“Speaking of this Qin niangzi, she was the first believer of the Deity of Fortune in Jiufeng city.” Zhou—- continued to say: “When she married into landlord Li’s family 20 years ago, she was unable to give birth to any children, until about two years ago, she consolidated a belief for the Deity of Fortune. Then her stomach finally had activity.”
In other words, after this, Qin niangzi started to become the Deity of Fortune’s most devoted believer and began preaching all over Jiufeng City.
“Even big brother Jian, who had plenty of disagreements with her before, asked her for a sculpture of the Deity of Fortune to place in the middle of Yunling Shop. Unfortunately, it didn’t help him escape death…… The other people all say it’s because the calamity aura from Jian Yi’s body was too much, even the Deity of Fortune couldn’t control it.”
Zhou—- gave a long sigh.
Wen Xuan fell silent as he pondered. Even if Qin niangzi preached fervently, it would still be practically impossible to gather the belief of all of these people in merely two years. The reason this Deity of Fortune was able to expand so extensively in Jiufeng City was more so because it coincided with the strange illness.
Then Wen Xuan asked: “Was the Deity of Fortune placed in the Yunling Shop before the strange illness spread across the city or after?”
This question was a bit hard to answer. Zhou—- was stunned for quite awhile.
After a long time, this person furrowed his brows and said with an extremely uncertain tone: “I think it was…… after? No, not right……”
“It was before, before the appearance of the strange illness!” He suddenly recalled something and changed his uncertainty just now, saying with resolution: “When I visited Yunling Shop during that time, I occasionally would see a piece of cloth covering there, revealing the hand of a wooden sculpture. When I asked, big brother Jian told me, Qin niangzi bothered him nonstop so he had no choice but to bring that wooden sculpture inside. Now that I think about it, that must be the Deity of Fortune. However, at that time, big brother Jian wasn’t a believer so he covered it with a piece of cloth. Ai, perhaps the Deity of Fortune didn’t protect him because of this bit of disrespect…… When he was finally willing to show the Deity of Fortune out in the open, the strange illness already ran rampant amongst Jiufeng City for quite a while. Old habits die hard.”
“In other words, he first placed the Deity of Fortune into Yunling Shop, then contracted the strange illness. Afterwards, the illness spread to everyone who came in contact with him?” With a heavy face, Wen Xuan continued to ask: “Those people who contracted the illness, did they often visit Yunling Shop prior?”
Zhou—- heard his words, and couldn’t help but become somewhat dumbfounded.
Saying those words before, he felt like he was wasting time. But now that they were reiterated by Wen Xuan like this…… why did everything sound so off?
Wen Xuan took a deep breath: “If your big brother Jian didn’t cover up that wooden sculpture at first and made everyone aware of this sequence of events, perhaps other people would have noticed this earlier.”
“Cult…cultivator sir……” Zhou—- already shifted his gaze on to the wooden sculpture of his Deity of Fortune. He couldn’t resist swallowing heavily: “What you mean is…… this Deity of Fortune…… this Deity of Fortune was the cause of everything……”
Wen Xuan shook his head: “There’s no concrete evidence yet.”
Zhou—- remained dumbfounded for a moment, then finally regained his focus. Clenching his teeth tightly, he said with a zealous tone: “No, cultivator sir, I believe you! I said it before, big brother Jian was a good person. Jian Yi was also a pitiful child. How could he be a calamity star? But no one believed me! Later, more and more things kept happening so even I started to suspect…… Stupid. I’m really stupid. Why didn’t I think of it earlier, that everything was actually caused by this Deity of Fortune! And here everyone thinks it’s a good thing!”
Stirred emotionally, he rushed at the wooden sculpture. Raising it with both hands, he was just about to smash it into pieces.
However, Wen Xuan reached out a hand and stopped him: “Calm down for a moment first. I still have to investigate many more things to learn just what happened. If it really is this thing’s fault in the end, you have time to smash it later.”
Stopped half way, Zhou—-’s fury instantly deflated. He held the sculpture, not knowing if he should really smash it or not.
