Chapter 2

Qin Ziling's heart couldn't help but tremble upon hearing this, even feeling some difficulty breathing.

He had only asked casually because he suddenly remembered the ancient well from his nightmare. He never expected that there would actually be a Chixiao Daoist Temple in reality.

"Cough, cough. I just heard someone mention it casually yesterday, so I'm a bit curious." Qin Ziling naturally wouldn't say it was from his nightmare, so he lied offhandedly.

Cui Shi didn't think much about it, "Oh," she said, then continued, "This Chixiao Daoist Temple is located at the foot of Xiaolong Mountain, about fifteen to twenty li away from our village. When you were a child, there was still some incense burning there. The year your father was seriously ill, I heard about the Chixiao Daoist Temple by chance and even made a special trip there."

"But nowadays, the world is in chaos, with bandits and marauders plundering and killing everywhere. Xiaolong Mountain is far from the county town and the main road, where bandits and marauders are the most rampant. The villagers living in that area have either been killed or fled, and the villages have mostly been plundered and destroyed. The Chixiao Daoist Temple has long since fallen into ruin."

At this point, Cui Shi seemed to recall something, sighed deeply, and couldn't hide her worried expression.

Qin Ziling felt a heavy weight in his heart upon hearing this. The world is not at peace!

"Mother, Ranyue, I'm going to the martial arts hall first." Qin Ziling asked some questions about the location of Xiaolong Mountain, quickly finished his breakfast, then picked up the lunch Ranyue had prepared for him and got up to leave.

"Be careful on the way. I heard yesterday that there are bandits and marauders operating around the county town. A few days ago, Li Family Village was plundered," Cui Shi reminded him.

"I will," Qin Ziling nodded and left, feeling even heavier in his heart.

Li Family Village was only about ten to fifteen li away from the county town's walls and not far from the main road. It should still be within the range of the county town's garrison. The fact that it was plundered surprised Qin Ziling.

"It seems the world is indeed getting more chaotic. Only by moving to the city can we be safe. But I have no money and no power now; moving to the city is no easy task!" Qin Ziling walked along the main road in the opposite direction of the county town, thinking to himself, feeling a sense of urgency and helplessness.

After walking about five to six li along the main road, he could still see villages with people and fields stretching one after another, with farmers working in the fields from time to time.

But as he walked further, he saw vast fields overgrown with weeds, abandoned and dilapidated villages, and on the road, there were only convoys escorted by bodyguards and groups of emaciated refugees. It was rare to see anyone walking alone.

After walking another four to five li, Qin Ziling turned off the main road onto a small path leading to Xiaolong Mountain.

These small paths, due to lack of use, were now overgrown with weeds and thorns, making them difficult to walk on. Moreover, such hills and wilderness were often the haunt of bandits.

Fortunately, Qin Ziling had practiced martial arts, was agile, and acted alone, giving him great mobility. Strangely, since his rebirth, his senses had become exceptionally sharp, and he had a keen awareness of the changes in the surrounding environment.

Thus, on this journey, Qin Ziling was cautious and managed to detect several places where bandits were lying in ambush, avoiding the danger of being robbed.

Two hours later, Qin Ziling arrived at Xiaolong Mountain without any major incidents.

Even before reaching Xiaolong Mountain, Qin Ziling could smell the cold, eerie mountain wind, which carried a foul, rotten meat-like odor.

Upon truly arriving at Xiaolong Mountain and seeing the scene before him, Qin Ziling's heart raced, and he felt a chill run down his spine.

He saw several peaks of Xiaolong Mountain collapsed, with boulders rolling down the slopes and the foot of the mountain. Some of these boulders, as large as houses, were split in half, with smooth, flat surfaces as if they had been cleaved by an incredibly sharp giant sword.

Moreover, the mountain was covered with decaying matter that emitted a foul, rotten meat-like odor and oozed yellow liquid, making it extremely nauseating.

