The Secret Way of Immortality

Ren Qing put on a bamboo hat. Since the village really harbored a strange object, he couldn't treat this as a simple return home anymore.

He earnestly cautioned Yan Jun and Zhang Mu to be careful in everything, then quickened his pace, heading towards Eight-Character Village along the mountain path.

When they could see the entrance of the village, they spotted a merchant caravan composed of several peddlers.

The leading middle-aged peddler was leading a donkey cart, initially not noticing Ren Qing and the others, and stopped at the village entrance.

When Ren Qing approached, the middle-aged peddler's expression immediately changed.

Ren Qing and his companions were dressed tightly, wearing bamboo hats, giving the impression of bodyguards traveling through Xiangxiang.

These days, bodyguards who could leave the city had some skills.

However, Eight-Character Village was remote, and it was rare for goods to be delivered here.

The villagers had never seen such a lively scene in their village, and they all watched with surprise and uncertainty.

Fortunately, Ren Qing and the others were not carrying weapons, so the middle-aged peddler mustered his courage and asked, "Good sirs, may I ask if you've come here…"

"We were dispatched by the yamen."

Ren Qing's words were concise, and the middle-aged peddler immediately understood.

He watched Ren Qing and his companions enter Eight-Character Village, then decisively said, "Let's return the way we came. This batch of mountain goods will have to be postponed."

"But…"

"There's no but."

The other peddlers hesitated slightly, but the middle-aged peddler only said two words, and everyone immediately began to pack up.

"Forbidden Soldiers."

For these peddlers traveling in Xiangxiang, encountering Forbidden Soldiers was bound to involve life-threatening trouble, so they had to be cautious.

Ren Qing's actions naturally attracted the villagers' discussions.

Eight-Character Village couldn't be self-sufficient, so they occasionally went to Sanxiang City to replenish supplies.

The peddlers entering the village was like a festival for them, but now there was a sudden change, so there was bound to be some criticism.

Yan Jun nervously asked, "Ren Qing, should we go in first?"

"Wait and see."

Ren Qing deliberately lowered his bamboo hat.

In his eyes, the shadows of some villagers were extremely dim, almost imperceptible.

The water drawn from the well was also a thick, black-red liquid.

Even the poultry were fighting each other, gnawing on corpses.

But so far, although the village was full of strangeness, he hadn't detected any traces left by the strange object.

After a while.

A staggering old man hurried towards the village entrance, loudly scolding the nearby villagers watching the commotion to leave.

Ren Qing didn't know much about the old man, only that he was called Ren Shisan, about fifty years old, and had been the village head of Eight-Character Village for decades.

Ren Shisan clearly understood that the yamen had sent people, and quickly invited them to his courtyard.

He also asked his son, Ren Xing, to stand at the door to prevent villagers from causing trouble.

The house was relatively simple, but several landscape paintings and calligraphy works hung on the walls, and there were also writing brushes, inkstones, paper, and ink arranged on the wooden table.

Ren Shisan was a scholar, and spoke with the chanting tone of an old Confucian. He politely poured tea and water.

"Esteemed adults, you must have worked hard traveling all this way."

Ren Qing remained expressionless, giving people the feeling of being unapproachable.

"Old man, has there been any trouble in Eight-Character Village these past few days?"

Yan Jun and Zhang Mu didn't interrupt, after all, Ren Qing was mainly responsible for the mission, and the latter's strength was far above them.

Ren Shisan smiled bitterly and said, "There were indeed strange things happening constantly some time ago, but recently it has returned to normal. Actually, we shouldn't have disturbed you esteemed adults."

Ren Qing inquired about sleep paralysis, and found that Ren Shisan's description was not much different from the contents recorded on the note. Similar situations had long disappeared.

If he hadn't used his heavy pupils to detect the abnormality, he might have really thought it was a false report.

Ren Qing glanced at Yan Jun and Zhang Mu, it seemed that he had to find the strange object himself, and he didn't know what kind of sorcery was involved.

He didn't explain in detail to Ren Shisan, just informed him that they would be staying for a few days.

Ren Shisan quickly asked his daughter-in-law to clean up the guest room in the courtyard, as most of the vacant houses in the village were relatively dilapidated.

Ren Qing didn't plan to go and recognize his relatives for the time being, but casually asked, "By the way, how is the Ren family doing?"

Ren Shisan was stunned for a moment and replied, "They're fine. After the eldest son of the Ren family died, the youngest son didn't take office in the yamen and stayed at home to farm and serve his old mother."

He couldn't help but praise a few words, with dissatisfaction towards his son Ren Xing mixed in his words.

Ren Qing stopped, suddenly feeling unreal.

The situation at his home could not be wrong. The list of deceased yamen officers in the yamen still had the names of his father and brother.

How could there be a youngest son?

Ren Qing's heart moved. The strange things in Eight-Character Village started at the beginning of the third month, slightly later than the day Ren Qing left the village. Could there be some connection?

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he quickly forced himself to calm down, but Yan Jun and Zhang Mu still noticed some clues.

However, the two only thought that Ren Qing had some connection with Eight-Character Village and didn't know his background.

Ren Qing patiently stayed in the guest room, and also told Yan Jun and Zhang Mu about what he saw with his heavy pupils.

Yan Jun used sorcery to transform his hair into pythons to check the situation in the grass. If any villagers approached, it could be transformed back into black hair.

When it was slightly late, the three quietly slipped out of the guest room.

They all had pythons tied to their wrists, not only was it convenient for Yan Jun to contact them, but breaking them could also be reflected on the latter's body.

Ren Qing asked the two to go to the well in the center of the village together, while he went to check on the other self in his home alone.

Even if there were changes, they could support each other at any time in Eight-Character Village.

Ren Qing went straight to the location of his old home, where a simple fence separated the courtyard, sparsely planted with some melons and fruits.

The house was still brightly lit.

He jumped onto the roof and looked inside through the gaps created by moving the tiles, vaguely seeing two figures swaying.

Ren Qing couldn't help but frown.

Although the perspective was limited, he could clearly see a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy who was thin.

His appearance before Ren Qing came into contact with sorcery was almost identical.

Ren Qing's birth mother, Chen Shi, ignored the boy who kept moving, and sewed clothes by candlelight. Even though her face was full of wrinkles, her hands were very steady when threading the needle.

The boy yawned stiffly and said, "Mother, I'm going to sleep. You should sleep early too."

Chen Shi nodded kindly, but didn't reply, and still carefully mended her clothes.

Ren Qing then noticed that Chen Shi was clearly shrouded in candlelight, but her shadow was extremely thin, as if it would disappear at any time.

He sneered, no matter what, he would solve the problem if there was one.

Ren Qing landed back in the courtyard, then slipped into the house through the window next to the side door, and saw the boy sleeping soundly on the bed.

Dragon Snake Spine slowly drilled out of his palm, and directly stabbed at the other party.

Blood splattered.

Dragon Snake Spine slashed across the boy's thigh, leaving a long and narrow wound.

But he still kept his eyes closed, with a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.