Chapter 16: Memories of the Past

Chapter Sixteen: Past Events

After leaving the mountain, this was the first time Xiao Xianyu had joined others in slaying demons, yet he was far from satisfied with his own performance. The main reason for his discontent was that, at the critical moment of exterminating the demon, he found himself at the very threshold of a breakthrough in his cultivation. Was he there to help, or merely to cause trouble?

Of course, the fact that he could absorb the spiritual energy attracted by the monster had taken even him by surprise. It was certainly beyond what Daoist Decaying Wood, whom he had only known for a few days, could have anticipated.

Daoist Decaying Wood was both shocked and deeply moved by Xiao Xianyu’s extraordinary fortune. Knowing that such an encounter was a rare blessing, he willingly stood guard for Xiao Xianyu, forging a bond of goodwill between them.

When Xiao Xianyu awoke and his eyes betrayed an apologetic regret, Daoist Decaying Wood smiled gently and told him there was one more matter that required his judgment.

Xiao Xianyu, perplexed, quickly stood and said, “Elder, may I ask what it is?”

Daoist Decaying Wood smiled faintly. “Come with me.”

He led Xiao Xianyu away from the eastern cemetery, continuing eastward until they reached a sunken hollow. Xiao Xianyu glanced down and saw a figure lying inside. Above the figure drifted a black mist—identical to the one that had shrouded the monster before. Around the figure, a thin barrier of light shimmered, no doubt a protective ward set by Daoist Decaying Wood.

Xiao Xianyu’s heart tightened. He turned to Daoist Decaying Wood and asked, “Elder, is this the monster from earlier?”

Daoist Decaying Wood nodded with a smile. “Exactly.”

Xiao Xianyu, growing ever more astonished, looked again at the figure and said, “I recall that this monster was slain by my Edge-less Sword. How does it reappear here?”

The Edge-less Black Sword was one of the three treasures given to Xiao Xianyu by his master. With his current abilities, he could not discern its true grade, but it was certainly no ordinary weapon. Since recognizing Xiao Xianyu as its master, the Black Sword had silently guarded him, responding to his every command.

Though this was Xiao Xianyu’s first time wielding the Black Sword since descending the mountain, he had used it countless times during the three years he kept vigil for his master. Under the Black Sword, nothing survived.

Thus, seeing the figure now, he was truly surprised. Sensing his confusion, Daoist Decaying Wood sighed and said, “Your treasure is indeed unmatched in power, but all treasures are sentient. It destroyed only the demon’s evil spirit; its physical body remained. Furthermore, for some unknown reason, her body still clings to a thread of life. That is why I brought you here to make a decision.”

Xiao Xianyu asked, “Elder, you said before that the people of Xingu Village brought disaster upon themselves. Now this person is the culprit behind the villagers’ violent deaths. Could you tell me how they earned their fate?”

Daoist Decaying Wood replied, “Come, let us sit over here, and I will tell you.”

The two of them sat at the edge of the hollow, and Daoist Decaying Wood began his tale.

More than ten years ago, a young woman arrived in Xingu Village. She was extraordinarily beautiful, and her temperament appeared gentle and refined. Her arrival was a mystery to the villagers—why would such a lovely woman come alone to a remote village? Their curiosity aside, both her looks and her character soon won the villagers’ affection, and she stayed.

Two months passed. The woman’s grace and decorum in speech and action endeared her to all. She grew steadily closer to the villagers and became, in all ways, one of their own.

But good fortune does not last. The woman’s striking presence soon stirred the hearts of the village’s young men. Some, already betrothed, broke off their engagements for her sake. Others, eager to display their talents before her, fought bitterly with their own brothers and turned against friends. Some even sold their family possessions in hopes of making her smile, only to drive their families apart. Such incidents were common.

The women of the village, seeing this outsider, regarded her as a specter—heaping curses, slander, and every vile word upon her.

Though the woman pleaded her innocence—insisting she had never asked anyone to do anything for her, never requested gifts, nor urged anyone to fight for her—the village women refused to believe her. Their hatred grew with each passing day.

All these changes transpired in but three short months.

Hearing this, Xiao Xianyu sighed deeply, feeling a pang of injustice for the woman.

Despite the growing hostility, the woman made no plans to leave, which only intensified the villagers’ resentment.

One day, a village woman returned from town with news: “The concubine of a wealthy man has eloped and disappeared. Could she be this woman in our village?” She brought with her a notice bearing the missing concubine’s likeness, and indeed, the picture resembled the stranger.

Believing they had found proof, the village women confronted the outsider and demanded she leave. The woman denied being the runaway concubine, insisting she had never married, but the villagers, determined to drive her out, seized her and prepared to send her to the city.

She resisted, but outnumbered, she was quickly overpowered. The men, who had once whispered sweet promises and eternal devotion, now shrank away like cowards, not one stepping forward to defend her.

The woman was locked in a woodshed, to be delivered to the wealthy man the next day. Her captors hoped for a reward for their trouble.

The wealthy man did arrive, and though she was not his missing concubine, her beauty tempted him to accept her all the same. The woman, outwardly compliant, knew escape was impossible. Seizing a moment of inattention, she drove scissors into her own heart.

As she lay dying, she swore a terrible oath: the people of Xingu Village would live in torment worse than death.

The figure lying before them was that very woman from so many years ago.