Chapter 97

Tao Xian called out to Lin Du, but the one who acted was Xia Tianwu, who hadn’t spoken a single word to him up until then.

Xia Tianwu grasped the jade clasp at her waist, but what she drew out was a soft sword, gleaming coldly in the light, much like her own temperament.

Moments later, the sword danced through the air like a dragon, leaving behind arcs of spiraling spiritual energy. Suddenly, there was a loud sizzling sound—the frost that Lin Du had left in the room hadn’t fully dissipated yet, and the mist in the air seemed to sizzle and boil as if it had fallen onto a burning iron skillet.

Lin Du remained still. Her spiritual awareness far exceeded that of ordinary people, but that didn’t mean she could afford to be distracted while examining someone’s soul.

Moreover, the person in question was a mortal, and examining their soul required extra care to avoid causing harm.

What burst from the ground wasn’t anything ordinary—it was a vine.

The vine, which had a strange greenish hue under the light, still carried some dust with it as it broke through the floor tiles. The tiles shattered, sending fragments scattering across the room like a rain of debris.

Xia Tianwu had only possessed that strange fire power for a few years, and although she hadn’t yet fully mastered it for intricate tasks, her combat abilities were more than sufficient. Her soft sword, coiling and twisting, lashed onto one of the vines with a deft flick.

Tao Xian saw this out of the corner of his eye and was about to express concern over whether such a skill could stop the demonic vine. But before he could speak, Xia Tianwu swiftly withdrew her sword. As the blade left the vine, it ignited a ring of delicate flames. The vine, though a living creature, couldn’t catch fire, but the sword’s strike had still sliced it cleanly, leaving a singed, yellowed edge.

When Tao Xian had attacked earlier, the vine had quickly regenerated, sprouting new branches, but after Xia Tianwu’s strike, it didn’t regrow.

He had always known that Supreme Sect didn’t raise idle disciples, but this was still remarkable.

Meanwhile, the pregnant woman on the bed suddenly opened her eyes in a panic, muttering, “The Moon God has come. The Moon God has come to punish me.”

Lin Du turned expressionlessly toward the two people battling the endlessly regenerating vines, and without a word, she abruptly headed outside.

She didn’t bother using the door—she simply lifted the nearest window, propped herself up, and jumped out. In her hand appeared a misshapen, pitch-black pill.

Lin Du made her way directly to the well, slowly channeling her spiritual energy into the pill before tossing it toward the Moonlight Well.

The handful of pills, which appeared to be thrown carelessly, fell through the air, landing precisely on the vines rather than into the well itself.

It was as if a reckless child had fearlessly thrown firecrackers into anything they could find during New Year’s.

A deafening explosion followed, sending the vines flying in all directions. Countless green branches shot into the sky, but instead of the smell of gunpowder, the air was filled with the scent of various medicinal herbs.

Intense fire energy surged toward Lin Du, and she held her breath. Her seemingly casual hand, holding the folding fan, rose and struck the broken branches that had been blasted into the air.

The Moonlight Vine had the ability to regenerate, but now, with the vines near the well blown to pieces, it was questionable whether they could regrow at all.

Just then, Lin Du noticed a vine shoot back toward her. Her body tensed as she instantly released spiritual energy from her core, spinning around to look—only to find no one there.

Despite the loud commotion, no one came out.

Lin Du suddenly realized something. “Who’s there? Is Senior Sister Seven here?”

“She probably couldn’t set up such a large barrier. With all this noise, if no one’s helping you block the sound, you’ll probably have the whole village coming to beat you up by now,” a voice replied.

The space subtly rippled, and there stood a person who shouldn’t have been there, calmly standing amidst the remains of the vines. Wearing a straw hat and a sky-blue monk’s robe, he didn’t look like a monk at all.

Lin Du sighed in relief but quickly tensed up again. “What are you doing here?”

She didn’t bother with formalities, not even using his name.

Wei Zhi didn’t respond immediately. He approached Lin Du and pulled out an incense stick. With a swift motion, a flash of golden light pressed down on the newly sprouted vine, forcing it back into the ground.

Lin Du: “… You can do that?”

She suddenly noticed something. “Your demonic markings…”

They had spread further.

Compared to their first meeting, the markings had grown much larger, resembling vines spiraling out of control. Thin red lines now stretched down below his collar.

Wei Zhi nodded. “Yeah, no choice. Digesting a dragon and suppressing its demonic energy takes time.”

He spoke so nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal. Lin Du didn’t want to dwell on it and turned her attention to the true root of the vines.

“The roots run deep beneath the entire village. They cover everything,” Wei Zhi pointed out. “If you want to remove them, the village will be destroyed.”

