My ancestors were spiritual plant growers, so it's not surprising that I hunt demons every day,

"clap clap"

In an instant, countless golden lights shone in the rice paddy. As golden needles accurately pierced the bodies of the spirit marrow worms, the ridges of the paddy field were soon covered with the corpses of the spirit marrow worms.

There were nearly a hundred of them, densely packed together.

"call"

After a cup of tea.

Cui Zhengming's spiritual energy was exhausted.

Cui Ying, with keen insight, stepped forward and picked up the corpses of the spirit marrow worms one by one, putting them into the bamboo basket at her waist.

This spirit marrow worm may not look impressive, but its spiritual energy is extremely pure and rich, making it perfect for feeding the spirit chickens.

"Third girl, check again carefully to make sure you haven't missed any spirit marrow worms."

Cui Zhengming quickly walked out of the spirit field and went directly to the edge of the spirit field to meditate and recover his spiritual energy.

Logically, the spiritual energy in the spiritual field should be more concentrated, and the spiritual energy should be restored faster. However, he was afraid that he would absorb the essence of the spiritual plants during cultivation, and he was also afraid that the spiritual field he had worked so hard to cultivate would be drained and its level would be reduced.

Upon hearing this, Cui Ying immediately released her still faint divine sense and began to search the spirit field carefully.

Soon, another insect egg that had escaped the net was found in the corner, attached to the back of a rice stalk.

She dared not be careless and quickly cast a spell, releasing several golden needles to kill him.

"Phew! These beasts are truly endless!"

Cui Zhengming sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy in the distance and was even more afraid that his momentary negligence would allow the remaining insect eggs to make a comeback.

Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth in hatred and decided to say:

"It seems that I won't be able to leave anyone easily before the spirit rice is harvested. Third girl, go back and tell your mother that I won't be coming home for dinner today."

After inspecting all the spirit rice, Cui Ying walked back alone.

Fortunately, Wang Rong was busy using a special hulling technique to remove the husks from the rice ears. Upon hearing this, she first tapped Wang Rong's head and questioned her a few times.

Upon learning that the family's spiritual field was out of danger, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to instruct Cui Yue, who was drooling over the white, lustrous spiritual rice, to deliver water.

Seeing that there was nothing more for her to do, Cui Ying picked up a blue-scaled fish and went out.

After a busy morning, it was already three-quarters past noon.

Cui Ying avoided people as she followed the village road to Zhao Sihai's house.

The two families lived not far apart; it only took about half a cup of tea to walk there.

As soon as they arrived at Zhao Sihai's doorstep, they saw Zhao Xiaobao sitting by the threshold, feeding ants with a bowl of rice.

"Grandpa, Sister Cui Ying is here!"

The child, with sharp eyes, greeted the newcomer warmly as soon as he saw her: "Sister, let's eat!"

Zhao Xiaobao is just six years old this year. His features are different from his grandfather's rugged and dark complexion, but he has a clever and handsome look.

Cui Ying touched the little braid on his head, shook her head, and walked into the Zhao family's courtyard, saying, "I'm not hungry."

"Thanks to Uncle Zhao's reminder, my family was spared from a pest infestation. That's why my dad asked me to come and thank you!"

"It's just a trivial matter, nothing worth mentioning."

Zhao Sihai came out of the main room, his face full of disapproval: "I, Zhao, appreciate your father's kindness, but good boy, take it back quickly."

Upon hearing this, Cui Ying immediately placed the large blue-scaled fish into the large water vat under the eaves, and said with a grin, "Compared to three acres of spirit rice, this blue-scaled fish is simply insignificant. I have more at home, so this fish can be left for Xiao Bao to play with."

"Grandpa~ Fish!"

Zhao Xiaobao stopped teasing the ants and happily hopped around the large water vat.

"This~"

Zhao Sihai looked at his beaming grandson and hesitated for a moment. Just then, he heard Cui Ying say again:

"Uncle Zhao, could I borrow your Cold Light Crossbow for a couple of days?"

"What do you need the Coldlight Crossbow for?"

"I know, Sister Cui Ying is going to hunt demons!"

Zhao Xiaobao looked at her with excitement, his eyes filled with inexplicable anticipation.

"Hmm, Xiao Bao is really smart."

Cui Ying smiled and admitted it directly.

Do your parents know you're going into the mountains?

