What He Saw

Especially after they lifted the curtains and saw those restless, scurrying "shadows" outside—digging at doors and scaling walls everywhere. Only after more than half an hour, when the "fragrance" in the house had finally dissipated, did they gradually lose their target and disperse from outside the door in groups. Judging by their shapes and sizes, they were clearly rural cats, dogs, rats, and the like.

A cold sweat trickled down his back.

Understanding the "value" of what his son had brought out more deeply than ever, the old father merely patted him solemnly on the shoulder and told him, "For the time being, you really shouldn't go out casually."

After the whole family drank several rounds of "Bottle-Rinsing Water," the bottle that had once held the so-called [Life Potion], apparently carved from a piece of mediocre natural crystal, finally "retired with honor." Li Luyuan carefully put it away and buried it in the backyard as if it were treasure.

As Jing Yuan's father, of course he wished for the best.

But objectively speaking, even if one wanted to "hide away in a little tower and rule one's own world," things often went just as the saying said: "The tree may long for calm, but the wind never ceases."

They shut the door.

Sure enough, over the following days, as the news spread farther and farther, a certain effect akin to "meat of the Tang Monk" fermented even faster and more thoroughly in their hometown—a smaller place with closer-knit relationships.

The first day or two were still fairly quiet. At most, some neighbors and acquaintances came asking questions, but his father stopped them all at the door.

But on the morning of the third day, the town's two mayors—the principal and deputy—came calling in person. They brought along a secretary, carried