common for them to never return to their mortal home for the rest of their lives."
"But this demon rat is a demon. No matter how powerful your Cultivation Method, you're still just a mortal." Zhou Yi shook his head helplessly, took a puff of his pipe, pondered for a few moments, and said seriously, "The only way to save our Dangwu Village now is to ask a cultivator for help."
The world is a bustling place, everyone is driven by profit; we need to spend money to hire outside help.
The prestigious Azure Origin Sect, located tens of thousands of miles away in Azure Origin Mountain of the Shen Kingdom, could never send cultivators to kill this demonic rat. In their eyes, we are nothing but ants.
The Wu Household, the closest powerful Aristocratic Clan to our village in the Foundation Establishment, is far beyond our reach.
The Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement cultivation Lineage surrounding Prosperous Dragon Lake look down on us. Going to them will only result in being ridiculed.
If you want to find them, you can only go to Huai'an City Pingyang Commandery or Danyang City in Fangyang Commandery to find Rogue Cultivator. After all, there are cultivation Aristocratic Clan there, and there are also shops that specialize in issuing missions, escorting goods, and hiring Rogue Cultivator.
"But our village doesn't have any rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures that would appeal to cultivators, so how can we hire these Rogue Cultivator?"
Looking at Zhou Yi's eyes, Tang Tiansong smiled inwardly, "So this old village chief was waiting for me here. Since my father is a cultivator, he must have left behind some treasures used by cultivators before he left home."
Believe it or not, according to Mother, Father did leave five bottles of some kind of Spiritual Qi at home. I just don't know if five bottles of Spiritual Qi can summon a Qi Refining First Layer cultivator to help us kill the rat demon...
Clearing his throat, Tang Tiansong whispered in his ear, "When my father left home six years ago, he left behind five jade bottles. The contents of each bottle were exactly the same. He said they contained the Spiritual Qi needed by cultivators, and were very precious."
I'll take these five jade bottles to Huai'an City tomorrow to see if I can invite some cultivators to help us kill the demon rats."
Zhou Yi excitedly grabbed Tang Tiansong's hands. "Tiansong, if you can invite a cultivator to kill the demon rat, I'll say it again, you will be the clan leader of our Dangwu Village."
Oh, right, Tiansong, tomorrow when you go to Huai'an City, only bring one bottle of Spiritual Qi. Try to negotiate the price and see if you can invite a cultivator with just two bottles of Spiritual Qi.
If all else fails, you can only give me one bottle tomorrow; the rest can be given after the cultivators arrive and kill the demon rat.
Tang Tiansong smiled and said, "As expected, experience counts."
After listening to Zhou Yi's instructions for a few more minutes, Tang Tiansong left the Zhou residence.
When he reached his own door, he looked up at the bright full moon Tang Tiansong sighed softly, "If only I could be a naturally Aperture Opener being like my father, I could also cultivate immortality."
That way, even if my father is away from home for many years, I can still take good care of my family.
But how could that be...?
Tang Tiansong shook his head bitterly, pushed open the door, and entered the house. But as soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground...