In a single instant, Bai Qianqian had achieved an overwhelming victory.
The surrounding people were so shocked by the scene before them that they were speechless.
The Desert Butcher, who had been so arrogant just a moment ago, was now lying there without even a breath left in him.
“Is this level of demonstration enough? Can you take me to the nearest town now?”
As Bai Qianqian walked into the middle of the camel caravan, her powerful aura made those around her recoil in fear.
Even the manager, who was being protected by the crowd, trembled uncontrollably.
“Why aren’t you speaking? Don’t tell me you intend to go back on your word…”
Bai Qianqian waited for a long time, but she still did not receive the answer she wanted.
A hint of displeasure flickered in her eyes.
Among the group, the bloated Grand Manager was the first to snap back to his senses.
“This lowly one greets the Immortal Master!”
With a startled cry, the fat manager suddenly rushed out from behind the crowd.
He dropped to his knees and performed a sliding bow with such speed that his heavy frame didn’t seem to hinder him at all.
“It is all thanks to the Immortal Master’s divine might that I was able to save my family’s property!”
After his knees hit the ground, all sorts of flattering words poured from his mouth.
After all, the person in front of him was someone who had killed the wicked Desert Butcher in a single move.
He prostrated himself completely, and the surrounding people quickly followed suit.
“Is that all you have to say…?”
Bai Qianqian’s expression remained flat.
She was not pleased by the other party’s praise; instead, the displeasure in her eyes became even more obvious.
The Grand Manager, who had intended to keep sucking up to her, immediately realized her discomfort thanks to his sharp observational skills.
‘Oh no, did my flattery backfire…?’
At that thought, cold sweat poured down the manager’s face.
He had been a merchant in this desert for more than ten years and had personally seen existences that could destroy a city with a single palm strike.
No matter how cautious he was, in the eyes of a cultivator, he was ultimately nothing more than an ant.
“Just how long do you intend to make me wait…?”
“Immortal… what reward does the Immortal Master desire…!”
“Didn’t I mention my requirements to you from the very beginning…?”
Bai Qianqian walked up to the manager and slowly crouched down.
When the manager looked up and saw the grayish-white eyes beneath the conical hat, his legs turned to jelly, rendering him unable to stand.
But at that moment, he finally remembered what she had said.
“I remember! I remember!!”
“I am in a hurry, so could you please be a bit faster…?”
“Understood, understood! This lowly one will prepare it immediately! Men, come here! Prepare a carriage for the Master—the fastest one!”
In just a short while, a beast was pulled out from the herd.
This beast did not look much different from a camel, but compared to the heavy bodies of the standard camels, its long limbs made it look quite elegant.
“This is a crossbreed of a Spirit Camel. Although its endurance is a bit lacking, it can travel 1,000 miles a day!”
‘It’s better than traveling on foot; it saves some energy…’
“Furthermore, to make the Master’s journey more comfortable, this carriage is also a gift for you~”
The manager rubbed his palms together with a flattering smile.
The carriage pulled by the Spirit Camel had originally been prepared for another cultivator, but that person had been killed by the Desert Butcher’s axe.
Now, it served perfectly as a favor to hand over to her.
“I do not know how to drive a carriage…”
“Don’t worry, Master. The journey is long; how could we let the Immortal Master drive the carriage herself~”
Before Bai Qianqian could finish, the sound of clanking chains rang out from the crowd.
A burly man tugged on a chain, and a young girl, as thin as a withered branch, was dragged out.
“Please rest easy, Master. The distance is great, and we would never allow you to tire yourself. This Mute Slave is also a gift for the Master~”
“A Mute Slave…?”
“Haha, this is a remote desert region. Some of our businesses are quite… extensive~”
Bai Qianqian looked at the young girl who had been dragged out.
A trace of fear was clear on the girl’s face.
After all, everyone had just witnessed Bai Qianqian’s terrifying power.
“Master, do not worry. Once you reach the town, if you do not like her, you can just dump her anywhere to fend for herself. After all, a girl of this quality was originally intended to be used as material~”
“As material?”
Bai Qianqian didn’t immediately react to what he meant, but Luo Qingyao, who had been silent, slowly manifested her figure to observe the terrified girl on the ground.
‘This girl’s aura is unstable and her spiritual roots are incomplete. She was likely meant to be sold to those cultivators as a test subject for drugs…’
Bai Qianqian hadn’t expected that human life would be so worthless in this place.
Having originally only wanted to see Lin Xinyi as soon as possible, a hint of coldness now flickered in her eyes as she witnessed this scene.
“If I don’t take her, what will you do with her…?”
“Since the Immortal Master asks… for a product like this, it’s hard to say if she could even survive the trip to the town. She would likely die on the road~”
“Is that so…?”
