Glory Ancestors Village

The southwestern border, east of the jungle—wasn't that right near them?

"Senior Brother Zheng, once the Jadeblood Snakegrass matures tomorrow, I'd like to visit Glory Ancestors Village. If Senior Brother Chen Jing and the others are still there, I'll return to the Cloud Radiance Sect with them. If they've already left, I can ask the villagers how long ago they went."

"All right. Jadeblood Snakegrass withers soon after it matures, so I'll probably have to hurry back and refine it into medicine to treat my younger brother's illness—Master?"

Lu Yuanyi sat some distance away, leafing through documents sent by the Cloud Radiance Sect's elders that urgently needed his approval. His loose silver hair nearly trailed along the ground.

The long snake seemed to have been thoroughly frightened by the Jiangxue Sword. When Lu Yuanyi glanced over, its tail trembled, and it whipped around Shen Leyan's waist with a whoosh.

Shen Leyan: "..."

"Brother Snake, you're going to suffocate me like this."

The long snake released him, looking rather embarrassed.

The firelight sharply outlined Lu Yuanyi's features. Beneath his pronounced brow, his phoenix eyes were cool and clear. His voice was even. "I'll go with you tomorrow."

Shen Leyan gave him an obedient smile. "You got it."

They spent the night in the Southwestern Jungle. The next day, a jade-green tint appeared along the edges of the Jadeblood Snakegrass's petals, and its spiritual energy grew increasingly abundant.

They said goodbye to the long snake. Senior Brother Zheng flew back toward the Cloud Radiance Sect on his sword with the Jadeblood Snakegrass, while Shen Leyan and Lu Yuanyi continued east through the jungle.

Shen Leyan soon realized that traveling with Lu Yuanyi had been something of a miscalculation.

The reason was simple: they both had terrible senses of direction. Armed with nothing more than "Glory Ancestors Village, east of the Southwestern Jungle," they blundered through the jungle like two headless flies.

At most, Lu Yuanyi was a headless fly with off-the-charts combat power.

Shen Leyan even suspected that terrifying rumors about them had already spread among the Southwestern Jungle's demonic beasts. The last time they encountered a tiger demon, Lu Yuanyi hadn't even made a move before it burst into tears and begged for mercy. It promptly dropped to its knees with a thud, kowtowed three times, and fled.

After that, their journey was completely unimpeded. They didn't see so much as the shadow of another demonic beast.

Fortunately, when they reached the eastern edge of the Southwestern Jungle, shops and markets became more plentiful. Many locals had also come to sell vegetables and fruit they had grown themselves.

Shen Leyan bought a few baked flatbreads and asked the old man selling them, "Sir, do you know the way to Glory Ancestors Village?"

The old man dug at his ear. "Glory what Village?"

Reminded of a certain comedy sketch, Shen Leyan had a bad feeling. He braced himself and raised his voice. "Glory Ancestors Village! As in bringing glory to your ancestors!"

The old man raised his voice too. "What Ancestors Village?"

"...Glory Ancestors Village."

"Glory Ancestors what?"

Shen Leyan gave two dry chuckles. "Never mind, sir. Never mind. I was just saying your flatbreads are delicious."

Next, he approached a young pork vendor. The young man wore the distinctive ethnic clothing of the southwestern region, and his hearing looked perfectly healthy.

"Brother, I'm from the north, and I've come here to look for someone. Do you know the way to Glory Ancestors Village?"

The young man rattled off a long string of dialect, enthusiastically talking and gesturing as though trying to give him directions. Shen Leyan didn't understand a single word.

Well, that made sense... In many southern regions, the accent changed every ten li. Even people from neighboring villages might speak different dialects. He had grown up in the north; it would have been a miracle if he understood.

Shen Leyan asked five or six stallholders in succession. They all looked bewildered at the mention of Glory Ancestors Village and shook their heads, saying they didn't know it.

At this rate, there was no telling when they would find Glory Ancestors Village.

In an open space near the stalls, several young itinerant performers were setting up an act. A few musical instruments lay beside them, and they looked about ready to begin.

After a moment's thought, he borrowed a bronze gong from one of the performers and struck it three times—clang, clang, clang. Once curious passersby had gathered around, he amplified his voice with spiritual energy.

"Friends and neighbors, uncles and aunties, brothers and sisters, I... I'm a traveling physician! While passing through this area, I heard of a place called Glory Ancestors Village!"

"Many villagers there suffer from infertility. Their children are either stillborn or die shortly after birth—I was deeply saddened to hear this. Does any kind soul here know the way to Glory Ancestors Village?!"

"I'm willing to offer one tael of silver as thanks to whoever can give me directions!"

Other matters might not attract much attention in the countryside, but gossip about infertility was guaranteed to be hot news. With nothing else to do, the village elders loved carrying chairs to the village entrance and chatting about such things.

Then there was the reward of one tael of silver. To ordinary people, that was already a tremendous sum, enough to support a family for quite some time.

Sure enough, the moment he finished calling out, the crowd erupted into a hubbub, everyone whispering and discussing it.

"What?! One tael of silver? Is he serious?"

"He's standing right here. Why worry he'll go back on his word?"

"What, do you know that Glory Ancestors Village?"

"It sounds familiar, but there are so many villages around here, big and small. Who could remember every one...?"

Before long, an old man squeezed through to the front of the crowd. Shen Leyan took a closer look. Wasn't this that hard-of-hearing Ma Dongmei—no, that old man?

"Sir, you..."

The old man stared at the tael of fine silver in his hand. Suddenly, he wasn't deaf anymore, his voice rang out loud and clear, and even his eyes looked sharper.

"Young fellow, if you're offering a tael of silver to find Glory Ancestors Village, you should've said so sooner! My younger cousin's niece married into a family there. I'll draw you a map right now. I guarantee you'll find it!"

Shen Leyan: "..."

He handed over the silver, adding another tael. "Then... thank you, sir? Could you also tell me whether anything has happened in Glory Ancestors Village lately? Any everyday gossip will do."

Decades ago, when the old man had just married, Glory Ancestors Village hadn't suffered from infertility.

On the contrary, it had been famous throughout the surrounding countryside for its thriving population. What was more, every woman who married into the village gave birth only to sons, never a single daughter.

But three years earlier, a great flood had washed away Glory Ancestors Village's ancestral graves, and they had been rebuilt. After that, not a single child in the village had survived safely to the age of eight. Most pregnancies ended in miscarriage, or the babies died within days of birth.

The villagers of Glory Ancestors Village sought doctors and medicine, prayed to gods and Buddhas, and invited many feng shui masters to examine the place. They spent a great deal of silver, but nothing improved.

Rumor had it that the altered layout of the ancestral graves had made them terribly inauspicious. Their ancestors could no longer protect the village, which was why things had turned out this way. Many young and able-bodied villagers were so frightened that they moved away. Strangely, though, even after moving to other villages, they still had no children, as if the curse followed everyone from Glory Ancestors Village.

The old man happily stroked the silver in his hand.

"That's... more or less how things stand. My cousin's niece miscarried after a year of marriage in Glory Ancestors Village. After a quarrel with her husband's family, she ran back to live with her parents. She's the one who told us all this."