Loyal Heart Roaming the Skies
Chapter 61: See the sheep in the soil

Jiang Wang finished bathing and put on clean clothes before stepping out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed.

Washing away the dirt from the body, cleansing the mind from worldly worries.

Ignoring the little servant who came in with her head down and took away the old clothes, Jiang Wang walked through the courtyard and entered the main hall.

The sealed tiger bone wine was placed on the table in the hall.

Back in Maple City, under the influence of Du Ye Hu, they often enjoyed drinking together.

Jiang Wang was no stranger to good wine.

He casually sat down at the table and tapped the wine jar with his hand, his eyes suddenly fixed.

Underneath the wine jar, there was a piece of paper for some reason.

Jiang Wang looked around and felt nothing unusual.

He directly took out the paper and unfolded it, only to see three words written on it - "Do not drink."

The handwriting on the paper was intentionally blurred.

Is there something wrong with the wine?

Jiang Wang pondered for a moment and shouted outside, "Xiao Xiao!"

Xiao Xiao rushed into the room, panting, "Master, what's the matter?"

"Did anyone come while I was bathing?"

"No... Did you lose something, Master?"

She tightly held onto her clothes, feeling overly cautious.

"Oh, no, I didn't. I was just asking." Seeing her reaction, Jiang Wang didn't inquire further and waved his hand to reassure her, "You can go about your business."

After the little maid left, he turned his attention back to the wine jar in front of him, his eyes filled with interest.

In a small pond like the Hu Family Mine, he remained calm.

"It seems that there is something wrong with this wine. Who did it and why? And who reminded me?"

"Before delivering this jar of wine, Old Man Ge and Hu Guan Shi drank together. Given the petty and scheming nature displayed by Old Man Ge, it is possible that he did something."

"If Qingmu Immortal Sect is affiliated with Dongwang Valley, they should have extraordinary accomplishments in poison. I must be more cautious."

"If that Old Man Ge doesn't know what's good for him, then what role does Hu Guan Shi play in all of this?"

"And who is aware of all this and is reminding me in this way?"

"I don't have any enemies here, and there should be no friends either."

Jiang Wang thought for a while and decided to break the seal on the wine.

A strong aroma of wine wafted out. The color was clear and transparent, indicating that it was a good wine. Hu Guan Shi must have spent quite a bit on it.

Jiang Wang condensed a blue thorn with a single finger and put it into the wine jar.

This was a mid-grade Dao technique called "Swallowing Poison Thorn" that Dong A Zeng had taught him. After more than ten breaths of time, the thorn remained the same, showing no signs of any reaction.

"Could it be that this Old Man Ge has some means that I can't detect? However, the grade of the Swallowing Poison Thorn is indeed falling behind."

With this in mind, Jiang Wang entered the Illusory Realm and spent 1,500 units of power to use the second level of the Dao Platform to upgrade the Swallowing Poison Thorn to a high-grade top-tier Dao technique, turning it into the Swallowing Poison Flower.

Exiting the Illusory Realm, he activated a Dao technique and the Swallowing Poison Flower bloomed on his fingertip.

It had a jade-like color and exquisite patterns.

He directly threw this extremely beautiful Swallowing Poison Flower into the wine and waited quietly, but there was still no change.

"Could it be that it's not poison?"

This small mine had quite a few strange things.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Wang directly gathered a mass of wine from the jar, pressed it into the ground with a palm, and let it seep into the soil through the tiles.

Then he covered the remaining tiger bone wine and pushed it aside.

With his current strength, there should be no opponents in this mine. As long as he was cautious, he was fully capable of adapting to any situation.

Considering the warning on the paper, he would not eat the food or drink the water here. Besides, he didn't really need them with his current physical condition.

Jiang Wang began to meditate in the main hall.

As one of the four Transcendent cultivators stationed at the Hu Family Mine, he didn't have much to do.

He only needed to cooperate with the formation to repel any ferocious beasts that came occasionally.

And once a month, he would escort the miners back to the town, usually with another Transcendent cultivator. It would take two months for his turn to come.

If nothing else was taken into account, this job was indeed leisurely and suitable for cultivators without much ambition.

...

Xiao Xiao finished washing the dirty clothes and brewed a pot of tea, bringing it to Jiang Wang.

Busy as a spinning top, she didn't stop for a moment.

"It smells so good..."

As soon as she entered the main hall, she was momentarily captivated.

It was as if flowers were blooming one after another, with a fragrant aroma filling her nose, making her feel comfortable and relaxed.

In fact, she was already immersed in Jiang Wang's Dao technique, the Flower Sea.

The main effect of this Dao technique was hallucination. If Jiang Wang hadn't restrained its power, Xiao Xiao would have completely lost her sense of reality by now.

He didn't doubt this poor little maid, but he habitually practiced his Dao techniques anytime and anywhere.

