Chapter 4

Not far from him, in the center of the alley, a figure was trapped in a pile of yellow sand, as if struggling in quicksand.

Aihui raised his alertness; the quicksand in the center of the alley immediately made him think of a soil cultivator.

Soil cultivators have many bizarre and unpredictable killing techniques. After a moment, with no other incidents, Aihui carefully observed and noticed that the figure, which was only half exposed, was somewhat special.

The skin was a light yellow, with a rough texture like sand, and the face was covered with a white mask, which seemed to be made of some hard rock.

Aihui suddenly spoke, "Sand puppet?"

The figure stopped struggling, looked at him, and replied, "Yes, you can call me Loulan."

A deep, hoarse male voice.

Sand puppets are one of the most beloved skills of soil cultivators. They are not difficult to make, easy to repair, and hardworking, making them suitable for physical labor. The heavy sand produced in the Yellow Sand Corner of the Five Elements Heaven is of exceptional quality, which has directly popularized the skill of making sand puppets. In the wilderness, Aihui had seen many sand puppets, so he could quickly recognize them.

"It seems you've run into some trouble." Aihui walked to Loulan, squatted down, and asked, "Is there a problem with the sand core?"

The sand core is the part of a sand puppet that is most prone to issues. It is not a natural object but is refined by soil cultivators using heavy sand, making it the core component of the sand puppet. Due to the different skills and techniques of each person, the sand core of each sand puppet is unique.

The entire body of a sand puppet is made of yellow sand, and the sand core is the key to their transformation. Once the sand core has a problem, their body will turn into a pile of loose sand.

"Yes, an old problem." Loulan sounded somewhat helpless. "Can you help me? My master is Master Shao, who lives in the second-to-last house in the alley. Can you pass a message to him?"

"Second-to-last house in the alley?" Aihui raised an eyebrow. "It seems we'll be neighbors for a while."

Loulan's level of intelligence is not low, indicating that his neighbor is a very powerful soil cultivator.

Aihui's palm had just reached into the yellow sand when he immediately felt a dense earth elemental force. His palm felt as if it had fallen into a millstone, being crushed by the heavy earth elemental force. His face changed, and golden elemental force spread throughout his palm, making it like a sharp dagger that plunged into the yellow sand.

"Endure it."

As soon as Aihui spoke, the golden elemental force in his palm suddenly exploded.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound erupted from the yellow sand, and an invisible shock wave spread out, causing the yellow sand to pause and Loulan's body to stiffen.

Two seconds later, Loulan's pupils lit up, and the scattered yellow sand, like iron filings attracted by a magnet, quickly gathered around his body.

In an instant, all the yellow sand on the ground was gone, and Loulan's body was restored. He moved his body, his tone filled with surprise, "A very magical technique, how did you do it?"

"A simple technique," Aihui casually corrected, picking up his old cloth bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "It's only for emergencies; you still need to check the sand core when you get back."

Indeed, it wasn't a very powerful technique. In the wilderness, Aihui had seen soil cultivators use this method to treat malfunctioning sand puppets more than once. Although it wasn't always effective, it worked about seven or eight times out of ten.

However, this was his first time practicing it. No soil cultivator would let a laborer help them repair a sand puppet.

Of course, Loulan couldn't feel that Aihui was a novice; instead, he thought Aihui had the demeanor of a master.

"Thank you very much!" Loulan sincerely bowed to Aihui. "I haven't had the pleasure of knowing your name."

"Just a small favor, I'm Aihui." Aihui waved his hand, indicating that Loulan didn't need to worry, and took a step forward. "Let's go, we're heading in the same direction."

Loulan followed beside Aihui. "Where are you going?"

"To the Sword Edge Dojo, is it here?" Aihui said casually.

"Indeed, we are neighbors." Loulan's deep voice carried a hint of excitement. "We are next door, is that your house? It seems no one has lived there for a long time."

Home...

Aihui's steps paused slightly, but he quickly resumed his normal pace. "No, I'm here on a commission to clean."

Loulan said, "Oh, so you're a new student?"

"Exactly." Aihui nodded, already sensing that Loulan rarely went out.

Sand puppets have the potential for intelligence growth. The combat sand puppets Aihui had seen in the wilderness were all cunning and ruthless, true killing machines.

In the wilderness, there's a saying: to know what a soil cultivator is like, look at their sand puppet. From Loulan, it was clear that his master, Master Shao, was a soil cultivator who focused solely on cultivation and did not involve himself in worldly affairs.

"There it is, the Sword Edge Dojo." Loulan pointed to the old house at the end of the alley.

"Building the dojo in such a remote place, truly..." Aihui shook his head. His three years of experience at a sword cultivator dojo made him more sensitive to such matters. He had thought the dojo's location would be remote, but seeing it in person, he realized it was even more remote than he had imagined.

Could it be another tragic figure like the owner?

