Guiding the Way

True Name: An Yue. Considering this isn't his first visit to Jinlan Village and he has an official identity in the Great Qian Empire, it's most likely his real name.

Identity: Unknown.

Origin: Unknown.

Cultivation Method: Unknown.

Specialties, Trump Cards: Unknown.

Yu Ziqing pulled up the list and gave up on the spot.

This was exactly why, despite having a cheat that looked incredibly powerful at first glance, he rarely treated it as his first choice in daily life.

This An Yue would leave in a few days. In a closed-off village like Jinlan Village, where no one was particularly familiar with An Yue, Yu Ziqing absolutely couldn't dig up enough necessary information in just a few days to complete the judgment trigger.

And if they came to a direct confrontation, he had no ability to resist whatsoever.

Old Yang heard that someone from the Great Qian Empire had come early to make a deal and decisively decided not to leave the Earth Den for the next few days. Though it was necessary caution, Yu Ziqing felt it was highly likely actually related to Old Yang.

Ever since An Yue arrived, Yu Ziqing and Er Han's daily activity of going to the Back Mountain to practice boxing had been tacitly canceled by both of them, and neither brought it up again.

An Yue spent all day like a street loafer, either sitting on the hillside overlooking the area or strolling through the village. His roaming range kept expanding little by little, and once he even wandered to the entrance of the underground den.

Otherwise, when he had nothing to do, he'd casually chat with people in the village, seemingly without purpose.

Three days passed, and everything seemed calm. No unexpected incidents occurred.

On the fourth day, just as everyone was preparing to eat breakfast and head to work, Yu Ziqing, standing behind the big pot serving food to the crowd, keenly noticed that An Yue greeted every single person he encountered along the way.

The village wasn't big. Yu Ziqing hadn't counted the population, but he had a rough idea of how many people came to eat every day since he cooked the meals.

A little over a month ago, there were at most three hundred-plus people in the village. Later, the flock of sheep added over a hundred more.

As the head cook who distributed food every day, he himself couldn't claim to know everyone. Yet this An Yue, after only three days, seemed to have memorized everyone's names and could even chat with them about what interested them.

Yu Ziqing didn't dare stare directly at the other man. While serving food, he only swept his gaze with his peripheral vision.

Any slightly stronger cultivator would sense it when someone's gaze lingered on them.

After getting his meal, An Yue, like everyone else, held a bowl, squatted off to the side, and started wolfing down his food. Today, he'd even changed clothes. That eye-catching vermilion cloak was nowhere to be seen; he only wore a black outfit faintly tinged with green, with no accessories. At first glance, he almost seemed to be blending into the village.

Yu Ziqing silently calculated in his mind.

During the time waiting in line for food, this guy An Yue had greeted eighty-eight people. Only twenty-eight of them were original village residents. The remaining sixty were all newcomers from a little over a month ago.

With the twenty-eight original villagers, he exchanged no more than two sentences each.

With the newcomers, the one he talked to the most got a full eight sentences.

The old and new villagers were mixed together, and with so many people crowded around meal time, no one except Yu Ziqing—who faced the crowd the whole time playing the role of the food server—would notice these details. Everyone else's attention was on their food.

People could lie, but statistical data wouldn't.

If An Yue hadn't done this deliberately, Yu Ziqing would twist his own head off and kick it around like a ball.

According to Er Han, An Yue hadn't come to Jinlan Village for the first time. The odds of him scheming against the village alone were slim.

The probability that he was here for Old Yang had now reached at least fifty percent.

Today, he'd already greeted and chatted with sixty newcomers. And now, the spot where he was squatting happened to be on the path Yu Ziqing had to take to return to the Earth Den.

Yu Ziqing knew this guy would definitely greet him later.

If the conversation didn't exceed three sentences, that was fine. But if it went beyond three and the topic drifted outside the village, then the probability that he was here for Old Yang could be raised to seventy percent.

By the time everyone had eaten, and some had even finished and carried their tools down to the mine, Yu Ziqing finally had time to serve himself a bowl of food.

He held his wooden bowl and walked back, deliberately taking the path behind An Yue.

But An Yue seemed to turn his head toward Yu Ziqing first, naturally waving a greeting.

"Young Master Yu, you've worked hard. Your cooking skills are truly remarkable. With this skill, you could open a restaurant in the Great Qian Imperial Capital and it'd be more than enough."

"You flatter me, you flatter me. I'm just messing around. It's mainly the ingredients being good—anyone could do the same." Yu Ziqing recalled Er Han's naturally harmless, simple smile and mimicked it with a grin of his own.

Seventy percent simple, twenty percent embarrassed, and one percent faint pride at being praised.

Yu Ziqing gave himself a nine out of ten. The imitation was passable.

Yu Ziqing replied but didn't stop walking, clearly signaling he had no intention of continuing the conversation with An Yue.

An Yue, however, acted as if he hadn't noticed and naturally kept talking.

"I heard Young Master Yu used to be a chef. Where did you learn your craft? I've traveled far and wide for years, but I've never seen cooking methods like these. Yet the flavor is excellent."

"What chef am I? I just learned some rustic tricks from a traveling village cook. I was just bragging before—can't believe anyone took it seriously."