Because the Dao technique hadn't fully activated, Xiao Xiao was only slightly influenced. Feeling comfortable and smelling the fragrance were all just illusions.

Jiang Wang took the tea cup and put it aside, coincidentally asking in the influence of the Flower Sea, "How long have you been at the Hu Family Mine?"

This slight influence wouldn't harm Xiao Xiao, it would just make her subconsciously feel relaxed, allowing her to speak from her heart.

In simple terms, it would make her tell the truth.

"For more than two years, almost three years."

"You've been here for so long, do you remember anything strange happening?"

"What kind of things are considered strange?" Xiao Xiao asked.

She hadn't lost her consciousness, but under the influence of the Dao technique, she temporarily ignored the danger and became relaxed and natural.

She didn't speak as cautiously and carefully as before.

"Things that are not in line with common sense. Things that normal people wouldn't do, or things that wouldn't happen under normal circumstances."

Xiao Xiao bit her lip and said, "Ge Heng is a perverted old man. He likes to torture people. The more painful the person he tortures, the happier and more joyful he becomes. He likes to use a whip, wet it with water, and lash it on people's bodies. His favorite is silver needles. He often..."

"Is there anything else?" Jiang Wang couldn't help but interrupt.

The situation with old man Ge Heng was indeed abnormal, but it had nothing to do with the anomalies at the Hu's mine.

The things that man had done made him feel uncomfortable, he couldn't bear to listen any further.

As a result, his dislike for Ge Heng deepened, but now was not the time to settle scores.

"Other things... things that wouldn't normally happen..."

Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, then said, "Last year, someone claimed to have seen a glowing sheep in the mine. Everyone was puzzled, how could there be a sheep in the mine? And how could a sheep glow? But he was so adamant, he didn't seem to be lying... Strange things, this should be one of them."

"What about that person?"

"He was never seen again after that. I heard he might have gone back to his hometown."

It was normal for personnel in the mining area to come and go, and it was impossible to verify everyone's background. Basically, they just left when they wanted to.

But Jiang Wang smelled a hint of coincidence.

"When did this happen last year?" he asked.

"I can't remember exactly, probably around August or September?"

It was now April, and more than half a year ago, around winter, there had been an incident at the Hu's mine where someone trespassed at night and was caught by a Transcendent cultivator.

There had been a fight between the two sides.

Later on, that Transcendent cultivator also left the mining area.

And a few months before that, was the incident Xiaoxiao mentioned, where a miner saw a sheep in the mine.

The miner also left afterwards.

It was hard to say if these two incidents were necessarily related. But they had one thing in common: the parties involved had all left, with no follow-up.

If you put them together, there were strong traces of manipulation.

"Half a year ago, the cultivator who lived here..." Jiang Wang chose his words carefully, "What kind of person was he? Can you tell me?"

Because Xiaoxiao had been that cultivator's maid. After he left, she was "taken" by old man Ge.

So when Jiang Wang asked her, he tried to consider her feelings.

Xiaoxiao lowered her head, her expression unreadable.

The Flower Sea was not a technique specifically for interrogating information. In its current use, it was at most equivalent to a casual chat with Xiaoxiao in a relaxed state.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Jiang Wang said.

"He... wasn't much different from the other masters. At most, he didn't hit me."

Jiang Wang knew very well that so-called maids didn't have much autonomy. The maids in the Hu's mine were largely playthings for the cultivators.

For many Transcendent cultivators, there were no grand ambitions or lofty ideals. The pursuit of hedonistic pleasures was their reason for seeking transcendence.

Even the weak cultivators who had fallen to the point of guarding the mining area, like old man Ge, didn't forget to enjoy themselves as much as they could.

Jiang Wang nodded, intending to end the topic.

But Xiaoxiao continued, "He... he said he would take care of me, protect me, and... take me away."

Even under the influence of the Flower Sea, she found it hard to say. If she were in her normal state, she would never have spoken out.

After all... to many people, this was too ridiculous.

A Transcendent cultivator, promising to take care of and protect a mere maid?

Even if Xiaoxiao was deluded at the time and didn't find it ridiculous, by now she should know how absurd it was.

Because the result was clear - when that cultivator left, Xiaoxiao didn't even know what had happened.

"Thank you for telling me all this," Jiang Wang said, dispersing the Flower Sea.

Xiaoxiao felt a slight daze, then returned to her normal state. She looked down at her own toes.

"You can ask Hu, the manager, for your wages directly."

Jiang Wang said, "Arrange whatever needs to be added to the courtyard yourself. I won't interfere."

The compensation he had negotiated with Hu was mainly Dao Yuan stones. The mine was not stingy with Transcendent cultivators when it came to the gold and silver coins needed for daily life.

Arranging some tasks could make the little maid feel better.

Summer had arrived, and the air was starting to get a bit stuffy.

Jiang Wang glanced at the sky outside the courtyard, which was dark and gloomy.

It was about to rain.

End of Chapter