"Qin Yi, shall I first take you to meet the village chief?"

Qin Yi nodded slightly.

The Village Chief's home was just a small courtyard, tidy but clean, with two crooked trees bearing silvery small flowers at the entrance, their fragrance filling the air.

"What kind of tree is this?" Qin Yi asked curiously, as the scent seemed vaguely familiar, somewhat like osmanthus.

"This is a Silver Money Tree, which is a variety of osmanthus."

The door of the courtyard opened, and out came an elderly man, with gray hair and beard, who spoke. He wasn't tall, but he stood erect without signs of old age, full of vitality.

Qin Yi squinted his eyes slightly. Could this old man be the Village Chief? His cultivation wasn't weak, nearly on the verge of breaking into the Nascent Soul Realm.

"Qin Yi, this is the Village Chief," Cang Ziming introduced.

Qin Yi had already guessed his identity and greeted him with a smile, "Hello, Village Chief."

"Hello!" The Village Chief stroked his beard, looking kindly, smiling like the kind old grandpa next door, "I never thought I'd live to see the day to stand face-to-face with someone from the outside and have a calm conversation."

"Though I came from the outside, I'm not a Raider. The Village Chief really has no reason to treat me as an enemy," Qin Yi laughed.

"Yes, Village Chief, Qin Yi has a high cultivation and even saved us," Cang Ziming vouched for Qin Yi.

The Village Chief laughed heartily and said, "I know, that's why I didn't use a cane to chase people away."

Cang Ziming murmured, "Do you even have a cane?"

Qin Yi couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The Village Chief glared at Cang Ziming, who scratched his head awkwardly.

"Village Chief, it's our first meeting, and I don't have much to offer you," Qin Yi turned and pointed at Bai Jingqing standing behind, "She was with those Raiders."

The Village Chief, Cang Ziming, and even Bai Jingqing herself were all dumbfounded.

"Village Chief, Qin Yi is joking," Cang Ziming laughed.

Qin Yi was completely serious, "I'm not joking, this woman is indeed with those Raiders. All the female Raiders who came in before were from her Baihua Pavilion."

The Village Chief and Cang Ziming frowned, looking at Bai Jingqing.

"He's right, before those who came were indeed people from my Baihua Pavilion," Bai Jingqing glared at Qin Yi and said.

Qin Yi laughed, "See, I wasn't lying, right?"

The old Village Chief and Cang Ziming looked at Bai Jingqing with uncertain expressions, then back at Qin Yi. What was he playing at? Weren't these two on the same side?

"Village Chief, Old Cang, I snuck in by myself. Those Raiders are all from the Five Great Families, I'm not, I have a grudge against them."

The Village Chief looked at Qin Yi, puzzled, "What do you mean by this?"

Qin Yi smiled warmly and said, "Village Chief, it's like this. My wife particularly likes osmanthus trees, and these are quite nice. How about I trade this woman for your two osmanthus trees?"

The Village Chief: "..."

"Qin Yi, are you crazy?" Bai Jingqing was furious, this guy dared to trade her for two measly trees.

Cang Ziming was stunned, trading such a stunning beauty for two crooked trees that are too short to hang from? Was there something wrong with Qin Yi's head?

Bai Jingqing glared fiercely at Qin Yi, then earnestly told the Village Chief, "Village Chief, I am indeed from the Five Great Families, but I never intended to harm anyone here. I came here purely seeking opportunities."

The Village Chief glanced at Qin Yi, then suddenly laughed, "You're losing out too much, these Silver Money Trees aren't rare; they're everywhere on the hillside."

"Uh..." Qin Yi was stunned, then said, "Then I take it back."

"Qin Yi, don't push it too far," Bai Jingqing's face darkened with anger, how dare he treat her like this?

The old Village Chief shook his head helplessly and laughed, "Stop standing at the door, come in and chat."

Qin Yi casually tossed an empty bowl, cleaned of venison, to Cang Ziming while following the Village Chief inside and said to Bai Jingqing, "It's not me pushing it. In my eyes, the people from your Five Great Families aren't worth much. If you can trade for two osmanthus trees that my wife likes, it's your good fortune, and you should be grateful."

"Right, isn't this sort of talk what you self-styled paragons often say? You regard us as ants, yet you don't realize you're not even as good as ants."

Bai Jingqing's face turned ashen, her jade-like hand repeatedly clenching the sword hilt, wishing to cut Qin Yi down.

"Miss Bai, please proceed inside," Cang Ziming advised with trepidation.

These words allowed Bai Jingqing a graceful exit, and she let go of the sword with a cold hum, following him inside.

The courtyard wasn't big, the walls not high, with no fruit trees or vegetables inside, just some rare exotic flowers and plants from the outside world.

"Please have a seat, I'll make tea for you. Ziming, come and help me with the teacups."

There was a stone table and chairs against the courtyard wall, and Qin Yi walked over and sat down.

Bai Jingqing followed, glanced at Qin Yi, and said indifferently, "The old Village Chief doesn't trust you."

"Nor does he trust you," Qin Yi chuckled.

"I never expected them to trust me. In their eyes, I'm just a Raider. If not for you, I wouldn't have met them."

Qin Yi laughed, "Quite self-aware, realizing your own disgraceful position?"

"Your background isn't much better, isn't it? You came here for resources too, right?" Bai Jingqing retorted.

"Correct, so we're both like crows sitting on a pig, neither should mock the other for being black."

Bai Jingqing's lips twitched, "You're the crow, the pig, men are all crows, and crows under the sky are all the same black."

Qin Yi rolled his eyes and sneered, "Do you think I care about your evaluation of me? What's important is that, in the eyes of my wife, I'm a great hero."

"Someone like you even has a wife? You must have kidnapped her, right?" Bai Jingqing sneered.

Qin Yi: "..."

"Dog Not Cared For."

Bai Jingqing was puzzled, "What is Dog Not Cared For? A bun?"

"You're dreaming, everyone loves buns. Don't flatter yourself. Calling you Dog Not Cared For is because single men are called stray dogs, and a woman like you, who nobody cares about, is called Dog Not Cared For. This was a saying by Yiyi..." Qin Yi suddenly stopped speaking.

Every time he thought of Duan Yiyi, his heart felt as if it was being gripped tightly, the pain making it hard to breathe.

Bai Jingqing wanted to mock him a few times, but her whole body shuddered slightly. She suddenly saw a heart-wrenching sorrow in Qin Yi's eyes. What had he experienced to have such a sorrowful and mournful gaze?

Qin Yi had risen to fame, known by everyone. The most common evaluations of him were ruthless, decisive in killing, cunning, and other derogatory terms. However, should someone like that not have a heart as hard as a stone? Why did he show such an expression?

"I think we should leave here, the Village Chief doesn't trust you. After all, we're outsiders," Bai Jingqing unconsciously softened her tone as she opened her mouth to remind him.

Qin Yi's lips curled slightly, reining in the grief in his heart, he said indifferently, "Doesn't matter, when have I ever cared about others' opinions? Trust or not lies with them, what I do depends on me."

He wasn't a fool; the Village Chief used the excuse of making tea to call away Cang Ziming, definitely intending to probe about him from Cang Ziming.