Chapter 212 When your life is almost over, what's the point of having a conscience?

"It's fine to sympathize with them, and it's fine to help them, but not now. Let's leave here first."

Ning Jinli pulled the old professor's arm, signaling the other two professors to follow.

Niu San sensed that the four were about to leave, so he quickened his pace and said to the old village chief and the other villagers:

“I have a way to solve our village’s predicament. That woman is young, beautiful, and has fair skin; she’s a real gem. If we capture her and send her to Zhenhuangguan, we can definitely get a lot of food in return. The other three older men look like they come from wealthy families. They’re rich, generous, and have no sense of vigilance at all. If we tie them up, we can definitely extort a lot of money and supplies from their families!”

The other six villagers looked surprised.

Without a second thought, the old village chief sternly refused, "Niu San! How could you have such a crooked idea?!"

"Village chief! Can't you stop being so rigid and inflexible?" Niu San said anxiously. "More than a hundred people in our village are going to die this winter. I'm doing this so that everyone can survive!"

The village chief nearly choked on his breath, clutching his chest and coughing violently.

Niu San's eyes flashed with a fierce look as he looked at the other villagers. "You don't want your parents, wives, and children to freeze or starve to death, do you? The chance to survive is right in front of us. Let's catch up with those four before they go too far!"

The other six villagers looked at Niu San, then at the figures that were about to disappear into the depths of the dense forest, and felt extremely conflicted.

"No...you can't!" the old village chief pleaded, "We...we absolutely...we absolutely can't do such a heartless thing!"

Niu San gritted his teeth, "We're about to die! What's with all this talk about conscience?! Can conscience feed us or clothe us? Can conscience keep so many people in our village alive until next spring?!"

The old village chief turned pale with anger. "Although we are...although we are poor...although we might starve to death...we can't do this even if it means death...some things are more important than...more important than life! If we really did what you said, I believe...most of the people in our village would rather die than eat a single grain of food obtained by exchanging that young girl for something! They were so kind to give us things, and if we repay kindness with enmity, we would be worse than beasts!"

He managed to finish speaking in one breath, but then he could no longer hold on and collapsed.

"Village Chief! Village Chief!" Several villagers were terrified and quickly gathered around him.

He was old, and leading the way into the mountains to hunt in such a cold and harsh environment had severely depleted his physical strength. In addition, he had been angered by Niu San again, and at this moment he was barely breathing.

"I...I'm afraid...I can't make it..." The old village chief's eyelids drooped weakly. "You swear to me...swear to me that you will never...never do anything bad, otherwise...I will die with regrets."

"village head……"

The villagers surrounding him were in tears. "Okay, we swear we'll never do anything bad."

Niu San stood behind the villagers, his face gloomy, watching the old village chief who was about to breathe his last, without saying a word.

The old village chief strained to look up at him, “Niu San… especially… it’s you…”

The other villagers were heartbroken and, wiping away their tears, urged Niu San to quickly swear an oath to reassure the village chief.

Even though Niu San was unwilling, he could only suppress his emotions. "Fine, fine, I swear, everything I just said is nonsense. I would never do it even if you killed me."

The old village chief then closed his eyes, exhaled a thin mist of white smoke, and remained motionless.

Niu San sneered inwardly. An oath? What good is an oath? He didn't care about such things.

"village head!!!"

Apart from Niu San, the others knelt on the ground and cried out in grief.

Niu San turned around and looked at several sets of footprints on the snow that stretched into the distant woods. He pondered that he had to persuade a few villagers to follow the footprints with him to track down the four people.

Even with simple hunting and tracking techniques, it's still possible to catch people.

Just then.

Ning Jinli and the three professors turned back.

This surprised Niu San greatly.

Before we even started tracking it down, it's already come knocking on our door again? It's like God is helping us!

"Didn't you all just leave?" Niu San greeted them with a forced smile, secretly slipping his right hand behind his back to touch the short knife tucked into his waistband.

Ning Jinli narrowed her eyes slightly, stood in front of Niu San, and naturally let the professor stand behind her. She calmly replied, "I was about to leave, but I suddenly heard the sound of crying. It must have been a serious accident. My friends were worried about me, so I had to come back to check on them."

"What kind of people you are! You are truly kind and benevolent people!" Niu San tried his best to flatter them.

"What happened?" The old professor looked anxiously at the village chief lying motionless in the snow.

Niu San looked regretful. "Alas, I got old and couldn't withstand the cold and hardship..."

