If the entire length of this area was lined with術 (shu) soldier talismans, it would be like someone had built a dam by the water. Anyone drowning in that pool could only follow the dam forward, unable to reach the shore until they reached the Spirit-Suppressing House.

Everything before my eyes indicated that there was something significant hidden in the river near Fish Basket Village. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a術 (shu) practitioner guarding it so closely.

Old Liu wasn't telling me the whole truth, at least not everything.

I knew that the fastest and most direct way to unravel the mystery was to jump into the water and see what was beneath the surface.

But only a fool would do that.

Plunging headfirst into the pool without understanding anything would likely end with me joining Wang Li's family. I had no interest in being her yin-marriage partner.

There must be some connection between the pool and Fish Basket Village. I didn't dare venture into the water, so I had to tackle the secrets on land first, then turn back to deal with the pool. The safest way to uncover the secret was still to find Old Liu.

As I rapidly calculated my next move, I suddenly felt a flash of golden light before my eyes. A searing pain, as if I were being burned by fire, shot through my body, and even black smoke rose from my shoulders.

I looked up sharply and saw a Bagua mirror hanging from the large tree at the village entrance. The mirror's reflective surface, gleaming with golden light, was aimed directly at the spot where I had been standing.

Transforming into a half-ghost had its advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage was that I feared what ghosts feared.

Coming across ordinary peach wood swords or Emperor coins might only make me feel uncomfortable or disgusted, but encountering a magical artifact blessed by a true術 (shu) expert could truly harm me.

The mirror at the village entrance was one such item.

If I wasn't mistaken, that mirror was the second line of defense for Fish Basket Village.

Just as I was about to disperse the yin energy around me, Old Liu rushed to the base of the tree, holding the mirror in one hand, and said, "One at a time, don't rush."

As the villagers passed before Old Liu one by one, he shined the mirror on them, and only allowed them to pass after confirming they were fine.

It seemed that my injury from the golden light had caught Old Liu's attention.

As the villagers entered the village one by one, I hid in the distance, dispersed the yin energy around me, and quietly followed Old Liu into the village.

At first, not knowing the extent of Old Liu's abilities, I didn't dare to get too close. But before long, I realized that Old Liu wasn't very skilled.

術 (shu) practitioners in the martial world are divided into two types: one relies mainly on talismans, formations, and incantations to exorcise ghosts and subdue demons; the other relies on their own martial strength to fight against demons and ghosts.

I belonged to the latter, while Old Liu seemed to be the former. Talisman practitioners generally have lower martial cultivation, able to fight ghosts, but not necessarily people. This was why Old Liu didn't notice me.

I followed Old Liu into the village entrance and discovered the third strange thing about Fish Basket Village: it had a cement surface.

Villages in the Northeast are basically dirt roads; only model villages have paved roads. Fish Basket Village was clearly not such a place.

Even stranger, I saw a bluestone slab under a crack in the cement. In other words, Fish Basket Village had first laid bluestone slabs on the ground, then paved cement over them. Moreover, those stone slabs were quite old.

In the past, very few villages could afford to pave their roads with bluestone, unless the village had produced some prominent figure who deserved such treatment.

Fish Basket Village had bluestone roads but no memorial archways or gate towers. Did this mean the stone slabs were still blocking something?

Was Fish Basket Village using bluestone slabs to block something from crawling out of the ground under the water tank?

Did Old Liu already know that something would burrow?

As I looked at Old Liu's back, I saw him stop at the first house at the village entrance. He crouched down, reaching for something under the wall by the roadside.

After fumbling around for a while, Old Liu pulled a three-legged incense burner from a hole in the wall and lit three yellow incense sticks at the corner of the wall.

As the smoke from the incense burner rose, my gaze narrowed slightly: Old Liu was also luring ghosts.

No, it should be said that when Fish Basket Village was built, someone had deliberately left a spot for luring ghosts.

Although not every villager understood feng shui, they strictly adhered to the rules left by their ancestors.

One of these rules was to avoid leaving crossroads in the village when building houses and roads.

Anyone who has been to a village will notice that village roads mostly have T-junctions, not crossroads. Even if a crossroad is needed, the two roads will be offset by a certain distance, never forming a standard cross like on a road.

According to術 (shu) practices, this is done to prevent ghosts from appearing out of nowhere in the village and disturbing the neighbors.

Looking at the houses in Fish Basket Village, the village seemed to be quite old. The villagers wouldn't be unaware of such rules.

However, the builders of the village not only deliberately built crossroads, but also hid incense for attracting spirits near the crossroads. What did this mean?