Therefore, the old man continued to slowly recount further, one by one.
When Jian Yi was three, he suddenly disappeared from the house. The entire family divided and searched for half of the night and finally found him in the middle of a forest outside of the city. Because of this, his grandfather was stabbed in the stomach by a wild beast outside.
Also when Jian Yi was five, he was playing with fire in the house, set it on fire, and burned his other grandfather to death.
Then when Jian Yi was seven……
As such, by the time Jian Yi was ten, the originally numerous Jian family only had this father and son pair remaining, relying on each other for survival, not counting the aunt that was married into another family way earlier, Qin niangzi.
When Wen Xuan heard this, he already felt rather incredulous and couldn’t help but ask: “What’s up with this Qin niangzi anyways?”
“Qin niangzi… she’s the only smart person in that entire Jian family.” The old man huffed coldly: “Everyone could see that the idiot was a calamity, but the entire Jian family refused to believe it. Only Qin niangzi understood and knew that the calamity can’t stay. She almost had the chance to choke the kid to death…… If she wasn’t stopped at the last minute, how could the Jian family fall to such a place now!”
“What?” Wen Xuan turned pale in shock, almost knocking over the dishes next to his hand.
Although he was only hearing a narration, when he thought about how once, Jian Yi was almost choked to death by his own aunt, Wen Xuan still felt his heart tremble with fear and fill with an inexplicable rage: “Ridiculous, ridiculous. To try to kill such a young child just because of a baseless rumor about a ‘calamity star,’ you call this a smart person? And all these people actually think she’s right?”
“Benefactor, you don’t understand. If the problem only remained in the Jian family, no matter how bad it was, it wouldn’t make all these people feel unfortunate that Qin niangzi failed all those years ago.” The old man said: “But around the time when the Jian family pretty much all died, the calamity star then started causing harm to other people!”
Wen Xuan took in a breath and calmed himself somewhat: “What do you mean?”
“First it’s the neighbors they were friendly with. They all started to get infected with a strange illness. Later on, even people who went to buy spiritual medicine from Yunling Shop started contracting the same illness. They suffered day and night, but it was untreatable no matter how many doctors they saw!”
Another outlandish event, Wen Xuan’s expression turned heavier: “What kind of strange illness?”
The Water Cloud Sect once sent people to buy medicine from Jiufeng City before. They didn’t avoid Yunling Shop or anything, so how come they’ve never heard of anyone getting any strange illness?
“No one can say clearly.” The old man shook his head: “First, they had blisters all over their body. Then the blisters festered and drained, filling the air with an overwhelming stench. It was not only painful but also itchy. None of the different experts that were called on knew what’s going on.”
“Did you guys invite anyone from the big cultivation sects?” Wen Xuan couldn’t help but ask.
“Benefactor, are you asking about that Water Cloud Sect?” The old man shook his head and shrugged: “Why would those big lords of Water Cloud Sect care about this little issue in Jiufeng City? The only thing they cared about was their own disciples and those people in the city that had the potential to become future disciples. The people infected by this strange illness were all the most regular of mortals. They won’t even spare these people a glance.”
Wen Xuan turned pale upon hearing these words, but he couldn’t refute it. This also explained why no one from the Water Cloud Sect was affected by this strange illness– what kind of illness actually knew to bully the weak and avoid the strong?
But Wen Xuan was somewhat different from other disciples. He promptly began inquiring where those people who were infected lived, wanting to take a look personally.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
However, the old man said instead: “Benefactor, if you go now, you probably won’t see anything. Ever since the Jian family all died, everyone has recovered.”
“……jii vlfv?”
“Ktja’r gluta. Vqfjxlcu bo ktlmt, atf tfjv bo atja Aljc ojwlis kjr atf olgra bcf ab mjamt atja ragjcuf liicfrr. Lf kjr rlmxfg atjc fnfgsbcf firf. Coafg vgjuulcu bc obg rfnfgji wbcatr, tf olcjiis rabqqfv ygfjatlcu bcf cluta.” Ktf biv wjc rjlv mjgfoeiis: “Qlat tlr vfjat, wjcs qfbqif lc atf mlas qjclmxfv jcv atbeuta atfs kfgf cfza. Pa kjrc’a ecali j ofk vjsr ijafg ktfc atf liicfrr lc atf batfg qfbqif’r ybvlfr rajgafv ufaalcu yfaafg, atja atfs ifjgcfv qfgtjqr atf ubvr ifa atfw boo.”
Hearing this person evaluate the death of Jian Yi’s father, Wen Xuan felt displeased inside, as well as a bit pained.
“However, back to the main point. The crux of this matter wasn’t related to the head of the Jian family, but to that calamity star.” The old man continued to say: “It was actually all thanks to Qin niangzi. After the head of the Jian family died, she took over and chased that calamity star outside of the city. Then some hunters who went out and saw that calamity star dead in the forest outside the city. That’s when the situation within this city started getting better.”
