The murmuring beyond the wooden gate grew steadily louder.

  At first, it was one or two people, neighbors peeking in out of curiosity, but now they had formed a sizable crowd.

  The gazes of the gathered people burned.

  Cold sweat began to bead on the village head’s forehead.

  He had planned to quietly coax and threaten Yun Xian, swallowing the spirit field lease rights whole, but things had grown out of hand.

  This cultivation village was where the outer disciples of Qingyun Sect and their families lived.

  Because of that, even as village head, he couldn’t wield his authority recklessly.

  Oppression without justification could easily lead to an audit by the sect.

  That would be a serious headache for him as well.

  “H-hey, Yun Xian. That’s enough crying now. Everyone’s staring at you, aren’t they?”

  The village head swallowed dryly and whispered urgently.

  Anxiety was plain in his voice.

  But I pretended not to hear and instead raised my voice even louder, wailing pitifully.

  Since things had come this far and people had gathered, shouldn’t I give them a good show? At times like this, it was important to firmly establish an image.

  A pitiful, powerless orphan.

  Most of the people living here weren’t that different from Yun Xian’s family in circumstance.

  Parents who never escaped the Qi Refinement stage their whole lives, pinning all their hopes on their children.

  To them, I might well have been the future image of their own sons or daughters.

  Perhaps that was why.

  Their eyes were filled with sympathy and pity.

  Of course, it was only possible because my crying performance was top-tier.

  It was a survival skill honed from childhood, every time my heartless relatives told me to throw Ginger away.

  With reddened eyes, wiping tears with my sleeve, I looked like the very definition of a miserable orphan.

  After a long while of crying out for my parents and pouring out my grief, I finally stopped sobbing.

  Of course, not completely. Acting was all about the finish.

  Letting out intermittent hiccupping sobs, my voice trembling like a goat’s bleat, I asked the village head.

  “H-hic… then, Village Head…. my spirit field lease rights…. they won’t be taken back, right? Right?”

  I could clearly see the village head’s face contort violently.

  He looked like he’d bitten into shit.

  The corners of his mouth trembled.

  But the situation was no longer in his favor.

  The stares of the onlookers gathered around were unbearably sharp.

  He rolled his eyes, pondering how to salvage this mess.

  He had already promised to hand over the spirit field lease rights to another cultivator in exchange for kickbacks.

  And he’d even swallowed the deposit in advance.

  Finally finishing his calculations, the village head began to coax me.

  “Heh heh, that might be a bit difficult. Think carefully, Yun Xian. You’re only at Qi Refinement Stage 2. How could you possibly manage such a large spirit field on your own? Farming isn’t that easy, you know. Supplying water, killing pests, infusing spiritual energy—none of it is simple.”

  I already knew all of that.

  From the beginning, I had no intention of staying here long.

  Spirit fields or whatever—it didn’t matter. I needed to leave this place as soon as possible and devote myself to cultivation somewhere safe.

  For that, I needed spirit stones.

  Spirit stones to convert into points.

  I needed both justification and funds to leave this place.

  To avoid revealing my intentions, I lowered my head deeply, putting on the most pitiful expression I could muster.

  “It might be a bit difficult… but if the Village Head would help me just a little, wouldn’t it somehow work out? It’s the inheritance my parents left behind… I can’t give it up like this.”

  My voice dripped with injustice and desperation.

  Even I was impressed by my own acting.

  The determination to survive seemed to grant me transcendent ability.

  Perhaps sensing room for negotiation in my hesitant tone, the village head began to persuade me in earnest.

  “Heh heh, Yun Xian. I fully understand how you feel. Your parents in heaven would surely be pleased. But you must think realistically. If you can’t properly manage the spirit field, the sect won’t stay idle either.”

  He mixed in a subtle threat as he continued, gauging my reaction.

  “You could end up losing both the spirit field and the deposit, and even be reprimanded. Wouldn’t it be better to take this opportunity to settle the lease rights and look for another path with that deposit? You’re still young, aren’t you?”

  The village head gently cajoled me, trying by any means to get his hands on the spirit field lease rights.

  He even said he’d return the deposit, as if he were being magnanimous.

  I sneered inwardly.

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  Wasn’t he going to get that deposit from the next lessee anyway?

  Putting on airs with something that wasn’t even his.

  What could be more convenient than that?

  I cried even more miserably and clung to him.

  Like I said, I was truly confident when it came to crying.

  “Waaah! Then what am I supposed to do now! How am I supposed to live in this old house without a spirit field! Are you telling me to just starve to death here! Mother! Father! You should have taken me with you! Waaah!”

  At my desperate wailing, the surroundings grew even more chaotic.

  “Oh dear, that poor thing, what should we do?”

  “Village Head, that’s too much. He’s just a child…… If I were gone, my son would end up like that too. It’s heartbreaking.”

  “That’s right. How can you bully an orphan like that? Of course the deposit should be returned. He’s learned the Water Nurturing Art and Pest Control Art, so he’s not unqualified. And if there’s still time left on the lease, shouldn’t you even pay extra?”

  The neighbors’ murmurs pierced the village head like daggers.

  He clenched his teeth.

  His face had already rotted beyond repair.

  In the end, the village head raised the white flag first.

  “…Alright. Alright. Then let’s do this. If you insist, I’ll add another 200 spirit stones. Even if you farmed the field all year, you’d only earn fifty or sixty spirit stones. There may be ten years left on the lease, but let’s settle it at this. You understand what’s proper, don’t you?”

  The village head’s eyes glinted threateningly as he spoke.

  Judging by that reaction, the kickbacks he’d received must have exceeded 200 spirit stones.

  It probably felt like flesh was being torn off him.

  Truthfully, I had been waiting for him to make an offer.

