She put the stone back on the well mouth and returned to the village head's house. She nudged Shen Weixun and Yun Xiangnan, who were sleeping beside her.
One of them was originally from the metaphysical world, and the other was always steady. They were the only two who could cooperate with her.
"Hmm? What's going on?"
Yun Xiangnan was still a bit dazed and subconsciously asked. Immediately, Yu Nian covered her mouth with one hand.
Yun Xiangnan was almost suffocated.
Shen Weixun, on the other hand, was extremely calm.
"I'll create some commotion later. While the people in the village head's house are all out, you search the house for an old - fashioned blue book. It may be blank or have words on it. Wait for me to come back after you get it."
Maybe it was because of her eagerness for revenge, or perhaps the news of the treasure was too exciting. Yu Nian couldn't wait even one more night to get the book.
Both Shen Weixun and Yun Xiangnan were still in a state of confusion. Although they didn't understand Yu Nian's intention, out of trust, they still agreed.
Yu Nian quietly left the village head's house again.
Following the moonlight, she walked in twists and turns to a desolate and dilapidated small courtyard.
Not all the houses in the village were occupied.
There were several dilapidated bungalows that clearly hadn't been lived in for a long time.
Yu Nian used several fire - summoning talismans.
The weeds in the small courtyard were instantly ignited.
Seeing the fire getting bigger and bigger, she quickly went to the next unoccupied courtyard to start another fire.
She did this all over the village.
She burned a total of eight houses.
The village was ablaze with fire, and soon someone reacted.
They quickly ran out of their houses to put out the fire.
Yu Nian thought this wasn't enough.
She went to several graves beside the road and set them on fire too.
Hey, I'll even burn your ancestral graves.
Surely the whole village would be mobilized this way?
As expected, upon hearing the commotion, the village head's family quickly got up and ran out to organize the villagers to fight the fire.
Yu Nian had burned only unoccupied houses, so she wasn't worried about hurting innocent people for the time being.
There were people living around the burned houses.
The thick smoke from the burning houses would easily wake up the neighbors.
There was no need to worry that the neighbors would be burned to death in their sleep.
The nearest well in the village was the one that sealed Zheng Wen.
Although the village had running water, due to its remote location, the water supply wasn't enough for firefighting.
If they didn't want to open the well, they would have to go to the canal beside the fields to fetch water.
This kind of work couldn't be done by just one or two people.
Most likely, all the able - bodied people in the village would have to go out to fetch water to put out the flames of the eight burning houses.
The plan was going very smoothly.
Yu Nian was responsible for creating commotion outside to attract the whole village.
While the village head and his wife were away, Shen Weixun, Duan Qiu, and Yun Xiangnan conducted a thorough search.
Yu Nian wasn't sure how long it would take them to find the book.
She had to keep an eye on them in the dark. When the fire showed signs of weakening, she would appropriately throw a couple of fire talismans to add fuel and delay the time.
However, this method couldn't be used indefinitely.
The villagers were shuttling back and forth to carry water.
After a moment of panic, they quickly noticed that the places they had just put out had caught fire again.
Although they were suspicious in their hearts, they didn't think it was man - made.
After all, everyone around was from the village, and they didn't see Yu Nian.
But the old village head, that old fox, wasn't so easy to fool.
Even the less - thinking villagers in the village had noticed something strange.
Naturally, he had noticed it early on.
With a gloomy face, the old village head threw down the iron basin in his hand and turned back towards his home.
Seeing his movement and his determined steps, Yu Nian quickly turned around and rushed back to the village head's house too.
Anyway, she had to get back before the old village head.
As soon as she entered the door, Yu Nian saw the mess on the ground.
"How about it? Did you find it?"
Yu Nian rushed to the village head's bedroom in a hurry. Seeing several figures rummaging through things, she quickly asked.
Yun Xiangnan turned around and saw her coming back. She grabbed a stack of books beside her and ran over.
She stuffed all the books into Yu Nian's arms and said, "We found them, but we found a whole bunch. These booklets look exactly the same, just as you described. We were afraid of missing any, so we had to search in this way."
It seemed that after Zheng Wen had secretly sneaked in and easily found the booklet last time, the old village head had made full preparations.
He had made many identical books and placed them all over the house, either in the open or hidden. Just in case.
"I knew it was you guys who did this."
The old village head returned in time. Before Yu Nian could start to distinguish the books, the doorway was filled with people.
Yu Nian turned around and met his sinister eyes. But she wasn't nervous. Holding a stack of books, she said half - smiling, "What benefits did the Holy Cult give you? How long have they been supporting you?"
"What are you talking about? What Holy Cult? I don't understand. Put down what you have in your hands quickly. Those are our village's genealogy. If you damage them, I won't let you off easily!"
The old village head pretended to be stupid. The booklets were filled with people's names. In a sense, they were indeed genealogy.
"Genealogy? Then why did I hear from Zheng Wen that this is the secret of your immortality?"
Hearing the name Zheng Wen, the old village head's pupils constricted.
He looked Yu Nian up and down with an incredulous look.
It was hard to believe that a dead person could expose the village's secret.
"You're not an ordinary person?!"
After much thought, the old village head thought this was the only possibility.
If she wasn't a wandering sorcerer, how could she have the ability to see ghosts?
"You're right. The things in my hands will definitely not be returned to you. I also know that this book can control your lives. If you tell me the news about the Holy Cult, I won't make things difficult for you. If you don't, then let's settle the score. I heard that you were going to rob the bodies of the four of us."
Yu Nian's threatening words made the old village head's face even more gloomy, as black as ink.
The four of them were on high alert, and they all began to calculate the escape route from the villagers' encirclement.
Unexpectedly, the old village head laughed out of extreme anger. Pointing at Yu Nian, he said, "Hahaha, naive girl. He should have told you everything, right? Did he also tell you that I'm an old monster who has lived for who knows how long? He's right. This book can indeed kill us, but it can only kill our bodies. Our souls are immortal!
Girl, if you don't have the skills, don't take on difficult tasks. You four want to rob things from this village. It's simply a pipe dream."
"Humph, if we didn't have the ability, we wouldn't have such thoughts. Since you're not willing to cooperate, then come at us!"
Yu Nian was naturally not afraid of threats. After wandering the world for so long, she knew how talented she was. Her attainment in magic had far exceeded others.
She had the confidence to do this.
Suddenly, the old village head laughed wickedly. His low, hoarse voice was full of malice as he sneered, "Hehe, don't you want to know where the souls of those whose bodies we've taken have gone? They've all become the ghosts guarding this village!"