"Si Guo Ya?"
The few old menials almost spoke at the same time, letting out low gasps. Their voices carried obvious taboo—and a trace of fear they couldn't quite hide.
Even the one squatting in the deepest corner by the wall, who had been eating silently all this time, couldn't help lifting his head. A flicker of shock flashed through his cloudy eyes.
Lin Wan's heart clenched hard. She held her breath and pressed herself even closer to the icy wall, ears pricked sharply, afraid to miss even a single word.
"Old Zhang, y-you didn't hear wrong, did you? That place… that place is—" one old woman said with a trembling voice, almost dropping the coarse porcelain bowl in her hands.
"Shh! Keep it down!" Old Zhang, who was missing a front tooth, nervously glanced around. Seeing no one paying attention to their group of old folks, he lowered his voice even more. "How could I hear wrong? My nephew heard it with his own ears! He said that place may be evil, but it's quiet enough and remote enough—fits Sword Venerable's temperament when he was alive… And besides, didn't Sword Venerable close himself in seclusion somewhere near there back in the early days, when he wasn't so… so withdrawn? You could say there's some connection."
"Connection my ass!" another skinny old man spat. "You don't know how vicious that place is? It was sealed off decades ago! Anyone sent to Si Guo Ya back then was either possessed by heart demons or guilty of grave crimes. No one knows how many unjust souls died there! The evil aura there is terrifying! Later, several disciples guarding the cliff either went mad or died in bizarre ways. That's why the elders ordered it completely sealed and labeled it the edge of a forbidden zone! And now they want to build Sword Venerable's yiguan mu there? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
"Exactly! Isn't that disrespecting the dead?" the old woman chimed in.
Old Zhang sighed. "Who knows what the higher-ups are thinking? They can argue all they want—we're just listening for gossip. But if you ask me, it'll probably end up there in the end. Every other place has people opposing it too. Lingjue Peak is off-limits, and the sect's graveyard… heh, some people probably don't want a living calamity like him disturbing their peace even in death."
The group let out a few more sighs and soon drifted off to talking about Xiao Ji's life and the murky power struggles within the sect.
Behind the wall, Lin Wan felt cold to the bone, her limbs going numb.
Si Guo Ya…
She had heard of that place before. Among the terrifying stories passed around by outer-sect disciples and menials, it was one of Yunmiao Sect's most ominous forbidden grounds. It was said you could hear ghosts wailing at night, and some swore they had seen twisted black shadows roaming there.
The sect was actually planning to place Xiao Ji Xianjun's yiguan mu in a place like that?
A surge of indescribable bitterness and anger rushed into her chest.
He died fighting for the sect, yet in the end he couldn't even get a proper resting place? Instead, he was cast away to such a desolate, cursed land?
Was it because he had been too aloof in life and offended too many people? Or because… his death itself hid a secret that could never be exposed, so it had to be buried somewhere no one would dare approach?
Thought after thought churned violently in her mind.
But no matter what, she finally had a clear target—
the old site of Si Guo Ya.
No matter how terrifying it was, she had to go.
Having made up her mind, Lin Wan didn't dare linger any longer. Afraid of being discovered by the old menials—or running into Bai Chen or someone else—she tugged at her collar, kept her head down, and hurried toward the outer-sect menial management office.
The Lingzhi Garden lay in the southeast corner of the outer sect. It covered a wide area but had relatively thin spiritual qi. It mainly grew linggu, ling vegetables, and common first-grade ling herbs for daily use and low-level pill refinement.
The office was a shabby green-tiled house with a wooden sign hanging crookedly at the entrance, bearing three ugly characters: "Lingzhi Garden."
Lin Wan took a deep breath, forced down the chaos in her heart, and knocked.
"Come in," a sharp, unpleasant voice called from inside.
She pushed the door open.
The room was dim and reeked of cheap tea mixed with stale sweat. A thin, high-cheekboned middle-aged man in a steward's robe sat behind a battered wooden desk, legs crossed, leisurely sipping cloudy tea.
His name was Wang Gui, the steward of the Lingzhi Garden. In her previous life, he had made things difficult for her countless times—a true snob and petty villain.
Wang Gui didn't even lift his eyes. He lazily blew the foam off his tea and drawled, "Oh? And who do we have here? Isn't this our Lingzhi Garden's busiest little bee, Lin Wan? What, the golden and silver nests down in your hometown were too comfortable, so you finally came back?"
