After the fire was extinguished, Sangmo's courtyard was basically in ruins.
Old Mister Su, protecting Su Qianqian in his embrace, said, "She has lost her mother now and is feeling distressed. As the elder sister, you should be more lenient towards her."
Sangmo sneered coldly, "And what about me? Dad, three days after my mother died, Su Qianqian was about to marry my betrothed. Was there anyone being lenient towards me then?"
"So you took out all your anger on your younger sister, is that it?" Old Mister Su saw Sangmo still dared to talk back, and roared angrily.
Sangmo couldn't believe it, "She tried to burn me to death first. If I hadn't struck back, I would have died!"
Old Mister Su's voice was still thunderous, "But you're not dead now, are you?"
Hearing this, Sangmo didn't know what to say anymore.
She said weakly, "So, you mean to say, today I shouldn't have fought back and should have let Su Qianqian burn me to death, is that right?"
Old Mister Su looked down, holding Su Qianqian even tighter in his arms, "She's your younger sister; how could she actually intend to kill you?"
Sangmo didn't want to talk anymore and turned to leave.
Old Mister Su's angry shout came from behind her, "Unfilial scum! Where are you going?"
Sangmo didn't understand what had come over her. Clearly, she wasn't Su Jinyi, and she had no affection for Old Mister Su, but she still felt suffocated inside.
She dared not imagine how the real Su Jinyi had spent over a decade in this kind of family.
In the time after her mother's death, she must have been in despair.
.
Sangmo went to the inn and used the silver Shen Yanqing had left on the stone table to book herself a top-floor room.
There were still two months before she entered Changli Mountain to learn the arts. Sangmo planned to go early and rent a courtyard in the small town at the foot of Changli Mountain.
Even if she didn't stay on Changli Mountain in the future, she could be closer to Shen Yanqing, so if he got into trouble, she could arrive on time.
The next day, Sangmo set off for Changli Mountain.
Actually, Su Residence was quite far from Changli Mountain, with several mountain ridges to cross.
That day when they were escorted to Changli Mountain, they rode flying horses, which was why they arrived so quickly.
Sangmo didn't have any magic artifacts or the like, so she could only use spiritual power to walk, which was consuming a lot.
Luckily, she wasn't pressed for time, so she could enjoy her journey as she went.
That day, Sangmo passed through a small town.
While eating at a restaurant, Sangmo asked the waiter for directions.
The waiter was a lean young man just past sixteen, who casually threw a towel over his shoulder and said, "Oh! Miss, are you a cultivator?"
"Changli Mountain is still quite far from here, but I do know a shortcut that could save at least ten days of travel."
Sangmo, hearing this, tipped the young man with some silver, which he joyfully accepted and said, "Coming out of the restaurant, just follow the main road straight southward. There's a White Pine Mountain with towering pine trees covering it. Miss, as long as you cross that mountain, you'll reach Yanshui Town, and from Yanshui Town to Changli Mountain, the road is straight."
Sangmo somewhat understood and figured he had no reason to deceive her, so she packed some dry food and hit the road.
After leaving the restaurant and walking for about two hours, Sangmo indeed saw a mountain covered with huge pine trees.
As she entered the mountain, it was nearing evening. The enormous branches of the trees blocked out the sunlight, causing the inside of the forest to be pitch dark.
Sangmo sat on a fallen, withered tree and ate the pork knuckle she had packed during the day.
Due to the hot weather, the pork knuckle was already starting to spoil.
Just as Sangmo was hesitating whether to continue eating, a childish voice suddenly said, "Sister, I'm so hungry, could you spare me a bite?"
When Sangmo looked up, she saw a gaunt little boy with an eager gaze fixed on the meat in her hands.
His eyes were sunken, his lips were dry and cracked, and you could even see the moving joints inside his frail arms when he lifted them.
Sangmo could tell at a glance that the little boy was not human.
"Sister, could you give me some to eat? Just a little bit," the little boy pleaded as he knelt down and kowtowed to Sangmo, "Sister, please give me something to eat; I haven't eaten anything for so long."
Sangmo looked at him and said, "Okay."
As she handed over the pork knuckle she was holding, in the moment the little boy took it, the scenery around them suddenly began to shift.
Dense fog rapidly enveloped the entire mountains and wilderness.
In just a moment's time, the surroundings had transformed into another scene altogether.
The little boy also vanished in an instant.
Sangmo suddenly got to her feet, cautiously surveying her surroundings.
As the fog gradually thinned, the vague outline of a village started to emerge.
Sangmo walked to a withered tree trunk, trying to discern where she was; however, the tree had no bark.
She touched it with her hand, realizing that the bark had been peeled off while the tree was still alive.
"Tsk, strange."
She turned to enter the village to investigate but saw a dozen figures emerging from the misty fog.
Sangmo was just about to take a closer look when someone suddenly covered her mouth from behind, and Shen Yanqing's indifferent voice sounded from behind her, "Be quiet."
As those figures drew closer, Sangmo was surprised to discover that the person leading them was dressed in ceremonial attire for worshiping the gods, holding a ribbon of blessings, followed by a dozen worshippers.
The sound of drums echoed, the smoke of incense swirling around, the worshippers wearing ancient masks danced and writhed energetically, chanting the sacrificial words.
She was somewhat astonished and couldn't help but widen her eyes and prick up her ears.
After hearing the sacrificial chant clearly, Sangmo felt like she had fallen into an ice cellar.
"The Zhang Family descendants hereby offer incense, treasures, wine and food, and the three kinds of sacrificial meat and other delicacies as a ceremony to the God of Agriculture, Ze Lin..."
This was... a ceremony to worship the God of Agriculture, Ze Lin!
By the time calculation of the Mortal Realm, her master had fallen into reincarnation for five thousand years.
Sangmo felt a chill all over her body, and when she looked around again, the fog had dissipated, revealing the desolate and barren village.
She instantly understood why the withered tree had no bark.
This was a scene from the famine that occurred in the Mortal Realm five thousand years ago.
That year, the peasants planted rice with great hope, but the crops that grew bore no fruit!
The God of Agriculture, Ze Lin, did not bestow any blessings.
The people thought they had offended the celestial gods and began to worship, hoping for forgiveness.
During that time, such grand sacrificial scenes appeared more than once on the lands of the Mortal Realm.
But no matter how earnestly the people prayed, they could never secure any food.
......
This was the vengeful return of the spirits who had died of hunger that year.
Shen Yanqing, sensing Sangmo's odd behavior, released her.
The next moment, Sangmo unhesitatingly knelt down.
Her eyes red, her body stretched taut, she remained that way until the procession had moved far away, then she shakily got up and hurried after them.
But the procession disappeared as soon as they passed in front of them.
Sangmo looked around, only to see that all the trees in the village had been stripped of their bark, not even a single leaf remained.
Pots at the doors of villagers were boiling earth, and the corpses were nothing but skin and bones everywhere.
The stench of death was overwhelming, and large vultures circled overhead.
A child, not yet two years old, crawled out from the embrace of his mother's corpse, his bones visibly protruding all over his body.
Sangmo hurried forward to pick up the child, but just as her hands were about to touch him, a giant vulture suddenly swooped down and snatched the child into the air.
The child let out a tiny cry like that of a kitten, was bitten in half at the waist, and even then, not much blood flowed.
Sangmo looked at her empty hands in horror, then knelt down once again.
Why had this happened?
She thought the events of that year had already been repaid...