"He makes a living by selling herbs and by treating wealthy families who come to him for medical advice. He charges a consultation fee," the woman said.

Lanqin nodded, thinking to herself: Is what Master Zhou did a Robin Hood-like act? Fourth Master rushed in carrying her, and after saying he wouldn't help her, he immediately burned down the house. In Master Zhou's eyes, he was probably an utterly wicked villain, so he treated Fourth Master like a fat sheep to be slaughtered.

Lanqin chatted with the aunt about some random things about Wudang Mountain.

Meanwhile, Fourth Master followed Zhou Tianhao to the Dumenpo that the villagers had mentioned. It was indeed a canyon area, a section of canyon behind the mountain. This place blocked the mountain road; to avoid it, one had to go around it, adding a considerable distance to the journey.

Zhou Haotian took one of his ducks out of the bamboo basket at the back, tied it to the duck's foot with a red thread, and sent it to lead the charge.

"What is he doing?" Ling Feng asked, puzzled, looking at Zhou Tianhao's strange behavior.

"He's checking if there's any miasma in the canyon. He's letting the duck go in first to see if it can survive. This Taoist priest is very meticulous," Fourth Master said.

Ling Feng nodded as if he understood.

As Zhou Tianhao lowered the rope, he said, "No one has dared to go into this Dumen Slope for a long time. Although I would like to go in and explore, the three of us should prioritize our lives today. We should try to avoid whatever we encounter."

"Of course, I don't want to lose my life here. This place is said to be haunted by vengeful spirits; how many people have died here?" Fourth Master asked.

“Several people died here, all because they saw something unclean. After that, no one dared to come here anymore,” Zhou Haotian said.

Fourth Master asked, "But has anyone actually seen those things?"

“No, it’s just something people like to talk about, but no living person has ever seen those ghosts,” Zhou Tianhao said.

"Is someone deliberately saying this to prevent people from coming here?" Ling Feng asked.

Fourth Master smiled and said, "Daoist Master, is there any truth to what he said?"

Zhou Tianhao frowned and tugged at the red rope in his hand. The duck, led by him, came out again. It was still the same duck, but it seemed to have been somewhere, and its once white feathers were now somewhat dirty.

"It seems there's no miasma, so we can go in and take a look without worry," Zhou Tianhao said.

“Master, look what’s stuck to this duck?” Ling Feng asked.

Fourth Master walked up to the duck, squatted down, and scraped some of the stuff off its feathers.

"What is this?" Zhou Tianhao noticed it too and walked to the other side of the duck.

"It looks like some kind of soil." Fourth Master put the substance on his finger under his nose and smelled it, then frowned.

"Let's go then, we can go in now." Zhou Tianhao removed the red rope from the duck's leg, letting the duck rest there, as it had already completed its mission.

Fourth Master and Ling Feng followed Zhou Tianhao deeper and deeper into the village. The trees inside were much taller than elsewhere, blocking out the sun and making the light inside very dim.

The three of them walked for a while but didn't find anything unusual, nor did they see any ghosts, only some small animals. Because no one dared to enter this place, some small animals had made it their den.

When the three of them reached a ditch, they noticed some glowing objects shimmering in the water. Zhou Tianhao crouched down to touch them. Fourth Master also crouched down and scooped some out of the water to examine them.

"Why is this soil golden?" Ling Feng noticed that the soil in Fourth Master's hand had turned golden.

"It seems there's something in this soil," Fourth Master said.

“The mud in this river seems to be golden,” Ling Feng said.

Zhou Tianhao said, "If we follow this ditch, we might be able to find the source."

So the three of them followed the dark ditch back to its source. They first discovered a livestock pit, filled with the skeletons of many animals. It seemed someone had deliberately left these animal remains there.

"It's terrifying, how did all these animals die here?" Ling Feng said, looking at a pass filled with animal carcasses.

“They were all pushed down by someone. Look, their forelegs are all broken,” Zhou Tianhao said.

"Was someone deliberately pushed in?" Fourth Master asked, puzzled.

“Yes, to appease the wronged souls here, the mountain people push herds of animals to this place,” Zhou Tianhao said. “The mountain people are willing to save money and live frugally to come here for the sacrifice. But they don’t know that what they believe in is actually a setup by someone.”

"Who exactly is trying to prevent people from getting close to this place?" Fourth Master looked around, hoping to find clues from the animal carcasses.

But the surroundings were silent, and they couldn't see anything. They looked at the animal carcasses, and finally could only leave silently to continue searching for the source of the ditch.

The three followed the ditch northwards, and after an unknown amount of time, they finally found the source of the ditch.

"So there was such a big cave here!" Ling Feng exclaimed excitedly, looking at the wide-open cave entrance.