The Eerie Village

At the foot of the Cloudmist Mountains lay a village called Cloudmist Village.

Whether cultivators were out training or outsiders were heading up the mountain to gather herbs, they all passed through this village.

But how long had this village existed? Who lived there, and what did they look like?

No one knew.

Some had also pondered a question: with demonic beasts living on Cloudmist Mountain, and cultivators from all over the world coming and going, surely including a few desperate outlaws, why had this village remained unscathed?

But with time, most of these questions gradually faded from memory.

After all, amid the bustling throngs of the world, who would care about a village where they merely stopped to rest along the way?

At that moment, Old Wang from the village entrance quietly made his way toward the eastern entrance with his walking stick. Looking at the scene before him, he smiled with his deeply wrinkled face and sighed softly.

"Ah, to be young."

Several figures had gathered in a clearing at the village's eastern entrance.

A young man's long hair hung somewhat messily down his back. Huge dark circles ringed his eyes, his face looked haggard, and his mental state seemed a little off.

He stood on a wooden crate so that everyone around him could see him.

At that moment, he was shouting something.

"I told you, I'm not a villager! My role definitely isn't villager! Can't you people take a proper look?"

[Indeed, you are no villager. This is merely flowers in a mirror and the moon on water, a realm of illusion within a mustard seed. But the masses are too dull-witted to see through this world's bewildering haze...]

The man drew a deep breath, then shouted again.

"My true role is Seer! Definitely not villager!"

[Seer... no, no, no. You have already seen through it all. You are no Seer. You are a man destined to shatter the Heavenly Prison beneath your feet, shake Great Yan, and look down upon all living beings.]

The people around him did not understand his words. Instead, they greeted him with merry laughter.

Among them was a capable-looking woman, who let out a snort of laughter before pointing at him.

"Ye Wuyou, why don't you tell everyone what a Seer is?"

"Lin Qingqing, why bother with this lunatic?" A burly man stood off to the side with his arms folded, his expression disdainful.

The man they called a lunatic was Ye Wuyou.

His mental state seemed somewhat abnormal, but his speech was perfectly clear.

Ye Wuyou looked over the crowd below, swept his gaze across them, then pointed sharply at one figure.

"I'm the Seer, and I checked you-you're guilty! You wicked woman, you're not human! You're a wolf!"

[Indeed, you saw long ago that the wretched woman was not human. That is precisely the truth. She is a Demon Fox, the last Three-Tailed Demon Fox in the Great Yan Kingdom. If you were to take her, though such a union between man and beast would offend heaven and earth, this one woman would surpass countless women in the world...]

The woman Ye Wuyou pointed at wore white, her sleek black hair cascading down beside her shoulders. Her face was alluring and lovely.

She looked momentarily startled when Ye Wuyou pointed at her, then curled her lips in displeasure and made to leave.

After all, who would argue with a lunatic?

"Where do you think you're going, monster!"

Ye Wuyou roared, then leaped down and charged toward her.

He reached out to grab her, but caught nothing.

Or rather, he grabbed a patch of empty air behind her.

Bai Lu froze, apparently unable to understand what he was trying to do.

"Huh? That's not right. I definitely saw a tail," Ye Wuyou muttered, his eyes still ringed in black.

He had clearly seen several long, fluffy tails growing behind her just now, yet when he looked again, there was nothing.

No, something was definitely wrong!

Then, under everyone's astonished gazes, Ye Wuyou slapped the woman's round, upturned bottom.

"Ah!"

As the woman cried out, the others quickly pinned Ye Wuyou to the ground.

"Listen to me! She's not human! She has tails behind her!"

"Listen, my ass! You lunatic! Keep acting up and we'll throw you out of the village!" the people around him scolded.

"You're the lunatic! Your whole family are lunatics! I'm warning you, don't hit me! I'm a student, and I have depression!" Ye Wuyou raised his fist and roared defiantly.

