Chapter 162: Huangya Village (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

This "Five Sons Ghost Sword" manual is the sword pill technique of Wu Jinghan.

It involves simultaneously controlling five sword pills, coordinating with each other in an exceptionally exquisite manner.

Sword pill techniques are rare; even in Wang Shen's "Five Cauldrons Cooking," there is no corresponding technique.

The "Five Cauldrons Cooking" focuses on the Fire Within the Abdomen.

Therefore, Xu Yuan's Fire Within the Abdomen, in both quality and control, far surpasses that of fellow Rank Dan Xiu.

However, after studying this technique carefully, Xu Yuan was somewhat undecided on whether to cultivate it.

Although the coordination of the five sword pills is exquisite and mysterious, their dispersion makes their offensive power somewhat insufficient.

Xu Yuan put it away for now, deciding to weigh the matter carefully after this mission.

Qin Taichen led the way, walked another ten-plus li, then pointed ahead and said, "That is Huangya Village."

Rolling hills rose and fell around them, and further in the distance, the Little Yu Shan gradually rose from the ground.

In the middle lay a stretch of flat land.

The villagers had reclaimed fields.

Two small rivers flowed out from the Little Yu Shan, winding around the outside of the village.

Several irrigation channels diverted the river water to water the fields.

As long as it was not a day when the Forbidden River or bathing was prohibited, the villagers would work in the fields.

To the north of the village stood a yellowish-brown earthen cliff, about thirty zhang high, which was the origin of the name Huangya Village.

When Xu Yuan and his party arrived at the village entrance, the village headman rushed out in a panic: "Why have my lords come to our village?"

Qin Taichen stepped forward to explain, and the village headman looked puzzled: "They came to our village?"

He shook his head: "I asked everyone in the village today; no outsiders have come these past few days. Could those people have entered the Little Yu Shan?"

Xu Yuan looked at the sky: "We will stay here for the night."

The village headman was at a loss: "There is truly no place in the village to accommodate all you my lords..."

This village had only twenty or thirty households; indeed, it could not house so many people.

"How about..." the village headman suggested, "All you my lords have horses; if you ride fast, you might still make it back to Qingyu Township."

Qin Taichen shouted angrily: "Nonsense! There is only half an hour until dark; how can we make it back in time?"

The village headman spread his hands, his face grim: "But our village is this small; you know that well. There are not enough houses for all you my lords to stay in."

Qin Taichen said, "Divide them among every household; it just needs to be enough to spend the night."

"This..." the village headman was still reluctant and suggested again, "All you my lords are capable; why not find a way to camp outside the village? I can have everyone come to help..."

"This place is so close to the Little Yu Shan; what if evil spirits from the mountain come down at night and the my lords of the Purification Bureau suffer injuries? Can you bear the responsibility?" Qin Taichen roared in anger.

Xu Yuan and the others already felt a degree of suspicion in their hearts.

"Is there something happening in the village?" Xu Yuan asked.

The village headman quickly waved his hands: "No, no. Alas, never mind. As long as all you my lords do not mind, then let us stay in the village."

Unable to refuse any longer, the village headman went to beat the gong to gather all the villagers, then distributed the Captains to every household.

The village headman was familiar with every family; larger houses hosted two people, while smaller ones hosted only one.

Xu Yuan gave a signal, and the Inspectors quietly instructed their men: Be alert tonight!

The village headman's house was the largest, accommodating five Captains.

Qin Taichen also stayed at the village headman's house.

But in the end, seven or eight people were still left over.

Qin Taichen then said, "The rest... will be accommodated in the village temple."

The village headman reacted as if stepped on the tail: "How can this be? This would disturb the ancestral spirits of our forebears..."

Qin Taichen scolded, "Stop making excuses!"

After a pause, Qin Taichen glanced secretly at Xu Yuan before saying, "The village temple is somewhat unusual; the my lords of the Purification Bureau will not mind."

Xu Yuan remained expressionless.

