Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

As he spoke, Qin Xiucai slowly raised his head, looked at Mu Ling'er, and let out a soft laugh.

"Isn't it ridiculous? How can you steal the jewelry of a wealthy family?"

An eight-year-old girl trading stolen goods with people—who wouldn't see that as walking money?

The pawnshop accepted the stolen jewelry, and she was arrested by the authorities shortly afterward.

When his younger sister was arrested, the older brother couldn't sit idly by. Despite being seriously ill, he fought with the officials, and in the end, both siblings ended up in jail...

They were quite lucky; the constable who arrested them was kind-hearted. Seeing their plight, he didn't kill them on the spot, but went through the official procedures, thus avoiding punishment in the government office. The brother and sister went to prison together.

But prison is no easy place to stay; even a strong, grown man would be badly injured if he went in, let alone an eight-year-old girl.

To be honest, getting out of prison and coming to this "village of sins" is actually a good thing for the child. With Master Wan protecting him, he won't be bullied...

Looking at Qin Xiucai, who was lost in his memories, Mu Ling'er suddenly asked a question.

"Who ultimately cured her brother's illness?"

Qin Xiucai seemed startled, then shook his head violently.

After staring at Qin Xiucai for a couple of seconds, Mu Ling'er turned her head away, no longer asking questions, and looked towards the village.

It was sunset, and countless able-bodied men, each carrying a bowl, walked in twos and threes toward the center of the village.

Their eyes were lifeless, their skin was either dark or sallow, and their steps were weak and feeble. Hundreds and thousands of them swayed and staggered to the middle of the village, forming several long, noisy queues.

"At this time every day, Master Zhuang, Master Wan, and several of their students would distribute meals in the school in the middle of the village. These people were there to collect their food..."

Looking at the long queues, a hint of disgust flashed in Mu Ling'er's eyes.

"They're all able-bodied people, what can't they do? All they can do is leech off Zhuang Sheng? After three years of education, this is all they've become? What a bunch of parasites!"

Hearing Mu Ling'er's mockery, Qin Xiucai lowered his head once again, his expression gloomy.

Just then, an angry voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Mu Ling'er's words.

"No, they are not parasites! Grandpa Wang, Brother Lin, Brother Hu... they are all good people."

Whenever someone tries to bully me, they help stop them and even give me food...

Without them, my brother and I would have died long ago.

Many people in the village also want to support themselves, but...

The sound from beside her made Mu Ling'er lower her head sharply. The girl who had just run away was now standing timidly behind Qin Xiucai, looking at her fearfully.

"Just what?"

Standing behind Qin Xiucai and tugging at his clothes, Su Xiaoyu seemed to have gained some courage. She looked up and met Mu Ling'er's gaze, who was completely wrapped in a robe.

"People in the city hate us. If we go into the city, we will be scolded and beaten. They won't let us work. And some bad people will make us work but won't pay us."

If we tried to reason with them, they would beat us. We couldn't fight back when we were being scolded and beaten, because if we did, we would be arrested and beaten in the county government. Many people have been beaten to death.

This happens every time, and if it happens too often, nobody will go to the city to work anymore…

Su Xiaoyu's voice grew softer and softer, almost trembling with tears, which instantly extinguished Mu Ling'er's anger.

She looked at the girl with the word "sin" on her face, and her voice softened slightly.

"If the city isn't suitable, what about the village? Even just farming and hunting would be much better than what we're like now, wouldn't it?"

Su Xiaoyu tentatively took a step forward and stood to Qin Xiucai's right, clenching her small fists as she retorted, "But Master Zhuang said that things are fine as they are now. He told us not to think too much, and that he would find a way to ensure everyone can survive."

Seeing that the girl was still scared, Mu Ling'er simply lowered her body and ruffled her messy short hair.

"I don't mean to blame you, but your village is in a state of disarray now, which will lead to serious problems. One-sided help is definitely not advisable."

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Your Master Zhuang should be teaching you how to survive, not just providing for you like this."

The gentle tone calmed Su Xiaoyu down considerably, but her confused expression clearly showed that she hadn't understood Mu Ling'er's words at all.

Instead, Qin Xiucai suddenly spoke up, interrupting Mu Ling'er's instruction to Su Xiaoyu.

"These benefactors could not have survived on their own."

"Um?"

Seeing Mu Ling'er's confusion, Qin Xiucai sighed, his voice becoming much more serious.

"Sir, along your journey, apart from the village entrance, have you seen any large-scale farmlands within the village?"

The village has no fields?

Mu Ling'er was stunned for a moment, then looked around. The huge village was full of houses, and the scattered fields were no bigger than a small courtyard, where some chili peppers and garlic were planted.

If you look closely, you'll see that this village is really, really small compared to the number of people living there.

If rice were to be grown, let alone supply the village, the annual harvest would only be enough for one person to eat for a few days.

Qin Xiucai became serious for once, "As for hunting, do you think those soldiers outside the village would allow a group of 'sinners' to take up weapons?"

The mountains and forests are vast, and no one will know where we die. When we "sinners" die, we are just one or two numbers, and no one cares.

But if we, the "sinners," were to escape, those soldiers would face accountability from the higher-ups.

If you were one of those soldiers, and you saw us "sinners" heading into the mountains, what would you choose to do?

Should we casually kill a few bugs, or risk ruin and death to gamble on whether those bugs will escape?

Seeing Mu Ling'er speechless, Qin Xiucai returned to his usual lazy demeanor and chuckled.

"What use is it to learn how to fish if there are no fish in this wide river?"

From the very beginning, the ending was already predetermined. An insect will always be an insect; the idea of ​​transforming into a butterfly has never been relevant to us...

Amidst gentle laughter, Qin Xiucai met Mu Ling'er's gaze. He was smiling, but his eyes were filled with numbness.

"My lord, this is a completely open conspiracy. Wenchang Palace has never coerced these soldiers, nor has it coerced the people in the city."

Three years ago, this village wasn't called "Sin Village"; it was just an ordinary, nameless village.

The reason things have turned out this way is because, in the beginning, the villagers caused trouble in the city, which made everyone in the city think that we "sinners" were very dangerous.

After all, we are a group of people with the word "crime" on our heads. No one would think we are good people, right?

If you were a city dweller with children at home, wouldn't you think we were in danger?