The Troubles of Xiushui Village

Who knew what kind of trouble the three elders of Sanxiang Peak had stirred up before the Peak Master while he was away?

The Grand Elder had been attempting to break through to the Deity Transformation realm for many years. Now that it was clear he had no hope of succeeding and that his lifespan was nearing its end, the ambitious Third Elder had begun eyeing his position.

The Third Elder really ought to ask himself why he was only the third!

“Enough. Let’s get moving. According to Wan Wantong’s intelligence, we should be almost out.”

As Yao Yuchang voiced his reassurance to the others, he continued mulling over his own private concerns.

Aside from spirit-devouring beasts, only one kind of black grass grew in the Spiritless Land.

The ground was covered entirely in gray-white stones and dust.

As they walked onward, their feet pressing into the powder with every step, a series of shallow footprints appeared across the gray-white earth.

Several people who were displeased with He Yi glared at him, but he paid them no mind. Just as he had throughout the journey, he brought up the rear, leisurely surveying the scenery around him.

As though there were actually anything worth admiring.

In reality, everywhere he looked was utterly desolate. Not a trace of color hinting at life could be seen.

Even the air seemed veiled in a thin layer of hazy gray gauze.

The sun hung high in the sky, yet the blazing summer sun that would normally scorch the earth appeared here as a ghastly, pallid disc. The sky, which should have been a clear blue, held not the slightest hint of blue.

It, too, was a muddle of gray and white.

The sight was enough to leave anyone feeling uneasy.

The so-called Spiritless Land truly lived up to its name.

He Yi’s gaze seemed to pass casually over the nine people ahead of him, his eyes clear and faintly detached.

Then he quickly turned his attention toward the seemingly endless road ahead.

Originally, this mission was supposed to send one person from each of the nine major sects of the Nine Regions to the mortal world for an investigation. The Northern Spirit Region’s Talisman Sect had its own candidate, so there was no reason for him to come.

Yet he had still found a way to join them.

Thinking of the talisman array he had been studying all these years, He Yi idly wound the strap of the jade pendant at his waist twice around his fingertip, his expression thoughtful.

Time flew.

In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed since the new disciples entered Lingxian Sect.

During those ten days, their lives had been arranged so tightly that there was scarcely a moment to spare.

Even the letters the sect asked them to write home to report their safety—letters the sect would deliver on their behalf according to the addresses provided—had to be written during the brief interval after dinner.

There was simply no other time. Their days were already filled with classes and construction assignments.

Evenings were the rare time they had to settle their minds and study their cultivation techniques in detail.

Moreover, the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall would arrange for senior disciples, other than their instructors, to come and answer their questions.

That time was precious as well and could not be wasted.

Within those ten days, the vast majority of the new disciples had already succeeded in drawing qi into their bodies. Those who had yet to do so were not anxious, thanks to the guidance of their seniors; they simply explored and studied more diligently each day.

Baizhu was among the first group of disciples to succeed in drawing qi into their bodies.

Because he held several responsibilities at once, he was even busier than the others.

Every day, he was the first person to arrive at the Cultivation Hall.

Once there, he would spread out the attendance ledger Liu Yunan had prepared for him, set it aside, and begin cultivating and studying in the morning light.

At night, while the others were writing letters to their families, he would quickly finish dinner. Then, whenever the others had a free moment, he would approach them and collect the names they had come up with. This was the task Liu Yunan had assigned him: naming their mountain peak.

He would collect a dozen or so names each day, then seek out the four people whom everyone regarded as the most prestigious—Master Pei, Liang Zhonghuai, Yuan Jinsheng, and Xuanyuan Haoyue.

The five of them would discuss the names gathered that day, select the better ones to keep, and plan to conduct a final screening once they found the time.

After that, while everyone else relaxed, chatted, or played together, Baizhu would sit alone beneath the sect’s bright lanterns, holding his cultivation manual and studying with complete concentration.

This busy life made him feel deeply fulfilled.

He had no family to whom he could write.

The only person he worried about was the Old Beggar, who had once taken him along while begging for food.

Over the past two years, the Old Beggar had grown old and could no longer walk far while begging. The amount of food he received each day had dwindled to almost nothing.

Most of their lives had been sustained by the meager wages Baizhu earned doing odd jobs outside.

But the Old Beggar was illiterate.

So Baizhu used the small amount of silver included in his disciple’s allowance to buy two sets of clean, coarse-cloth clothing and some coarse-grain steamed buns from Elder Liu. He then asked the sect to send them to the Old Beggar.

Baizhu had considered the matter carefully. The items were not valuable, and with Baizhu’s status as a disciple of Lingxian Sect backing him, they were unlikely to provoke the envy of the other beggars.

He hoped he could reach the requirements for leaving the mountain as soon as possible. That way, he could go down and visit the Old Beggar sooner.

The sect required new disciples to reach the fifth level of Qi Refinement and to be able to use talismans proficiently—to activate one in the blink of an eye—before they would be permitted to leave the mountain.

Furthermore, leaving the mountain was divided into different circumstances.

For private matters, disciples were generally allowed to go down only once a month, and they had to return within a single night at most. Otherwise, they would be punished by the Enforcement Hall.

Naturally, urgent situations involving one’s family were treated differently.

If they were traveling on sect business, however, there were no such restrictions, since they would generally be accompanied by a senior member of the sect.

What Baizhu had not expected was that, before he could reach the sect’s requirements for leaving the mountain, he would receive an opportunity to go down anyway.

It all began with the following incident.

In recent years, the plants around Xiushui Village had been growing increasingly lush.

This was true not only of the crops the villagers planted in their fields, but also of the weeds, wild grasses, and wildflowers.

The villagers did have to work harder to weed their fields, since the weeds grew even faster than the crops. Still, they had no real complaints. As long as they worked a little harder and harvested far more grain, the extra effort was worthwhile.

Yet in places with spiritual energy, it was not only plants that grew larger and more plentiful. The animals multiplied as well.

The hunters of Xiushui Village no longer had any reason to envy the families who worked the land. By relying on hunting, they too had grown prosperous over the past few years.

There was, however, one drawback.

Once summer arrived, the mosquitoes and other insects increased as well.

The first two years had not been too bad. Although there were more insects than before, most families had planted mugwort beside their fields or vegetable gardens. Burning plenty of it at night had driven away seventy or eighty percent of the pests.

But this year, for some unknown reason, there were far more insects than in the previous two years.

They were also exceptionally tenacious. Even dense clouds of mugwort smoke could drive away only a fraction of them.

Summer was already hot, stifling, and dry. On top of that, the constant, infuriating buzzing of mosquitoes filled the air, while their bites left red welts all over the villagers’ bodies. It was almost unbearable.

These days, as soon as dusk fell, nearly every person in Xiushui Village would have a dense, dark swarm of mosquitoes circling above their head.

For a time, the entire village suffered miserably from the plague of insects.