Chapter 1817 - 1684: Driving Calamity and Suffering Away
Ye Fan learned from the young hunter that after occupying this Ancient City, the Demon Clan did not wipe out the Humans completely—they also knew that draining the pond to catch the fish wouldn’t work.
The Demon Clan mainly gathered in the City Lord Mansion inside the city, because the City Lord Mansion had the best location in the whole Qingyang Ancient City, nourished by Earth Vein Dragon Qi, and the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was relatively denser there.
Because the environment in the Demon Clan’s Holy Land was still like that of the pre-Taigu era, many Demon Clan cultivators were somewhat unaccustomed to the outside world after emerging.
After all, compared with before Taigu, the current Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was much thinner. To suddenly leave an environment where Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was abundant and misty like water, and come to such a barren place, it was only natural that they were not used to it.
Of course, there were also Demon Clan garrisons in other places, but their numbers were very small, at most only seven or eight individuals.
The little demon that had been killed by Ye Fan lived on the fringes of the City Lord Mansion; they were not yet qualified to move into the City Lord Mansion itself.
Under the rule of the Demon Clan, the people here lived in extreme hardship—the Demon Clan simply did not allow the people here to hunt Xuan Beast.
As they spoke, the two of them arrived in front of the city lord’s mansion. Ye Fan sized up this City Lord Mansion and found that it was smaller than the other City Lord Mansions.
After glancing a few times, Ye Fan already had a plan in his heart.
"Brother Chu, are you going to sell this wild boar to Butcher Zhang?" the young hunter asked casually.
"I don’t even know who I should sell it to. You decide. I’ve really relied on your help along the way. After we sell it, I’ll treat you to some wine." Ye Fan said heartily. His current name was Chu Fan.
"Leave it to me, don’t worry. Butcher Zhang may be a bit stingy, but he doesn’t cheat on weight or quality. His reputation is pretty good."
As they chatted, the two of them carried the wild boar into a small alley. At the end of the alley was a large courtyard. A burly Great Han with a face full of beard was squatting by the door smoking, the sparks on the pipe glowing and dimming.
"Carry it in!"
Seeing business come his way, Butcher Zhang knocked his pipe against the Stone next to him, tucked it into his waistband, and led Ye Fan and the other man into the courtyard.
Ye Fan took a look around and saw two big cauldrons in the courtyard, with some young helpers chopping firewood and tending the fire. They all seemed to be non-Cultivator.
The deal was quickly concluded. Ye Fan left the wild boar there, then walked out of the courtyard with the young hunter and casually went into a tavern.
They ordered a few side dishes and two pots of wine, and as they drank and chatted, under Ye Fan’s deliberate probing, he learned quite a bit of useful information.
In this Ancient City, besides the young Demon Clan elites and some little demon, there was also an old Demon Clan strong people of the Venerable Realm sitting in town.
The Human cultivator in this Ancient City who dared to resist had almost all been killed off. Those whose strength was insufficient but who were unwilling to bow their heads to the Demon Clan had all chosen to leave this Ancient City.
The ones who remained were all Human cultivator without backbone or pride. Seeing the Demon Clan in the ascendancy, they directly defected and surrendered, becoming the Demon Clan’s servant and running dogs.
It could be said that the people in this Ancient City were practically living in a sea of misery. Many wanted to flee, but had no power to do so and could only swallow their anger.
"Uncle, give me something to eat, I’m hungry."
Just then, Ye Fan suddenly saw a small, filthy hand stretch in through the window. A four- or five-year-old child, his face covered in grime, stared at him with pleading eyes, bright pupils flickering with hunger and innocence.
"Here, eat."
Pity stirred in Ye Fan’s heart. He took the two big steamed buns from the plate in front of him and handed them to the little boy.
"Thank you, Uncle!"
The little boy bowed to Ye Fan, but didn’t immediately eat the buns in his hands. Instead, he turned and ran toward the base of a nearby wall.
Ye Fan saw that at the base of that wall lay an old man on his last legs, his body stained with blood, both legs clearly broken, his whole body filthy.
The little boy ran to the old man’s side, squatted down, and said, "Grandpa, eat, big steamed buns!"
The old man strained to open his cloudy eyes, a loving light shining out. He gently shook his head and said, "Good child, you eat. Grandpa isn’t hungry..."
As he spoke, the old man clearly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his Adam’s apple making a faint gulping sound. Though the sound was very soft, it couldn’t escape Ye Fan’s ears.
"Alas, what a pair of pitiful souls." The young hunter had clearly seen this scene as well and shook his head.
"What’s going on?"
Ye Fan looked at the young hunter in confusion.
Aiding in an emergency but not curing lifelong poverty—Ye Fan understood that his own strength was limited. There were far too many pitiful people in this world; he couldn’t possibly help them all.
