60: Chapter 60 Who cares most about the children?

Town Overseer Zhang Danian waved his hand, signaling them to leave quickly.

Blacksmith Wang turned around without looking back, and the two limping figures disappeared into the darkness of the alley.

Town Overseer Zhang Danian stood where he was, watching their backs vanish, and let out a long breath, as if he had set down a burden weighing a thousand catties.

He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and trembled uncontrollably.

Playing tricks right under the noses of these Sect Disciples, he was terrified, but that night...

That night.

Blacksmith Wang and his wife had knelt before him, begging for an entire night.

He had served as a Town Overseer his whole life, and he possessed a sense of righteousness in his heart...

He could also understand Blacksmith Wang's feelings—having a child late in life, finally having this one solitary sprout at over forty years old, only to have it snatched away before he could even take a proper look.

In the end.

Unable to bear the condemnation of his conscience, Town Overseer Zhang Danian gritted his teeth and finally decided to do it!

Fortunately, everything went smoothly afterward.

The swaddling clothes on the Spirit Child acted like an invisibility cloak; the child didn't cry or fuss. On the surface, the child was right there in a corner of the room, casually covered with grass and wood. If one searched just a little carefully, one could see it with the naked eye, yet those people from the Sects simply didn't discover it.

Of course.

This point had also been calculated by Wu Li.

Calling it a calculation...

...it was more about Wu Li's understanding of 'Cultivators', as well as luck...

Since these Sect members developed their spiritual sense, they had almost abandoned their own eyes. Everything was scanned with spiritual sense first; if their spiritual sense couldn't find it, they would subconsciously default to the assumption that the object wasn't there.

And those Sect representatives were the cream of the crop among these people.

If they said they couldn't find it, the other small Sects, following the herd mentality and given the situation at the time, would only assume the Spirit Child had already been taken away.

They certainly wouldn't dare to enter the room to search while under the gaze of Chief Clerk Gu Qing and the others.

It was precisely because of this, combined with Town Overseer Zhang Danian's conscience, that Wu Li had room to maneuver.

At that moment.

When Town Overseer Zhang Danian went back to carry away the Spirit Child, his hands were trembling.

He had never stolen anything in his life. This was his first time stealing, and he was stealing someone else's child, all to return the child to its parents.

Was it absurd?

It was absurd.

But he did it anyway.

Meanwhile.

Town Overseer Zhang Danian walked out of the alley, and just as he turned the corner, he ran head-on into a figure.

Town Overseer Zhang Danian's heart constricted violently. He subconsciously stepped back, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Chief... Chief Clerk, why are you here? Have the matters in the north of the town been dealt with?"

Chief Clerk Gu Qing looked at him, expressionless, his gaze as calm as a stagnant pool of water.

"Where did you go?"

At the same time.

When the major Sects were attracted by the Demonic Qi and rushed toward the north of the town, Elder Zhou Yuande did not follow.

"Elder Zhou, are we not going?"

A Disciple asked.

Elder Zhou Yuande shook his head, his voice low: "Even if we go, we won't be able to snatch it from them."

"Besides, I keep feeling..."

"...that something is not right about this matter."

"Sun Ze, go check if Blacksmith Wang and his wife are still there."

"Yes."

The two Disciples accepted the order and left.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the two returned.

"Elder Zhou, Blacksmith Wang and his wife are gone. There is no one in the house, and their things have been packed up; it looks like they left on their own."

A flash of light gleamed in Elder Zhou Yuande's eyes, and he stood up abruptly.

He walked to the window, pushed it open, and looked toward the end of the town.

"Let's go!"

"Elder Zhou, where are we going?"

"To find the Spirit Child."

Elder Zhou Yuande's voice was low and urgent. "The Spirit Child is not in the hands of the Yao Race; it is still in the town. This Elder also came from a village of Mortals. Who cares most for the child? It is not those major Sects; it is the child's parents."

With those words spoken.

He led the two Disciples, bypassed the main road of the town, and chose to take the side paths.

They did not head toward the outside of the town, but instead followed the opposite direction of the town's end, walking deep into the town.

Those major Sects all assumed the Spirit Child had been abducted by the Yao Race and would not search in the town anymore.

But Blacksmith Wang and his wife would not have gone far. They were Mortals, after all, and simply did not have much stamina; they could not carry the child very far.

Outside the town.

The mountain road was rugged.

Blacksmith Wang and his family of three had not even walked ten miles before their speed slowed down.

His leg injury had not yet healed, and every step he took made him wince in pain, cold sweat pouring from his forehead. But he gritted his teeth, not making a sound, and only held the child in his arms even tighter.

His wife walked behind him, and seeing his limping figure, her eyes reddened again.

"Let's rest."

She tugged on Blacksmith Wang's sleeve, her voice trembling.

Blacksmith Wang shook his head, wanting to continue walking, but his leg simply refused to obey. He stumbled and nearly fell.

His wife hurriedly supported him, dragged him to sit on a stone by the roadside, knelt down, and carefully rolled up his trouser leg.

His knee was even more swollen than it had been a few days ago, bruised and purple, the skin shining tight.

His wife's tears fell drop by drop onto his leg. She placed her palm over it and rubbed gently, not daring to use force for fear of causing him pain, but without force, she couldn't work out the swelling.

Blacksmith Wang sucked in a cold breath, but he did not pull away; he only reached out to stroke his wife's hair.

"It's nothing, it's nothing."

He forced a smile, though his voice was extremely hoarse.

His wife didn't speak; she kept her head down, rubbing his leg over and over.

The night wind blew over, causing their thin clothes to cling to their bodies, and they shivered from the cold.

The child was wrapped in swaddling clothes and held tightly against Blacksmith Wang's chest, warmed by his body heat.

"Look at our child, how cute."

The child smacked its lips twice in its sleep, making a faint sound as if it were smiling. Blacksmith Wang looked down at that wrinkled little face, and tears suddenly welled up.

He hurriedly turned his head away and wiped his face messily with his sleeve.

His wife looked up at him but didn't expose him; she simply took off her own clothes and draped them over the child.

"Once this matter is over..."

Blacksmith Wang's voice was so low it sounded like he was talking to himself. "We'll find a place far away, a place where no one can find us. When the child grows up, we'll let him study, take the imperial examinations, take a wife, and have a bunch of big, healthy boys..."

His wife's tears welled up again, but this time, she didn't cry out; she just nodded heavily.

She placed her hand over the back of Blacksmith Wang's hand. That hand was as rough as tree bark, covered in calluses and cracks. The two hands clasped together, shielding the child in the middle.

"When the time comes, we'll plant a jujube tree in the courtyard."

His wife's voice was very soft, as if she were speaking of a distant, unreachable dream.

"Jujube trees grow fast; in a few years, it will bear fruit. When the child is young and loves sweets, we'll give him red dates as snacks..."

Blacksmith Wang picked up where she left off: "One tree isn't enough; we'll plant two."

"One will bear jujubes, and one will bear persimmons."

"Jujubes symbolize the early birth of a noble son, and persimmons symbolize that everything will go as one wishes. We'll also raise a few chickens so we can have eggs to eat every day..."

The couple went back and forth, and as they spoke, the sorrow on their faces gradually dissipated, replaced by a light that was hard to describe.

That light was hope, it was something to look forward to, and it was the strength to grit their teeth and keep living.

After resting for a while, Blacksmith Wang braced himself against the stone and stood up. He tested his leg; it still hurt, but he could walk.

His wife wrapped the child's swaddling clothes tighter.