"That must be true. I heard that when Young Master Yu was caught by the Shepherd before, it was your cooking skill that saved you from suffering." An Yue paused, then pulled a cookbook from his sleeve, looking a bit embarrassed. "To be honest, I've got a greedy mouth. I cook privately myself in my spare time. I wanted to learn your technique, but I was too shy to ask. I have this cookbook compiled by a famous master from the Great Qian Empire. I'd like to give it to you, Young Master Yu, and hope you won't hesitate to share your knowledge."

Yu Ziqing thought it over. His persona of someone who loved studying cookbooks—had he ever maintained that in front of others since arriving at Jinlan Village?

When did this guy get such a clear understanding of him?

All the newcomers had previously been turned into sheep, each one dazed and confused. Even Old Yang barely managed to maintain his self-awareness. And even Old Yang had been affected when they reached the Locust Tree Forest.

As for the others, they definitely knew very little.

If anything, maybe the last few people who turned into sheep knew a bit more, but what they knew was basically nothing that needed hiding.

No.

Among them, someone knew that Yu Ziqing had an old sheep.

The old villagers wouldn't gossip, but among the new villagers, there was bound to be someone—definitely someone—who would.

Otherwise, An Yue wouldn't know so much.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Yu Ziqing's eyes widened slightly, his gaze locking onto the cookbook before he gave an embarrassed little smile.

"Just learning a dish, it's nothing serious... what, no need to give me the cookbook, alright, I'll teach you when I have time."

The corner of An Yue's mouth lifted slightly, and without letting Yu Ziqing refuse, he shoved the cookbook into his arms.

"Young Master Yu, don't be polite. It's just a cookbook, worth nothing."

Yu Ziqing chuckled happily. Of course, his joy had nothing to do with the other man—he was genuinely pleased to have a new book to mess with. In Jinlan Village, you couldn't find a single book, so Yu Ziqing had nothing to ruin even if he wanted to.

But to An Yue, that smile meant something else entirely. He pressed on.

"If Young Master Yu didn't have real skill, how could you have escaped those barbarian shepherds? Though those bastards got what they deserved, dying like that."

"Yeah, all dead. Died horribly."

"Oh? Young Master Yu saw it happen?"

"I did. We were almost at Jinlan Village when they tried to turn me into a sheep too, and then..."

"And then?" An Yue prompted unhurriedly, looking like he was waiting for Yu Ziqing to continue.

Yu Ziqing recalled the scene, remembered the feeling of power surging through him.

"And then, there was this really hot person—hot like they were on fire. One hit each, and they were all dead. They didn't stand a chance. Anyway, they were really strong. Standing there, I couldn't even feel the cold anymore."

An Yue watched Yu Ziqing's expression, catching the look of recollection, and smiled. "Serves them right. If they'd been in Great Qian, they'd have died eight hundred times over. What happened next?"

"Next? I don't know. I didn't even see their face. Suddenly I felt cold again, and I was the only one standing there."

"That's a shame. At least you survived."

"Still, a lot of people died. The old ones, once they got here, couldn't hold on. They'd been tormented by evil arts for too long. But at least they died as humans, and had a place to be buried. Sigh..."

"The Wasteland's disasters... there's nothing to be done about a lot of things..."

Yu Ziqing sighed, said goodbye to An Yue, and carried his wooden bowl back to the Earth Den.

He handed the bowl to the old sheep, letting it eat first, and muttered to himself.

"Troublesome guy. Doesn't mind the effort, willing to lower himself, checking one by one. But I pointed him down a path—if he goes, then ten to one, he's after you.

So I'm telling you, you should've taught me some self-defense methods earlier. I've only managed to make ten jin of Spirit-Confusing Medicine. My methods are too limited, and they might not even work.

But, old sheep, what if he really is after you? Is there a chance he's not here to kill you?"

"No." The old sheep was perfectly calm, not a trace of tension. "I don't know him. If he's looking for me, it's definitely to kill me."

"Forget it, I won't count on you. I just made a new friend, a Hungry Ghost. We get along pretty well. I'll ask him if he can call in some people. Better safe than sorry."

Night fell. Dark clouds covered the moon, and between heaven and earth, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The people of Jinlan Village had all turned in.

An Yue slipped silently out of his Earth Den, dressed in a dark green outfit that melted into the blackness. Like a night cat, he moved without a sound toward the Back Mountain.

He reached the large graveyard there. A faint glimmer flashed in his eyes as he swept his gaze across, distinguishing the old graves from the recent ones.

He stopped before a grave, drew a sharp sword, and gave a light slash. The grave mound split cleanly down the middle, the cut so smooth that not even a clod of dirt fell.

He glanced at the person inside—an old man with graying hair. The body hadn't rotted much yet, thanks to the cold.

He shook his head, waved a hand, and guided the grave mound slowly back together, making everything look exactly as before.

For over two hours, he checked not only the new graves but, to be safe, even opened those where the dirt didn't look fresh, confirming the occupants with his own eyes. Finally, An Yue shook his head with a sigh.

"Looks like there really isn't one. Not that my superiors expected much from my end anyway. I was just doing this on the side..."

Just as An Yue was sneaking to the Back Mountain under cover of night, Yu Ziqing stepped out of his Earth Den to relieve himself.

He glanced toward the direction of An Yue's Earth Den. The hillside was still and quiet, no one in sight, only the sound of snoring rising and falling.

It seemed An Yue had turned in too.

But Yu Ziqing knew he'd gone out.

Because Er Han, that little bastard, was sly and rotten to the core. He'd made it impossible for An Yue to complain about the poor conditions or force himself to sleep in sheep dung, so An Yue had never once rested in his Earth Den.