Tanhua Village leans against Tanhua Mountain, its name sounding similar but written differently. Legend has it that a schoolteacher traveled here and named the village "Tanhua Village".

The Lotus Sutra, in the chapter on Expedient Means, states: "The Buddha told Shariputra, 'Such a wonderful Dharma is only spoken by the Buddhas and Tathagatas at certain times, just as the Udumbara flower appears only once in a while.'"

The epiphyllum at this time refers to the Udumbara flower, and this phrase is the origin of the idiom "ephemeral beauty".

At dawn, wisps of smoke rose from every household in Tanhua Village, and the damp scent of rain mingled with the aroma of cooked food in the air.

The village chief's house was in the middle of the village. Li was cooking at home when Li Laosi took Yan Liang and Pang Yu to find the village chief.

The village chief, with his white hair and wrinkled skin, was in his seventies. After listening to Li Laosi's introduction of Yan Liang, he showed some excitement and said, "If Master Yan can get rid of the evil spirit, I will definitely reward him handsomely."

Li Laosi had previously told Yan Liang that the first person to go missing was the village chief's youngest son, a butcher. No wonder the village chief was so agitated.

Yan Liang smiled and said, "I will do my utmost."

Whether it was the village chief or other villagers, they all said the same thing: they firmly believed that the woman who had died unjustly many years ago had returned to seek revenge.

As Yan Liang listened to their cacophony of voices—some expressing resentment and cursing towards the woman, others fearing the unknown—but none questioning why the woman sought revenge, he asked, "After the woman's remains were discovered, did you report it to the authorities?"

The previously noisy crowd fell silent in an instant.

"We reported it to the authorities, but they refused to come, saying it was too far away," someone whispered in the crowd.

"Exactly!"

"Since the government was unwilling to send anyone, we took it upon ourselves to bury the woman. Would you like to go and see her grave, Master?"

The villagers echoed each other, but it was clearly they who first brought up the topic of the woman's grave. Yet none of them were willing to go to the grave. In the end, it was a young man who led Yan Liang to the woman's grave.

In this village, everyone who dies is buried in one place, except for this woman's grave, which is located at the foot of the mountain, overgrown with weeds, and a wooden plank on the grave mound is tattered and broken.

Yan Liang raised an eyebrow.

Pang Yu also felt this was a bit excessive—the woman died a violent death in the mountains for no apparent reason, yet she couldn't even have a good afterlife.

Yan Liang asked the young man where the woman's husband and daughter were now. The young man was stunned for a moment, and hesitated before saying, "My third uncle drowned while he was fishing by the river later."

Yan Liang: "...Drowned?"

The young man scratched his head: "After his third aunt was discovered, he was distracted... My dad advised him not to go fishing anymore, but he probably wanted to forget about his third aunt... He didn't listen to the advice."

He sounds like someone deeply in love.

The young man's father was the fisherman's second brother, and the young man was quite familiar with the fisherman's family. Now, when he recalls it, he speaks in a logical and coherent manner.

"After my third uncle died, my father took Xiaoshizi in and raised her, but she cried and made a fuss, and later... she ran away."

The little persimmon is the fisherman's daughter.

The young man also found it strange: "We searched for a long time but couldn't find it. The villagers said it ran into the mountains and was carried away and eaten by wolves..."

This family is so pitiful.

Yan Liang sighed.

“Ah, Master, you should be careful if you go into the mountains. Two days ago, a passing swordsman went into the mountains and never came out.” The young man said, “He didn’t believe in evil spirits taking lives, so he went into the mountains, but he didn’t come out.”

No one had told him this before... Yan Liang was stunned.

"The village chief and the others probably didn't tell you because they were afraid you wouldn't want to go in if you knew." The young man scratched the back of his head again, his eyes darting around. "Everyone's scared..."

Pang Yu was somewhat indignant—although the villagers had said from the beginning that someone had gone missing in the mountains, they had not mentioned the missing swordsman. Wasn't this obviously an attempt to get people to go in?

Dressed in a grey robe, Yan Liang, despite his physical disability, possessed an extraordinary air. The villagers trusted him without reason, partly out of desperation. When Yan Liang and Pang Yu had breakfast at Li Laosi's house and announced they would immediately go into the mountains to investigate, the villagers thanked them profusely, practically praising Yan Liang to the heavens. Pang Yu almost thought the man beside him was a deity descended from heaven.

They escorted Yan Liang and Pang Yu to the foot of the mountain, but stopped when they were still quite a distance from the mountain path.