Lin Wan lowered her head, suppressing the nausea. She made her voice sound timid and obedient. "Steward Wang, I… I'm back. I was delayed on the road for a few days. I'm sorry…"
"Delayed?" Wang Gui slammed his teacup down with a sharp clatter, splashing tea. He raised his triangular eyes and shot her a mocking look. "You think one word makes it all fine? What about sect rules? What about the work in the Lingzhi Garden? Do you know the Qingxin Grass field you were responsible for almost dried up because you didn't come back on time? If I hadn't—cough, if I hadn't temporarily reassigned people to watch it, could you have taken responsibility if something went wrong?!"
Spit nearly sprayed onto Lin Wan's face.
She clenched her fingers inside her sleeves until her nails dug into her palms.
She remembered that Qingxin Grass field well—it was extremely drought-tolerant. It wouldn't die even if left unwatered for half a month. Wang Gui was clearly making trouble on purpose, trying to intimidate her and squeeze some benefits out of her.
In her previous life, she had been timid and thrown off by Bai Chen's "care," so every time she was bullied, she either swallowed it silently or offered up part of her already meager allowance.
But now…
She still kept her head lowered, but her voice carried a faint, numb calm. "Steward is right. I was careless. I'm willing to accept punishment and make up all the delayed work."
Seeing her so compliant, Wang Gui became even more arrogant. He snorted. "Make up for it? Easy to say! Of course you'll be punished! Half of your spirit-stone allowance this month is docked! And since you've got so much energy to run around, from today on, the ten mu of Chiyan Shu in the far back hills are yours to take care of too! If anything goes wrong again, hmph!"
Lin Wan's heart sank.
Chiyan Shu was a notoriously difficult first-grade spirit crop. It demanded fertile soil and was extremely prone to infestation by a low-grade pest called Zuandi Jia, which required constant bug-catching, loosening the soil, and nourishing it with fire-attribute spiritual power. It was usually assigned only to menials who had made mistakes or had no backing.
And the back hills were much closer to Si Guo Ya than the Lingzhi Garden…
This punishment was, ironically, "helping" her.
But it also meant her workload would skyrocket. She would barely have any free time to investigate Si Guo Ya.
"What? Not happy?" Wang Gui narrowed his eyes, his tone turning hostile.
"I wouldn't dare," Lin Wan said softly. "This disciple accepts the punishment."
"That's more like it!" Wang Gui lifted his teacup again and waved her off like shooing a fly. "Get back to work! Start by weeding the Qingxin Grass field. It's an eyesore!"
"Yes." Lin Wan bowed and left.
The afternoon sun was glaring, yet she felt chilled to the bone.
Standing on the ridges of the Lingzhi Garden, looking at the endless swaying spirit plants and breathing in the familiar mix of earth and herbs, all the hardship and helplessness of her previous life surged back.
In this cultivation world where the strong devour the weak, without strength, even basic dignity was a luxury.
She walked to the so-called "almost dried up" Qingxin Grass field. The leaves were lush and green, the soil moist—clearly just carefully tended.
Silently, she picked up the weeding tool left at the field's edge: a rusted old hoe engraved with the faintest Qingfeng Fu. She began mechanically clearing the sparse weeds between the rows.
Sweat quickly soaked her back. The rough wooden handle rubbed her already swollen palms raw.
Yet she felt neither pain nor fatigue, only swinging the hoe over and over.
Old Zhang's words, Wang Gui's bullying, Bai Chen's fake smile, and Xiao Ji's cold, lonely death echoed endlessly in her mind.
Power…
She needed power.
Not just to survive, but to uncover the truth—and to seek justice for herself and Xiao Ji!
But with her mixed five-spirit-root and miserable cultivation, stuck here as a lowly menial, there was no hope in sight.
By the time the sun set and dusk fell, she barely finished her assigned tasks. Exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, she dragged herself back to the menials' sleeping quarters.
Their "dormitory" was just several large bunk rooms, each crammed with more than a dozen women. The air was thick with sweat, dirt, and cheap powder.
No one paid her any attention. Some were washing up, others tidying things, and some were whispering in groups, gossiping about sect news.
Lin Wan fetched some cold water from the public channel, wiped her face and hands, then took her dinner: two rock-hard coarse buns and a small bowl of clear soup without a trace of oil.
She curled up in the farthest corner and nibbled at the throat-scratching bun.
Her ears, however, caught bits of nearby chatter.
