The jade pendant grazed Magistrate Wang's ear and stuck to the ground behind him. Tang Nian looked at the jade pendant with heartache. How could this person be willing to throw away such a fine jade pendant? She couldn't help but glare at Lou Mu.
The girl in pink stood up, squatted down, and forcefully pulled out the jade pendant. After carefully wiping it clean, she returned it to Lou Mu.
"If you don't speak up..." Lou Mu sneered, still twirling his jade pendant in his hand, feeling that he might throw it out again at any moment.
Magistrate Wang shuddered and shrank back like a turtle.
"I...I'll talk!"
Magistrate Wang's trembling voice echoed in the room: "Actually... I only heard that the old man used to have a bronze tripod with four snake heads carved on the four corners, but it disappeared for some reason later."
Snake head?
Tang Nian herself is a hydra, but she has to admit that most of the antique treasures related to snakes are evil things.
She hadn't seen the bronze cauldron yet, but judging from Magistrate Wang's description, it was no ordinary treasure.
Seeing that Magistrate Wang couldn't be of much help, Tang Nian stood up and straightened the hem of her clothes.
Where is Muyun Village?
Magistrate Wang was taken aback for a moment before realizing that Tang Nian was willing to help Muyun County. He quickly stood up and said, "It's just outside the North Gate. Would you like me to send someone to take you there?"
Tang Nian waved her hand, signaling Ming Huan to pick up his sword and walk with her. She glanced at Lou Mu and then walked straight out the door.
"Senior..." The girl in pink was about to say something when Lou Mu raised his hand to stop her.
Lou Mu watched as Tang Nian, without turning her head, slowly walked out of his sight, and gestured for the girl to close the door.
"Lord Lou, this humble official..."
Lou Mu waved his hand: "Get up and talk."
On the other side, Tang Nian and Ming Huan walked out of the government office. It was getting late, and there were still very few people on the street.
"Sister Tang, where are we going next?" Minghuan, with his short legs, tried his best to keep up with Tang Nian's pace.
"I'll go check on the village. You go back to the inn first." Tang Nian stopped, turned around, and picked up the sword that Ming Huan was holding.
Seeing Tang Nian turn to leave, Ming Huan subconsciously grabbed Tang Nian's hem, hesitating to speak.
But it withdrew its hand the instant Tang Nian turned around to look at it, having not forgotten Tang Nian's severe mysophobia.
Tang Nian could tell that Ming Huan also wanted to go. If what Magistrate Wang said was true, then the evil aura in the village should be even stronger than that in the city.
Ming Huan had never told Tang Nian this, but Tang Nian knew that divine beasts like Bi Fang would feel uncomfortable if they came into contact with evil energy.
She understood Minghuan's personality and knew that keeping him at the inn would only make him more uncomfortable. After thinking it over, Tang Nian decided to find something for Minghuan to do.
“Bi…Minghuan, go to that old man’s house and investigate, but don’t disturb the people.”
Ming Huan hesitated for a moment, pursed his lips, nodded, and turned to walk back to the county office to ask about the old man's address.
Tang Nian slung her sword over her shoulder and looked up at the sky.
For Tang Nian, it was hard to say whether a cloudy day without sunlight was good or bad. Without sunlight, the restrictions that Heaven placed on her magical powers would be reduced, but such weather was also perfect for the growth of evil energy.
However, Tang Nian did not find any place in Muyun County with excessive evil energy. Although the four people died in the town, it was very likely due to evil spirits. But judging from the current situation, things were not too bad.
It seems that Magistrate Wang had already given instructions to the city guards, because Tang Nian was able to leave through the north gate without any hindrance.
"Squeak—"
It seemed that the North Gate had been deserted for a long time, as it took the two guards quite a while to finally open a crack wide enough for one person to pass through.
As Tang Nian walked out of the city gate, she heard the two gatekeepers behind her whispering.
"Brother, are we really not going to stop Master Tang? We can't go through the North Gate."
"You're following Lord Wang's orders, kid, don't say anything out of turn."
"Can……"
The city gates closed quickly, shutting out their next conversation.
As soon as Tang Nian stepped out of the city gate, she was blinded by the overwhelming black mist.
Tang Nian squinted and looked back at the top of the city gate. As expected, she saw a small Bagua mirror with several yellow talismans pasted on it. Unfortunately, the black aura was too thick, so she couldn't see it clearly.
It seems that some powerful figure helped Muyun County, otherwise, given the evil aura outside the city, the people of Muyun County would have been in trouble long ago.
No wonder people are not allowed to leave through the North Gate. Even the people living near the North Gate have moved away. Although those people cannot see any evil spirits, if they stay in this area for too long, they will always develop some minor health problems. In addition, the village is not far from the North Gate, so it is not surprising that the North Gate is closed.
Fortunately, she didn't let Minghuan come with her. In her eyes, there was such a strong evil aura about him, and Minghuan coming along might have caused trouble.
Tang Nian closed her eyes and gestured in the air for a while, muttering incantations. The evil energy seemed to be suppressed and was no longer a black mass.
Tang Nian opened her eyes and could barely see the road ahead. She breathed a sigh of relief and moved the sword from her back to her front to hold it.
The village was indeed not far from Muyun County. After walking along the path beside the official road for a short while, Tang Nian saw a stone tablet standing by the roadside. He had to push aside the weeds that were almost as tall as the stone tablet to barely make out the words carved on it.
Muyun Village.
Looks like this is the right place.
But these weeds are growing way too vigorously!
Could it be that Muyun Village doesn't even have anyone to trim the weeds?
She originally thought that even if Muyun Village was abandoned, there would still be some elderly people guarding this land.
Tang Nian took a few more steps forward, and slowly, several houses appeared and disappeared in the black mist, looking somewhat eerie.
Tang Nian stopped, placed her right hand on the hilt of her sword, looked around, and her pupils slowly turned into the vertical pupils characteristic of snakes.
She keenly sensed that the village was devoid of any human presence and did not appear to be inhabited.
Tang Nian had already made up her mind. Since she was here, she should take something back with her.
Suddenly, Tang Nian heard a faint voice, as if something was calling to her from within the black mist. She pursed her lips, gripped the hilt of her sword, and walked toward the direction from which the voice came.
The sound came from the courtyard in the very center of the village. Tang Nian seemed hesitant about whether to step into the courtyard. The sound from the courtyard became more urgent. Tang Nian frowned and could only walk into the courtyard, which had not been cleaned for a long time.
The courtyard, like the outside, was overgrown with weeds, clearly a place that had been uninhabited for a long time.
Tang Nian carefully walked around the house and into the backyard. When she saw what was in the center of the backyard, her pupils contracted.
It's the missing cauldron that Magistrate Wang mentioned!
The four snake heads at the four corners of the cauldron seemed to have noticed that someone had finally arrived, and they all stared intently at Tang Nian, their bronze forked tongues giving the impression that they were about to spit out.
Although Tang Nian was Xiang Liu, from the legendary nine-headed serpent clan, she was still somewhat intimidated by the sight of these four incredibly realistic serpent heads.
The bronze cauldron that could evoke such feelings in her must be no ordinary treasure; perhaps it shouldn't be called a treasure, but rather an evil object.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com