Chapter 363: Encountering an Old Friend at Huanxi Villa

Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense detected something unusual about the characters “Piaomiao” on the archway of the Piaomiao Manor. Instantly, his body floated over, gliding through the air without touching the ground, and swiftly arrived beneath the archway. Standing there with his hands at his sides, he gently closed his eyes, spreading out his divine sense to carefully examine the archway that had stood for ten thousand years.

The drifting snowflakes still could not land upon his upright figure.

After a long moment, Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes suddenly snapped open, a trace of doubt flashing within them. After pondering briefly, he soared up onto the lofty archway, glanced around in the profound night sky, then exercised his lightness skill and headed east. After traveling for some time, he arrived at a deserted area. Sweeping the place with his divine sense, he entered an abandoned courtyard, searching as he walked. Only when he reached a wall did he finally stop, scrutinizing it up and down. After a moment’s contemplation, his figure rose once more, and he continued along the perimeter of Piaomiao Manor, heading to another location.

In this manner, Zhang Xiaohua circled the vast outer grounds of Piaomiao Manor over a considerable period. Sometimes he paused at a pile of broken debris, sometimes in a newly tended garden, and sometimes before a house that was neither old nor new. At each stop, Zhang Xiaohua would linger briefly, releasing his divine sense to carefully observe. The confusion in his eyes gradually faded, and when he finally returned to the front of the archway, a faint smile had already appeared on his lips.

“As expected, the Piaomiao Sect truly is a great immortal sect with a legacy stretching back ten thousand years. This archway is actually one of the formation nodes of the ‘Six Harmonies Annihilation Array’. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, the other five nodes have all been destroyed, so the great protective formation failed to serve its purpose. Otherwise, even if the Incense Spreading Sect, Dalin Temple, and the Heaven’s Way Alliance joined forces, they would not have been able to break in. According to the records of True Person Fire Dragon, this so-called ‘Six Harmonies Annihilation Array’ is a top-tier killing formation. Only if six immortals attack the six nodes with different techniques at the same time can it be broken. But with the world’s spiritual energy so depleted, where could one even find six immortals? This grand formation should have been utterly unbreakable.”

“Oh, but I nearly forgot-since the world’s spiritual energy is so scarce, where would the energy to maintain the formation come from? If there were some yuan stones, that might work, but does the Piaomiao Sect not have enough yuan stones?”

“However, looking at the five abandoned formation nodes just now, all bore clear signs of deliberate destruction. Several were forcibly demolished, replaced by buildings or turned into gardens, and some had even become garbage dumps. Sigh, man-made disasters are far worse than natural ones. This is the result of environmental destruction, forced demolition and construction, and illegal buildings!”

Zhang Xiaohua gazed at the Piaomiao Manor before him, its countless lights twinkling in the night. He had originally come here intending to enter and investigate the truth of the matter, but after lingering in front of the archway for so long, he had already wasted too much time. Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Xiaohua prepared to head back.

However, when his eyes shifted to the nearby Huanxi Villa, a thought stirred in his heart. He leapt down from the archway, landed lightly on the ground, formed a hand seal, and instantly vanished from sight. By the time he reappeared, he was already standing in front of the medicinal herb fields of Huanxi Villa.

Zhang Xiaohua emerged from the ground and looked around, unable to help but smile wryly. He had intended to return to the small courtyard where he once lived, but somehow ended up in the herb fields instead. The fields were now long abandoned, the once neat earth covered by a thick layer of snow. Thinking of this place where he had once strived so hard, Zhang Xiaohua felt a pang in his heart. He wondered if Ou Yan had ever discovered the reason why the herbs failed to sprout.

As he pondered the problem of the herbs not sprouting, an unformed idea surfaced in Zhang Xiaohua’s mind. The growth of these herbs required the absorption of a certain amount of heaven and earth Yuan Qi. Those herbs that failed to sprout must need even more Yuan Qi, but the herb fields here were lacking in it, so naturally, they could not provide enough for the herbs to germinate. It was no wonder the herbs wouldn’t sprout. Yet, the spring water at Guo Village was rich in Yuan Qi. If that spring water could be used to irrigate these herbs, perhaps there would be some effect.

Of course, by the time the spring water was brought from Guo Village, the Yuan Qi within it would have long since dissipated into the world. But where did the Yuan Qi in the spring water come from in the first place? Wasn’t it provided by those small pieces of yuan stones at the bottom of the well? Speaking of yuan stones, the one in Zhang Xiaohua’s pouch was as large as a crouching ox, how much Yuan Qi could it provide? So, it occurred to Zhang Xiaohua that if a yuan stone were placed in water, and that water used to irrigate the non-germinating herbs, it might just work.

But for now, this idea would remain just that, an idea, with no chance of ever being put into practice.

“Didn’t the Heaven’s Way Alliance say they wouldn’t interfere with anything at Huanxi Villa? Why, then, have the herb fields become so desolate?”

Zhang Xiaohua felt a bit dejected. He immediately spread out his divine sense and began to carefully observe. After all, even if he ignored Piaomiao Manor, he could not ignore Huanxi Villa, this was his old home, the place where he first set foot on the martial arts world. How could he not have deep feelings for it?