Hearing this person return back to Jian Yi again, Wen Xuan felt a profound grief in his heart. At the same time, there’s also an even deeper sense of incredulousness: “Dead outside of the city?”
“That’s right.”
“Did they make a mistake?”
“How can that be?” The old man puffed his beard: “It’s not like only one person saw it. Not to mention, after he died, everyone else started to get better. There’s no doubt here.”
Wen Xuan fell silent. After a long time, he asked: “Before he was chased out of Jiufeng City, did his father already find someone to cure his dimwittedness?”
The old man scoffed: “He wanted to.” In other words, he didn’t.
Now this was just strange. No matter what, these words didn’t match up with what Wen Xuan knew. The Jian shidi that Wen Xuan knew has been fine and dandy, lively and hopping about all over. His intelligence and wit were something normal people couldn’t compare with. Even if he was once dimwitted, it should have been cured a long time ago. In brief, he seemed like a completely different person from the calamity star that the old man was talking about.
Wen Xuan couldn’t help but describe Jian Yi’s outer appearance in detail, wondering if perhaps he was looking for the wrong person.
However, the old man’s eyes opened wider and wider. In the end, he didn’t even wait for Wen Xuan to finish talking completely to yell in panic: “Yes, that’s the calamity star, no doubt about it! Benefactor, how did you know?”
So he wasn’t looking for the wrong person? Wen Xuan couldn’t help but shake his head. Evidently, the old man was no longer any help in unraveling the strangeness of this situation.
Wen Xuan asked again about the residences of those people who were infected: “Although they’re better now, I still want to go take a look. Oh right, and that Yunling Shop. Can you point it out to me?”
Remembering all of these locations, Wen Xuan got ready to leave.
However before this, there was another person he needed to ask clearly about: “Where does that Qin niangzi live now?”
“Right next to Yunling shop. Ever since the calamity star and his father died, she said the Yunling shop was the family business so moved into it.”
Family business? But wasn’t the Yunling Shop something that Jian Yi’s father opened? The suspicion in Wen Xuan’s heart increased by another degree. But at the moment, it can only be placed next to all of his other suspicions as he slowly explored the answer to this secret.
Just as Wen Xuan got up to leave, that old man’s eyeballs spun. He immediately got up and shamelessly followed Wen Xuan: “Benefactor, since you helped me, why don’t you help me to the end. I, old Qian, am all by my lonesome, without any family at home. As long as I can stay by your side, I’ll definitely follow your every beck and call without any hesitation……”
So this old man really planned to rely on him like a deadbeat? Wen Xuan looked at this person, not knowing if he should laugh and cry.
This person didn’t feel ashamed at all and smiled brazenly. He was just ready to say something when he felt a gust of wind blow by, making him blink uncontrollably. When he opened his eyes again, the only things left in front of his view were the rest of the food and those 20-30 spiritual stones. Wen Xuan’s figure couldn’t be found at all.
After Wen Xuan escaped, he flew past two streets before slowing down.
Following the roads, he found a family that had someone who contracted that strange illness before and knocked on their door. When that person opened the door, Wen Xuan…… very guiltily pretended to be a traveler asking for directions. As he asked, he carefully examined the little area behind the door.
Looking in like this, this family looked extremely normal. Inside the house, there was a big wooden sculpture placed on the table facing the entrance, looking like the deities that mortals liked to pray to. Wen Xuan couldn’t recognize which deity it was. And plus, under this kind of circumstance, it was really hard to make out anything else.
Because Wen Xuan dallied too long in his direction asking, the person who opened the door became suspicious and asked him with furrowed brows: “Cultivator sir, what exactly are you looking for?”
Without any better option, Wen Xuan could only explain honestly what he came for: “I heard someone in this house once had a strange illness……”
“Pa!” He didn’t even finish his words when the person who opened the door abruptly turned pale with fright, back away hastily, and closed the door in Wen Xuan’s face. A panicky voice traveled over from the other side of the tightly closed door: “I don’t know any strange illness!”
Wen Xuan gloomily touched his nose and could only search elsewhere.
After that, he found 4-5 more families but received exactly the same treatment. What was notable was that many of these families had that wooden sculpture in their houses as well. As for the rest, either he didn’t manage to see them or he wasn’t even able to enter the gate.
He needed to come up with a plan to enter…… but it was pretty hard to think of one. This was really not an area of Wen Xuan’s specialty.
Wen Xuan liked straightforward and honorable methods of doing things the most. But at a time like this, it really wasn’t feasible. No, wait. Saying it this way, there were a few families that might be worth trying. Thoughts churning, Wen Xuan turned, changed his target of investigation, and headed to an address.
