Huo Lingdong didn't know how long she had been unconscious. She was awakened by the warmth of Qingxiao Jade on her chest.

…

The light in front of me was dim, filled with the smell of rotting grass and bamboo, and my body was bouncing and unsteady.

Huo Lingdong bit the tip of his tongue, using the pain to drive away the remaining drug effects in his body. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes were already a little clearer.

She was put into a large, crudely made straw basket, with her legs curled up and a golden rope tightly tied around her wrists. Her whole body was loaded like cargo.

The straw basket should be tied to the back of the big green bull, bumping up and down as the monster runs.

Huo Lingdong felt a chill in his heart.

——She was kidnapped by those unknown monks.

Using the light that filtered through the gap in the straw basket, she quickly searched around and found that the Sunset Sword and the storage bag were missing. Because of that inexplicable golden rope, the spiritual power in her body was as stagnant as muddy water, and she could hardly mobilize it at all.

.

She wanted to perform the simplest dust removal technique, but she felt unable to do so.

What kind of rope is this? It’s so fierce...

After a moment of panic, Huo Lingdong calmed down. She made no unnecessary noise and carefully explored the outside through the gaps in the basket...

Grasslands, woods, and houses quickly passed by on both sides.

The four men were still on their way, and their speed was faster than when they came. The leading unicorn-like monster had flames on its feet, and the big green bull with two tails and three eyes made a heavy breathing sound.

Huo Lingdong had no idea where they were going, but looking from the direction of the sun, they seemed to be heading east.

Several people walked like this for several days without taking a break. By the time it was almost dark the next day, they had walked more than a thousand miles and arrived at a completely different place.

After passing an iron suspension bridge, the thin man in the lead stopped the monster team. He couldn't wait to lift the lid of the straw basket and look inside.

Seeing that Huo Lingdong was in good spirits, he was glaring at him angrily, but the thin man smiled instead of being annoyed.

"Young lady, are you awake? You're tired and thirsty, hey, hey, don't worry, we'll be home soon."

Huo Rendong looked at him coldly: "I am not alone. My companion's magic power is unfathomable. If he finds out that you kidnapped me, he will definitely come to my door and kill me, and blood will flow like a river."

The image of Qi Ci holding Zhang Daxian's head still haunts her.

The thin man laughed loudly when he heard this: "What a loud tone!"

"Unfathomable? Is your companion the Great Perfection of Qi Refining or the Foundation Establishment? I, the head of the Zhou family, am the true king of Jindan cultivation!"

"If he can catch up, I'm afraid he will be killed to the point of leaving no bones and dregs. He will fertilize my crops in Zhoucheng, hahahaha!"

After a while, the thin man came over again and said in an ambiguous tone: "Little lady, if you are willing to serve the master well, he will probably let you continue to practice, so that the green hills will not have to worry about having no firewood..."

Huo Lingdong turned his head away and remained silent with a cold face. He let them lead them towards the city not far away.

The city's geographical location is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is located at the mouth of a large river, with only a chain bridge leading to the outside world.

It seems to be much larger than Qingcheng. The Wanshui Town that I passed before is simply insignificant compared to this place.

There are several men who look like soldiers guarding both sides of the bridge entrance. When you get off the bridge, there is a long and wide stone road.

Huo Lingdong knew at a glance that this was an official road that would only be built in a large city with a population of hundreds of thousands. Such a wide and strong road was most suitable for transporting grain, grass, cloth, and goods.

But when I looked to both sides, I felt that everything was gray.

There were no carriages and horses running on the official road, and the land on both sides was uncultivated. Occasionally, I passed by a patch where some crops were growing, but not even winter wheat was planted.

Messy and unorganized fields, empty official roads, and a lifeless sense of defeat permeated everywhere.

When he got closer, Huo Lingdong saw some skinny farmers standing in the fields.

In the cold weather, they only wore shabby linen clothes and worked hard with tools. Judging from the thickness, the clothes were stuffed with reeds.

The farmer was sallow and thin, with only a handful of bones left, and his expression was numb.

Behind them stands an overseer with a whip raised. If anyone moves slower or stops, the whip will hit them mercilessly.

"It's delicious and lazy! It's a piece of shit!"

"You won't be able to work without a beating, right? Because your father will be hungry tonight!"

A fat man in a sheepskin coat yelled viciously and punched and kicked a farmer in ragged clothes.