"…Is it true? Bai Chen-ge really scolded those foul-mouthed guys today?""Absolutely! Lots of people saw it! Senior Brother Bai is so gentle and fair!""If only I could enter the inner sect and see him every day…""Keep dreaming! But now that Lingxi Sword Venerable is dead, isn't Bai-ge the strongest of this generation?""Pretty much. Though I heard Senior Brother Yan from the Law Enforcement Hall is also powerful…""What a pity for Sword Venerable—so handsome, just too cold…""What's the use of being handsome? Dead is dead. I heard the yiguan mu really might be set at Si Guo Ya…""Si Guo Ya?! That place is haunted at night! Who'd dare go there?""I wouldn't… It'll probably just be for show. No one will really go pay respects anyway…"
Lin Wan's chewing slowed.
The news was spreading fast—even common menials were already talking about the tomb's location.
Si Guo Ya was almost certain now.
She had to go soon.
But Wang Gui had assigned her to the Chiyan Shu fields in the back hills. The work was heavy and tightly watched. How could she slip away? And even if she did, Si Guo Ya was on the edge of a forbidden zone, surely guarded by formations or disciples. How could a low-level menial like her even get close?
One heavy shackle after another wrapped around her throat, making it hard to breathe.
Late at night.
The bunk room was filled with snores, muttering, and grinding teeth.
Lin Wan lay on the hard wooden board, eyes wide open. Cold moonlight streamed through the broken lattice, casting mottled shadows on the floor.
The red marks on her wrist from the old beggar had turned into faint bruises, still aching, reminding her of what happened that day.
What did that eerie warning really mean?
She turned to face the wall, absently scraping the flaking plaster with her fingers.
What should she do?
What could she do?
Had she really been reborn, only to change nothing—to watch everything fall into the same abyss again?
Despair rose like icy water, slowly flooding her heart.
Just as her eyes grew hot and her vision blurred—
"Weng…"
A faint, almost illusory hum sounded suddenly in her mind.
At the same time, a sharp burst of heat flared briefly in her chest!
It came and went in an instant, like being pricked by a red-hot needle.
Lin Wan froze, holding her breath.
What was that?
Instinctively, she reached for where the heat had come from—inside her rough clothes, in a crookedly sewn hidden pouch.
There was only one thing inside.
The only relic her mother left her—a plain, dull, worn old copper coin, with no trace of spiritual aura.
She had worn it since childhood. Aside from giving her slightly better luck now and then, it had never done anything strange.
Was that… its reaction?
Her heart started pounding wildly as an absurd yet thrilling thought rose—
Could this ordinary copper coin… actually be a hidden treasure? The key or golden finger brought by her rebirth?
She sat up abruptly, not caring if she woke anyone, trembling as she reached into her clothes to take it out.
Just as her fingers touched the cold coin—
"Clang! Crash—!"
A deafening noise exploded outside!
Something heavy smashed to the ground and shattered!
"Ah!" "What happened?!" "What was that?!"
The sleeping menials were jolted awake. The room descended into chaos—screams, shouts, fumbling everywhere.
Lin Wan jerked her hand back and looked out the window.
Under the moonlight, in the corner of the courtyard beneath the half-withered old locust tree, the large water vat that collected rainwater had shattered into pieces!
Pottery fragments flew everywhere, and filthy water flooded the ground, glinting chaotically in the moonlight.
A night-watching menial was sitting nearby in the mess, face pale as death, shaking violently as he pointed at the shards and screamed incoherently:
"G-ghost! There's a ghost! I—I just saw… a black shadow… it whooshed and smashed the vat, and then… then it vanished!"
A wave of cold terror swept through the entire dormitory.
Everyone huddled together, staring at the wreckage outside with fear.
Lin Wan sat frozen on her bunk, one hand pressed against the copper coin on her chest, which had already gone cold again.
The crashing sound still echoed in her ears.
Black shadow? Ghost?
She suddenly remembered the hoarse warning of the old beggar.
"…terrifying killing aura… karma too heavy… you can't bear it…"
And Old Zhang's words.
"…that place is vicious…"
A horrifying thought slithered into her mind like an icy snake—
That shadow that smashed the vat…
That coin that suddenly burned…
All these strange signs…
Could it be because… she was now tainted with… Xiao Ji's so-called karma and killing aura?
Had he… already begun… to notice her?
Moonlight shone pale on her bloodless face.
Outside, broken shards and dirty water lay still, like a silent, grotesque warning.
The night wind carried distant, mournful cries from the mountains.
Lin Wan sat there without moving, as if she, too, had turned into a lifeless statue.