I couldn’t imagine what it could be.
Sha Lifei whispered, "Shall we look for it while we’re at it?"
Li Yan pondered for a mont and shook his head, "The effort that Mr. Shen has spent most of his life searching and has found nothing, even if it is still around, it’s not that easy to find."
"We should prioritize searching for ’Storing God.’ With the Shen family handling funeral affairs, Uncle Sha, stay with Master Wang, while I’ll take Brother Lv and Wu Ba to secretly investigate."
"Brother Lv, keep an eye on the surroundings."
"Okay!"
After the arrangents, Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan each returned to their rooms, perford a short ditation, and then went straight to sleep.
For them, it was relatively easy here.
Unlike the tension in the three cities of Wuchang, this place was rural. Not to ntion masters, even people from the Mystical Sect were rarely seen.
Lv San whistled, and Mouse One and Mouse Two imdiately erged from their hide, moving swiftly to the courtyard outside.
Being demons, although their Dao was average and not good at fighting and sowhat portly, their movents were still agile. In a few swift monts, they climbed to the rooftop and squeaked a few tis.
Soon, the old rats in the Shen household started poking their heads out.
"ow!"
However, the sound of cats owing also followed as the Shen family also had several tabby cats, which were quite aggressive, and imdiately scared the rats into fleeing in all directions.
Helpless, Lv San had to call out a few tis, and the tabby cats, hesitantly, stopped chasing the rats.
Although there weren’t many rats nearby, it was still a layer of alert, guarding every corner. If anything happened, Mouse One and Two would sound the alarm.
In Wuchang City, Lv San was already very familiar with this tactic.
"Squeak, squeak!"
Soon, Mouse One started squeaking.
"Soone leaving?"
Lv San frowned and shook his head, "Don’t worry about it as long as no one breaks in at midnight."
Saying this, he fiddled with his Bone Flower.
The Bone Flower had been re-crafted, its power enhanced. With more than a dozen cartridge cylinders shaped, by twisting the Bone Flower and inserting them inside, one could trigger the chanism to fire.
Of course, each cartridge could only fire once.
But compared to before, it was incredibly fast...
...
On the Shen family’s side yard, next to the firewood storage, was a fence.
There was also a side gate here, mainly used by servants. After all, carrying firewood, pork, and other sundries, it was improper to use the main entrance.
Creak~
The side gate slowly opened, a figure tiptoed out, locked the door, and quickly left the Shen family mansion.
It was a night with a dark moon and high winds. The village hadn’t fallen into complete darkness yet, and a few families kept their bonfires burning, keeping vigil.
In the darkness, the figure looked up, tall and thin, with triangular eyes and fan-like ears—it was Shen Jingcan, the son of Second Master Shen.
He cautiously looked around, grabbed the hem of his long gown and tucked it into his belt, and lightly made his way towards the outskirts of the village.
Woof woof!
The village dogs, hearing the noise, barked a few tis.
Shen Jingcan quickly made his way out of the village, then broke into a run, panting heavily, his eyes full of excitent.
In about the ti it would take three sticks of incense to burn, he arrived at a small temple built by the lake, small in size, with just a main hall and two side rooms, and surrounded by low walls.
This was a Water God Temple.
With many rivers and lakes in the territory of Ezhou, the most nurous were the Water God Temples, mostly worshipping General Yang Si, and many local water gods.
This Water God Temple was a Dragon Lady Temple.
Legend had it that the daughter of the East Sea Dragon King left the Dragon Palace of her own volition to co to the Human World, where she t a fisherman on Liangzi Lake and beca husband and wife.
Yet the Dragon Lady violated the Heavenly Rules, and in the end, the Dragon King turned her back into a fish and exiled her to the Yangtze River. The fisherman never married and after his death, people scattered his ashes in the lake, hence the Dragon Lady Water God Temple.
The temple was pitch-dark. Shen Jingcan scaled the wall to get in.
Whoosh!
As soon as he landed, a dart whizzed by, nailing itself into the ground right in front of him, half-buried in the dirt.
"Master, it’s !"
Shen Jingcan dared not move and hurriedly called out.
There was a creak, and a wooden door of the side room opened, and an old man appeared, hunched over with a weathered face, wearing a Daoist robe full of patches, looking like a sowhat down-and-out temple priest.
Looking at Shen Jingcan, the old man’s brow furrowed and he said sternly, "Didn’t I tell you not to co looking for if it’s nothing important? What madness brings you here in the dead of night?"
"Master, your disciple has important matters to report!"
With a face full of excitent, Shen Jingcan couldn’t help but step forward and bow with his hands folded.
