In the global desert, I have a spring of spiritual water.

The next day.

Deep in the desert.

The Chiyan Hall's headquarters began to bustle with activity from the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), with the entire hall preparing for the relocation.

The hall master, Hong Zhu'er, had a habit of cultivating in the morning, without fail for two hours every day. By the time she finished cultivating, it was already 1:15 AM.

She convened a meeting in the council chamber.

Two deputy hall masters and several deacons stood on the left and right sides respectively.

"Have you sent someone to Taipingzhuang to gather information?"

Red Spider asked.

"They've been dispatched. Wang Qi and the others set off at dawn, so they should be back soon."

The dark-faced man sitting to Hong Zhu'er's left stood up and answered, "My name is Feng Yu. I am one of the two deputy hall masters of the Crimson Flame Hall, in charge of internal affairs."

"Old Feng, if you ask me, you've made a mistake in sending people. According to the information we have, there were at least two or three thousand sand demons that arrived at Taipingzhuang last night, including several second-tier sand demons. With the strength of the Taipingzhuang demon-suppressing team, they simply cannot resist them."

Another deputy hall master, Wu Qian, took over the conversation. He was responsible for carrying out missions outside the area and was quite familiar with the strength of the surrounding villages and towns.

"Yes, Taipingzhuang definitely can't hold out. It's probably already been taken over by the sand demons. It's a pity for the more than 10,000 people in the village. They've all become food for the sand demons."

A deacon echoed this sentiment.

"It's not so terrible that the common people are being devoured; what's terrible is that if we feed them a third-tier sand demon, the harm would be immense!"

Another deacon said with some concern.

For the sand demon, humans are nourishment; the more humans it eats, the faster it grows.

Hong Zhu'er frowned. What the steward was worried about was also what she was worried about. With her current cultivation level, a second-tier sand demon was hardly a threat to her, but she couldn't deal with a third-tier sand demon. If Taiping Manor really fed a third-tier sand demon, it would be a real problem if they encountered it during the migration of Chiyan Hall.

In the desolate era, human life was cheap, and it was common for villages to be destroyed by sand demons. Red Spider was not a saint and would not care about the people who had nothing to do with her. She only cared about whether she and the Crimson Flame Hall could survive.

"Master Feng, go and ask those dozen or so people from Taiping Village if they'd like to join our Crimson Flame Hall. If they do, we can have a few more servants on the migration route. If they don't, let them fend for themselves."

Red Spider said to Feng Yu again.

"good!"

Feng Yu nodded in agreement.

Just then, a tall man, looking travel-worn, walked into the council hall. He knelt on one knee and bowed to Hong Zhu'er, saying, "Reporting to the Hall Master, Taiping Manor has withstood last night's sand demon attack."

This man, named Wang Qi, was the one Feng Yu had sent out to gather information.

As soon as he spoke, the council chamber erupted in commotion.

"Taipingzhuang held out? How is that possible!"

"Wang Qi, are you mistaken?!"

"Those are two or three thousand sand demons! How did they manage to hold them off?"

Everyone looked incredulous, since even Hong Zhu'er believed that Taiping Village couldn't withstand the demon horde from last night.

"Are you sure Taipingzhuang hasn't been taken over by sand monsters?"

Red Spider asked in astonishment.

"Sure!"

Wang Qi nodded and added, "I specifically went to check outside Taiping Village and found no trace of a battle. The walls of Taiping Village are also intact. It seems that the demon horde did not attack Taiping Village last night."

"That's right!"

"Otherwise, how could Taipingzhuang possibly have withstood it!"

Wu Qian's face showed a look of sudden realization.

"The Sand Demon actually bypassed Taiping Village! That's incredibly lucky!"

"Could someone have set up a hallucinogenic array, preventing the sand demon from discovering the existence of Taiping Village?"

"That's possible, but I haven't heard of any similar formations in Taiping Village!"

The crowd began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Hong Zhu'er waved her hand, signaling everyone to be quiet: "Whether Taiping Village was lucky or had a bewitching formation, the fact that it wasn't occupied by the Sand Demon is good news for us."

"Master Wu, proceed with the water exchange according to the original plan."

Noon.

Hu Changhe led his men to deliver 1000 jars of water to the designated location.

The 1000 jars of water filled two camel carts. He had the camels tied to a dead tree nearby, and then looked around. The place was a depression that resembled a valley, with mounds tens of meters high to the north and south, and a bend in the road to the east, from which one could not see very far.

These Red Feather Water Bandits are really cautious!

After looking for a long time without finding a single person, Hu Changhe gently shook his head.

There was no other way; they were the passive party in this kind of deal, since they had hostages in the other party's hands, and they couldn't just abandon those 17 brothers.

Just as Hu Changhe was about to leave with his men, the faint sound of camel bells came from the bend in the road to the east. A moment later, sand and dust were blown over by the wind.

Are the water bandits here to fetch water?

Hu Changhe was somewhat surprised. He had thought that the other party would wait until they left before showing up, since they were water bandits and did not want to be exposed to the light of day.

"Boss, are we still going?"

Li Heng, standing next to Hu Changhe, asked in a low voice. He had dealt with the Red Feather Water Bandits before, and Hu Changhe had brought him along to deliver water this time.

"Let's wait and see."

Hu Changhe gestured for the rest of the demon-suppressing team members to form a line. He had brought a total of fifty people with him this time to deliver water, all of whom were elite members of the demon-suppressing team.

After all, it's 1000 jars of water; we can't let anything happen on the way to deliver them.

"You can recognize those river pirates, right?"

Hu Changhe then asked Li Heng.

"They all had their faces covered with red scarves, making them difficult to recognize. However, two of them had quite distinctive physical features, so if we encountered them again, we would likely recognize them."

As Li Heng was speaking, a dozen or so people riding Crimson Flame Horses emerged from the bend, followed by a dozen or so camel carts. Each cart had two flags on it, one reading "Daxing Village" and the other "Shanghe County".

"They're from Daxingzhuang?"

Hu Changhe looked suspicious, never expecting to encounter people from Daxingzhuang here.

The people from Daxing Village had obviously spotted Hu Changhe and his group as well. Guo Longyuan, riding his Crimson Flame Horse, signaled for the group to stop. It was best to keep their distance from a group of people they had suddenly encountered in the desert.

However, he quickly lowered his guard because he recognized Hu Changhe.

"They're from Taipingzhuang. Keep going."

Guo Longyuan gave an order, then spurred his Crimson Flame Horse and charged quickly to Hu Changhe's side: "Director Hu, are you preparing to relocate Taiping Village?"

As he asked the question, Guo Longyuan's gaze unconsciously swept towards the camel cart containing 1000 jars of water.

"Our Taipingzhuang is perfectly fine, why would we have to move?"

Hu Changhe glanced at the group from Daxing Village and asked, "Where are you from Daxing Village making such a fuss, going?"

"Go to your Taiping Village and pay your respects to Master Chen!"

Guo Longyuan said with a smile, "Master Chen is the young master of the Chen family. Now that he has become our neighbor, Daxing Manor, it is only right that we pay him a visit."

"To pay our respects to our master?"

Hu Changhe looked suspicious. He naturally didn't believe Guo Longyuan's statement. Everyone knew that Chen Chuan was the abandoned son of the Chen family and had been exiled to Taipingzhuang.

Neither Ma Baoquan, the owner of Daxingzhuang, nor Guo Longyuan, the director of the Demon Suppression Division, would take the initiative to visit Chen Chuan.

So if they come to our door on their own initiative, it's most likely a case of a weasel paying respects to a chicken—they have no good intentions!