When the door to the dark room opened, Yu Yi clearly saw a spiritual thread flowing from behind the door to both sides, activating the formation suspended on the door. Simultaneously, another spiritual thread flowed downward to the ground, shooting toward her seat.
As this directional teleportation formation had already been used, the surrounding spirit stones had all turned to powder, and the formation on the door flickered once before dying out.
It was a killing formation - if anyone had opened the door before this directional teleportation formation was activated, they would have been torn apart by the magical array on the door.
Yu Yi watched alertly, her fingertips forming a sword incantation.
With the creaking of door hinges, the visitor laboriously pushed the door open a bit further, waving away the floating dust that came toward their face. They stared bewilderedly at the empty room, mumbling, "How did everything turn to ash? Where did everything go?"
Yu Yi could now clearly see her appearance. The figure was hunched, with graying hair, dressed in coarse gray hemp clothing. The skin visible outside the clothing was as wrinkled as tree bark, with large age spots on the backs of her hands - she was an elderly woman in her twilight years.
Yu Yi couldn't sense any spiritual power from her; she was an ordinary mortal.
How strange that Xue Chenjing would set the endpoint of this directional teleportation formation in a mortal's home?
The old woman coughed from the floating dust and finally gathered her wits, beckoning to Yu Yi, "Oh my, this room hasn't been opened for so many years, how did everything turn to ash? Young lady, come out quickly before the dust gets in your nose."
Yu Yi released a bit of spiritual power to suppress the spirit stone dust filling the room, quickly walked to the door, and asked, "Grandmother, may I ask where this is?"
The old woman stepped back, leading her out of the room. She wiped clean a wooden bench in the courtyard with a cloth, then hurried into the kitchen. She retrieved a snow-white porcelain bowl from among some earthenware dishes, washed it with mountain spring water drawn from bamboo pipes over a large vat, filled it with hot water she had boiled, and invited Yu Yi over to sit.
Yu Yi quickly expressed her thanks and sat down at the table.
After bustling about hospitably, the old woman finally tapped her forehead and said, "You asked where this place is? We call this Liuya Village, because three large mountains form the shape of a 'Ya' character, that's why it's called Liuya Village."
Yu Yi felt helpless - "Liuya Village" was too small a name, and even knowing the village name didn't help her determine her location.
This courtyard was a very ordinary farmhouse compound, with earthen walls and blue tiles, though many tiles were missing and replaced with thatch covered by banana leaves sealed with mud.
The compound was U-shaped with four rooms in total. The room Yu Yi had emerged from was hidden behind the woodshed, quite concealed.
The house was built on a mountainside, with a fenced courtyard containing some chickens and ducks. Looking down from here, one could see a cluster of houses forming a village below, and beyond that a rushing river.
The remaining rays of the setting sun shone from the horizon, bathing the entire mountainside in dusky golden light. It was a scenic place with beautiful mountains and waters. However, that was all - there was no spiritual energy here.
While Yu Yi's eyes roamed around taking in her surroundings, she continued asking, "Grandmother, do you know which county and prefecture Liuya Village belongs to?"
"Above us is Fengsheng County, but beyond that this old woman doesn't know," the old woman said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Her originally clouded eyes became somewhat clearer with the light of animation in them.
She couldn't help but study Yu Yi curiously, though she seemed afraid her gaze might offend and showed some restraint, keeping a constant smile on her face.
The young lady had red lips and white teeth, with cheeks so tender they looked like they could be pinched to yield water. She wore a bright red dress that looked like wedding attire, with golden hairpins in her jet-black hair bun, appearing too radiant to be of the mortal realm and completely out of place in this poor mountain dwelling with its dilapidated earthen walls.
The old woman watched as she extended fingers as white as spring onion roots to pick up the porcelain bowl from the table and take small sips of water. Only then did the old woman's constrained manner relax somewhat.
The young lady didn't look down on her.
When Yu Yi asked about the room behind the woodshed, Granny Li turned her head to gaze at the rushing river in the distance and said, "A young man came to work on it thirty years ago."
The old woman's surname was Li, so Yu Yi called her Granny Li. Granny Li narrated very slowly but very clearly - clearly, even after thirty years, she hadn't forgotten anything that happened back then.
Liuya Village's "Ya" character came from the river between the three mountains. Thirty years ago, that river's waters had risen violently, washing in a snake demon. The snake demon settled in Liuya Village, eating many villagers and carrying off young children to make nests, laying its snake eggs inside human bodies to incubate.
Thirty years ago, Granny Li was nearly thirty years old, with a family of three. Her husband was eaten by the snake demon, and her daughter, who had just turned ten, was taken away by the snake demon to be made into a nest.
Having lost both husband and daughter overnight, she went everywhere begging people to save her daughter. However, at that time, everyone was afraid of the snake demon. Those in Liuya Village who hadn't been harmed were busy fleeing, and no one dared to help her.
This was a poor and remote area, far from any immortal sects. There was no way to seek help, and even if she could find an immortal sect, by the time help arrived, her daughter would likely have already become white bones.
Granny Li had no choice but to shoulder a woodcutter's knife and venture into the mountains to find the snake herself. Even if she couldn't save her daughter, she wanted to die together with her.
The snake demon moved about Liuya Village unrestrained, leaving toppled trees everywhere. The whole mountain was covered in trails from its passage, so she didn't have much trouble finding the snake's lair.
The lair was in a damp cave, filled with white bones spat out by the snake demon, bones still carrying bloody flesh. Deep in the cave was a nest built from human bodies, with the people at the bottom crushed flat, blood flowing everywhere.
Granny Li took advantage of the snake demon being out hunting to slip into the cave, jumping into the snake's nest to search for her daughter. She searched through the pile of bodies for a long time before finally finding her daughter among the layers of pale white corpses.
