Fairy Eye

"You're so careless, you didn't even realize you were being followed."

The old man withered blood searched the man and found a storage bag, then pulled out a small, yellowish-brown bird with a pointed beak from his bosom.

The little bird fluttered incessantly in the old man's hands, but it couldn't escape no matter what it did.

"This is a Golden-eyed Bird, naturally adept at tracking humans."

Golden-eyed bird.

Han Lin looked at the little bird in the old man's hand, and recalling the scene under the old locust tree at the village entrance, he suddenly understood everything.

He said the bird looked so familiar.

Tang Chuan had a mission back then, which was to steal the eggs of the Golden-eyed Sparrow. On the mission list, there was a simple drawing of a Golden-eyed Sparrow.

Therefore, it is clear that this person is most likely from the Guiyuan Sect.

With a forceful squeeze, the old man with withered blood caused the golden-eyed sparrow in his hand to explode into a cloud of blood mist with a loud bang.

He shook his hand, opened the storage bag to check, and then took out a token from it, "Guiyuan Sect, Shi Jing".

"You've offended someone in the Guiyuan Sect."

"There are some personal grudges, but I really don't recognize this Shi Jing," Han Lin said in a low voice, looking at the token in the old man's hand.

"Just do your quest properly, why are you going out of your way to cause trouble!" The withered old man frowned.

"Does the person you offend have a powerful background?"

"Here's what happened..." Han Lin gave a general account of Zhao Ruiling's situation, implying that it wasn't Zhao Ruiling causing trouble for no reason, but rather that he was forced into it.

"Heh, this is quite interesting. You wanted to curry favor with that Sixth Elder, but you've made an enemy of his disciple. Are you deliberately trying to infuriate me?"

"I will handle this."

"Hmph! That had better be. I won't give you any more time. If I don't see what I want within three years, then you can just wait to die!"

The withered blood monster spoke indifferently, put away the other items in the storage bag, and casually tossed the empty storage bag toward Han Lin.

"I see you don't seem to have a storage bag, you can keep this."

"Yes."

Han Lin grabbed the storage bag and casually stuffed it into his pocket.

He didn't dare to take Zhao Ruiling's storage bag before, mainly because of his status. It would be too conspicuous for a servant like him to have a storage bag.

But now there's no need to worry.

The storage bags all look pretty much the same, so even if someone discovers them, it's no big deal; just say you bought them while traveling.

"Go back now. Come see me again in three years. I also need to leave here for a while to take care of some things." The withered old man waved his hand.

"Yes, this junior will take his leave."

Han Lin bent down slightly, put his straw hat back on, and walked into the darkness.

Half an hour later.

Han Lin reappeared at the entrance of Zhuxi Village, paused slightly, and then walked along the wide bluestone road. The houses along the road were no longer the mud-brick houses of the past; every household had built a two-story building. But tonight, Zhuxi Village was eerily quiet.

The journey continued in silence until a distinctive high-walled earthen courtyard finally came into view. The gate was open, but there were no lights or any movement inside.

Han Lin walked to the door and looked up to see several corpses lying in the yard, their deaths extremely gruesome.

For a moment, Han Lin was stunned.

He didn't know whether to be sad or angry, so he just stared silently at the corpse on the ground, without making any reaction for a long time.

He only turned his head to look when he heard a faint sound of wheels coming from the road outside.

He was an old man.

His hair was gray, and he even had some difficulty walking.

He pulled a cart and slowly walked towards this side. When he saw Han Lin standing at the door, he was immediately startled.

He turned around and was about to run back.

"Master Liu."

Han Lin spoke in a hoarse voice, calling out to the other person.

This man was named Liu Xingde. His fate was extremely tragic. He lost his parents before he was ten years old, and his son died when he was in his thirties. His wife also left him less than two years later, leaving him to live a lonely and miserable life.

But he was a very kind person. At least he never made sarcastic remarks to him because of his appearance, and even kindly gave him advice several times.

"You, you are..." Upon hearing Han Lin's voice, Liu Xingde opened his mouth and leaned forward in disbelief.

"Yes, it's me."

Han Lin slowly removed his cloak, his hair covering most of the black spots, making him look less terrifying, but giving off a cold feeling.

"Ah, Ah Chou, it really is you!" Liu Xingdra pulled the cart and walked up to Han Lin. "When did you get back?"

"...Just got back, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, your parents died a terrible death. The villagers were afraid of incurring the wrath of that bandit, so they didn't dare to come and collect their bodies. I thought I was all alone and didn't have many years left to live, so I came over at night to check on them and find a place to bury them," Liu Xingde said with some emotion as he glanced inside.

"Master Liu, you're a good man," Han Lin said gratefully.

"Hey, it was just something I did on the side."

"To put it bluntly, Ah Chou, don't be angry. Given your parents' and brother's personalities, I'm not surprised at all that they've ended up like this."

Liu Xingde shook his head: "A cup of tea can cost ten taels of silver, and they often force people to buy it. If it weren't for your sake, who among those outsiders would put up with this? It can only be said that they've met a tough opponent today..."

"Such a thing exists?"

Han Lin frowned. "Uncle Liu, could you tell me in detail why Zhuxi Village has become like this?"

"It's all because of you..."

Liu Xingde put down the cart and slowly recounted the whole story, including how the village chief and the villagers made up stories to deceive people, without omitting a single detail.

"I see."

"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Mr. Liu. You can go back now; I'll take care of things here." Han Lin felt a mix of emotions after hearing this.

"Alright. Ah Chou, cultivating immortality is much more comfortable than being in Bamboo Creek Village, isn't it?"

"good."

Han Lin forced a smile.

"That's good. Now you have nothing to worry about here. Don't come back in the future. Just stay in the Immortal Sect and cultivate properly, so that those snobbish people won't use your name to swindle and deceive."

After Liu Xingde finished speaking, he sighed and then walked away with faltering steps.

"Yes, I might never come back."

Han Lin silently watched Liu Ye's retreating figure.

Only after the other person had completely disappeared at the end of the road did they return to the yard to tidy up.

He took a cart from the corner of the yard, neatly placed the corpses on it, then set the main house on fire, and pulled the cart out of the village.

When the village was ablaze with fire, several new grave mounds appeared on a small hill outside the village.

"Rest in peace." Han Lin bowed deeply, glanced at the old house in the village, and then went down the mountain without looking back.

……

Qingyun Town is a small town, but unlike ordinary secular towns, it is home to many cultivators.

Some of them came from sects, some from families of cultivators, and some were completely independent cultivators.

The reason they gathered here is for Yandang Mountain behind Qingyun Town.

Yandang Mountain is characterized by its precipitous peaks, deep ravines, and perpetual cloud cover.

The mountains are filled with strange caves, deep ravines, waterfalls and springs, as well as abundant low-grade spiritual herbs, strange stones that can be used to refine weapons, and various monster materials.

What makes it even more sought after is...

Deep within the Yandang Mountains, there are still many cave dwellings left by ancient cultivators. Although most of them are dangerous and unpredictable with little chance of success, occasionally some people have found magical artifacts and elixir recipes here, turning their lives around in one step.

With such a sacred mountain as its support, Qingyun Town naturally became more and more bustling, gradually becoming a sacred place for cultivation in the hearts of independent cultivators.

Early that morning, a fine horse came from the west and quietly stopped under the archway of Qingyun Town.