Chapter 274: The Revenge of the Lady in Green

Hearing Li Qiuyu's words, Gu Chudong was somewhat surprised and asked, "Even if local authorities can't investigate such a major matter, they could at least report it. Why isn't anyone taking care of it?"

Li Qiuyu smiled helplessly and said, "Miss Gu, don't even talk about the authorities. Even among our ordinary jianghu factions, once there are many people and rules are established, a significant portion will seek to avoid mistakes rather than achieve merits. As long as no one dies and the matter doesn't escalate too much, everyone turns a blind eye. Anyway, after a few years, their term of office will end, and they'll leave. If they try to force a solution and succeed, that's fine. But if they fail, it'll be troublesome, potentially ruining their future."

Gu Chudong frowned and said, "But many things are minor at first and could be resolved, yet over time, they might truly lead to disaster."

Gu Mo interjected, "It's like 'passing the flower drum.' Everyone before is gambling, and whoever ends up holding it when the truth can no longer be hidden will bear the consequences."

Li Qiuyu nodded, "It's precisely as Hero Gu said. On a small scale, it's like a county town. On a larger scale, isn't a nation much the same? There are many things the court officials aren't unaware of; they simply pretend not to know, gambling that nothing will erupt during their tenure."

Gu Chudong asked, "Are you talking about... rebellion?"

Li Qiuyu's expression shifted slightly, and he quickly said, "Miss Gu, mind your words!"

Gu Chudong didn't think much of it herself, having once told Emperor Qian to his face in the imperial city that if the people rebelled, it would surely be due to the emperor's inaction and the court officials being accomplices. However, she also knew that her ability to speak like that, and Emperor Qian's smiling agreement, wasn't because he genuinely appreciated her words, but primarily because her brother was Gu Mo. Li Qiuyu, despite being a jianghu grandmaster, ultimately couldn't transcend the nation's rules and dared not speak such sensitive words carelessly. Therefore, Gu Chudong stopped talking.

The atmosphere instantly fell silent.

Gu Mo spoke up, "Given what Sword Master Li has said, seeking help from the authorities seems pointless. Let's go directly to Qingyi Village and see for ourselves!"

Li Qiuyu chuckled, "If we were to approach the authorities, they'd certainly try to pass the buck. But if it were you, Hero Gu, I guarantee the county magistrate would personally visit Qingyi Village to investigate. You are a Great Hero of Qian. Not just the magistrate, even our Yunzhou Provincial Governor would have to accompany you if you made a request."

Gu Mo shook his head, "There's no need for that. From what you've said, Qingyi Village seems quite peculiar. It's better to have fewer people enter and minimize the risks!"

Afterwards, Li Qiuyu personally led the way, guiding Gu Mo and his companions to a very remote mountain village. Due to its extreme seclusion, it was already dusk, with the sun about to set, by the time they arrived.

Along the way, many of the fields outside the village lay fallow.

This was a rare sight in this world. Not to mention good fields, but any patch of soil capable of yielding crops would never be left uncultivated. In this era, ordinary people relied solely on farming to survive.

However, Qingyi Village was currently in a unique situation; many of its able-bodied young men had lost their minds, naturally leaving the land uncultivated.

Nevertheless, upon entering Qingyi Village, they found rows of houses with blue tiled roofs and white walls glowing softly under the warm sunlight. Strings of corn and red peppers hung beneath the eaves, swaying gently in the breeze. A few old locust trees shed tiny green leaves, and beneath them, children in small groups chased rolling iron hoops, their bell-like laughter startling sparrows perched on the eaves.

This scene was completely unlike the harsh conditions they had initially imagined; instead, it depicted a contented and prosperous life.

The group instinctively looked at Li Qiuyu.

Li Qiuyu was also full of surprise and said, "I haven't been here myself. I only sent people to inquire about Qingyi Village, but I didn't learn about the villagers' living conditions."

At this point, Li Qiuyu paused and said, "However, the information should be accurate. Look, there are indeed many 'fools' in this village."

Li Qiuyu didn't need to point this out; Gu Mo and the others had already noticed it. Upon entering the village, they saw many young adults wandering around in small groups, their abnormal mental state clearly evident.

As Gu Mo and his companions ventured deeper, they quickly attracted the villagers' attention.

Of course, it was impossible not to notice them. Their group of seven consisted of Gu Mo, Gu Chudong, Qi Tianshu, Li Qiuyu, Xiaobai, and two Canglan Sword Sect disciples. Apart from Xiaobai, everyone was leading a horse and carrying weapons.