“If there’s really something wrong with this sculpture and you smashed it now, you might inadvertently alert the enemy.” Seeing this person still hesitating, Wen Xuan shook his head with a smile: “And plus, if you smashed it right now and your wife comes back, wouldn’t she come after you?”
Zhou—- instantly trembled and put the sculpture in his hands back into its original position, safe and sound: “Cultivator sir, you’re right, you’re right.”
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.
Wen Xuan couldn’t help but smile again.
“Jeialnjabg rlg, sbe wera lcnfralujaf atf ybaabw bo atlr!” Pc atf fcv, atlr Itbe—- qifjvfv fjgcfrais: “P xcbk ylu ygbatfg Aljc kjr lccbmfca. Tbe mjc’a ifa tlw mjggs atlr lcojws fnfc joafg vfjat.”
Qfc Wejc cbvvfv tlr tfjv: “Pa’r ws veas.”
Olxf atlr, jii bo atf lcobgwjalbc atja mbeiv yf ujatfgfv tfgf kjr mbwqifafv. Qfc Wejc rjlv tlr ubbvysfr ab atlr Itbe—-.
Walking down this road, he headed closer and closer to the truth. Finally, he walked to the source of everything, Yunling Shop. At this time, Yunling Shop was completely transferred over to the new owner, Qin niangzi. Perhaps because of this location and the events that happened, the atmosphere here was very ominous. After changing owners, Yunling Shop still hasn’t re-opened. The inscribed name board at the entrance already accumulated a layer of dust. The heavy front door was also closed tightly, not a person inside.
Since there was no one inside, Wen Xuan didn’t feel the need to be courteous. He promptly casted a small spell and entered by going through the walls.
As soon as he stepped into Yunling Shop, a moldy smell greeted him immediately. Clearly, it’s been quite a while since anyone else entered. He waved his sleeves. The dust that filled the air practically blinded him. He took a few steps in this dust. Finally, the corner of his eyes lit up when he saw the wooden sculpture that was respectfully placed on the center of the countertop. Sure enough, it was the exact same looking Deity of Fortune, which also emitted a strange aura.
But in comparison to the one in Zhou—-’s house, the dark aura on this sculpture was even thicker. Just standing close, Wen Xuan could feel goosebumps rising uncontrollably.
If it was before, Wen Xuan might not have been able to figure out what this dark aura was. But after meeting Zhao Feiyu and making a death contract with him, Wen Xuan naturally knew— this was demonic energy. This wooden sculpture was emitting a light aura of demonic energy.
It was really hard to believe that this so-called Deity of Fortune was demonic in nature.
Wen Xuan took a deep breath. Of course he wanted to eliminate demons and eradicate evil, but this demonic thing actually learned to cultivate via the method of deities. The wooden sculpture was only a medium to collect mortal prayers. Even if Wen Xuan destroyed it, he wouldn’t be able to hurt the real body.
With any other choice, Wen Xuan can only turn and continue walking around inside Yunling Shop. The medicinal herbs inside Yunling Shop were already removed by someone. The chairs and table were still set up in their original position. Who knows if Qin niangzi planned to leave the place like this or was waiting for things to calm down to tidy it up.
There was pretty much nothing else to investigate in this Yunling shop.
Just as Wen Xuan thought this, he walked to the backyard. His both eyes instantly constricted. Under an old locust tree, there was hole. Wen Xuan crouched down, picked up a bit of the dirt around the edges, and squeezed it between his fingers. This hole was dug a while ago, several months at least, but not more than a year. Carefully calculating, this should have happened after Jian Yi’s father died of illness, and Jian Yi was chased out.
After Qin niangzi became the owner of Yunling Shop, did she dig something out of here?
As Wen Xuan pondered this, he continued to search in other areas of the backyard. Just as he almost reached the boundary of the backyard, he suddenly heard the sound of laughter. Next door, someone was strumming the strings and playing a beautiful song.
Right now, Qin niangzi was living next to Yunling Shop and she was an expert at playing the zither since she was young. Back then, her reputation spread all across Jiufeng city because of her skills with the zither. It even attracted that landlord Li to spend a huge amount of money to marry her. Therefore, the person who was playing the zither right now, it should be Qin niangzi?
