The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#204 - Wooden sword

Lu Jing could sense that Xia Huai's heart had clearly begun to waver after the old man's words at the banquet.

After the meal, the girl said to him, "Would it be alright if I spend some time alone with my younger brother?"

"Of course," Lu Jing had no reason to object.

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Based on what the two had seen and heard in the village during this time, the local customs were indeed quite simple and honest, and the atmosphere of harmony and love didn't seem forced.

It was just like the idyllic world described by Tao Yuanming in the junior high school textbooks.

Even someone as cautious as Lu Jing didn't feel that he would encounter any obvious danger here, and he even had to admit that if it weren't for the trouble with his dantian, staying here for a while to recuperate might not be a bad choice.

After Xia Huai left, Lu Jing, with nothing to do, continued to wander around the village.

Although the banquet had ended, the villagers didn't disperse. Everyone helped to clean up the leftovers, wash the dishes, and then light up the lights and started singing and dancing.

Lu Jing was pulled into a dance by an enthusiastic girl, and then a group of children surrounded him, following him wherever he went.

Their clear and bright eyes stared at him.

Seeing a hint of embarrassment on Lu Jing's face, the girl who had invited him to dance covered her mouth and said, "Don't worry, they're just curious."

"Curious that I'm from the other side?"

"No, they're not unfamiliar with people from the other side, but you're the first person they've seen who doesn't have any regrets," the girl giggled.

"Many guests have come to our village, and everyone has regrets they want to make up for. We've also seen too much joy and sorrow, but your arrival… hasn't changed anything in the village."

"It's the first time I've seen that dumbfounded expression on my great-grandfather's face."

"Your great-grandfather is the village chief?"

"That's right," the girl said, picking up the wine pot and pouring another cup of secret brew, handing it to Lu Jing, who waved his hand in refusal, and then she tilted her head back and drank it all.

"I bet he's still racking his brains over your situation. He's a good person, but his personality is a bit too old-fashioned, and he wishes everything could be done according to the ancient traditions set down by the ancestors."

"For Worry-Free Village, we help guests from the other side of the cave to make up for their regrets. If they are willing to stay afterward, our village can also add new members. And if they finally choose to leave, we also respect their decision, but what Worry-Free Village gives them will also be taken back… It's fair, right?"

"Fair is fair, but isn't it a bit too cruel?" Lu Jing frowned.

"There's no other way. If you want to make up for your regrets, you always have to pay a price. This is a test in itself. You must have enough awareness and conviction to get back what you've lost."

The girl paused, "Unfortunately, it looks like you're destined not to stay."

As her voice fell, the music happened to sound again, and then she put down her wine glass, twisted her waist, and rushed into the crowd again, dancing, and the girl's enthusiastic dance quickly brought a round of applause.

The boy nodded, waving it a few times in his hand.

"It looks really good. Did your father make it for you?"

However, this time the boy shook his head when he heard the words, and then said, "A young sister from the cave over there gave it to me!" He hugged the wooden sword into his arms, looking quite precious.

A look of surprise flashed in Lu Jing's eyes.

The red wooden sword reminded him of another scene in the Eight Views of the Academy, "Forest of Layered Colors."

Yang Tao once said that everyone who entered the "Forest of Layered Colors" would be dyed red without exception, but there would be no other abnormalities, and the red color would naturally fade after a week.

That is to say, just seven days ago, someone from the Academy had been to "Another Heaven and Earth."

However, since about three months ago, only newcomers like him and Xia Huai who had just passed the assessment and were preparing to enter the Academy to study were left in the Academy.

Could it be that a newcomer sneaked into this forbidden area like them?

Who could that person be? Yan Jun?

Lu Jing shook his head, didn't continue to guess, but directly asked the boy holding the wooden sword, "What's the name of that young sister, what does she look like?"

"She said her name was Kui, and she looked… a little lonely," the boy, like most people in the village, was very polite and answered every question.

However, his words made Lu Jing stunned.

Kui was his guide, so after coming to the Academy, he also inquired about Kui and knew that Kui was the most outstanding disciple of the Academy in recent years, and became a fifth-order supervisor at a young age.

Moreover, she was personally selected by Guo Shaojian, but she was a disciple of the previous class of the Academy and had left the Academy for more than a year.

Lu Jing realized that he might have missed something before, so he continued to ask, "When did you see her?"

Hearing this question, the boy who had been polite before suddenly closed his mouth, and then ran away with the wooden sword in his arms.

Seeing this, Lu Jing couldn't help but frown. He quickly turned to other villagers next to him and inquired about Kui.

Those villagers also answered every question, but when Lu Jing asked when Kui came, these villagers either closed their mouths or said they couldn't remember very clearly.

However, after a round, Lu Jing also mastered the skills of questioning, so he found a child of about eight or nine years old again, and this time he no longer asked questions related to Kui, but only asked if the other party had seen a man with a square face and about six feet tall who looked very serious.

And a man who was half a head shorter, a little lazy, but with unfathomable eyes.

The results were all affirmative answers.

At this point, Lu Jing gradually had some guesses in his heart. He didn't delay any longer and ran to the previous small courtyard to find Xia Huai almost immediately.

However, when he arrived there, he found that neither Xia Huai nor her regained younger brother were to be seen.

Lu Jing was about to go out to look for them when a figure that surprised him appeared outside the door.