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nTranslator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

nThe villager’s house wasn’t far, just three to four li away from the entrance. Along the way, Old Antique and Taoist Taotie enjoyed the scenery.

nJust as the villager had said, there weren’t many people living here, and most of them had low cultivation realms. Old Antique guessed that these were all cultivators who had accidentally entered the Gate Between Worlds in the past.

nThis fit what the villager had said earlier.

nEach time the Gate appeared, its descent and opening would create a violent storm which would always suck in nearby innocent cultivators. According to the record of the Gate’s opening last year, at least a hundred thousand cultivators had been swallowed up by the Gate.

nObviously, the cultivators living in this village were the survivors.

nHow much despair must these weak cultivators have felt back then, when they’d gotten drawn into this place?

nOld Antique sighed in his heart even as he enjoyed the scenery; this was probably the so-called light at the end of the tunnel, and it was this village.

nAs they approached the villager’s house, they could suddenly feel themselves enveloped in dense spirit power.

nThey were once again astounded. The house was clearly made out of ordinary materials, but it contained a ridiculous amount of spirit power!

nJust as they were about to comment on it, this affable villager stood in front of the house and smiled hospitably. “I haven’t introduced myself yet: my name is Tiger Li, and I’m a first-generation inhabitant. This is my house!”

nUnder the face mask, realization dawned on Taoist Taotie.

nSo this man was a first-generation inhabitant; no wonder he knew the village’s history in so much detail.

n“Your house is made of very common materials, but it contains an extraordinary amount of spirit power. Does this also have something to do with the holy water?” asked Old Antique.

nTiger Li nodded his head without any hesitation. “That’s right; our entire village was built with very common materials, almost all of which we collected ourselves, while we made the tiles and bricks as required. As for why they’re so dense with spirit power… we added holy water when we were making the tiles and bricks.”

nSo it was like that…

nOld Antique and Taoist Taotie both sighed in their hearts.

n“These two sirs, please come in and have a seat.” Tiger Li showed them in with a smile.

nAfter that, he instantly poured them two bowls of water which he placed in front of them. “This is holy water, please have some.”

nOld Antique and Taoist Taotie were shocked. “You’re just giving it to us like this? Didn’t you need to wait for your chief to come back…”

nTiger Li smiled. “This actually isn’t much; at the most it can quench your thirst and replenish your spirit energy. You braved large dangers in order to find our village, so surely you are in need of a huge amount of holy water. It is this large demand which will require our chief’s approval.”

n“So it’s like that…”

n“In fact, every household has a store of holy water. At the beginning of each month, the chief will give each villager several barrels. I just happened to have some left, and it’s just two bowls; please feel free to drink it. Treat it as sampling the product,” Tiger Li said.

nThe two fellow brothers nodded. Since the man had said that, they no longer needed to stand on ceremony, and lowering their heads, they tossed the small bowls of holy water back without hesitation.

n“Tastes good!” It was as sweet as sugar water!

nThey didn’t feel much at first when they drank it, but after the water completely entered their bodies, they could feel their exhaustion being swept away in an instant.

nThe two fellow brothers stretched out their hands and found their palms glowing with spirit light; this was an indication that their spirit energy had been completely replenished and was full to overflowing.

n“How magical…” Both of them sighed.

nThis one bowl of holy water was actually better than spirit energy supplements!

nComposing himself, Old Antique continued to ask, “You said before that we weren’t the only ones to have come for the holy water – who else have been here?”

n“That’s right.” Tiger Li nodded. “Additionally, most of them were suffering from some tricky ailment or other, and hoped that the power of the holy water would cure them. Indeed, the water can have a miraculous effect on hard-to-treat cases, but it depends on the person’s specific condition.”

n“In what way?” asked Old Antique.

nTiger Li pointed at the bowl on the table. “As you can see, although the holy water has magical properties, the effect of one bowl isn’t much. The amount of holy water needed depends on your specific condition or how severe your symptoms are, and only the chief and deputy chief can determine that.”

nSo it was like that… the two fellow brothers were enlightened.

n“These two sirs don’t have simple backgrounds; based on my experience, I’m guessing that you require a massive amount of holy water.” Tiger Li smiled slightly.

nOld Antique raised an eyebrow. “How do you figure?”

n“When both sirs arrived at the village entrance, you were calm and composed; it’s impossible to move around the Gate Between Worlds without supreme realms.”

nTiger Li theorized, “In addition, you were moving in a very specific direction, and you came directly to our village. You probably bought a map from a map dealer, otherwise it’s usually almost impossible to find this place. It goes without saying how powerful you are if you can afford to purchase a map of the Gate Between Worlds… You must be renowned figures in the cultivation world outside.”

nOld Antique and Taoist Taotie were taken aback when they heard this – the villager was actually spot on!

nSpeaking up to this point, Tiger Li rubbed his head. “Perhaps these two sirs wonder why I know so much about the thing with map dealers… in fact, it was our chief who sold them the maps.”

nOld Antique: “…”

nTaoist Taotie: “…”

n“Although the Gate Between Worlds only opens once every five years in the outside world, there are in fact plenty of small, transient entrances inside here which can spit you right back into the world outside.”

nTiger Li said, “Previously, there had been someone who wanted to leave the Gate Between Worlds. Our chief drew a map of the village’s location and wrote up a description of the holy water before entrusting that person to take them out with him. That advert hasn’t been out for very long, but who would have thought that both seniors would actually drop by!”

nOld Antique: “…”

nTaoist Taotie: “…”

nOld Antique: “Then, little brother, when will your chief be back?”

nTiger Li looked out the window and reckoned, “It won’t be long now. He goes out to collect holy water at this time every day; it doesn’t flow from the source continuously, but at a fixed time instead every day.”

nBoth Old Antique and Taoist Taotie nodded.

nIt was at that moment that Tiger Li’s expression turned serious as he looked out the window.

nHe said suddenly, “The chief is back!”

nLooking out the window, Old Antique saw a man carrying a shoulder pole approaching the village unhurriedly from a distance.

nSeeing that the man was about to step through the village entrance, Tiger Li warned them in a low voice, “Later, when you ask him about the holy water, on no account should you ask him if he has ever drunk it or not – that’s a taboo topic.”

n“Why?” Taoist Taotie asked curiously.

nTiger Li looked nervous. “Because the chief has never drunk it at all…”

n“What?” The two fellow brothers were stunned.

nHow could the chief of this village decide not to drink something as good as this holy water? There was something fishy about this!

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