Wen Xuan concealed himself, jumped on a tree, and sneakily looked over the walls.
For a moment, he thought he guessed wrong. Because the person playing the zither looked like a young girl in her prime. She was currently playing the zither inside the house and singing quietly, a very beautiful image. But on closer examination, he discovered that this actually wasn’t a young girl because the corners of her eyes had thin wrinkles.
Next to her was a cradle. Inside, there was a small baby who was currently waving both hands, giggling to the music.
This should be the child that Qin niangzi finally had through praying to the Deity of Fortune. Adding these clues together, the woman playing the zither should be Qin niangzi, without a doubt. Really hard to imagine, Qin niangzi should be around 40 years old right now, yet she still maintained her outer appearance this well. It was apparent just how beautiful and enchanting she must have been when younger.
After the song was over, the baby in the cradle quietly entered dreamland. Qin niangzi stopped. A light clapping sounded behind her. Qin niangzi turned her head to look. A man with white hair walked in from the outside.
“Husband.” Qin niangzi got up to greet him.
The middle aged man pulled her into his arms smiling. What an affectionate pair of husband and wife. Then, the two people spoke quietly for a while. Wen Xuan was far away so he couldn’t hear very clearly.
He also didn’t plan to eavesdrop. Instead, he quietly jumped off the tree, then used another spell, and secretly went through the walls again. He attempted to investigate this place where Qin niangzi lived. However, he didn’t even start when words reached his ears.
“I just returned from outside. People say that a cultivator was making inquiries all over about the Jian family.” The person saying this was that white haired middle aged man. Wen Xuan’s footsteps froze. In the end, he couldn’t help but listen closely.
“A cultivator?” Qin niangzi’s tone was filled with surprise: “Why would a cultivator investigate them?”
“Who knows?” Landlord Li said: “That cultivator even went to many of the families that contracted the illness.”
“Is it to investigate that strange illness?” Qin niangzi slightly calmed down and hypothesized: “Perhaps someone related to that cultivator got involved in this?”
“That’s what I’m asking you.” Landlord Li expressed: “Didn’t you promise back then that everyone you found were all people without backgrounds, that it definitely won’t cause a big scene?”
The information in these words was really a lot. In his surprise, Wen Xuan moved slightly.
“I……” Qin niangzi opened her mouth and was just about to say something when her expression suddenly changed. She abruptly turned around and yelled loudly: “Who’s there?”
This woman was this sensitive? Wen Xuan hastily took a step back and hid himself in the shadows.
However, Qin niangzi didn’t relax. Instead, she walked forward step by step and carefully looked at every corner of the house. Seeing her head closer and closer, Wen Xuan had no other choice but to continue backing up, going through the wall and completely exiting this house.
Although he only heard half of the conversation, through this half of the conversation, Wen Xuan knew that the strange illness definitely had an inseparable relationship with Qin niangzi. In addition, her husband, landlord Li, was also a participant. However, Wen Xuan still felt this wasn’t enough. He still wanted to gain control over even more evidence.
Since such a sensitive person was present here, if he wanted to investigate anything in broad daylight, it’d probably be hard.
Wen Xuan shook his head and could only retreat momentarily, planning to come back later in the night.
After he completely left that place, Wen Xuan felt extremely unsettled with an unspeakable discomfort and pain. This discomfort and pain naturally wasn’t for himself, but for Jian Yi.
Although he was still unwilling to make the final conclusion, with the evidence he had currently, Wen Xuan already had a very clear grasp of the truth.
Qin niangzi, Jian Yi’s blood related aunt, caused the death of Jian Yi’s father. Then through a meticulously set up scheme, she made the two of them become the calamity star in the eyes of all of the residents in Jiufeng city, to be cursed and disdained even after death.
After first, Wen Xuan wished he guessed wrong. After all, the thing that did everything should be that demonic Deity of Fortune; Qin niangzi was only a believer of this demonic object. She very likely could have been misled and didn’t know anything at all. However, through the conversation he heard from the husband and wife just now, Wen Xuan found it hard to convince himself otherwise.