It's possible. The old man did say the owner hadn't been in contact for over twenty years, which implies he might be dead.

Well, Aihui felt he was worrying too much. After all, he was here for the reward, and the dojo and the owner's fate had nothing to do with him.

The door was covered in spider webs, and the wooden sign above it was thick with dust, making the characters almost illegible. If he hadn't known the name "Sword Edge Dojo" beforehand, he wouldn't have recognized it.

Taking out the key, he easily unlocked the door, confirming he had the right place.

Pushing open the door, a thick layer of dust fell like snow.

Standing at the door for a moment, waiting for the dust to settle, Aihui then walked in.

The courtyard was in a state of decay, with weeds taller than a person. Most were sword grass, which looked like a forest of swords pointing to the sky. Aihui's eyes twitched; growing sword grass in one's home, the owner's tastes were truly peculiar.

The main use of sword grass is to make grass swords, and Aihui's weapon was a grass sword made from sword grass.

But seeing the entire yard filled with sword grass taller than himself, his head immediately ached. Sword grass is extremely tough, far surpassing steel, and cutting it is a laborious task. Worse still, sword grass grows in clusters, and if you accidentally step into a cluster, you are likely to be cut all over.

Aihui shook his head with a bitter smile.

What made him even more depressed was that the sword grass was too old. If it were five-year-old sword grass, it could still be sold for some money, as the leaves at that stage are the right size for making grass swords. Older sword grass has leaves that are too large and are of little use.

"I can help," Loulan offered to Aihui.

Aihui shook his head. "I'll do it myself; you need to check the sand core. What I did just now was only a temporary fix and won't solve the problem."

"Alright." Loulan tilted his head. "You can wait for me to come back tomorrow."

"I'll do it myself; I take the money, I do the work." Aihui said as he opened his old cloth bag. He didn't have the habit of leaving tasks to others.

"Okay, I'll go back then." Loulan said no more, his body turning into a stream of quicksand that seeped into the ground and disappeared.

Sword grass, as a troublesome plant, is quite a headache, but not for Aihui.

Having spent three years in the wilderness, Aihui is now a half-expert in plants. Unfortunately, his constitution is not wood-based; otherwise, he believes his prospects as a wood cultivator would be much greater than as a metal cultivator.

His old cloth bag was filled with all sorts of strange things: animal bones, fur, plant seeds, and stones of unusual colors, a wide variety of items. These were his spoils from three years in the wilderness, and all his savings. Most were collected by himself, some were rewards from powerful elemental cultivators, and some were scraps that the cultivators didn't care about.

Aihui carefully preserved everything, and no matter what happened, his cloth bag was never lost.

He pulled out a small red bottle, a fire poison he had used in the wilderness called "Burning Wood." Its toxicity is not strong enough for combat, but in the wilderness, it is an essential item that everyone carries. Its main function is to clear weeds.

The wilderness is overgrown with plants, blocking the sky and making many areas difficult to traverse. Camping requires clearing a large area of land.

The plants in the wilderness are extremely resilient, and there are countless weeds tougher than sword grass. Clearing them by hand is almost impossible. Ordinary fire is useless; only fire poisons like Burning Wood can be used.

Aihui opened the bottle, and a sulfur smell immediately spread. The red, lava-like Burning Wood was poured into the sword grass.

As soon as the Burning Wood touched the leaves of the sword grass, the green leaves immediately turned gray, and the gray spread visibly.

The sulfur smell in the air became less intense. After about five minutes, the originally green sword grass had completely turned gray.

"Poof!"

The gray sword grass collapsed like an avalanche, leaving a pile of ash on the ground.

Aihui skillfully shoveled the ash into the soil, which effectively suppressed the growth of weeds, as they dislike the smell of fire poison.

His movements were quick, and in no time, he had cleared the entire yard. He found a broom to clear the spider webs in the corners. He drew water from the well to clean the floor, which was so dusty that it needed to be washed at least five or six times.

He removed the diseased leaves from the old gourds in the stone troughs at the corners of the house, wrapped the main vines around the pillars, and hung the largest gourd under the eaves. He carefully cleaned the surface of each gourd.

He opened all the windows and doors to ventilate the house.

He hung the old, weathered wooden sign back in the main hall, cleaned the copper incense burner, found a bundle of incense in the cabinet, and lit three sticks.

After a full day of work, the dojo was completely transformed.

As night fell, the gourds hanging under the eaves emitted a soft glow, illuminating the dojo brightly. The clean, neat blue stone slabs, the old, rustic wooden house, and the neatly arranged tools, along with the sweet scent of the incense, created a peaceful scene.

This tranquil scene, as if from a dream deep in his heart, unexpectedly appeared before him.

It was so sudden, so irresistible.

He was somewhat stunned.

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PS: Loulan's character design is complete, and a poster has been made. It will be posted on Fangfang's WeChat public platform. Interested friends can add WeChat to see it; the poster is very beautiful!

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