Chapter 86

"Let's go, and see what mysteries lie within."

Jing Shizhen took the zither case from Su Xiaofan's hands and led the way up the hill.

A few years ago, the road to Fengmen Village was not yet closed, and there were often adventurers who came here.

However, with the occurrence of deaths, the local authorities set up checkpoints and no longer allowed individuals to enter this place.

Without human presence, the trees and plants in the mountains grew even more lush. Standing under these tall trees, people seemed to become smaller.

"Master, are those chrysanthemums?"

Su Xiaofan saw a patch of yellow flowers on the hillside. To his surprise, the flowers were as large as a bowl, and their shape resembled chrysanthemums.

"Yes, they are Huai chrysanthemums."

Jing Shizhen nodded and said, "Jiaocheng has four Huai, all of which are medicinal herbs. I didn't expect to find wild ones here in the mountains."

As he spoke, Jing Shizhen walked down to the hillside, stepped on a few stones, and nimbly leaped up, picking a chrysanthemum flower.

After Jing Shizhen jumped down the hill, Su Xiaofan noticed that the Huai chrysanthemum was even larger than what he had seen, about the size of a large bowl.

"The four Huai are Huai Rehmannia, Huai Yam, Huai Chrysanthemum, and Huai Achyranthes. They are all medicinal herbs from Jiaocheng."

"The medicinal effects of this Huai chrysanthemum are ten times stronger than ordinary Huai chrysanthemums."

Jing Shizhen explained to Su Xiaofan while tearing off a petal and putting it in his mouth, slowly chewing it.

"Good stuff, Xiaofan. When we go back down the mountain, we should take some with us."

Jing Shizhen said, "This Huai chrysanthemum absorbs the clear energy of heaven and earth. Its heat-clearing and detoxifying effects are not as strong as those of Hang chrysanthemums, but its vision-improving effects far surpass those of Hang chrysanthemums. Not bad, not bad!"

"Yes, Master, I'll pick more when we go down the mountain."

Su Xiaofan knew that with his master's knowledge, for him to praise something twice, this Huai chrysanthemum must be very good.

"These four Huai are indeed excellent. I've also collected some and taken them out before."

Tong Dongjie said, "It's strange, the gas seeping from the spatial rift is harmful to humans but beneficial to plants. The quality of the herbs in the mountains far exceeds those grown outside."

"Brother Dong, if these herbs are so valuable, why don't the people nearby come to collect them?"

Su Xiaofan asked, puzzled. He grew up at the foot of the mountain.

As the saying goes, "rely on the mountain to eat from the mountain." From wild boars to medicinal herbs, everything on the mountain is prey for people.

If this were on Mang Mountain, the Huai chrysanthemums would have been picked clean long ago, even if they were growing on a cliff.

"People nearby? Who dares to come to Fengmen Village?"

Hearing Su Xiaofan's words, Tong Dongjie couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "You haven't heard of the bad reputation of Fengmen Village. 'Sealing the door and cutting off the lineage' is not just a saying. Only those who enjoy outdoor activities dare to venture in here."

Thinking of his business, Tong Dongjie became depressed and didn't want to speak.

Tong Dongjie was stubborn. He believed that his family was a lineage of ancient martial arts and didn't take the rumors seriously, so he plunged in headfirst.

"Master, why are there animals here?"

Upon arriving, Su Xiaofan had already opened his six senses. His hearing was very sharp, and as soon as he heard a sound, he looked up to see an owl on a nearby tree.

"Indeed, some animals can survive here, but I don't know why."

Jing Shizhen shook his head. He was not a scientist and had not conducted in-depth research on this environment; he had only seen it a few times.

As they walked up the hill, besides the owl, Su Xiaofan also noticed some birds but no reptiles.

Jing Shizhen led the way up the hill. After about ten minutes, a building appeared before them.

"Entering here means we are in Fengmen Village."

Tong Dongjie's voice echoed in the quiet mountain forest. Even though it was noon, it gave a chilling feeling.

The entire Fengmen Village was built on the mountain, with steps made of blue stones, now covered with vines.

On the wall of the first building, the words "Sealing the door and cutting off the lineage" were written.

Next to those four characters, it read, "Reject all feudal superstitions and promote new social trends."

The two different red fonts on the house built with yellow earth and stones were very striking.

"This Fengmen Village has a good location, with mountains behind and water in front."

Jing Shizhen did not rush up but observed from below.

"Who would disagree, Uncle Jing? I decided to do it because of the good feng shui when I saw it."

Hearing Uncle Jing's words, Tong Dongjie sighed, "Unfortunately, my skills were not good enough."

"This village has cut off its own feng shui."

Jing Shizhen observed for a while and pointed to a clearly man-made water channel above, saying, "The water is cut off above, causing the riverbed below to dry up. A good feng shui site has been ruined."

"This is the layout of Fengmen. It should be called Fengmen Village."

Jing Shizhen's face showed a hint of confusion.

