The Deserted Village

"Every star is a deity that influences all things in the world."

"Cultivation depends even more on the stars, but thirteen years ago, the first star in history fell into the sea of the mortal world..."

"Nowadays, the stars are severely polluted, and none of them are normal. This also means that there are problems with the source of cultivation for cultivators, and the process of cultivation is accompanied by ominous signs..."

Under the bright sunshine, there was a village nestled against the hills, palm-sized in area.

Under an old locust tree in the village.

The old man smoked a dry pipe while solemnly telling the taboos of cultivation.

At this moment, the old man was particularly earnest, "Ning lad, we are already fortunate enough to live an ordinary life in this remote village. You should stop thinking about cultivation."

Following his gaze,

Among the crowd was a teenager in plain silk clothes.

The teenager named Ning Ming was about thirteen years old. He had a slender figure and still had a childish look on his face. But his eyes were full of liveliness.

Under everyone's gaze, Ning Ming's eyes drooped slightly, as if sighing.

After the old man left,

The children around him rushed over very quickly.

"The Liu master in town recently married a demon bride, but he died in bed the next day with all the flesh in his belly eaten up..."

"Also, it is said that a monk in the Qingxuan Mountain temple saw the Buddha statue reveal an eerie smile at night. It really scares people to death!"

Everyone chimed in with their own story.

The outside world was like a demon's den and hell, and no one dared to leave the village.

A boy with a head as large as a watermelon said seriously, "Big brother Ning, Uncle Li is right."

"Big brother Ning...I'll give you all my cornbread in the future, so don't think about leaving, okay?"

A little girl in a floral dress also pulled Ning Ming's hand and swung it slowly.

The little girl named Xiao Ying had a soft voice that made people's hearts ache.

But her eyes seemed unable to see clearly, with blurry pupils devoid of light.

Or rather, the children in this village, apart from the teenager Ning Ming, all had...some defects.

"Time for class!"

At this moment, the village tutor shouted.

Everyone immediately walked towards the private school.

"Big brother Ning?"

Someone looked at Ning Ming in confusion as he was walking in the other direction.

...

...

The clear and limpid stream was like silk.

The sky was vast, and the breeze was gentle, giving a sense of openness.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A round pebble made several splashes.

Lying on the grass, the teenager watched this scene, but was not in a good mood.

Thoughts surged in his mind again...

"It's too difficult, really too difficult!"

Ning Ming felt a sense of physical exhaustion and continued to try, "System? System dad? System grandpa?"

No response.

After a long time, Ning Ming sighed, stretched out his arms as if trying to touch the sky, and eventually let them fall powerlessly.

He had been in this strange cultivation world for thirteen years...

Thirteen years!

Ning Ming suddenly jumped up and cursed at the sky, "Damn heaven, where did you hide my golden finger?"

This was a remote mountain village with no entertainment.

He had lived in this remote village since childhood and had never been out.

And in this world, demons and monsters ran rampant, with bizarre supernatural events often occurring nearby.

Even if the old people in the village kept saying that cultivation was terrifying and full of taboos and bad omens, he still yearned for it!

He was still one of the transmigrators after all. Since this world allowed cultivation, he must try flying on a sword.

"It would be great to have a cultivation method, but unfortunately everyone in the village is keeping secrets."

Thinking this,

Ning Ming suddenly looked towards the village.

The village was small with less than thirty people including children. The men worked in the fields, the women wove clothes at home, and life was plain without natural disasters or man-made troubles.

This village was unusual, Ning Ming realized it very early on.

The most memorable thing was:

When he first transmigrated to this world, Ning Ming had just opened his eyes to find himself a baby in swaddling clothes, while also being held in a man's arms.

That man was Ning Lame, who the villagers talked about.

He held Ning Ming and ran faster than a missile, seemingly crossing vast mountains and plains in the blink of an eye as a shooting star.

Ning Lame seemed to be racing against the dusk, and found this secluded village in the belly of the mountains before night fell.

At that time, the people in the village were like ferocious beasts.

They stood at the village entrance, looking at Ning Lame with cold eyes, "Night has fallen. You are a stranger, please leave."

Ning Lame knelt down with a "bang" at the village entrance, holding the baby in swaddling clothes, begging the villagers to keep this child...

"Big brother Ning!"

At this moment, a call interrupted Ning Ming's thoughts.

"Uncle Lin?"

Ning Ming looked back.

On the grass behind him, a middle-aged man in linen clothes walked over, "Why are you alone here?"

The middle-aged man named Lin Zuodao was the father of the blind little girl.

With one hand holding a hoe and the other holding two plump rabbits, he looked no different from an ordinary farming man.

"I just caught two rabbits, how about coming to my house to try them later?"

Lin Zuodao raised the rabbits in his hand and showed the hearty smile typical of rural men.

But before Ning Ming could speak,

Lin Zuodao immediately changed his tone, "I heard that you want to leave the village recently?"

Ning Ming threw a stone into the river, his voice muffled, "As the ancients said, there is not only the present meager existence, but also the distant meager existence."

Lin Zuodao felt this sentence was a bit strange when carefully considered.

But he did not delve further, only saying, "Ning lad, you've been smart since you were little, you should know we won't lie to you. The outside world is dangerous, and cultivators are not as good as you imagine."

Ning Ming looked at the mud on Lin Zuodao's trousers, and suddenly said, "Uncle Lin, do you know about cultivators?"

Lin Zuodao laughed, "I'm just a farmer, what do I know about cultivation? I heard it from people in town."

