“Such a wonderful land of spiritual treasures, and you’ve…”

Manager Wu Gui, witnessing this scene, couldn't express the heart-wrenching pain he felt.

When he first entered the village, he had investigated the reason for the villagers' longevity. After some calculations, he realized that the source of the village's good fortune lay in this seemingly unremarkable wild pond.

If his calculations were correct, there should be an old turtle with a long lifespan in this pond, borrowing the village's qi to nourish itself, while the old turtle also protected the village.

But now, the pond was filled with stones, and the water had drained out. It seemed that filthy objects had also been placed in the pond, suppressing the old turtle within, turning this treasure land into a place of resentment and evil.

In addition, rumors had spread throughout the village, and the long-lived elders had become feared as demons and ghosts. Within a few days, five or six had died. These elders harbored resentment, and their accumulated negative energy transformed them into evil spirits.

In this way, Longevity Village would likely become Short-Life Village.

In the long run, this village would no longer produce centenarians. Even those who lived past forty would be rare.

This was even more painful than seeing the Lesser Ghost fed Blood Food Pills. Manager Wu Gui was furious, shouting loudly as he approached one of the people filling the pond.

"Where did you come from, you quack doctor, coming here to harm people with your demonic arts?"

Manager Wu Gui was usually very composed, but now, with anger rising in his heart, he grabbed the man's collar and was about to strike him.

The man wore a long gown and cloth shoes, with a bamboo basket on his back filled with herbs, looking like a doctor. But as a doctor, he should have recognized the Cao Xin Tang (Herbalist Hall).

However, he didn't recognize Manager Wu Gui in his current attire. He simply rolled his eyes and said coldly, "I am saving these villagers, preventing them from having their lifespans stolen by those old, undead fellows. Who are you to interfere?"

"Nonsense!"

Manager Wu Gui was about to scold him when he suddenly noticed the doctor's eyes and was startled.

He felt that the eyes were lifeless, like those of a dead man.

"He's not a doctor."

At the same time, a soft sigh came from the sedan. The young lady inside seemed to have noticed something and slowly said, "I don't know where you're from, but if you understand lifespans, you should know how great a sin it is to destroy such natural feng shui, right?"

"Hee hee hee hee…"

As Miss Bai Putao's (White Wine) voice faded, a strange laugh rang out. Manager Wu Gui was startled and quickly retreated.

Looking closely, he saw that the sound was coming from the bamboo basket on Wu the doctor's back. As the laughter continued, the herbs on top were pushed aside, revealing a head like a child's, with bright red rouge on its cheeks.

Its voice was high-pitched, strange, and filled with an unsettling laughter. "What's a good place, what's a bad place? This little village can become an altar to offer to Lord Five Hells. To be blessed by Lord, it's the good fortune they've cultivated in their past lives…"

"Lord Five Hells?"

When he suddenly saw this strange person emerge from the doctor's basket, Manager Wu Gui had already reached for the bottles hanging from his waist.

But when he heard the name mentioned, he slowly withdrew his hand, took a deep breath, stepped back, and respectfully bowed. "So you are a servant of Lord Five Hells. Forgive my impudence."

"We are the Siment people (those who control destinies), here to practice medicine and heal the sick. We originally thought someone was creating evil here to harm people, but we didn't expect to offend you. It's all a misunderstanding. We…"

"…We'll be leaving now."

"…"

He was an experienced veteran. He had indeed felt heartache and anger when he saw the evil formation here, but when he suddenly heard that this matter was related to Lord Five Hells, he immediately changed his tune and spoke flawlessly.

If someone else had done such a thing, it would be harming people. But if someone under Lord Five Hells did it, it wasn't harming people?

Of course it was.

However, Lord Five Hells was an honored guest. As a mere Jianghu (martial world) figure, who was he to criticize what the honored guest was doing?

Of course, such face-saving words had to be spoken by him, not the young lady.

"Haha, easy, easy."

The head that emerged from the basket also laughed, not preventing them from leaving. It simply said, "I am ordered by Lord Five Hells to manage lifespans. You are of the Siment way. If you set up an altar in Mingzhou in the future, we may have a chance to interact…"

Manager Wu Gui didn't want to interact with such a ghastly thing. He simply made perfunctory remarks and prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the woman sitting in the sedan had heard everything that was happening outside and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Then, she slowly took out a small golden gourd from her sleeve, gently opened the lid, and fanned it.

"Wait!"

The Longevity Evil Altar Emissary in the basket didn't intend to cause trouble and offend the Siment people, but as he was about to retreat back into the basket, he seemed to smell something. He twitched his nose forcefully and his expression changed drastically.

He shouted at the sedan, "Little lady in the sedan, what are you carrying? Show it to me!"

