Cannon Fodder Cultivation Guide

Chapter 104 - Inside Story

Among a pile of seemingly unrelated messages, Zhang Yiyi quickly noticed one.

About every half month, the Bai family would gather a group of low-level cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage to go to the Black Marsh outside Jiagu Guan City to collect a special mineral sand called Liuyun Kou.

The Bai family is considered one of the top families in Jiagu Guan City, and while collecting this Liuyun Kou can be a bit troublesome, it isn't particularly dangerous. Therefore, it seemed that there wasn't much issue with this matter. However, the key point is that the cultivators gathered every half month rarely overlap, which suggests that the situation might not be as simple as it appears!

Moreover, considering the recent disappearances of several Qi Refinement disciples from the Yunxian Sect, it was hard not to draw a connection to the Bai family's gathering.

As for the other pieces of information, they seemed useless and were naturally overlooked by her.

"This!"

Zhang Yiyi pointed at the content written on the paper to Maoqiu, not doubting that someone as clever as Maoqiu would understand.

"Let's rest for two days, and then we'll go take a look. It's just in time for the Bai family to gather cultivators again."

After the contract, Zhang Yiyi had not deliberately hidden many things from Maoqiu, nor did she intend to. Therefore, Maoqiu was very clear about why Zhang Yiyi came to Jiagu Guan City.

"Let's go! I'm curious to see what strange things are in that Black Marsh."

Getting a bit boastful, Maoqiu exclaimed, "This young master is going!" Upon noticing Zhang Yiyi giving him a sidelong glance, he quickly explained with a forced smile, "I'm not calling myself that to you, it's for outsiders."

"Hmph!"

Zhang Yiyi didn't bother with the show-off and started organizing her storage ring and bag.

Didn't Zheng He say he would take her to an auction in a few days? It wouldn't do to not have enough spirit stones on her. What if she found something she liked, and couldn't buy it?

Two days later, Zhang Yiyi went directly to the Bai family with Maoqiu and indeed saw that they were gathering cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage at the entrance.

Due to the favorable conditions, many people signed up, forming a queue.

Anyone selected would receive ten spirit stones as a reward before setting off, and every pound of Liuyun Kou mineral sand they found and brought back from the Black Marsh would earn them a hefty commission.

This was a significant temptation for low-level cultivators, especially considering the many rootless and foundationless scattered cultivators in the area; it was a considerable income for them.

However, it seemed that the dangers of the Black Marsh were not taken seriously by these people. At least, after watching for a long time, Zhang Yiyi noticed that most people only thought the Bai family was trying to gain strength and win people's favor through such means.

But could there really be such a good deal without any catches? The answer was obviously no; otherwise, why would most of the cultivators called by the Bai family be unfamiliar faces each time?

"I want to sign up!"

Finally, it was Zhang Yiyi's turn, and without a second thought, she asked to fill in her name.

Of course, it was as the rouge cultivator Han Lin, not as Yunxian Sect's Zhang Yiyi.

"Go, go, go, get out of here; we don't recruit female cultivators."

The Bai family staff immediately tried to send her away.

This young girl must be new to Jiagu Guan City; otherwise, how would she not know that the Bai family never recruited female cultivators for tasks in the Black Marsh?

"Why don't you recruit female cultivators?"

Zhang Yiyi retorted, thinking, could the Bai family still be engaging in gender discrimination?

"We don't recruit; it's always been the rule. Where do all these questions come from?"

The staff was quite impatient, looking busy and annoyed to have to deal with her, showing no willingness to negotiate.

"But I don't think it matters whether I can do this job or not; it has nothing to do with gender. Why don't you just ask again?"

Zhang Yiyi increasingly felt something was off and was unwilling to give up easily.

Unfortunately, the other party remained unmoved, impatiently telling Zhang Yiyi to scram.

"What are you doing? Is this how you talk to my friend? Are you blind and trying to die?"

Zhu Qing suddenly ran out. Seeing it was Zhang Yiyi, he immediately dropped the spectator's attitude and spoke up for his friend.

"Oh, so it's Master Zhu's friend! I must have been blind and almost offended your friend. I truly apologize, Master Zhu."

The staff member quickly changed his tone upon seeing Zhu Qing personally backing a small female cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, regardless of their relationship.

However, the rule of not recruiting female cultivators was set in stone and could not be changed.

He could only apologize repeatedly to Zhu Qing and Zhang Yiyi, explaining that they really couldn't make exceptions and it wasn't about discrimination; it had nothing to do with who came.

"Alright, alright, if you don't want her, then don't let her in. Does my friend need to earn this little bit of money? She's just curious and wants to go in and take a look."

Zhu Qing readily provided an escape route for Zhang Yiyi and didn't want to waste any more time there, directly pulling Zhang Yiyi away.

"Han girl, why did you suddenly want to go to the Black Marsh?"

Zhu Qing brought her to a nearby teahouse and ordered her a cup of spiritual tea before asking.

In his view, Zhang Yiyi was not the type of poor rouge cultivator who needed to participate in the Bai family's gathering to survive.

"Nothing much. I just thought the Black Marsh might have something interesting, and since the Bai family was gathering people, I thought I'd go with them. Who knew they wouldn't recruit female cultivators?"

Zhang Yiyi shrugged, feeling that she had truly missed a good opportunity.

After all, nothing would be more convenient for investigating than to openly go in with those people.

"I knew you were just curious."

Zhu Qing smiled as he realized that was indeed the case and then said, "But it's better not to go to that broken place. I've heard it hasn't been peaceful there lately. Many who go in might not come out whole. If there's no compelling reason to go, it's better to wait a while."

Otherwise, why would the Bai family offer such favorable conditions to gather people? Did they really have too many spirit stones?

Zhang Yiyi hadn't expected to receive some clear insider information from Zhu Qing. She pretended to be extremely curious and asked, "Not peaceful? Why? What's going on?"

"Haha, you've asked the right person. Otherwise, it would be impossible to hear anything from anyone else."

Seeing that Zhang Yiyi was genuinely interested, Zhu Qing didn't hold back and quickly shared everything he knew about the situation piece by piece.

When he talked about it, Zhu Qing looked quite spirited; his family had never gotten along with the Bai family, and it was strange to wish them well.