Alright, he was playing dumb again.

Ning Ming was helpless.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the village entrance, as if something had happened.

Ning Ming looked over in surprise, "What's going on at the village entrance?"

Lin Zuodao said, "It's nothing, just some outsiders."

"Outsiders?" Ning Ming's expression changed slightly.

Seeing Ning Ming's expression, Lin Zuodao sighed inwardly. Outwardly he said, "If you want to take a look, then go ahead. I heard there's a pretty girl among them."

"Really?"

Ning Ming exclaimed in surprise.

"I have good eyes, that girl is definitely pretty enough." Lin Zuodao pretended to be angry, "Let me tell you, since you were little, when has Uncle Lin ever lied to you?"

Hearing this, Ning Ming frowned.

This seemingly ordinary farmer often played dumb. He had lied to Ning Ming countless times, and must know about cultivation!

When Ning Lame first brought Ning Ming to live in the village,

One day, Lin Zuodao appeared in the house inexplicably, staring at Ning Ming, scaring Ning Lame to almost attack.

At that time, Lin Zuodao only said two sentences to Ning Lame, "You came from the Divine Capital. This child is not your progeny."

Ning Lame only pursed his lips tightly without a word.

Then Lin Zuodao disappeared, leaving one last sentence, "You won't live long, and this child will die soon too."

Soon after, Ning Lame really died.

But Ning Ming survived.

At that time, Lin Zuodao was the first to enter the house and held the baby next to the corpse in his arms.

...

...

The sun gradually went down as dusk approached, and the tone of heaven and earth was somewhat depressing.

At the village entrance,

A group of young men and women in luxurious clothes and elegant temperament were negotiating with Old Man Li, the village chief.

Old Man Li hunched his back and kept nodding, very humble in attitude.

Around them, villagers were watching the lively scene, seemingly very common.

When Ning Ming arrived, he immediately saw those outsiders and was slightly surprised.

Three men and one woman.

Among them, the woman was the most eye-catching.

This woman was about twenty years old, wearing a white gauze dress. Her figure was graceful, and from afar she was like a beautiful landscape, as if a lotus flower coming out of the mud without being stained.

Ning Ming's eyes lit up, "I've finally seen a beauty in this world."

This girl was blessed with good looks. Her skin was as fair as snow, her features were exquisite, and she had a natural aura of purity and innocence far exceeding that of the plastic surgery addicts of the previous life.

Ning Ming couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster.

In this village, apart from girls under ten, there were only women over forty. Their daily toil had made their skin as coarse as the yellow earth.

How could they compare to such a delicate young lady?

"What are you looking at? Do you want to run off with her?"

Not far away, the older women were twisting their husbands' ears, angry as mother hippos. "Do you think I'm not pretty enough?"

"My name is Chen Jianjia. Thank you, village chief Li, for giving me shelter tonight."

The girl in white suddenly spoke.

A beauty's name was as melodious as her looks, and her voice was just as pleasing.

This was Ning Ming's conclusion about the laws of nature.

Old man Li suddenly beckoned Ning Ming over. "Ning, my boy, this traveler wants to spend the night in our village. Why don't you take her in?"

It was worth noting that although Ning Ming was young, he helped look after the children of the village. So most villagers addressed him as "Brother Ning".

"Really?"

Ning Ming was very surprised.

First he looked at the fairy-like beauty in white, then back at old man Li.

Didn't the village chief usually forbid him from interacting with outsiders?

Just then,

a tall, slender man in black robes glanced at Ning Ming.

Instantly, Ning Ming felt a prickling sensation, shocked inwardly.

These outsiders were surely not simple folk...

On the other side, a man in blue robes murmured, "Junior sister, there is something odd about this village."

"It's fine,"

the girl called Chen Jianjia shook her head. "It's too dangerous to spend the night outside. I've scanned these people with Aura Observation Technique. There's nothing out of the ordinary."

"My name is Ning Ming. My home is just ahead,"

Ning Ming stepped forward at this time, a look of innocence on his face.

Chen Jianjia glanced at Ning Ming. He was just a boy, nothing to worry about.

As nightfall approached, the travelers seemed eager to avoid the coming darkness. They quickened their pace and followed Ning Ming into the depths of the village.

After they had left, the villagers gathered around village chief Li.

A middle-aged woman looked worried. "Village chief, will Brother Ning be okay tonight?"

She watched Ning Ming's retreating back as if it were her own child's.

After all, she had watched him grow up before her eyes all these years.

"Brother Ning is not as simple as you think,"

Old man Li took a long drag from his pipe. "He's been clever since childhood. I'd say he already sees through some of our acts."

"Why not let him get a taste of how terrifying cultivators can be. When he's older, he may even try to sneak out on his own."

As he spoke, old man Li blew out a long stream of smoke.

Lin Zuodao stayed silent, eyes fixed on the figure beside Ning Ming, gaze intent.

Suddenly, Lin Zuodao spoke. "If Ning Ming can safely get through this night... then let him cultivate. We'll find him a decent star. This much is inevitable."

Silence descended on the village after he finished speaking.

Old man Li took a deep drag from his pipe, as if coming to a difficult decision after much deliberation. Finally, he said,

"When the time comes, I will be the one to teach him."

On hearing this, the villagers reacted as if they had heard something unbelievable.

And as these words were uttered,

the sun finally sank beneath the horizon, the last ray of light vanishing.

Darkness, like a giant maw, swiftly swallowed the world...

Night had arrived.