My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 474 Qingmingfang

After Jiang Xinghuo left Qianjie Village, he came to Qingmingfang in the secular world of Jiangnan. Coincidentally, this was also the only way to Ping'an Village, so he simply came here for a stroll first.

According to the background introduction given in the game text, Qingmingfang's original name was Blind Village because all the villagers in the village were born with disabilities and could not see, so it was later changed to Qingmingfang.

"Please choose the place you want to explore first?"

The game gives two options, one is a place called Erxian Temple, and the other is just wandering around the village.

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and recalled that the several props obtained from the corpse should be somewhat related to the Erxian Temple.

So, Jiang Xinghuo decided to go to Erxian Temple to explore and see if there was anything he could gain.

"You chose to go to Erxian Temple."

"When you walk through the simple villages, you will see villagers along the way, young and old, male and female, holding a bamboo stick to find their way."

"In theory, although the blind are physically healthy, they cannot make a living because they cannot see, let alone work like reclaiming land, weaving and embroidering."

"But the villagers in Qingmingfang found another way. I don't know where they learned a unique skill of catching snakes."

"Qingmingfang is backed by mountains and is infested with snakes and insects. The villagers use their bamboo sticks to find snakes and ask for directions, and they can easily catch those strange and poisonous snakes by pulling the grass to find their way. Then they sell them to herbal medicine houses and business shops. This not only supports the villagers' livelihood, but also leaves them with a lot of surplus. Many herbalists and businessmen come here and pay a lot of money to hire villagers to catch snakes in the mountains."

"Not long after, you arrived at Erxian Temple in the middle of the village. A simple and quaint little temple appeared before your eyes. You could vaguely see two statues of gods enshrined in the temple, but due to the thick smoke of incense, it was difficult to see clearly. Do you want to go in and take a look?"

Two options, enter the temple and leave here.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't think much about it. He tapped the screen with his fingertips and chose to enter the temple to explore.

"You came to the gate of the quaint little temple and saw three large gold-plated characters engraved on the plaque. However, due to the erosion of wind and rain, the characters began to become a little blurred, but you could still make out the three characters 'Erxian Temple'."

"You walked into the temple and saw a blind old man sitting on a chair amid the smoke of incense, leaning on a dragon-headed cane. He seemed to be the temple keeper of this Erxian Temple. Do you want to go up and talk to the old man?"

Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a moment and decided to talk to the old man first, perhaps he could find some hidden clues.

"You went over and greeted the old man, and told him that you came here to visit him because you admired him. Your purpose is to explore some past events that happened in Qingmingfang a long time ago."

"After hearing what you said, the old man also warmly entertained you and poured you a cup of tea. Do you want to drink this cup of green tea?"

There are still two options, yes or no.

Jiang Xinghuo waited there for a while, wanting to use his talent as Tathagata to see what this cup of tea was.

But after waiting for a long time, no interactive option regarding Tathagatagarbha was triggered, so he had to choose an answer at random.

"You pick up the cup of tea and drink it without hesitation. A bitter taste blooms on your taste buds, but soon a hint of sweetness lingers on the tip of your tongue. Your whole spirit seems to be restored, and the slight fatigue brought by the journey is swept away."

"Your energy is slightly improved, level +1."

"Through your conversation with the old man, you learned that this tea is called 'Needle in the Jade'. It is shaped like a green needle and has a soft aroma. It is made from snake blood and snake gallbladder. It can not only clear the liver and improve eyesight, but drinking it regularly can also improve your energy."

"You drank the tea without any hesitation, and gained the old man's kindness. This was also a small test. If you had not drunk the tea, or had turned against him and attacked him, you would have been kicked out of Qingmingfang by now."

"During your conversation with the old man, you learned his identity. He turned out to be the village chief of Qingmingfang. At the same time, you also learned about what happened in the village that year."

"According to the old people, Qingmingfang was not like it is now. At that time, Qingmingfang was called 'Xingtan Village'. Because of the apricot trees, it was also called 'Xingtan'. It was famous for its apricot wine and apricot cheese made from apricot flowers, and even became a tribute to the royal family at the court."

