Where Is It Hidden

"Baa-baa-baa—"

Granny Ying's rooster puffed up its chest and woke up the entire Qihetan Town with a loud crow.

The Yin Soldiers in the clay pot were so shaken that their blood-red eyes flickered, and they desperately tried to shrink further into the shadows at the bottom of the pot, avoiding the increasingly potent Yang Energy in the world.

There was a price to pay for the maid leaving the Yin Soldiers outside.

With that rooster's crow, the Yin Soldiers had already lost some of their cultivation.

As sounds arose in the courtyard, the maid forced the Yin Soldiers to peek out their heads slightly. In an instant, they saw Xu Yuan—and the maid's anger flared up like wildfire!

That scoundrel Xu Yuan was climbing out of Saint Aunt's sedan chair!

The bastard slept in the sedan chair last night!

What kind of filth are you, daring to defile Saint Aunt's sedan chair!

The maid had searched everywhere last night, never once thinking of the sedan chair. Normally, lowlifes like them would be both respectful and fearful of everything belonging to honored guests, keeping their distance to avoid accidentally touching or damaging anything they couldn't afford to replace.

How could this kid be so audacious?

But after her furious rage, a question arose in the maid's mind: Was this kid sleeping in Saint Aunt's sedan chair merely for desecration, or... had he figured something out?

After much hesitation, the maid still didn't dare to tell Saint Aunt, "Because of my negligence last night, that kid slept in your sedan chair."

I'll go check the sedan chair myself later. If that kid did anything filthy inside, left anything unclean... I'll clean it up beforehand so as not to disgust my Saint Aunt.

Xu Yuan returned to his room before Er Liang woke up, pretending he had just gotten up as well. After washing his face, he prepared to get to work.

This past night had been crucial.

Because of the Law Cultivators and Pill Cultivators who had appeared inexplicably yesterday, Xu Yuan suspected he was already being targeted.

But by whom was he being targeted, and how much did they know?

Xu Yuan didn't care at all.

Xu Yuan had already planned to leave Qihetan Town today and go home!

Stepmother said I could go back as long as I ate the June Bug. What kind of mind games am I playing in this broken place with you all?

However, just being a Nine Streams Fate Cultivator wouldn't help his family much, which was why Xu Yuan hadn't left directly yesterday.

Once he gained the abilities of a Pill Cultivator, Xu Yuan could go home.

But yesterday, after eating the last gold ingot, Xu Yuan felt "stuffed." The gold ingot caused a heavy, uncomfortable bloating in his stomach, and Xu Yuan spent the entire night completely refining and integrating it into the previous pill.

After washing his face, Xu Yuan casually poured out the water.

The water splashed onto the ground with a "splash," and Uncle Rong Kui immediately yelled, "Wasting water like that? Fine, you're in charge of carrying water today, starting now! We don't even have enough water for cooking breakfast!"

There was still more than half a tank of water in the kitchen's water tank.

But Uncle Rong Kui had this quirk; he couldn't stand seeing people waste things.

Xu Yuan grumpily picked up two buckets and grumbled. Uncle Rong Kui roared from behind him, "What did you say? Speak up!"

"Nothing, nothing!" Xu Yuan quickly grabbed the buckets and fled out the door.

With this departure, Xu Yuan had no intention of returning.

Say goodbye to Master Qiao? Master Qiao and Liu the accountant were already suspicious of him. Leaving now would be like protesting too much, drawing more attention.

How could Master Qiao possibly let him go?

As for whether Master Qiao would go to the county town in the future and find his family to ask about the June Bug—that would be a problem for later.

He had to get through the current hurdle first.

A small portion of the water from that basin splashed into a broken clay pot in the corner of the wall.

The maid's Yin Soldier was hidden at the bottom of the pot.

The maid was monitoring the backyard through the Yin Soldier, her five senses and six consciousnesses connected. She felt as if she had been doused with water.

She cursed inwardly, feeling that her luck had been terrible lately.

She didn't even consider whether Xu Yuan had done it intentionally or accidentally.

During the first half of the night yesterday, Xu Yuan was too full to sleep and stayed in the sedan chair, watching outside:

Two strange creatures flew past in the air. They had human heads and eagle bodies, but only had flesh on one face! From the back of their heads to their entire bodies, only white bones remained!

The flesh on their faces kept wriggling backward, trying to regrow on their bodies, but as soon as a little grew, it would be absorbed by the bones.

These strange creatures looked like... the skeletal frame of a bizarre bird that had somehow stolen a face from someone and stuck it on its own!

Five more malevolent spirits were perched on the wall, peering into the courtyard. Their true forms were turtle shells over ten feet long. They had killed countless people, absorbing their souls. Their limbs, heads, and necks were all formed from the piled-up souls of these victims.

There was also a very tall figure. As it walked down the road in town, Xu Yuan could see its upper body from the courtyard. It was a dilapidated statue that had endured countless years of wind and rain.

Most of the paint had peeled off, and its body was incomplete, revealing the straw and wooden core inside.

These strange creatures also had "fate."

The more ferocious the creature, the more blood-red its "fate."

And their "Fates" were bizarre and oddly shaped, seemingly containing some kind of pattern, though Xu Yuan couldn't quite figure it out yet.

Then he saw a Yin Soldier sneakily creeping into the backyard.

Although the Yin Soldier was long dead, it still had "Fate."

A thin, grayish-black line, with an almost invisible thread extending from the top, reaching all the way to a room in the front yard—the Yin Soldier's master was in the front yard.

From this, it seemed the person targeting him was most likely the new distinguished guest in the front yard.

When morning came and the gold ingots were digested, Xu Yuan was hungry again!

Xu Yuan secretly swallowed several times, craving the Yin Soldiers.

Pill Cultivators' "Inner Fire" countered Yin Soldiers.

But Xu Yuan silently suppressed his appetite.

In the southern corner of the town was an old well. Xu Yuan filled his buckets and carried them back, observing along the way.

He turned into a small alley where there was no one around. Xu Yuan placed the water buckets and carrying pole at Granny Ying's doorstep, then quickly headed southwest.

A little while later, Granny Ying slowly opened her door. She saw the water buckets and carrying pole at her doorstep and lamented to herself, "This kid isn't coming back. Who will carry water for this old woman from now on?"

Granny Ying had trouble with her legs and feet, so Xu Yuan helped her fetch water every day.

She called into the yard, "Huahua, come here."

The big rooster strutted out with great dignity and skillfully picked up a water bucket with its beak, carrying it to the kitchen.

Shanhe County was forty li southwest of the town. It would take four to five hours to reach it by following the main road.

Xu Yuan was eager to return home.

Uncle Rong Kui, of course, wouldn't wait for Xu Yuan to carry the water back before cooking.

As soon as he finished preparing the meal, Er Liang proactively came in with a tray. "Uncle, I'll take it."

This was the third time Er Liang had brought food. Saint Aunt glanced at him and gently removed her veil.

Er Liang's breath hitched!

He had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. Before, he could only see her figure, and Er Liang had already imagined in his heart what a heavenly beauty her face must be.

But seeing her in person, he realized his imagination had truly been insufficient.

Saint Aunt ate her breakfast gracefully and elegantly, while Er Liang stared at her intently. Er Liang should have left after delivering the meal, but his feet seemed rooted to the spot. Saint Aunt didn't chase him away either.

"You live in the same room as that Xu Yuan?" Saint Aunt suddenly asked.