“Is that why no one can leave the village?” Lin Du asked, knowing that Wei Zhi and Lin Tuan had some family connection, making her less guarded this time.

“Pretty much.” Wei Zhi paused and glanced at Lin Du. “The people we captured last time pointed to this place, so I came to check it out.”

Lin Du frowned as her mind raced. “But…”

“It’s not like they caused all this,” Wei Zhi explained, noticing her confusion. “That person was once here, using this place to advance their cultivation.”

“It’s strange, right? They successfully concealed themselves from heaven’s sight to advance.” He smiled wryly, a hint of self-mockery in his expression. “So I came to see how they did it. That’s useful information for me.”

He didn’t wait for Lin Du to ask, “What’s in it for you?” and directly stated his purpose.

Lin Du then asked, “What kind of evil creature is this vine?”

“It’s not inherently evil. Haven’t you noticed how full of life and spiritual energy it is? It’s more of a spiritual plant than an evil one,” Wei Zhi replied patiently. He paused for a moment. “You’re a formation master, so I’m not sure how much Yan Ye has taught you, but the village’s feng shui is alive because of the vine’s veins.”

Lin Du nodded. “I’m aware of that.”

“But if you call it an evil thing, you’re not wrong either,” Wei Zhi added. “Because it’s constantly drawing on the villagers’ life force.”

Lin Du quickly put the pieces together. “So the vine isn’t evil, but the person using it is a demonic cultivator?”

Wei Zhi swung the incense stick again, this time turning the newly sprouted vine into fine mist.

Lin Du realized what the incense stick was—it was a ruler, traditionally used by teachers. A fitting tool for someone who was a good mentor.

Wei Zhi looked down at her. “The vine’s instinct is to absorb spiritual energy and life force because it needs to grow. If it’s planted inside a person, it’s not inherently evil, but it becomes evil.”

“The Moonlight Vine’s fruit,” Lin Du deduced.

The entire village, seemingly blessed with great feng shui, was actually a dead zone. The well acted as a focal point, and the Moonlight Vine served as the formation’s lifeblood, animating the land.

But the people behind this weren’t here to do charity—the village had to pay a price.

The price was the villagers’ life force and their freedom.

The men consumed the fruit, becoming sacrifices of life energy, while the women were used as breeding tools.

Like livestock, the men were fattened up, and the women bore the offspring.

“But… why is it the men’s life force? What about the women chosen by the Moon God?” Lin Du frowned, puzzled.

Suddenly, a lighthearted voice rang out as the ruler landed gently on her forehead. “Why are you frowning so much at your age? Thinking this hard will give you gray hair.”

Startled, she instinctively retorted, “You don’t even have any hair.”

…

Wei Zhi retracted his hand, then struck the ground again with his ruler. This time, not only were the vines shattered, but even the ground and the well cracked open.

Lin Du’s voice weakened. “Monks don’t lie. There’s no way I have gray hair.”

“Why would I lie to you?” Wei Zhi laughed, raising his hand to gather the water from the Moonlight Well into a mirror. “Look for yourself. There’s no way you dyed it with frost.”

He crafted another water mirror behind her, reflecting the moonlight, so she could see more clearly.

Lin Du saw a streak of lifeless white hair beneath her neatly tied hair on the left side of her head.

It looked awful.

“Actually, it’s not that bad… it’s kind of… cute,” Wei Zhi broke the water mirror with a flick, trying to cheer her up. “But you really should stop overthinking things at your age.”

Lin Du murmured, “I bet it’s the vine that drained the life out of my hair.”

She glared at the vine, her tone chilling. “It’s best to get rid of it.”

Wei Zhi: Who’s the real demonic cultivator here…?

Clearly, this kid was just overthinking things. Why didn’t she reflect on herself?

Suddenly, Wei Zhi’s expression tensed as he looked at the well, which had just cracked open but was now completely intact.

This stone… had something hidden within it.

Now he understood why this village, involved in a deal with a “demonic god,” hadn’t been discovered by the heavens. It was because of the material used in the formation’s core.

If this child hadn’t blown up the vines and exposed the stone, revealing the energy of the “Bu Tian” stone, he wouldn’t have noticed it.

Wei Zhi glanced at the child, who was about to frown again. “Fine, I’ll deal with these vines.”

With Lin Du’s strength alone, it would have been impossible to remove the vines covering the entire village.

If this child hadn’t blown up the vines and exposed the stone, revealing the energy of the “Bu Tian” stone, he wouldn’t have noticed it.

Wei Zhi glanced at the child, who was about to frown again. “Fine, I’ll deal with these vines.”

With Lin Du’s strength alone, it would have been impossible to remove the vines covering the entire village.