"Uncle Jing, it was indeed called Fengmen Village before. Later, due to many incidents, it was changed to Fengmen, meaning 'sealing the door and cutting off the lineage.'"

"Heaven's wrath can be survived, but self-inflicted disaster cannot."

Jing Shizhen shook his head and walked up.

Entering the village, the surroundings became even more dilapidated, with broken walls and decaying houses. The old houses, long neglected, had their outer layers peeled off, and under the dense tree shade, the place felt even more dark and cold.

It was unclear whether the black flowers hanging under some house doors were left by those who moved away or by later pranksters.

"Brother Dong, how do you plan to develop this place?"

Looking at the surroundings, Su Xiaofan asked, "Developing it as a ghost village might work, attracting those who like adventure, but if it's a tourist attraction, will anyone come?"

After entering, Su Xiaofan saw everything was gloomy, even at the sunniest time of the day, giving a chill.

"The environment here is actually quite good."

Tong Dongjie laughed bitterly and said, "Xiaofan, most of the buildings here are from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Look at the tiles on the eaves; they are over a hundred years old. With some effort, turning it into an ancient village would be very promising."

Over a decade ago, Tong Dongjie's group invested in an ancient village in Dajiang Province.

His company preserved the appearance of over two hundred Qing dynasty buildings, renovated the interiors, and turned it into a five-star resort.

Due to its unique architectural style, the resort attracted many tourists upon its launch, and the investment of over ten billion was recovered in less than ten years, significantly increasing the company's value.

For Fengmen Village, Tong Dongjie had similar plans, but he didn't expect the existence of a spatial rift, which ruined his plans.

"This village really brought its own downfall."

Jing Shizhen kept shaking his head as they entered Fengmen Village.

"Master, what's wrong?"

Su Xiaofan didn't see anything wrong. He only knew a little about feng shui, just enough to follow along.

"Look at how these houses are built. None of them face north-south, ruining the feng shui."

Jing Shizhen pointed out, and Su Xiaofan noticed that most of the houses in the village faced east-west, some even diagonally, disregarding the feng shui layout, with doors and windows facing each other, and no consideration for the negative effects of through-drafts.

"Ah, Master, there's a house facing north-south over there."

Su Xiaofan suddenly saw a three-story stone building and quickly walked over. This should be the tallest building in Fengmen Village.

"Xiaofan, that house is a bit eerie." Tong Dongjie followed behind.

"Eerie? Haunted?"

Su Xiaofan laughed, "I grew up on Mang Mountain, and I've heard many ghost stories, but I've never seen a ghost. If I could see one here, it would be worth the trip."

"Don't be careless. Some things are more troublesome than ghosts." Jing Shizhen also followed.

"Master, do you really believe in ghosts?"

Su Xiaofan smirked and asked, "What form do ghosts exist in? Are they matter or energy?"

"Are the memories and consciousness of a person preserved in a specific environment after death, and then exist in the soul, forming a ghost?"

Su Xiaofan shared his guess, having read many articles to scare his sister.

Jing Shizhen shook his head and said, "If that were true, with so many people dying throughout history, our planet would be full of ghosts."

"Master, I mean in a specific environment, with special conditions." Su Xiaofan emphasized his point.

"It's possible. In our lineage, there is such a realm."

Jing Shizhen glanced at Tong Dongjie, feeling that what he was saying wasn't a secret, and continued, "In Daoism, there are the concepts of Yin Spirit and Yang Spirit. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Purple Yang Immortal once left his body as a Yin Spirit and traveled hundreds of miles at night.

"When the Yin Spirit appears, it is called the Yang Spirit. However, since the late Ming Dynasty, no one has been heard to have cultivated Yin or Yang Spirits."

"Master, can both Yin and Yang Spirits leave the body? What's the difference between them?" Su Xiaofan, though now a cultivator, was not very familiar with Daoism and listened with great interest.

"In my view, both Yin and Yang Spirits are manifestations of the mind cultivated to the extreme, at least to the point of cultivating spirit awareness.

"Strong spirit awareness leads to the Yang Spirit, while weak spirit awareness leads to the Yin Spirit.

"So, being able to leave as a Yin Spirit doesn't necessarily mean being able to leave as a Yang Spirit, but being able to leave as a Yang Spirit definitely means being able to leave as a Yin Spirit. It just depends on whether you need to leave as a Yang Spirit or a Yin Spirit."

"How can one cultivate spirit awareness?" Su Xiaofan was very interested and quickly asked.

"If you can break through the Great Circulation realm, you might be able to cultivate spirit awareness."

Jing Shizhen sighed and said, "Since the Ming Dynasty..."

"Master, I know, no one has been able to cultivate it since the Ming Dynasty."

Su Xiaofan interrupted his master, as if the Ming Dynasty was a turning point, and many things were cut off at that time. He had heard this several times today.

"Master, what realm is below the Great Circulation?"

Su Xiaofan felt that if he had enough cultivation value to nourish the Great Circulation, he might be able to break through to the next realm.