From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 177 Tracking
Time passes day by day.

Liu Kan did not see the demonic cultivator group that came to take the girl away, and the number of girls had already reached more than fifty.

It would be difficult for him to look after so many people by himself, because he had to ensure that these girls lived well and that they had food and water.

Left with no other option, he had to order the human traffickers to stop their operations and stop sending girls to them.

"It's been almost half a month, why aren't they here yet?"

Liu Kan was anxious; he couldn't contact those people, and they were the ones contacting him.

As a rogue cultivator, he shouldn't have been able to reach the seventh level of Qi Refining. It was those people who approached him and gave him elixirs and spirit stones, which allowed him to break through bottlenecks and advance to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

The price was that he had to obey those people's orders.

He had taken the poison pills given to him by those people, and he had to take the antidote every now and then to alleviate the symptoms, otherwise the poison would take effect.

He didn't know if he would be poisoned to death, but he suffered unbearable pain every time he was about to be poisoned.

"Cough cough~~"

The time for the poison to take effect was approaching, and he felt a dull pain in his chest.

Just as he was growing increasingly impatient, those people finally arrived.

The only person who arrived first was Granny Jin, who was at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"Grandma Jin, you've finally arrived."

Liu Kan bowed respectfully.

The creature that flew to him was an old woman with a head of golden hair, dry skin, and a face full of wrinkles.

"Gold Granny" was the one who took Xu Zhongxi away from Tonggu County back then, along with Silver Granny.

"How many people are there?"

"There were fifty-five people in total, which was too much for me to manage alone, so I ordered my men to stop dealing with the human traffickers."

Liu Kan responded, then coughed a few times, clutching his chest and looking pained.

"Humph."

Granny Jin snorted coldly; she knew Liu Kan was faking it. She flicked her finger, and a pill flew towards Liu Kan.

Liu Kan reached out and took the pill, swallowing it without hesitation.

"Were we being watched?"

"No, no, don't worry, Granny Jin. I check around frequently, and there's no sign of anyone."

"I'll take a look."

Jin Po rose up on her own energy and flew low in the sky, carefully surveying her surroundings.

They became increasingly cautious, fearing being discovered by the authorities.

While she was investigating, Xu Xiaohou concealed his presence and hid in a tree hollow: "Just her? There should be more than one."

Xu Xiaohou thought to himself.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Seeing that no one was around, Granny Jin relaxed a little.

"The convoy is waiting. You stay here and watch over them. I'll take a few over first."

She left Liu Kan to watch over the girls while she used her spiritual energy to lift six girls into the air.

A few miles away on the road, a caravan of carriages was waiting in the night.

Granny Jin arrived and put the girls down.

Several people were waiting there. They led the girls into the carriage and tied their hands and feet with ropes.

"Liushui, Liuzhi, come with me to bring people."

Granny Jin called two companions and went to fetch the people.

Both of these companions were demonic cultivators trained by the Xue family, and both were at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Those who work for the Xue family outside are either at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining, and their strength is considerable.

They had been immersed in poisonous pools since childhood, practicing the "Yuan Sha Gong," and their bodies were imbued with poisonous spiritual energy. They had also taken "Soul-Stealing Pills," and were brainwashed by the Xue family, making them absolutely obedient to the Xue family and willing to risk their lives for them without hesitation.

With Granny Jin included, the three cultivators at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining could transport more than a dozen girls in one trip.

After two trips, only about twenty girls remained in the cave.

"You come with us and transport all the remaining girls there."

Granny Jin gave Liu Kan instructions.

"Yes, Granny Jin." Liu Kan responded, bringing the total number of cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining to four.

"Wait, what's wrong with this girl?"

Granny Jin noticed a girl among the girls who was very thin and noticeably taller than the others by half a head.

Her requirement was a girl around ten years old, but this girl didn't look like she was ten.

"How old are you?"

She looked at the girl.

The girl's name was Miao Yingying. She was actually sixteen years old and had been forcibly abducted. Due to long-term malnutrition, she was thin and small, looking only thirteen or fourteen, not at all like a sixteen-year-old girl.

Miao Yingying dared not answer Granny Jin's question; she did not want to die.

“Take it away first!”

Granny Jin didn't want to waste any more time here, so she took all the girls away.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

All fifty-five girls boarded the carriages of the caravan.

"This is a reward for you. You can continue in another place. You can't arrest anyone more in Tonggu County and Puye County."

Granny Jin casually tossed a bag of spirit stones to Liu Kan.

Liu Kan took the spirit stone bag, grabbed it with his five fingers, and estimated that there were at least a dozen or twenty spirit stones inside.

Fifty-odd ordinary people can exchange for twenty spirit stones; that's a huge profit.

"Understood, Grandma Jin."

Liu Kan knew that the fate of those girls was no longer his concern, and he had no right to know where they went, so he wisely turned and flew away.

As Granny Jin watched Liu Kan's departing figure, she wondered when she could "deal with" him.

When they are on missions, to maintain secrecy, they will immediately kill anyone who could be found out about their whereabouts.

Even if Liu Kan wasn't discovered, his repeated assistance in operations likely made him a target, and he would need to be "cleaned up."

Not to mention Liu Kan, even the subordinates trained by the Xue family, such as Granny Jin, would immediately commit suicide if they were at risk of being captured, so as not to give their opponents a chance to search their souls.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Xu Xiaohou hid in the shadows and watched them leave with so many girls.

When Liu Kan and Granny Jin parted ways, he pondered for a moment and decided to follow Granny Jin and abandon Liu Kan.

At this time, Xu Xiaoniu, Xu Zhongyao and others did not know Xu Xiaohou's whereabouts.

He acted alone and was unable to relay the message back.

"We must remain hidden; we cannot expose ourselves now."

Xu Xiaohou knew that if he were to expose himself now, he would not only face a fierce battle with these demonic cultivators, but he would also likely never find out Xiaoxi's whereabouts.

He was there during that battle and witnessed Silver Granny commit suicide without hesitation.

"We must know where their territory is and what forces they belong to!"

This is Xu Xiaohou's goal.

Under the cover of night, the convoy continued its journey.

Xu Xiaohou used his lightness technique, combined with the elusive steps of martial arts, to quietly follow the convoy.

However, not long after the convoy had gone, someone spotted Xu Xiaohou.

Jin Po and her group were always cautious, so how could they not be wary of being followed?
"brush--!"

Xu Xiaohou was chasing the convoy from afar when he realized that a Qi Refining Level 8 cultivator had appeared behind him.

The female cultivator's sharp claws reached for Xu Xiaohou's head, the tips of which flashed with dark light.

"Damn it! Oh no!"

Xu Xiaohou was ambushed and only then realized he had been discovered, which activated a high-grade golden light talisman he always carried with him.

The golden light of the talisman enveloped him.

"bass!"

The venomous claws slashed across, sending sparks flying across the golden protective shield.

The cultivators trained by the Xue family only possess the Yuan Sha Technique, which has weak destructive power and is difficult to break through the defense of the Golden Light Technique in the short term.

(End of this chapter)