"But later, because the ancestors of Xingtan Village were offended by a monster named 'Blind Immortal', they were cursed and resentful by him."

"At this point, all the villagers' vision began to blur, and in the end they were completely plunged into darkness, and countless people died of illness and premature death."

"It happened that the Medicine King was wandering in the secular world and passed by Xingtan Village. He discovered this incident and, in keeping with the principle of a benevolent doctor, he took action to cure the villagers' illnesses."

"But we are helpless as to the blind eyes. This is because the villagers' eyes are not caused by internal evil, but cursed by evil spirits. This is why this situation occurs. It is not something that can be solved by medicine."

"However, before he left, the Medicine King also left an idea for Xingtan Village, which is to ask the Heavenly Official to come and take a look. Perhaps there is a way to resolve this curse."

"So, the ancestors of Xingtan Village spared no expense to invite the disciple of Lord Tianguan, hoping to rely on him to break the curse."

"However, the disciples of Tianguanye were unable to resolve the curse. They wanted to find Tianguanye but did not know where he was hiding. The ancestors of Xingtan Village had no choice but to leave everything to fate."

"Since then, the apricot blossom forest outside Xingtan Village has gradually withered and decayed, and the famous apricot blossom wine and apricot blossom yogurt have lost their raw materials for production."

"Over time, Xingtan Village was called the Blind Village by outsiders, which means a village of darkness and blindness. Life in the village became more and more difficult. They could only live day by day without any food, and had to endure the humiliation and invasion brought by outsiders."

"Not only were all the lands taken away at low prices, but even the recipe for brewing apricot blossom wine was seized by force."

"This situation continued until the arrival of 'Senluo Taoist'. As the third disciple of the old Heavenly Master, Senluo Taoist is proficient in the Taoist Wanxiang Qimen Dunjia method."

"After he learned about the situation in Xingtan Village, although he was unable to remove the curse of the blind immortal, he hid the entire Xingtan Village and set up a magic spell outside the village. He also changed the name of the blind village to Qingmingfang."

"Without the access card of the villagers, it is impossible to find the way to enter Xingtan Village. This is why Xingtan Village was not destroyed. Even during the war between ghosts and gods, this place is a rare pure land."

Seeing this, Jiang Xinghuo understood the origin of the identity card. If it weren't for the help of this "Senluo Taoist", Qingmingfang would have disappeared in the war.

But the game text has not ended, and new content continues to pop up.

"With the help of Taoist Senluo, Qingmingfang is no longer troubled by external threats, but the threat to its own survival still exists."

"Because if you live off your savings, there will always be a day when your family's wealth will be exhausted. If we can't find a way to make a living, I'm afraid everyone will starve to death here."

"In desperation, the villagers began to think of ways to cultivate their own crops. Fortunately, there were a few acres of land in the village, and the harvest was barely enough to fill their stomachs." "Later, when the village chief of Qingmingfang was out, he accidentally encountered the seriously injured Dry Marrow Immortal and brought him back to Qingmingfang to recuperate."

"After the injuries of the withered marrow immortal were healed, the other party called his senior brother, the empty cloud immortal, to the Qingming Square as well."

"In order to repay the village chief for saving its life, the withered marrow fairy and the empty cloud fairy left behind several suitable inheritances based on the characteristics of the villagers' blindness. The withered marrow fairy also specially passed down the "Snake Catching Technique", which, when combined with the method of listening to the wind to identify the position, can exert extraordinary power."

"From then on, Qingmingfang's life became better and better."

"In order to repay the kindness of Kongyunxian and Kusuixian, the village chief specially asked someone to build a temple for the two immortals in the village, and offered incense and sacrifices to the two day and night."

"The village chief originally wanted to build a temple to worship the Taoist Senluo, but for some reason, every time the temple was built, thunder would fall from the sky and smash it to pieces. This happened several times, and the village chief vaguely understood what was going on. It was probably because there was some taboo that he didn't know about, so he no longer insisted on building a temple to worship him."

After reading this long essay, Jiang Xinghuo understood the cause and effect of the matter, and knew the origin of the Erxian Temple and the person who worshipped it.

