Chapter 175

When I was nine, I accompanied my grandmother to Tafengcun to handle affairs for the villagers, and I gave my sister a piece of candy.

Entities: Grandma is a generic kinship term, not a proper name and not in the glossary; as a generic form of address (not a rank), it should be excluded. Tafengcun is a place name listed in the glossary as Tafengcun. Sister is also generic. Thus, only Tafengcun should be included.

That candy once briefly awakened the deep‑seated longing for family affection hidden in my heart.

No named entities.

It was this same candy that made me utterly abandon that faint hope of family affection.

No.

But now, another candy has appeared here.

No.

Gazing at that candy, can I truly keep my heart completely calm?

No.

If Tafengcun still has any innocent people, they are these children whose fate was manipulated even before they were born.

Tafengcun again.

Concerning Wangting Mountain, I found that the names of the two children enshrined in the Buddhist shrine are identical to those of the two children from Tafengcun.

Entities: Wangting Mountain is listed in the glossary as Wangting Mountain. Tafengcun appears again.

They were sacrificed in the pavilion on Wangting Mountain.

Wangting Mountain? Actually "Wangting Mountain" might be the same as "Wangting Mountain"? The line says "Wangting Mountain" (lookout pavilion mountain). It might be the same as "Wangting Mountain"? It's not in the glossary, but we have "Wangting Mountain". The line uses "Wangting Mountain", which is not exactly the same. However, we should treat it as a place name? It's not in the glossary, so we shouldn't invent it. Since it's not in the glossary, we should not include it? The rule: list every named entity that actually appears in these lines. If it's not in the glossary, we still need to list it? The glossary instruction: "List every NAMED entity / coined term in these lines: characters (including the protagonist and minor ones), places, sects/clans/factions/peoples, official and sect ranks/titles, techniques, cultivation realms/pills/treasures, named beasts/items, fan‑fiction names. EXCLUDE common words/objects, generic forms of address (not ranks), real‑world brands/apps/celebrities, internet slang, and bare generic genre words. Output ONLY names that actually appear in these lines — never invent or copy an example word. Reuse the EXACT English from the glossary above for terms already listed. If none found: 【】"

Thus we need to output the English translation of the name, not necessarily from glossary if not listed? They said reuse the EXACT English from the glossary above for terms already listed. If none found: 【】

What secret is hidden in here?

No.

What exactly is the secret of the qilin delivering children?

Where did the qilin deity's gifts to the children of Tafengcun come from?

The secret of all this awaits me to uncover it with my own hands.

"Mo Qiong just sent word—the barrier of Tafengcun has been lifted, and all the villagers are gone." Liu Junyan embraced me from behind and said, "Xiao Jiu, I'll accompany you back."

I didn't turn my head, just relaxed my body and leaned into his embrace, feeling a bit tired.

Heart-weary.

I asked, "Everyone's missing? Have you found where they went?"

They couldn't have just vanished into thin air.

Liu Junyan said, "They're all in the back mountains; perhaps… you should go see that scene yourself."

He didn't say it, but I understood—that scene must be so horrifying that words cannot describe it.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and replied, "What must be faced, must be faced—the thorn lodged in my heart from Tafengcun, I must pull it out myself."

After breakfast, Li Qingying drove, taking me and Liu Junyan to Tafengcun.

Hui Moqiong had already had people surround Tafengcun in advance; when we arrived, he came to meet us, his face grim: "It's too terrifying—I, as a young master, have lived this long and never seen such a strange thing; go straight up the mountain to see."

Liu Junyan wanted to accompany me, but I refused: "All of you withdraw, wait down the mountain; I'll go up alone."

"No way!" Liu Junyan immediately vetoed, "Xiao Jiu, you know they're coming for you—it's too dangerous."

"I came here alone once before." I looked earnestly into Liu Junyan's eyes and said, "Back then, white smoke sealed the village, barriers surrounded it on all sides; I knew it was dangerous, so I immediately retreated, because I was alone and outmatched, I didn't dare take the risk."

But today is different—you're here, the Big Family is here, the situation is under our control, so I want to give it a try.

