The Programmer Cultivator-Chapter 55 - 53: Making a Move

"Sigh... it seems there’s a traitor in the family. What a pity I can’t go back to investigate." The woman’s voice sighed faintly from inside the carriage again. That one short sentence confirmed a few things.

Hearing this, the leader’s expression turned cold. With a swing of his blade, its powerful force shattered the carriage roof.

Zhang Deming could finally see inside the carriage. A mother and daughter were huddled together.

Given the tendency for people to marry young in this era, Zhang Deming would have mistaken them for sisters if he hadn’t heard their conversation.

The mother was no older than twenty-five, the daughter around ten.

’As for their looks,’ Zhang Deming thought, ’they’re just alright. On par with an A-list celebrity from my past life, at best.’

’Compared to the senior sisters back at the Sect, whose beauty is sculpted by all sorts of Immortal cosmetic products, these two would just be considered Ordinary.’

’In any case,’ Zhang Deming thought, ’she’s not the realm-toppling beauty they were making her out to be.’

Even surrounded by so many mountain bandits, the woman remained remarkably calm. She shielded her daughter, her eyes scanning the men around them.

The woman took a deep breath and spoke in a surprisingly cool and detached voice. "If I were to devote myself to pleasing you gentlemen, would you, after you are finished, be willing to let the two of us go with our lives?"

Her voice was so cool and composed, devoid of emotion, that it made Zhang Deming, who had been watching the spectacle, pause for a moment.

The woman’s cool composure stunned the surrounding robbers for a second. The leader chuckled. "The rest of us brothers don’t have a problem with that, but as for Old Six..."

All eyes turned to the scrawniest man in the group, who was obviously the "Old Six" the leader had mentioned.

When all eyes fell on him, the monkey-like man gave a lecherous grin. "It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a prime little girl."

Hearing this, a cold glint flashed in the mother’s eyes—the first crack in her composure.

"Well then, brothers, what are we waiting for? Let’s get this party started." With a shout, the leader prepared to make his move.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. This really has nothing to do with me. If you were just robbing them or whatever, I would’ve looked the other way.

After all, I can see life hasn’t been easy for you guys.

But doing... *this*... right in front of me? That’s crossing a line. The saying is ’three years old and up is fair game,’ but isn’t eight or nine still young enough to warrant the death penalty?"

Zhang Deming called down lightly, half-leaning against a massive boulder on the cliff face.

"Who’s there?"

The men started, looking around in every direction.

"ARGH..."

Zhang Deming casually tossed a small rock, smacking the leader square in the forehead. A perfect bullseye. As the man cried out, clutching his head, Zhang Deming spoke again. "What are you looking at? I’m up here."

All of them looked up. There, on the cliff’s edge, stood a young man of about eighteen or nineteen, his deep cyan robes rippling in the wind.

His long, jet-black hair drifted in the breeze.

The young man was half-leaning against a large boulder, a devil-may-care smile on his face, looking somewhat indolent.

"This servant greets you, Immortal Master! Please, Immortal Master, save my daughter and me! The Qian Family of Liuzhou City will never forget this act of grace!"

The first to react was the woman, who had been forcing herself to remain calm all this time.

As soon as she got a clear look at Zhang Deming’s attire, she immediately cried out for help.

’Oh? My first time playing the hero and saving the damsel in distress in this life, and I don’t get the whole "I’ll toil like an ox and horse" or "I’ll be your servant" spiel?’

’I thought I was pretty handsome, too!’ Zhang Deming remarked nonchalantly.

The woman paused, momentarily taken aback, but she instantly adapted to Zhang Deming’s eccentric personality. "If the Immortal Master would not be disgusted," she said, "I am willing to serve by your side."

By now, the robbers had snapped out of their stupor.

The leader’s expression flickered. Guessing Zhang Deming’s identity, he didn’t hesitate for a second. He wheeled his horse around and yelled, "Let’s go!"

"Now that I’ve stepped in, I can’t just let you leave."

As Zhang Deming spoke, several weeds by the roadside shot out, their vine-like leaves instantly binding the men before they could even react, wrapping them up like mummies.

The men struggled for a few moments. By the time Zhang Deming floated gently to the ground, they had fallen silent.

After Zhang Deming landed, the woman saw that all the men were dead. Without a moment’s hesitation, she rose and bowed deeply. "This slave greets you, Immortal Master."

"Hey, none of that. I can’t take on a handmaiden like you. You should figure out how to get away from here, and quickly. If they hadn’t crossed a line, I couldn’t have been bothered to get involved."

With that, the Light Wings on Zhang Deming’s heels flickered, and he sped away.

"I am of the Qian Clan from Liuzhou City! I have yet to ask for my savior’s name!"

The woman’s urgent voice called out from behind him.

"Call me Lei, the Vanguard from the Celestial Spirit Sect. You’re welcome."

His voice grew fainter and fainter, until the last few words were barely audible.

Zhang Deming didn’t give the little episode another thought.

He’d come across quite a few highway robberies on his journey. If this particular group hadn’t been so excessive, he would have just ignored them as he had the others, too lazy to get involved.

After running for a little while longer, night had fallen.

Zhang Deming estimated his progress. He should be able to reach his destination by noon tomorrow at the latest.

In terms of pace and timing, Lu Ze and his group would likely arrive the day after tomorrow. There was no need to rush; he was definitely ahead of them now.

Just then, Zhang Deming found an inn in the middle of a desolate stretch of countryside.

Looking around, he saw it was in the middle of nowhere. The next town was at least another hour’s run away.

’In my past life, an inn out here would be incredibly suspicious,’ he thought, ’but in this world, it’s probably an official post station.’

’I’ll just spend the night here.’ Having made up his mind, Zhang Deming walked straight into the inn.

As this was the only resting place for dozens of miles around, the inn wasn’t deserted when Zhang Deming entered. In fact, it was quite lively, packed with patrons all eating a meal.

As Zhang Deming stepped into the inn, the room quieted for a moment. Many people turned to look, but upon seeing he was just a teenager, the chatter resumed.

"Well now, young sir, please come in."

The innkeeper greeted Zhang Deming enthusiastically. She began to lead him in, only to turn and realize the main hall was already full.

She froze for a second before looking at Zhang Deming. "Young sir, you wouldn’t mind sharing a table, would you?"

Zhang Deming scanned the room and saw that it was indeed full. Then, his gaze locked onto a table by the window, and he froze. ’I can run into a fellow Cultivator even in a place like this?’

’He’s a little young, though!’

Just then, the other person looked over. He, too, seemed surprised to see Zhang Deming, but he took the initiative and gave a slight nod.

Zhang Deming nodded back and walked straight to the table.

At the table sat a single boy, about twelve or thirteen years old. Just as Zhang Deming approached, the boy had finished ordering an entire table full of food.

And it really was a full table: five main courses and five side dishes.

Seeing Zhang Deming walk directly to that table, and noticing the two exchange nods, the innkeeper assumed he was the boy’s guardian and explained awkwardly,

"This kid came running in a moment ago. When I asked what he wanted, he wasn’t very clear. He just said to bring out all the house specials and to just keep them coming.

He also slapped down a pile of silver right on the table, so... we brought all this."

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