Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Lin Ye led the way, breaking down doors one by one. The wooden doors felt like paper under his feet, and he kicked open three or four in a row.

The room was empty. Tables and chairs were overturned, bowls and cups were shattered on the floor, and the stove was cold. There were no living people, no corpses, only those dark red spots in the corner, lying silently.

"Nobody's here." He kicked open another door. "Empty, completely fucking empty. Where did everyone go?"

No one responded.

Ning Che also used his keen hearing ability, and could clearly hear the heartbeats and breathing of the others, but the rest of the room remained deathly silent.

After checking more than half of the property, the group finally stopped in front of Lin Xiuer's house.

Lin Ye went in first, but Ning Che stopped by the door that Lin Ye had kicked open.

Inside the room, there were only two breathing sounds.

When Zhong Hongyao saw him stop, she looked at him with a puzzled expression. He lowered his voice and said, "Don't scare them when you ask them questions later."

Zhong Hongyao didn't understand her meaning, but she still agreed.

The two of them pushed open the door and entered.

Lin Ye had already asked about the whereabouts of the others without any hesitation.

Lin Xiuer stood by the stove, her face pale, her hands clutching the hem of her clothes, her eyes lowered. The fishy smell wafting from the stove was stronger than outside, mixed with the lingering warmth.

"There's no one left in the village." Her voice trembled, and she spoke quickly. "A few days ago, that thing came to take people, and the rest of them ran away. They fled into the depths of the wilderness. Only we are left. My child is still young, and this girl can't walk, so we're hiding here."

"This girl... Lin Caiwei isn't your relative?" Ning Che was somewhat surprised.

Lin Xiuer nodded: "Yes, no, that's not it. What I meant was, it's quite far back. If you go back in our village, we're basically all relatives."

Ning Che's gaze passed over her and landed on a corner of the stove. There lay several white bones, gnawed clean, with dark red residue still clinging to the crevices. They weren't the bones of animals.

His expression remained unchanged, and he quickly looked away as if he hadn't seen anything. He instructed, "You all pack your things. We'll take you into the city. Once we're there, you'll be safe."

Lin Xiuer felt as if she had been granted a pardon, and hurriedly nodded, thanking him repeatedly. She never dared to look up.

Ning Che didn't say anything more, turned around and stepped outside the door.

What is a withered ghost?

However, no matter what problems the girl has, as long as she is brought into the mountains, there should be a way to deal with them.

As he pondered this, the pungent smell of blood wafted up in the wind, making him take a few more steps outside. Suddenly, he thought of the blood-stained knife and the words that had been written in the history books.

"During a great famine, people resorted to cannibalism."

Inside the room, Lin Xiuer glanced back at the boy on the bed, then at Lin Caiwei by the table, her expression one of surprise and delight. "Caiwei," she called out, "quickly thank the master. We're leaving now."

Immediately afterward, there was the sound of things being packed up.

Ning Che heard them ask Lin Ye and Zhong Hongyao if they wanted to eat meat, and both of them refused.

A moment later, Lin Caiwei, with a satchel tied around her waist, came out of the house first.

She looked at Ning Che, who was standing not far away.

Those eyes were very dark, not the clear black of a child's eyes, but like two deep wells, with small openings but no bottom that you could see into.

"uncle."

Ning Che looked at her.

"Did you go to that tea house?"

Ning Che didn't move, or even change his posture. He simply shifted his weight slightly to his back foot and said in a casual tone, as if he were talking casually, "What tea room?"

"That's it." Lin Caiwei gestured with her chin towards the outpost. "My mother said that used to be the place where the mountain guardian lived. There's a table, two chairs, a teapot, and cups inside."

She paused, then continued speaking in a flat, monotone tone, as if reciting a text.

"Two men sat there drinking tea. Then one died, and the other disappeared."

"Caiwei!" Lin Xiuer stepped out at this moment, interrupting her sharply: "Don't talk nonsense!"

The girl stopped talking.

But her gaze did not leave Ning Che's face.

There was no provocation, no fear, and not even any particular emotion in her gaze; she was simply looking at it calmly, as if she were looking at an object she didn't quite understand.

Ning Che and she stared at each other for three breaths.

Three breaths later, he lowered his eyes, as if he believed that it was just the unintentional ramblings of a child.

But in that instant when he lowered his eyes, he saw Lin Caiwei's shoes.

The cloth shoes were covered with some blackish-brown, fine dust-like debris, embedded deep in the fabric weave. They had been repeatedly wiped and had long since seeped into the fibers.

The color and texture were exactly the same as the dried bloodstains on the ground at the outpost.

Ning Che raised his eyes, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Let's go." His tone was gentle, revealing no hint of anything amiss. "It's getting dark."

He turned and went out, his pace unhurried, just as he had come. As he walked, he called out to the people inside, "Let's go, hurry up, maybe we can still get back before sunset."

Lin Ye's voice came from inside the room: "Not investigating anymore? We haven't found anything. How can we report this?"

"We found it, but it's not something we need to solve right now." Ning Che didn't explain further and continued walking towards the carriage.

Zhong Hongyao seemed to sense something and quickly followed, walking beside him. Lin Ye and Lin Xiuer also came out of the room and hurried over.

The group walked towards the village entrance, but even though it was almost noon, which should have been the time of day with the brightest sunlight, Ning Che felt that the sunlight was somewhat gray and not bright enough.

Ning Che suddenly looked up, and on the previously empty wasteland, a pale, ghostly figure flashed by, so fast it was like an illusion.

Their ears were already ringing. At the same time, the coachman's terrified scream shattered the silence: "Sir! There's something in the woods!"

The next moment, the baby in Lin Xiuer's arms suddenly burst into a heart-wrenching cry, his little face turned blue, and his whole body convulsed violently, which was not an ordinary cry at all.

Zhong Hongyao moved swiftly, catching the child in her arms. The silver needles glowed with a bluish light as she precisely pierced an acupoint.

The crying stopped abruptly.

But the child's face grew increasingly pale, and a drop of murky pink liquid slowly seeped from the needle hole.

Zhong Hongyao immediately shouted, "The Yin energy has intensified! He's showing signs of external evil invading his body. There might be something unclean around. Be on high alert!"

Ning Che's pupils contracted slightly. He looked at Lin Xiuer, a woman trembling all over, her face pale, completely disoriented.

Ning Che's gaze passed over her and settled on Lin Caiwei.

The girl looked up at Ning Che, her face showing no fear, no worry, no terror or panic.

That feeling is closer to curiosity.

As if sensing Ning Che's gaze, she slowly raised her head, and when their eyes met, the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

"Uncle," her voice was clear and bright, with the innocence unique to children, "Are you looking for that white shadow? I know where it is!"