In the bushes not far from the pavilion.
Shen Hefeng circled around and deftly slipped between Wen Shuangbai and Xie Ziyin, gritting his teeth as he yanked off his Taoist hat in frustration. "Damn it, that old woman chewed on my hair again today!"
Wen Shuangbai glanced at him.
Before entering Tianjia Village, Shen Hefeng had been a young man with flowing long hair. Today, however, he sported a bowl-cut.
"It's not a big deal," Wen Shuangbai said. "You’d have to pay someone to trim your hair otherwise. That old woman did it for free."
Shen Hefeng was stunned. "So I should thank her, is that it?"
Xie Ziyin cut in, "Did you find out where she lives?"
"No," Shen Hefeng replied, frowning as he put his hat back on. "I couldn’t divine her location, and I didn’t dare ask outright."
As a divination cultivator, he sometimes had premonitions before certain events occurred.
Just now in the pavilion, when he considered asking about the old woman’s residence, he’d felt an ominous foreboding. Something told him that if he asked, losing a bit of hair would be the least of his worries.
Tianjia Village wasn’t small—at a glance, there were at least a thousand households.
They didn’t have time to search door-to-door. That approach was inefficient and impractical.
Wen Shuangbai suggested, "Then we’ll follow her home."
Xie Ziyin glanced at the setting sun, then at the old women in the pavilion, who showed no signs of leaving as they chatted animatedly. He remarked coolly, "What if they don’t go back until after dark?"
Wen Shuangbai: "..."
Shen Hefeng: "..."
Both turned to stare at him, their eyes screaming, Must you always say the worst possible thing?
Xie Ziyin remained unperturbed. "The truth isn’t always pleasant."
The Mystic Heaven Mirror in Wen Shuangbai’s arms vibrated. She pulled it out and scanned the message, her expression darkening. "The Qian Yuan Sect has been wiped out."
Shen Hefeng grinned. "Senior Sister Zhuohua’s doing, right? They really came looking for death."
Wen Shuangbai wasn’t worried about Li Zhuohua or their senior brother’s combat prowess, but she was concerned about the village chief causing trouble.
After a moment’s thought, she said, "I’ll head back to check. You two stay here and keep watch."
---
Chicken Coop Headquarters.
The moment the three Qian Yuan Sect disciples died, the village chief appeared.
Its long tongue lashed out, coiling around the three corpses on the ground and crunching them up with sickening cracks.
But as it chewed, the chief suddenly gagged and spat out a mess of bones, half-chewed flesh, a partially gnawed thigh bone, and even a still-twitching heart.
The Mystic Heaven Mirror erupted in horrified screams.
[Help! Help! That’s terrifying! If you’re going to eat them, fine, but don’t puke them back out in front of me!]
[Damn it, I was eating chicken feet! Now I don’t know whether to keep eating or not!]
Lu Jiayao, witnessing the scene firsthand, was so shocked he nearly fainted. Luckily, Yin Xuan stomped hard on his foot to snap him out of it.
Lu Jiayao: "Ow!"
Yin Xuan grabbed Lu Jiayao, tossed him and the little chicks into the alchemy furnace, then strolled over to Li Zhuohua. He tilted his head slightly, meeting the village chief’s eerie, ghostly face with a yawn before greeting it politely, "Good evening, Chief."
[...]
[Every disciple from Qingling Mountain never fails to amaze me.]
[He’s… weirdly polite?]
The village chief was furious.
Dead cultivators tasted awful—it preferred them alive!
"You—killed—my workers," the chief hissed, its grotesque eyes fixed on Li Zhuohua, the culprit.
Li Zhuohua flicked her sword, unbothered. "They tried to kill the chicks."
"All village matters must be reported to me first! I decide the punishment!"
"You didn’t tell me that beforehand." If she’d known, she wouldn’t have killed them—she’d have left them alive. But Li Zhuohua couldn’t be bothered to argue. "Fine, whatever. I’ll remember next time."
The chief processed this, then flew into a rage.
There’d be a next time?!
Enraged, its long tongue lashed out toward Li Zhuohua. "Audacious peasant! You overstep—"
Yin Xuan shook his silver hair, pulled a small piece of fox tail from his storage ring, and tossed it straight into the chief’s mouth.
