Ji Yuan had no intention of informing anyone of his plans. Firstly, he had already hinted at the possibility of a major event happening in Dazhen in the future during his previous conversations with Wei Wuwei and the others, although the exact timing was uncertain. Secondly, the fact that his whereabouts were unknown were more beneficial than they were harmful. Besides, it would seem hypocritical to specifically inform everyone that he was planning a long journey.

However, a trip home was also necessary.

On the afternoon of the second day of the first lunar month, Ji Yuan arrived back at his home, and was currently writing at a desk in his room.

Although he didn’t mean to intentionally inform people, he would at least leave a note in Ju’an Pavilion.

After he had finished writing, Ji Yuan put down his brush, picked up the paper, and waved it back and forth, the ink drying at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Not bad, this is good enough!”

This note contained an Edict dozens of words long. If anyone with a connection to Ji Yuan came looking for him, the Edict would automatically be activated. Seeing the note, he figured it wouldn’t be easy for them to track down his whereabouts, but it was enough for them to know that he was heading north to give them an idea of where he could be.

Ji Yuan reviewed it, then ultimately left nothing that could convey expressive meaning. He simply placed the decree on the table and weighed it down with a paperweight.

After completing this series of actions, Ji Yuan secured a few of the old copper locks on the house, exited the yard, and locked the main building with a click.

“Rustle…rustle…”

The leaves and branches of the jujube tree in the courtyard swayed without any wind. Ji Yuan looked at the tree and smiled.

“You can’t move, and it is extremely difficult for plant spirits to transcend their true forms. I will have to trouble you to look after things here.”

With this, Ji Yuan walked back outside the courtyard and locked the gate. Then, deliberately carrying his umbrella and bag, he walked out along the alleys of Tian Niu Lane.

Although Ji Yuan had a very low-key presence in Ning’an County in recent years, Mr. Ji still held a high status in the hearts of many of his acquaintances. Therefore, unless it was urgent, Ji Yuan would walk this route whenever he was about to travel for a while, letting the townspeople who encountered him along the way know that he would be gone.

Some of the neighbors on Tian Niu Lane would greet Ji Yuan when they met him. When they saw that he was carrying a bag and an umbrella, they would ask questions, and naturally received the reply that he was going on a long journey.

On the edge of Tian Niu Lane, the Sun Ji Noodle Stall on the opposite side of the street was still open. The Sun family was quite hardworking, and didn’t even take a full day off, even on the second day after the Lunar New Year.

However, when Ji Yuan passed by, Sun Shusheng was packing up the things on the cart, and tidying up the tables and chairs, and hanging them off the front of the stall. It seemed that he was going to close early.

Sun Shusheng was the youngest son of Old Man Sun. Old Man Sun handed over the noodle stall to him when he could no longer work. Although he was not as familiar with Ji Yuan as his father was, they still knew each other. When he saw Ji Yuan approaching, he greeted him warmly.

“Mr. Ji, Happy New Year. Are you here to eat noodles?”

The Sun family all knew that Mr. Ji lived alone, and that most of the time he did not cook for himself, but rather chose to eat noodles at the noodle stall.

Although they had seen him less often in recent years, Old Man Sun left behind instructions that even if Mr. Ji didn’t come, Sun Ji Noodle Stall would always set aside a portion of braised noodles with offal.

“Happy New Year! It seems you are closing up early, do you still have noodles?”

Ji Yuan asked casually after bowing and wishing him well.

Sun Shusheng put down the small table that he was about to move, wiped his hands on the cloth towel on his shoulder, and smiled innocently.

“Yes! There is still a portion of mutton offal and noodles, and the charcoal stove hasn’t been extinguished yet. If Mr. Ji wants to eat, I will make it for you now!”

Sun Shusheng seemed to suddenly notice the umbrella and bag that Ji Yuan was holding, and asked:

“Sir, are you going on another long journey again?”

“Yes, this trip might be even further, so I will pass on the noodles. Say hello to Old Sun for me.”

“Okay, I definitely will. Take care.”

“I will.”

Ji Yuan replied, and headed towards the city gate. This time, he did not use any flying techniques, but rather walked all the way outside the city. His steps made it feel as if the earth were shrinking beneath his feet. His speed was quick, but he wasn’t soaring. He planned to head directly north, passing through Qi Province, which bordered Ji Province to the north, then leave the border of Dazhen.

This journey would take a long time.

About three months later, Ji Yuan, wearing a gray robe, walked alone down a forested path in the wilderness.

Ever since leaving the Dazhen border from Qi Province over a month ago, Ji Yuan’s pace had been relatively slow.

Dazhen bordered two countries to the north: Tingliang, which claimed half of Tingqiu Mountain, and the country he was currently in, most likely named Zuyue. A large expanse of this country shared a direct border with Dazhen, and there were occasional conflicts between the two countries.

However, Ji Yuan discovered that, after passing through some important towns along the border, the long stretch of land entering the country of Zuyue seemed very desolate. It had been a long time since he had left the last town.

Ji Yuan walked along the wild forest road. Although many parts of this road had almost been covered with weeds, judging by its width, it should have once been a main road. However, there were just too few people traveling down it.

When he arrived at a certain place, Ji Yuan suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at a place by the side of the road where the weeds were particularly lush. He thought for a moment, then took a couple steps closer.