  But if I accepted too eagerly here, all my acting up until now would be wasted.

  I hesitated for a moment.

  With tear-filled eyes, I looked up at him.

  “But…… then I’ll lose my means of survival here. Unlike my parents, I don’t have an identity token, so I can’t go to the city and sell talismans.”

  An identity token was a jade plaque issued by Qingyun Sect, serving a role similar to a protective talisman.

  Going to the city without one was the same as throwing your life onto the streets.

  Hearing my words, the village head narrowed his eyes as if thinking deeply and looked at me.

  “An identity token is nothing. I can give you one easily enough. But going back and forth to the city to sell talismans? Even with a token, the roads would be dangerous at your level. Once or twice might be fine, but it’s worrying.”

  As expected, the village head had taken the bait.

  Now he was getting greedy for the house as well.

  I hesitated, watching his expression.

  “…Then, what should I do?”

  The village head answered immediately.

  It was as if he’d been waiting for that question.

  “Why not hand over the house as well and head to the city? If you gather both the house and spirit field deposits, you could secure lodging there. In the city, you can do anything. There will be more opportunities to learn, too.”

  Perhaps excited, his voice grew increasingly rapid.

  This cultivation village was pleasant to live in, and the spirit field yields were good.

  There were plenty of cultivators eager to move in if a house became vacant.

  He even snorted with satisfaction, imagining the unearned income he’d get from them.

  I pretended to deliberate for a moment.

  At that sight, the village head’s patience finally snapped.

  A vein bulged at his temple.

  “Damn it! I’ll try a bit harder for your sake. I’ll add five roots of low-grade spiritual herbs I own and another 200 spirit stones. Combined with the deposit, this should be enough to live on for a while. How about it?”

  The onlookers nearby nodded, as if that sounded reasonable.

  This was more than I had expected.

  If I added together the spirit stones left by Yun Xian’s parents, the compensation from Qingyun Sect, the deposits, and the additional spirit stones, it was quite a haul.

  The low-grade spiritual herbs would surely be useful someday as well.

  If I got greedier, I’d earn the village head’s resentment.

  Only then did I nod, as if reluctantly conceding.

  “…I will never forget the Village Head’s kindness for the rest of my life. Hic… thank you. Truly, thank you.”

  The transaction was concluded faster than expected.

  I handed over the documents related to the spirit field lease rights and the house.

  “It’ll take two or three days to make the identity token, so stay quietly at home until then. Once it’s done, I’ll personally bring it to you.”

  The village head said this as he immediately handed over a storage pouch.

  Upon checking, it contained a total of 2,700 spirit stones and spiritual herbs.

  When I looked up, the village head was staring at the pouch with a meaningful gaze.

  Like a starving wolf eyeing its prey.

  The danger instincts I’d honed over long years stirred back to life.

  Of course, this was within expectations.

  To the village head, I must have looked incredibly easy to deal with.

  But even if I had given up the deposit, it would have been the same.

  The compensation alone from my parents’ deaths amounted to 300 spirit stones.

  If it was going to be dangerous anyway, wasn’t it right to pursue maximum profit?

  Perhaps because I grew even more wary.

  I noticed an extremely faint red aura rising around him like heat haze.

  To avoid suspicion, I examined the pouch and pretended to be happy.

  A red aura was also surging around the village head’s feet.

  There was no doubt.

  It was exactly the same phenomenon as in the game ‘Fresh Immortal,’ when a player about to PK (Player Kill) would have their character surrounded by red.

  The system had confirmed it.

  [The opponent’s killing intent has been detected.]

  As expected, people were the most terrifying.

  Goosebumps erupted all over my body.

  The village head’s eyes already treated me as a dead man.

  Now I understood why he’d mentioned a time limit of two or three days.

  With so many eyes on us now, he planned to come secretly later and seize the spirit stones.

  Dead men told no tales, after all.

  Without showing anything on my face, I smiled and saw him off.

  “Please make sure about the identity token. Without it, I wouldn’t dare go outside. Then, I’ll see you in three days.”

  I didn’t forget to lay down some smoke as I spoke to his retreating back.

  Since he knew that going out without an identity token meant certain death, he wouldn’t suspect anything.

  The moment his figure disappeared beyond the village, I dashed back into the house.

  My heart was pounding like crazy.

  I didn’t need an identity token anyway.

  I had no intention of going to the city in the first place.

  I planned to find a suitable place to hide and devote myself to cultivation.

  I locked the door and firmly shut the windows.

  I was prey now.

  A walking pouch of spirit stones.

  Prey carrying a hefty 2,700 spirit stones.

  An inexperienced cultivator only at Qi Refinement Stage 2.

  Even the neighbors couldn’t be trusted.

  Even blood relatives had gone mad over wealth.

  There was no time to hesitate.

  I used my last remaining 1 point to raise the proficiency of Earth Escape Art.

  [Earth Escape Art Lv. 2 (Proficiency 1) -> Earth Escape Art Lv. 3 (Proficiency 1)]

  Earth Escape Art was one of the low-grade arts Yun Xian originally possessed.

  With low proficiency, digging speed was slow and the depth shallow.

  At that level, escaping the village would be difficult.

  After investing the point, the sensation of Earth Escape Art became vividly clear in my mind.

  It felt as familiar as a technique I’d used for years.

  I immediately began digging beneath the bed.

  A faint flow of spiritual energy seeped from my fingertips, smoothly burrowing into the earthen floor.

  A soft sound echoed, like a mole digging underground.

  Fortunately, this old house was built directly on soil, without a stone foundation.

  My obsessive safety instincts raised their head once more.

  My hands moved faster and faster.

  My forehead was already drenched in sweat.

  But I couldn’t stop.

  I had to escape as quickly as possible before night fell.