The purpose of this journey of his at the moment was to learn about Jian Yi’s past. Who would have thought, after really learning about it, he’d feel such pain.
Even if Qin niangzi wasn’t the culprit, everything that youth experienced all of these years living in Jiufeng city was enough to make Wen Xuan feel terrible. Losing his mother right after birth, then losing his family one by one while growing up, and even being blamed as the cause of those deaths, to almost being choked to death by his own aunt who was praised as a hero by everyone.
Heart ache ah, his heart really ached.
Wen Xuan inevitably stopped walking. Taking a deep breath, it took him a strenuous effort to suppress the pain in his heart.
He didn’t go investigate anything else. Although there were still plenty of things he didn’t know, for example, how did the Jian Yi, who everyone claimed to be dimwitted and already dead, suddenly become his lively, intelligent and witty Jian shidi. At this moment, he only wanted to wait for the sun to set. He no longer wanted to rush about and hear more stories that made him distressed. Meanwhile, before the sunset, he left Jiufeng City and went to a grave outside of the city.
Although Jian Yi’s father was cursed and spat on even after death, in the end, he wasn’t the calamity star himself. Therefore, at least his body was cleaned up and buried properly here. Wen Xuan searched his way over, wanting to offer his prayers there.
However, when he finally managed to find its location, he was stunned.
Jian Yi’s grave was already cleaned up by someone first. The weeds in the surrounding area were all pulled out cleanly. There was no dust at all on the gravestone because it was carefully wiped down. There were even a bundle of wild daisies placed in front of the tombstone. White and yellow mixed together, the flowers were soft and cute, like they were meticulously selected.
Did someone arrive here first? That Zhou guy? From the dewdrops on the daisies, the person who came to sweep up clearly left not very long ago. Unfortunately, Wen Xuan just happened to miss them.
However, since they meticulously cleaned up, why didn’t they light red incense or burn money? Why was there only this bundle of wild daisies?
For a moment, Wen Xuan was somewhat bewildered. But in the end, these were only minor details. He didn’t puzzle over it for too long. Following his original plan, he also held a memorial service here.
When Wen Xuan came, the sun was already headed west. When he finished this service, the sun had set completely as night enveloped Jiufeng City.
Wen Xuan tidied up his clothes, then planned to return to investigate Qin niangzi again.
At this moment, Wen Xuan suddenly sensed something.
Before he hastily retreated from Qin niangzi’s residence, he left a ball of his spiritual energy there. That ball of spiritual energy didn’t affect mortals at all, and it didn’t have any other use. However, whenever people or things with cultivation got near it, the ball of spiritual energy would react and dissipate into the air to escape being discovered by others.
The reason Wen Xuan left this spiritual energy was to guard against the appearance of that demonic presence.
Now that spiritual energy dissipated, clearly someone or something entered Qin niangzi’s house. Wen Xuan quickened his pace and rushed towards that unknown arrival.
But in reality, that wasn’t some demonic presence. But rather, it was a foundation building cultivator. One that Wen Xuan was familiar with, a person who was ready to get his vengeance.
Before Wen Xuan arrived, Qin niangzi had a feeling in the night. Waking up from her sleep, she opened her eyes and immediately saw the figure staring at her unblinkingly at her bedside.
There was a sudden gust of wind outside the window. The sound of thunder rumbled in the sky and a flash of lightning lit up that person’s face.
For Qin niangzi, this was a face that she could only see in her nightmares.
“Ah! Ah——–!” She has never felt so terrified and out of her mind. She let out a screech that could pierce people’s eardrums: “Ghost! A ghost ah–!”
The person saw her alarmed and panicking state, the corner of his mouth twisted into a faint smile.
Thank You for the new chapter (∩˃o˂∩)♡
Thanks for the chapter ❤️❤️
Aaaaah. I think I know who’s that cultivator eheh
Thank you for the translation !
Thanks for the chapters!
Tava pensando que ela era um demônio mas talvez não?
Oh, I see who cleaned that grave
I didn’t expect our fellow reader/transmigrator to be so thoughtful towards the original host and his family. Loving the story so far.