Forced to become a pure and innocent female pharmacist in order to cultivate immortality.

"You bastard, how dare you say such things? When you were a man, I never noticed how slutty you were!" Lin Aoxue cursed, suppressing the strange feeling in her chest.

“That’s different. In our past life, we were just boyfriend and girlfriend, not husband and wife. We have to be more reserved since we’re not married,” Ye Liuyun replied.

That's true; after marriage, men and women tend to become bolder in certain matters.

And so Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue slowly traversed the mountains and valleys, finally arriving at Qixia Town on the third day. Originally, they only planned to pass through Qixia Town to check on their family's situation.

"Ah...ah...ah." Outside Qixia Town, a donkey was lying on the ground, panting heavily.

These past few days, the donkey's speed has been honed.

"Oh my, little donkey, not bad, not bad. Looks like I'll have to train you more in the future. My donkey, you're going to be the fastest donkey in the world," Ye Liuyun teased.

Upon hearing this, the donkey immediately stuck out its tongue and lay flat.

As they spoke, the two of them jumped off their horses, preparing to enter the town.

But as soon as they entered the town, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue's expressions changed from happy to ugly.

Because what was once a perfectly good town is now nothing but ruins burned by fire, and it looks like it was burned down recently.

"What? What happened?" Ye Liuyun asked in disbelief.

They haven't been away from Qixia Town for long, so how come the town has been destroyed? Who did this?

No wonder the old man was unwilling to tell them directly.

Lin Aoxue's eyes immediately turned murderous. She and Ye Liuyun strolled inside. The familiar streets and houses were all gone. This was their home in this world.

The two carefully examined the area with their divine senses. Fortunately, they did not detect any trace of death. If the townspeople had been attacked and killed, there would definitely be lingering traces of death here.

However, there was no trace of death here. Although the two were not happy, they were at least relieved. At least the people in the town should be safe. Of course, it was too early to draw conclusions. They needed to investigate further.

"Aoxue, tell me, what's going on?" Ye Liuyun asked suspiciously.

"Judging from the traces, this should have happened within the last few days. Let's check the surrounding area," Lin Aoxue suggested.

Ye Liuyun nodded, and the two separated. After confirming that no one was around, Lin Aoxue flew up and looked down from the sky to look for clues, while Ye Liuyun asked Lin Qingyou to help check the situation.

Lin Qingyou's divine sense was indeed powerful. She quickly spotted a large number of hoofprints outside Qixia Town. These hoofprints all came from the same direction and there were many of them.

With so many hoofprints, it's definitely not the work of cultivators. Ordinary mountain bandits wouldn't have so many horses either. Therefore, Lin Qingyou analyzed that there was only one possibility: that government officials and soldiers from the secular world had been here. That would make sense.

Upon hearing Lin Qingyou's words, Ye Liuyun immediately remembered that his two grandfathers had told them that although the Lin family seemed to live carefree here, in reality, someone was secretly monitoring them.

It's possible that it was someone from the imperial court who discovered that the core members of both families had secretly left Qixia Town and disappeared, and then sent soldiers to search and question them.

In order to cover up some things, they took all the people of the town away.

Ye Liuyun and Lin Qingyou's analysis was basically correct. About a week ago, a well-equipped cavalry force of several thousand men arrived in Qixia Town. Their purpose was to inquire about the whereabouts of the Ye and Lin families.

Unfortunately, the Lin and Ye families left through a secret passage they had dug themselves, a fact that the people of Qixia Town had no way of knowing.

These soldiers, numbering several thousand, came directly from the Tang capital. Their mission was to investigate the whereabouts of the Lin and Ye families and erase all traces of Qixia Town.

As for the people of Qixia Town, they were dispersed to various surrounding towns in batches, and were not allowed to stay in Qixia Town. Faced with the power of the imperial court, the people had no power to resist and could only obediently pack their things and leave.

So the town, with its many ruins, was cleaned up very well, with basically no valuables left behind. After the soldiers dispersed the people, they set the town on fire and burned it to the ground.

Of course, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue are unaware of these matters at present.

They were very worried about the safety of their fellow villagers. Lin Aoxue carefully observed the surrounding area, but she did not see anything unusual on the surrounding mountains.

So he could only return to Ye Liuyun's side. At this time, Ye Liuyun was standing at the entrance of the town. Because Qixia Town was a small place, the road leading to the town was a dirt road, and the hoofprints were too obvious.

"How is it? Did you find anything unusual?" Lin Aoxue didn't find anything unusual, so she landed next to Ye Liuyun and asked.

Ye Liuyun pointed to the ground, and Lin Aoxue immediately understood what was going on when she saw the soil.

"So many hoofprints? This? Could it be the government's doing?" Lin Aoxue said, frowning.

“I think so too. Let’s follow these hoofprints and see where they lead, then we’ll know,” Ye Liuyun suggested.

