Quite Innocent, Really

All was still.

Only the rustle of wind through the vegetation and the occasional chirp of an insect broke the village's silence.

They stepped out of the courtyard, and Shen Leyan glanced along both sides of the road before tugging on Lu Yuanyi's sleeve.

"Sect Master Lu, do you know any spells that can make us invisible? The auntie who let us stay said there were a few widows in the village. If someone sees us going out at night, it might hurt their reputations."

Lu Yuanyi took hold of his wrist instead, a glimmer of snow-white spiritual energy flashing in his palm.

Shen Leyan bounced on the spot. "So we're invisible now?"

"Yes. But people will still hear us if we speak."

Perhaps because of his Ice Spiritual Root, Lu Yuanyi's body temperature was far lower than most people's, even in the height of summer.

Shen Leyan tried to pull his hand free, but it wouldn't budge. "...Do we have to hold hands?"

"Yes. Otherwise, the invisibility spell on you will stop working."

"Are you not very good at invisibility spells, Sect Master Lu?"

Lu Yuanyi nodded serenely. "I'm indeed not particularly good at spells that are useless in a fight."

Shen Leyan fell silent.

[(°ー°〃)]

[If word gets out that a grandmaster from a prestigious orthodox sect actually loves fighting, the Cloud Radiance Sect's good name might be ruined in its twilight years.]

They didn't know exactly where Glory Ancestors Village's ancestral graves were, so they simply followed the village paths, passing one house after another.

At the southernmost house, Shen Leyan spotted a scrawny man in dark clothes clinging to the wall with both hands, his legs flailing as he tried to climb into the courtyard.

He instinctively tried to shout, "A thief!" but Lu Yuanyi pressed a hand to his shoulder and stopped him.

He could only mouth, "Sect Master Lu, that man's climbing over the wall!"

[What decent person climbs a wall in the middle of the night instead of using the front gate? He's probably a thief. What if he steals the villagers' belongings, or even kills someone?]

Before long, a dim candle lit up the dark courtyard, and two voices drifted out.

"My darling Li~~ I've missed you so terribly~~"

"Cuihua~~ I've missed you to death too~~"

"That's all you ever say. Whenever I bring up marriage, you go silent..."

"Oh, Cuihua. You know what my parents are like. If they knew I wanted to marry... marry a widow, they'd break my legs!"

"Darling Li..."

"Wait a little longer for me. Just a little longer. Once my family saves enough money to move out of Glory Ancestors Village, I'll marry you, I promise. There's something sinister about this village. Not a single household can have children... We need to move out as soon as we can."

As they talked, the rustle of clothing came from inside as they embraced.

The most risqué thing Shen Leyan had done in either of his lives was watch young couples kissing in the woods. At that sound, heat rushed into his face, turning him red from his neck to the tips of his ears.

But the two inside had mentioned Glory Ancestors Village's inability to have children, and he didn't know what else they might say.

He could neither keep listening nor leave.

The youth agonized over it with a frown for a while, then pulled Lu Yuanyi over to the corner of the wall and mouthed his words.

"You listen, Sect Master Lu."

[You've lived for over a thousand years and seen all sorts of things anyway. This shouldn't be a big deal to you. Besides, with your cultivation, you won't have to worry about getting a stye.]

Then he crouched down and covered his ears with both hands.

He silently repeated, I can't hear anything, can't hear anything, can't hear anything...

About a quarter of an hour later, someone gently patted his head.

Lu Yuanyi said quietly, "You can stop your little turtle chant. They've gone indoors."

Shen Leyan uncovered his ears. Sure enough, he couldn't hear anything anymore.

"What did those two say afterward?"

"They mentioned disciples of the Cloud Radiance Sect."

"What?!" Startled, Shen Leyan unconsciously tightened his grip on Lu Yuanyi's hand. "Senior Brother Chen Jing and the others—"

"They only said that some cultivators came half a month ago and treated the villagers for several days without any improvement, so the villagers drove them away. They were probably referring to the Cloud Radiance Sect disciples."

"So Senior Brother Chen Jing and the others have already left Glory Ancestors Village?"

"What those two said may not be reliable. Perhaps they weren't lying, but if demons are involved..."

If demons were involved, what ordinary people saw with their own eyes might not be what had actually happened.

"Then should we go check the village's ancestral graves first?"

"Yes."

Beyond the village's ancestral hall lay the mountain behind it. A flight of stone steps paved with blue stone led uphill, and they followed it up the mountain.

By the time they reached the mountainside, a few scattered pieces of yellow paper money lay among the grass and soil on either side. Perhaps the wind had blown them away when a villager brought them up to pay respects.

The ancestral graves of Glory Ancestors Village should be a little farther ahead.

"Sect Master Lu, what do you think of the feng shui around Glory Ancestors Village's ancestral graves?"

"There's nothing amiss."

After walking for nearly another hour, they came upon a sprawling expanse of gravestones. The stone markers, engraved with their ancestors' birth and death years, stood silently in the earth. The howling mountain wind carried a raw, earthy smell.

Ever since gaining a spiritual root and beginning to cultivate spiritual energy, Shen Leyan had developed some ability to sense the presence of demons and human souls. But aside from the slightly chilly wind, there was nothing unusual here.

Shen Leyan looked questioningly at Lu Yuanyi. "There aren't any vengeful spirits around these graves, are there?"

"No souls remain here."

Fairly lavish offerings still sat before some of the gravestones, but none showed any signs of having been consumed. Instead, ants crawled happily back and forth, carrying away pieces of cake.

Clearly, these ancestors of Glory Ancestors Village had either already reincarnated and no longer needed to receive offerings here, or were still being punished in one of the eighteen levels of hell to repay the sins they had committed in life, unable to receive any offerings.

Neither possibility would affect the living people in the village.

Shen Leyan wandered around the area. When he reached the farthest end of the ancestral graves, he saw that the blue stone path continued up the mountain, though a fence blocked the way.

At first, he thought there were wild beasts farther up, and the fence was meant to stop hunters from straying deep into the mountain.

But on closer inspection, there was also a wooden sign planted beside the fence, with several words written in cinnabar: "No entry."

Shen Leyan immediately perked up.

Everyone had a bit of a rebellious streak.

The more a place was forbidden, the more curious people became about what was inside.

"Sect Master Lu! Over here!"

They climbed over the fence and continued uphill. Perhaps it was the chill of the higher elevation, but the mountain wind grew increasingly bleak, and some unknown bird gave two strange cries from the woods flanking the path.

At the end of the blue stone path stood several small towers built of brick and stone, each about as tall as a person, with only a single small window.

They were too far away, and the night too dark, to make out what was inside the windows.

"What... are those towers for?"