The Little Fox's Immortal Cultivation Encyclopedia

Chapter 131 The Strange Village

"This village is so eerie, could it really be a village full of ghosts?"

The fox glanced at Hu Nianshuang: "You're not even afraid of a turtle demon, why would you be afraid of some little devils?"

"The turtle demon has a physical form, but the ghost is elusive and impossible to guard against. My sister is really afraid," Hu Nianshuang said bluntly.

After calling him "brother" for so many days, Hu Nianshuang's sense of politeness and unfamiliarity had long since dissipated.

The fox offered words of comfort: "They don't look like ghosts to me, but they all seem to be shrouded in some kind of yin energy, which is probably due to the influence of that ancient battlefield."

Hu Nianshuang nodded slightly, her gaze wandering. Suddenly, she noticed an old man sitting in front of a house ahead, wearing only a single layer of clothing at this time of year.

He held a pipe in his hand, took a slow puff, and let the smoke swirl in his stomach for a while before being slowly exhaled.

Hu Nianshuang's eyes flashed, as if she remembered something: "Brother, those children were also dressed lightly just now."

"The yang energy is suppressed by the yin energy, so this is natural."

The fox had been learning the art of observing qi from the old man in plain clothes for quite some time, and given its familiarity with this yin qi, it could naturally distinguish it.

From the moment it spotted the village, the fox could sense a thin, hair-like aura of malevolent energy slowly seeping from the ground and seeping into the bodies of the villagers.

Children have less Yin energy in their bodies, so they are no different from ordinary people; the elderly have more Yin energy in their bodies, so they move slowly.

What puzzled the fox was not this. Regardless of age, the yin energy in their bodies maintained a delicate balance with the yang energy, and they were not corrupted to the point of losing their minds like Da Liu.

Is there a similar formation here to the Peach Branch Locking Yin and Breaking Evil Formation?

The fox patiently sensed that the malevolent energy was seeping out from the ground on its own, not restrained by any force, and showed no signs of being neutralized.

"We've arrived," Ah Sheng suddenly said.

The fox stopped thinking about it and looked up. The antique shop was located not far from the center of the village, next to a cemetery. Compared to the other houses, there was an extra mud-brick house here, with a small courtyard surrounded by a fence.

The door was unlocked. Ah Sheng quickly walked a few steps and pushed the door open before his master could. A strange smell wafted out. The courtyard was full of bottles and jars, probably the same as the ones Ah Sheng had brought—materials for aging.

Directly opposite the courtyard gate was not the main house, but a workshop, which was even more cluttered. Some clay figurines and jade artifacts were casually placed on the ground, and there were wooden shelves, but they were filled with knives, spears, swords, and halberds.

"Huh?" The fox's gaze fell on the wooden frame. "These things are fake too?"

Ah Sheng nodded: "Of course it's fake."

"It looks real to me."

"No, I saw Master make it with my own eyes." Ah Sheng led everyone to the side room, and the fox followed silently.

The fox could smell a faint scent of blood on those weapons and also see a faint, elusive aura of ferocity.

The room was cramped, with a narrow table in the middle and a small bed against the wall. The window was only the size of a palm, and the room was dark.

Everyone sat at the table. Ah Sheng lit a lamp, went out to search for a while, and came back with several teacups to make tea for everyone, but he forgot to serve his master.

Seeing this, the fox naturally placed its bowl in front of Master Asheng: "Please go first, sir."

The old man looked over coldly, and Ah Sheng hurriedly explained, "Master doesn't like these things; they were all given to us by the villagers."

Whether you drink it or not, the fox doesn't care; the fox certainly won't drink it.

"How long have you been in this village, old man?"

"It's only been a few decades. What have you made Ah Sheng do?"

The fox said, "Make a painting."

The old man frowned: "What's wrong? Ah Sheng has studied for so many years, and you can't even copy a painting?"

Just as Ah Sheng was about to explain, the old man continued, "Don't try to argue. I know your temperament. If you could imitate it on the spot, why would you have gone back to the village?"

Ah Sheng shrank back, not daring to say anything more.

"Did the old man know Ah Sheng was trying to run away, yet he still let him out?"

"Hmph, let him run, he can't escape. He'll have to come back obediently in the end." The old man didn't want to say more. "Draw it for me."

The fox is unfolded, and the candlelight flickers, illuminating the dense array of warships and banners on the painting.

For the first time, the old man's expression changed. He snatched the painting away without the slightest stiffness in his movements. He held up the scroll with his left hand and stroked the small, agile ships inch by inch with his right, completely ignoring the five-story warships in the painting that were confronting them.

The fox asked, "Have you seen this painting before, sir?"

"Quiet down, quiet down."

The candlelight flickered, and the room suddenly darkened. The fox stared at the old man, its gaze passing through his body, and saw that the dormant Yin energy within him was gradually becoming active, surging and flowing toward the direction of his finger.

Unlike the yin energy the fox had seen before, this yin energy seemed to have shed its decay and become exceptionally vibrant.

"Why is it so dark?" Ah Sheng looked up in confusion. He then pulled out an oil lamp from under the table, took out a tinderbox, and blew on it a few times. A flame appeared, illuminating the old man's lifeless face.

He was startled: "Master, what's wrong with you?"

As the malevolent energy gradually subsided, the old man seemed to come to his senses and withdrew his hand: "Ah Sheng, you do it."

"I?"

"If you do it, I will let you go."

Ah Sheng froze, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his lips, only to be quickly suppressed. His brows furrowed and relaxed repeatedly before he finally managed to squeeze out, "Master, I don't want to leave."

"It really is a lie to ghosts," the fox suddenly muttered, his voice so faint that only Hu Nianshuang could hear it.

She looked at the fox in confusion: "What did you say, brother?"

The fox didn't answer, but its mind had already gone through several ideas. If the red fish were here, it would definitely say that Ah Sheng was talking nonsense and was simply deceiving ghosts, so that it could easily add that line.

Unfortunately, the dead fish was thrown away by the fox at the village entrance.

"Whether you leave or not, you know the answer in your heart. Once you've finished drawing, you can stay if you want, or leave if you want. I won't stop you."

Ah Sheng happily picked up the scroll and rushed out the door.

"Hmph, what a hypocrite." The old man sneered, looking at the fox. "Where did you get this painting?"

"Old man, why don't you first tell me where this village came from, and how you became a wandering ghost?"

At first, the fox was only slightly suspicious. Although the old man's body was filled with more yin energy than others, he was old after all, and it was normal for his body to be permeated with yin energy over the years.

But when the scroll was unfurled, the fox noticed something amiss.

When yin energy enters the body, no matter how deep it is, it is nothing more than a stagnant pool, merely residing within the body's shell. Only the yin spirit itself can move according to one's will and arise in response to external things.

Hu Nianshuang stared wide-eyed at the old man, whose expression remained unchanged. He merely glanced at the fox before finally speaking after a long pause: "You do have a good eye."

"This is a long story."