Such attire looked out of place in a small mountain village.

Soon, a large group of people appeared in the alley ahead. However, they were mostly elderly men and women, with no able-bodied young men among them. Leading the group was a white-haired, hunched old man. He stepped forward, bowed, and cupped his hands, saying, "Greetings, esteemed guests. This old man, Liu Hong, is the village chief of Qingyi Village. May I be so bold as to ask why you have come? Our village has many simple-minded people, and if they inadvertently offend any of you, please be understanding. This old man will certainly apologize and beg you not to be angry!"

Although the old man named Liu Hong spoke fluently, it was clear he was reciting a prepared speech, as he was visibly afraid, trembling slightly, when looking at Gu Mo and his companions.

This was a very normal phenomenon; common folk generally feared jianghu figures. Moreover, apart from Xiaobai, the identities of the individuals present were far from simple. Qi Tianshu and Li Qiuyu, in particular, despite their age, had held high positions for many years, unconsciously exuding an aura of authority. Combined with their martial arts true intent, they naturally posed a significant deterrence to ordinary people.

Qi Tianshu walked over and gently held the old village chief Liu Hong's arm, saying kindly, "Brother, don't be afraid. We are not bad people. We were invited by your county magistrate to investigate something in your village."

Liu Hong remained cautious, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Are you here to investigate the 'Qingyi Lady' curse case?"

Qi Tianshu nodded and asked, "Brother, how did you know that?"

Liu Hong gave a helpless smile and said, "Elder brother, you just said you were invited by the county magistrate to investigate. Besides the Qingyi Lady curse case, there's nothing else to investigate in our Qingyi Village. The yamen came three times last year alone. We thought they had given up, but unexpectedly, they've started investigating again."

Qi Tianshu asked, "Since the yamen hasn't investigated for the past year, have you found anything yourselves?"

Liu Hong sighed and said, "What's there to investigate? We offended the Qingyi Lady and were cursed. We have to wait until 128 souls are gathered to serve her. Once that number is met, our village will naturally be peaceful again. The number is almost reached now, so the curse has ended."

Qi Tianshu asked doubtfully, "Who told you this?"

"The Qingyi Lady herself!" Liu Hong replied.

Qi Tianshu's pupils contracted slightly, and he quickly asked, "Where is the Qingyi Lady?"

Liu Hong waved his hand and said, "It's very difficult for outsiders like yourselves to meet the Qingyi Lady; it depends on fate. However, many people in our village have seen the Qingyi Lady in their dreams and heard her say herself that 128 people must go to the spirit world to serve her to appease her anger."

Qi Tianshu's eyes were full of doubt as he turned his head to look at Gu Mo and the others.

Gu Mo and his companions were also bewildered.

"How about this, esteemed guests," Liu Hong said, "Please come to my house first for a meal, and then I'll arrange accommodations for you."

"That would be troublesome, brother," Qi Tianshu said, cupping his hands. "Don't worry, we'll pay for our food and lodging."

In such a small village, no single household could possibly accommodate seven outsiders. Liu Hong would certainly have to seek out other families, which is why Qi Tianshu offering to pay made things awkward for him.

Liu Hong quickly waved his hand, saying, "You are esteemed guests invited by the county magistrate to help our Qingyi Village investigate a case. It wouldn't be appropriate to talk about money for your stay here!"

Soon, the group, led by Liu Hong, walked towards the village center.

At that moment, as the setting sun dipped towards the mountain hollow, it painted the sky a molten gold and orange-red. The last ray of light grazed the branches of the old locust tree at the village entrance, casting delicate pink and purple hues onto the blue tiled roofs and white walls. A few wisps of cooking smoke curled out of chimneys, like crumpled gauze, filling the entire village with an aura of peace and tranquility.

These picturesque scenes stirred a unique feeling in the hearts of these individuals who had long traversed the jianghu, a kind of scenery utterly impossible to behold amidst their busy lives.

Soon, they arrived at a small fenced courtyard.

As soon as they entered, they saw two tall young men squatting on the ground playing in the mud with two children, a sight that felt very out of place. The children appeared to be only six or seven years old, while one of the young men looked seventeen or eighteen, and the other was around thirty.

