Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 44 Strange Tales of Peach Blossom Village

"Oh, Immortal, please don't misunderstand. Lord Bai has no interest in fame or fortune..."

Officer Bai quickly explained.

"When I came down the mountain, one of my father's close friends had just passed the imperial examination and was appointed as the magistrate of Linxi County. Hearing that Lord Bai had returned from seeking immortality, he asked him to come and make offerings to ensure peace in the area."

“Whenever the people are in urgent need of help and the county magistrate is overwhelmed with other matters, Lord Bai will lend a hand.”

Speaking of Lord Bai, the young constable's face was full of pride.

"Your master?"

"That's right. To be honest, you two immortals, I am from the same branch as Lord Bai, but I am born out of wedlock."

"Back when Lord Bai was seeking immortality in the mountains, I was a servant boy sent by the Bai family of Qinggu to serve him. Later, I went down the mountain with Lord Bai and witnessed the grandeur of the sect."

"I see."

As they spoke, Officer Bai led him to a small mansion. A plaque hung in front of the gate, bearing the words "Bai Mansion" in gentle, slender handwriting.

The house was very ordinary, even smaller than the typical mansion of a local gentry or wealthy man. Some of the walls and roof tiles were mottled, and it looked like it hadn't been repaired for many years.

"This is Lord Bai's residence. He does not like mansions and luxury cars, so his residence is not spacious. Please do not take offense, you two immortals."

Song Yan now has a great deal of goodwill towards this Lord Bai whom she has never met.

He is neither greedy for money nor does he curry favor with the powerful. He is busy handling affairs all day long. He is truly a kind-hearted devotee who only wants to maintain peace in the region.

"Please wait here for a moment, esteemed immortals. I have already sent my men to inform Lord Bai of the matter before we arrived."

Along the way, there were very few servants in the house.

Officer Bai led them into the reception hall and ordered his servants to brew them a pot of tea.

He was unfamiliar with tea ceremony and didn't know how to appreciate tea; he simply gulped down two mouthfuls.

Qin Ying neither drank the tea nor spoke, but held a talisman in her hand and looked at it repeatedly.

Song Yan looked at it and it seemed to be a talisman.

"Does Officer Bai know anything about Peach Blossom Village?"

After a moment's hesitation, he decided to ask the constable first.

"This... the master told me that Peach Blossom Village has become a dead village since some time ago. People go in, but no one comes out."

Bai Lei recounted everything he knew about Peach Blossom Village.

However, he didn't know much; it was all stuff that Song Yan already knew. His gaze wandered around the reception room.

To the left of the entrance, there is a simple-looking wooden cabinet, but with exquisite decoration and arrangement, on which are some collectibles.

Song Yan thought to himself, "This senior brother Bai Zimo, whom I've never met before, has quite the refined taste."

The visiting guest was sitting here and could see Bai Zimo and the entire row of collections behind him.

Celadon, clay figurines, wood carvings, paper figures...

"?"

Paper figure?

Song Yan's gaze was fixed on the paper figures neatly arranged on the cabinet, and a sense of familiarity arose in his heart.

This little paper figure...

How come it looks so much like the paper figures that appeared after he killed the three demonic cultivators outside Shiliang Town...

His doubts were dispelled.

These paper figures are actually quite common; it seems they originated as a cultural feature of Changping Prefecture in Chenzhou.

It couldn't possibly be something belonging to a demonic cultivator, displayed so openly here.

and……

Are you kidding me?
The person sitting next to him now is a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator!
Even if that so-called Xinshan Sanren himself came, so what?
Song Yan knew very well that if it weren't for the burden of outer disciples like himself and Li Qingfeng, Qin Ying, who was at the Foundation Establishment stage, might have already completed the mission and was on his way back to the sect.

The Foundation Establishment disciples of the six major sects can easily defeat other Foundation Establishment cultivators at the same level, unless they encounter a prodigy of the same level.

Since Senior Sister Qin didn't say anything, there must be no problem.

"..."

Song Yan remained silent, and Officer Bai, thinking he wanted to hear more, continued speaking.

"Oh, actually, it's not that no one came out alive. There was one, but he..." "Oh? Where is that person now?"

"This... I don't know. Perhaps we should wait until you return to your residence and let him explain it to you in detail."

"Alright."

"No need."

Qin Ying suddenly spoke up: "Junior Brother Li has arrived. Let's not delay and set off immediately."

"Uh...that's fine."

Bai Lei was taken aback, but he didn't say anything. These people were all immortals, so he had no right to speak. When Lord Bai arrived, he would explain.

The two walked out of the Bai residence and saw a constable leading the chubby junior brother Li Qingfeng over.

"Let's go."

"Hehe." Li Qingfeng wiped away his sweat and grinned at Song Yan, "I'm exhausted."

It's quite rare for someone who cultivates immortality to sweat easily.

Qin Ying continued, "A month ago, when I first received news of the strange occurrences at Peach Blossom Village, the sect judged it to be a trivial matter, so I sent Junior Sister Gu Qingqing from the peak here alone."

"She hasn't returned for half a month, yet her talisman remains unharmed. I assumed that my junior sister was still playful, or perhaps she was taking this opportunity to return home to visit her family."

"But now more than a month has passed, and he still hasn't returned."

"?"

Song Yan and Li Qingfeng looked at each other in bewilderment.

That's no small thing.

If the life talisman is intact, the lamp spirit is not extinguished, and there is no reason for it not to return to the sect, it means that either it is trapped somewhere or it has defected from the sect.

Even disciples who have no hope of achieving the Great Dao and have given up cultivation still need to complete many tasks within the sect before leaving the mountain.

"No wonder..."

No wonder Qin Ying acted somewhat hastily before. Song Yan thought that the sect had sent her to lead two outer disciples and she was impatient. It turned out that she was worried about her fellow disciple.

Li Qingfeng asked, "But Senior Sister, can't the Fate Talisman be used for tracking?"

Qin Ying shook his head: "Junior Sister Qingqing has a spirit-sealing treasure. If her life is in danger, activating the treasure can completely seal her spiritual energy and even her life force."

"Although the talisman is not broken, it is no longer possible to find the location of Junior Sister Qingqing on it."

"It seems that he had already encountered a life-threatening situation, and the sealing spirit treasure has been activated."

As they spoke, the three of them had already left Linxi County.

Qin Ying summoned his flying sword and leaped onto it alone.

"You two go to Peach Blossom Village first. I will go to several nearby places to check for any trace of my junior sister. We will meet up outside Peach Blossom Village in a short while."

"Yes, senior sister."

In fact, not only Song Yan and Li Qingfeng, but Qin Ying also had many questions about this mission.

However, it seemed that the root of everything lay in this dead-end village, Peach Blossom Village. To avoid overlooking anything, she decided to explore the area alone.

Taohuawu is a village under the jurisdiction of Linxi County, named for the peach trees planted along its riverbank.

Song Yan and Li Qingfeng stood at the entrance of the official road, with the words "Peach Blossom Village" engraved in bright red on a stone tablet beside them.

"Hey? Senior Brother Song, look over there..."

"..."

On the back of that stone tablet, there seemed to be a figure lying there.

The two exchanged a glance and walked over together.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the man was dressed in rags, with disheveled hair and a body covered in dried, cracked mud.

He was a beggar...

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(End of this chapter)