Chapter 41: Would You Be My Cultivation Partner?

The ancestral hall of Huashui Village came into view. The dark brown wooden doors bore strange, black stains resembling dried blood. Tall weeds grew on both sides of the entrance, as if left untended for a long time. Footprints marred the steps, while the rest of the area was covered in a thick layer of dust, proving that people rarely came here to offer incense and worship the ancestors. This was an ancestral hall, a place dedicated to ancestral spirit tablets, yet no matter how one looked at it, such neglect was utterly inexcusable.

A faint, pungent smell of blood drifted from within the ancestral hall, accompanied by the distant, indistinct sound of a child weeping.

Chen Yi frowned; it sounded very much like a child crying.

Just as the two of them were about to push the door open and enter, an elderly man leaning on a walking stick called out to stop them.

Looking very much like the village head, the old man hurried out from a large wooden building. Chen Yi noticed many heads peering out from the windows, curiously sizing up these two officials of the imperial Brocade Guard.

"Chen Yi, Commander of the Eastern Depot, here by imperial decree to investigate a case," Chen Yi said, presenting his token.

Though the old man's face was lined with worry, he managed to squeeze out a smile. "What kind of case are you two officials here to investigate?"

"Investigating hauntings by ghosts and spirits."

The old man's face instantly fell. Trembling with fear, he waved his hands and said, "There's no such thing, absolutely no such thing! The people in our village are honest and upright; with a clear conscience, what ghosts could possibly exist here?"

"Then open the door and let us go inside to take a look," Chen Yi said bluntly.

"Official, outsiders are strictly forbidden from entering the ancestral hall."

"We carry an imperial decree."

Hearing this, the old man's expression stiffened, and he said sternly, "I am warning you—once you open that door, whatever is inside is something none of you can handle! Absolutely no one can handle it! Only when Master Lin arrives can this matter be dealt with; otherwise, no one can resolve it!"

In his anxiety, the old man dropped the polite title of "official" and raised his voice. Sallow-skinned and gaunt, his anger gave him a rather fierce appearance.

Chen Yi lowered his gaze and said flatly, "How dare you defy an imperial decree?"

Thud!

In an instant, the old man drove his knees hard against the ground, actually dropping to his knees. His aged features twisted together as he miserably pleaded, "Official, go back! I beg you, do not doom us, do not doom the entire village! Even if you survive going in, we villagers still have to live here. Who would want their family decimated for no reason? Official, please turn back, do not harm us! Our village will pool together some grain and silver as a tribute to you!"

As he knelt, the peasant's ash-covered forehead banged desperately against the ground until his brow split open and blood began to pool on the earth.

Min Ning frowned. What manner of terrifying demon could possibly strike such deep fear into the hearts of an entire village, making them dare to defy even an imperial decree?

At that moment, a group of Taoist priests, led by a villager, slowly approached while chatting and laughing.

The relaxed and cheerful atmosphere contrasted sharply with the gloomy and chilling surroundings.

The Taoist priests were dressed in immaculate robes, each with a peachwood sword or copper coins hanging at their waist. Compared to the thatched huts and wooden houses along the road, they looked like a group of immortals strolling leisurely through the mortal realm.

The leading villager caught sight of the village head and shouted loudly, "Village head, I've brought a group of immortals!"

The old village head, still kneeling and kowtowing, froze in place, his expression locked and motionless.

The group of Taoist priests stepped out from the crowd. The young Taoist priest at the forefront wore a Laozi crown, giving him the distinct air of an immortal banished from the heavens. Amidst the group of priests, Chen Yi sharply spotted a familiar face:

Yin Weiying.

Today she wore a blue and white Taoist robe, and a female priest beside her was enthusiastically discussing Taoist doctrines with her. She nodded from time to time and offered light smiles occasionally—an air that was neither too distant nor too close, utterly captivating the heart.

The villager hurriedly helped the old village head up, but the latter promptly collapsed back to his knees, crying out, "You wretched fool, are you trying to get us all killed?"

His frantic and shrill cries startled the Taoist priests. Not far away, in the large wooden building, the villagers huddled together, heads bobbing as they whispered among themselves.

"Old village head, these are immortals! Immortals from the Shangqing Taoist sect!" the villager urged anxiously.

Hearing the words "Shangqing Taoist sect," the old village head's expression shifted slightly. Who, within or outside the capital, had not heard of the great reputation of the Shangqing Taoist sect? Perhaps this time, the scourge within the ancestral hall could truly be eradicated.

