Shatang

Li Fan immediately stopped, holding his double maces in guard, and tentatively used his Divine Sense to probe.

But in his Divine Sense, there was still only a canal, no human head, no sand pear tree, and no village.

Illusion? A magical illusion? Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land? A story dungeon?

Li Fan frowned, opened his eyes, looked at the Si Nan in his hand, which was still pointing directly at the village in the sea of flowers.

The crimson sea of flowers was both close at hand and far away on the horizon. Yet, the system description showed that Li Fan remained completely unmoved.

So, there's no danger ahead, and it's still just a stroke of luck?

After considering it for a moment, Li Fan decided to continue forward.

Sure enough, it was some kind of illusion. The further Li Fan went, the more noticeable the changes became in the sea of sand pear trees outside the village. The blood-red patches disappeared, and the heads vanished one by one, as if time had flown by or reversed. The sea of sand pear trees once again revealed a bright and brilliant golden hue. Soon, Li Fan entered that golden expanse and saw the peaceful and serene village surrounded by the trees.

The village is crisscrossed by paths, and the sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard everywhere. The villagers, young and old, live a peaceful and harmonious life, with men farming and women weaving, cooking and making fires, just like a paradise on earth.

However, Li Fan knew that they had all died just now, their heads impaled on the sandalwood tree.

Because he has a photographic memory; he can remember the face of every single person.

But these are probably not ghosts, but simply illusions woven from some kind of past memory.

In the heart of the village, Li Fan immediately spotted the opportunity that Si Nan had guided him to.

Those were altars of Revered Heavenly Demon. No, there were subtle differences. The style of the shrines and the scriptures and talismans under the thrones were slightly different from those of the altars of Ink Bamboo Mountain. They used different scriptures and talismans, but they were still very similar.

The Revered Heavenly Demon on the shrine was a woman seated on a black lotus platform.

But she wasn't some sexy, alluring, or graceful fairy; she was just an ordinary, very ordinary middle-aged or elderly farm woman, someone for whom there was no need to even rate her.

She was holding two things in her hands. Upon closer inspection, one was a steamed bun made of white rice flour, and the other was a cornbread made of buckwheat flour. Her fingers had thick calluses from working as a farmer, and her expression was kind and gentle, just like an old woman or mother you could see anywhere.

Before the altar sat a disheveled, unshaven beggar, only at the Foundation Establishment Perfection stage, seemingly stuck at this level for a long time. He wore a black human skin Daoist robe and was sewing another one in his hands. This appearance clearly stood out from the 'villagers' around him who ignored the shrine and were engrossed in their own lives.

Li Fan glanced at the Daoist robe in his hand, where the Immovable Mount Tai Blood Curse was already written.

Li Fan's mood dipped slightly.

They weren't people from an illusion; they were probably legitimate members of the Luo Sect or remnants of the Black Lotus Sect.

Li Fan thought for a moment and decided not to kill him with his flying sword yet, but to ask him first. "Hey."

"Ouch, you scared me! You bastard! I almost pricked my hand! You crazy monkey! I told you not to scare me like that..." The beggar cursed as he turned to look at Li Fan, "A ghost?! A..."

Then he twisted his head, tilted his waist, and almost fainted while foaming at the mouth.

"..." Li Fan looked at his eight hands. What was there to be afraid of? Oh right, he had just concealed his face, including his mouth, nose, and features, to avoid being recognized by the eunuchs. It did look a little scary at first glance...

But is this guy's audacity truly so monstrous that everyone should condemn him...?

"You're Sha Tang? Yuan Tianxiao's vixen?" Li Fan sized up the beggar before him. Although disheveled and unkempt, he looked quite young, probably in his early twenties. His skin was also rather pale, likely from years of living in a shack without seeing the light of day. That bald guy was really going to be so wild, with all this confinement and anal sex... huh...

"Who, who, who is that vixen! What do you mean by that look?! Who are you?! How did you get into this Shatang Illusionary Realm?! And are you even human?!" Perhaps feeling that his dignity had been insulted, the beggar actually came to his senses and fired off a barrage of questions. It was clear that his panic was not feigned; he was quite timid.

It's normal for him to be timid. He has no body parts, so he obviously hasn't practiced body cultivation. His aura is scattered, and he clearly doesn't know how to control his qi. You can feel that his body is empty, so he naturally hasn't learned any advanced internal energy cultivation techniques. Many of his qi channels and meridians are not open. Judging from his Dao Breath and heart rate, he is a complete waste, trash that can be killed at will.

But the beggar had indeed Foundation Establishment, and at least the Foundation Establishment Perfection of it, because Li Fan could sense with his Divine Sense that the beggar's primordial spirit was almost at the level of a Golden Core cultivator. Perhaps this is the unique charm of the Luo Sect's Cultivation Method.

"Who am I? You can all guess, can't you?" Li Fan rolled his eyes, spread his hands, and dusted off his human skin Daoist robe.

The beggar also came to his senses, "You, you couldn't possibly be that madman... Senior Yuan sent to help me rescue people? Ah! Could you be his girl! Wow!"

