I Don t Want to Get Hurt, So I ll Max Out My Defense

Chapter 968: Chapter 969: The Strong Little Girl
 

“Young Master Li, the Heavenly God Sect is stationed ten miles outside the city at Bodhi Temple, they are vassals of the Buddhist Sect; the monks at Bodhi Temple have already rebelled and pledged allegiance to the Central Origin Realm,”

an old man at the city gate informed him, surprised to learn the identity of Li Xiaobai.

“There are rumors that they are capturing children for experiments, testing new laws, and attempting to tread a different path,”

“Master Xuan Ku intended to stop them, but was ultimately suppressed,”

another cultivator remarked, having returned from outside the city, where he had personally witnessed monks from a village being abducted.

It is understood that this new law was proposed by Master Tianxuan of the Buddhist Sect, but the Buddhist Sect monks treasured their reputation and did not want to get involved themselves, thus they let the Heavenly God Sect implement it.

This is a plan of extinction, destined to destroy the future of the Western Desert.

“If they truly succeed, the Western Desert will have no future, and the moment they reveal their true colors, the entire Mainland will turn into a slaughterhouse,”

“These traitors really deserve to be sent to the execution ground, but unfortunately, in today’s world, there are no longer any judges who can do this.”

The old man sighed deeply, as they too were powerless in the face of this predicament, the gap in cultivation levels was too great to contend with.

“Perhaps the bridge will straighten itself when the boat gets there,”

“Thank you both for sharing this.”

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Li Xiaobai nodded, activating the golden chariot beneath his feet and heading towards the outskirts of the city.

The lands of the Thousand Buddha Kingdom were vast, a realm composed of Buddhist temples, and Bodhi Temple was located in a wasteland ten miles from the main city. At the front of the temple sat a massive golden Buddha statue. Even from a distance, one could see the golden light radiating from its body, the entire figure gilded and faintly wrapped in the Power of Faith. The monks in the Western Desert did not cultivate the Power of Faith, so this Buddha must have been built recently.

“It appears that the connection between the Heavenly God Sect and the Buddhist Sect is inseparable, and it seems they also cultivate the Power of Faith,”

Li Xiaobai muttered to himself, driving slowly along the official road. The number of refugees by the roadside gradually dwindled; unable to make a living in the wasteland, they could only gather within the cities, waiting for aid.

It was just like the old saying: Behind the doors of the rich food goes to waste while there are those who freeze to death in the streets.

“Gurgle, gurgle!”

At that moment, the familiar sound of a cart’s wheels once again drifted into his ears.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw the little girl he had seen earlier also heading toward the outskirts’ wasteland, still carrying a bundle of hemp on her shoulder and dragging along a wooden plank. The difference now was that the pots and jars that had been on the plank were gone, leaving only a small wooden tub holding a babbling infant.

The little girl’s clothes were tattered without a single patch to be seen; it was clear that the floral wrapping cloth on the baby matched the little girl’s dress perfectly, obviously, any tearable parts had been used by the little girl as a diaper for the baby.

Both the young and the older were grubby, with faces smeared with some green leaf fragments and juice.

Li Xiaobai surmised that the little girl must have been selling medicinal herbs, as the jars previously held the herbs she had gathered, likely trading them with the resource-still-endowed temples for Immortal Stones—which the temples in the Western Desert would not refuse to trade as long as even a single Spirit Stone remained available.

Despite being covered in dirt under her ragged clothes, her skin was conspicuously free of scratches, a sign that she was not an ordinary person since gathering herbs would inevitably result in thorn wounds. This little girl was no ordinary child; at least some cultivation level resided within her.

Looking at the path the little girl and the infant were taking, which perfectly aligned with his own destination, Bodhi Temple, Li Xiaobai became curious. He stowed the golden chariot and activated a Basic Invisibility Talisman to follow them from a distance.

Occasionally, some cultivators on the road greeted her, and some kind-hearted people offered help, all of which she coldly rebuffed and turned away.

In these sensitive times, she couldn’t distinguish between good and evil people, so she had to keep all cultivators at bay, reducing people’s interest in her and her brother and allowing them to live safely under the radar.

“Eeee yah yah!”

“Wah wah wah!”

The baby on the wooden plank suddenly began to cry loudly, but the little girl didn’t stop immediately; instead, she pulled the plank to a secluded, uninhabited area before finally setting down the ropes on her shoulders. After scanning around to make sure no one was around, she carefully pulled out a small chunk of Spirit Stone from her embrace, covered her hand with a thin layer of Spiritual Power, and gently ground the corner of the Spirit Stone into a powder to sprinkle on the baby.

The rich Spiritual Power dissipated in the air, with a small amount seeping into the baby’s body, halting the crying, but only for a few breaths before an even more heart-wrenching wail echoed through the wasteland.

Li Xiaobai, witnessing all this, knew that Spirit Stone could not solve hunger, and while the Spiritual Power seeping into the baby’s body helped fortify its foundation and cleanse its meridians, it also increased its energy consumption.

In other words, the baby’s constitution had become stronger, and its appetite had increased, making it even hungrier at that moment.

“Stop crying!”

“There’s milk at Bodhi Temple, sister is taking you there, just hang on a little longer!”

The little girl clearly understood this as well; she put the Spirit Stone back into her bosom and started comforting the baby, who was exceptionally strong for an infant and would not suffer physical damage from the hunger. They just needed to find milk to satisfy its hunger.

