Upon hearing this, Dou Niang laughed. She walked to Tian Fangfang’s side and whispered, “It’s alright, Big Brother Tian, I’ll help you.”

“Little Bean,” Tian Fangfang hesitated somewhat, “these guards are so fierce, how can you help?”

Dou Niang blinked. “I have my ways. But, Big Brother Tian, do you have anything valuable on you?”

Since everyone’s Qiankun Bags couldn’t be opened in this place and they couldn’t take out spirit stones, they felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this. Seeing the situation, Meng Ying pulled out a white jade hairpin from her hair and handed it over. “Will this work?”

“Senior Sister Meng,” Mu Cengxiao was slightly stunned, “this is the birthday gift that Master Uncle Yueqin gave you, it’s not like ordinary jewelry…”

“They’re all worldly possessions.” Meng Ying looked at Dou Niang and asked again, “Will this work?”

“More than enough!” Dou Niang carefully took the jade hairpin, then walked to the guards and pointed at Zanxing’s group with a smile. “Big Brothers, they’re my relatives who came specifically to find me. Please be accommodating and let them enter the city.” After saying this, she secretly slipped the precious jade hairpin into the other party’s hand.

The guard on the left imperceptibly squeezed the jade hairpin in his palm, his face still maintaining an unfeeling expression. “Relatives? Do you have proof?”

“Of course.” Dou Niang said ingratiatingly, “And they’re only staying here for one night and will leave early tomorrow morning. My home is at the west end of the city. If there are any real problems, I’ll take responsibility.”

Hearing this, the guard looked over Tian Fangfang and the others again, squinted his eyes, sheathed his blade, and waved his hand. “Go quickly!”

This was permission to pass.

Zanxing and the others successfully passed through the city gate. Tian Fangfang looked at Dou Niang in surprise. “Not bad, Little Bean. You’ve made quite some progress. You’ve even learned how to grease palms.”

Upon hearing this, Dou Niang’s cheeks turned slightly red, her eyes becoming even brighter, and she couldn’t help but say proudly, “Of course! It’s been several years since Big Brother Tian last saw me.”

“Indeed.” Tian Fangfang gestured above her head. “The little one has grown into a big girl, and still so clever.”

Zanxing walked beside Gu Baiying and quietly asked him when no one was paying attention, “Master Uncle, is there anything problematic about this Wufan City?”

Gu Baiying’s gaze swept around the surroundings as he walked. “Haven’t noticed anything wrong yet.”

This place was indeed excessively ordinary.

Mimi walked at the front, leading the way. This was the only city in the desert. There were many street vendors and small shops, but no large restaurants could be seen. The roads were made of red clay and weren’t wide. Fine sand and gravel covered everything, and unlike the prosperity of Li’er Kingdom, though called a city, it was more like a small village in the countryside.

If there was anything special, it was that snake-like totems were painted around these restaurants and vendors—perhaps this was a characteristic of the Serpent Witch Clan.

Zanxing heard Mu Cengxiao ask Tian Fangfang, “Senior Brother, is Dou Niang your fellow villager?”

“Yes!” Dou Niang was somewhat excited. “Back then, Big Brother Tian and I both worked for Master Qian’s household!”

“Worked?” Zanxing asked Tian Fangfang, “You used to work as a laborer?”

Tian Fangfang scratched his head embarrassedly. “Hey, that’s all old history. My family was poor back then, so I had to work for others.”

Tian Fangfang’s original family was also a cultivation household, but unfortunately, he was from a branch family. Being from a branch family meant not getting good resources. Tian’s parents were also ordinary farming peasants. In his childhood, there were many people in the household, and they couldn’t even afford to eat. To avoid starving to death, Tian’s father sent Tian Fangfang to work as a long-term laborer at Master Qian’s household.

“You don’t know—that Master Qian was quite influential then, bullying people everywhere because he had money. The servants in the Qian household lived worse than dogs.” Tian Fangfang still felt angry talking about this. “They wouldn’t let people eat their fill, would deprive people of sleep at the drop of a hat. He was both stingy and vicious. Before me, six long-term laborers sold to his household had been tortured to death. I was the seventh.” He snorted twice. “But this master has a tough life—didn’t die, and lived until now!”

It seemed this Master Qian was indeed not a good person.

“What about Dou Niang…”

“Dou Niang was a maid in the Qian household. She was kidnapped by traffickers as a child, changed hands several times, and was finally sold to the Qian family. Master Qian originally planned to make Dou Niang his son’s concubine when she grew up. That son of his was born an idiot who could only drool when meeting people. Tell me, is there any justice in this world? Any shame?”

Zanxing looked at Dou Niang, who now appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old. Calculating the time, when Dou Niang was a maid in the Qian household, she was just a child. To be able to lay hands on even a child, they were indeed no different from beasts.

Dou Niang smiled. “When we were in the Qian household, Big Brother Tian often took care of me and secretly helped me with many chores.”

It wasn’t just doing chores. Young Master Qian was an idiot, but he had a violent streak in his bones. He often threw things at servants and didn’t know his strength. The maid before Dou Niang had her head smashed in by stones he threw. Every time he threw stones at Dou Niang, if Tian Fangfang happened to see it, he would block in front of Dou Niang.

Of course, when Master Qian saw this, it naturally resulted in another round of beatings and scolding.

“With you being such a little thing, if I hadn’t helped with some work, you would have died of exhaustion in the Qian household long ago.” Tian Fangfang said carelessly. “But Little Bean, you were loyal enough, too. If you hadn’t often stolen steamed buns for me to eat, I would have starved to death long ago.”

Dou Niang served Young Master Qian, and in Young Master Qian’s courtyard was a big yellow dog that could eat ten steamed buns daily. Dou Niang would often secretly tuck two away and go find Tian Fangfang at night. The two poor souls would hide in the Qian family’s woodshed and secretly share their thoughts.

At that time, Tian Fangfang would always wolf down the steamed buns while gnashing his teeth and swearing, “Someday this master will strike it rich, eat meat three times a day, sleep in the softest bed, eat white flour steamed buns every meal, and live the good life! Little Bean, what about you?”

Dou Niang would sigh and look out the window. “I just want to find my family soon.”

But between the two of them—one was a long-term laborer whose family was so poor they had to sell their son, the other was a maid kidnapped thousands of li away to be a future concubine—their futures were so bleak they couldn’t see a ray of light. The future was like the moon outside the window, visible but unreachable.

“But this master was born with good luck,” Tian Fangfang laughed heartily. “In my sixth year working as a laborer in the Qian household, something happened to the Qian family. That surname Qian relied on his wealth to ruin good women outside, but who knew he’d kick an iron plate? That woman’s husband was a cultivator with very high cultivation. He severed Qian Youde’s head with one sword and threw his son into the river.”

After the Qian father and son died, the Qian household’s servants scattered. The family wealth was divided up by the servants, and Tian Fangfang also got a share. He left all the gold and silver he received to his parents and decided to leave that place.

That cultivator’s appearance gave him limitless fantasies. In this world, having money couldn’t accomplish much—only by becoming strong could one avoid being bullied by others. No matter how arrogant Qian Youde was, before a cultivator, wasn’t he just like a fish on a chopping board? He was only fourteen then, the future was still long, and he was unwilling to remain in that place as an ordinary farmer whose future could be seen at a glance. He wanted to see the broader world.