"You big-headed devil! You mistress, how dare you turn around and slander me!" Li Fan kicked the beggar two meters away, confirming that the other party was indeed a good-for-nothing, so he stopped chasing and probing. He reached out and grabbed the garment the beggar was sewing, examining it. "You made this garment?"

After examining the garment, Li Fan understood the other party's method. He had initially been puzzled; while copying scriptures onto leather and sewing them into a garment wasn't difficult, this was the Tai Su Heavenly Scripture, a powerful scripture capable of instantly annihilating a large group of Nangong Immortal Soldiers. How could the Luo Sect disciple be so powerful, completely unaffected?

Actually, Li Fan overestimated the other party. Just look at the clothes the beggar was sewing, and you'll understand. He copied the scriptures wrong, and every single sentence was wrong. That means he must have been memorizing them incorrectly from the beginning, which is how he survived.

Li Fan had a rough idea of the other party's method. This beggar was only responsible for making a semi-finished product, which was then sent to a core Luo Sect disciple like the manager of the Heavenly Clothes Pavilion to have the words modified and processed into an effective and legitimate document. It was the same trick as when the Profound Heaven Sword Intent disassembled words to hide the Heavenly Book.

"Hmm... Where's Senior Yuan? Why hasn't he shown up for half a year? Could he be dead?" The beggar rubbed his buttocks as he got up.

"It's polite to introduce yourself before asking questions, you know? You're weak, so you go first. What's your name? What's your relationship with Yuan Tianxiao? What's the deal with this ghost village? The remnants of the Black Lotus Sect are actually hiding under the Imperial City's canals. What are they plotting? And who are you trying to save?" Li Fan glared at him.

"Why should I tell you! I don't even know if you're one of us!" This beggar was pretty cheeky; after being kicked and realizing Li Fan wasn't a ghost, he actually got hard.

Li Fan smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to beat him up.

Then a young girl came skipping over, "A Guang! Stop playing in the dirt, come and eat."

Li Fan and the beggar, "..."

"Wait a moment, I'm going to get something to eat." The beggar said, and with a sway, his body transformed into a crawling child, following the girl to the courtyard next door to eat rice porridge.

Li Fan frowned as he watched the interaction between the other party and the illusion. It was bizarre, really bizarre. This was clearly an illusion, yet the surrounding villagers completely ignored Li Fan. But the beggar A Guang seemed to blend into their world as if it were real, making it almost impossible to distinguish between illusion and reality.

He seemed to be both a carefree child playing in the mud in the village and a beggar sitting at the bottom of the Yong'an Channel, guarding a ghost village and sewing robes from human skin.

Human skin... human head...

"Your skin, is it all from the villagers?" Li Fan stood behind A Guang, arms crossed, watching him being fed rice porridge by the girl.

A Guang rolled his eyes and didn't say anything. He couldn't speak either. As soon as he opened his mouth, a spoon was stuffed into it and blocked his mouth.

Li Fan looked at the girl, who appeared to be only a middle school student, and thought for a moment. "Is this your family member? Is she your sister? You said you wanted to save someone, right? I didn't see her head in the tree when I came in. What's her name?"

A Guang froze for a moment, even stopping swallowing.

The girl leaned closer with concern, "A Guang, what's wrong? Did you choke?"

A Guang snapped out of his daze, smiled at her, and swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty. "I'm full."

She smiled with a sigh of relief, "It's good that you're full. Go play, but don't stray too far from the house, don't climb trees, don't eat dirt, and don't chase the neighbor's chickens!"

"I know, I know!" A Guang shook his hand, turned around and climbed out of the house. He sat cross-legged in front of the statue of his kind-faced old mother, and quickly changed and grew, eventually becoming a beggar with a listless expression and a dejected spirit.

Li Fan was watching him from the side.

The beggar, with sulcus-like eyes, glanced at Li Fan, hesitated for a long time, and then said, "My A Guang."

The beggar's A Guang- Guang. This place used to be Shatang Village, a small village at the foot of Kunlun Mountain in a Border Prefecture of the Li Country. The village grew and sold Shatang fruit, Shatang flowers, and Shatang wood, hence the name. Incidentally, the whole village worshipped the Lotus Mother.

Why do farmers worship the Old Mother? Of course, it's to pray for favorable weather and a good harvest for the tangerines. And with the Old Mother's protection, the demons and monsters of Kunlun Mountain won't dare to approach and attack.

After all, you might not see a hermit in the mountains for decades or even centuries, but you can see demons and monsters on Kunlun Mountain every day. How could a small village like this afford to build a temple or hire a sorcerer to oversee things? They'll just worship whatever works for them. At least, as long as your mother offers you some steamed buns or cornbread, she'll be willing to bless you.

Unfortunately, while the old mother's magic could drive away demons and ghosts, it was completely useless against people, who were far more terrifying than demons and ghosts.