Di Youzhi stepped forward and said, "You live and farm here, which is already no easy task. We understand if you conduct some private rituals."

This amounted to an unspoken pardon for the rituals in Huangya Village that did not conform to imperial regulations.

Yet the village headman's face still did not show any sign of relief.

He sighed helplessly, hunched his neck, and said, "Since that is the case... all you my lords, please follow me."

He led everyone around to the back of that earthen cliff.

The so-called village temple appeared before their eyes.

Five tall and imposing tiled houses! The walls were whitewashed, the main doors were vermilion red, and the window lattices were brand new and bright. They were better than any house in the village.

Two door gods, half a person's height, were pasted on the main gate.

Putting aside the eeriness, the villagers of Huangya Village were living quite well.

The fields in the village were fertile, and the harvests every year were good.

But they could not afford to build houses like this.

Standing here, Xu Yuan had a feeling: something was watching him.

At first, the feeling was that something was secretly observing him from behind the window on the left side of the main gate.

Xu Yuan looked toward the window.

That feeling vanished.

But soon, he felt that thing had moved to the roof, still watching him.

Xu Yuan looked up and up again toward the roof.

That thing vanished again.

Immediately after, he felt it stick its head out from the western gable wall...

Xu Yuan stopped looking in that direction.

The village head unlocked the door with utmost reverence, entered first to burn incense, kowtowed repeatedly before the ancestral tablets, and muttered words about his descendants being unfilial and asking the ancestors for forgiveness.

Only then did he invite Xu Yuan and the others inside.

Upon entering, everyone saw that the temple's arrangement was somewhat similar to the clan ancestral hall outside the mountain.

In the main hall stood a large offering table.

It had five tiers in total, from top to bottom.

Arranged by generation, the tablets of the most ancient ancestors were on the very top tier.

These tablets, however, seemed somewhat strange, bearing only a name.

Xu Yuan counted; there were only about twenty tablets.

Did Huangya Village have so few ancestors?

On both sides of the offering table stood a pair of eight-immortal tables, upon which lay overturned bowls and dishes, along with a basket of chopsticks.

Xu Yuan frowned deeply as he watched.

The village head explained, "When worshipping the ancestral spirits, everyone eats a meal right here in the temple."

Xu Yuan still frowned. These bowls and dishes were fine porcelain. Was Huangya Village so wealthy that they specially acquired these items and placed them in the village temple just so the whole village could eat a meal together during ancestor worship?

Four benches were placed beside the tables, but both the tables and benches were a foot higher than usual.

A person of normal height sitting on them would have their feet dangling in the air.

Eating while sitting like that would be very uncomfortable.

Xu Yuan remained expressionless and moved toward the rooms on both sides.

Di Youzhi and Yu Yunhang followed quickly with hands on their swords, guarding my lord on the left and right.

These rooms were not empty either; they were furnished with all manner of furniture.

Wooden beds, tables, chairs, and dressing tables.

The bedding on the beds was sewn from new cloth and new cotton; there was not a trace of mildew in the rooms.

Xu Yuan noted secretly that he found human hair on several of the beds.

"Do people often come to stay in this temple?" Xu Yuan asked.

The village head shook his head hurriedly. "No, absolutely not. These items prepared are all for the enjoyment of the ancestral spirits."

"Just like the paper effigies we burn, except our village is more devout; everyone pooled money to prepare real things."

Xu Yuan asked no more.

The village head followed behind Xu Yuan, looking somewhat hesitant to speak.

He waited until Xu Yuan had inspected all the houses before saying, "My lord, could you please not touch these things? After all, they are all prepared for our ancestral spirits..."

Qin Taichen shouted, "What kind of talk is that? Do you expect my lords to sleep on the ground?"

The village head feared Qin Taichen, but still muttered, "It's not like people can't sleep on the ground..."

Xu Yuan stopped Qin Taichen and nodded, saying, "Very well, we will not touch these things."

The village head quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Yuan, however, had secretly taken note of all of this.

(End of this chapter)