Eternal Life: My Talent Increases by 1 Point Every Day

Chapter 286: Chapter 192: Taohua Village (Part 2)

It wasn’t until evening that Fang Yue returned to Taohua Village.

"I heard you were planning to run away. Why are you back?" Qiudi, who had been lounging on a treetop, immediately sat up and asked upon seeing Fang Yue.

"That’s right. There are some things I have to do, so I need to get out," Fang Yue said, shaking his head.

"If you become my disciple, I’ll take you out of here," Qiudi asked with a grin.

’Become your disciple? And you can get me out? Away from this place?’ Fang Yue immediately looked at the red-clad young woman, who seemed even younger than him. His impression of her was that she was headstrong, willful, and unreliable—clearly not mature enough.

And she had a rather nasty disposition. ’How could she suddenly be so kind-hearted?’

"Of course! I am a proud disciple of the Xuanming Sect! The fact that I’m willing to take you as a disciple means I think highly of you. You’d better seize this opportunity. If you miss it, you’ll regret it forever!" Qiudi raised her head, speaking with immense pride.

"The Xuanming Sect?"

Hearing this, Fang Yue was suddenly a little surprised. ’That name... where had he seen it before?’

Soon, he remembered. He had seen an introduction to the Xuanming Sect while flipping through the archives in the Observatory’s library.

Three hundred years ago, the Xuanming Sect had been a top-tier regional Sect in the Yongzhou territory of the Great Wei Dynasty.

But also three hundred years ago, the Xuanming Sect was completely wiped out overnight. From then on, the Xuanming Sect was utterly destroyed.

Similar events had happened to other sects throughout Great Wei over the past several hundred, or even a thousand, years.

The reason the Xuanming Sect stuck in Fang Yue’s memory was because their signature skill was a type of Puppetry.

They could refine Puppets to enhance their combat strength.

They created not only inanimate Puppets forged from metal, stone, iron, and wood, but also Corpse God Puppets made from the flesh and blood of expert Martial Artists.

Such Martial Arts Secret Techniques were vastly different from those of other sects in Great Wei, which was precisely why it had caught Fang Yue’s attention.

He had no idea if the Xuanming Sect this Qiudi spoke of was the same one he had read about.

"What, you’ve heard of our Xuanming Sect? What do outsiders say about us? Do they say we’re some evil, heretical path? That’s completely wrong! Don’t you dare believe it. The Xuanming Sect is a righteous path," Qiudi said immediately upon seeing Fang Yue’s shocked expression.

"Oh? So you can really get me out of here?" Fang Yue chuckled and asked.

This place was so magical, or perhaps, so bizarre.

A valley could just vanish into thin air, and according to Lin Chan, it would reappear in three years.

This was almost beyond Fang Yue’s comprehension.

An ordinary person witnessing this would probably call it a divine miracle. But Fang Yue’s mind was filled with various snippets from web novels.

He could probably spin a few explanations for a suddenly disappearing valley himself. After the initial shock, acceptance came quickly.

But this also made Fang Yue deeply curious about this region.

’Getting out of here won’t be easy.’ But this young woman spoke with such confidence; it seemed she might really know another way out.

"Naturally! This young lady always keeps her word and never lies!" Qiudi shot Fang Yue a glare.

Just then, a few village children came running over wildly.

"Qiudi, you tricked me out of my candied haw yesterday! Give it back, or I’m telling my mommy and daddy!" one of them, a little girl with pigtails and a round, fair face, shouted as she ran up to Qiudi.

"Hey! When did I trick you? Didn’t I give you a bird I caught?!" Qiudi leaped up, a little flustered.

"Haha..." Watching her, Fang Yue couldn’t help but laugh.

"You’re still laughing!" Qiudi shot Fang Yue a fierce glare.

Fang Yue immediately shut his mouth. ’This little brat is a real character,’ he thought.

"Xiaoqi, don’t listen to Qiudi’s nonsense! I caught that bird myself. She tricked me out of it," another little boy chimed in from the side.