Chief: "Gulp gulp—taking justice into your own hands—"
Yin Xuan, looking exhausted, continued feeding it fox tail pieces.
Chief: "Gulp gulp—deserves punishment—gulp gulp—so delicious…"
Wen Shuangbai, arriving just then: "..."
Well. Her worries had been unnecessary.
The chief’s appetite had clearly grown. Last night, a small piece had satisfied it. Now, after eight pieces from Yin Xuan and three more from Wen Shuangbai, it finally showed the slightest hint of softening.
As the leader of Tianjia Village’s ghosts, the chief was no ordinary entity.
In just one day, the fox tail’s allure was already weakening.
They couldn’t keep feeding it endlessly—its greed would only grow.
Wen Shuangbai lowered her gaze, then pulled out six more pieces and presented them to the chief. "Chief, we’re new here and unfamiliar with village rules. We made a mistake today, but we were just protecting the chicks. Please give us another chance! This is all the fox tail I have left—take it! We can produce twenty pieces every six days. In six days, we’ll offer more. How does that sound?"
The chief swallowed the six pieces in one gulp, its eyes gleaming with greed as it leered at the three of them. "Heh heh… Fine. I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourselves. You’ll take over feeding the pigs too."
[Oh no! Three of the Qian Yuan Sect’s pigs were badly injured, and one died. If Qingling Mountain takes over, they’ll lose all their Sacred Stones! They’ll be eaten!]
[The chief wants it all—fox tails AND their lives!]
[Ghosts can never be tamed.]
[Li Zhuohua was too reckless. She shouldn’t have killed those three.]
After reassigning their tasks, the chief left, thoroughly satisfied.
The trio’s Mystic Heaven Mirrors vibrated.
Wen Shuangbai checked hers.
[Qingling Mountain]
[Members: 6]
[Sacred Stones: 24]
Feeding pigs earned three Sacred Stones per person daily. The extra eighteen came from the Qian Yuan Sect’s earnings—since they’d been wiped out, Qingling Mountain inherited both their pay and their job.
Eighteen Sacred Stones at once—that was… 18,000 spirit stones?!
Wen Shuangbai murmured thoughtfully, "So you can just… take over others’ jobs?"
As for the dead pig…
Since the Sacred Tower paid daily, as long as they uncovered Tianjia Village’s secrets within six days and cleared the dungeon before the chief inspected their work, they’d be fine.
With that, Wen Shuangbai cheerfully set off with her senior siblings to collect the piglets.
Heh. These were all Sacred Stones now.
---
The sun dipped below the horizon as dusk fell.
Xie Ziyin and Shen Hefeng returned from the pavilion and found Wen Shuangbai and the others at the pigpen.
Seeing the expressions on their faces, Wen Shuangbai guessed that, just as Xie Ziyin had said, those village women wouldn’t return home before nightfall.
But right now, the most pressing matter was the piglets they had just taken over.
Wen Shuangbai waved at the man in white. "Come take a look at these four piglets!"
Xie Ziyin: "..."
He really wanted to say that he wasn’t a veterinarian—he was a neurosurgeon.
But he was also truly short on money.
Resigned, Xie Ziyin stepped forward and gave the piglets a quick examination.
There were six piglets in total. Two were relatively healthy, three had been bitten by ghosts and wouldn’t last the night without treatment.
One had already been bitten to death, its skin turned bluish-black.
Xie Ziyin: "I can still save the living ones, but the dead one is beyond me."
He glanced at the sky. "Let’s head back inside first."
The others had no objections. They placed the chickens and pigs into the alchemy furnace, carried it back to the communal sleeping quarters, and immediately transformed into medical staff, racing against time to assist the lead surgeon, Xie Ziyin, in a series of life-saving measures for the pigs.
Before nightfall, the five major sects had all returned to their quarters.
Lu Ying, clutching his freshly bandaged wrist, looked around the empty Qian Yuan Sect area before turning his gaze to the busy group from Qingling Mountain, who were desperately trying to save the pigs. He cursed under his breath, "Useless."
