Seed of Dao

Cultivators are hard to find

"Since you're already here, better not leave."

Ye Chen of course wouldn't let them escape easily and immediately chased the nearest bandit. Unfortunately, although he could be said to be very fast, two bandits still managed to escape because they ran scattered.

Not because Ye Chen voluntarily released the two, but rather he only had skills besides punching and kicking. Even if he chased both of them, it would take time, and Ye Chen didn't want to waste time on them.

In the end he could only give up and began to check the corpses of the bandits he killed.

At the same time, three people from the caravan who saw all the events were stunned and didn't know what to do. Especially when the three saw Ye Chen searching the bandits' corpses and taking some silver coins.

Until Ye Chen finished and walked toward the three of them, they still remained silent.

"What happened?" Right when Ye Chen asked, the three immediately came to their senses and with horrified expressions immediately knelt in the snow.

"Immortal One, please forgive us. I didn't know that You were an Immortal One, please forgive us for not knowing the height of the mountain and briefly looking down on the Immortal One."

The actions and words from one of those who had previously warned him to leave immediately made Ye Chen surprised. He didn't expect that when they knew who he was, they would immediately kneel with bodies trembling in fear.

He frowned and thought that from now on, he had to act as a cultivator.

"Stand up." Ye Chen said to the three of them.

Those three ordinary humans stood up, but they didn't move and lowered their heads, not daring to look toward Ye Chen.

"What actually happened?" Ye Chen once again asked while looking toward the two wooden carriages containing dozens of small children without a single adult human besides the three of them.

"Immortal One, please don't misunderstand." A man who was the oldest of the three immediately stepped forward in front of Ye Chen with a humble and respectful attitude.

Carefully, the man named Ji Bao explained that the three of them were actually soldiers given a task by the king to traverse the entire territory of the Yunqiyun kingdom. Under the king's orders, a group of people were assigned to exterminate bandits and rescue children who became victims.

From his explanation, Ye Chen caught that the tragedy that befell Siqing village in the past was actually a common thing. For more than ten years, incidents where those bandits killed, raped, and looted small villages had occurred.

But there was one strange thing—those bandits would surely kill anyone except children under the age of fifteen. Ji Bao didn't know what was happening, perhaps King Yunqiyun knew, that's why the King ordered more than one squad to investigate.

At the beginning they also had sixteen people, but since operations for more than two months in the forest, their group only had three people left. They had passed through many destroyed villages, including Dayan village which was Ye Chen's initial destination. That village had long been destroyed by bandits, and the children in the carriages mostly came from there. Fortunately there were more than twenty children they managed to save.

After hearing his story, Ye Chen finally knew why at that time in Siqing village, he didn't find children's corpses at all besides himself. Turns out the bandits' actual goal was children. As for the exact purpose, those three people didn't know.

Of course Ye Chen also didn't intend to find out, because mortal human disputes had nothing to do with him. Hearing that Dayan village was already destroyed, Ye Chen could only sigh, bad fate seemed to befall all remote villages.

After talking for some time, Ye Chen learned the names of the three—Wu Zhen, as well as brothers Ji Bao and Ji Bin. From the three of them, they would go to Dayun city, the largest military city in this region.

"Immortal One," Ji Bao said respectfully. "We are actually on our way back to Dayun city to report. But with our current condition..." He glanced at his companions who were severely injured. "We are very worried about bandit disturbances on the road. If the Immortal One is willing, we would like to ask You to be our escort to Dayun city. As thanks and reward, we will provide accommodation as well as a thousand silver coins after arriving in the city."

Ye Chen considered the offer for a moment. He indeed needed money, the results of searching the bandits were only a few dozen silver coins, not enough for a long time. Moreover, he also needed a place to stay and information about the cultivation world.

"Alright," Ye Chen finally nodded. "I indeed intend to go to a larger city."

Ji Bao looked relieved hearing that answer. With that, after burying some victims from the group, Ye Chen sat in the front carriage with Ji Bao as the driver.

When the day approached evening and some delays due to small bandit disturbances that Ye Chen easily killed, their group finally arrived at the gates of Dayun city.

When Ye Chen saw the fairly large city gate with several soldiers guarding the door, his initial anticipation had disappeared. With the goal of looking for other cultivators, initially Ye Chen hoped Dayun city would have some, but from his conversation with Ji Bao on the journey, he found that besides himself, no cultivators had appeared in Dayun city for years.

Ji Bao also said that this Dayun city was actually the frontmost military garrison of the Yunqiyun kingdom. Ji Bao's purpose in coming here was to report to the commander, then take care of the rescued children.

Ye Chen felt disappointed with the absence of cultivators here, but since he was already in this city, he didn't intend to leave immediately. Ji Bao had arranged accommodation for him, a small inn in the eastern part of the city.

"We have to report first to the commander, Immortal One," Ji Bao said before parting. "It might take several days to handle administration and disbursement of the reward for You. After business is finished, I will come meet You with the promised silver coins."

Ye Chen nodded. "No need to rush."

While waiting, Ye Chen walked around Dayun city, trying to find useful information. He also didn't forget to buy an ordinary iron sword and some new clothes.

Unfortunately, during several days staying in Dayun city, Ye Chen had never heard of anyone who had ever seen cultivators.

What Ye Chen found was only unclear and dubious news. Where people often said that there was a Taoist man at an abandoned temple outside Dayun city.

According to rumors, there was a Taoist man who lived and dedicated himself to treating injured people with some modest compensation. Even if the patient couldn't pay at all, the bill would be deferred for three years.

Such rumors were clearly very dubious, but that was all Ye Chen found in these three days. Tomorrow, he decided to go to that abandoned temple to confirm it himself.

At this time, Ye Chen who was sitting in a restaurant and drinking tea suddenly heard a commotion at the front door. Seeing what was happening, he found several mounted troops stopped right in front. Then several people in armor began to shout and drive away all visitors in the restaurant.

Ye Chen frowned.

These three days he deliberately kept a low profile, didn't show off strength, didn't look for trouble. But if Ji Bao reported his presence to the military commander...

"Are they coming looking for me?" he muttered softly, feeling displeased.