Wherever this decaying matter and yellow liquid had flowed, all the vegetation had turned yellow and lost its vitality.

Seeing this, Qin Ziling involuntarily recalled the two giant swords he had seen in his dream, as well as the old, ugly man and the strange bird exploding, with blood and flesh flying everywhere. He couldn't help but shudder.

"Really! Everything in my dream is real! How is this possible? I was reborn as Qin Ziling, so why am I connected to that old man?"

As Qin Ziling shuddered, his eyes instinctively scanned the surroundings.

Soon, his heart trembled again, and his eyes fixed on a dilapidated Daoist temple at the foot of the mountain.

A plaque hung crookedly above the temple's entrance, inscribed with the words "Chixiao Daoist Temple."

Qin Ziling swallowed hard, then suppressed his shock and carefully avoided the nauseating yellow liquid and decaying matter on the ground, quickly approaching the Chixiao Daoist Temple.

As his mother had said, the Chixiao Daoist Temple was already in ruins, with several sections of the walls collapsed, and the interior was covered in dust and spider webs.

The temple itself was nothing special, and Qin Ziling quickly crossed the main hall to reach the back courtyard.

Sure enough, there was an ancient well in the back courtyard.

Qin Ziling quickly walked to the well and looked down.

The well contained water, with some withered leaves floating on the surface, making it impossible to see what was at the bottom. However, for some reason, when Qin Ziling leaned over to look, he felt as if something familiar was calling to him from the bottom of the well.

Without dwelling on why, Qin Ziling confirmed that the well rope was sturdy and immediately descended into the well.

Since the dream was real, logically, the old man who could ride a strange bird in the air and was pursued by two flying swords must have been an absolute expert. At least in the county town, Qin Ziling had never heard of anyone who could kill with a flying sword, which was the realm of legendary sword immortals.

Therefore, the ring on the old man's finger could not be an ordinary object.

Given Qin Ziling's current family situation and his innate talent, the ring was his greatest hope for survival in this chaotic world.

Descending into the well, following his intuition, Qin Ziling soon saw the ring embedded in a crack in the well wall.

The broken finger had already fallen somewhere in the well.

Qin Ziling reached out and pried the ring from the crack in the well wall.

The moment the ring landed in his palm, Qin Ziling felt a sense of familiarity and connection, as if it were part of his own flesh and blood. At the same time, his mind seemed to be suddenly triggered, and a flood of chaotic images rushed into his head.

These chaotic images were almost all extremely bloody, dark, and terrifying, with the old man from his nightmare being the common protagonist.

The images grew more numerous and chaotic.

Qin Ziling's head throbbed with pain, and he endured the feeling of his brain about to explode, quickly climbing out of the well and collapsing beside it.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Ziling regained consciousness.

His eyes were still black and clear, but deep within them, there was a hint of wisdom, cunning, evil, and cold ruthlessness that had been tempered by the vicissitudes of life.

"Originally, when my soul consciousness crossed over to this body, the remnant soul of the Zimo Sect's leader, Li Mo, was attempting to possess this body, and it was at the most critical moment. My arrival ultimately made me the beneficiary in the struggle between the two." After regaining consciousness, Qin Ziling carefully thought and deduced, finally understanding that he, from another modern world, had also merged with the remnant soul consciousness of the Zimo Sect's leader, Li Mo.

However, why the leader of the Zimo Sect was killed at Xiaolong Mountain outside the county town, Qin Ziling did not know.

"Heaven! I have merged with the remnant soul consciousness of a demon! Does this mean I have the soul consciousness of two people and the remnant soul consciousness of one? Since my rebirth, not only have I become more perceptive and sensitive to changes in the environment, but I can also multitask. Could this be because my body has merged with two soul consciousnesses and one remnant soul consciousness?" After deducing the truth, Qin Ziling also understood many of the changes in his body.

Thinking about this, Qin Ziling's gaze fell again on the black ring tightly clutched in his hand.