Lin Aoxue agreed with Ye Liuyun's suggestion. The two rode their mounts and followed the numerous hoofprints as fast as possible. In fact, they already had a guess in mind.

This road is the main thoroughfare leading directly to Jiangzhou City.

"Liuyun, tell me, if it were the secular government that did this, how would they treat the villagers?" Lin Aoxue asked worriedly.

Ye Liuyun didn't dare to answer this question, but he definitely had to prepare for the worst: that the government might anger the imperial court because of the secret departure of the two families, and then the court would send people to investigate and take their anger out on the local people.

You have to understand that in this world, the lives of ordinary people really don't mean much.

However, based on their observations, the soldiers did not kill any civilians. If they were to massacre the town, they would have killed the people first and then burned the town. There was no need to take the bodies to other places.

Therefore, the general public is likely to be fine.

Chapter 232 The Eerie Town

Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue followed the trail, but as they entered the main road from the branch road, the number of hoofprints began to decrease.

Because the main road was paved with a large amount of bluestone, it was impossible to continue tracking based on the hoofprints.

Their pursuit ended there.

"The mark has disappeared." Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue happened to stop at a fork in the road. There were three paths, and they couldn't decide which one to take.

Moreover, as they got closer to Jiangzhou City, the number of pedestrians on the road increased, and caravans frequently passed by.

However, there are many villages and farmlands to be seen in the surrounding area.

The two of them wanted to confirm whether government officials had taken the people of Qixia Town away, and to find out where they had been taken and whether they were safe. Once they were sure the people were safe, they could rest assured.

Seeing the passersby, the two had no choice but to stop their pursuit.

"Wow, so many people! It seems we've come all the way from the remote mountains to the main road of the government. I almost forgot that we went to Jiangzhou Prefecture when we were kids," Ye Liuyun said helplessly, looking at the passersby.

Lin Aoxue nodded. When they were young, they had been to Jiangzhou Prefecture, when they were about twelve or thirteen years old.

"Aoxue, let's ask someone." Ye Liuyun looked around at the people working in the fields.

There must be people here every day. If a large number of people are coming and going, someone will definitely see them.

Lin Aoxue nodded, and then the two came to the edge of the farmland. Ye Liuyun walked down the farmland with a smile and came to the side of a middle-aged man.

"Uncle, I have something I'd like to ask you. Is it convenient for you?" Ye Liuyun asked with a gentle smile.

The middle-aged man working in the field was stunned for a moment, then looked Ye Liuyun up and down. When he saw that the person who came was a young and beautiful girl, he nodded.

By the way, when Ye Liuyun came to the mortal world, he specially used a disguise pill to change his hair color back to black. A head of white hair would be too eye-catching when moving around in the mortal world.

"Oh, what does the young lady want to ask?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.

Ye Liuyun immediately told him what he wanted to ask. Sure enough, a few days ago, this middle-aged man had actually seen a group of several thousand people leading a group of people through this area.

He didn't understand why Ye Liuyun asked this, but he still told Ye Liuyun what he knew.

After listening, Ye Liuyun's idea was confirmed.

"Is that really so? Thank you for letting me know, uncle." Ye Liuyun thanked the middle-aged man slightly, then turned and returned to Lin Aoxue's side.

"How did it go?" Lin Aoxue asked immediately when she saw Ye Liuyun return.

Ye Liuyun sighed.

"What else can we do? Just as we suspected, it was indeed the government that did it. As for where they took the people, they really don't know, since it's still a few days' journey from here to Jiangzhou City," Ye Liuyun replied.

The two had no choice but to continue onward. At their current pace, it would take them another three or four days to reach Jiangzhou City. Along the way, they would also need to investigate the whereabouts of people, which would likely take even longer.

The two rode on their mounts again and soon another day came to an end.

But today, before nightfall, they arrived at a town called Youshan Town.

Youshan Town is about twice the size of Qixia Town, with a larger population. The town is built on the official road leading to Jiangzhou City.

The two arrived at this place at dusk, but upon arrival, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue had a strange feeling. Even before entering the town, the place had a gloomy atmosphere, and the road leading to the town was littered with paper money used for funerals.

"Strange, what's going on here?" Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue walked into the town. She looked at the paper money on the ground, then glanced at the street. Such a big town, and it was only dusk, yet there were so few people on the streets. This was not normal.

Lin Aoxue also scanned the area with her divine sense and discovered that the local people seemed to have gone into their houses early on, hiding in advance if there was any danger. The houses were also covered with talismans, but these talismans had no power and could not possibly ward off evil spirits.

This feeling is unsettling.

"This place is a bit strange. Let's find an inn to stay in quickly," Lin Aoxue said.

It was getting dark, and since there were better places to stay, they certainly didn't want to live in the middle of nowhere.

So the two looked around the street. Although there weren't many pedestrians, there were still a few people walking around, but most of them were people holding gongs and banging them to call out their wares.

