Invisible changes were occurring in every corner of Mingzhou, like five festering sores, breeding evil and creating malevolence, ruining the people’s fortune.

Within the Mingzhou government, there were also many who understood such things. Naturally, some knew how to observe the Qi and perform divination, vaguely sensing these changes, and they were all filled with worry.

Although Mingzhou wasn't a treasure land, it had always been peaceful and rarely experienced disasters. How could such fiercely malevolent places suddenly appear in just three to five days, casting a shadow over the entire city?

Logically, since this matter concerned everyone in Mingzhou, they should investigate.

But those in the know weren't fools. Although worried, they couldn't understand: "This malevolent Qi has come so swiftly and intensely, something major must be happening, not just ordinary evil spirits causing trouble."

"But if that's the case, why hasn't Plum Blossom Alley reacted? Why hasn't the government even sent someone to inquire?"

"..."

When the superiors aren't worried, the subordinates become anxious, which always makes people feel that something is wrong. Some even kindly sent messages via little ghost messengers, offering a reminder, but both places remained unresponsive, and the malevolent Qi only intensified.

The clever ones immediately understood, even if they felt that those few places were increasingly affecting the surroundings, they didn't dare to investigate. Those with lower cultivation and less knowledge were even more clueless about what was happening, and only felt increasingly uneasy.

Hu Ma's Qing Stone Manor happened to be located in the middle of these five malevolent locations.

Now that Hu Ma had left, Zhou Datong and the others in the manor didn't know what was happening, but they just felt panicked, as if something bad was about to occur.

Even the livestock in the manor seemed to be affected, refusing to eat their feed properly, snorting and kicking.

Only the horse that Brother Ma Zi had brought back from Anzhou ate and drank as usual, occasionally looking up at the sky, its big eyes seemingly filled with anticipation.

However, even as this vague unease spread throughout the region, a team from the Grass Heart Hall was escorting a sedan towards Old Yin Mountain.

Leading the way was the Five Ghost Manager of the Grass Heart Hall. This trip into the mountains was to find a Hundred-Year Pillow (soil from under the pillow of a hundred-year-old) to use as a medicinal primer.

The so-called Hundred-Year Pillow was a small pinch of soil from under the pillow of a centenarian. When mixed into a medicinal soup, it had the effect of prolonging life. But centenarians were rare, and there was only one in Yuqian Village near Old Yin Mountain.

He had not only lived past a hundred years, but he was already one hundred and seven years old.

After a hundred years, each additional year the old man lived made the medicinal primer more magical and its medicinal properties better.

Now that the old man was one hundred and seven years old, and in a few months he would live to one hundred and eight, that would be extraordinary. That was the age of tea, also a perfect age.

If this old man lived past one hundred and eight years, then this medicinal primer would become a divine medicine, worth a thousand gold.

The people of the Grass Heart Hall knew how important this old man was and came to visit him every year, knowing that he was in good health and would definitely live to one hundred and eight years.

Such a blessed person was more precious than the Tai Sui (Grand Duke Jupiter) in the eyes of those who understood these things. How could they not care?

But just as the people from the Grass Heart Hall entered the mountain, had the porters carry the gifts, and entered the village, they were surprised to find a crowd gathered in front of the old man's courtyard, pointing and whispering. From afar, they could hear a woman's voice crying:

"Great-Grandfather, please let your children and grandchildren go..."

"I know you don't want to die, but you can't steal the lifespan of your children and grandchildren. Your son, my father-in-law, only lived to his seventies before he passed away. Your grandson was only sixty-something when he was licked by a bear..."

"These two poor people didn't even live to eighty..."

"Now, your sons and grandsons are all dead. You can't covet the lifespan of your great-grandchildren anymore. Please leave this little child with a life..."

"..."

Looking into the courtyard, they saw the old man sitting there, leaning on his cane, silent. In front of him knelt a woman wearing mourning clothes, holding a child of twelve or thirteen.

The old man was usually cheerful, full of energy, and loved to joke and tell stories to children even at over a hundred years old.

But now, he was sitting weakly in his chair, looking up at his great-granddaughter-in-law, wanting to say something but unable to speak. He struggled to look up at the outside of the courtyard, where he saw the gathered villagers pointing and gossiping:

"Borrowing lifespan..."

"When people get old, they become spirits, borrowing lifespan from their children and grandchildren. The children and grandchildren die early, but they die late."

"In our village, there used to be people who lived long, but young people would occasionally fall from the mountains, get the plague, and couldn't be raised..."

"They were all borrowing lifespan from these old monsters..."

"That Yao family must be borrowing the most lifespan. He's the oldest, and his children and grandchildren have all died early. It looks like they've all been borrowed by him. Now he's going to borrow from his great-grandson..."

"..."