’Well, I’ll be.’ Fang Yue’s gaze toward Qiudi was now filled with a strange sort of admiration.

’This girl... she tricked a bird from the little boy, then used that bird to trick a stick of candied haw from the little girl.’

’To be so good at swindling and cheating... truly impressive.’

"Alright, you all listen to me." Qiudi was just about to explain herself when her gaze suddenly darted to the side. She shouted, "Quick, look over there! It’s a mountain spirit!"

Her shout immediately drew the children’s attention away.

Seizing the opportunity, Qiudi transformed into a red shadow and shot off into the distance.

"Darn it! Qiudi tricked us again!" The children, realizing they’d been fooled, stomped their feet and grumbled in frustration.

「The third day.」

"Can you really get me out of here? I don’t believe you." Fang Yue found Qiudi, his expression full of disbelief.

"You don’t have to believe me. In any case, I can get you out." Qiudi shrugged, then added,

"Of course, you can also choose not to believe me. It’s not like I’m desperate for a disciple like you. Oh, right. You’d better think it over. If you don’t become my disciple by tonight, it’ll be too late."

「Meanwhile.」

In the home of Taohua Village’s chief.

"Mr. Lin, that person you rescued has recovered. Isn’t it about time we drove him out of our village?"

The sturdy old man, smoking a long-stemmed pipe, asked Lin Chan while exhaling clouds of smoke.

"What’s the rush? He’ll leave on his own in a few days," Lin Chan said coolly.

"But, you know, our Ancestral Spirit doesn’t protect outsiders. His presence here will bring us bad luck," the old man said with a frown.

Lin Chan glanced at the old man. "I’m aware of the matter."

"You’re aware?"

The old man paused for a moment, then understood Lin Chan’s meaning. "Alright, then. We’ll do it your way. I’ll go make the arrangements."

~~~~~~

At night, all was still and silent.

Suddenly, a wolf’s howl rang out, followed by another and another, rising and falling in an unbroken chain.

"Trouble! Trouble! The wolf pack is attacking!" a villager shouted, running out of his house.

The words had barely left his mouth when a dense mass of black shadows appeared at the village entrance.

It was a pack of enormous black wolves. Each was ten to twenty feet long, covered in black fur, with menacing fangs and a vicious glint in their eyes.

"Hurry, hurry, everyone hurry!"

The villagers, one by one, grabbed clubs, knives, and swords, using the village’s terrain to hold back the wolf pack.

The pack, however, was just circling endlessly around the village entrance.

They snarled continuously, as if they had found their prey. Their eyes were locked onto the village, looking as if they might charge in at any moment.

’The pack keeps circling, but doesn’t dare to enter the village.’ Fang Yue had woken up as well. He saw that there were over a hundred wolves outside the village.

The pack seemed to be afraid of something. Between them and the village, there seemed to be an invisible barrier that the wolves dared not cross.

Moreover, the surrounding villagers were clearly aware of this situation.

An invisible wall separated the wolves and the villagers, locking them in a standoff.

’Perhaps this is how this village has managed to survive here so peacefully.’

The wolves kept testing the boundary, not daring to attack.

But finally, one wolf, seemingly unable to bear its hunger any longer, leaped toward the village.

The other wolves, however, didn’t move, still too cautious to advance.

The single wolf that charged in was no match for the villagers. It was immediately chopped into several pieces and tossed aside.

"Hmph! A pack of beasts! You want our flesh? Not a chance!" The villagers were all filled with rage, wishing they could tear the entire pack to shreds.

The wolf pack was not to be outdone. They began to howl incessantly, as if planning to surround the village and slaughter everyone inside in one fell swoop.

"AWOOO... AWOOOOOOO!"

Just then, a great howl echoed from the distance. On a faraway slope, a gigantic, pitch-black wolf came running over.

This wolf was enormous, its fur jet-black, and its eyes blood-red, as if they were about to spew fire.