"Xiao Ning, go take a look quickly!" the old professor urged.

Ning Jinli thought for a moment, then suddenly grabbed Niu San's right arm and said with a smile, "No problem, please come with me, brother."

Niu San's expression changed slightly. He found that his arm was like it was being clamped by pliers, and he couldn't break free. He had no choice but to cooperate for the time being and follow Ning Jinli back to the old village chief's side.

Ning Jinli restrained Niu San with one hand, while using the other hand to probe under the old village chief's nose and around his neck.

She has indeed stopped breathing.

However, there is still a very subtle tremor in the carotid artery, which cannot be detected without a calm and careful examination.

The old village chief was a good man, and Ning Jinli couldn't bear to see him die without helping him. So, she used the Heavenly Profound Heart Technique to secretly send a small amount of internal energy to the old village chief.

This small amount of internal energy was enough to temporarily protect the old village chief's heart meridian, preventing his already fragile heart meridian from being overwhelmed.

However, the only way to save his life was to take him to the base for treatment.

“Your village chief is still alive,” Ning Jinli said to the villagers who were crying their eyes out. “Lift him up and come with me. Try to keep him steady and don’t shake him violently. I promise he will get better.”

Upon learning that the village chief could still be saved, the villagers dared not delay and immediately did as Ning Jinli instructed.

Ning Jinli quietly instructed the three professors to stay away from the man who had just approached with a smile, and then had the three of them lead the way.

The villagers carried the old village chief in the middle, while she walked at the very back, so that she could keep an eye on everyone's situation.

After a period of trekking.

The group finally arrived at a campsite.

This was the base that Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli set up to facilitate the trade of more than 200,000 sets of weapons and equipment with the Desolate Kingdom. It also played a significant role in the operation to rescue Mu Cheng's family.

Today, it has also become a transit point on the mountain road connecting the east and west sides of the Xuanhuang Mountains.

Warehouses were built according to the terrain, several camps were added, and several thousand soldiers were stationed there.

Several villagers followed them into a camp. When they saw the new-style tents they had never seen before, and the people patrolling in armor and carrying weapons, they were immediately terrified and froze on the spot, too afraid to move.

Only then did they realize that they were in a military camp.

Niu San was the first to come to his senses, his eyes shining. "What are you standing there for? Let's keep going. Didn't that girl surnamed Ning tell us to carry the village chief into the tent?"

“The military camp…” a villager said fearfully, “Niu San, are you blind? Can’t you see it yet?”

Niu San grinned and said, "What's wrong with the military camp? Didn't I say before that we could try to borrow grain from the soldiers?"

Another villager, his legs trembling, stammered, "But...but...this...this is clearly not our Great Wilderness Army's camp. Then...then besides the Great Wilderness Army, isn't it the Xuan Kingdom's camp...?"

Niu San remained calm, "Who cares about the desolate country or the Xuan country? The two countries aren't at war right now, so what's there to be afraid of?"

"The bed is ready, and the doctor has arrived. Please come in quickly," Ning Jinli called out from a nearby tent.

"Coming, coming!" Niu San trotted over excitedly.

The other villagers had no choice but to grit their teeth and carry the village chief along.

Ning Jinli had the doctor take over the treatment, then led the villagers to a small tent that had been temporarily set up for them. She had someone bring them a brazier for warmth and ginger tea to ward off the cold, and told them to wait there before leaving the tent.

She also had to assist the three professors in organizing the samples collected this time, and then help them send the people and items back to the modern world. She was very busy.

"Keep an eye on things," she called over a few armored soldiers and instructed them, "Don't let the people inside wander around."

"Yes, fairy."

The armored soldiers, weapons in hand, stood beside the tent.

Inside the tent, several villagers sat around a brazier, holding steaming ginger tea in their hands. The chill gradually dissipated, and their tense minds relaxed a little.

However, they were still very uneasy and dared not communicate with each other, occasionally glancing cautiously at the backs of the soldiers standing at the tent entrance.

"Look at you cowards!" Niu San sneered. "What's there to be afraid of? If they wanted to harm us, why would they have brought us here for the village chief's treatment?"

The others remained silent.

Niu San's eyes darted around, then he got up and walked to the tent entrance, greeting the soldiers with a broad smile, "Sir, are you from Xuan Kingdom?"

The soldier glanced at him sideways but didn't reply.

Niu San then said with a grin, "Even if you didn't say it, sir, I already figured it out. Sir, who is this Miss Ning?"

