Fellow Daoist! That scoundrel has written a new book again.

Ahead lies a village.

The residents of this place live and thrive deep in the mountains, their lineage passed down through countless generations.

Zhu Wuyao led Song Kezi around the village surrounded by mountains for many hours, finally confirming that the unusual movement of spiritual energy was caused by this.

"Why are we back again?!"

"If you get lost, let's not bother looking for it anymore. We'll just stay wherever we end up!"

Zhu Wuyao was examining the map in his hand.

It was "stolen" from Gu Yiguan.

It's quite detailed, but it's been a long time since then. The south has been quite chaotic in recent years, and the map hasn't been updated in a long time.

Unfortunately, there was no way to obtain the original jade slip.

Otherwise, probing with one's divine sense would yield more detailed explanations.

However, even from the simple markings on this flat map, it is clear that the inhabitants of these mountains have a very long history of living and multiplying.

"Let's go into the mountains."

Zhu Wuyao put away the map and said to Song Kezi.

Seeing the desolate and impoverished landscape before him, Song Kezi felt utterly hopeless. What fun could there be in this wretched place?

And there definitely won't be anything delicious to eat!

What a miserable life he was living! The thought of going into the mountains to eat chaff and wild vegetables and living with a group of "wild men" made Song Kezi feel particularly depressed.

In the past few days, Song Kezi has been privately and earnestly cursing Zhu Wuyao.

But so far, no fire has fallen from the sky and killed Zhu Wuyao.

Reluctantly, he followed Zhu Wuyao into the mountains.

This place is subtly slipping out of the control of the Juque Sect.

Like the Star-Picking Tower, further north, there are many other small sects, such as the Howling Sky Sect.

Long ago, this area was also under the jurisdiction of the Juque Sect. However, after various upheavals, the Juque Sect's control over this area weakened.

Especially in recent years.

Licheng divided the Juque Sect and the chaotic southern region into two, which could almost be considered as dividing the territory and ruling separately.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells—"

The bells on the banners jingled, a cold wind blew as they entered the mountains, and Zhu Wuyao's black robe billowed.

It broke the silence of the mountain village.

It is now dusk, and the sky is overcast.

The entire village was shrouded in a leisurely and melancholy atmosphere. An old woman who was resting with her eyes closed heard the sound of the banner bells, removed the palm-leaf fan covering her face, and took a look.

"Child, what did you write on this?"

Zhu Wuyao smiled and replied:

"I am a Taoist priest who tells fortunes. I only charge one coin per reading."

The old woman glanced at Zhu Wuyao up and down with a hint of wariness, then waved her hand, covered her face with the palm-leaf fan again, and said:

"Go somewhere else; you won't earn a penny here."

"Why?"

Zhu Wuyao asked about the matter.

A child picking jujubes nearby overheard their conversation and asked curiously:

"Sister, what is a penny?"

What is a penny...?

Zhu Wuyao took out a copper coin from his storage bag and said:

"It's this kind of thing, used to barter for food..."

Equivalent? Voucher?

The child curiously picked up the copper coin, examined it from head to toe, then returned it to Zhu Wuyao, shaking his head and saying:

"I don't recognize this thing!"

"You want to trade it for food? I won't give it to you."

Zhu Wuyao seemed to understand.

It seems that after the Great Tribulation begins, the merchants around this mountain village will never come again.

Over the years, this place seems to have been cut off from the outside world.

The trading methods within the village have regressed to barter.

It's somewhat strange, but in today's world, it's not uncommon.

This is the third time Zhu Wuyao has encountered such a village.

Fortunately, the four sects use the same currency in the mortal world; otherwise, given the current state of the Juque Sect, its credibility would be in grave danger, and the monetary system in the south might collapse completely.

Thank goodness the Juque School didn't print its own money or mint its own coins.

Otherwise, she would have to figure out which issue of copper coins her life-granting item was.

Zhu Wuyao and Song Kezi found an abandoned house with two and a half walls and half a roof.

As darkness fell.

Song Kezi took out the large wooden bed with curtains from the storage bag and placed it in the dilapidated house, and then took out a soft quilt.

He lay on the soft, comfortable bed, munching on a crisp fruit, gazing at the darkening sky, utterly despondent, and said:

"I can't endure this kind of hardship for even a single day longer..."

"Zhu Wuyao, you won't make any money here at all. Let's leave tomorrow morning."

"Hehe, I think these villagers have gone mad from staying in the mountains. Before we leave, let's set a fire and do a good deed, so that these people can get out of the deep mountains and head towards a better future! -- Ouch!"

Song Kezi rubbed his head and said with dissatisfaction:

"Why did you hit me? I was genuinely concerned for these people..."

Zhu Wuyao ignored him and set up a protective barrier on her own.

Close your eyes and release your divine sense.

Begin investigating the anomalies of this place.

In fact, Zhu Wuyao had already used his divine sense to explore the village once when he first entered it, but he found nothing unusual.

Now they've found a place to stay and settled down.

She thoroughly explored all the mountains, inside and out, including the area beneath the villages, ancestral temples, and even the cemeteries.

Yet they still didn't notice anything unusual.

Zhu Wuyao slowly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with confusion.

What's the matter?

She could sense that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth here was extremely rich, and even when she released her divine sense, it covered a farther range than before.

Touched by his divine sense, Zhu Wuyao got up, then waved his hand to hide Song Kezi's large wooden bed with curtains, and waited at the "doorway".

Before long, an old man arrived.

It's probably the village chief.

Hearing that outsiders had come, he came to investigate. Upon seeing the woman in black robes, he immediately stepped forward and said:

"Foreign guests passing through this place are not properly welcomed."

"There's nothing good in the village, but here are some dry rations and fruit. Please accept them so you can have a good meal before you continue your journey."

"This place is full of the elderly, the weak, and children, who can barely make ends meet. We apologize for the ridicule from our visitors."

"If you need anything, please feel free to speak up."

Zhu Wuyao smiled, understanding the village chief's unspoken meaning.

This stems from the fear that they, as outsiders, are capable and, having been mistreated, might take their anger out on the villagers.

So hurry over and say some nice things.

Incidentally, this subtly indicated that the guest was being seen off.

Zhu Wuyao did not accept the baggage offered, but turned around and took out two small bags of rice and flour that had been prepared beforehand, saying:

"How can we accept food while we are staying here?"

"We need to stay here for a few days. Please consider this rice and flour as lodging expenses."

The report said that the two men brought nothing but a banner, and then conjured up rice and flour.

The old man immediately guessed Zhu Wuyao's identity as a cultivator.

He didn't point it out at the time, and readily accepted the rice and flour, nodding repeatedly.

But he was filled with sorrow.

These days, getting involved with cultivators is unpredictable, but driving them away now would be tantamount to courting disaster.

While the old man was pondering Zhu Wuyao's intentions, Zhu Wuyao was also sizing up the old man.