An Ancient Well

When Lin Xiao returned to Euphrates Poplar Village, it was already past midnight.

The Euphrates Poplar Village was deserted, but faint firelight shone in the fields outside the village.

In the area of the wilderness where Lin Xiao had previously set up an array, the villagers were all fast asleep, huddled together in their makeshift thatched huts.

Two small fires burned in front of the thatched hut, and a young, strong villager sat dozing in front of the fire.

There were two small medicine stoves next to it, but they weren't being used to brew medicine at the moment.

While patrolling around and keeping an eye on the patients' conditions, Fang Tuantuan also had to glance at the villager who was dozing in front of the fire from time to time, so that he wouldn't accidentally fall headfirst into the fire and she could run over and catch him in time.

This is the scene that Lin Xiao saw when he returned.

The Alliance Army said they would send people, but it's obvious that an organization composed of multiple forces wouldn't be very efficient.

It was already quite unexpected that they were able to join forces and successfully overthrow the former royal family of Huanyou Nation in such a short time.

Therefore, no one among the villagers of these Euphrates Poplar Village has taken over yet.

Lin Xiao had no intention of disturbing the villagers' sleep. He didn't walk over, but instead approached them and released his breath.

Fang Tuantuan, who had just finished its patrol, was about to carry the villager sitting by the fire, whose hair was almost licked by the flames, away from the fire, when it suddenly sensed something and quickly looked up in one direction.

A familiar figure stood quietly in the empty field.

Upon seeing that it was indeed Lin Xiao, Fang Tuantuan leaped and ran towards him.

The surrounding area has been soundproofed.

Over the past year, Fang Tuantuan has been fed by the entire Lingxian Sect, successfully transforming from a slender figure into a nearly spherical one, with her cheeks puffing out and her head and body becoming one, without a neck.

Lin Xiao squatted down and stroked its head, then scratched its chin with his index finger, watching it comfortably squint its eyes and start snoring.

Then she asked it softly:

"Tuantuan, how have things been going on your end these past few days?"

"Meow~" Absolutely no problem!

Lin Xiao scanned the villagers with his Divine Sense and found that their condition was much better than before.

His complexion improved, his breathing became steady, and the bulges in his eyes receded somewhat... In short, he was recovering steadily.

Then Fang Tuantuan meowed and reported to him on the specific situation of the villagers over the past two days.

"Thank you for your hard work." Lin Xiao said while petting the cat, taking out a bag of dried fish, opening it, and placing it in front of Tuantuan.

"Meow!"

Fang Tuantuan happily started eating with gusto.

Lin Xiao approached Euphrates Poplar Village, strolling around its perimeter while looking around in thought.

Although the villagers have temporarily left the village due to the illness, this is not a long-term solution.

Putting aside their deep attachment to their hometown, which they were born and raised here, the fact that all ten households in Euphrates Poplar Village are impoverished makes it impossible for them to relocate and settle elsewhere.

Therefore, if possible, Lin Xiao still wanted to help them solve the problems in this place.

Although the matter had been handed over to the Alliance Army, based on the attitudes of the two Alliance Army leaders he had previously met Venerable Zhiyu and Venerable Xunfang, he didn't have much hope that the Alliance Army would take this matter seriously.

If only there were a way to seal away this aura that harms mortals...

He opened his private vault and rummaged through it, trying to find anything he could use.

However, having found nothing useful, his gaze suddenly fell upon a formation stone he had previously obtained from Wei Hai.

I remember the system saying before that this thing is a formation stone called the Taiyin Sealing Formation.

I just don't know what kind of sealing formation this so-called Taiyin Sealing Formation is...

Thinking about it, he took out the array stone and examined it in his hand.

To everyone's surprise, when Lin Xiao held the array stone up in front of him, the stone began to hum and vibrate at an extremely high frequency, making Lin Xiao's fingers slightly numb.

This buzzing vibration touched the surface of his Divine Sense from the outside in, and a very faint feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

Lin Xiao was very surprised and quickly went to investigate what this sensation was.

However, this sensation was so faint that it vanished the moment he made a move.

So he had to close his eyes and calm down to carefully experience it.

Sure enough, a very faint sensation returned to his mind shortly afterward.

With his eyes closed, he carefully discerned and sensed for a while before confirming that the sensation was coming from the due south of the village!

Immediately, Lin Xiao opened his eyes, gripped the array stone, and raced towards Euphrates Poplar Village!

The further you go in, the stronger the faint sensation becomes. Although it is still very weak overall, it doesn't disappear so easily.

He followed the direction and went straight in, walking all the way to the deepest part of the village, where he came to a well.

This well looks very old.

The surrounding stone slabs were worn smooth and black like jade.

The wellhead is covered with signs of repairs and patchwork, old marks layered upon new ones.

The water level in the well wasn't very high, but the water looked incredibly clear. Even Lin Xiao, whose home was nourished by a spring with its own Spirit Vein, couldn't resist scooping up a handful of water and taking a sip.

Before Lin Xiao could act on his idea, the array stone in his hand suddenly began to buzz loudly and piercingly.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Xiao felt the surrounding space distort, and he was suddenly pulled downwards by a huge suction force.

When he came to his senses, he found himself in a completely enclosed space that was less than ten square meters in size.

It was dark here, and the faint light in the very center was the only source of light.

Lin Xiao looked around and discovered that this ball of light was not only the only source of light in the space, but also the only thing in the space.

That's not entirely accurate either.

Besides the ball of light, there was also a stream of water on one of the walls.

The flow direction and source are unknown.

But these don't seem to be the main things; what's most intriguing is the faint light at the very center.

He subconsciously scanned it with his Divine Sense, only to find that the ball of light was just like when he had discovered the Imperial Seal before—he couldn't get in at all and couldn't see what was inside.

The only difference is that this orb of light did not glow like the imperial seal when it was activated by the previous ruler.

Lin Xiao stepped forward and discovered that he could actually see inside the ball of light with the naked eye from the outside.

It's not very clear because of the influence of the outer light layer.

But after observing it carefully for a while, he picked up the array stone in his hand and placed it aside for comparison.

They look very similar...

Based on his experience of finding the ancient well and being sucked in, he could reasonably deduce that the object within the ball of light was likely the same as the array stone in his hand.