Hong Jiaxin's trouble was something Luo Yang wanted to help resolve.
However, he also felt powerless despite his willingness.
How to actually help Hong Jiaxin, he had no good leads.
Unless he could unravel the secret of Mu Tan, that might simplify things.
As of now, Luo Yang only knew that Hong Jiaxin's plight must be related to Mu Tan.
But what was Mu Tan?
Was Mu Tan actual charcoal, or a code name? Luo Yang had no clear idea.
What was most frustrating was that Hong Jiaxin herself knew nothing about Mu Tan either.
In Luo Yang's eyes, he believed Hong Jiaxin wouldn't lie.
The mysterious disappearance of the Hong Zhong couple added unpredictable elements to the case.
Under normal circumstances, the Hong Zhong couple had no reason to leave behind their precious daughter and go somewhere else.
There was only one possibility: they had a definite purpose.
Were the Hong Zhong couple looking for help?
If so, why wouldn't they speak plainly?
Luo Yang had no clue about any of these issues.
When the Hong Zhong couple would return was another unknown.
With no place to search for the Hong Zhong couple, all he could do was wait for them to return.
Hong Jiaxin was also bewildered, not understanding what had happened.
Lying in bed, pondering from side to side, she couldn't grasp anything.
In such a state of confusion, only by entering the landscape painting of the "Shennong Scripture" could she calm her mind.
Thus, with a single thought, she entered the landscape painting.
Indeed, once inside the landscape painting, the distractions gradually faded away, blue skies and white clouds, green mountains and clear waters, a sweep of clarity across her chest.
Whoever created this blessed land was a mystery without a trace.
However, such a capacity to create this blessed land must require great power.
Whether a being was an immortal or a god remained unknown.
Luo Yang wanted to meet the owner of the landscape painting; perhaps, on the other side of the forest, Luo Yang lacked the ability to pass through and could only wait for an opportunity.
Occasionally, unidentified beast roars would come from the forest, chilling to the bone.
If that mysterious beast were to come to the pond side, Luo Yang was uncertain how to deal with it.
Fortunately, he had not encountered any terrifying mystical beasts for several days.
Having breathed the fresh air for a while, he entered the stone cave.
Inside the stone cave, he studied the Shadow Fist patterns on the cave walls to learn teaching methods.
Shadow Fist had three realms, and after teaching Zhu Li and Hong Jiaxin, Luo Yang roughly knew that it was difficult for people to suddenly break through to the second realm of "Body Moves with the Qi." It was best first to teach the disciples the first realm of "Listening to the Wind for Positioning,"—should they master it, they wouldn't be far from being Martial World masters.
He only looked at the murals a few times before he found a method suitable for ordinary people to practice Shadow Fist.
There were still many mysterious places in the landscape painting that Luo Yang had not visited. He was keen to explore further but had to give up the idea temporarily because of concerns.
He had promised to catch a White Gold Dragon for Chen Jie's cousin Pang Yifang, so he jumped into the pond, caught one, and placed it in a stone bowl to be taken out the next day. He also filled many small bottles with Pond Water, planning to give them to Chen Jie at noon.
After completing all this, he let his Yin Spirit leave his body, intending to absorb the moon's essence outside the house.
After absorbing moon essence for a while, he wanted to check out Fang Lin's dormitory, to see what she might do late at night. After all, he had seen very round and long cucumbers in her room.
Wandering around the village allowed him to absorb moon essence for cultivation while also uncovering small secrets from each household, which wasn't without its pleasures.
On Friday nights, Fang Lin would sometimes spend the night at the Village Office dormitory and return home in the morning; sometimes, she'd go home the same evening.
Uncertain whether she was in her dormitory, he thought if she wasn't there, then he might as well take a stroll to Tang Guihua's House to see what her sleeping posture was like.