Chapter 122: Injustice Exists Everywhere

The leader of that group was not without some discernment. Seeing Tang Wei leap down from such a tall tree and land effortlessly without even shifting her feet, he realized that this woman was definitely someone they could not afford to provoke. However, unwilling to let his prey slip away so easily, he cupped his hands in a somewhat resentful manner and said, "I know not what relationship you have with Sang Family Village, good lady, but why must you insist on saving them? If you would do me the honor, I, Wei, would like to invite you to Qingyun Town. My father is the mayor of Qingyun Town, and if you have any needs, I will surely do my utmost to assist you." This man surnamed Wei spoke thusly to first reveal his status, implying that Tang Wei should not set herself against him, and second, to see if there was an opportunity to recruit her.

Tang Wei knew that if she wanted to gather information, going with this man named Wei would indeed be the better choice. However, she could not stomach such bullying, nor could she stand by and watch two young women be ruined. Looking at the two young girls opposite her, who were gazing at her with pleading eyes, Tang Wei softened and said, "I have no connection to Sang Family Village, but I cannot stand to see so many of you ganging up on three people. I care not what grudges you hold, but since I have crossed paths with this, I am intervening. You had best release them at once! Do not try any tricks; you lot cannot withstand a single strike from me, so you would be wise to be sensible."

Tang Wei had no intention of threatening them; she was merely stating facts. Yet, to the ears of the man surnamed Wei, it sounded quite different. He glared at Tang Wei fiercely, waved his hand to signal his men to release them, and left a parting threat: "Good lady, I give you face today, but next time, things will not be so simple." A wise man does not fight when the odds are against him; he decided to leave for now. He was determined that upon returning home today, he would force his father to lend him one of the family’s retainers, ensuring that next time he would not suffer such a humiliating defeat.

The man surnamed Wei and his followers quickly vanished from sight, leaving the two young girls to throw themselves upon the three men, crying out, "Brother! Father! Are you alright?"

Tang Wei sighed, took out three recovery pills, and walked over, saying to the two young girls, "Little girls, step aside for a moment and let me take a look."

The two girls had witnessed her save them, so they had no guard against her and quickly made space. Tang Wei first checked the older man, lifting his eyelids to look. Fortunately, he was still savable. She motioned for the two girls to help him sit up, then placed a pill into his mouth before applying a few needles to critical acupuncture points on his head. The middle-aged man soon regained consciousness, and his first words were a frantic shout: "Ye, you must leave quickly!"

The girl named Ye cried, "Father, do not worry. We are saved; this sister saved us."

Hearing Ye's words, the middle-aged man tried to rise to thank Tang Wei for her life-saving grace, but due to his severe injuries, he tugged at his wounds and collapsed back with a cry of pain.

Tang Wei quickly pressed him down, saying, "Do not rise; rest for a moment! Ye, you two come over and help them up; let's treat them first!"

The two girls obediently came over to help. Tang Wei used the same method to revive the other two. After the group hugged and wept for a while, they began to heap thanks upon Tang Wei, which made her feel quite uncomfortable. She quickly took a few rabbits she had killed along the way from her storage space and tossed them aside, interrupting their long-winded expressions of gratitude.

Tang Wei deliberately ignored their looks of astonishment and gasps of surprise, asking, "You know how to cook, right?" She did not want to save them only to have to serve them, and these two girls clearly looked like people accustomed to chores. She could use this opportunity to rightfully slack off and, incidentally, see how the people here prepared food.

Seeing their savior produce food out of thin air, Ye did not gasp like the others. Instead, she suppressed her inner turmoil and carefully took the frozen rabbits, walking aside to begin cleaning the entrails and fur, though her slightly trembling hands betrayed her inner excitement.

Although Ye grew up in this poor, backward mountain village, she had been to town with her father and heard travelers say that on other planets, there were immortals who could fly in the sky, who could kill invisibly with a wave of their hands, and who could conjure all sorts of things out of thin air. As a child, Ye had often dreamt of such things—dreaming that she, too, possessed such great power to save everyone in Sang Family Village, so that no one would dare bully them again, and from then on, she and her father could live a peaceful and happy life. But that was just a dream; as Ye grew older, she had never seen these so-called immortals and increasingly believed they were merely legends. She never expected to witness a miracle of a legendary immortal with her own eyes today; her calm heart began to stir with restlessness.

While keeping an eye on Ye’s every move, Tang Wei inquired about the situation here. It turned out that this place was called the Green Ivy Planet. The people living here were all "Dan" people without cultivation. Their situation was somewhat similar to the feudal society of ancient China, but their rulers were not called Emperors; they were called Kings.

