An Nuo sighed, her head spinning as she looked at the dense information about the villagers.
"To be honest, the situation for the girls in these villages doesn't seem very good," An Nuo picked out a few of them. "These are all girls who were mentally deficient and have suddenly recovered recently."
"According to the Judge, we should be selecting from these individuals."
Si Qing propped his chin in his hand. "The Judge didn't actually say how to find Sister's soul. Does that mean we have to guess based on our feelings?"
Shao Feng pondered for a moment. "Something like that. At least we have some hope now."
As he said this, he secretly glanced at Si Qing.
Since falling into demonic cultivation, Si Qing had not smiled once. Although he had stopped absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth with the Yan Zhen Mirror, all that energy had been absorbed into his body and hidden away.
The Yan Zhen Mirror artifact was also in a state of readiness.
Si Qing, this child... the blow of losing his sister had prepared him to drag the Three Realms down with him at any moment.
Thinking of this, Shao Feng felt a sense of gratitude towards Yue Zhiyin.
It was he who had withstood the pressure from all the immortal and divine beings in the Nine Heavens, and with obvious favoritism, supported Si Qing's madness, supported their search for Qi Yu, and even personally assisted.
Such actions, for a Heavenly Emperor, were dereliction of duty, a betrayal of all beings in the Three Realms.
It was selfish.
But Yue Zhiyin, for various reasons, had still violated his duties as Heavenly Emperor and done so.
He risked punishment for violating heavenly laws in the future.
"Just pick one, I can't wait any longer," Si Qing stood up, throwing a few copper coins on the table as he spoke, and turned to leave.
As he stepped out of the restaurant, he bumped squarely into Shi Wenqing and his mother.
Qi Yu, carrying the freshly slaughtered pork belly, was walking beside Shi Wenqing. The collision caused the piece of meat, which he was holding with a string, to be directly smeared onto the hem of Si Qing's clothes.
Although the fabric was black, the gold thread was stained.
"You wretched girl, what did you do?" Shi's mother cursed, then looked at Si Qing with an apologetic expression. "I'm so sorry, the child wasn't steady when walking."
Si Qing frowned.
He lowered his gaze and glanced at the mother and her two children.
The mother looked to be in her forties, wearing a pure cotton and linen skirt with a few patches on the hem.
The son was dressed the best, his clothes completely free of patches, clean, and he was even wearing small cloth shoes.
The girl wore straw sandals, her sleeves were tattered, and her pants, worn beneath a short jacket, exposed her ankles. She was so thin that her age was indeterminate, her wrists no wider than two of his fingers, like small bundles of firewood.
Seeing that Si Qing remained silent, Shi's mother bent down, picked up Shi Wenqing, and urged Qi Yu to apologize.
"Pandi, are you mute!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand as if to threaten.
"I'm sorry," Qi Yu raised a small hand and wiped the hem of Si Qing's robe. "I've cleaned it, brother."
"Hmm, but it's not you who should be apologizing," Si Qing raised his hand, grabbed the woman's collar, and lifted her and her son. "You bumped into someone and can't even speak. Are you mute?"
Shi's mother had never encountered such a strong young man, and her face changed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's my fault."
She apologized profusely.
She cried and begged.
Si Qing frowned in annoyance.
Shi's mother was thrown to the ground by him, and she was terrified and shaken.
Shi Wenqing, held in her arms, cried out in fear.
The surrounding crowd discussed in hushed tones.
After Si Qing, An Nuo, and Shao Feng had walked away, a woman who had been watching the commotion, while cracking melon seeds, said, "Those three people made no sound when they walked, and their clothing suggests they aren't from around here. They must be cultivators from some sect."
Another man chimed in.
"Judging by that strength, they're definitely cultivators. Hey, speaking of which, our area is also going to have cultivators coming to recruit disciples this year. I wonder if I have the talent to awaken a spiritual root. If so, sending him to cultivate the Tao and seek immortality would be much better than studying that nonsense, and cheaper too."
"No, no, in my opinion, reading is still important," another storyteller with a goatee retorted. "As for cultivating the Tao, that's something only talented people do. How can an ordinary person like you and me have that talent? Don't end up wasting your years without achieving immortality."
Hearing this, others immediately argued.
Shi's mother, holding Shi Wenqing and with Qi Yu standing beside her, heard them talking about cultivating the Tao and couldn't help but swallow. "Alas, if you send your child to those immortal cultivation sects, can they really achieve immortality and live forever?"
"Yes, why not?" the woman looked at Shi's mother. "Why don't you take your child to a sect and ask?"
Shi's mother nodded.
After returning home, while making braised pork, she thought about the matter.
Once the braised pork was done, Shi's mother recalled the things about immortal cultivation and decided to speak to her husband and son about it privately when her husband returned from work.
To prevent Qi Yu from eavesdropping and to prevent Qi Yu from eating the meat, she casually picked up some thick clothes and told Qi Yu to wash them.
A child of this age, running away from home, might starve to death or be bitten by wolves before even becoming a beggar.
Therefore, Qi Yu did not resist, and carrying the small basin, she walked shallowly into the stream.
She reached the stream.
She took out the clothes and placed them beside her. Just as she was about to move forward to soak the clothes in the water, she heard footsteps behind her.
Qi Yu turned her head.
She saw the three people from earlier that day.