The baby continued to wail loudly, not understanding the concepts of endurance and restraint, crying when hungry, making the girl fret and clutch her hair. They needed to keep their movements hidden, and letting the baby cry would surely attract attention to them, preventing them from going anywhere.

“If only I had kept some of the herbs from before.”

“Eat another bowl then.”

The girl’s eyes were filled with helplessness as she stood up and began to dig the ground. The vast area underneath her feet was barren, without a single blade of grass. She took out a small bowl, scooped up a handful of soil, diluted it with water, stirred it evenly, and brought the bowl to the baby’s lips to feed it.

The baby, possibly sensing the smell of food, immediately calmed down and moved its mouth eagerly towards the bowl.

“Splash!”

It was at this moment that a steamed bun, wrapped in grass leaves and steaming hot, suddenly fell from the sky.

The child’s mouth froze in mid-air, his dark eyes fixating on the white bun on the ground, immediately making the mud soup beside his mouth seem less appealing.

The little girl also scanned her surroundings with a look of astonishment. She couldn’t believe that food would just fall from the sky; surely someone had thrown it to her, but as far as she could see, the area was completely deserted, not a single person in sight.

“Thud!”

Another sound reverberated as a roast chicken, wrapped in lotus leaves, fell from the sky, landing right next to the little girl’s feet, its aroma filling the air.

“Yi yi ya ya!”

The child pushed aside the bowl of mud soup and pointed at the roast chicken and the bun, gesturing wildly.

“Which senior is secretly helping us, please come out and meet?”

The scent of the roast chicken was too tempting; the little girl’s nose twitched a few times, but she did not make a move. Instead, she vigilantly looked around, with two talismans appearing in her hands at some point.

A breeze blew, and no one answered, as if the food had indeed been thrown down by the heavens.

“Yi yi ya ya!”

The child continued to point at the roast chicken on the ground and gestured wildly, growing anxious when he saw the little girl unmoved. He tried to climb out of the barrel using his hands and feet to get the food himself.

Seeing this, the little girl finally stepped forward, grabbed the bun, and held it tightly to her chest, still clutching the talismans, fearing it was all a trap set by someone with ulterior motives.

“Sister will test it for poison first!”

After stuffing the child back into the barrel, the little girl quickly bit into the bun and then waited nervously for anything to happen. The little child stared at her with wide eyes. After a moment, with no adverse reaction, both of them finally relaxed.

She tore off small pieces of the bun to feed the child. After eating most of the bun, the child was satisfied and pointed at the roast chicken on the ground, continuing his previous gestures.

The little girl shook her head, stood up, and with a bow toward the empty wilderness said, “Thank you to the senior who generously helped us. We, brother and sister, have received the bun. If there’s a chance in the future, we must repay this kindness!”

After speaking, she quickly left with the little child, pulling him along with a grass rope. The little child kept his eyes fixed on the roast chicken until they disappeared over the horizon, but this time he did not cry or shout.

A few breaths later, beside the roast chicken, a figure appeared.

“They’re too cautious, no wonder they’ve managed to survive this long with the child. They are good seedlings; it would be a pity to let them perish in the Western Desert.”

Li Xiaobai picked up the roast chicken from the ground, tore off a drumstick, and started to eat. It was bought from the nearest large town using a Thousand Mile Transmission Talisman. Just now, the sight of the little girl ready to drink mud soup shocked him, and seeing her unchanging expression showed it wasn’t her first time doing so.

But now that he had discovered them, he would not let the child chew on mud anymore.

“Earlier, I heard that girl mention going to the Bodhi Temple for milk. The Bodhi Temple has been occupied by the Heavenly God Sect, which has been abducting children. To sustain these children, they must provide plenty of milk. Her thought process is clear.”

“However, with her level of cultivation, she clearly isn’t strong enough to escape from the Heavenly God Sect. It’s likely a journey with no return.”

“Well, since my target is also the Heavenly God Sect, I might as well observe this girl’s actions a bit longer.”

Li Xiaobai took another bite of the chicken leg, he had to admit, it tasted really good.

A golden chariot appeared beneath his feet, and activating an Invisibility Talisman, he followed them again.

Half an hour later.

Outside the Bodhi Temple, a scruffy little girl pulling the child arrived at the temple gates.

At this moment, the temple gate was like a marketplace, a long table loaded with steaming porridge and buns, and another large wooden basin filled with fresh milk. Several monks were distributing food to relieve the famine sufferers.

A large sign next to them read: Grain Relief!

Most of the people gathered were with children, standing in neat lines, silently waiting for the distribution of relief food.

Many mothers with children had received ample milk and food, but their faces were still filled with worry, and they hurried away as if they feared something.

Li Xiaobai noticed that whenever civilians or cultivators with children left, a monk would silently follow them, clearly with ulterior motives.

People turned a blind eye to this, as those who came here for relief food were driven by desperation, hoping for luck, maybe others wouldn’t target their children, or perhaps some fortuitous event would prevent them from being caught.

“Amitabha, dear benefactors, please don’t fight or scramble, the food and milk at the Bodhi Temple is enough, we will ensure that everyone is fed!”

“Those with children will be prioritized, don’t let the kids starve!”

The monks, smiling faces, cheerfully said.

“I’d like a bag of milk and some buns, and if there is any meat that would be even better,” the little girl said as she pushed forward with the child.

Seeing this pair, the group of monks distributing food from the Bodhi Temple all brightened up.

“Amitabha, little benefactor, don’t worry, this monk will bring them to you right away!”