Ji Yuan reached out his hand and swept away the grass, revealing two white bone skeletons with some pieces of cloth stuck to them.

“Fortunately, I don’t need too much food or water. Otherwise, ordinary people walking down this road would have a hard time getting through without enough supplies.”

No trace of souls remained on these two skeletons. It was unclear whether the underworld had taken them away or whether they had become wandering ghosts, nor could he tell how they had passed away. Ji Yuan could only sigh and continue on.

Another half day passed before something that might have been a cluster of buildings appeared in Ji Yuan’s blurry vision. He couldn’t help but pick up his pace, but the closer he got, the more Ji Yuan’s brows gradually furrowed.

A fairly large village lay before him, but the atmosphere was unremarkable. He initially assumed that it was because of the distance, but even as he got closer to sense, he couldn’t detect much.

‘It seems to be abandoned.’

Ji Yuan entered the village and looked around. Many of the houses appeared dilapidated, with weeds growing in thick clumps all around them. There were no sounds of chickens or dogs, let alone of people.

After walking further into the village for a while and seeing no one, Ji Yuan decided not to venture any further. He turned back and went to a large house with no courtyard near the village entrance.

There was a well in front of this house. Ji Yuan had looked around and found that there was still water in it, as well as a rope and wooden bucket. The house was also relatively intact, and could provide shelter from the wind and rain.1

“Gurgle…gurgle…gurgle…”

Ji Yuan turned the crank handle and brought up a bucket of well water. He took it out and gave it a sniff. The well water was very clear, without any smell of filth.

Ji Yuan reached out and scooped up some of the well water, gulping it down. It was quite refreshing and quenched his thirst.

“Haah…this place…”

Letting out a breath, Ji Yuan looked at a low, dilapidated temple about a few dozen zhang away from the village. it was this village’s Land God Temple. There was no divine light left, and he had no intention of using Spirit Binding to try to summon the land god.

In this desolate place, it seemed as though the sky grew dark very quickly. Ji Yuan had only rested for a while before his surroundings had become dim.

After gathering some firewood from a dilapidated house nearby, Ji Yuan decided to rest here tonight. At least he had a roof over his head. Tomorrow was the start of Jingzhe,2 and judging from the weather, it was very likely to rain tonight.

A lot of furniture that would have been easy to move from around this house was gone. There weren’t even pots on the kitchen stove. There were traces of campfires in the living room, probably left by other passers-by.

There was a big hole in the roof over the kitchen, so Ji Yuan simply went to the living room to pile up his firewood and light it. Although the window paper on the door was tattered, it could at least be closed.

Ji Yuan found one remaining stool and sat down by the fire. He stuck a dry biscuit onto a stick, stuck one end in the hole of the stool leg, and held the other end by the fire to roast.

While waiting for the biscuits to heat and soften, Ji Yuan pulled out a book to relieve his boredom. It was the book “A Historical Account from Outside the Tao,” which he hadn’t read in ages. Although he had already read every chapter, he had been cultivating a lot during his down time, so he chose to read it again today to relax.

“Boom…”

The springtime thunder sounded. Ji Yuan held the book and looked up at the door. Lightning twisted and split across the night sky.

“Is this the first thunder of the year?”

“Boom…”

The sound of thunder outside seemed to echo Ji Yuan’s muttering.

However, Ji Yuan’s attention was immediately drawn by something else. In addition to the sound of thunder and wind, he could faintly hear the sound of footsteps and horse hooves, accompanied by the sound of approaching conversation.

Ji Yuan suddenly felt a little amused: it seemed like every time he experienced a rainy night in a desolate place, he would meet another large group of people. But this wasn’t too bad, at least there were people around now.

“Hm?”

Just as he finished this thought, Ji Yuan suddenly smelled something strange. He checked the biscuits in front of the fire, and they were indeed not burnt.

Outside the abandoned village, seven or eight people slowly approached, their faces etched with exhaustion, leading two horses onwards.

One of the two horses carried some people, while the other carried belongings. A little girl, about eight or nine years old, crawled to the front of the horse. Before they even reached the village entrance, the little girl called out.

“Second Master, Second Master, there are people in the village! There are people in the village, I see a fire! There are people in this village!”

The others perked up at her words. As they looked out, they could indeed see the faint light of a fire. It wasn’t yet completely dark, and there were some crumbling houses blocking the way, so they hadn’t been able to see it before. Now that they had noticed it, their pace quickened.

“Finally, it’s not a deserted village!”

“It’s good to see people, let’s trade for some more substantial food.”

“Wine would be best!”

“Hahaha…”

“Stop talking nonsense, let’s get going.”

However, as the group of people entered the village and saw the many dilapidated houses, their sense of anticipation gradually waned, but they continued to move in the direction of the fire.

When they reached a relatively large intact house, they saw a fire burning in the main hall, and a man sitting on a stool, looking out.

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T/n: I gotta say, the author writes solitude and creepy places very well

1. T/n: caught me with the water-well-related ghost paranoia from the very beginning of the story

2. 惊蛰 (Jīngzhé): 3rd of the 24 solar terms, roughly 6th-20th of March. Name literally translates to “the waking of the insects,” for obvious reasons (side note: I hate mosquitoes)