The latter curled up on the ground, holding his head in his hands, not moaning or begging for mercy, but just stood there silently.

The people on the road were not surprised by such a scene, and their expressions did not even change.

Huo Lingdong frowned and wanted to do something, but was stopped by the thin man's riding crop.

The man who was smiling just now had a gloomy face now and threatened: "I advise you, if you want to suffer less, just be good."

"You are now in my territory in Zhoucheng, and the entire city belongs to my family's power. What do you think?"

Huo Lingdong looked at him for a long time, and finally endured it.

Zhoucheng must not have been called this name originally.

The city wall was built in a very ancient way, and it can be seen that it has a long history. The huge gray-white stones form a solid foundation stone, which is full of historical significance.

But just from a distance, you can feel the suffocation and depression here.

Because under the tall and strong city wall, there are hundreds of old, weak, women and children shacks built with mud walls from various branches.

The earthen pots used for cooking food, the dark quilt with leaky cotton, the rags hanging on the branches, and the child who was so thin that he was only as big as his head.

Narrow shacks and dirty toilets were mixed together. Mosquitoes and flies were flying everywhere. Occasionally, you could see a few people lying in the corner, whether they were dead or alive.

A wild dog was chewing something nearby.

No matter how poor the village is, no village is as shocking as the scene before us.

Huo Lingdong's eyes were shaking, his mouth was bitter, and he didn't say anything for a long time.

This is the first time she has seen the difference in strength between monks and mortals. It is more intuitive and less merciful than Qiushui Town.

It seems that as long as they move their fingers, these mortals will die with their eyes open.

Under the city, someone shouted angrily.

"Guardian Zuo is back——!"

Before he finished speaking, all the people who were still able to move in the shack rushed out in a swarm. Even those who were unable to move and were injured struggled to crawl out of their houses.

They all knelt down on the ground, touching the loess with their foreheads, in a posture of prostrating themselves on the ground.

Such actions make people look like animals and have no dignity at all.

When Huo Lingdong was in Xiaocao Village, the people had never seen such a grand gift when meeting the county magistrate.

Anyone who kneels a little too slowly will be kicked hard by the overseer or soldier.

Within a few breaths, all the people outside the city knelt down in unison, and there was total silence in the darkness. No one dared to raise their heads in fear.

The thin man next to him snorted with his nostrils raised to the sky, like an emperor. Thinking about it, he should have a high status in the Zhou family.

At the gate of the city, a young man in iron armor ran over and rubbed his shoulders and back in an awkward manner.

"Brother Bin, you are back. The master of the house has talked about you several times."

The thin man named Zhou Bin asked: "Where is his old man?"

"The head of the family has gone out to inspect the mines and will not be back until tomorrow morning."

Zhou Bin nodded and asked the men accompanying him to get Huo Lonicera out of the basket.

"Take her to a side courtyard to find an empty room and let a few little girls take care of her. Watch her carefully and don't run away."

Huo Lingdong avoided the hands stretched out by the men, jumped off the back of the green ox, and stood alone beside it.

Although her face was cold and her hair was slightly messy, she had a noble and refined beauty, like a bright moon in the sky. Although it was cold, she couldn't help but want to touch it.

The young man was drooling: "Brother Bin, where did you get this beautiful girl?"

As he said that, he quietly approached a little closer.

Huo Rendong looked at him coldly, expressionless.

The thin man hit him on the head with a horse whip: "You are an idiot, this girl is a Qi Refining monk, be careful she stabs your Tianling Cap with a sword!"

The young man shrank his neck, after all, his saliva was greater than his fear.

"The cauldron made by the Qi Refining monk? I have never seen such a beautiful woman..."

A few people gathered together and didn't know what they were whispering. Huo Lingdong heard a few words like "share the furnace", "it will be your turn", "wait until the head of the family gets tired" and so on.

I just felt the blood and blood surge in my chest, and I wanted to draw my sword and stab them all through.

Huo Lingdong did not need them to escort her. She walked ahead by herself. The rope tied around her wrists was shining brightly, but her attitude was neither humble nor overbearing.

Where she walked, the people kneeling on both sides of the road looked up at her blankly. Their withered and dark faces were filled with mixed emotions, but their hollow and protruding eyes could not shed tears.

An old woman murmured: "Even such an immortal figure cannot escape the hands of thieves."

"When will it end..."

Huo Rendong and his party entered Zhoucheng.
To be continued...