"It's dusk, it's dusk. People on the streets, hurry home. Once you're home, close your doors and windows tightly, and don't talk loudly."

This scene makes things even more puzzling.

Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue wondered what had happened to you, so they stopped a middle-aged man who was banging a gong and asked him about it.

"Hey, sir, what's going on in this town? What are you doing?" Ye Liuyun asked.

The middle-aged man banging the gong knew from Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue's appearance that they were just passing through Youshan Town, so he quickly explained.

"Young ladies, are you just passing through this town? You should either hurry to the next village before it gets completely dark, or find an inn to stay in. Our Youshan Town has been haunted lately. Every evening, evil spirits enter the town, and more than a dozen people have already been attacked and lost their lives," the middle-aged man explained in a panic.

Ye Liuyun wanted to ask a few more questions, but the middle-aged man glanced at the horizon and, seeing that the sun was about to set, quickly left. It seemed he was going home. Judging from the speed of the sunset, it should still be about ten minutes before it got too dark.

Ye Liuyun watched the speed at which the other party left, then exchanged a puzzled glance with Lin Aoxue.

“Interesting. I’d like to see what’s going on in this town. Is it some kind of evil spirit?” Lin Aoxue said with great interest.

The two intended to stay in Youshan Town. They looked around and soon found an inn that was about to close.

"Shopkeeper, my sisters and I need to stay at the inn," Ye Liuyun said as she stepped forward.

The shopkeeper was taken aback, then quickly gestured for the two to come in.

The inn seemed deserted, with few guests, and those who were there all looked rather unwell, appearing quite worried.

"Boss, what exactly happened in your town?" Ye Liuyun asked casually.

But the boss didn't seem to want to answer that question.

"Ladies, don't ask any questions. After you've stayed today, leave this town as soon as it's light tomorrow," the innkeeper said casually, then called over a young girl to arrange rooms for Ye Liuyun and her companion.

All of this hung over their hearts like a gloom, making Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue even more curious about what was happening in the town.

"Sisters, please follow me to the third floor. The first and second floors are full of guests, so only the third floor is available. However, the rooms on the third floor are all superior rooms, so the price may be higher," the girl said.

Ye Liuyun originally thought there weren't many guests here, but Lin Aoxue scanned the room with her divine sense and found that it was actually full of guests, but they were all in their rooms and not talking.

"Hmm, no problem. But little sister, what's wrong with this place? As guests, we have the right to know, right? We've felt something strange ever since we entered the town. The people in your town who were banging gongs said that this place is haunted?" Ye Liuyun asked in a low voice.

--------------------------------

Upon hearing this, the girl immediately looked around and then whispered a few words to Ye Liuyun.

"My two sisters, you don't know this, but about half a month ago, all sorts of strange things started happening in our town after dark. Many people said they saw demons in the town, and some even said that demons went to their homes. The scariest thing is that after a demon comes to a house, someone in that household will definitely die the next day, and they are all young girls."

“You must have seen all that paper money in and on the roads inside and outside the town. Our town is holding funerals every day now,” the girl explained with a look of fear on her face.

At this point, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue realized that there was most likely an evil cultivator lurking here, causing trouble.

Regardless of the reason, now that they've encountered this situation, they certainly can't pretend they don't know.

Although this place is not within the territory of their Yunxia Sect, the entire Jiangzhou Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of the Yunxia Sect. As disciples of the Yunxia Sect, it is their duty to take care of this matter.

"Such a strange thing happened? Didn't your town ask the government for help?" Ye Liuyun asked again.

The girl immediately sighed helplessly.

"Sister, you don't know this, it's not that we didn't hire someone, but the exorcist we did hire disappeared that very night. The authorities sent people to investigate, but they couldn't find anything," the girl explained.

The term "Taoist priest" is actually just what ordinary people call practitioners. Most ordinary people are unaware of the existence of immortal cultivators, but they know of the existence of Taoist priests.

I also know that Taoists know some magic, and those who cultivate immortality are also called magicians in the secular world.

Most of these sorcerers are independent cultivators without any sect or school. Unable to make a living in the cultivation world, they find a way to make a living in the mortal world. Independent cultivators live much more comfortably in the mortal world than in the cultivation world.

As long as one knows a little about the methods of catching demons and exorcising evil spirits, even if one's cultivation level is only at the Spirit Stream Realm, one can deal with some simple demons and evil spirits.

Of course, there may not be many cultivators at the Dao Palace level or above in the mortal world, but there are still quite a few cultivators at the Wheel Sea realm.

Ye Liuyun stopped asking questions after that point.

She didn't ask why the townspeople, knowing about the evil spirits, didn't leave the town and seek refuge elsewhere.

This statement may seem reasonable, but it doesn't reflect the reality of the world.

This world is, after all, still a feudal system. When they leave the town, they become vagrants. Vagrants have virtually no rights protection when they go to other places.