Tan Huashan was hidden in the thick fog, and a very faint scent wafted in the wind, like the fragrance of flowers, mixed with the smell of earth.

Yan Liang bid farewell to the villagers of Tanhua Village and went into Tanhua Mountain with Pang Yu.

The mountain path was rugged, consisting of narrow trails made by people. It had rained earlier, and the ground was damp. To prevent slipping, Yan Liang tossed the fortune-telling banner to Pang Yu, picked up a stick from the ground, and got his hands covered in morning dew.

Pang Yu carefully followed behind him, carrying the fortune-telling banner. He was puzzled by Yan Liang's limping gait and the fact that he seemed about to slip and fall at any moment. He couldn't understand why Yan Liang had agreed: "The affairs of this village have nothing to do with us. Besides, the mountains are dangerous. We might as well continue to report to the government and let them take care of it."

Spring has arrived, withered trees have come back to life, old flowers have bloomed again, the trees in the mountains are lush and green, and the mist is thick. Looking into the forest, all you can see is a bottomless gray.

Yan Liang spoke slowly, his tone ethereal: "Since we're here, we should at least see the legendary evil spirit before we leave."

Pang Yu recalled what he had said last night and asked in confusion, "Didn't you mean yesterday that there are no ghosts?"

“Ghosts are those who return. They are the dead returning to their old places, perhaps because their last wishes were not fulfilled, or perhaps because their grudges have not been resolved.”

The mountain breeze was chilly. Pang Yu sneezed and saw that Yan Liang, a man with a limp, was walking faster than him. He looked around, shivered, and quickly followed.

Yan Liang's voice contained a hint of amused laughter that was hard to define.

"When evil spirits cause trouble, it is because people are using the name of ghosts to carry out acts of revenge."

"You figured that out?" Pang Yu asked, full of curiosity.

Before Yan Liang could answer him, a rustling sound came from the bushes ahead. Startled, Pang Yu quickly moved closer to Yan Liang, his nerves on edge, staring intently at the bushes, afraid that something frightening might jump out.

The bushes rustled for a moment, and a little girl emerged from them. She looked to be no more than ten years old, with scratches on her face, and stared timidly at Yan Liang.

"Hello." Yan Liang raised an eyebrow and extended his hand to her. "Are you from Tanhua Village?"

The girl stared blankly at the hand with distinct knuckles in front of her, hesitated for a long time, and then shook her head.

Yan Liang said to her, "Come with us first, and we can ask around the village when we get back."

The little girl quietly let Yan Liang take her hand and looked up at him.

Pang Yu thought to himself that Yan Liang was a really good person. He smiled at the little girl and then turned to ask Yan Liang, "Where are you going? There are no paths in these mountains. Be careful not to get lost in the forest."

Yan Liang said, "Li Laosi said that the villagers who go into the mountains will come out for no apparent reason after they go in, and we should be the same if nothing unexpected happens."

Pang Yu thought for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "What if something unexpected happens?"

Yan Liang said in a relaxed tone, "Then let's leave it to fate and see if we can find those villagers and livestock that have gone missing in the mountains."

Pang Yu covered his face with one hand: "...I'm counting on you. Don't let me lose my life in this desolate wilderness before I get back to Kaifeng."

The two continued up the winding mountain path, chatting as they walked, and the quiet mountain air seemed to come alive with their voices.

Pang Yu wiped his sweat and sighed, "My dad definitely won't recognize me when I get back."

Yan Liang's mouth was dry. Hearing this, he looked him over and nodded in agreement: "I think so too."

Pang Yu then asked, "We've been walking for so long, why haven't we gotten out yet?"

Yan Liang lowered his eyes and smiled slightly at the little girl: "Naturally, it's because someone wants to trap us here."

Pang Yu: "Huh?"

Yan Liang raised an eyebrow: "Don't you think we've been going in circles?"

Pang Yu was filled with dread as he pondered the question: "...??? What did you just say?"

Yan Liang patiently repeated, "We've been going in circles in the same place."

Pang Yu stammered, "Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost, wall?!"

Yan Liang nodded: "Mm."

Pang Yu: "But, Coco, are you saying that people are causing trouble under the guise of ghosts??"

Yan Liang: "I was just kidding."

Pang Yu: "Which one is it???"

Yan Liang gave a mysterious smile, and Pang Yu's legs went weak. He was on the verge of tears: "Brother—Brother Yan—Brother Liang—I beg you, please don't play me like this..."

“Hey, little brother Pang Yu.” Yan Liang responded readily, putting away his joking thoughts and saying seriously, “This mountain mist is poisonous. It’s harmless to humans, but it can cause hallucinations. To the poisoned person, they seem to be walking, but in reality, they haven’t gone very far.”