Their Kings were not hereditary; here, whoever had the strongest fist and the greatest influence had the chance to claim the throne. There were currently four or five such Kings on the Green Ivy Planet. Their Sang Family Village was under the territory of a man called the Tang King. The Tang King did not actually have the surname Tang, but rather Gu. This Tang King, surnamed Gu, was a foolish and incompetent man, and under his rule, the lives of the commoners were miserable.

The three men did not know much else, only that there were other planets where immortals who could fly in the sky resided.

After that, no matter how much Tang Wei questioned them, she could not find any other useful information. However, Tang Wei was the type to adapt to her surroundings; if she didn't know, then so be it. She wasn't in a hurry to do anything anyway; she had only come out this time to clear her mind and avoid facing things that embarrassed her.

Of course, Tang Wei knew that if a certain someone truly had the heart, he would naturally find her.

After this conversation, the three men realized that Tang Wei did not have three heads and six arms, and their attitude toward her changed from initial trepidation to calm. Although their tone toward her was no longer overly cautious, it remained respectful and polite; at the very least, they could now treat her with a normal heart.

By the time Ye brought the food over, everyone had become quite familiar. Tang Wei learned that the five of them were all from Sang Family Village. The middle-aged man was the head of their household, Sang Xiong. The two young men were his son, Sang Zhong, and his nephew, Sang Liang. Ye was Sang Xiong’s daughter, Sang Ye, and the other girl was Sang Ying, Sang Liang’s younger sister. Sang Liang and Sang Ying had lost their parents at a young age and were raised by Sang Xiong; one could say that without him, they would not be who they were today.

The villagers of Sang Family Village had lived in these mountains for generations, relying on hunting to survive, selling their catch in town to exchange for daily necessities and grain. In his youth, Sang Xiong was a renowned hunter in Sang Family Village, leading the village’s able-bodied men to toil in the forests day after day.

Although life was bitter, it was enough to maintain the daily needs of the whole village. That was until over a decade ago, when someone found a medicinal herb in the great mountains that could be used for alchemy. It was said that this herb was incredibly precious; a single tiny piece could sell for two or three taels of silver.

Do not look down on these three taels of silver. Sometimes the hunting team of Sang Family Village would spend ten days in the mountains only to gain three taels of silver, and that was only if they were very lucky. One must know that the current price of meat was only a dozen or so copper coins per catty; three taels of silver could be exchanged for three thousand copper coins. Thus, this tiny herb became a gold nugget in everyone’s eyes. Ever since news of this herb spread, the mountains became filled with countless people hoping to strike it rich.

At that time, more and more people entered the mountains, and competition among peers became fierce. Some would stay in the mountains for months, relying entirely on game for food. Of course, the people of Sang Family Village had initially profited well, but the herbs were not spread across the entire mountain, and over time, they would eventually be exhausted.

Just like that, the herbs grew scarcer, and game became harder to find. By the last two years, the herbs were almost impossible to find. With no other source of livelihood, the people of Sang Family Village had to return to their old trade of hunting. However, after so many years of destruction, it was difficult to find game near the village anymore.

To survive, the villagers had to venture deep into the mountains. Because the distance was so great, the hunting team would sometimes stay in the mountains for months. One must know that the danger in the deep mountains was extremely high, and they often encountered all sorts of perils. Gradually, the number of men in the hunting team dwindled, and the income from game could no longer keep up with the daily needs of the villagers. The elderly, the weak, the women, and the children in the village could no longer even satisfy their hunger.

This phenomenon was not unique to Sang Family Village; villages large and small around the mountains faced the same problem. Those who were starving did not want to sit and wait for death, so they began to go out in search of survival. Gradually, there were more and more people wandering outside. This provided a black-hearted mayor with an opportunity for ill-gotten gains. He rounded up these displaced people, bought them at a cheap price, and then sold the men at a high price to mines or slave markets. As for the women, after having them trained, he sold them at high prices to brothels or auctioned them off to wealthy families as sex slaves.

Mayor Wei tasted the sweetness and became addicted. Not wanting to wait slowly for people to be delivered to his doorstep, he simply imposed harsher taxes in secret and suppressed the poor, making the lives of the surrounding populace even more miserable. Now, he even arranged for people to patrol the mountains, claiming it was to protect the safety of the citizens, when in reality, it was to forbid them from hunting.

Sang Xiong and his group were precisely those who could no longer survive at home, so they decided to try their luck in the mountains. They had not even been out for a day when they encountered the patrols. As soon as they met, the patrols began to attack, nearly beating them to death. Had Tang Wei not happened to pass by and save them, who knows what fate would have awaited them.