Bai Qianqian’s voice was flat after hearing those words.
Looking at the girl’s terrified eyes, she suddenly recalled her own experiences in Baijia Village.
‘The bastard who killed her parents!’
‘How unlucky…’
‘Run! The white-haired ghost is coming!’
The disgusted looks of the villagers and the effortless mockery of the children in the village all surfaced in her mind.
Bai Qianqian wouldn’t have cared no matter what they did to her personally.
But seeing someone else going through a similar experience sparked a flicker of anger in her heart.
Luo Qingyao sensed the change in Bai Qianqian’s emotions from the side, and a wicked smile crossed her lips.
‘What’s this? Qianqian, do you want to kill them all…?’
‘No, there’s no need…’
Seeing that Bai Qianqian remained silent, the young girl’s face filled with dread.
Even though the black-robed person in front of her was terrifying, the girl understood that if she stayed here, she would certainly die.
“Please, I beg you, please take me!”
As the girl’s trembling body lunged forward to grab the corner of the cloak, the manager reacted instantly, whipping out a long lash from his waist.
“You brat! Who gave you permission to offend the Immortal Master like this?!”
Seeing the girl’s actions, the manager panicked.
He raised his whip to strike, clearly afraid that Bai Qianqian would be displeased.
The girl closed her eyes in anticipation of the pain, but after a long moment, the expected sting did not come.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the figure in black had reached out and caught the descending whip.
“Let her drive the carriage. It would be a hassle for you to find a replacement, anyway…”
Hearing Bai Qianqian’s words, the manager nodded repeatedly.
After ordering his men to move some supplies onto the carriage, the young girl was shakily helped up by Bai Qianqian.
Her trembling body had clearly not recovered from the fear.
“Get on the carriage…”
“Ye… yes, my Master!”
Once everything was ready, Bai Qianqian gave the crowd a cold look before walking slowly over to the manager.
“Does… does the Immortal Master have any other instructions?”
“I’ve taken so many things from you that I feel a bit uneasy. I thought I should tell you something…”
“Ah?”
“That corpse I killed… please burn it after I leave. It will be for your own good…”
“Understood, understood! This lowly one will definitely follow the Immortal Master’s instructions!”
Leaving those words behind, Bai Qianqian turned and boarded the carriage.
Watching the carriage drive away, the manager, whose face had been full of flattery, suddenly let out a massive sigh of relief.
He slumped to the ground and wiped the cold sweat from his face with his greasy sleeve.
Clearly, her sudden approach just now had scared him half to death.
“My goodness, she finally left. If she stayed any longer, I wouldn’t have been able to keep this up…”
Just as the manager relaxed, an attendant walked over cautiously.
“Manager, we just gave away so many supplies and a Spirit Camel. If we calculate the cost…”
“What do you know? A cultivator of that level clearly has the backing of a powerful clan. If we don’t bleed a little, how can we get on her good side…?”
“Understood, understood. The Manager is truly farsighted.”
“Besides, if those sand bandits had lived, I wouldn’t have been able to keep a single piece of this cargo. Furthermore…”
The manager looked at the corpse lying not far away, slowly being buried by the wind and sand.
A greedy smile touched his lips.
“You haven’t forgotten how valuable the bounty for the Desert Butcher is among the sects in the town, have you~?”
When the attendant heard this, he immediately understood.
A similar smile appeared on his face, but then he remembered something and asked worriedly, “But that Immortal Master told us to burn the body…”
“How can you be so stupid? If we burn it, how are we supposed to take the body to collect the reward?!”
The manager hit the attendant on the head, frustrated by his lack of wit.
At the same time, he signaled for a few men to load the body onto a cart.
After all, the bounty for the Desert Butcher was an astronomical figure—more than he could earn from dozens of trade runs.
“Just by bringing this body back, we’ll earn more than we have all year.”
As the Grand Manager said this, the fat on his face contorted into a hideous grin.
He had completely tossed Bai Qianqian’s warning to burn the body to the back of his mind.
“When we get back, I’ll give every one of you a bonus~”
The rest of the men were instantly energized by the mention of a bonus.
While they were all rejoicing over this upcoming windfall, no one noticed that the fingers of the lifeless corpse twitched slightly.
…
Bai Qianqian propped her head up with her hand, feeling irritable.
She was becoming increasingly impatient to see Lin Xinyi.
The unpleasant events from earlier had been pushed to the back of her mind; after all, she had already given the other party the choice.
‘I should be able to make it in time…’
Bai Qianqian had already thought about how to give her Master a proper surprise at the Great Sect Selection.
At the same time, she worried that without her there to take care of her in the sect, her Master’s life must be incredibly dull.
‘Master, what are you doing right now…?’