75: New clues

Qin Yue certainly wouldn't chase after the fleeing villagers, because Qin Yue wasn't a Devil Head who killed everyone he saw.

What was wrong with those villagers who just wanted to escape the demonic lair of Zuo Family Estate?

The only impact on Qin Yue was that he couldn't stay at Zuo Family Estate anymore, nor could he use Zuo Family Estate for fishing.

However, these impacts were actually minor.

Qin Yue wasn't going to wait here for many days anyway, and whether he could even meet the Bailing Sect contact was an unknown.

This was only the second day since Qin Yue descended into this Small World, and he had already encountered the Bailing Sect.

Qin Yue believed that if he wanted to investigate, he would surely find more clues about the Bailing Sect.

Compared to those things, Qin Yue was actually more interested in Zuo Zijian. He knew letting the villagers go would ruin his plans, yet he did it.

Not only did he let them go, he even stayed behind himself to face Qin Yue's wrath alone.

He didn't believe Zuo Zijian possessed any spirit of self-sacrifice for others.

If he truly had such a spirit, he wouldn't have allowed the Bailing Sect into Zuo Family Estate just to embezzle a thousand taels of silver.

So why? Why did Zuo Zijian do this?

When Zuo Zijian heard Qin Yue's mockery, he didn't stand up to refute Qin Yue. Instead, he raised his head, his eyes bloodshot.

"Great Hero!

I have clues about the Bailing Sect. I know the approximate location of the Bailing Sect.

Please, Great Hero, save my wife and children!"

After speaking, he kowtowed to the floor.

Qin Yue heard the clues about the Bailing Sect, but he wasn't excited. Instead, he calmly continued to ask.

"You know the location of the Bailing Sect? Why didn't you say so before?"

"I... I..."

Seeing Zuo Zijian hesitate, Qin Yue knew the answer must be difficult to voice.

"Tell me the truth, don't worry about anything."

"Alas! Last night, I was truly afraid of the Great Hero, afraid that if I revealed this information, the Great Hero would kill all of us.

Today, seeing the Great Hero spare those villagers, I knew the Great Hero was benevolent, and only then did I..."

Qin Yue understood before Zuo Zijian finished speaking; it was his act of sparing the villagers that had put Zuo Zijian at ease.

"Since you trust me now, then tell me all the information you know!

However, I must warn you, even if I find the Bailing Sect's stronghold through your information, I may not be able to save your wife and children.

Your wife and children may not still be alive, and even if they are, they might have been brainwashed by the Bailing Sect and become their followers.

If they have become followers of the Bailing Sect, I have no way to change them back.

I will not hold back against Bailing Sect followers in combat either."

Although Qin Yue hoped to obtain clues, he did not want to deceive this poor man, who might have already lost his wife and children, to get them.

It was still the same; Qin Yue had many opportunities to obtain clues about the Bailing Sect, so there was no need to compromise his moral bottom line for this.

"They must still be alive. Every time I met with the Bailing Sect, they would bring letters from my wife and children.

Without these assurances, I wouldn't have willingly worked for them for so long."

"Alright, you can speak!"

Qin Yue actually still felt that the situation of Zuo Zijian's wife and children was not optimistic, but he didn't want to break the man's hope, so he could only wish that Zuo Zijian's wife and children were well.

"Those Bailing Sect members must be connected to Qinghua Village on Erlong Mountain. It's possible that Qinghua Village is a stronghold of the Bailing Sect.

Because once, during a grain exchange, I recognized one of the people escorting the grain.

That person didn't recognize me, but I recognized him.

He was originally a blacksmith's apprentice in Song City, but later offended the Zuo Family's second young master and was framed by the second young master for colluding with mountain bandits. Who would have thought that the government's men didn't catch him, and he escaped, actually running to Qinghua Village on Erlong Mountain to become a mountain bandit.

He thought that as a small blacksmith's apprentice, he had no reputation, but this incident actually angered the second young master greatly.

He had notified all of us stewards that once there was any news of him, we should immediately inform the second young master, who wanted to deal with him personally.

So I recognized him at once that time, but I pretended not to, hoping that one day I could use this information."

Qin Yue knew that how the blacksmith's apprentice could have offended the Zuo Family's second young master must be another story of a wealthy young master bullying others with his power, but this had nothing to do with him. He only dealt with matters related to demons.

"Where is Qinghua Village on Erlong Mountain? Tell me the direction, and I'll go investigate today."

"Can the Great Hero take me with him? I am willing to guide the Great Hero!"

Qin Yue knew that Zuo Zijian wanted to see the situation of his wife and children himself; he was still uneasy about entrusting their lives entirely to Qin Yue.

However, if Qin Yue took Zuo Zijian, his pace would be too slow.

But just as Qin Yue was about to directly refuse Zuo Zijian, he suddenly remembered something, hesitated for a moment, and agreed to Zuo Zijian's request to go to Qinghua Village together.

Qin Yue first told Zuo Zijian to pack his things, then he turned and went to the threshing ground. He first fed the ox demon a sleeping Medicinal Pill, then had four human Puppets carry the ox demon, and together with the other six Puppets, they followed behind Qin Yue.

Qin Yue still held the mindset that he might be able to get some clues from this ox demon, so he didn't kill it directly.

When Qin Yue found Zuo Zijian, he had already packed his belongings and was waiting for Qin Yue.

But upon seeing the ten corpses following behind Qin Yue, he was so frightened that he sat directly on the ground, pointing behind Qin Yue and unable to speak, while scooting backward on the ground.

"Don't be surprised, these are the Puppets I refined.

Hurry up and get up!

These Puppets will go to Qinghua Village with us."

Zuo Zijian took a while to recover and stand up. Qin Yue didn't rush him, and only after Zuo Zijian had adapted did he leave Zuo Family Estate with him.

After leaving Zuo Family Estate, Zuo Zijian pointed a direction to Qin Yue, saying that Erlong Mountain was thirty li in that direction, and Qinghua Village was near the main peak of Erlong Mountain.

Qin Yue looked at the direction Zuo Zijian pointed and asked, "How long would it take you to reach Erlong Mountain if you ran at full speed?"

"I haven't run at full speed since I broke through to the Qi Refining Realm, but I estimate it would take about an hour."

"That's too slow. I'll give you a hand. In a moment, tighten your Blood Qi, and I'll try to see if I can make your speed keep up with mine."

As he spoke, Qin Yue didn't wait for Zuo Zijian's consent and placed his hand on Zuo Zijian's shoulder.

Actually, Qin Yue's purpose in agreeing to Zuo Zijian going to Erlong Mountain with him was precisely this: he wanted Zuo Zijian to willingly cooperate with him in an experiment.

That was, whether a living person could be manipulated like a Puppet.

Qin Yue's Protective Aura threads extended from his hand and slowly penetrated Zuo Zijian's body from his shoulder.

At this time, Zuo Zijian felt nothing, because the strong permeability of Qin Yue's Qi Gang could naturally evade the perception of lower-level Martial Artists.

Slowly, the Protective Aura threads traveled throughout Zuo Zijian's body, completely intertwining with his meridians.