Chapter 14 – The Wind of Change (Patreon)

Today was a cloudy and rainy day. Most people were staying indoors, and perhaps because of that, news about a person in the East district who slipped, hit his head on a rock, and died had spread throughout most of the mortal zone by mid-morning.

Lynn Naya, who was cultivating in her hut, listened to Zhao Laoer’s wife describe the man’s gruesome death as if she had been there. Lynn Naya was certain that the man’s death had been officially ruled an unfortunate accident.

Even so, she didn’t let her guard down.

For the next two weeks, Lynn Naya quietly watched the man’s hut every night.

She watched as the man’s wife remarried at lightning speed and moved a new man into the hut. She watched as his so-called friends went from talking about his bad luck to no one mentioning him at all. Only when she was certain that the matter was over and no more waves would be made did she stop her surveillance and return the scent-tracking insect to Xue Yong.

There was a small incident when she gave the bug back to Xue Yong. With a complicated expression, he told her that Zhao Laoer had smelled the special powder on the corpse that day.

In other words, Zhao Laoer probably knew that the person’s death was related to the person who had borrowed the insect from him.

“I’ll keep this a secret.” Xue Yong promised in the end.

Xue Yong was a member of the Spirit Snake Gang, and the Spirit Snake Gang and the Wild Fox Gang had always been at odds.

Furthermore, she was a special supplier for the Spirit Snake Gang. From both a personal and a professional standpoint, Lynn Naya was confident that Xue Yong wouldn’t say anything, at least for now.

That was all she needed.

By the time Xue Yong decided to reveal the secret, she wouldn’t be the person she was now.

Life was like this: as soon as you resolved one problem, you were pulled into another. No one could guarantee that everything would be perfect. She had to be strong.

Strong enough to be fearless.

Realizing she wasn’t strong enough yet, Lynn Naya became even more of a recluse and focused all her energy on cultivating.

The trouble in the East district was like a passing gust of wind. It came and went, and soon no one talked about it anymore. Occasionally, it would come up in a casual conversation, but the truth behind the death was slowly being buried by time.

Three months flew by, and summer arrived at the foot of Mount Yu, hot and unforgiving.

The rising temperatures seemed to act as a catalyst, and the wild fruits on the branches quickly ripened. The rice seedlings in the paddies grew at an incredible rate, and the wild grass and vines grew even faster. The small plants that were cut down last year now climbed even higher, much to the annoyance of those who went out.

This vitality wasn’t just limited to the wild. Lynn Naya’s courtyard also benefited. The jujubes sapling that had sprouted in the corner of her yard was now knee-high, its leaves a vibrant green.

This sapling came from the jujubes the woman had given her last year.

There were so many fruit pits in the corner of her yard, but only this one jujube sapling had sprouted. Thinking about the poor woman whose memory was fading from her mind, Lynn Naya took some time to move the sapling from the dark, damp corner to a sunny spot in the courtyard. She watered and fertilized it whenever she had a moment, taking great care of it.

Before, someone wanted to live, but she couldn’t help them. Now, this tree wanted to live, and she would give it a chance.

Sometimes, she thought that the world was unpredictable.

That evening, she was building a stone fence around the jujubes sapling. Without a fence, people walking through the courtyard would easily step on it.

While she was working, Xue Yong and the others came back. Lynn Naya greeted them as usual and continued her work, but a moment later, Xue Yong came over and crouched down next to her to help.

His strange behavior made Lynn Naya look at him.

Since their secret partnership began, Xue Yong had always pretended not to know her well in front of others so as not to arouse suspicion. Today, he didn’t even put away his things before coming to her. Had something big happened?

Sure enough, as soon as he squatted down, Lynn Naya heard him whisper, “Scarface Qing found a secret underground room under the collapsed house in the farm today. But it was full of poisonous insects, and we didn’t have enough time to check it out. I don’t think anyone has been in there before. I think there might be something good inside.”

A secret underground room?

Lynn Naya’s hands paused.

When the righteous and demonic cultivators fought, corpses were scattered everywhere. Those who died on the spot were left behind, but many who weren’t dead hid somewhere. Over the past few years, mortals had found many cultivator skeletons in caves and ravines, but their storage bags were always gone.

The underground room Xue Yong spoke of was filled with poisonous insects that hadn’t been cleared out. This meant that Dao Palace disciples had likely never entered it. An untouched underground room… if there was anything inside, it would still be there.

Before, when Xue Yong and the others found the farm, she had fantasized about finding a treasure. She didn’t expect something like this to actually happen.

The thought sent a ripple through Lynn Naya’s heart—it would be a lie to say she wasn’t tempted. Scarface Qing might be the leader of the Spirit Snake Gang, but in the end he was nothing more than a mortal. If she chose to act, her chances of seizing this fated opportunity were high.

After telling her the news, Xue Yong used the excuse that his wife needed help and left, leaving Lynn Naya alone to continue building the fence.

Lynn Naya was so lost in her thoughts that she built the fence too high and had to take it apart and rebuild it.

