#170 - That doesn't mean you can't kill me.

"Let go of my son! I beg you, please spare my son, I'm begging you."

"Mom, I don't want to go... Mom..."

As Xu Ming walked through the village, feeling its desolation, he heard the cries of a woman and a young boy.

Xu Ming raised his head and looked ahead, seeing the villagers gathered in front of a house.

A mother was clutching her son's hand tightly.

But amidst the constant pulling and tugging, the mother was pushed away and fell to the ground.

The mother tried to rush forward, but her husband held her back tightly.

"Let go! Let go! No! My child, give me back my child..." The woman's hair was disheveled, and she was crying incessantly.

Xu Ming frowned and stepped forward.

Xu Ming didn't consider himself a good person.

If there were things he couldn't do, things beyond his capabilities, he wouldn't do them.

But if there were things he could manage, he would.

"May I ask why you are separating a mother and her son?" Xu Ming asked as he stepped into the crowd.

Hearing Xu Ming's voice, many people looked over, realizing he was an outsider: "What's it to you, outsider? Get lost!"

A burly man pushed Xu Ming, but found him as immovable as a mountain.

Instead, Xu Ming effortlessly pushed the man to the ground.

Xu Ming easily snatched the little boy away and returned him to the woman.

The woman hugged her son tightly, repeating, "It's okay," "It's okay."

"What do you know, outsider?"

An old man stepped forward, pointing a trembling finger at Xu Ming.

"We're taking their child to sacrifice to the Yellow Sand River Dragon King.

Every year, we must offer a pair of virgin boys and girls to the Yellow Sand River Dragon King. It's been like this every year!

Ask anyone here, who hasn't lost a son or daughter?

What? Now that it's the Wang family's turn, they disagree?

Would that be fair to the others?!

Looking at your martial arts skills, you must be a wandering hero, right?

You heroes always talk about righteousness, but if the Wang family's son isn't sacrificed, someone else's child will have to take his place! If we don't make the sacrifice, the Dragon King will be angry, and the whole village will die!"

Xu Ming: "..."

Listening to the old man's questioning, even without asking for details, Xu Ming roughly understood the reason.

The old man asked the woman behind Xu Ming: "Madam Wang! As a member of our village, you should have been prepared! Everyone is the same, does your family think they're special?"

"I... I..."

Madam Wang pursed her lips tightly, tears falling like rain.

"Alas..." Madam Wang's husband sighed, pulled his wife's hand away, and personally led his son forward, "Village Chief, I apologize, my wife is being ignorant."

"Hmph, it's good that you understand." The old man, addressed as Village Chief, snorted, "Let's go! To the Luo family!"

"Dad... Mom..."

The little boy was taken away.

The woman squatted on the ground, covering her mouth and crying.

"The Luo family..." Xu Ming murmured the name, looking in the direction they were going.

If he wasn't mistaken, Luo San Niang's daughter was the virgin girl to be sacrificed along with the boy.

He would definitely go and take a look later, but before that, he needed to clarify the situation.

"Thank you, brother, for your help, but brother, this is something you can't interfere with." The man looked very dejected, after all, who would want to see their son taken away?

But it had been the same for other families over the years, so what made his family special?

"What kind of background does this Yellow Sand River Dragon King have?" Xu Ming asked.

Only a true dragon would dare to call itself a Dragon King, and this was just a small place, just a river, yet it dared to call itself a Dragon King?

"Young master, the Yellow Sand River Dragon King is a long serpent that traveled the waterways. After arriving at our Yellow Sand River, it transformed into a Jiaolong and stayed, calling itself the Yellow Sand Dragon Lord.

Twenty years ago, there was a drought, and the village chief and others prayed for rain. The Yellow Sand Dragon Lord brought rain, on the condition that we build a shrine for him and worship him.

Not only that, but on his birthday, we have to slaughter chickens and cows, kill chickens and ducks, and offer him a pair of virgin boys and girls.

Later, the drought improved, and we thought about not receiving the Dragon King's blessing anymore, or rather, we could still sacrifice to him, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, anything was negotiable, but these virgin boys and girls, we really couldn't offer them.

But the Yellow Sand Dragon Lord wouldn't allow it, saying that the virgin boys and girls were a must, otherwise he would flood the village."

Listening to the man's description, Xu Ming frowned.

Virgin boys and girls weren't some great tonic.

Why was this Yellow Sand Dragon King so insistent?

"The Wu Kingdom's court forbids private worship of wild gods. This Yellow Sand Dragon King has quite the audacity. Doesn't the court care?" Xu Ming asked again.

"Alas..."

The man sighed heavily, looking utterly dejected.

"Young master, how can they care? Not to mention anything else, our village is under the jurisdiction of Yellow Leaf County, but the magistrate of Yellow Leaf County is in cahoots with the Yellow Sand Dragon Lord.

We did report it to the authorities, but what's the use of reporting it?"

Xu Ming: "What about the prefect?"

"Alas, young master... Our Chenxiang Prefecture is the fiefdom of Prince Qing, who holds power equal to the emperor."

Xu Ming: "..."

At this point, Xu Ming understood.

In the Wu Kingdom, the power of the princes was very great. Although it wasn't like the Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffed states on Blue Planet, it wasn't much different from the Han Dynasty's initial enfeoffed states. They were basically autonomous, with the princes having administrative and military power.

So the court was always chanting "Reduce the power of the princes, reduce the power of the princes."

The Prince of Qing's fiefdom was corrupt, so no matter how much these commoners complained, they would be complaining to the Prince of Qing. Not to mention whether the Prince of Qing would care.

But the fact that the magistrate and the evil Jiaolong were colluding showed how he governed.

As for moving away...

The Wu Kingdom had always restricted the activities of its people.

Their farmland and household registration were all here.

At most, they could move to the county seat. Going to other counties would make them refugees.

The villagers who could move away, who could rely on relatives in the county seat, had naturally left.

Where could the remaining villagers go?

"Does big brother know what realm that Dragon Lord is in?" Xu Ming asked. Xu Ming was just asking, not expecting a villager to know the realm of that evil Jiaolong.

"This..." The man thought for a moment, "Last year, that evil Jiaolong seemed to have held a banquet, inviting many guests, seemingly celebrating entering some... Danzi realm?"

"Golden Core realm?"

"Yes, yes, that's it, Golden Core realm!"

"I see."

Xu Ming nodded.

Then it wasn't impossible to kill.