I thought the village chief's wife would be excited after hearing Ye Liang's words.

However, to my surprise, she said rather calmly, "Righteous one, your kindness is admirable. But I advise you not to think that way. The Crab King in the lake is not something you can handle. There have been great cultivators who said they could defeat the Crab King before, and we were all very happy to hear that. Then we sailed into the lake with them to eliminate the scourge, but what was the result? My husband, my eldest son, my second son, and my eldest daughter never came back. Now, if you want to eliminate the scourge for us, it's difficult for our village to send anyone to sail the young master into the lake. It's just that very few young men are left to die in battle. We can't afford to send anyone more."

So that's the reason why the woman was so agitated. Ye Liang can help them get rid of the crabs.

Hearing this, Ye Liang was not in a hurry.

I even felt sorry for this lady, having gone through so much sorrow.

Ultimately, it's normal to distrust each other when meeting for the first time.

Ye Liang simply told her, "Then I don't need you to do anything for me, Auntie. We'll go into the lake ourselves to get rid of the crabs."

"Righteous man, what are you after now? Isn't it better to live a good life? Why are you willing to sacrifice your life for us?" The grieving woman was puzzled.

Ye Liang laughed and said, "How can you be so sure that I'm dead? Just because others can't get rid of the crabs doesn't mean I can't. You don't know my abilities, ma'am. There's no point in saying more, ma'am. You just need to help us find a place to stay. Tomorrow, we'll go into the lake to eliminate the crabs ourselves. If we succeed, then please arrange a boat to take us across the lake. We're not doing this entirely for you; just think of it as us crossing the lake for our own sake."

"Madam Xu, please trust this righteous man. He is a great immortal cultivator from Bixian Mountain. You haven't witnessed his strength. We were able to come to this ferry crossing because he led us. Look at him, he has killed countless crab pests along the way, yet he doesn't have the slightest injury. Young master, he is truly a great cultivator, you can rest assured!" The bearded merchant had traveled to the ferry crossing many times before and must know this village chief's wife, so he was willing to speak up for Ye Liang.

"So it's Brother Li Da. You've all come." The village chief's wife was somewhat excited to see the bearded merchant.

He was even more excited than when he saw Ye Liang.

"We're all here!" In fact, Li Da, the bearded merchant, was not the only acquaintance in the caravan. There were many other people in the caravan who had also been to the ferry crossing before, so they all knew each other to some extent.

"I never imagined that a caravan would come to our little ferry crossing again. Thank you all so much." The grieving Madam Xu bowed to everyone with great emotion.

The men dared not accept the courtesy, and instead smiled and said to the grieving woman, Madam Xu, "Madam, you should thank this young man. Without his efforts to kill the crabs along the way and bring us here, we wouldn't have been able to make it even if we wanted to."

These words served as a reminder to the grieving Madam Xu.

Upon hearing this, she turned serious and bowed to Ye Liang with unusual solemnity for the first time, saying, "Thank you, righteous man, thank you, young master. Your actions have saved my entire village. On behalf of the whole village, I thank you, righteous man."

"You flatter me, madam. You can thank me after I get rid of the crab problem." Ye Liang smiled and reached out to help the lady up.

The lady nodded slightly, still somewhat excited, and said, "The village is not what it used to be. There used to be many inns here, but now, there are no people left. If you don't mind, young master, please stay at my house. My house has many empty rooms now. After cleaning them, they will be clean. Please stay for a few days."

"Okay," Ye Liang readily agreed.

Then, leading the carriage, he voluntarily followed the lady.

Following the village chief's wife, her house should be just ahead.

A young girl, dressed in patched clothes, was waiting at the door, carrying a somewhat worn bamboo basket in one hand and holding a small child's hand in the other.

Upon seeing the woman return, she immediately took the child beside her and walked forward.

"Mother, where have you gone?"

The woman was delighted to see the young girl and the child beside her, and said, "People from the village have come, and I'm going to greet our distinguished guests. Nana, come with me to clean the rooms in the house so our guests can stay."

"Yes, Mother."

The young girl showed no sign of being unwelcome to the guests. She happily showed the basket to the grieving woman and said, "Mother, look, I found another place with wild vegetables. I dug them up. They'll be perfect for entertaining our distinguished guests tonight."

It's heartbreaking to see the village chief's family reduced to eating wild vegetables to stave off hunger.

The woman nodded with satisfaction and said, "Alright. We'll use these to entertain our distinguished guests tonight."

Ye Liang smiled too, showing no disgust towards the wild vegetables.

He even happily squatted down in front of the girl and asked the child next to her, "Little friend, what's your name?"

"Xiao Fu. Xu Xiao Fu." The child told Ye Liang in a childlike voice, indicating that he wasn't that afraid of people.

She only moved slightly closer to the older sister beside her.

"Don't be afraid, Xiao Fu." The girl beside him immediately comforted her younger brother, telling him not to be afraid.

Ye Liang smiled and said to him, "Xiao Fu, right? That's great. This time I came out with a child about your age, so you can be friends. Xiao Leng, Xiao Xing, come and meet your new friend."

"My name is Ye Leng!"

"My name is Ye Xing!"

The children, Ye Leng and Ye Xing, have become more cheerful under Ye Liang's influence. They took the initiative to come over and introduce themselves to Xu Xiaofu, starting to make friends.

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