The sun went down as she worked. When she finally stood up, she looked up at the sky. Under the deep dusk, not a single star was visible.

No stars meant it was unlikely to be a sunny day tomorrow.

If something was delayed, it would become more complicated. It seemed that Scarface Qing couldn’t just get the underground room without any effort.

What about me? Should I get involved?

Lynn Naya thought for a long time and decided to try. Of course, the condition was that she wouldn’t put herself in danger, so she would have to prepare thoroughly.

The next day, as Lynn Naya had predicted, was overcast. Her neighbors went to the fields, and Xue Yong’s wife stayed behind to watch the houses. By the time Lynn Naya returned from the medicinal fields, everyone else had returned, except for Xue Yong.

Lynn Naya didn’t know where he had gone, but she was pretty sure her other two neighbors didn’t know about the secret underground room. Their expressions were too natural, and there was no way Fan Shi would have been able to keep a secret like that.

Xue Yong knew something the others didn’t. In other words, he had probably become Scarface Qing’s confidant.

Lynn Naya hadn’t had any direct contact with Scarface Qing, but based on the fact that her neighbors hadn’t said anything bad about him since they joined the Spirit Snake Gang, and that her partnership with Xue Yong had become a partnership with the gang that was highly profitable for her, he was someone she was willing to continue to work with.

With that thought in mind, Lynn Naya took advantage of the light crowd in the afternoon to exchange for two portions of Life-Preserving Pills. It was a good thing she hadn’t used her contribution points much in the past few months; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to afford the medicine.

After returning from the administrative hall, Lynn Naya began to make the medicine.

Life-Preserving Pill were much harder to make than her usual Detoxification Pills. Luckily, her months of practice had given her some experience. It took her an entire afternoon to make the pills. Two portions of medicine only yielded three Life-Preserving Pills, which was incredibly expensive. The pills needed to dry before they could be used.

The pills would take about three to five days to dry. During that time, the weather cleared up again. This time, Lynn Nayadidn’t stay home. She used the excuse that she had to go to the medicinal fields and asked Xue Yong’s wife to watch the houses. In reality, she left the Dao Palace and followed Xue Yong and his group from a distance.

Since coming to this world, Lynn Naya had never left the safety zone. The moment she stepped out of the protective barrier, the hot summer air of the wilderness hit her face.

Wild grass, thick forests, and the chirping of insects… The rampant life outside the mortal zone was a complete contrast. This reminded her of a movie she had once watched, The 10th Year After Humanity’s Disappearance. It hadn’t even been ten years since the cultivators left, but most of the traces of humanity had already been swallowed by nature.

Plants’ will to live was no weaker than a person’s.

She followed the newly made path, staying on high alert. Without the barrier’s protection, Lynn Naya didn’t dare to let her guard down. Luckily, because of the soul fog, there weren’t any fierce beasts in the area. Humans and beasts were treated equally in the face of evil.

The further they got from Mount Yu, the fewer people there were. After she saw Xue Yong and his group disappear into the Peach Blossom Forest with Scarface Qing, Lynn Naya sped up a little and went into the forest herself, her mouth filled with a Detoxification Pills.

The peach blossoms were long gone, and the branches were filled with half-red fruits. But the gray-green mist that drifted through the forest made Lynn Naya not even think about picking a single one. Who knew if eating a fruit soaked in miasma would cause a problem?

Since the path was rarely used, the ground was covered in a thick layer of mud. Lynn Naya was able to move lightly, her steps barely making a sound. The men in front of her, however, were walking through the mud one step at a time. It didn’t take long for Lynn Naya to hear their movements.

She still didn’t show herself and followed them from a distance.

After about a half hour, the scenery opened up, and a valley appeared. At the same time, Lynn Naya was surprised to find that the spiritual energy here was much richer than at the foot of Mount Yu. A faint spiritual energy entered her body with every breath. If she cultivated here, her speed would probably increase significantly.

The thought flashed through her mind, but she ignored it and continued to follow the group. She stopped when they stopped in front of a collapsed hill and found a hidden place to sit and cultivate.

Xue Yong had told her there were a lot of poisonous insects in the underground entrance. Scarface Qing and his group would have to clear them out before going in. It would take a lot of work to clear out ordinary insects, let alone poisonous ones. She might as well use the time they were working to cultivate.

Lynn Naya cultivated for an entire day. Scarface Qing and the others worked at the entrance but couldn’t get in.

It wasn’t until the sun was setting and it was time to head back that Scarface Qing and his group returned, their faces grim. At the same time, Lynn Naya opened her eyes.

Her heart was full of complex emotions. Who would have thought that the one experience point that took her three days to earn could be gained in just one day here?

She still needed 21 more experience points to break through. She had expected to break through in two months, but now, with a little luck, it might take less than a month.

With the farm all to herself, Lynn Naya stood up and walked toward the underground entrance. Xue Yong had said there were a lot of poisonous insects. She wouldn’t risk her life by going in, but if the room was shallow, her spiritual sense might be able to “see” what was inside…