Unfortunately, she had come too late. Her daughter had already been implanted with a belly full of snake eggs, the snake venom had invaded her organs, and she was already dead.
Even though her daughter was already dead, Granny Li didn't want to leave her body to rot in the snake's nest. She dragged out her daughter's heavily pregnant body, becoming covered in snake stench.
She was so panicked and afraid at the time that she didn't notice any of this. After leaving the snake's nest, she tried to carry her daughter toward the county town.
However, she hadn't gone far before the snake demon caught up with her. In her panicked flight, she fell, tumbling with her daughter into a ravine where they landed in something white that looked like mud.
Granny Li nearly suffocated in that substance, but a young man pulled them out of the mud.
When Yu Yi heard about the "white mud," she could guess that it was probably Xue Chenjing's earth impurity.
Granny Li stroked a deep scar on her elbow and continued: "By this time, the snake demon had caught up, and they began fighting. In less than a moment, that formidable snake demon was cut into several pieces and died."
After killing the demon, the young man kicked at some blackened fish on the ground and asked her if she knew how to cook, if she knew how to prepare fish.
Granny Li looked at the two burnt fish lying beside the fire pit that had been extinguished by snake blood. The scales hadn't been scraped off, the innards hadn't been removed, the skin was burnt black while the meat inside was still raw.
She was terrified at the time, her mind blank, but she nodded.
Then, the young man followed her home.
"That young man caught several more big fish and asked me to make Jade White Fish Soup, Steamed Dragon Scale Fish, Golden Crispy Fish Slices, and Exquisite Four-Treasure Stew. I'd never even heard of these dish names, how could I make them? In the end, I just cooked a pot of fish soup the way I usually did, with pickled vegetables from the vat."
The memory of that day was so vivid that even now, she could recall every detail, including those dish names she had never heard before.
Granny Li said that when she brought out the large bowl of sour fish soup, the young man's face was full of disdain, and she was so nervous she broke into a sweat. But in the end, he ate the whole bowl of fish with that same look of disdain on his face.
Granny Li hugged herself, gesturing to show the size, "A bowl this big."
Yu Yi looked at the size she was indicating - even bigger than a washbasin, no wonder she was so amazed.
Granny Li cooked a meal for him but couldn't eat anything herself. She washed a knife, intending to cut open her daughter's belly to remove the snake eggs that filled it, so her daughter could be buried cleanly.
However, she held the knife suspended for a long time, unable to bring herself to do it. Finally, the young man stepped in, pressing several points on her daughter's abdomen, causing all the snake eggs to be expelled.
The old woman was moved to tears with gratitude, kneeling on the ground and repeatedly bowing to him, swearing to serve him as a beast of burden in her next life.
The young man stared at her with a smile and said, "No need to wait for the next life. I have some treasures that are inconvenient to carry with me. If you're truly grateful, I'll hide them here, and you can guard them for me."
The old woman had already lost her will to live, planning to join her daughter and husband after the burial, but seeing he had only this one request, she reluctantly agreed.
She raised her aged hand, pointing to the hidden room, saying, "It's that room over there."
Granny Li cleared out a room overnight, sealed all the windows, let him store his treasures inside, and gradually added a thick layer of mud on the outside, concealing it with a woodshed.
"I saw him put many gold and silver treasures inside, and he hung a bell on the door corner. He told me to lock the door and said only when the bell rings would it mean he's returned for his treasures. Only then could I open the room; if the bell doesn't ring, I mustn't open it."
Over the years, Granny Li lived a difficult life alone, guarding a room full of treasure, unable to sleep well at night.
Countless times when life became unbearable, she thought about abandoning her promise and ending it all. Later, when Liuya Village became lively again, she emerged from her grief and met an elderly companion who wanted to share his life with her.
During their times of poverty, she had often lingered at the door of the treasure room, thinking of opening it to take some money to get through difficult times, planning to return it when things got better.
Sometimes, she even had her key in the lock, but ultimately gritted her teeth and persevered.
As Granny Li spoke, her shoulders slumped, as if finally unburdening a heavy load. "After more than thirty years, this old woman has finally heard the bell ring, and no longer needs to live in constant fear."
When she first opened the door, she was shocked to see all the gold and silver had turned to ash, but now she realized the young lady must have collected them, and with the bell ringing, her duty was fulfilled.
Yu Yi thought of the deadly formation hanging over the door - if Granny Li had truly opened it, she would have been reduced to white bones by now. The room contained no gold or silver, only a transportation formation and spirit stones piled beside it.
He had deliberately transformed the spirit stones to appear as gold and silver for Granny Li to see.
Yu Yi could now somewhat guess his intentions back then - testing human nature probably amused him. However, at that time, this room had indeed become Granny Li's only reason to live.
As the sun set, Granny Li lit an oil lamp and invited her to stay the night. She caught a fish from the water vat and butchered it in the dim light, saying she wanted her to taste her sour fish soup.
Yu Yi couldn't refuse and held up the oil lamp to provide light for her.
Granny Li probably hadn't had such a pleasant conversation with anyone in a long time, and she kept chatting happily while working.
She spoke of having another daughter with her later companion, and how her younger daughter grew up and married, with the couple moving to the county town to do business. They had wanted to bring her along, but she had to guard the room.
As a result, mother and daughter often went months without seeing each other, and she couldn't even be there to care for her daughter during pregnancy and childbirth.
Now, she finally didn't need to stay here anymore and planned to pack her belongings tomorrow and head to the county town.
Yu Yi sat by the stove tending the fire, and in the flickering light, looked up with a smile and said, "Granny, then I'll go to the county town with you tomorrow."
