"As you can see, Xianyuan Village is truly a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. The archway at the entrance of the village is the Zhuangyuan Archway."

Ji Yong couldn't help but sigh when he talked about this.

The local government has always been very supportive of farmers and rural revitalization, encouraging villagers to develop the rural economy. How could they possibly abandon Xianyuan Village?

The problem is that projects involving Xianyuan Village just can't get off the ground; all sorts of problems always arise.

Over time, this place remained backward, while other villages prospered one after another, but Xianyuan Village continued to decline.

Last year, a wealthy businessman suddenly took a liking to the ancient village of Xianyuan and Xianshui Lake, wanting to invest in building an ancient town tourism project.

Everyone in the village was overjoyed, just waiting for the contract to be signed and the funds to arrive so that everyone could get rich together.

On the very day the contract was signed, a strange thing happened: a boy accidentally fell into the lake and drowned.

The child was seven or eight years old. Although he was a bit mischievous, he had always been timid and afraid of water and dared not go near the lake. But that day, he inexplicably insisted on going to the lake to wash his hands.

He fell into the lake while everyone was watching, and by the time they rushed to rescue him, they hadn't even been able to retrieve his body.

The child's mother broke down on the spot. Her family had moved to the city more than 20 years ago and only returned after hearing that the village was signing a contract. She never expected something like this to happen.

Why should the village be able to distribute money so enthusiastically after her son's death? This is unacceptable! She demands compensation from the village and from the investors.

In the end, the collaboration fell through again.

"Did you compensate them?" someone asked curiously. Although the other party's plight was sympathetic, it seemed like they were trying to extort money from someone who had died.

"How could we not have paid compensation?" The village chief's face was full of bitterness. "Every family in the village chipped in some money, and we managed to pay her back. But not long after, that woman drowned herself in the lake."

Those present were somewhat shocked; both the mother and child were dead?

The village chief said, "The child's father is Hu Zhigao from our village. He was a college student in the village 25 years ago. He tried to stop the child from causing trouble, but he couldn't stand up to his wife from the city."

The villagers had a lot of complaints about Hu Zhigao's wife. They said, "Your son died because you didn't take good care of him. Why should we pay you compensation?"

Everyone was unwilling, but out of respect for the village chief, they had no choice but to agree to pay compensation to settle the matter.

Later, the woman drowned herself in the lake. Many people secretly cursed her for deserving it, but also felt great sympathy for Hu Zhigao, who lost both his son and wife in middle age.

Marrying such an emotionally unstable wife is truly unlucky.

Not long after this incident, two more children from the village fell into the lake and drowned, and their bodies could not be recovered.

The villagers suspected that Hu Zhigao's wife's spirit was lingering after her death and wanted to take revenge on each household, since that woman was not easy to mess with when she was alive.

Everyone was terrified, so they asked a Taoist priest from outside to help exorcise the evil spirits.

After the Taoist priest finished performing the exorcism ritual, he also improved the surrounding feng shui. A strange thing happened: the swollen bodies of the two children floated to the surface.

The Taoist priest said that the ancestors of Xianyuan Village were very wise in choosing this place to build the village, as it was just right to suppress the things in the lake.

He reassured everyone that no matter how powerful the creature in the lake was, it wouldn't be able to get out, and there was no need to worry.

But not long after things calmed down, the villagers began to see ghosts frequently.

If villagers were to return home alone at night, they would see the ghost of Hu Zhigao's wife wandering around the village. Gradually, every household began to stay indoors at night.

The village chief was extremely worried: "Her resentment is too strong, and her body is at the bottom of the lake and cannot be retrieved, so we can't perform any rituals to help her pass on to the afterlife. We don't know what to do."

Mingzhuo exclaimed in surprise, "Village Chief, you know quite a lot!"

Chu Yuqi: "The village chief was a high school student thirty-seven or thirty-eight years ago!"

Mingzhuo was even more surprised. "You are really amazing. It's almost like a university degree now. Unlike the rest of us, we don't like to study."

Chu Yuqi: "..."

To flatter someone, you don't have to lower yourself to this extent, do you?

Moreover, this flattery completely backfired. This is a village of top scholars, and the village's fine tradition is to provide education for its children.

The village chief comes from a good family and is of high moral character. He especially likes children who are good at studying. This behavior of belittling himself to elevate others is completely unnecessary.

"I'm different. I love reading, and my grades have always been among the top in the whole school. By the way, Senior Shen and Qianqian are graduate students from prestigious universities."

Upon hearing this, the village chief quickly turned his gaze to Bu Qianqian, who was sitting quietly in the corner.

"So you have such a high level of education, classmate!" The village chief's wrinkles were full of kindness. "You're such a good kid."

Bu Qianqian instantly became the center of attention, blushing and waving her hand, "No, no, you flatter me."

"And then, what else happened?" Mingzhuo brought the topic back.

Zhuang Xun: "If that's all there is to it, it wouldn't be worthy of being rated as an S-level mission."

He went to the lake to check and found that the feng shui arrangement was not broken. The evil spirits at the bottom of the lake could not come ashore and could only gather resentment and walk around the village. They could not harm people for the time being.

All the evil spirits can do is shake the minds of the villagers and lure those with weak wills to drown themselves in the lake.

This task is already at best rated A, how could it possibly reach S level?

As expected, Ji Yong's voice deepened slightly: "The Taoist priest who made the move was quite powerful, but he died suddenly at home three days later, the cause of death being drowning!"

The room fell silent for a moment. He Wangyao touched the goosebumps on her arm, feeling that the light bulb in the village chief's house was a bit too dim.

That was fine, but when he looked up at the direction of the gate, it was pitch black outside, without a single ray of light.

Having gotten used to light pollution in big cities, the sudden absence of light makes me feel particularly insecure.

He Wangyao squeezed closer to Li Wenhe and Pei Di.

Shen Boyuan stood up, frowned, and said, "We plan to take a walk around the village. If you're scared, you can go back first. We'll stay in the village tonight."

The village chief has agreed to provide them with lodging. Although the village does not usually allow outsiders to stay overnight, these are members of the Xuanmen sect, so they are an exception.

Ji Yong said without hesitation, "Teacher Shen, I'll follow you."

He is an unofficial member of a special official department, and is required to provide appropriate assistance to the trainees. At present, he has clearly regarded Shen Boyuan as the backbone of this mission.

Mingzhuo said nonchalantly, "Okay, then you guys stay in the village and check the situation. We'll go for a walk by the lake later and then head back to the guesthouse."

Fang Linxiao looked conflicted. He was the kind of person who made up for his lack of natural talent with hard work, so he couldn't just go back to sleep when he knew there was a problem in the village.

This is deliberately missing all the clues, how can he be willing to do that!

“If you want to stay, you can also work with Assistant Professor Shen and the others,” Ming Zhuo said to Lin Xiao.

Fang Linxiao was taken aback: "Really? Is that possible?"

“Of course, but why don’t you come with us for a walk by the lake first?” Mingzhuo also got up.

After the two groups parted ways in front of the village chief's house, Chu Yuqi whispered, "They're so insecure, they even brought Fang Linxiao along."