"Oh, then co in."
The elder’s eyes narrowed slightly as he turned and entered the room.
Soon, a lamp was lit inside the hut.
"Master, there’s a treasure!"
Without hesitation, Shen Jingcan recounted everything he had heard at the Shen mansion to the elder.
Then, he looked eagerly at the elder.
"Black Cloud Capital, the halls..."
The elder appeared contemplative. Then he looked at Shen Jingcan and said indifferently, "If there really is a treasure, since it belongs to your Shen Family, aren’t you afraid that by telling your master this, others will hold a grudge?"
"Hmph!"
Shen Jingcan snorted and said through gritted teeth, "I’ve seen it clearly. As soon as Shen Jinghong returned, those people began to back him, ultimately treating us like outsiders."
"Not to ntion, I know too well the kind of man my father is. Forget about , a by-birth son, but even for my elder brother, he has no real concern. If he gets the money, he will surely waste it on prodigal gambling."
As he spoke, he suddenly knelt to the ground and cried out in misery, "In this world, only my master has been good to , your disciple... wu wu..."
He had not spoken much before he started to cry.
"Alas~"
The elder sighed, helped him up, and said, "It’s rare for you to have such filial piety, your master understands."
"Find an opportunity to copy the location from that map for , and your master will teach you the Secret Technique. If we can find the treasure, then we, master and disciple, will leave this wretched place and soar high, to live as wealthy gentlen!"
"Good, your disciple will heed the master’s words!"
Shen Jingcan quickly nodded, stood up, and bowed, "There are still funeral arrangents at ho, and I cannot be gone too long. I will find a chance to copy it after I return."
"Go, be careful on the way."
The elder waved his hand and watched as Shen Jingcan climbed over the courtyard wall.
Not long after leaving the Water God Temple, Shen Jingcan wiped away his tears, changed his expression, and cursed in a low voice, "Damn, old man, really won’t do anything until he sees the rabbit."
With those words, he ran towards the Shen Family compound.
After he left, the elder’s face also lost its kind expression. Carrying the oil lamp, he went to the main hall of the Water God Temple.
Inside the hall, the statue of the Dragon Lady was dignified and majestic, but the offer table, along with everything else, was covered in dust, clearly revealing that no one had cleaned it for a long ti.
The elder reached behind the drapes of the Divine Statue and with a whoosh, lifted a wooden board from the ground, revealing a hidden passage.
He held the oil lamp as he jumped down the passage. He didn’t walk far before he saw the dim light of a fire, and a rather large cave appeared ahead.
There was standing water on the floor of the cave, and there was a small pond in front.
On the other side of the cave, on a dry stone platform, stood a statue of Buddha, with several elders ditating beside it.
The elder respectfully bowed and said, "Incense Master, there is a clue."
After saying this, he recounted the events.
"What kind of clue is this!"
The leading elder shook his head and said, "The Shen Family knows, and so do we. The key lies in the thod to enter the Ghost City!"
Another elder advised, "Incense Master, after all, there is hope. Maybe the locations known by the Shen Family can reveal clues."
"Hmm."
The elder nodded, looked at the Buddha statue, and a mysterious light flashed in his eyes, "A few days ago, news ca that Zhao Changsheng indeed had an issue; he is the Sect Leader of the Ghost Sect of Great Song who has returned to life."
"He has caused great harm to our Maitreya Sect. This vendetta must be avenged, but for now, rash actions must be avoided. We must continue to accumulate power in hiding."
"With the Southwest in turmoil, and the world in difficult tis, it is precisely when we should spread our teachings..."
...
Before dawn, the Shen Family compound was bustling.
The gates of the Shen Family mansion were opened, and nurous servants sward out, setting up stoves outside and placing large iron pots on tables to start cooking.
At the sa ti, the old butler led people to knock on doors from house to house.
"The Second Young Master has returned to oversee the funeral of the patriarch. There will be big pots of rice cooked outside the mansion; in these days, whoever helps out will be fed..."
"The Second Young Master is kind and says the Shen Family cannot do without you all. Rest assured, compensation for your families will not be short a single copper coin. The pottery kiln will continue to recruit people; n, won, old, and young can all go..."
"Additionally, the young master has sent soone to Jiangxia to invite a troupe. Everyone should co and enjoy the play tonight..."
One by one, arrangents were made, swiftly breathing life into the village.
Not to ntion anything else, just the food provided over the next few days would save the villagers a lot, and the disbursent of compensation would support them for so ti.
After all, often what the common people feared was not the troubled tis, but completely losing hope...
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