"What a tragedy," Liu Hong said, pointing to the two young men. "The one sitting on the ground is the former village chief's son. He got drunk and, in a fit of madness, ran to the Qingyi Temple and smashed the Qingyi Lady's idol, which caused this disaster for our village. His father, feeling guilty and that he had wronged the villagers, committed suicide. This young man suffered retribution; he was the first to become simple-minded. As the new village chief, I couldn't just watch him starve, so I brought him to my home to care for him."

As he spoke, Liu Hong pointed to the older young man and said, "The other one is my son. His intellect is now about that of a three or four-year-old child, even more childish than my two grandsons!"

Qi Tianshu looked at Xiaobai, who was being held by Gu Chudong.

Xiaobai's symptoms were quite similar to those of the simple-minded people in Qingyi Village.

"Brother," Qi Tianshu asked, "As I came here, I noticed that most of the young adults in your village suffer from this 'soul-loss' affliction, and many fields outside your village are abandoned. Yet, it seems your village doesn't lack food or provisions?"

Liu Hong sighed and said, "That's why our village is suffering retribution. For many years, our Qingyi Village was protected by the Qingyi Lady, enjoying favorable weather and abundant harvests every year. Even during the famine two years ago, when people starved to death in villages within a ten-mile radius, not a single person in our village died because we had ample food stored. Even now, every household in our village still has surplus grain. If we use it sparingly, we won't starve even if we can't grow crops for five or six years. And after five or six years, a new generation will have grown up, and there will naturally be people to cultivate the village's land."

"I see," Qi Tianshu said, then asked, "This Qingyi Lady is so powerful; what is her origin? I've never heard of her outside."

Liu Hong explained, "The Qingyi Lady is our Qingyi Village's unique guardian deity. It was about forty years ago, back when our village wasn't called Qingyi Village, but Dongya Village. One year, a plague broke out, and everyone in the village contracted it, almost wiping us out. At that time, a female physician named Qingyi happened to pass by. Out of compassion, she couldn't bear to see our village perish, so she intervened to dispel the plague. However, she overexerted herself and passed away three years later while staying in our village. Afterwards, in gratitude for her kindness, our villagers built the Qingyi Temple for her, calling her the Qingyi Lady, and renamed the village Qingyi Village. For decades since, she has been worshipped. Coincidentally, for all these decades, our Qingyi Village has enjoyed favorable weather and good harvests, until two years ago when that incident happened, and the village began to suffer retribution."

As he spoke, Liu Hong led Gu Mo and his companions into the courtyard. He quickly went inside to fetch stools and then shouted for his wife and daughter-in-law to prepare food.

Qi Tianshu instructed the two Canglan Sword Sect disciples to help carry the stools. Then, he looked at Gu Mo and asked, "Hero Gu, have you noticed anything unusual?"

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "The simple-minded people in this village are different from Xiaobai. Although Xiaobai's intellect is incomplete, her spiritual consciousness is intact. These villagers, however, have incomplete spiritual consciousness. In the words of a Qi cultivator, their three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls are not whole."

As he spoke, Gu Mo's gaze fixed on the two simple-minded individuals squatting in the corner of the courtyard, playing in the mud. A surge of spiritual energy instantly entered their minds.

The next moment, Gu Mo withdrew his spiritual consciousness and said, "These two, like the simple-minded people we encountered along the way, both have incomplete spiritual consciousness."

Qi Tianshu said grimly, "In other words, there are evil cultivators practicing spiritual martial arts, devouring the spiritual consciousness of these villagers?"

"Possibly," Gu Mo said, "but whether it's a human is another question."

Qi Tianshu asked, "Are these people still curable?"

"It's difficult," Gu Mo said. "However, according to the theory of Qi cultivators, there are two ways to remedy incomplete three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls: one is to recover them, and the other is to cultivate powerful spiritual secret arts to replenish new souls. For the first method, the lost spiritual consciousness must be intact, which is almost impossible, as an ordinary person's spiritual consciousness cannot remain intact once it leaves the body. For the second method, setting aside the rarity of spiritual secret arts, how can a person with incomplete intellect, having lost parts of their soul, cultivate?"

Qi Tianshu nodded and said, "That's true."

Gu Mo looked at Xiaobai and asked, "Xiaobai, do you feel anything? Is this place familiar to you?"

Xiaobai held Gu Chudong's hand tightly, staying close to her. She was no different from usual, remaining silent.

Gu Chudong said, "Brother, Xiaobai doesn't seem to have any special feelings about Qingyi Village. I've been observing her since we entered, and I haven't seen any signs of her recognizing this place as familiar. It seems like a strange place to her. I feel this might not be the Dongya Village Xiaobai is looking for."