Liu Junyan, I want to pull out this thorn completely, root and all, so I have to take a bit of risk.

Perhaps it's a bit impulsive, but I don't want to keep being harassed by the Jiang family.

I also don't want to keep facing Feng Li Shu.

Since I've already caught a glimpse of my past-life karma, I need to resolve it as soon as possible.

Because I am now the steward of Wufu Town Pawnshop, what we may face in the future could be the Formation Array of the Four Great Ferocious Beasts, and behind that hides a truly wicked person.

If I remain shackled by my origins, then when we face those things in the future, I'll only be attacked from front and rear, becoming even more passive.

Today, the rear mountain Qilin Temple is fraught with danger for me.

But it is also an excellent opportunity.

"Seventh Lord, let Xiao Jiu go alone to charge forth." Hui Moqiong unexpectedly gave strong support, saying, "She's not a flower in a greenhouse; someday she'll need to fight alongside us, so we'll guard her from below the mountain."

I smiled gratefully at him.

Liu Junyan's big hand kept holding my right hand; at this moment, his thumb lightly stroked the side of my hand bones, he was hesitating.

After a while he finally let go: "Xiao Jiu, I'll be down the mountain; if anything happens, retreat immediately and send a signal with Feng Wu's flame."

I nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, I'll protect myself well."

Hui Moqiong immediately went to redeploy, and I went up the mountain without looking back.

Although I had made full mental preparations, when I saw the villagers kneeling inside and outside the Qilin Temple, I was still startled.

All of them, regardless of gender or age, knelt with their bodies upright, but their heads drooped deeply, exposing the entire back of their necks.

On each person's back of the neck appeared their own name.

That feeling… was like pork covered with a blue stamp.

Yes, that's exactly the feeling!

They were like a group of sacrificial offerings awaiting slaughter, waiting for the blade hanging over their necks to fall.

And I am that hanging blade!

Tafengcun isn't big, with even fewer children—altogether not more than a few hundred people.

But when everyone knelt here in the same eerie posture, the sight was still quite shocking.

My gaze swept through the crowd toward the Qilin Temple.

The incense tower in the three-legged bronze cauldron was burning slowly; at some point, the qilin deity statue bearing a hundred children and stepping on a golden phoenix had been recast in a golden body.

The cracks previously shaken out were all filled and smoothed with gold powder; the entire statue glittered with golden light, giving the impression of merit adding to one's body.

Upon seeing this statue, I inexplicably recalled the Buddha statue on Niuhu Mountain.

That clay Buddha statue hides a ferocious beast, receiving incense, and who knows how many years it has lain dormant.

And what about this qilin deity statue before us? What does it hide inside?

I walked slowly through the crowd and immediately spotted the four members of the Jiang family.

The first I saw was my grandmother.

How did she become so aged!

Her whole person felt as if her essence and blood had been drained, her complexion sallow and waxy, gaunt, and even the back of her neck bore her name.

Her middle finger was missing, revealing stark white bone.

What's even more frightening is that, following the base of that finger joint upward like rootlets, it twined upward, spreading over the whole body, and the entire waxen-yellow skin was covered with cracks.

Like shattered tempered glass.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at those cracks, and soon I realized something was off.

It seemed as if something was filling in beneath those cracks.

I couldn't help but bend over and lower my head, leaning in to look, when a waft of incense smell shot up my nostrils, making me involuntarily sneeze.

Ah-choo!

That sneeze, however, strangely woke my grandmother.

She slowly opened her cloudy eyes, and the moment our eyes met, her whole demeanor shifted from dull to delighted: 'Tongtong... is Tongtong really back? Is it really Tongtong?'

She asked repeatedly, each time more excited than the last, as if she had seen her most beloved granddaughter whom she hadn't seen in a long time.

I instinctively stepped back two paces, putting distance between us.

Her reaction frightened me.

But even more terrifying was that, seeing me retreat, she suddenly crawled after me, crying out as she came: 'Tongtong, save your grandmother, grandmother doesn't want to die...'

With her crawling motion, incense ash sprayed out from the cracks, threads of white smoke swirling around her.

And as she spoke, I also saw clearly that she had incense ash in her mouth...