"How dare you address her as 'Miss Ning'?" The soldier's eyes darkened. "Call her 'Fairy'!"

Niu San shrank back. "Yes, yes, sir, please calm down. I didn't know the rules. Thank you for reminding me."

The soldier guarding the tent frowned and ordered, "Stop trying to get on my good side, go inside and sit down!"

Niu San thought to himself, "It seems that the beautiful woman has a high status and is even called a fairy. Maybe... she is the woman of some general in this military camp."

Thinking about it this way, it makes sense.

Otherwise, how could a young woman come to this remote mountain wilderness, especially in the midst of a snowy winter?

"Sir," Niu San said obsequiously, his voice low and fawning, "I'd like to ask you, are you still recruiting soldiers here? What do you think of me?"

The soldier coldly uttered a few words, "I won't conscript you, you're no good."

Niu San persisted, "Are we short of laborers? I'm a hard worker. As long as I can get some food, I'll do whatever you ask me to do."

The soldier was already very impatient. With a swift movement, he drew his sword two inches from the ground and warned, "Sit still!"

Niu San quickly stepped back and sat down next to the brazier.

He took a sip of ginger tea, lowered his head, and muttered under his breath, "Damn it, how dare they look down on people like this? I don't even want to go to Zhenhuang Pass to conscript laborers. I'm only giving you face because this place is nice... What a bunch of idiots..."

The villagers nearby ignored him.

He lowered his voice further and said, "These Xuan people must have plenty of food and supplies to be able to set up camp in the Xuanhuang Mountains. If we can find the warehouse and find a way to steal some, we won't have to risk our lives to hunt. Their food is all novel and delicious, sweet and filling."

Upon hearing this, several villagers were immediately filled with fear.

"Niu San, are you looking for death?"

"This is a military camp. Do you think you can mess with us? Don't you want to die?"

"Besides, even if we could steal it, we shouldn't. That Miss Ning kindly saved our village chief; that's already a huge favor. We can't repay kindness with enmity."

"Niu San, don't ignore what the old village chief said!"

The group didn't speak loudly, but their barrage of words made Niu San increasingly lose face.

"Alright, alright, forget I said anything." Niu San, enraged, stood up abruptly, turned around, and walked to the side, refusing to speak to the group anymore.

A gust of cold wind blew in from the tent entrance.

Niu San shivered, and the wind actually calmed his mind considerably.

He glanced at the armor and swords of the soldiers at the gate, then looked at the patrolmen passing by in the distance. After thinking it over carefully, he realized that finding the warehouse here and stealing some food and clothes was indeed extremely difficult. If he were discovered, he would lose his life.

But he was really unwilling to accept that he wouldn't get any benefits at all.

After the group had finished drinking a large cup of hot ginger tea, Ning Jinli came into the tent and told them that the old village chief was fine and could go home with them.

They rushed to the tent where the old village chief was receiving treatment and brought him out.

The old village chief was extremely grateful to Ning Jinli, saying that he never expected to be alive and that he really didn't know how to repay her.

Ning Jinli smiled and said, "Grandpa, it was just a small favor, you don't need to repay me."

"Alas...this truly shames this old man," the old village chief said, bowing. "Young lady, we shall take our leave then..."

Ning Jinli waved her hand, and several soldiers came over carrying large packages, placing them in front of the villagers.

“Grandpa,” Ning Jinli said, “this is a small token of my appreciation for the villagers. Please take it all back with you.”

"Ah! How can this be! You have already given me so much help that I can't possibly repay you. How can I take your things back?" The old village chief was trembling with fear and waved his hands repeatedly.

Niu San couldn't wait to untie a cloth bundle, which was filled with bundles of dried meat strips, dried vegetables, the chocolate they had eaten earlier, as well as cotton clothes and cotton shoes, etc.

The villagers' eyes lit up when they saw the supplies.

Seeing the old village chief hesitate, Ning Jinli said, "Old man, now is not the time to be polite. With these, your village will be able to get through the winter."

Tears welled up in the old village chief's eyes. "Yes... then I... accept it. On behalf of the villagers, I thank you, young lady."

“These do seem like a lot,” Niu San suddenly interjected, “but our village has several hundred people. If each household shares them, it won’t be enough for the whole winter. Fairy, why don’t you go all the way and give us a thousand… no, two thousand of these big packages! And send your people to help us transport them back to the village, okay?”