Chapter Thirty-Three: By the Brow-Drawing Stream

“Me? What is it?”
I was utterly baffled, but the moment I opened my mouth, the old woman in black suddenly shuddered violently, then staggered back several steps, staring at me with terror in her eyes. Her mouth, already thin and sharp as if bound by leather straps, began to sprout razor-like points, her body gradually transforming. In a sudden flash, she ascended into the air and changed into a crow.

She circled above me and Xiyue, cawing twice.

“So you are the Soul-Harvesting Crow!”
Xiyue snorted coldly, and with a flick of her wrist, a vast net of silvery light swept toward the crow.

“Miss, you cannot be with him—he is a bad man! A very bad man!”
The old woman, now a crow, dodged Xiyue’s silver web and perched herself on a branch of a nearby tree, her wary gaze never leaving me.

“Xiyue, what’s going on…?”
Xiyue looked just as puzzled, staring at the crow that had landed not far away.

“Come, let’s go inside first!”
But as soon as Xiyue and I took a step forward, the crow again took flight, shrieking loudly.

“If you cry out again, I’ll see to it that your soul is scattered to the winds!”
Xiyue clearly disliked the crow’s incessant cawing and threatened it icily.

“Miss, you truly mustn’t be with him! He is… he’s a demon. We… we…”
I was thoroughly at a loss, my gaze fixed on the crow. The moment I looked at it, the crow flapped frantically, trying to avoid my eyes, cawing even louder.

“Can’t you just explain things clearly for once?”
I was starting to get annoyed.

To my surprise, the crow trembled in midair at my words, its whole body quivering.

Xiyue reached out and deftly caught the crow in her hand.

“Speak. He can’t harm you,”
Xiyue’s voice was as cold as ice, but I also sensed an entrancing quality within it, something that seemed to reach into the soul itself. Sure enough, after hearing Xiyue’s words, the crow stammered, “It was him—he sealed the entire Meadowlark Village and used seven Mirror Corpses to block the road into the village. For all these years, only ghosts, demons, monsters, and gods can enter Meadowlark Village—no living human may pass!”

“Then how did he get in if he’s human?”

“Because… because Meadowlark Village belongs to him. He sealed and enslaved us, forcing us to generate resentment every day for his cultivation!”

I felt a pang of frustration. I didn’t even know this old crow spirit, let alone have any strength before Xiyue. As for cultivation—right now I was as helpless as a child before her.

“How can that be?”

“Miss, don’t be deceived by him. I’ve guarded this place for who knows how many years. Every demon or spirit that enters Meadowlark Village, I know of them all. Every few decades, he brings a beautiful young woman into the village, but once they enter, none of them ever leave!”

“What?”
I was utterly perplexed. If I had done such a thing, why would I have no memory of it at all?

“That’s impossible, isn’t it?”

“Miss, take care. Every time I’ve tried to interfere, he’s sealed me away. When I awaken, I remember nothing, but fragments remain in my mind.”
At these words, Xiyue looked at me, her expression a mix of confusion and shock.

“There’s more, miss. When you enter the village, be very careful of those beside you. There is an inn called the By-the-Meadowlark—do not stay there!”
Xiyue nodded, and without waiting for me to ask further, released the crow. She said softly, “Let’s go.”

Clearly, she was speaking to me. As I stepped forward, I heard a faint sigh from the crow behind us, but when I looked back, it fell silent.

“Xiyue, what is all this about—the crow?”
Xiyue put a finger to her lips for silence, then whispered, “It seems my suspicions were right. We’ve both been here before. Otherwise, we couldn’t have passed the Mirror Corpses so easily. They’re a formidable type of corpse; though immobile, when arranged in a formation, their power is terrifying. The first time I tried to enter, I was startled awake because of the Mirror Corpses.”

I gave a soft exclamation, recalling how Xiyue had awakened on the sofa not long ago, calling out about Mirror Corpses in her sleep.

“It seems we’re both regulars in this place. If what the crow says is true, you’ve brought beautiful women here before, and from its words I can tell it’s not lying. I probed its soul and found a black seal deep within—a clear sign that you did indeed seal it, otherwise its soul wouldn’t be so terrified at the sight of you.”

“But I…”

“That’s what I can’t figure out. Come, let’s go to that By-the-Meadowlark Inn!”
My heart skipped a beat. “Didn’t the crow spirit warn us not to go there?”

Xiyue smiled faintly. “Precisely because of that, we must go. The By-the-Meadowlark is our breakthrough.”

I nodded.

Following Xiyue, we walked into Meadowlark Village, which was much larger than I had expected. It wasn’t like Lingquan Village, a simple farming settlement; it had many shops and inns, suggesting it was once a well-known place.

We followed the main road to its end, where we found a small inn, just two stories high. Although unremarkable at first glance, a closer look revealed a child sitting at the entrance—a little girl around seven or eight, dressed in ancient silk, giving off the impression of a porcelain doll.

I was about to approach her, since we hadn’t met a single person along the way—though, of course, I knew these might not be people at all. Still, these “people,” indistinguishable from humans unless you looked very closely, were far less unnerving than outright monsters.

Xiyue grabbed my arm and whispered, “She’s just a rag doll. Look.”

Following the direction of her finger, I saw several “people” emerge from the inn.

As they stepped out, I noticed a strange rune on each of them—but try as I might, I couldn’t discern its shape clearly.

Just then, a woman among them looked at me. Her eyes were like those of a fox, yet she didn’t seem to be a fox spirit. Perhaps my cultivation was still too shallow to see their true forms.

“Let’s go inside,” Xiyue said.

As we approached, the little girl at the door suddenly stood up, a flicker of panic on her face, and darted inside the inn.

Once inside, a plump woman greeted us with a smile. “Welcome, are you looking for rooms or a meal?”

“Two upper rooms,” Xiyue said softly, holding up two fingers.

“I’m sorry, miss, but we’re a bit short on rooms at the moment. You and this gentleman may have to share one.”

“Short on rooms?”
I glanced upstairs. There were only a few rooms on the second floor—six in all. Five were wide open and clearly unoccupied, only the one by the wall was closed.

This is what she calls a shortage?

Xiyue also glanced around, then said calmly, “Very well, we’ll take one room.”

The plump woman gave me a knowing look, nodded, and led us both upstairs.