Suddenly, a faint smile appeared once more at the corner of Zhang Xiaohua’s lips. Without any visible movement, his body shot up like a gust of wind, flying straight toward his own small courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, lights glowed in the rooms where people lived. In the small room where Zhang Xiaohua had once stayed, barefoot Brother Ma was still sitting atop his messy kang bed, picking at his toes with one hand, sipping a little wine with the other, and occasionally popping a few peanuts from the plate on the bed into his mouth. On the opposite side of the kang, honest and simple Liu Er sat upright in the corner, while a few young men in blue robes and small caps sat nearby, their eyes unblinking as they stared at Ma Jing, as if listening to some tale. As Zhang Xiaohua passed over the roof of the courtyard, he heard a few drifting words from inside: “You all wouldn’t know, but back in the day, Brother Xi and I were working in the fields, helping our Villa Master Ou plant some rare medicinal herbs, when suddenly a few big monks, together with some men from the martial world, descended from the sky. I was shocked, but I couldn’t let Huanxi Villa lose face. So, I stepped out from the crowd and asked, ‘Who are you people?’ Do you know how that monk replied?”

The group across from him all shook their heads in unison, “We don’t know.”

Ma Jing stopped picking his toes, grabbed a peanut, and said: “That monk said, ‘Good sir, we’re monks from Dalin Temple, sent here to inspect Huanxi Manor. Please make way for us.’”

At this, one young man asked: “Brother Ma, that doesn’t sound right. Monks usually call us ‘benefactor’ and such. Why would he call you ‘good sir’? You’re not a monk.”

“Oh?” Ma Jing didn’t seem to mind. “Maybe I remembered it wrong. They were so polite, after all, so I couldn’t be rude either, and I replied…”

“Brother Ma, that’s not right either. I heard from Brother Xi that those people were really fierce. They searched the manor from top to bottom, broke a lot of things, and even beat up quite a few people. Weren’t they looking for some martial arts manual?”

Another chimed in: “Yeah, even the house I live in was supposedly turned upside down. I wonder if they ever found that martial arts manual?”

Ma Jing, growing impatient, waved his hand in front of his nose and said: “Do you want to hear the story or not? If not, I’m going to bed.”

“We do, we do! Of course we do! All of us joined the villa later and never got to experience those glorious days. We have to rely on you, Brother Ma, to tell us about your heroic deeds!”

“Hmph, now you know to respect the elders and love the young? Let me tell you, that martial arts manual definitely wasn’t found.”

“Eh? Brother Ma, we all know. Brother Xi even said he didn’t know.”

“Use your brains and think it through! If they had found the manual back then, would they have brought our Villa Master Ou to the Incense Spreading Sect?”

The young servants all spoke at once: “That’s right, Brother Ma is absolutely correct. We’ve been at the villa for over two years and have never seen the Villa Master. We heard… we heard that our Villa Master is an extraordinary beauty? Brother Ma, you must have seen her, right?”

“…” Ma Jing was speechless. “What kind of servants are you, daring to talk behind the Villa Master’s back? But yes, Villa Master Ou is indeed a great beauty…”

Standing on the rooftop, Zhang Xiaohua listened to the servants’ nonsense and couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Indeed, thinking back now, Ou Yan was truly beautiful. He had been too young to understand at the time, only feeling that Ou Yan was like an elder sister, warm and kind. “The current generation of servants really isn’t to be underestimated; each generation is stronger than the last,” Zhang Xiaohua thought.

Then, he swept his divine sense over the inner courtyard and prepared to leave. Suddenly, his brow furrowed as if he had seen something, and he flew deeper into the courtyard.

When he stopped again, it was at the small courtyard where he had first been stopped upon entering the inner grounds.

The courtyard was silent except for a faint yellow light shining from a small room.

Zhang Xiaohua stood in the middle of the yard, hesitated a moment, then stepped to the door and gently knocked.

A clear voice called out: “Who is it?”

It was none other than Qiu Ju.

Zhang Xiaohua softly said: “Big Sister Qiu Ju, it’s me, Zhang Xiaohua.”

“Zhang Xiaohua??” Qiu Ju inside was clearly stunned, then suddenly seemed to remember something and exclaimed joyfully: “Zhang Xiaohua, it’s you! Wait a moment, you…”

Then hurried footsteps sounded inside, and the door swung open with a creak, revealing a face full of delighted surprise.

Qiu Ju opened the door, and although she had prepared herself, she still froze for a moment. This tall young man’s face was much like the boy she remembered, only his face had lengthened somewhat, and he had grown much taller. But after four or five years, how was it that his face had hardly changed?

She hesitated and asked: “Are you really Zhang Xiaohua?”

Zhang Xiaohua touched his face and smiled: “Why, Big Sister Qiu Ju, I heard my face hasn’t changed much. Can’t you recognize me?”

“No, it’s just…”

At that moment, Zhang Xiaohua said: “Big Sister Qiu Ju, didn’t I once help you hang clothes? Don’t you remember?”