CHAPTER 652: CHAPTER 109: THE ABANDONED TRANSMISSION ARRAY

"Haqiu," the country bumpkin felt dizzy, his mind still spinning with the image of a beautiful woman, when he suddenly felt an itch in his nose and sneezed hard.

Cheng Ying, quick and alert, ducked behind Liao Yuejinghua.

"You wretched demon man," Yue Jinghua hastily dodged, bumping into him in a full embrace.

Cheng Ying felt a soft body in his arms and seeing Liao Yuejinghua’s angry expression, his heart subtly fluctuated.

"What are you all tying me up for? That lad looking like a lady, what are you doing hugging a young lady? Are you acting like a hooligan or what? Come over here and untie me," the country bumpkin was unaware he had fallen into Cheng Ying’s trap, seeing Yue Jinghua and Cheng Ying being intimate and thinking Yue Jinghua was bullying someone.

"You’re the lady, your whole family are ladies," Yue Jinghua snapped back, instantly getting furious and kicking Cheng Ying away.

Yet Cheng Ying was all smiles, not showing anger.

This demon man is really strange, Yue Jinghua thought it’s best to stay away from him on this journey.

Looking again at the country bumpkin who had just woken up, he noticed his body was covered in bruises and thought it all Yue Jinghua’s doing, he burst out swearing, everything vulgar came spilling out.

Yue Jinghua blocked her ears and walked up to the young man.

The country bumpkin’s eyes bulged, like a bullfrog: "You lady-like lad, if you dare, don’t pick on young ladies, come at me, I’m sturdy, not afraid of getting hit."

"Putting on a brave front, aren’t you? Not coming clean, huh?" Yue Jinghua’s glossy eyes circled around the country bumpkin, then like magic, she whipped out a needle from her body.

"What are you doing, being all lady-like, even using women’s embroidery needles," the country bumpkin had just been beaten up but now acted as if nothing had happened, surprising Yue Jinghua.

Seeing the tattoo needle in Yue Jinghua’s hand, Cheng Ying’s beautiful eyes flickered.

Yue Jinghua aimed at the country bumpkin’s fingers and gently pricked with the tattoo needle.

"Mother," the country bumpkin who would not faint even after a severe beating, let out a horrific scream.

Cheng Ying covered her mouth in shock, watching Yue Jinghua gently lift the needle, and with a wicked smile said, "How’s the taste of the embroidery needle? Let me honestly tell you, I have hundreds of ways to torment people, your body may be tough as steel, punches and kicks don’t hurt you, but what about your hair, your nails, are they impervious to water and fire too? And those old and young outside, you can endure, but can they?"

"That, aren’t those bandits and robbers, aren’t they the Imperial Army? Aren’t they afraid of execution?" the country bumpkin was scared witless, not daring to shout anymore.

"Kid, are you stupid? The so-called Imperial Army are just bandits and thugs protected by the Imperial Laws," Yue Jinghua blew on the needle in her hand, a mischievous glint in her eyes that frightened the country bumpkin so much he dared not even breathe heavily.

"Tsk tsk, stop picking on this young brother," Cheng Ying chuckled with pursed lips, "Young brother, we are just passing by, I’ll check on your injuries later, guarantee you’ll be spry by morning. We’re in a hurry, can you tell us what’s the deal with the village’s Transmission Array?"

Under the coercion of Liao Yuejinghua and the beauty scheme of Cheng Ying, the country bumpkin obediently spilled out everything that happened in Dawo Village these past few months, without hiding a thing.

The village lad’s name is Mu Hu, he is not the biological grandson of the mayor of Dawo Village. Both his parents were early taken by calamity in the quarries, tragically crushed to death by mountain dragons among the stones.

Since childhood, he was raised by the elderly village chief. He possesses astonishing strength, capable of drawing a five-hundred-pound crossbow, and is a well-known hunter throughout the region.

After Dawo Village ran out of stone, it became desolate, and all the young people left to seek livelihoods in the nearby counties.

Seeing the village filled with the elderly, weak, and orphaned, and knowing that evil beasts like jackals and wild dogs often roamed the mountains, he worried about the care of these vulnerable villagers, so he chose to stay behind.

"Though our village is poor, everyone here has nimble hands and feet. With the sorghum, cassava, and beans at the village entrance, plus my own hunting for wild bears and mushrooms in the mountains, we manage to get by each year," said Mu Hu earnestly. After Cheng Ying unbound him, he rubbed the wounds on his arms and spoke with a grin.

"What about the village’s Transmission Array? According to the rules of the Ministry of Industry, villages with a Transmission Array are legally entitled by the Imperial Laws to collect a toll of 20% of all passing fees. Additionally, the Empire annually provides these villages with a sum of Dark Pills to maintain the normal operation of their Transmission Arrays," Cheng Ying curiously remarked, as she was well-versed in the Imperial Laws.

Across the entire Dragon War Empire, villages like Dawo Village are not uncommon; they are derelict but not ruined, largely because they have basic toll fees sustaining them.

At this point, Mu Hu became guarded, closing his mouth and awkwardly said, "My grandfather told me not to talk about it."

"Not going to talk, huh?" Yue Jinghua revealed a smile showing her white teeth.

"That damn brat," Mu Hu startled, being born in such a small village, he had never witnessed tactics as harsh as Yue Jinghua’s, "That money is all being saved to build graves. Many died in the quarries in the early years. My grandfather said we need to exhume those people and properly re-bury them, so that in their next lives, they could be reincarnated into good families. My parents are still buried under the boulders, and that money can’t be touched."

"..." Yue Jinghua and Cheng Ying fell into a silence.

The villagers of Dawo Village would rather starve and stay poor than use the money set aside for the graves of the deceased.

Yue Jinghua originally wanted to harshly criticize them for their stubbornness, but when the words reached her lips, she could not bring herself to utter them.

In the village, pitch blackness enveloped, not even an oil lamp could be lit in this Ancient Village; outside was a rocky beach piled with huge stones, beneath which lay buried numerous villagers of Quarry Village.

Feeling suddenly heavy-hearted, Yue Jinghua pondered for a moment, put away her tattoo needle, and said, "Mu Hu, you haven’t gotten to the point - what’s the deal with the village’s Transmission Array? I’ve inspected the surroundings; there are no signs of any large Dark Beasts, and it’s unlikely the villagers would damage the Array. Why would the Transmission Array cease to function?"

Every Transmission Array is equipped with a specific protecting Array that automatically activates at night.

Unless there is a special factor involved, Transmission Arrays would not inexplicably be damaged.

"Trouble has arisen next to the Transmission Array with Mountain Demons; every time the village chief replaces it with a Dark Pill, by the next day, the Dark Pill disappears," Mu Hu spoke, nudging his mouth toward the direction of the Transmission Array on that side of the village.

At the far end of the village, Long Jiuzun stood holding a Luminous Pearl, inspecting the village’s Transmission Array.

It was a well-preserved Transmission Array, but the Elixir groove inside was empty.

"Honored sirs, this is the situation: a Fifth-level Dark Pill placed within the Transmission Array is depleted overnight," said the old village chief with a trembling voice.