“That year, the village needed to repair the ancestral hall, and there was a beam column that just wouldn’t stand up no matter what. Everyone thought it was strange, so they went to ask the village chief’s uncle, the oldest elder in the village, for advice.” The voice of Daliang gradually lowered.

Li Xin and the others didn’t interrupt, leaning forward unconsciously, waiting for him to continue.

Daliang glanced at them and lowered his voice even more. “They drove a living stake.”

“A living stake?” Li Xin was shocked that they came up with such a cruel method. “What did they use?”

Seeing Li Xin’s reaction, Daliang quickly waved his hand to explain. “Not a human, not a human, but livestock, livestock.”

The group breathed a sigh of relief when they heard it wasn’t a person.

This kind of evil practice is incredibly malicious. It involves burying a selected person or animal alive under the foundation as a sacrifice to ensure the smooth progress of a construction project.

This used to be common in ancient times, but because it was too cruel, it became rare over a thousand years ago.

Li Xin couldn’t believe that, after a thousand years, he was encountering such a dark practice in this simple mountain village again.

“What kind of livestock?” Li Xin asked.

Daliang scratched his head. “At first, it was a chicken. Uncle calculated the time and said that the best time to drive the stake was during the midnight hour. So, we tied up the chicken and placed it in the ancestral hall before going home to eat.”

“By the time we went to the ancestral hall in the middle of the night, we found that a yellow weasel had eaten the chicken. The village chief was furious and had everyone go after the yellow weasel.” Daliang laughed foolishly. “In the end, we really caught it, so the sacrifice became the yellow weasel.”

Li Xin sucked in a breath. “You guys are really bold, daring to mess with a yellow weasel.”

Daliang slapped his thigh. “Yeah, this is where things went wrong, and that’s why our village suffered.”

“How did it get back at you?” Li Xin snorted.

Daliang continued, “That night, it was Uncle who oversaw the whole thing. Without saying anything, he had people knock out the yellow weasel and bury it. After that, the beam column went up. When everything was done, everyone went home to sleep. But the next morning, we heard that the ancestral hall had collapsed, and Uncle suddenly passed away.”

“That thing holds grudges. You messed with it, and it will make sure you don’t get away unscathed.” Li Xin continued to ask, “Did anyone else have an accident?”

“Yes, four people died in total,” Daliang gestured with his hand.

“How did they die?” Chi Yu, possibly due to professional instincts, asked directly.

Daliang held up his fingers, counting as he spoke. “The first one was Uncle. After he passed away, everyone thought it was the yellow weasel seeking revenge, and everyone became scared. No one dared to go to the ancestral hall. The second was Dazhuang. He was the one who first caught the yellow weasel. On the day of Uncle’s funeral, he was grinning like a madman and then crashed into the coffin, killing himself. Everyone was terrified.”

“Grinning?” Li Xin understood. “He must have been possessed by the yellow weasel.”

“Right.” Daliang continued, “The village chief noticed something was wrong and sent someone to the county to bring back a Taoist priest. At that time, we didn’t have cars here, so it took several days to go back and forth. By the time the Taoist priest arrived, the two people who buried the yellow weasel, Shengzi and Er Gou, had also died. One hung himself, and the other fell off a mountain and died.”

“What did the Taoist priest say when he came?” Li Xin asked.

Daliang recalled, “I also went to the ancestral hall. The Taoist priest performed a ritual, then said that our village had angered the Yellow Immortal in the mountains. The dead yellow weasel was its grandson, and it wanted to avenge its grandson. Then, the village chief begged him for advice, and he said we should first kill a head of pig as a sacrifice. He would then perform a ritual to make peace with the Yellow Immortal.”

“Later, the Yellow Immortal asked you to worship it for generations?” Li Xin had more or less pieced everything together.

“Yes, brother, you’re well-versed, no wonder you’re hitting the nail on the head with everything,” Daliang looked at Li Xin with admiration. “After the Taoist finished the ritual, he told the village chief that the Yellow Immortal originally wanted everyone in the village to be buried with its grandson. But after the Taoist’s persuasion and seeing that we genuinely regretted it, and that the people who directly caused its grandson’s death had already paid with their lives, it no longer held a grudge. It asked that we not build any more ancestral halls for three years, and we should only worship the Yellow Immortal and its grandson. We would also need to offer sacrifices to help its grandson’s cultivation and rebirth, and in return, the Yellow Immortal would protect us.”

“Rebirth?” Li Xin murmured to himself. He had studied the art of rebirth for many years.

This method, of being worshipped by people, was indeed an effective way to gain power. However, it didn’t always work unless there was someone with powerful abilities assisting, with long-term offerings.

It seemed that this Yellow Immortal had quite a high level of cultivation and was very capable.

“What about the old locust tree on the mountain?” Li Xin asked.

Daliang glanced towards the mountain, “That’s because the Yellow Immortal told us to worship there, so we went.”

“So, it’s just a place for worship, nothing special about the tree itself,” Chang You suddenly realized. “The Yellow Immortal is clever, using a tree as a cover.”

“So, things were peaceful after that?” Chang Wu asked curiously.

Daliang nodded. “Since then, we’ve been offering sacrifices every year during festivals, and for weddings and funerals, we also offer worship. After that, nothing strange happened in the village.”

The group exchanged glances, and they understood the situation.

Li Xin patted Daliang’s shoulder with a smile. “Thanks, brother. What you’ve told us will be taken into consideration. Once the route planning is done, we’ll bring tourists here. Your village will have a better life then.”

“That’s great!” Daliang grinned foolishly.

“We’ll leave now. My brother is still sick, and we need to go to the county for treatment,” Li Xin helped Chi Yu up and said to Daliang.