Gu Mo pondered for a moment and said, "It's getting dark now. Let's rest for the night. Tomorrow morning, we'll take Xiaobai to explore the village more and see if anything can trigger her memories."

Qi Tianshu said, "Let's divide the tasks this way. Tomorrow, Sword Master Li and I will investigate matters concerning the Qingyi Lady in the village. Hero Gu, you and Miss Gu will be responsible for Xiaobai."

Soon, Gu Mo and his companions had a meal at Liu Hong's home. After they finished, it was completely dark, and Liu Hong led them to their borrowed lodgings.

After settling Gu Mo and his companions, Liu Hong walked back home alone, carrying a lantern. His family was large, with no spare rooms, so Gu Mo and the others were not accommodated at his house.

As he entered the courtyard, an old woman emerged, holding an oil lamp and draped in an outer garment. It was Liu Hong's wife, Liu Lishi.

"Everyone asleep?" Liu Hong asked softly.

Liu Lishi, with her white hair and hunched figure like Liu Hong's, her eyes filled with worry, replied, "They're asleep. Old man, why has the yamen sent people again? Didn't they stop daring to come before?"

Liu Hong blew out the lamp in his lantern and walked into the house with Liu Lishi. He hung the lantern on the wall and sighed, "The people who came this time are from the jianghu. They're different from the officials. Those yamen gentlemen all cherish their lives, while jianghu folk carry their heads on their belts; they don't believe in evil."

"What are we going to do?" Liu Lishi said. "I heard these jianghu people kill at the slightest provocation. If they find out our village has so much gold and silver, I'm afraid..."

Liu Hong was not as anxious as Liu Lishi. He waved his hand and said, "Don't think too much about it. Maybe they won't find anything and will leave. But if they do find out, then let them face the Qingyi Lady. I don't believe they can contend with her!"

Liu Lishi said, "I'm not worried about them defeating the Qingyi Lady. No matter how powerful jianghu folk are, they are still human. How can humans contend with ghosts and deities? I'm afraid that if some of them don't encounter the Qingyi Lady, the others might vent their anger on us!"

Liu Hong said, "The people we saw today don't seem like utterly vicious villains. It probably won't come to that."

"Let's hope so," Liu Lishi sighed. "Old man, do you think... the Qingyi Lady will appease her wrath? What if, after all the souls are taken, she still isn't appeased?"

Liu Hong fell silent. After a long while, he sighed deeply and murmured, "Retribution!"

The next day, early in the morning.

Gu Mo and the others had breakfast again at Liu Hong's house. Then, they proceeded with their assigned tasks from the previous day. Qi Tianshu, Li Qiuyu, and the two Canglan Sword Sect disciples went to investigate matters concerning the Qingyi Lady.

Gu Mo and Gu Chudong, the siblings, wandered around the village with Xiaobai, looking for anything that might trigger her memories.

However, Gu Mo and Gu Chudong wandered through the village with Xiaobai for half the day, exploring every alley and path, but found nothing. There was nothing to stimulate Xiaobai's memory, not even anything to capture her attention.

If it weren't for the coincidental appearance of unusual spiritual energy events in Qingyi Village, Gu Mo would have thought they had come to the wrong place.

The three of them continued wandering through the village. By noon, they reached the east side of the village and discovered a temple, the Qingyi Temple. Its scale surprised both Gu Mo and Gu Chudong.

It wasn't so grand as to shock the siblings, as such temples were commonplace in an average county town. However, its presence in such a remote mountain village was truly remarkable and quite surprising.

Just as Gu Mo was about to go inside, he saw Qi Tianshu and a few others walking out.

"You've arrived too," Qi Tianshu said, walking over.

Gu Mo asked, "Have you found anything?"

Qi Tianshu shook his head and said, "We've spent the day walking around the village, asking many people about the Qingyi Lady. Everyone's accounts were similar to what Liu Hong told us yesterday, so there was no useful information. That's why we came to this temple to have a look. The villagers say this temple was built two years ago, funded by the villagers, to appease the Qingyi Lady's wrath. It was after this temple was built that people in the village started dreaming about the Qingyi Lady saying she needed 128 souls to serve her."

Gu Mo said, "So, in other words, if we want to find the Qingyi Lady, we'll probably just have to wait for her to appear in this village? After all, rumors say the Qingyi Lady appears quite frequently. The yamen previously sent people to investigate three times, and all three times they encountered her."