"The old man’s surname is Lv. He used to run a restaurant. Before those damned bastards occupied this place, the grandfather and grandson lived a decent life. They couldn’t be called rich, but they had no worries about food and clothing. Ever since those beasts came, they went to his restaurant every day to eat and drink for free. A few days ago, because Old Lu’s stock of wine had been completely drunk up, one of those beasts threw him straight from the second floor, breaking his legs. The restaurant was also torn down. From then on, the two of them had no home to return to and could only wander the streets, becoming beggars!" the young hunter said.
"These beasts!"
Ye Fan narrowed his eyes, murderous intent surging in his heart. He wished he could storm the City Lord Mansion and kill right now, but in the end he forced himself to endure.
"Ai..."
The young hunter let out a long sigh and said, "We’re people who’ve been abandoned already. Those cultivators from the great powers only know how to protect their own interests—who’s going to protect the interests of us common folk?"
"Kid, take some food over to that old man and boy. Put it on my tab."
Seeing that the old man only ate a single bun after the little boy repeatedly urged him, Ye Fan immediately called to the waiter in the tavern.
"Master, you can save them for a moment, but can you save them for a lifetime? If those Demon Clan people find out, even our tavern won’t be safe. They don’t allow anyone to give that grandfather and grandson any food at all. You already went against their orders just now."
"What damn orders?"
Ye Fan flared up on the spot. These Demon Clan cultivators had no bottom line at all—laying their hands on ordinary people, they were worse than animals.
Ye Fan directly had all the dishes on the table packed up, then walked to the old man, set down the packed food, and placed his palm on the old man’s Dantian. A warm current instantly poured into him.
This was Pure Yang Qi of Life Origin. It could not only help cultivators recover from injuries faster, but also influence the vitality of ordinary people.
"Thank you, benefactor!"
The old man was not someone who didn’t know good from bad. Just from the stream of Qi Ye Fan sent into his body, he could tell that Ye Fan was definitely a cultivator.
After speaking, the old man turned to the little boy and said, "Child, quick, quickly thank your benefactor!"
The little boy obediently knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times with loud thuds to Ye Fan, muttering, "Thank you, benefactor, thank you, benefactor..."
Ye Fan hurriedly helped him up and, while he was at it, examined the boy’s body to see if he could undergo cultivation. If he could cultivate, Ye Fan would take him away when he left, entrust him to someone, and never let him suffer like this again.
However—
Ye Fan was disappointed. This little boy’s physique was far too ordinary—so ordinary it couldn’t be any more ordinary. He was simply not suited for cultivation; there was no trace of Qi in his body.
Even an ordinary person should have an extremely faint stream of Qi, the source of a person’s life, yet in him Ye Fan couldn’t sense even the slightest current.
In the end, Ye Fan took them to an inn, booked a room for them, had them eat something and take a bath, then opened another room for himself next door.
He told the waiter to buy a set of clothes for the grandfather and grandson, so that after they finished bathing they could change. Ye Fan then sat cross‑legged on the bed and cultivated silently, preparing to adjust himself to his peak state.
The battle tonight was destined to be extremely brutal!
He had to ensure that he faced this tough fight in his best condition.
In this Ancient City there were several hundred Demon Clan members in total, among them forty to fifty young elites whose cultivation had all reached the level of One-star Demon or Two-star Demon; there were even Three star Demons present.
On top of that, there was an old Demon Clan monster sitting in command here. If he couldn’t trap these people, it would be very hard to slaughter them all.
In his view, since the Demon Clan used the pretext of a "challenge" to recklessly butcher Human cultivators, he would repay them in their own coin—he would also use a "challenge" to slaughter every Demon Clan cultivator in this city.
Only if he hurt them badly enough would they truly behave themselves. Otherwise, at this rate, war would erupt sooner or later.
"Knock knock knock..."
Just as Ye Fan was pondering strategy and tactics, his door was suddenly knocked. Ye Fan waved his hand, the door opened, and the little boy in his new clothes hopped in, saying to Ye Fan, "Uncle, look, aren’t my clothes pretty?"
"They’re pretty."
Ye Fan praised from the heart. The little boy actually looked very sweet—big eyes, long eyelashes, cheeks flushed red like ripe apples.
"Bao’er, don’t disturb our benefactor’s rest, hurry back!" Through the door, Ye Fan heard the old man calling from the other room.
"Bao’er knows!" the boy answered, then waved to Ye Fan and said, "Goodbye, Uncle!"
"Don’t worry, child. After tonight, disaster and suffering will stay far away from you."
Watching little Bao’er’s departing back, Ye Fan muttered to himself, his eyes filled with dense killing intent.
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