A trace of hope surfaced on the old village head's face, and the villagers in the large wooden building began to emerge from the inner rooms. Dozens of people crowded together noisily, curiously sizing up the eye-catching group of priests, uttering cries of "Immortals" and "They really are immortals."

The old village head immediately trotted over to the leading Taoist priest of the Shangqing sect, offering cautious and apologetic apologies. "My old eyes are dim and I offended the true immortal. Please forgive me..."

"Dare not, dare not. This humble Taoist goes by the religious name Xuanzhen. My fellow practitioners and I have only cultivated the Tao for some thirty years, hardly worthy of being called true immortals. Seeing the dense evil vapors shrouding this ancestral hall, we have come under the orders of our esteemed master specifically to slay demons and vanquish devils," the young Taoist Xuanzhen said modestly.

The old village head and the others swarmed around the newly arrived priests, asking endless questions and eagerly offering wine and food before long. Chen Yi and Min Ning, who had arrived earliest, were instead left standing in the cold.

Seeing how these people acted, Min Ning frowned deeply, yet Chen Yi remained completely unreactive.

"Aren't you angry?"

"Why should I be angry? It's simply human nature," Chen Yi said casually.

Among the priests, Yin Weiying was the first to notice the presence of the two. The female priest's delicate brows furrowed as she cursed her bad luck, preparing to turn her head away.

To her surprise, that obnoxious Chen Yi actually blinked at her and offered a slight smile.

Yin Weiying calmed her churning heart, glanced at her surrounding fellow practitioners, and then back at Chen Yi. A plan formed in her mind, and she deliberately asked, "Old village head, these two are..."

The old village head was startled, then turned around and hurriedly forced a smile. "They are officials sent by the imperial court, here by imperial decree to investigate the demons inside the ancestral hall."

Upon hearing this, the priests of the Shangqing sect were first puzzled, and then the leading priest, Xuanzhen, seemed to recall something, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

Xuanzhen said earnestly to the two of them:

"Please return, you two officials. The malevolent and baleful qi here is quite heavy. Although the two of you are martial arts masters, you are not skilled in dealing with demons and ghosts. To speak bluntly, staying here will likely only make you a burden."

Xuanzhen's words were sincere, but some of the other Shangqing priests nearby secretly amused themselves. Sending two martial arts masters to slay demons and vanquish ghosts was truly meddlesome and absurd.

Chen Yi was about to reply when Yin Weiying spoke up first:

"Fellow Daoist Xuanzhen jests. On the contrary, I feel that these two officials look quite confident and must have something they are relying upon, especially that taller official. Not only is he a man of the martial world, but he is likely quite adept at slaying demons and subduing devils as well."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere instantly turned subtle.

Chen Yi narrowed his eyes.

Others might not know, but he knew very well that Yin Weiying was clearly trying to elevate him on a pedestal.

Since a celestial maiden of the Taihua Sect had spoken, how could the others not believe it? This woman who cultivated the doctrine of forgetting emotions through the Supreme Dao intended to lift him up high only to drop him heavily later, shattering him to pieces.

*Tsk*, troublesome. If it were someone else, they would probably say... *you are courting death*?

However... he had never been one to resort to such methods against women...

Hearing Yin Weiying's words, the first person to feel dissatisfied was not Chen Yi, but Min Ning standing beside him.

She said coldly, "Immortal Yin, spare your breath."

The atmosphere suddenly chilled.

The old village head, ever adept at smoothing things over, hastily intervened. "Let's go inside and take a look first. Both the Taoist priests and the officials, please enter."

With that, the old village head turned around and pushed open the heavy doors of the ancestral hall.

The Taoist priests walked forward accordingly.

As Yin Weiying passed by Chen Yi, she turned her head slightly and whispered with a laugh, "Commander Chen, I divined your fortune—you do not possess the Heavenly Eye."

As her voice trailed off, Yin Weiying insolently waited to see the man's expression of surprise and disappointment.

Yet the man turned his head, stared straight into her eyes, and uttered words that made her flush red and goosebumps rise across her skin.

He simply smiled teasingly and said:

"Yin Weiying, would you be willing to become my cultivation partner? As for those offensive words... I won't hold any of them against you..."

Yin Weiying's cheeks burned with heat, goosebumps prickled down her snow-white neck, and a shiver ran straight through her heart.

Those were the exact words she had said to him that night! He actually dared to return them to her almost word for word...

As ill luck would have it, several Shangqing priests heard these words and turned around in curiosity and astonishment.