Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

A gentle breeze swept by, stirring up a few shattered feathers.

In the center of the dissipating cloud of dust, Su Ling’er stood silently.

Behind her, the old man tremblingly opened his eyes. He felt his chest. There was no blood, no hole—only a fiercely pounding heart reminding him that he was still alive.

He stared blankly, his tear-filled gaze fixed on the figure standing before them.

"Im... Immortal?" The old man’s lips trembled. The word came out so softly, as if he were afraid to shatter this beautiful dream.

’Is this... an Immortal?’

He had lived most of his life, but this was the first time he had ever been so close to an Immortal.

There had been Immortals in Anhe City before—the Immortal Masters of the Celestial Furnace Sect. But those Immortal Masters were always high and mighty, sitting enthroned on clouds or surrounded by the City Lord and the heads of the great families like the moon among stars, high up in their towers.

When their farmlands were seized by the powerful, he had kowtowed and cried out for justice on the streets as an Immortal Master passed by. But the Immortal Master didn’t even bat an eye before his cloud-borne streak of light vanished into the distance.

When they were reduced to refugees, scrounging for food outside the city like stray dogs, he had hoped some passing Immortal would show them a sliver of pity. But the only response they ever received was the clip-clop of hooves and the mockery of the young masters from the great families.

He thought that was just his fate.

Immortals were clouds in the sky, and they were mud on the ground. How could a cloud ever lower its head to glance at the mud? The clouds would only think the mud sullied their sight.

But now... the old man looked at the hem of Su Ling’er’s skirt, stained with bits of grass.

This female Immortal in black was standing right here, in the flesh, in this desolate wilderness. She stood before them—refugees worth less than pigs or dogs—and shielded them from a sky full of arrows.

Tears streamed down the old man’s wrinkled and grimy face.

’Finally... finally, an Immortal is willing to lower their noble head and look upon the ants struggling on the ground...’

’Finally, someone... is willing to listen to the whimpers of the pigs and dogs in the mud...’

"Waaaah..."

The woman behind him could hold it in no longer. Clutching her child, she began to wail. Her cries were filled with the relief of surviving a disaster, but even more so with the grief she had suppressed for countless days and nights.

...

On the other side, the young masters, who had just been laughing and joking, suddenly fell silent as if someone had grabbed them by the throat.

Every one of the dandies stared wide-eyed, their bows trembling uncontrollably in their hands.

"Is... is that an Immortal?!"

"No shit! She shattered all our arrows with one wave of her hand! If she’s not an Immortal, is she a magician?!"

Their arrogance and disregard for human life meant nothing now, because they knew what they were facing. This was an Immortal...

"W-what do we do?" The fat young master’s teeth were chattering. "Do we... do we run?"

"Run my ass!" a slightly more clear-headed companion cursed under his breath. "Are you stupid? How many legs does your horse have? She has a flying sword! You think you can outrun an Immortal? The second you start running is the second your head leaves your body!"

"Then... then what the hell do we do?!"

Just as the group was at a complete loss...

CLANG! A crisp sound broke the deadlock.

The leader of the group, Mr. Zhang Ao, with an agility that completely betrayed his dandyish image, tossed his priceless horn bow to the ground.

Then, he smoothly slid right off his horse.

THUD!

Zhang Ao landed on both knees, the slide unbelievably smooth. He prostrated himself fully, pressing his forehead firmly into the grass, and shouted in a trembling voice, as if he were seeing his own ancestors, "I was unaware of Your Excellency’s arrival! This lowly one has failed to welcome you!!"

’Damn it!’ Zhang Ao thought, trembling on the ground. ’There really is an Immortal who sticks their nose in this kind of business?! Don’t you have anything better to do? Shouldn’t you be pursuing immortality instead of worrying about the lives of a few refugees in the middle of nowhere?!’

But no matter how much he cursed internally, Zhang Ao knew very well that the slightest misstep now would mean death.

He raised his eyelids just a crack, putting on an innocent and respectful expression as he continued to shout, "I was unaware that the Immortal Lady... was cultivating in seclusion here... We lowly ones were just... just practicing our mounted archery and mistook those people for wild beasts in the thicket... If we have disturbed you... I beg for the Immortal Lady’s forgiveness..."

"Here... practicing mounted archery?"

Zhang Ao shuddered. His eyes darted around quickly before he slammed his head even lower against the ground. "Immortal Lady, please see the truth! This... this is all a misunderstanding!"

"It really is a misunderstanding! We... we thought a herd of wild boars had emerged from the grass, and we almost killed them by mistake..."

Su Ling’er narrowed her eyes. Her gaze swept over the young masters kneeling and begging for their lives before finally landing on the bloody cloth sack still clutched in the fat young master’s hand.

Blood was still dripping from the bottom of the sack. It was obvious whose head was inside.

Su Ling’er ignored Zhang Ao’s bullshit and coldly pointed at the head in the fat young master’s hand. "And what about this? You mistook them for wild boars, so you decided to cut off a boar’s head to take back and braise?"

’Hey, you guys can talk all you want, but can you not involve me in this wild boar business!’ [Ten-Pace Killer]’s mouth twitched. ’Do I look like a pig?! Does any pig you’ve ever seen look like this?!’

"Er... this..." Zhang Ao was stumped for a moment. This was indeed impossible to explain.

But then, he abruptly raised his head. He dropped the innocent act and instead adopted a look of profound sorrow and compassion. With a pained expression, he said, "Immortal Lady! Since you’ve asked, this lowly one will no longer hide the truth from you! In fact, we were doing this for the peace and stability of Anhe City!"

Su Ling’er: "???"

"You don’t understand!" Zhang Ao said, pointing at the trembling refugees behind her with an air of self-righteousness. "These refugees have no household registration, no identity! They wander outside the city all day, committing petty theft, and they might even breed and carry plagues! They are the cancer of Anhe City, the root of all turmoil!"