The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 341 - 203: So Cold
Her eyes were as sharp as blades, and wherever her gaze went, people shook their heads, fearing that this Little Evil Star would bring them bad luck.
"No one admits it?" she said with a smirk, extending her finger, "It doesn’t matter, this person who dares to act but not own up, this person who serves as a traitor to the Mountain God, is... you!"
Everyone followed the direction of her pointing finger and found that she was pointing straight at someone.
The village head of this small mountain village.
The old man’s face trembled and he clasped his hands together, exclaiming: "Immortal, it’s not me, it’s not me!"
Ning Xiaoxian bit her lip, both amused and annoyed: "I know it’s not you. Move aside a little."
The village head quickly took a step to the side, revealing a person behind him, crouching and bowing his head. Under the firelight, everyone saw clearly.
It was the shopkeeper of that inn.
With everyone’s eyes focused on him, the shopkeeper broke out in cold sweat, his face twitching as he said: "It has nothing to do with me, Immortal. I’m just doing some small business in this village."
"Is that so?" Ning Xiaoxian walked forward two steps with a smile, "Then why, when I mentioned the Lifespan Extension Pill earlier, everyone looked up while you kept shrinking back? You must have seen this elixir at the Mountain God’s place before, and now you naturally don’t care for it, right?"
This was an accusation that struck at the heart, essentially saying he was an accomplice of the Mountain God. The shopkeeper immediately widened his eyes, stood up straight, and argued: "What are you talking about?"
"The cultivator Huang Zhong, who pretends to be a Mountain God, his puppets, though strong, cannot act on their own. Choosing offerings, administering drugs—such actions must be carried out by someone else. Huang Zhong is a cultivator, he wouldn’t degrade himself to do such things. His accomplice must be a mortal."
"It’s not me though, there are so many mortals in this village..." the shopkeeper said with a wry smile, a clueless expression on his face. At these words, however, the villagers grew even angrier. He was shifting the blame. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Ning Xiaoxian didn’t care about his excuses and continued speaking: "We had just left the inn, and right after our departure, Huang Zhong’s puppets arrived. If it wasn’t you who informed them, how could the puppets have suddenly appeared in such large numbers? According to the travelers who were trapped, there would usually only be three or four appearing to abduct people at a time. Hmm, what method did you use to notify Huang Zhong?"
"Immortal, if I did such conscienceless deeds, I would surely be struck by heavenly thunder!" the shopkeeper quickly waved his hands, "When you three left, it could also have been seen by other villagers, thus leaking the news." He made it fairly clear with his words, the traitor is not me, it’s someone else in this village, please investigate.
The "others" would not stand for it, pointing fingers and cursing at the shopkeeper. Immortals are mostly ill-tempered; his shifting the blame like this could provoke the Immortal into a fury, potentially harming the lives of the entire village without discernment; wouldn’t he end up dead wrongfully under this old dog’s scheme.
Indeed, Ning Xiaoxian then heard Changtian’s faint voice: "So boring. You are no longer a mortal, there’s no need to act like a government office, just kill him outright." He paused, then urged, "Finish it quickly, you still haven’t done your evening practice."
"Got it." She grumbled, then raised her voice, "Just now the snowstorm was severe, you couldn’t see objects even ten steps away, and this inn is built on the outermost edge of the village, more than twenty meters away from the nearest house. How could anyone see our movements clearly?"
The shopkeeper hemmed and hawed for a long time, finally running out of excuses.
"Still want to argue? Your inn’s business hasn’t been good normally; perhaps you found another lucrative method?" She turned to the travelers, "He’s all yours."
The travelers listened to their conversation, their eyes first showing understanding and then displaying a look of hatred. If not for this villain’s mischief, why would they have been imprisoned, why would their relatives have suffered such deaths? Upon hearing Ning Xiaoxian’s words, they immediately rushed forward and surrounded the shopkeeper, followed by the sounds of fists striking flesh.
Encircled and under attack by the crowd, the shopkeeper loudly cried to the villagers for help: "I did it for our village’s sake too, the Mountain God said if I helped him find substitutes, he wouldn’t kill our villagers anymore! Ow, ow, stop hitting me, help!"
However, the villagers looked away, stealing glances at Ning Xiaoxian and another person, not daring to step forward to rescue. In this world, cultivators, as long as they deem a mortal guilty, can execute them outright, no need for evidence, no need to go through the government office. If they rashly intervened, they might well risk their own lives.
Before long, the shopkeeper’s cries of pain gradually subsided. Ning Xiaoxian spoke indifferently: "I will stay in the village until March. The inn, I will temporarily requisition for the homeless travelers to stay." Saying this, she turned and walked slowly back to the inn.
