Chapter 10: The Old Daoist's Life is at Stake

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  More than half an hour later, someone brought over rice porridge, steamed buns and stewed vegetables. The temple master personally ladled out a bowl and presented it to the old Taoist, "Immortal Master, please have some too."

  Lao Dao took over the bowl and chopsticks, he said to Cao Yu: "You go eat too, eat a bit more."

  After finishing his instructions, Lao Dao held his bowl and chopsticks and walked straight towards Li Wenjun.

  The old man bent his fingers and shot out a fireball the size of a grain of rice, which burned through the rope binding Li Wenjun's thumb, yet surprisingly, Li Wenjun's body didn't suffer even the slightest injury.

  The old man waved his hand and motioned for the two burly men guarding Li Wenjun to step aside.

  The old man handed the bowl and chopsticks in front of Li Wenjun and said lightly: "Eat."

  Li Wenjun glanced at Lao Dao and asked: "Immortal Elder, can I take this as a farewell meal?"

  "It's not about cutting off heads, but to alleviate the drought, someone has to pay a price. As for how big of a price, it depends on your level of cooperation." The old Taoist inexplicably patiently began explaining to Li Wenjun.

  Li Wenjun's face was uncertain, he didn't believe the old Taoist's words at all, but not believing wasn't going to change anything, his fate was no longer in his control, it had fallen into the hands of this old Taoist.

  He thought for a while, but still couldn't think of any way to break the current situation, so he had no choice but to take over the bowl and chopsticks handed over by Lao Dao and start eating. No matter what you do, eat your fill first, then you'll have the energy to work.

  Lao Dao thought Li Wenjun had given in, he chuckled and said: "That's right."

  Sixty-three boys and girls all fled here due to famine, and the food prepared by Li Zhang was quickly snatched up.

  Lao Dao led the way, bringing all 7963 boys and girls to the drying field. He then personally guided them, arranging the children along the lines he had drawn. Even the infants who were still waiting to be fed found a place.

  At this time, the sky had already darkened a bit, and the lines and symbols on the drying field seemed to be gathering together like one evil spirit after another trying to break out of the painting. The boys and girls who were laughing and playing just now finally felt scared. It was unclear who started it, but suddenly there was a burst of crying on the drying field.

  The old man let out a cold snort, and with one stretch of his hand, he pulled out another bundle of yellow paper from his pack. These yellow papers were all cut into thin strips, on which there were many blood-red stripes and symbols; at first glance, they seemed to be the lines and symbols from the sun-dried rice fields shrunk down in size.

  The old Taoist's hand shook, and a yellow paper suddenly appeared on the foreheads of those well-placed boys and girls.

  The yellow paper and body, the boys and girls on horseback suddenly became dull-eyed, staying still in place, not crying or making a fuss, without even moving their fingers.

  Soon, all sixty-one boys and girls were labeled with this yellow paper, and it was Li Wenjun's turn.

  Li Wenjun gritted his teeth and suddenly exerted force with his feet, dashing forward in preparation for escape.

  "Seize him, seize him quickly!" Li Zhang hastily shouted.

  Several sturdy men under Li Chang's command chased after Li Wenjun.

  Li Wenjun was swift and speedy, he had been observing while eating, and had already chosen his path. As long as he could run out of the drying field and drill into the cornfield next to it, with the green canopy as cover, it would be hard for these people to catch him again.

  Those few big men were initially at a distance from Li Wenjun, and even if they wanted to catch up with Li Wenjun, it would take some time. And this time was enough for Li Wenjun to run out of the drying field.

  The old man narrowed his eyes, felt around in his bosom with one hand, and a flash of silver light appeared. In an instant, he caught up to Li Wenjun.

  Li Wenjun's foot slipped and he fell to the ground with a thud. When he looked again, a silver rope appeared on Li Wenjun's body, tying him up in five knots.

  Lao Dao strode over to Li Wenjun's side in big steps, lifted his foot and kicked him flying with one kick.

  Li Wenjun sprang into the air, and with a loud thud, heavily fell back onto the sun-baked courtyard as hard as stone. His throat felt sweet, and with a "pu" sound, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He only felt that all his bones were shattered, and it hurt to death.

  "You thing that doesn't know how to appreciate favors, if it wasn't for the fact that you still have some use left in you, Master Dao would have incinerated you with his fireball technique by now." After kicking Li Wenjun flying, the old Daoist glared at him with a ferocious expression and muttered.

  "Xian Chang, where did you put him?" Li Chang hurriedly ran in front of the old Daoist and asked.

  "Put him in the Tianxuan position of the Kan Palace." The old Taoist instructed.

  "Should we also give him a yellow paper?" Li Chang asked.

  The old man glanced sideways and said disdainfully: "What yellow paper? That is a fixation charm, it's a thing of the immortal family."

  "Is is is." Lǐ Cháng said with a long sigh, "Does the little one not understand these things? Immortal Elder, do you want to give this ungrateful little brat a Restraining Talisman as well?"

