An Exaggeration

The child glanced at her through tear-filled eyes and immediately began to cry even louder.

Several of the younger ones followed suit, whimpering and wiping away their tears.

The crying made Song Yao's head throb. “...That's not what I meant. So what if they aren't cute? Why are you crying? Alright, alright, do you want some candy?”

Only after she handed out a round of osmanthus candy did the crying gradually subside.

It probably wasn't because she had successfully comforted them. Looking at their sallow, tear-stained faces, they were likely just exhausted from crying and had gone numb.

“You aren't one of the people who escaped from our group.”

A youth who looked to be around her age was cradling an infant in his arms. He struggled to break his candy in half and handed the pieces to two toddlers, about three or four years old, on either side of him. “Where did you come from?”

Seeing that he had no candy left for himself, Song Yao handed him another piece. “I accidentally wandered into the Mist Realm, ran into you guys, and got captured along the way.”

The youth paused before accepting it. A bit embarrassed, he said, “I'm sorry.”

Song Yao replied, “It's fine. I couldn't get out anyway.”

Perhaps because she seemed far too calm, the youth couldn't help but steal a few more glances at her.

After a moment, he asked, “Do... do you know where we are?”

Song Yao was pretty, and since she had just handed out candy to everyone, most of the children in the cave instinctively gathered around her, staring at her with wide, dark eyes.

There was even a chubby toddler, about two or three years old, who had already crawled into her lap and was sitting snugly against her arm.

Song Yao held the child in her arms, feeling a bit weighed down by the extra weight. “Black Cloud Mountain.”

“Then... then do you know that this place is full of evil cultivators?” the youth asked.

“I know.”

“And that we're going to be refined into puppets?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Aren't you scared?”

“I am.”

The youth: “...”

Looking at her relaxed posture, she didn't seem scared at all.

Seeing that she was clearly struggling with the weight, he gestured to the child in her lap. “Wanwan, come to Big Brother.”

The chubby child immediately hugged Song Yao tighter, shaking her head like a rattle. “No, Big Sister smells nice.”

The youth didn't know whether to laugh or cry. “How can you act like a little rascal? Come here quickly.”

“It's fine,” Song Yao said, not minding at all. These children had clearly been frightened out of their wits. If her presence could offer them a shred of security, then her being here wasn't entirely in vain.

With that, she pulled some pastries her master had packed for her before she left from her spatial pouch and distributed them. “Here, fill your stomachs.”

The children immediately began swallowing hard, their eyes shining brightly. They had clearly gone a very long time without food.

Yet despite this, none of them reached out, instead looking expectantly at the youth.

The youth hesitated for a moment before saying, “Go ahead and eat. Only one piece per person, no taking extra.”

Only then did the children politely reach out, taking a pastry and devouring it greedily.

Song Yao couldn't help but feel surprised.

Normally, when people fell into such a trap and found themselves in such a wretched environment, they would easily abandon their dignity. Yet these tiny children could actually restrain themselves so well and remain so obedient.

What's more...

When she sensed their auras, she noticed that the older children all bore traces of cultivation within their bodies.

A sudden thought struck her, prompting a guess. “Are you all from the same sect?” she asked.

The youth hesitated over whether he should speak, but after a moment, he nodded.

Song Yao asked further, “Are you children from the Ming family?”

Before the youth could answer, several of the children gathered around her nodded their heads rapidly. “Yes, yes!”

“We are from the Ming family of Wuzhou City!”

“Does Big Sister know our Ming family? We are a family of sword cultivators!”

As she suspected.

The nearly twenty children from the Ming family who had mysteriously gone missing were actually captured by Black Cloud Mountain and locked up here. No wonder Ming Ran hadn't been able to find any trace of them despite all her searching.

This was going to be troublesome.

Since Ming Ran called her master, she had to help get these children out.

Her legs were going numb from the weight, and she really couldn't hold the chubby child any longer. Setting her down on the ground, Song Yao said, “I do. I've even visited your home before.”

“Wow!”

“Big Sister has been to our home!”

“Is our home big? Are we very powerful?”

Having eaten a little, the children regained some energy and crowded around her, chiming in with questions.

The youth shushed them, gesturing for silence. He then cupped his hands toward Song Yao. “May I ask which sect you belong to, Lady? How is it that you have visited our Ming family?”

This kid was quite alert.

Song Yao flashed a token. “Nine Saints Hall, Lin Mu.”

The youth gasped, and the children couldn't help but cry out in awe before quickly covering their mouths, staring at her with faces full of excitement and curiosity.

The youth's posture instantly became a hundred times more respectful. “So you are Master Lin! My cousin sister has mentioned you to us many times, saying you are the most outstanding and talented sword cultivator she has ever seen!”

Song Yao hadn't expected Ming Ran to boast about her so intensely to the children of her family. Clearing her throat, she said, “An exaggeration. Let's keep a low profile, low profile.”

The youth quickly gathered the children together. “Hurry, pay your respects to Master Lin.”

Being kowtowed to by so many children in a small cave felt rather bizarre.

Once they finished their bows, the youth politely introduced each child to her one by one. Finally, he said, “Master Lin can just call me Ming Ji.”

Song Yao didn't remember a single name except for the last one he mentioned, Ming Ji. Nodding solemnly, she praised, “A fine name, a fine name indeed.”

Ming Ji looked apologetic. “I didn't expect that our escape would cause you to be captured as well. If Cousin Sister finds out, she will definitely blame us.”

Song Yao smiled and said, “Well, we have to get out of here alive for her to blame us, don't we?”

She pulled out some more food and pushed it toward the children. “Eat up first so you'll have the energy to run when the time comes.”

Having heard many stories about her, the children already treated her like family. They didn't act reserved this time, crowding around to wolf down the food.

Ming Ji, however, looked somewhat dejected. “We've already tried several times. The terrain here is strange, making it impossible to fly on swords, and the security is tight. We can't get out at all. This time, a few of us managed to escape with great difficulty, hoping they could find help, but they were caught and brought back anyway.”

Song Yao glanced outside.

There were two layers of seals. With a little effort, she could break them.

But there were still several evil cultivators guarding the area outside the seals.

Trying to escape directly with such a large group of children was indeed unrealistic.

Yet leaving them here was equally out of the question.

She had heard before that the puppet-refining secret arts of Black Cloud Mountain worked best on talented children.

The younger and more talented they were, the more powerful the resulting puppets would be.

And now, with Wen Tang—who possessed an innate ability to control Yin soldier puppets and an extremely high cultivation level in dark poison—present, there was no telling how destructive these Ming family children would be if they were turned into puppets.

However, they had been captured for so long. If they were going to be refined, they should have been refined already. Why hadn't the evil cultivators acted yet?

As she wondered about this, Ming Ji explained, “I once overheard them talking. This isn't the only cell holding people; there are many others outside. Those cells are filled with children taken from ordinary families. It seems their puppet-refining techniques aren't fully matured yet, so they've been experimenting on children without spiritual roots first.”