"What are you going to do next?"

"Do you want to use force to coerce the village chief in front of you and force him to hand over the inheritance of the Dry Marrow Immortal and the Empty Cloud Immortal?"

Two options, yes or no.

Jiang Xinghuo narrowed his eyes. To be honest, this choice was quite tempting.

Both the Withered Marrow Immortal and the Empty Cloud Immortal were disciples of the Martial Lord, so the inheritance they left behind was naturally extraordinary. If one could obtain it, it would definitely greatly improve one's own strength.

But then again, he still understood the principle of biting off more than he can chew, so the magic he was mainly practicing now was actually the Thunder Magic and the Nine-Death Cicada, as well as the Dragon-Raising Technique of the Lord of the Secular World.

Of these three unique skills, one is enough for him to study for his entire life, let alone he has all three at the moment.

Other skills are just icing on the cake.

After thinking about it for a while, Jiang Xinghuo suppressed the greed in his heart and finally chose no.

"Greed is the original sin of desire. If you can suppress the greed in your heart, it will be of great benefit to your state of mind."

"At least the threat posed by the karmic obstacles and demons on your path of cultivation will be greatly reduced."

Jiang Xinghuo curled his lips. The inner demon is nothing more than bewitching people and making them mentally unstable so that they can take advantage of the opportunity.

He didn't take this matter too seriously in the first place, and it was still unclear whether such a thing as inner demon existed or not.

"You continued to chat with the old man in the small temple, and from the fragments of their conversation, you also caught some plausible clues."

"According to the old man, after Taoist Senluo set up the Qimen Dunjia here, he went to the southeast of the village alone. No one knows what he did there, but they only know that he wandered there for a long time."

"After arriving here, the Dry Marrow Immortal and the Empty Cloud Immortal also went to the southeast of the village for some reason. They also wandered there for a long time and seemed to have fought with someone."

"You have learned some clues to the secrets hidden in the village."

"Do you want to go to that place immediately to investigate?"

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the text and thought to himself that it was a good thing that he did not choose to take action. If he had not suppressed his greed and chose to take action against the old man and force him to hand over the things, I am afraid that the subsequent mission clues would have been ruined.

Now, the interactive plot he triggered is the serious stuff, who knows what good things are hidden there.

"You chose to explore the southeast direction of the village?"

"You followed the old man's instructions and followed the path in the village to the southeast."

"This was once the location of the apricot forest, which was originally full of beautiful apricot flowers. However, after being cursed by the blind immortal, the apricot forest gradually became withered and could no longer produce fruits and flowers."

"Do you want to explore this place?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose yes.

"You conducted a thorough search and investigation at the site of the apricot forest, but did not find anything unusual."

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment, opened the skill panel, found the Six-Day Ghost Eye, and then clicked to use it.

"You opened the Six Heavens Devil's Eyes. When you looked at the apricot blossom forest in front of you through the Six Heavens Devil's Eyes, you felt a ripple in front of you. A stone archway appeared in front of you, and there was a winding stairway extending from the archway. Do you want to go over and check it out?"

The game still gives two options: either go over and check, or turn around and leave.

Jiang Xinghuo would definitely not choose the latter and would directly choose to go over and check it out.

"You walk along the steps toward the stone archway. At the same time, you feel something vibrating in your magic bag. Do you want to take it out and have a look?"

Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyebrows, feeling a little surprised. What object had been triggered?

"You opened your trick bag and took out the object that was vibrating. It turned out to be a Buddha bowl covered in copper rust."

"The rusty alms bowl (excellent tool), the alms bowl used by Maitreya before he attained enlightenment, contains a faint Buddha light and Dharma nature, and is also the key to the seal of some old secular ruins." (Chapter 265)
"When you find the old ruins, the Buddha bowl will automatically send out a corresponding prompt message."

Jiang Xinghuo remembered that he got this bowl from the Bashu Ghost Shop. At that time, because there were no follow-up clues, he put it in the magic bag.

I didn't expect that after such a long time, it was triggered in Qingmingfang. Could it be that behind the archway is a relic of the old secular world?

(End of this chapter)