  "No need. This silver cord was bought by me with three pieces of spirit stone, it's a low-grade artifact, this kid won't be able to escape unless he has a specialized cutting artifact. Alright, except for Cao Yu, all the boys and girls have been settled, you take your people and leave Shai Valley quickly, I'm about to cast my spell." The old Daoist shouted loudly from inside.

  Inside, Zhang did not dare say anything and hastily led the men to first put Li Wenjun in the Tianxuan position of the Kan Palace before withdrawing from the Shagu Arena.

  At this time, there were already many people gathered outside the drying field, including townspeople from Junbao Town and many refugees. They were basically all parents and relatives of the children in the drying field. Although the children had been sold to the village head, it was impossible for them not to miss them at all. They also had no other way out, otherwise they would not have done so.

  The old man brought Cao Yu to the last empty position of the Seven Stars Nine Palaces Array and said to him, "The final victory or defeat of the Seven Stars Nine Palaces Array is on your shoulders. You must cooperate with all your might and cannot have any other thoughts in mind. Do you understand?"

  Cao Yu nodded slightly with some hesitation.

  The old man patted Cao Yu's shoulder and said, "Think about the promise I made to you, think about my immortal family skills. You'll know what to do."

  Cao Yu thought for a moment and nodded again, this time more resolute than before.

  The old man showed a satisfied expression, he raised his head and looked at the sky, a round moon had already appeared in the distant horizon.

  "Time's almost up." The old Daoist muttered, he grasped the previously retrieved circular disk and triangular flag in his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, sent the triangular flag flying out.

  A triangular flag was inserted into the ground, and its surface moved automatically without wind, which was very strange.

  Having done all this, Lao Dao continued to look up at the sky, watching as the full moon slowly rose and moved towards the middle of the sky.

  Li Wenjun was not willing to let others take advantage of him like this, without mentioning whether the Seven Stars Nine Palaces Formation could really relieve the drought, even if it could make it rain, he was not willing to risk his life, he still wanted to keep his useful body and reunite with his family.

  When the old Taoist looked up at the sky, Li Wenjun was still wriggling on the ground like a larva, hoping to break free from the silver rope's binding, but just as the old Taoist said, this was a low-grade magic tool, a divine object, and he, an ordinary person, how could he possibly break free?

  It turns out that Li Wenjun was tied up very tightly, but not with his hands bound behind his back. He was running away when he was suddenly tied up by a silver rope from the sky, so his hands were tied to both sides of his body. The silver rope had been pulled over his wrists, making it impossible for him to move his hands, but his ten fingers still had some mobility.

  Li Wenjun writhed on the ground for a while, seeing that he couldn't get rid of the silver rope no matter what. He suddenly thought of the broken dagger he had exchanged at the blacksmith's shop. He tied the dagger to his calf and curled up his body, using his barely movable fingers to reach for the dagger. The simple action that was usually easy for him now seemed extremely difficult.

  Just as Li Wenjun was slowly pulling out the dagger, Yuan Yue was also continuously moving towards Zhong Tian.

  When the moon rose to the middle of the sky, a fierce light suddenly shot out from Lao Dao's eyes, and he shouted loudly: "It is now."

  As he spoke, Lao Dao slapped the round plate in his hand, and a silver light rose from the plate, shooting straight up to the full moon in the sky.

  A moment later, a milky white light descended from the full moon and enveloped the entire drying field.

  Seventy-nine sixty-three children bathed in the moonlight, for them, it was not a blessing, but an unmitigated disaster.

  The Heavenly Pivot Star is the leader of the Seven Stars Nine Palaces Formation. The nine boys and girls here are the first to undergo changes, their faces rapidly growing older at a speed visible to the naked eye, transforming from children to teenagers, then to young adults, middle-aged, old...

  In almost an instant, a lifetime of changes flashed across their faces, as the vitality was being eerily drained from them by the formation.

  As the boys and girls changed, strands of red silk rose from their bodies, gathering together to charge towards the Tianxuan star.

  The boys and girls on Tiantan Star also underwent the same change immediately.

  The Li Zhang watching from the sidelines felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that what he had been most worried about had indeed happened. The old Taoist's intention in bringing these boys and girls here was far from good, and he could only hope that this evil array would really be able to bring forth a great rain as the old man had said; otherwise, he would never be at peace for the rest of his life.

  Inside, there was still a glimmer of hope, but the onlookers, those refugees, were not having it. They had sold their own flesh and blood to the village head, hoping that their children would become servants or something, just to get by, but not like this - losing years in vain, growing old and waiting for death without even realizing it.

  "Give me back my child." A mother rushed out.

  "Quickly stop her."

  One of Li Zhang's men rushed out and grabbed the mother tightly.

  At this time, more people rushed out to rescue their children. Li Zhang didn't bring too many people, he was just a small village head and didn't have the money to hire many people to help him. He could stop ten or eight people, but couldn't stop dozens, hundreds of rushing refugees.