More than ten years ago, Li Xinglong, the Prince of Huai'an, failed in his struggle Li Country the throne against Li Chun, the former heir of Guangling Heir. He then colluded with the military Jiedushi of Border Prefecture and the remnants of the Black Lotus Sect to rebel. However, before the army of the Li Kingdom arrived, Wang E Northern Town Protector Border Prefecture town, had already led his troops to quell the rebellion. Naturally, a small place like Shatang Village was affected by the war and was overturned like a leaf in a flash flood. No one knew which side's rebel troops had leveled it.

A Guang survived because the Prince of Huai'an declared himself emperor and conscripted young men and women from his territory to serve as maids and eunuchs in the palace. A Guang and his siblings were also forcibly conscripted into the prince's mansion and were not in the village at the time.

However, within a few months, the rebels were wiped out by the imperial army. It's unclear whether the rebel king was just a joke or the Protector-General was simply too skilled in combat. In any case, the two of them inexplicably became the relatives of the rebels. The elder sister was taken into the palace, while A Guang was sold into slavery in Changsi City. Later, unable to endure the beatings, he escaped and hid in Da'an Fang to work. Because he had previously worshipped the old mother and could recite some scriptures, and because he had some talent, he was found by Yuan Tianxiao through various coincidences and taken in as a disciple.

He wasn't from the mountains; he was a disciple of the Luo Sect.

Li Fan listened quietly as he finished speaking. In fact, he already had a clue what this opportunity was, but he still slowly asked, "You want to rescue your sister from the palace. What is your sister's name?"

"My sister's name is A Zhu, now she's called Zheng Mingzhu, and she's a maidservant of Guangling Heir Consort Guo of Guangling." A Guang turned his head to look at the illusion of the girl beside him. "Senior Yuan asked me to write a letter to her and even used magic to record me. He probably found me in Da'an Fang to get the letter and contact A Zhu, asking her to do something for the Luo Sect in the East Palace."

Senior Yuan said that as long as my sister helps them accomplish their task, he will help me rescue her from the palace. Heh, I've waited half a year, and I thought he'd never appear again, but I didn't expect him to actually send someone..."

Li Fan remained silent for a long time. "Have you ever thought that perhaps never seeing each other again is the best thing to do?"

A Guang shook his head with a wry smile, "Of course I know. I'm not at the age where I used to play in the mud anymore. Of course I know that everyone hates the Luo Sect. That guy surnamed Yuan might be using me to blackmail my sister. Once this is over, it would be lucky if he didn't wipe us both out completely."

Even if they spare our lives and rescue A Zhu, she'll still be begging and eating mud if she stays with me in Da'an Fang. It's even more dangerous for her to hang out with the Luo Sect, so it's better for her to stay in the palace.

However, during my years in Da'an Fang, I've heard some things, especially since the Imperial City is too dangerous now. Something terrible might happen in another month or so, and I'm really worried about her. I beg you to help me rescue A Zhu."

Li Fan sighed. How could he save him? The most helpless thing in this world is that what has already happened is the past. The person is dead, what chance is there to bring them back?

But Li Fan couldn't directly tell A Guang that his sister A Zhu might have died half a year ago, and that his nephew Li Yi was also dead, and that now Li Fan, a transmigrator, was occupying their bodies.

What's the point of telling them? It just means continuing to lie.

"... I know there will be turmoil in the Eastern Palace recently due to the struggle for the throne, but you don't need to worry. We still need your sister to work by Consort Guo's side, and she will definitely protect her safety. I will wait for the opportunity when the new heir ascends the throne and rescue her during the chaos."

"This barrier... is it Yuan Tianxiao who imprisoned you here? Do you want to go home? Do you still have family? Perhaps I should take you out of the city first, find a safe place, and wait for me to rescue your sister..."

A Guang jumped up, his brows furrowed. "What? The Eastern Palace will be in turmoil? How long will it last until the new heir ascends the throne! And didn't that mad monkey tell you what this place is for?! Are you really a member of the Luo Sect?!"

"You're not referring to the matter of the Crown Prince's Palace?"

Li Fan was momentarily confused as to why he had suddenly turned on him. Just as he was about to explain, a system message popped up.

Li Fan's mood dropped by 1 point.

At the same time, the clay sculpture of the Black Lotus Saint Mother on the shrine also began to tremble, and the illusory scenery of Shatang Village vanished instantly, revealing the bottom of the Yong'an Channel. However, the surrounding river water did not flow in; instead, it surged and churned like a living thing, as if being sucked away by the receding tide, leaving only a flat layer of water above. The bottom of the canal became an empty tunnel, revealing the dirty mud underneath.

A Guang was shocked. "The magic array has been activated! Why so early today! Could it be that they're about to make their move!"

"What's premature? Who's going to make a move?" Li Fan asked, frowning.

But A Guang clearly had no time to pay attention to him. He pulled out a copper bell from his pocket and started howling like a madman, running around the altar of the Holy Mother, jumping and hopping.

Li Fan frowned, clearly able to see that A Guang was actually using the Yu Step technique, obviously to enhance the effect of some kind of sealing formation set up by the Luo Sect.

At that moment, inhuman howls echoed from the northern canal, accompanied by a strong, foul stench and an earth-shaking tremor, as if something was surging toward them.

Li Fan's mood dropped by 1 point.