“Then let me see you out of the village,” Daliang felt like he had met a noble person and enthusiastically offered.

“No need, we know the way out ourselves,” Li Xin politely declined. “Thanks, brother. You take care of things. We’ll be on our way.”

After saying that, he led Chang Wu, Chang You, and Chi Yu out of the yard.

Daliang saw they kept declining and didn’t insist. “Alright, just follow the route I told you and you’ll be able to get out. Don’t forget to bring tourists here in the future.”

“We won’t forget, don’t worry,” Li Xin smiled, cheerfully agreeing. Anyone could tell it was all a lie.

Not far from Daliang’s house, Chi Yu couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Your ability to lie without blushing is still as impressive as ever. You really made that honest man believe it. He took everything you said seriously.”

Li Xin gave an awkward laugh. “Senior, don’t tease me. If I hadn’t said it like that, he wouldn’t have told us everything. How else could we investigate the whereabouts of the remnants of the soul?”

Chi Yu glanced at Li Xin. “Do you have any leads now?”

Li Xin shook his head, “No.”

Chi Yu didn’t respond, because he had no idea either.

What Da Liang had just said about the Yellow Immortal demanding a life and then trading offerings with the villagers seemed to have no connection to the lingering soul at all.

“What should we do next?” Chang You, who had been following them, asked softly.

Li Xin thought for a moment, “Let’s go back to the old locust tree.”

“Back to the mountain?” Chang Wu didn’t understand, “That tree? But there’s nothing in that tree.”

Li Xin gave him a sidelong glance, “The Yellow Immortal had them offer sacrifices there. Don’t you think they would take offerings?”

“Ah…” Chang Wu was at a loss for words.

Chang You sighed, “You, kid, talk less and do more.”

Chang Wu nodded obediently, lowering his head and not daring to speak further.

Chi Yu turned around and patted Chang Wu on the head, “It’s your turn to act now. Go see if there’s a way to circle back up the mountain. We can’t go back the same way, or we’ll be noticed.”

Chang Wu responded, “Yes, Master.”

Li Xin then instructed Chang You, “You go with him.”

Chang You looked at Li Xin’s dark expression and was a bit confused—what was going on now?

He quickly responded and thought it was better to leave quickly; otherwise, they might get scolded again soon.

After the two brothers had left, Li Xin then turned to Chi Yu with a pitiful look, “Senior Brother, you’re not allowed to pat other people’s heads in the future.”

Chi Yu was slightly taken aback, “Why?”

As soon as he asked, Chi Yu suddenly realized that Li Xin was jealous.

The sourness in the air was almost suffocating.

“When they were little, didn’t I often pat their heads?” Chi Yu chuckled, “Is it really necessary to make a big deal out of this? Chang Wu is just a kid.”

Li Xin wrapped his arm around Chi Yu’s waist, their breaths mingling, “I don’t care. You can only pat my head, no one else.”

Chi Yu saw his serious, childish expression and couldn’t help but laugh, “Alright, I’ll only pat your head from now on. Is that okay?”

Saying this, Chi Yu reached out and patted his hair.

Li Xin, completely won over by Chi Yu’s words, lost all his anger in an instant.

“Then, Senior Brother, you’d better remember. If I ever see you pat anyone else, I’ll…”

Li Xin tried to be tough for a few seconds, but was interrupted by Chi Yu.

“What will you do?” Chi Yu asked calmly.

“I’ll…” Li Xin looked into Chi Yu’s gentle eyes and suddenly couldn’t say a single tough word. “I’ll stop being nice to you.”

Chi Yu scoffed, “You used to threaten me with this when we were kids, and you’re still doing it now that you’re over a thousand years old. You haven’t changed a bit. Whenever something happens, you say this. Don’t you think you’ve grown a little by now?”

Li Xin was hit with a sharp retort. His gaze darkened, and he pulled Chi Yu into a kiss.

Chi Yu hadn’t expected him to kiss him and froze in place, staring at Li Xin.

Li Xin closed his eyes, not daring to look at Chi Yu, as he kissed him with a mixture of dominance and affection, sucking gently on Chi Yu’s cold lips. This kiss, after a thousand years, was filled with Li Xin’s long-suppressed longing and excitement.

He had held back so much before, afraid of scaring him, afraid that Chi Yu would dislike him, always being cautious about everything.

But now, he didn’t care. He wanted Chi Yu to know that he only belonged to him, and no one else.

Chi Yu felt a sense of both familiarity and strangeness in this feeling. He didn’t push Li Xin away but let him continue.

When the kiss ended, Li Xin opened his eyes, thinking that Chi Yu might be angry. But instead, he was met with Chi Yu’s still gentle gaze.

In those eyes, it seemed as if a thousand starry rivers and endless lakes were hidden, drawing one in deeper and deeper, making it impossible to break free.

“Senior Brother…” Li Xin felt a bit lost, not knowing what to say, “I… I just care about you too much.”

Chi Yu seemed to understand a bit of Li Xin’s emotions at that moment. He felt his face warming up, lowered his head, and said softly, “I know. So… I wasn’t upset just now, but in the future…”

Li Xin thought he was going to say that he didn’t want this to happen again.

But instead, Chi Yu said, “In the future, I won’t pat anyone else’s head, not even little animals.”

“Senior Brother?” Li Xin was stunned.

“I don’t want to see you upset.”

As soon as Chi Yu finished speaking, Li Xin immediately hugged him tightly.

“Senior Brother, I don’t want to control you, I just…”

“I know.” Chi Yu, seeing that Li Xin misunderstood, quickly reassured him, “I just want to give you some sense of security, so you don’t always feel uncertain.”

“I…”

Li Xin still wanted to say something, but then they heard Chang You’s voice calling out, “Master, Mr. Li, we found a way.”