"A student? I wouldn't care if you were a newborn! I'll beat you to death!"

Lin Qingqing helped Bai Lu aside, comforting her all the while.

"Sister Bai, don't mind that lunatic. You know what he's like. All these years, and he's never behaved properly..."

"It's fine. I don't mind..."

Soon, the gathered crowd dispersed.

This was merely another everyday farce in the village, and everyone treated it as a bit of entertainment.

Ye Wuyou brushed the dust from his clothes, spat several times to clear the dirt from his mouth, then stared blankly around him.

[When heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon a man, it must first torment his spirit, toil his sinews and bones, and starve his flesh... These are merely obstacles on your path forward. Having realized everything, you immediately awoke and escaped this realm of illusion.]

Ye Wuyou remained unmoved. He dug at his ear, then shook his head.

So annoying. Why did it have to talk inside my head?

And why did heaven have to make someone suffer before giving them a great responsibility?

Whoever wanted that suffering could have it.

The lunatic's confusion was brief. Ye Wuyou soon composed himself and sauntered onward.

Like an idle loafer hanging around the village entrance.

"Old Wang, you're still alive? You really are hale and hearty! How about I come mooch a meal at your place later?"

"Auntie Liu, what are you carrying? What, it's not food? I think you have to taste something before deciding whether it's edible."

"Eh... what are you doing?"

Ye Wuyou walked over to a man in plain cloth clothing who was crouching nearby, looking somewhat troubled.

Ye Wuyou remembered him. The plainly dressed man was named Tu Su. He usually preferred the company of beasts and birds and disliked talking to people.

By beasts and birds, that meant chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep.

At that moment, he crouched on the ground in a rather odd manner, staring at an anthill before him.

"Oh, are you... herding them? Do ants need herding too?" Ye Wuyou crouched down as well.

"Shh."

Tu Su made a gesture for silence, then solemnly crossed his hands in front of his chest.

"What's that for?" Ye Wuyou asked.

"I feel like there's something unusual about my identity," Tu Su said gravely.

"Unusual?" Ye Wuyou looked startled, then seemed to realize something and glanced warily around.

Then Ye Wuyou whispered quietly.

"You've realized it too?"

"Yes." Tu Su nodded, staring at the ants with an utterly solemn expression.

"Then what's your role? I'm the Seer. Let's exchange information."

"I'm... fuck, it's you." Tu Su had only just begun speaking when he looked at the person beside him. Upon realizing it was Ye Wuyou, he showed no trace of the disgust he felt.

Ye Wuyou chuckled, then reached out with a dirty hand and patted Tu Su's sleeve, grinning as he spoke.

"Don't stop halfway through. What's unusual about you? You're clearly just like me. We're both normal people."

Normal people... you're a lunatic, all right? Tu Su shook his head, but did not chase Ye Wuyou away.

After pondering for a long while, Tu Su pointed at the ants on the ground and said quietly.

"I feel like I can control these ants."

"Huh? What's so special about that?" Ye Wuyou asked.

"You... sigh, you wouldn't understand even if I explained. A lunatic, through and through."

"Enough talk. Show me what you've got," Ye Wuyou said disdainfully.

Tu Su fell silent for a moment, then extended both hands and laboriously formed gestures before his chest.

One ancient yet disordered hand seal after another took shape between his fingers, but they were poorly coordinated, forcing Tu Su to try many times.

Finally, after he arranged the hand seals for the tenth time, something miraculous happened.

The ants that had been scurrying chaotically across the ground now lined up in neat rows and stayed quietly in place.

"It really... worked." Tu Su looked dazed, seemingly unable to believe it.

Ye Wuyou looked astonished. Just as he was about to shout, a voice sounded inside his head.

[With a little trickery, you stole the Beast Taming Sect's inherited cultivation art. Now your abilities have risen another level. Soaring through the nine heavens with Dragon Taming will be no difficult feat.]