The families that he visited before were all too unrelated to the Jian family. They only bought spiritual medications a few times and ended up causing trouble for themselves. Naturally, this kind of reaction was unavoidable. The family that Wen Xuan planned to visit this time, the male head of the household was once Jian Yi’s father’s close friend.
After he became infected with the illness, he was forced by his wife to break contact with Jian Yi’s father. Wen Xuan felt like this person was worth a visit.
When he stopped in front of this family’s door and knocked, he saw the person who opened the door and instantly let out a breath of relief. This person was wearing a yellow colored, coarse looking, cotton clothes. His figure looked frail, thin, and weak. There were short stubbles around his lips. This was the male head of the household, no doubt.
Wen Xuan cupped his hands in greeting and didn’t conceal anything. He directly explained his reason for visiting. Of course, in order to prevent other people in the household from hearing, he spoke extremely carefully, even his tone was suppressed extremely quietly.
After this person finished listening, as expected, his expression changed. Then he carefully allowed Wen Xuan into the house and carefully expressed: “Cultivator sir, you came just in time. My wife just happened to be out.”
Hearing this, Wen Xuan let out a huge breath of relief.
Finally, he was able to enter one of the family’s houses. He felt like a huge stone in his heart landed. Looking around unconsciously, he immediately saw a wooden sculpture at the corner of the living room. It was the exact same one as what he saw previously in the other family’s houses.
“Cultivator sir.” That head of the household (Surname Zhou) asked hesitantly: “You…you said Jian Yi, that kid…is still alive? Really?”
Wen Xuan shook his head: “I do know a Jian Yi, but now that I’ve asked around Jiufeng City, I can no longer be certain.”
Zhou---- gave a long sigh: “What happened to the Jian family was really extremely strange and unexplainable.”
This person became friends with Jian Yi’s father many years ago, a little after Jian Yi was born. At that time, he was bitten by a poisonous snake in the mountains and just happened to meet Jian Yi’s father who was out picking medicinal herbs. The other man saved his life: “I feel ashamed even talking about it. I still haven’t been able to return his kindness.”
Then he narrated everything he knew, but it wasn’t too different from what the old beggar said before.
As Wen Xuan listened, he walked around examining the room. When he got close to the wooden sculpture, he couldn’t help but stop. When he was further away, he didn’t feel anything. But now that he was close, he felt this sculpture emitting a strange aura in waves.
This aura was hard to describe. Sometimes when objects are worshiped often, they eventually gain a hint of divinity. As time passed, this kind of divinity could develop a spiritual sentience and respond to the prayer of mortals. Many of the so-called deities in the mortal realm were born like this. With an increase in worship, their divinities also strengthened. This was how these kinds of deities increased their cultivation, until one day, they experience heavenly tribulations like any other cultivators and ascend, becoming true immortals.
The wooden sculpture before his eyes had a slight hint of this kind of divinity. But the strange thing was that beneath this layer of divinity, Wen Xuan can feel it mixed with wisps of darkness.
“Cultivator sir,” Zhou—- discovered that Wen Xuan’s expression was odd: “Is there something wrong with this Deity of Fortune?”
“Deity of Fortune?” Wen Xuan asked in surprise.
Zhou—- nodded, explaining that this was the deity in charge of people’s fortunes. It can change misfortune into fortune. Many people in Jiufeng city were believers. Even that strange illness that started in the Jian family was contained because of this Deity of Fortune.
Wen Xuan’s expression couldn’t help but turn odder: “But the reason why your illnesses got better, wasn’t it because……” Wen Xuan really couldn’t bear saying the rest of the words out loud.
However, Zhou—- knew what he wanted to say and sighed: “That’s only one reason. Actually, people started believing in this Deity of Fortune around the same time this strange illness started spreading in this city. Back then, if someone who was ill accepted this Deity of Fortune into their house, their symptoms would be lighter than those people who didn’t accept. Soon after, more and more people accepted this Deity of Fortune, so even people who contracted the illness lessened.”
“Something like that really happened?”
“That’s right…… and to be honest……” Zhou—- continued to say: “After the news of Jian Yi dying outside spread and everyone’s illness started recovering, I…… and some other families who didn’t believe in this Deity of Fortune still didn’t get better. After my wife berated me severely and also accepted this Deity into our household, only then did my illness improve.”
After listening to this recount, Wen Xuan couldn’t help but examine that wooden sculpture one more time: “This Deity of Fortune, where did you guys get it from?”
“From Qin niangzi.” Zhou—- answered with a smile.
Qin niangzi? This woman again?
Thank You for the new chapter (∩˃o˂∩)♡
Ooh ooh! Is this lady a demonic cultivator? Did she cause all that suffering and blame it on the original Jian Yi??! Poor kid
Essa desgraçada é a causa de tudo
The plot thickens!!
She’s very suspicious…