Fellow Villager

"...The acting magistrate reported that a family of three from the Liu clan relocated to the city from Peach Blossom Village, bringing several precious pearls with them. They presented the pearls to the governor, who praised them as suitable tribute. Afterward, the Liu family of three mysteriously disappeared."

"The acting magistrate reported that a Taoist priest, wandering the land, arrived at Peach Blossom Village seeking rice water. In full view of everyone, he turned the rice into gold. The villagers scrambled to grab it, and the Taoist priest vanished without a trace."

"The acting magistrate reported that fierce beasts entered Peach Blossom Village, and within a single night, more than half of the men, women, old, and young were taken. No survivors were found, and no bodies were recovered."

"The acting magistrate reported that a Golden Armored Divine General appeared at the ancestral hall in Peach Blossom Village and took away three pairs of young boys and girls."

"The acting magistrate reported... Peach Blossom Village..."

This was Yun Huaqi, working overtime through the night, dictating the contents she'd culled from a massive volume of county records. Lan Yi then sifted through the complex and chaotic county records to identify common threads worth noting.

If taken individually, the county records mentioned above would be on par with rural ghost stories.

Presenting pearls, turning rice into gold, the disappearance of villagers, the manifestation of ancestors – these could all be seen as the desperate fantasies of the lower class, driven by oppressive taxes and natural disasters, who no longer dared to dream of prosperity or hope that a meager harvest could feed their families. All they had left was the despair that supernatural forces might carry them away from this bitter world.

They all shared a common point.

Peach Blossom Village.

People had disappeared.

Supernatural factors were involved.

Peach Blossom Village was not by the sea; where did the pearls for the tribute come from? Did they grow on trees? Turning rice into gold, whether it was Daoist Arts or Martial Arts, was a power that could be temporarily achieved upon reaching a certain level of cultivation. The Golden Armored Divine General and the manifestation of ancestors were even easier to explain – self-operating combat robots, designed to solve all your worries.

From the perspective of a psionic cultivator.

Lan Yi strongly suspected that Peach Blossom Village, much like the village Huo Yuanjia had stumbled into, might be a remnant facility from the early days of the Artificial Divine Realm's creation, a product of mythical beings, Void Cultivation power, or celestial convergences.

If the Artificial Divine Realm were likened to a large house.

Such a product would be akin to a mouse hole.

Opening a mouse hole was like opening a blind box; it might contain creations from a previous epoch or a manual for cultivating Destiny Clusters, or it might contain nothing at all, or even pose a fatal danger.

It was mostly a matter of luck.

Without knowing the trigger conditions, it wasn't easy to be successfully brought into a mouse hole.

Whether it was there or not, he'd strike first.

Lan Yi had no intention of being gentle. He directly dispatched Yun Huaqi with a squad of Qi Cultivation Practitioners to Peach Blossom Village to search for clues. With the foot speed of martial artists, as long as they maintained contact with the Jinling garrison members once a week, Lan Yi would receive news of whether clues were found without delay.

According to the experience of psionic cultivators.

Individuals possessing Innate Qi or psionic energy were actually quite prone to attracting strange phenomena.

To put it more mystically:

The entire world was a vast net, and everyone's weight on the net differed. Some people had significant weight, and even if they did nothing, their presence would cause a depression in the net, naturally drawing karma to themselves.

Clearly, Innate Qi and psionic energy were excellent methods for increasing one's "weight."

Before Yun Huaqi, a young lady from a prominent family, left, her eyes were so full of resentment that they seemed about to drip with water.

She finally understood.

Lan Yi, the Immortal Master, didn't see her as a woman, nor did he see her as a person. He simply used her because she was suitable, treating her like a convenient tool to be used continuously.

If Yun Huaqi couldn't handle the task, he would simply find someone else.

The first generation of psionic cultivators were mostly pragmatic, even ruthless. As pioneers of the Artificial Divine Realm, they faced immense and uncertain risks. To solve problems more effectively, as long as it didn't involve the survival of their own civilization, they could completely disregard personal preferences and suppress their primal emotions.

Old Demon Lan did not reject the women around him.

They were pleasing to the eye, allowing them to fawn over him.

But when it came to important matters, if they were suitable, even women had to do the work.

Of course, Lan Yi was not a depraved monster devoid of human desires.

If there were a suitable partner with whom he had an emotional connection, he wouldn't mind exploring that relationship further.

It was just that such partners were extremely rare.

A very important point was that:

Often, when Lan Yi wanted to explore a relationship further, the other party had likely already been killed by his endless Daoist Arts. Even if not killed, they had become mortal enemies, which left Lan Yi feeling speechless. He simply wanted to find a normal woman, but why was it so difficult?

"Immortal Master."

Just as Lan Yi was lamenting the hardships of his romantic pursuits, Zhao Sikong's voice came from outside the study.

"Hm?"

Lan Yi raised an eyebrow.

He remembered Zhao Sikong wasn't supposed to be dealing with Liu Bian and the others.

It was said that he and Zhao Jian planned to use the Ten Great Tortures in the coming days to send off the Qing Imperial Court loyalists in Jinling, involving skinning, waist chopping, dismemberment, lingering death, and the five punishments, each with their unique skills and secret weapons, guaranteed to make those stubborn individuals cry tears of repentance and reform.

While this was a bit cruel, it wasn't so cruel as to leave no hair if the head was removed; it was considered quite civilized.

Besides, martial artists.

If there's no malevolence in their hearts, what kind of martial arts are they practicing? Lan Yi was quite satisfied with his subordinates; at least the people of this era had no shortage of malevolence in their hearts and weren't naively saintly. Unlike in some post-apocalyptic Artificial Divine Realms, where malevolence had to be cultivated, and that post-apocalyptic malevolence was uncontrollable.

Zhao Sikong outside the door breathed a sigh of relief.

He had just come over after seeing Yun Huaqi leave with a Dharma Sword to deal with people.

It seemed he hadn't messed up the Immortal Master's good deed.

"Immortal Master, there's someone who claims to be your... fellow townsman. He also brought a message, saying that if you hear it, you'll meet him. I observed his clear speech and phrasing, which were similar to yours, so I took the liberty of disturbing you."

"What message?"

Lan Yi suddenly became interested.

During this time, too many people had been eager to connect with him. Let alone claiming to be his fellow townsman, there were quite a few scammers who claimed to be relatives, fellow disciples, brothers, or even parents to swindle people.

However, most of these people couldn't even get close to Lan Yi.

Any ordinary Qi Cultivation Practitioner could test the other person's authenticity by activating their Innate Qi.

This meant that this brave warrior who wasn't afraid of death must have some skill. He could pass the gatekeepers who were like monsters surpassing human limits, even alarming Zhao Sikong, and successfully persuading Zhao Sikong, a Spirit Cultivation expert who could make decisions.

"He said, 'Love walks alone in the dark alley.'" Zhao Sikong's expression was a bit strange; saying this felt inexplicably embarrassing.

"..." Lan Yi fell silent.

"Immortal Master?" After a while, Zhao Sikong spoke again.

"Bring him to see me."

"As the Immortal Master commands."

Zhao Sikong couldn't help but mutter to himself. Was it an illusion? He thought he heard the Immortal Master's voice become a little happier. Could that person really be the Immortal Master's fellow townsman?

'It seems to be related to psionic energy.' Inside the study, Lan Yi had already roughly guessed the truth.