In the end, the old man couldn't say anything. He just leaned heavily on his cane, slowly supported himself up, and turned to walk into the house. It was noon, and the outside was bright with snow, but the small main room seemed dark, and one couldn't see inside.

Seeing this scene, the Grass Heart Hall people who had just arrived were also shocked. They quickly asked the surrounding villagers what was happening.

They learned that the old man had lost his last son thirty years ago, and two grandsons had died ten years ago.

Just the day before yesterday, his last remaining grandson, the crying woman's husband, had suddenly contracted a sudden illness and died, and her child had also become ill.

The villagers said that the old man was borrowing lifespan from his children and grandchildren, using up their lifespans, and now it was the great-grandson's turn, so she was afraid.

Now, before the funeral was even over, she had come to beg the old man.

"How can this be..."

The Five Ghost Manager frowned, quite anxious. How could they in the Siming sect not understand the absurdity of such things?

It could only be said that cases of old people stealing lifespans were not unheard of, but they mostly occurred in large mansions, in families with countless children and grandchildren. But this old man was a village farmer. How could he have such abilities?

Moreover, let alone the evil art of borrowing lifespan, this old man had never even touched blood food, let alone used any method to prolong his life. Otherwise, his lifespan would not be pure, and how could the Grass Heart Hall use the mud under his bed as a medicinal primer for modulating longevity medicine?

But even though he was anxious, he couldn't say anything.

The sect had its rules. They could take the medicinal primer, but they couldn't interfere with the old man's fate. Whether it was trying to extend the old man's life or using the sect's abilities to cure his illness, it would cause the medicinal primer to become impure.

While he was anxiously looking at his young mistress, he suddenly heard a cry of surprise from inside the main room.

Everyone was shocked. It was the great-granddaughter-in-law who, seeing the old man enter the main room without saying a word, wanted to follow him in and say a few more words of persuasion. But when she looked, she was so frightened that her soul flew out of her body.

The people of the Grass Heart Hall couldn't care about anything else and hurriedly pushed through the crowd to the main room. At a glance, their hearts turned cold.

The old man had dropped his cane to one side and was lying in front of the bed, already lifeless.

The old man, who was only three months away from living to one hundred and eight years old, had died so silently.

The old immortal whose soil from under the bed could be used as a medicinal primer had ultimately not died in bed.

"This is just nonsense."

Suddenly seeing the old man dead, the Five Ghost Manager could hardly describe the anger in his heart, and he was extremely distressed.

Seeing that the old man, who could have lived a few more months and achieved a perfect lifespan, had died, was equivalent to the Grass Heart Hall wasting most of their years of attention and expectation. It also pained him that such a blessed old man had ultimately been angered to death.

He couldn't help but turn to the great-granddaughter-in-law, who was standing to the side in shock, holding her child with a surprised expression, and scolded: "Where did you hear such demonic talk about borrowing lifespan? It's purely harboring malicious intentions and harming your family."

"Your great-grandfather was blessed with longevity and fortune because of his accumulated virtue in his past life and his benevolence in this life. He was only a few days away from living past one hundred and eight years."

"Reaching that age, he would have been an old immortal. Even enemies would have to kowtow to him, and the gods in the hall would secretly bless him!"

"With him alone in your family, you would be worth more than five generations of Yin blessing in other families. Your children and grandchildren would be blessed with health and freedom from disasters, and evil spirits wouldn't dare to disturb you. It would be better than any protection."

"Others would want to invite such an old immortal, but you actually scolded him to death."

"..."

The woman didn't expect to see the Five Ghost Manager. She had seen him enter the mountain before and knew that he was a nobleman from the city. The villagers were already in awe of city people, and now seeing him so angry, she vaguely felt that she had done something wrong and hurriedly started to cry:

"It's not my fault, it's not my fault. I didn't know. Everyone else was saying it. How could that be fake?"

"..."

The Five Ghost Manager almost laughed out of anger and said, "Who, who said that?"

The woman was frightened by his angry appearance and stammered, "The traveling doctor who filled the pond said it. How could that be false?"

"Ah?"

The Five Ghost Manager was startled and immediately walked towards the place she had mentioned. First he walked, then he couldn't help but run, and soon arrived at the north side of the village, where it bordered Old Yin Mountain. His heart immediately turned cold.

There was a wild pond here, and although it wasn't fed by a flowing water source, it had always been home to fish and turtles. Now, large stones had been pushed into the pond, and people were filling it with soil!

"Ah, this..."

The Five Ghost Manager quickly took out a small bundle of herbs, lit it, and fumigated his eyes. When he looked forward again, his face turned ashen.

He saw that in the pond already filled with stones, a millstone-sized old turtle vaguely appeared. Beside it were elderly figures wearing funeral shrouds, standing blankly on the edge of the pond, facing the village, slowly kowtowing one by one.

Rolling Yin energy swept over the village, stirring up gusts of cold wind.

(End of Chapter)