"… This morning, the highest level issued an order. Putuo Temple and Qingyu Taoist Temple were found to be poorly managed, so they were ordered to close their mountain gates for rectification. In add...To be honest, I don't remember that well.

But when Mu Wanchen mentioned the three words "Youfang Pond," I had a vague memory of it.

Previously, that man from the Si clan who tried to kidnap and bully me claimed that Mu Wanchen threw him into Youfang Lake, leaving his body mangled.

"The Youfang Pond is actually a medicinal spring, but what's different about it is that the medicine here is all poison... It's a place where poison is used to counteract poison."

"Because the Wu Clan is skilled in using poisons, it's inevitable that they will sometimes harm themselves. This requires using poison to counter poison, to suppress their own toxicity or dissolve it."

Si Huang was injured and fell into the Yin-Yang Well. Under her weakened Gu worm's condition, she was wounded by Yin poison and might seek treatment at Youfang Lake. We'll go back later to see for ourselves.

Huh Us

"Me too I thought you were going to leave me behind again and go yourself."

Mu Wanchen faintly hooked his lips and smiled: "When there's danger, of course you should stay at the back. When there's no danger, I can naturally take you wherever I want."

"Hey, I remember what you said: 'Take me with you wherever you go.'" I purposely wiped out the first half.

"If you want to go, you can go now." Mu Wanchen pondered for a moment: "By the way, I'll take you to see the location of the tomb."

"Ah!"

I scratched my head a little awkwardly: “You gave me the seal as a key, right I left it at home... Also, the beads Si Huang gave me, I put them in my pouch, but Ms. Xue took it away... She probably doesn't know what they do.”

I never expected that your mother would be a descendant of the people within the Fa Men, but such cases are not uncommon. Most descendants are no different from ordinary people.

“That old woman who escaped from the legal teachings is still around! Back when she was young, she had a feud with the Dragon King. Don’t look at her age, she’s still pretty fierce… I don’t know what they’re trying to do. Since they’ve escaped the legal teachings for so many years, what treasure are they still looking for” I frowned deeply, unable to understand what these two women wanted.

“People always have desires. Even the most mediocre person in this world will want something.” Mu Wanchen frowned. “After hearing about their situation, I really want to see that so-called ‘village.’”

"They're all 'crazy people' in there," I said, waving my hands in alarm. "They don't sever the karmic ties; they just confine these people within a magical formation, preventing the spirits from leaving and the humans from living or dying."

The world is full of strange things, and this is the first time I've ever heard of such a place. To outsiders, it might look like a gathering place for people with mental illnesses—like a leper colony.

Those who escaped from the temple live among ordinary people, and it is difficult for their bloodline to be passed down. For example, I myself don't have any special abilities at all.

This is probably also the reason why the members of the witch clan are reluctant to leave Fa Men.

It feels like the only choices for my tribe are extinction or becoming ordinary people. It seems that's all Heaven has offered us.

Of course, in my opinion, there's nothing wrong with being an ordinary person. As the Emperor said, after accomplishing one's goals, one should retire and let nature take its course.

Some glory is best left in legend.

The era when a powerful shaman held the reins of state power is gone for good.

During the few days that Mu Wanchen and I spent in this small building, I got a taste of what it's like to steal half a day of leisure from life.

Before, I was a complete layabout every day. Now, I have to worry about the food, clothing, housing, and transportation of so many people. I myself can't believe it.

"...So you see, money talks. Otherwise, where would I get all this food and clothing" I sat next to Mu Wanchen, scrolling through my phone.

Food, clothing, medicine, and even lightweight steel structure panels, I have learned all kinds of knowledge these days.

"Yes, Little Princess, you are as wise as ever." Mu Wanchen looked at me with amusement. "But looking at the way you hold your phone, you look just like a squirrel holding a hazelnut."

What kind of metaphor is this...

It's very convenient to eat here, as there are restaurants on the first floor. After the Lantern Festival, the number of tourists here gradually decreases.

This period between the end of the year and New Year's Eve is a slow season, but the time around the Lunar New Year holiday and the Lantern Festival is peak season.

Since there were fewer people around now, Mu and I had more freedom to move about. We initially planned to go for a walk, but we were stopped by a middle-aged man as soon as we reached the first floor.

"Someone died in the next-door house, they died a violent death. It's such bad luck... We have to lock our doors and stay home for a few days." he said with a frown.

"Why are we shutting ourselves in" I asked, puzzled.

“Our customs here require us to keep a body at home for three days, inviting priests and village elders to see it off… It’s nothing if someone dies of old age naturally, but for those who die unexpectedly, we keep them at home for three days. Ugh…” He looked disgusted and appalled.

“For our grave robbers, blood qi is the most frightening thing. Back in the old days, if we encountered a place where a battle had just taken place on our way to collect corpses, we either had to take a long detour or dismember the body on the spot and transport it away... Blood qi can easily cause corpse transformation…”

I'm a little uncomfortable too, but...

"During the peaceful Reign of Taiping, many people died unexpectedly every day, but there wasn't much trouble about it." I comforted.

He shook his head and whispered, “Others don’t know, do you not know In our area, corpses are nothing unusual. Have you forgotten the water ghost who pushed the boat”

Wouldn't that be very dangerous

“But I can’t say it openly! Many people here don’t know about these things at all. The few elders who do know are only trying their best to avoid accidents in secret. We have to let them perform the wake, after all. I heard they’ve already invited a master Taoist priest, he should arrive tonight. Let’s just shut ourselves in and wait this out.”

Alas, we can't go out, so we can only sit in the lobby on the first floor. The middle-aged man asked the chef to fry some dishes and make a hot pot for us to eat together.

The master of the neighboring house had a son who was not upright in his conduct. This earthquake shook half the country, leaving everyone deeply moved. However, this young man did not cherish life at all; he took his girlfriend out to the suburbs for thrills in his car.

And he still drove to those secluded places, and ended up being blocked by a landslide on a mountain road. When he got out of the car to check, a pebble fell from the cliff above him.

"It hit him straight in the head, so freaking freaky. They said his brains were all over the place. His girlfriend was terrified and called the police, but the signal was terrible there, way too remote..."

So some things are really self-made. Now the man's wife sued this woman, saying she instigated the man to meet in that desolate place and have a tryst, which resulted in an accident.

“According to the current social trend, that woman probably won't go to jail, but she will have to pay a lot of money. The man's wife said that his parents spoiled him and didn't discipline him, turned a blind eye to him raising another woman outside, and hoped for a son. She said they treated their daughter poorly because she wasn't a boy... In short, now the whole family is in chaos and arguing.”

Good heavens, what a commotion!

“Hey, little beauty, don’t you believe it, these common folk, peddlers and hawkers, are just like this… Sometimes, people just need to stand up for themselves. When they get angry, they start throwing tantrums, blaming each other, swearing at each other, lying through their teeth, exaggerating everything. In short, they think they’re always right, and everyone else is wrong.” The middle-aged man pulled out a cigarette.

He was about to light it when he suddenly grinned wickedly, his eyes fixed on me. "Oh my, oh my, I almost forgot that smoking in front of you is not allowed,"d be equal. Their food, clothing, and everything else followed the same standards.I don't have high expectations for material things. Give me some delicious food, and I could eat two bowls of rice, ev...