Qi Tianshu pondered for a moment and said, "Waiting is indeed a good method, but I've actually found a point of suspicion here."

"Where?" Gu Mo asked, puzzled.

Qi Tianshu said gravely, "The scale of this Qingyi Temple is a bit too grand; it doesn't quite match the economic capabilities of such a small village. If it were merely large, it might be somewhat acceptable, but the interior furnishings are also very exquisite. The cost of this temple shouldn't be affordable for a small village like this."

Gu Chudong asked, "Well, could it be that the villagers were so terrified by the Qingyi Lady's curse that they put all their effort into building this temple, not daring to be careless, for fear of angering her again, which is why it's so well-built?"

Qi Tianshu said, "That's precisely the problem. If they had built it with all their might, it would mean the villagers of Qingyi Village should be living very difficult lives right now. But the reality is quite the opposite: their lives are very prosperous, and they even have a large amount of land lying fallow. In fact, since yesterday, I've felt that Qingyi Village's economic situation is a bit too good to be true. Moreover, these villagers don't conform to the normal thinking of farmers. Liu Hong said it's because they have plenty of stored grain, but even if they do, it would only last for a few years. By the logic of ordinary people, they would absolutely not abandon their land; even the elderly would find a way to cultivate it. Five or six years' worth of grain simply doesn't provide that much security in this world. Furthermore, for a village of farmers to have five or six years' worth of grain stored is itself absurd, especially after raising money to build such a large Qingyi Temple. Therefore, this village definitely holds an unknown secret apart from the Qingyi Lady, a secret certainly related to money and grain, enough to give the villagers confidence that they can live off their savings for many years. And because this secret is significant, it's why the entire village has kept quiet and maintained a unified story."

Li Qiuyu chimed in, "Patriarch Qi and I discussed it. This secret likely concerns the survival of the entire village. It would probably be difficult to inquire directly, and using force would definitely be counterproductive and raise alarm. So, we might need to stay longer, gradually gather information, and try starting with the children and the simple-minded people."

"Uh..."

Gu Mo slowly said, "Actually, it doesn't need to be that complicated. I know a spiritual martial art; its main purpose is to control flying swords, but it can also control the minds of ordinary people. We can just ask directly. Anyone who could ensure a unified story must be someone with authority in the village. Therefore, Liu Hong, as the village chief, must be the one who knows the most."

Qi Tianshu asked, "Is your martial art reliable?"

Gu Mo nodded slightly.

With the perfected Dao Heart Demon Seed Dafa, let alone ordinary people, Gu Mo was confident he could influence and control the minds of even martial grandmasters if they were unprepared.

The reason he deliberately made it seem complicated was purely to avoid instilling fear in Qi Tianshu and the others.

Immediately, everyone headed straight back to Liu Hong's home.

At that moment, only Liu Hong and the two simple-minded men were in the courtyard; his wife and daughter-in-law had taken their two grandsons out.

Seeing Gu Mo and his companions return, Liu Hong quickly stood up to greet them and asked, "Esteemed guests, have you found anything?"

"Liu Hong." Gu Mo suddenly called out.

Liu Hong instinctively looked up.

"Look at me!"

Gu Mo suddenly struck an acupoint, immobilizing Liu Hong. Then, his eyes locked onto Liu Hong's. Slowly, Liu Hong's gaze began to become hazy, and after a while, his eyes became completely blank.

In reality, Gu Mo didn't need to go through such trouble to control Liu Hong's mind; he didn't even need to make a sound. He could control someone's mind with his spiritual energy whenever he wished.

The reason he deliberately made it seem complicated was purely to avoid instilling fear in Qi Tianshu and the others.

Gu Mo waved his hand, and two streams of true qi struck the acupoints of the two simple-minded men playing in the mud, causing them to immediately fall asleep. Then, he asked Liu Hong in a low voice, "Liu Hong, who exactly is the Qingyi Lady? What secret is hidden in your village? Why have the villagers become simple-minded?"