Manager Wu Gui was immediately shocked. The sedan stopped, and a cold, displeased voice rang out from within: "You want to steal my Life-Fishing Gourd?"

"So it really is the Life-Fishing Gourd?"

The strange child with rouge on its cheeks in the doctor's basket seemed to be drooling. It chuckled and said, "It's been a long time since anyone knew how to refine that thing…"

"Grandpa's lucky. To come out on a simple errand and find such a good thing. Little girl, if you offer this Life-Fishing Gourd to Grandpa, I'll help you invite the Five Hells Gods to your home and protect your family for generations. How about it?"

"…"

Manager Wu Gui's face turned pale upon hearing this. He wanted to say something but hesitated.

He didn't know why the young lady had brought the Life-Fishing Gourd with her, but it had been smelled out by this ghastly thing. He was worried that if he spoke up, the young lady wouldn't show any mercy.

Now it seemed that was the case. If they argued back and forth, wouldn't that be…

"Forgive me, Lord Shaoxiang (Incense Burner)…"

Thinking this, he hurriedly stepped forward, bowed, and said loudly, "Please investigate, Lord Shaoxiang. Our young lady is the owner of Cao Xin Tang. She has always been on good terms with the Siment, and she has always respected and worshiped the lords in the hall. We are not outsiders."

"We are just here to gather herbs in the mountains. We didn't expect to offend your altar. Please be magnanimous and let us return…"

"…"

"Of Cao Xin Tang?"

His words were already extremely polite, even subservient. But the strange child chuckled upon hearing this. Its voice was originally high-pitched, but when it laughed, it sounded somewhat hoarse, like an old man:

"No wonder you have such a treasure. Grandpa here likes Siment people the most. I can eat several in one meal…"

"…"

As it spoke, its body wriggled out of the bamboo basket, and it suddenly blew out a breath, creating a gust of Yin wind, as if to lift the sedan curtain…

"Not good!"

Seeing that the other party was about to attack directly, Manager Wu Gui's expression changed. He was about to say something, but the young lady's voice inside the sedan was clearly annoyed: "Say no more."

"Since you are Shaoxiang of the Five Hells Gods, I should give you some face. But you want to steal my Life-Fishing Gourd and lift my sedan curtain. Do you really think there's no one in Cao Xin Tang?"

"…"

As she spoke, the sedan curtain fell, and a slender hand reached out from within, holding a small golden bell.

With a gentle shake, the bell rang with a very pleasant sound. But the strange child with rouge on its cheeks suddenly changed its expression and quickly retracted its head, screaming in a high-pitched voice: "You dare use that thing against your grandpa?"

In the scream, the Longevity Ghost figures by the pond suddenly turned stiffly towards the sedan, opened their mouths, and bent over, exhaling in unison.

"Not good…"

Manager Wu Gui's expression changed drastically. He rushed forward to block the sedan, shouting, "Miss, be careful! This is Life-Extinguishing Evil…"

"Stand there!"

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to block the sedan, the hand holding the bell suddenly turned slightly and shook it at him. His body stiffened and he stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.

But with the bell pointed at him, there was a gap in front of the sedan. The evil qi exhaled by the row of Longevity Ghosts all hit the sedan squarely. For a moment, the sedan curtain fluttered wildly, and the evil qi passed straight through the sedan.

But that was all. The inside of the sedan seemed empty. Until the curtain fell, there was no movement, and the person inside seemed not to care about this mouthful of Life-Extinguishing Evil.

"You…"

The strange child also suddenly realized that something was wrong and exclaimed, "How many lives do you have? What exactly are you…"

"Swish!"

But before it could finish speaking, the sedan curtain suddenly lifted again, and a fluffy white cat darted out of the sedan.

It wasn't light, but it was as fast as lightning. It jumped directly onto the doctor's head. The strange child in the basket reacted quickly and retracted its head into the basket, trying to escape.

But the cat pounced into the basket, grabbed something, retreated, bit its head, and burrowed back into the sedan. Then there was the slight sound of a lid being gently opened and something being stuffed inside.

"Owner, we…"

Only then did Manager Wu Gui regain his freedom. He was dumbfounded and exclaimed.

"Destroying our herbs and coveting our treasures, the Five Hells Gods are really breaking the rules…"

The voice inside the sedan sounded coldly: "Immediately summon the managers and traveling doctors from all over to break this Heart-Piercing Life-Extinguishing Evil Altar in the name of Cao Xin Tang and restore this place to peace… Since we've already offended the Five Hells Gods, why not offend them even more?"

"Also…"

She paused slightly and added: "Since we've already offended such an honored guest, let's also tell the capital and inform my father…"

"…I've been bullied."

(End of Chapter)