Xu Xianqing had no idea what the Taoist master’s motives were, but this village was undeniably unsettling. She had no desire to linger, so she politely declined the old man’s offer.
The old man said nothing in response, but the warm smile on his face vanished in an instant.
Only then did Xu Xianqing notice how deeply lined his face was…cracked and dry, like weathered tree bark. As he spoke, the deep wrinkles folded and stretched unnaturally with every movement.
“If the youngster doesn’t want to stay, then you best be on your way early,” the old man said coldly.
The smiles on everyone else’s faces froze simultaneously. Nearby, nearly twenty villagers turned in unison to stare at Xu Xianqing. Their prying, hostile glances hit her like a sudden wave.
Without another word, Xu Xianqing took the reins of her horse and began to walk away.
The rest of the crowd…including the Taoist…turned and headed deeper into the village. The women picked up their wooden laundry tubs and buckets, slowly following the group back home.
Xu Xianqing stole a glance over her shoulder. Even though their backs were turned to her, she felt an unsettling sensation that while she was watching them, they were watching her right back.
After taking a few steps, she suddenly paused.
When I looked at everyone earlier… why was the Taoist master the only one whose name and cultivation level actually appeared?
“Benefactor, please wait!”
Xu Xianqing turned around at the sound of the voice. Running toward her was the young acolyte who had been standing beside the Taoist…a child who looked no older than seven or eight.
Xu Xianqing observed him closely. Just like the villagers, no name or cultivation level floated above his head.
The boy stopped in front of her, breathing slightly heavily. “My master instructed me to pass along a few words.”
“What is it?”
“Master says that once you leave the village, head west. After about an hour’s walk, you’ll reach Old Locust Village. The villagers there are simple, kind, and hospitable. You can stay the night there and enter the forest after daybreak. Do not linger in the forest…keep heading due south, and in about ten days or so, you will reach your destination.”
Xu Xianqing frowned. The acolyte then held out a wrapped bundle toward her.
“Master also said not to touch any food or drink from Old Locust Village. These are dry rations he prepared for you.”
Xu Xianqing stared at the bundle, hesitating.
The boy kept his arms raised, patiently holding the package without rushing her.
Taking it from him, Xu Xianqing opened it on the spot. Seeing that it contained only a few dry flatbreads and a waterskin, she finally relaxed.
She pulled out two low-grade spirit stones and handed them to the young acolyte. “Please pass along my thanks to your master.”
“You are too kind, Benefactor.” The boy accepted the spirit stones, offered a polite bow with clasped hands, and turned to run back.
Xu Xianqing set off toward Old Locust Village as directed, but as she walked, a persistent sense of unease gnawed at her.
Why would that Taoist master go out of his way to help me?
Eventually, she reached the spot where she had encountered the funeral procession earlier. The memory flashed in her mind…the coffin tumbling down, splitting open right beside her, and the staring, unseeing eyes of the dead woman.
Xu Xianqing glanced up at the midday sun. Despite the intense sunlight beating down, she couldn’t feel a trace of warmth. A persistent chill clung to her skin.
Still, it didn’t matter too much. Come what may, I’ll deal with it. At least she wasn’t entirely empty-handed now; the system had granted her a few tools to keep herself alive.
“System, do you have any information on Old Locust Village?”
[Relevant storyline locked. Waiting for host to explore.]
[Ding! Relevant storyline triggered. Please investigate the secrets of Old Locust Village and Rootless Village. Reward: 2,000 Points.]
Two thousand?!
Xu Xianqing’s eyes lit up. Upgrading a skill only cost five hundred points; completing a single quest would yield two thousand.
Then again, earning that many points for investigating two downright eerie villages wasn’t going to be easy.
[Would the host like to accept the quest? Yes / No]
“Is there any penalty for declining?”
[No penalty. The system does not force hosts to undertake quests. However, completing this quest awards one spin for a Mystery Grand Prize. Win rate is not guaranteed to be 100%. Do you wish to accept?]
“What are the win rates?”
[Divine-Grade Reward: 5% | High Grade Reward: 10% | Mid-Grade Reward: 20% | Low-Grade Reward: 50%.]
Xu Xianqing pondered it for a moment. The gacha odds were considerably better than the gacha games she used to play in her past life.
She accepted the quest.
Constant retreat only leads to a corner with no way out. But pushing forward might actually get me where I want to go.
Besides, she still wanted to obtain the Resurrection Art. Though the prospect seemed distant, she had no intention of giving up.
[Quest accepted! Please uncover the truth within one month.]
“Wait, why is there a time limit? Why didn’t you mention that earlier?” Xu Xianqing felt cheated.
The system’s mechanical voice glitched for a fraction of a second before replying:
[Updating backend settings… Failing to inform the host of the time limit in advance was an error on the system’s part. 200 Points have been issued as compensation. Please complete the quest as soon as possible. If the time limit expires, the quest will be automatically canceled.]
Looking at the two hundred points that had just landed in her balance, Xu Xianqing suddenly wished the system had a few more glitched settings. Talk about easy points.
With both points and a mystery prize on the line, her fear of the two villages waned significantly. Far from her earlier urge to steer clear, she was now genuinely curious and eager to dive right in.
She picked up her pace. Before long, she reached the entrance of Old Locust Village, marked by a shin-high rock. Its smooth face was smeared with an unknown red substance that spelled out the name: Old Locust Village.
Compared to the massive stone monument back at Rootless Village, this one felt far more understated.
Stepping into the village, a strange sense of daze washed over her.
A short walk inside brought her to a pond where several women were gathered along the bank washing clothes. Before Xu Xianqing could even open her mouth, the women spotted her. Dropping their work, they immediately stood up, swarmed around her, and began bombarding her with questions all at once.
“Sister, where are you coming from?”
“Oh my, aren’t you a pretty one! What brings a young girl here all by herself?”
“You look so unfamiliar…there’s no one this lovely in any of the surrounding towns! You must be exhausted after such a long trek, come sit at my place!”
“Look at that, she even rode in on a horse! You must have come from real far away. Come stay at my house, I’ve got plenty of rooms and beds!”
Xu Xianqing was overwhelmed. Hemmed in on all sides by their noisy chatter, she unexpectedly found herself missing the eerie silent women of Rootless Village who had ignored her completely.
Sometimes, overwhelming enthusiasm is even harder to deal with than cold indifference.
She politely declined their invitations, but the women weren’t offended at all, continuing to chatter warmly.
Just then, another group arrived at the village entrance. They carried hoes and other farm tools, and some were driving cattle…evidently returning from a day’s labor in the fields.
Curiously, every single one of them was female.
Xu Xianqing didn’t think women shouldn’t be doing field work; after all, she was a modern youth who grew up in a progressive society. Despite her lifelong encounters with the supernatural, she still valued modern logic and basic social structures.
Yet this scene fundamentally defied her expectations of how a village functioned.
She scanned her surroundings. Out of so many people, there was not a single man to be seen.
And the way they were looking at her…with intense, glowing enthusiasm…made Xu Xianqing feel like Tripitaka stepping into the Kingdom of Women.
Remembering the Taoist’s warning…do not eat their food, do not drink their water…Xu Xianqing couldn’t help but chuckle to herself.
Don’t tell me… if I drink the water here, I’ll end up pregnant just like in Journey to the West?