These people were too much of an eyesore—he didn’t want to see them anymore.
After a moment’s thought, Lu Ying stood up and walked over to the hammer-wielding cultivator from the Wansheng Palace, whispering a few instructions.
When he finished, the burly cultivator’s face broke into a pleased grin.
He slung his iron hammer over his shoulder, stood up, and suddenly boomed in a thunderous voice, "Village Chief! I have an important matter to discuss!"
Wen Shuangbai, gripping a squirming piglet’s leg, shot a cold glance in their direction.
Shen Hefeng, holding down another piglet’s head, muttered, "What nonsense is this brainless fool up to now?"
The wooden door creaked open, and the Village Chief appeared in the doorway, looking at the hammer cultivator. "What is it?"
The hammer cultivator spoke boldly, "Village Chief! I see the Qingling Mountain group has taken over the Qian Yuan Sect’s task?"
The Village Chief glanced toward Qingling Mountain’s side, licking his fingers with his long, slimy tongue. "Yes, so? Do you want to take it over too?"
"No! We of Wansheng Palace would never stoop to stealing others’ work!" The hammer cultivator puffed up with pride. "But in my opinion, since Qingling Mountain has taken over Qian Yuan’s task, you should inspect their work first thing tomorrow morning. After all, when tasks change hands out in the world, there’s always a handover inspection. I hope you’ll consider this fairly!"
[Wansheng Palace’s scheme is so sneaky! If the Village Chief inspects tomorrow and finds dead pigs, Qingling Mountain will be eliminated early!]
[The Mystic Heaven Competition is all about keeping your own sacred stones plentiful and others’ scarce. Wansheng Palace isn’t wrong.]
[Well, Qingling Mountain insulted this senior brother first by calling him brainless!]
[Huh? When did that happen? I didn’t hear that.]
[It was during the Mystic Heaven Banquet. Qingling Mountain insulted our Wansheng Palace first. If they can’t keep their mouths shut, they can’t blame our senior brother for retaliating!]
Just as the Village Chief was about to nod in agreement, and with Qingling Mountain’s group too busy saving pigs to react, Yu Xiaoli grew anxious. She was about to mimic Wen Shuangbai’s move from the previous night—offering her fox tail as a bribe to the Village Chief.
But before she could act, Wen Shuangbai swiftly stopped her.
"Don’t." Wen Shuangbai’s gaze locked onto the Village Chief’s from afar, seeing the greed and calculation in his eyes.
They couldn’t let the Village Chief know the fox tail actually belonged to Yu Xiaoli. And they couldn’t keep feeding him fox tails either.
It would be like throwing meat buns at a dog—once given, never returned.
This ghostly Village Chief had evolved into someone who took bribes without delivering, always hungering for more.
The Village Chief grinned at Wen Shuangbai, his mouth splitting open to reveal a foul-smelling tongue and throat. "Very well. I’ll do as you suggest. Tomorrow morning, I’ll come to inspect."
—
Not long after the Village Chief left, the lamps in the communal quarters extinguished on their own as scheduled, plunging the Mystic Heaven Mirror’s display into darkness.
The last scene viewers saw was the six members of Qingling Mountain huddled in a circle around the dead pig, engaged in a heated discussion.
Finally, Wen Shuangbai turned to Xie Ziyin. "Are you really sure you can’t bring it back to life?"
Shen Hefeng, holding his turtle shell divination tool, looked at Xie Ziyin. "My shell says you can do it."
Lu Jiayao: "Senior Brother Xie, I believe in you!"
Yin Xuan: "Should we just go out and roast the piglet instead?"
Li Zhuohua: "Worst case, I’ll fight the Village Chief to the death tomorrow!"
Xie Ziyin: "..."
After a long silence, Xie Ziyin sighed. "Fine. I’ll try."
Then the lights went out.
[Nooo, don’t cut away! Let me see how they’re going to try!]
[Give it up. That pig is deader than dead—even the Saint of Medicine couldn’t revive it.]
[They’re just delaying the inevitable. By dawn, Qingling Mountain will be wiped out.]
[Speaking of which, Qian Yuan Sect was eliminated, but their sacred stone count was zero. If the Village Chief sees dead pigs tomorrow, Qingling Mountain’s count will drop below zero—they might be the ones eliminated this round!]
