As he spoke, an old man walked in from outside.
Bai Ningbing narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, undetectable to anyone watching—this old man was a Gu Master!
However, he only had the cultivation of a First Transformation Initial Stage. He was frail and elderly, posing no threat whatsoever.
"Young man, this is our village chief," the old woman introduced.
Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing quickly stood up.
Fang Yuan scratched his head, looking somewhat awkward: "Village Chief, sir, I'm..."
Before he could finish his introduction, the village chief waved his hand with a smile: "I know who you are. Two outsiders."
Gu Masters could sense each other's aura. But Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing both had Concealment Gu in their ears, suppressing their Gu Master aura—at the very least, the village chief couldn't pierce through it.
The old village chief had received reports from villagers about these two outsiders several days ago. But he hadn't paid them much mind.
Over the past few days, besides Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing, quite a few others had passed through the village seeking shelter.
"You came all this way, and you even brought something," the old woman complained.
The old village chief hadn't come empty-handed—he carried a string of fish in his hand.
"I caught these from the pond this morning. Your teeth aren't good, so drink some fish soup—it'll help nourish your body." The old village chief smiled warmly.
The old woman rolled her eyes at him, but accepted the fish: "I'll go to the kitchen and make fish soup."
Her voice carried a note of delight.
Bai Ningbing couldn't quite read their expressions and tone, but Fang Yuan's eyes flickered with understanding—the old man and the old woman were probably in the twilight of a romance.
"Auntie, let me do it," Fang Yuan said immediately.
"You two sit, sit down and chat. There's good news!" the old woman eagerly waved her hand, gesturing for Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing to sit. "I've already spoken to the village chief about your matter. Our village chief is a Gu Master, you know! He can help you."
"A Gu Master!" Fang Yuan's eyes went wide with apparent shock, frozen in place.
Bai Ningbing watched his performance and nearly rolled her eyes. She also tried to put on a surprised expression, but it was obviously far inferior to Fang Yuan's—something she was well aware of.
The old village chief saw Fang Yuan's reaction and burst out laughing, suddenly finding this ugly fellow charmingly naive in an endearing way. As for Bai Ningbing beside him, she seemed rather stiff and wooden by comparison. In fact, the old village chief actually preferred Fang Yuan.
"You two young folk, sit down, no need to be nervous." He beckoned with his hand and sat down first.
Fang Yuan fidgeted for a moment before finally plonking himself down with a few grunts, looking tense. Bai Ningbing followed his lead behind him, but still appeared somewhat unnatural.
The old village chief, however, suspected nothing: "I've heard you two wanted to trade herbs and cured meats, but ran into wild beasts—bad luck, that. Your auntie here told me all about it. You've helped her out a great deal, so I've got some Purple Maple Leaves here. In a few days, a merchant caravan will be passing through. You can sell these Purple Maple Leaves and maybe recoup some of your losses."
Bai Ningbing heard this and realized this was the "good news" the old woman had mentioned—she immediately lost interest.
"This... this... this..." Fang Yuan stammered with excitement, then tears welled up in his eyes and his voice choked. "Village Chief, sir, you truly are a good man—a truly great man!"
The old village chief reached up and patted this demon lord's shoulder, offering sympathetic encouragement: "No need for all these words. Everyone has their hard times. But I can't just give these to you for nothing, or the villagers would have complaints. How about this—during the day, come to the east end of the village and help till the fields. Work for seven days, and by then the caravan will have arrived."
He was actually quite grateful to Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing.
He was a mortal born and raised in this village, childhood sweethearts with the old woman from their youth. But life was unpredictable, and she had married someone else. During one merchant caravan trade, a Gu Master saw his sharpness and took him under his wing, transforming him into a Gu Master himself.
Because of this, he had become the village chief. Though he still harbored feelings for the old woman, they were both elderly people with children and grandchildren—it wouldn't look good if word got around, so they hadn't been too close. Even as village chief, he couldn't be too obvious in helping the old woman.
He had actually observed them in secret and concluded that Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing were decent in character—hardworking and honest, just a bit unlucky.
So when the old woman spoke to him, he immediately agreed to help Fang Yuan.
...
"When we were eating, you agreed to the old village chief's offer. Are you really going to till the fields for seven days just for that cart of Purple Maple Leaves?" That night in their room, Bai Ningbing asked, puzzled.
"The Purple Maple Leaves are obviously not my real objective. Didn't you hear? A merchant caravan is passing through here," Fang Yuan replied.
"So what? Didn't you already mention that merchant caravans pass through Purple You Mountain all year round?"
"Caravans come once a year, sometimes once every six months. I simply didn't expect one to arrive so soon. I probed just now—this caravan travels east to west. Even if it doesn't go all the way to Merchant City, at least part of its route is in our direction."
Bai Ningbing's eyes lit up with realization: "You want to join the caravan and use their strength to reach Merchant City?"
She thought it over briefly and grew more convinced it was a good plan.
First, the Ground-listening Flesh Ear Grass had been destroyed, and they lacked reconnaissance Gu insects—traveling on their own would be troublesome.
Second, they had committed crimes, and the Hundred Families would surely pursue them without relent. Blending into a caravan was an excellent way to cover their tracks.
Finally, they had Concealment Gu and could easily disguise themselves as mortals. Caravans were highly wary of unfamiliar Gu Masters, but they didn't keep the same level of vigilance against mortals.
Even if they were discovered, it wouldn't be a major problem. At that point, with one at the Third Transformation and the other at the Second Transformation, they would still have the ability to slip away.
The leaders of merchant caravans were typically at the Third Transformation. Leaders of the Fourth Transformation caliber like Jia Fu were relatively rare.