The Village of the Unusual

"Let us cancel today's banquet."

On the fourth day, Zheng Zhaoling declined the God of Yunze's face-to-face invitation.

"Is there a performance you find displeasing?" The God of Yunze's eyes rippled with emotion, its expression appearing somewhat wronged.

Zheng Zhaoling gently shook her head. Looking at the slightly surprised God of Yunze, she added,

"I came here under the orders of my sect, bearing a mission. To constantly indulge in banquets is unjustifiable both emotionally and logically within the sect, so I hope you can understand."

The God of Yunze lowered its gaze, its voice soft:

"If you had a mission, you could have told me earlier. Yunmengze will naturally help Yunmeng Pavilion resolve its troubles. Whatever the matter, just give the word, and everyone in Yunmengze will follow your orders."

"I already stated my mission before—it is merely to patrol and inspect." Zheng Zhaoling said calmly. "I came alone this time, so naturally, I must carry out the inspection myself."

"I will not attend any of the subsequent banquets. If I need assistance, I will not hesitate to ask."

Hearing this, the God of Yunze did not say much more. It nodded gently and said,

"In that case, I will not delay your mission."

Pausing for a moment, the God of Yunze emphasized,

"After all, Yunmengze belongs to Yunmeng Pavilion. To speak candidly, we can be considered half-demons of Yunmeng Pavilion."

Zheng Zhaoling revealed a knowing smile. She nodded gently, bowed with folded hands, and turned to leave.

It seemed she understood what the God of Yunze wanted to emphasize.

The God of Yunze did not speak further, merely watching Zheng Zhaoling's valiant departing figure.

Until Zheng Zhaoling's silhouette completely vanished.

The God of Yunmeng's expression slowly returned to calm, and its previously emotional eyes turned cold and ruthless.

After a moment, it whispered,

"Has everyone been notified?"

"They have all been notified," a demon answered from outside the door.

This was the cave dwelling of the God of Yunze, so naturally, those serving in the core area were demons.

The God of Yunze gently shook its long sleeves and sighed softly,

"This is what it is like to depend on others. I just hope this generation's core disciple is sensible."

After these words fell, no demon dared to reply.

Zheng Zhaoling raised her gaze, sweeping across the mist-shrouded Yunmengze.

She had given the God of Yunmeng enough face. If things truly reached the point of a falling out, she would at least have an explanation for the sect.

After all, practically speaking, the God of Yunmeng was not yet qualified to demand an explanation from her.

Chu Xingchen's words were quite threatening and enticing, and Zheng Zhaoling naturally simplified them and reported them back.

On the surface, it seemed he was using threats and promises to force her to investigate Yunmengze.

Because the threatening words were too direct, altering them would seem strange and somewhat meaningless.

But if one were to delve deeper, perhaps this was a final ultimatum from Chu Xingchen.

The deeds of executing punishment on behalf of heaven were simply too outrageous and dazzling. It was not just about communicating with the Heavenly Dao, but rather how many peak Tribulation Crossing cultivators in this world were trapped by the heavenly tribulation.

If Yunmeng Pavilion really wanted to clash with Chu Xingchen, they naturally had to weigh the gains and losses.

Practically speaking, if Chu Xingchen truly chose to suppress Yunmengze, Yunmeng Pavilion might not actually send someone to respond.

In short, even if Chu Xingchen was speaking nonsense, no one dared to take his nonsense lightly.

Zheng Zhaoling cleared her mind for a moment and began to carefully recall the intelligence provided by the resident elders sent by Yunmeng Pavilion when she first arrived.

They might have conflicts of interest with the God of Yunmeng, but in the face of the sect's major principles, they still distinguished things clearly. After all, they still had to return to Yunmeng Pavilion.

Although the resident elders did not interfere with Yunmengze's internal operations, gathering intelligence was their duty.

The information was complex, but the real distinction lay in what the sect elders specifically mentioned—the Nascent Soul and Soul Formation stage demons trading with unknown outside cultivators.

After a moment of thought, Zheng Zhaoling formed a rough action plan.

However, she was not going to head straight for the intelligence locations right now.

Zheng Zhaoling chose to first observe the scattered villages within Yunmengze.

Firstly, heading straight to the key points made it easier to find nothing at all.

Secondly, the words "hunger and cold" were not something evil cultivators and those demons could feel.

Regardless of what kind of person Chu Xingchen truly was, since she had made a promise, she ultimately had to fulfill it.

In the following days.

Zheng Zhaoling did not deliberately hide all her tracks.

Although the current Yunmengze was not as large as before, it was still not small, and there were quite a few villages of various sizes.

Zheng Zhaoling did not observe them in any particular order, but randomly visited certain villages to observe.

The time she spent varied.

Sometimes she would conceal herself, standing in the forest to observe how the villagers lived.

What the so-called incense divine path process was like, and what impact it actually had on mortals' lives.

Sometimes she would reveal her true form, stroll through the villages, visit the shrines in person, and chat casually with the villagers.

The answers she received were almost universally consistent.

Offering to the shrines was voluntary, and the gods they believed in voluntarily protected them. Everything here was fine, with occasional minor shortcomings that were acceptable—especially compared to the flames of war outside Yunmengze.

The time spent was long or short, but the journey was very smooth.

Perhaps this had to do with her not hiding her tracks, allowing certain demons to prepare and instruct people on how to answer.

These people might know her general identity, but no one was willing to speak the truth.

Yunmengze had been like this for a thousand years. From their grandfathers to them, the rules had always been the same.

Someone from above might have come, but how could they know if anything would really change, or if the chief evildoers would truly be punished?

If she really was such an important figure, why would she stay in Yunmengze forever?

If everything returned to normal after she left, who would stand up for them then?

Zheng Zhaoling was willing to understand. She had not done anything yet, so expecting others to bare their hearts to her was simply a fantasy.

She acted like a recorder, not asking about the intricate details, just passing through one village after another like a fleeting glance.

Until the twenty-sixth day.

In front of Huaze Village.

Zheng Zhaoling stopped in her tracks. She looked with confusion at the unusually new plaque and village gate, as well as the completely different atmosphere inside the village.

According to the records, Huaze Village was just a small settlement with a population of about a hundred households.

Zheng Zhaoling looked around. The current scale should be at least three hundred households, if not more.

Moreover, there were many people building new houses inside, and almost all the houses on the outskirts were new.

She gazed into the distance. A little further away were large fields that had been reclaimed, and many people could be seen working hard in them.

Compared to the puppet-like villages from before.

The village before her eyes seemed to have come alive.

Did they prepare this for her to see, or had a strange anomaly truly appeared?

Zheng Zhaoling did not overthink it, as seeing is believing.

She merely concealed her figure and stepped into this extremely anomalous place.

The village named Huaze Village.