Although his Cold Light Crossbow wasn't a top-tier magical weapon, it wasn't an ordinary item either.

According to the village rules, if someone uses a magical artifact to hunt a demon, their family will naturally receive a share.

But as an elder, Zhao Sihai still had to say something.

"I know, Uncle Zhao, don't worry."

"Okay! Wait a minute, I'll go get it for you."

As Zhao Sihai turned to retrieve the Cold Light Crossbow, Zhao Xiaobao immediately approached Cui Ying, tilting his little face up and asking, "Sister Cui Ying, can you take me with you to play in the mountains?"

Cui Ying didn't speak, but looked at the direction behind him with a smile.

Zhao Sihai slapped his grandson on the forehead and scolded, "Dream on! Did you memorize the rhyme I taught you yesterday?"

Zhao Xiaobao was usually spoiled by his grandfather, but when he saw Zhao Sihai get angry, he was still scared and obediently lay down by the water tank to play with the green scales.

Zhao Sihai handed the Cold Light Crossbow to Cui Ying, saying, "Ying, be careful when you go into the mountains."

"Don't worry, Uncle Zhao, I know what I'm doing!"

After receiving the Cold Light Crossbow, Cui Ying immediately began to inspect it.

"Thank you, Uncle Zhao!"

Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the crossbow, he picked it up and walked out, saying, "I'll bring it back to you when I hunt something good."

Zhao Sihai nodded with a smile: "I'll wait."

After leaving Zhao Sihai's house, Cui Ying stood there for a moment to determine her direction, then walked towards Zhu Chaoyun's house.

As soon as she arrived at the Zhu family's courtyard, she saw Zhu Chaoyun rushing out of the house with an angry expression, followed by a little girl of eight or nine years old.

"Brother, don't go!"

"Brother Chaoyun, where are you going?"

Zhu Chaoyun was taken aback when he saw Cui Ying suddenly appear. But after noticing the gleaming crossbow in her hand, he quickly turned and charged towards Cui Ying.

"Cui Ying, lend me your crossbow!"

Cui Ying frowned slightly, concealing the crossbow behind her back: "What are you going to do?"

Zhu Chaoyun's mother, who died young, was Cui's father's only distant cousin. In fact, she should call Zhu Chaoyun "cousin".

Cui Ying was naturally very familiar with the Zhu family's situation.

Zhu Chaoyun's mother died early, and his maternal grandparents' family had long since dwindled in number.

Less than three months after Zhu's mother passed away, Zhu's father married a new woman.

However, this stepmother was notorious in Shuangling Village for being mean and mean, and she treated the Zhu siblings very badly.

Especially after having their own children, whatever delicious food or fun toys are available at home, they are given priority to their own dolls.

If it were just material possessions, that would be one thing, but the stepmother also frequently beats and scolds the Zhu siblings.

In addition, Zhu's father doted on his wife, so even when he saw the injuries on Zhu Chaoyun and his sister, he would only scold them lightly. After his wife cried and fussed a bit, Zhu's father gradually chose to ignore it.

If it weren't for Cui's father's help over the years, Zhu Chaoyun and her brother would have died in that cold winter seven years ago.

Just last year, Zhu Chaoyun returned from working at the Gongsun family's spiritual fields, only to find that her younger sister was missing.

After some questioning, he learned that his stepmother had coveted the twenty-odd spirit stones and sold his sister to a passing rogue cultivator.

In the world of cultivation, human life is not considered life.

Anyone with eyes can see that the Taoist priest bought Zhu Wanqiu and other girls to raise as his furnaces, but he used the guise of taking on disciples to parade around the city.

Zhu Chaoyun was furious, but fortunately he did not lose his mind. He first asked someone to ask Cui's father and other rogue cultivators for help, and then followed the direction in which the Taoist had left.

Cui Ying didn't know the whole process of how Zhu Wanqiu was rescued, but she couldn't forget how Zhu Chaoyun went crazy with bloodshot eyes and smashed everything he could in the house in front of his father.

Despite being at the peak of the third level of Qi Refining, Zhu's father didn't dare to stop his eldest son, who had just broken through to the second level of Qi Refining!

With this in mind, Cui Ying carefully considered her words and offered her advice:

"Brother Chaoyun, calm down. If you kill your stepmother, Uncle Zhu probably won't let you off easily. Besides, Sister Wanqiu is here too, don't frighten her!"