[Don’t say that. I thought Qingling Mountain had a real shot this time in the Mystic Heaven Competition, but now it’s all over.]
[Impulse is the devil. They never should’ve killed those three from Qian Yuan Sect!]
Everyone was on edge, waiting to see the outcome at dawn, glued to the Mystic Heaven Mirror.
In the observation hall, the Qian Yuan Sect’s peak master’s eyes lit up. He had been about to take his injured disciples back to their sect, but now—what a twist of fate!
He shot a discreet glance at Xu Jingshu, who had looked up from her novel in the corner, her face etched with worry. His heart swelled with satisfaction.
Tsk. Those who harm others will be harmed in turn!
In Tianjia Village, the nights were short, and the days even shorter.
The cultivators waited for over five hours before the Mystic Heaven Mirror’s surface gradually brightened again.
In the village, dawn had arrived.
The morning breeze pushed open the wooden door, spilling sunlight into the communal quarters, illuminating the space.
Of Qingling Mountain’s six, only Yin Xuan had slept. The others had stayed up all night.
Apart from Li Zhuohua, whose fighting spirit still burned fiercely, the rest looked utterly exhausted.
Xie Ziyin was in the worst state—his face as pale as snow, a clear sign of depleted spiritual energy.
They carried the alchemy furnace outside, their steps sluggish and heavy.
Lu Ying, hidden among the crowd, allowed himself a small, satisfied smirk.
[It’s over. Their faces say they failed.]
[I refuse to believe it! Junior Sister Wen and the others will find a way!]
But when they placed the piglets back into the pen, everyone fell silent.
One of them lay completely still, showing no signs of life.
[This is really the end. The pig’s dead…]
[Nooo! I wanted to see what Qingling Mountain would do next! I don’t want to watch other sects fight monsters all day!]
[Told you they couldn’t save it.]
Just as Qingling Mountain’s group finished settling the piglets, the Village Chief arrived, impatient as ever.
Compared to the measly fox tail, these six fresh, lively cultivators were far more to his taste—far more delicious.
The village chief's drool dripped to the ground as his eerie gaze swept around before landing on the motionless dead pig. "One's dead!" he declared.
[Wuwuwu, this is too scary! I can't watch anymore—I'm going off to cultivate first!!]
[Shouldn’t they just end themselves now? Getting devoured by ghosts would damage their spiritual consciousness.]
[But suicide would harm their spiritual bones. Neither option is good.]
[Hahaha, Qingling Mountain is dead last again!!]
The cultivators from Yongzhou, affiliated with the Qian Yuan Sect, burst into laughter in front of the Mystic Heaven Mirror, hurling taunts mid-chuckle. But just as they were halfway through their mockery, the woman in green robes suddenly spoke up. "Ah? Village Chief, you must be mistaken. This pig isn’t dead—it’s just sleeping."
[She’s blatantly lying.]
[Such a clumsy lie! Even if ghosts aren’t as smart as humans, they’d never fall for this!]
[Still talking nonsense at death’s door!]
Just as the village chief was about to fly into a rage, Wen Shuangbai reached out and gently patted the little pig’s belly. "Four Hundred, wake up."
Then, to everyone’s shock, the supposedly dead pig suddenly sprang up from the pigpen—??!
Everyone: [???]
Four Hundred: "Oink?"
The pig tentatively wiggled its hooves.
Wow! Its owner hadn’t lied! After a nap, it now had its very own pigskin disguise!!!
It could finally move freely in broad daylight without worrying about being stolen as a suspiciously animated brush!!
Four Hundred was ecstatic. Four Hundred was thrilled. Four Hundred stretched its limbs. Four Hundred bounced around the pigpen, leaping so high that the other piglets scrambled away in fright.
Wen Shuangbai watched the hyperactive pig with a satisfied smile and said to the village chief, "See? Not dead at all. Full of energy—perfectly healthy."
Beside her, Xie Ziyin, who had spent ten grueling hours performing cranial surgery to implant the relief-carved brush into the dead pig, simply smiled faintly, letting his achievement speak for itself.