Pang Yu first realized what was going on, then thought about it and found it strange: "But all those villagers came out."

According to Yan Liang, the villagers were also poisoned by the same poison, but they went in and then came out again, without staying in the mountains for a long time, which is obviously different from their situation.

“With a little guidance, they can get out.” Yan Liang paused, then said, “As for why we haven’t gotten out yet—”

"You know, right, little girl?"

He looked at the little girl staring at him and smiled slightly.

Pang Yu: ...?

Pang Yu: !!!

"Big brother is very smart," the little girl said. "How did he figure it was me?"

Why was it discovered?

—Of course there are cheat codes.

Yan Liang thought.

"Heavenly secrets must not be revealed."

He answered in a pretentious manner.

"Wait, wait a minute—Brother Yan?!?"

Pang Yu looked at the little girl, then at Yan Liang, perfectly illustrating the difference between a casual player and a pay-to-win player.

"Let me introduce you. This is Little Persimmon." Yan Liang calmly patted the boy's shoulder and introduced him to both of them. "This is Pang Yu."

It's true that the villagers of Tanhua Village are simple and honest, but also timid and cowardly. The woman was clearly killed by the village chief's son, and most of the villagers knew about it, but they didn't report it to the authorities; they simply buried the woman's body hastily and called it a day.

The fisherman was deeply in love with the woman, but he still married her when she had lost all her memories and was half-witted, taking advantage of her loneliness, vulnerability, and beauty. Even after she regained her memory, he refused to let her leave, dragging it out for four years.

After regaining her memory, the woman must have been very unhappy with her life back then. Even though her husband treated her well, it wasn't what she ultimately wanted.

After reaching an agreement with the fisherman, she was to leave that very night. However, on the day she left the village, she encountered the village chief's son. This man, greedy and lustful, had coveted the woman's beauty for years. Thinking she was about to leave Tanhua Village, he became wicked and attacked her. The woman was physically weaker than him, and her desperate resistance only angered the village chief's son…

“I saw it.” Little Persimmon pulled Yan Liang’s hand and walked forward on the mountain path. She was going to take Yan Liang to the place where those villagers were trapped. Her tone was serious. “My mother originally wanted to take me away.”

She had a long memory of this matter and was extremely intelligent. She had learned to read from her mother and had books left by her mother. She also learned to make medicine and drugs on her own.

The identity of Xiaoshizi's mother is unknown. After her memory returned, she wrote books and drew pictures intermittently. Xiaoshizi still cherishes that book.

“Those people are not good people; they all know about my mother,” Xiao Shizi said.

"Where is the village chief's son?" Yan Liang asked her.

“Kill him.” Little Persimmon said coldly.

Pang Yu shuddered.

He felt that the girl didn't look like she was ten years old at all.

Yan Liang: "Where are the others?"

Little Persimmon: "I didn't kill them."

Although Little Persimmon didn't kill them, she trapped them in a cave, regularly feeding them and watching them argue over the food, which had now become her source of amusement.

"There's another person, the swordsman from three days ago," Yan Liang continued, "Where is he?"

"He's too noisy—"

Little Persimmon stopped in his tracks, and a figure emerged from the mist ahead.

Hearing the faint sounds of conversation coming from the mist, Bai Yutang coldly chopped down the tree in front of him.

This place is strange; the villagers all say it's haunted by evil spirits, but he thinks it's just a figment of his imagination, born out of anxiety after doing something wrong.

Bai Yutang was a man who hated evil and dared to think and act. He had always despised talk of gods and ghosts. Seeing that the village was bewitched and strange things were happening one after another, he temporarily put aside the matter of Kaifeng Prefecture and wanted to go to Tanhua Mountain to find out the truth. But who knew that he would be trapped in the mountain. This really annoyed the proud and arrogant Jinmaoshu.

Now, listening to the conversation carried on the wind, the noisy Bai Yutang, the Golden-haired Rat, appeared before the three with a cold face.

"Who are you calling noisy?"

Author's Note: I'm here—

Finally, we've gotten to Master Bai, hahaha!

My writing skills are too weak to handle suspenseful mystery plots, and they lack logic. Just assume Yan Liang is incredibly intelligent and has an amazing system!

Thank you to all the gentlemen who left comments and added this to their favorites! hhhhh

OK--

There's a calculation problem in this chapter.

How old is the little persimmon now?

A. 13 years old

B. 11 years old

c. 12 years old

D. 10 years old

E. Does such a simple problem even need to be solved?