Liu Hong spoke numbly, "It's retribution. The Qingyi Lady has come for revenge; it's the retribution our Qingyi Village deserves. The Qingyi Lady was our village's benefactor. Over forty years ago, she dispelled the plague for us, but she also became ill from overwork. Afterwards, she settled in our village with her family. Her husband's surname was Lu, and they were the only family with that surname in our village. However, she passed away a few years later due to her illness. To commemorate her, our village was renamed Qingyi Village, and a temple was built to worship her. The Lu family gradually integrated into our Qingyi Village, inheriting the Qingyi Lady's mantle, treating the villagers' illnesses and injuries. The Lu family, like the Qingyi Lady, was compassionate and kind. They only charged for the cost of medicinal herbs when treating villagers, and often didn't charge at all. They were truly great philanthropists, and there was no one in the village who didn't owe the Lu family a debt of gratitude. Two years ago, a famine struck. Every household ran out of food, and people began starving to death in villages ten miles around. Only our Qingyi Village had no deaths because the Lu family frequently provided grain to the villagers. At first, everyone was grateful, but as time passed, rumors spread in the village that the Lu family was actually a corrupt high official in the court back then, and they had come to Qingyi Village to live in seclusion with their immense wealth, enough to rival a nation. Gradually, the rumors grew. One night, a large group of young villagers broke into the Lu family home but found little money or grain. Of course, the villagers didn't believe it. They tied up the Lu family members and forced Doctor Lu, who eventually revealed the truth. His grandfather had indeed been a high-ranking official in the court. After offending someone, their entire family fled. Both his grandfather and father died of worry, and only his grandmother, the Qingyi Lady, brought their family to Qingyi Village. The reason they came to Qingyi Village was that long ago, the Qingyi Lady had found a geomantically auspicious spot on Tianyi Mountain outside Qingyi Village and built a tomb there, where all of the Lu family's treasures were hidden. Afterwards, the young men of the village went together to Tianyi Mountain and found the tomb in a sinkhole. Indeed, they found a lot of gold and silver treasures inside—so much money that it would be enough for the entire village to live off for decades. To avoid trouble, after discussion, everyone simply went all the way and killed the entire Lu family. Our village is isolated, with hardly any outsiders coming, and what's more, there was a famine at the time, so no one cared about people dying or not. But from then on, strange things started happening in our village. People began seeing the Qingyi Lady, covered in blood, one after another. Everyone who saw her would have their souls 'hooked' and become simple-minded within a day or two. Within just a few days, over a dozen people were affected. We were all panicked. The villagers said the Qingyi Lady had come for revenge. In our fright, we reported it to the authorities. However, the county yamen's constables couldn't find the Qingyi Lady, but a few observant ones noticed anomalies. Left with no choice, I told them about the treasures on Tianyi Mountain. Yet, those few constables were greedy and didn't tell others. Just the few of them secretly went to investigate. However, after they came out, before they even had a chance to bring tools to move the treasures, they became simple-minded. Later, two more groups of constables came, and it was the same situation. Those who noticed anomalies were all guided by me to the Qingyi Lady's tomb on Tianyi Mountain, and after they came out, they all became simple-minded. So, the yamen didn't dare to come anymore."

Qi Tianshu asked, "What did you mean by 128 people going to serve the Qingyi Lady?"

Liu Hong said, "Because there were over a hundred people in our village who had gone down into the sinkhole at that time, and all the people who later became simple-minded had been to the sinkhole, we deduced that once all those people have their souls 'hooked' and become simple-minded, the Qingyi Lady should appease her wrath. Adding those few constables, it comes to exactly 128 people."

Qi Tianshu asked doubtfully, "Are the villagers just willing to have their souls 'hooked'? Don't they try to escape?"

Liu Hong said, "They can't run. If they don't run and stay in the village, their souls will slowly be 'hooked' one by one in sequence, turning them simple-minded. But if they try to run away, their souls are 'hooked' immediately."

Qi Tianshu said grimly, "So, the Qingyi Lady saved everyone in your village, and her descendants, the Lu family, also showed you kindness and saved your village. Yet, in the end, what they received was the complete annihilation of the Lu family by your hands."

Liu Hong murmured, "Retribution, it's all retribution, all retribution..."

Qi Tianshu's face was grim. He asked again, "Are there any members of the Lu family still alive?"

"No," Liu Hong said. "The Lu family wasn't prosperous. Initially, there were only the Qingyi Lady and Doctor Lu, a grandmother and grandson, along with a few household servants. And Doctor Lu also only had one son and one grandson; they were all killed. No one survived."

Qi Tianshu's expression softened slightly. Although he was furious about the actions of the Qingyi Village inhabitants, the fact that no Lu family members survived and Doctor Lu had no daughter meant that Xiaobai was not a member of the Lu family. Therefore, the possibility of the Qingyi Lady being his master became much smaller.