I Am Your Natural Enemy

Chapter 317: Chapter 142: Map of Yan Country, Stone Archway (5k)_3

Wen Yan cheerfully ruffled the little girl’s hair, and even he started to feel a bit hungry.

After he entered, he greeted Auntie Zou and then dived straight into the kitchen.

The uncle in the kitchen, with a sense of ceremony, handed him the meter-long spatula. While the most tedious tasks in the kitchen were chopping vegetables and preparing ingredients, the most tiring part was the stir-frying.

Wen Yan didn’t hold back and got started right away—scalding, cleaning, chopping, and cooking with swift movements.

Just as he began, Zhang Xuewen, whom he had met before, also arrived to help out, preparing chestnuts and sorting and washing vegetables.

After busying himself for over an hour, it was time to eat. Wen Yan took on the role of the unflappable ’food-dishing uncle,’ expertly serving rice and dishes to the children.

By the time the children were eating, Wen Yan looked at Zhang Xuewen, who was holding a bowl, and directly scooped him a spoonful of braised pork.

”Eat more, look how thin you are.”

Seeing the hesitant look on the other’s face, Wen Yan smiled.

”Don’t worry, the braised pork I make is absolutely not greasy. I specially learned how to make this dish.”

Sitting together for the meal, Wen Yan thought that food stir-fried in a large pot was truly delicious.

After a day’s work, as Wen Yan was leaving, he received a gift. A taciturn young boy had cleaned the shrimp heads, shells, legs, and tails left over from their previous meal and fashioned them into a shrimp soldier ornament for him.

It seemed to be glued together, with some other discarded materials used. It looked like a lot of care went into it.

Wen Yan sincerely thanked him, saying he really liked it and would come again next time.

Back in Virtue City, as Wen Yan passed through the city center, he deliberately took a look around. He knew there was a Stone Archway at the crossroads but had never paid much attention to it.

Now, reminded by Cai Heizi, he belatedly realized that the out-of-place Stone Archway did seem a bit odd.

Such archways are very common in Nanwu County; you could say they’re everywhere.

But generally, they have specific standards and significance; they can’t just be erected anywhere.

The Stone Archway in front of him was at most four or five meters tall, considerably shorter than normal, and probably less than four meters wide. Most importantly, there wasn’t a single character inscribed on it.

Wen Yan had indeed seen it more than once but had always considered the Stone Archway a mere decoration.

In the whole of Virtue City, he dared say, unless someone had never left home since birth, one hundred percent of the population had seen this Stone Archway. Yet, despite its long presence, not a single person had ever thought there was anything abnormal about it.

If Cai Heizi wasn’t going to elaborate, so be it, Wen Yan thought. He could always ask someone else.

It concerned local matters. And for something so conspicuously placed right in the city center, finding someone who could provide clues should be extremely easy. The most direct approach was to ask Zhang Laoxi.

A trip to the hospital revealed Zhang Laoxi had recovered quite well. Having taken three perfectly suited Yin and Soul Nourishing Pills, his recovery was swift. The depletion of his bodily reserves hadn’t damaged his foundation, so replenishing his strength was proving easy.

Moreover, Zhang Laoxi had experienced a stroke of luck amidst his misfortune. His realm in Cultivation had advanced further, and he could now even allow his Nether Soul to leave his body normally at night, using the lunar essence to refine his Yin God.

To be able to do this autonomously, have the manifested Nether Soul return to his body intact, and awaken without any negative aftereffects—this pure realm of Cultivation undoubtedly signified he had reached the stage where he qualified for the Impart Teaching ceremony.

Strictly speaking, to undergo the Impart Teaching ceremony, one also needs to be tested on professional knowledge and various practical operations.

Afterward, one would need a recommendation and undergo scrutiny; it was actually quite a troublesome process.

Moreover, the Taoist Sect always emphasized the most authentic practical experience, requiring candidates to have a foundation of personally completed cases.

This last point wasn’t a problem for Zhang Laoxi. He had genuinely handled many cases independently, far more than the average Taoist. His experience was extensive, and in the process, he had also accumulated a wealth of knowledge not typically learned through formal studies.

Furthermore, Fuyu Mountain possessed its own Impart Teaching rituals and the authority to confer it. Zhang Laoxi’s upcoming ceremony should proceed without any issues.

This time, after being discharged, he was supposed to go back to Fuyu Mountain for further study.

Previously, after Aunt Gan had given Zhang Laoxi an Iron Ring Magic Artifact, he was supposed to return to Fuyu Mountain. However, he had ongoing work that dragged on. Now, after so many subsequent incidents, he had no choice but to go back.

After inquiring about Zhang Laoxi’s health and confirming there were no major issues, Wen Yan got to his main question.

”In the city center, there’s a Stone Archway. Do you know what’s up with that?”

”Which Stone Archway?”

”The one at the crossroads. It’s the only one there, the place you pass by every day if you’re in a vehicle.”

However, even with such an obvious object, Zhang Laoxi still took a good long while to place it and understand what Wen Yan was referring to.

”That Stone Archway... it doesn’t have any problems, does it?”

”With such a conspicuous thing, and it doesn’t even register with you right away—don’t you think that’s a problem?”

”HISS... You’re right. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it, but I’ve unconsciously ignored it all this time. Now that you mention it, it does seem odd. I recall noticing that Stone Archway when I first came to Virtue City, but I never paid attention to it again afterward. Is there something wrong with it? Can you tell me?”

”I’m not sure either. Minister Cai only mentioned it in passing, and I reckon he might not be too clear on it himself, so I thought I’d look into it.”

Zhang Laoxi strained to recall for a good while.

”I remember something. That thing has been placed there for at least thirty years or more.

When I first came to Virtue City, I casually asked someone about it. I remember being told that back then, this area wasn’t the city center. Development and expansion had only just reached the vicinity of the current urban core, and it seems that Stone Archway was already standing there.

Later, as the city expanded northward, it wasn’t demolished. The local people have always regarded such archways with great importance, believing that destroying one would damage their family’s fortune.

Moreover, because it happened to be located at a crossroads, no one moved the Stone Archway, and so it has remained there to this day.

As for when exactly it was built, that’s unknown.

However, I can ask around. I know quite a few people here.

The things they know may not be recorded in writing.”