When Lin Xiao returned to Huyang Village, it was already early morning.
The village was devoid of any signs of life, but outside in the wilderness, faint firelight flickered in the distance.
In the area where Lin Xiao had previously set up a formation, the villagers were huddled together in makeshift grass huts, sleeping soundly.
Two small fires burned in front of the huts, and a strong young villager sat by one of the fires, dozing off.
Nearby, two small medicine cauldrons stood cold, no longer brewing medicine.
Fang Tuantuan patrolled the area, keeping an eye on the sick villagers while also occasionally glancing at the dozing villager by the fire, ready to rush over if the man accidentally toppled into the flames.
This was the scene that greeted Lin Xiao upon his return.
The Alliance Army had said they would send people, but knowing the inefficiency of such multi-faction organizations, Lin Xiao wasn't surprised they hadn't arrived yet. The fact that they had managed to jointly overthrow the previous Huanyou royal family in such a short time was already quite unexpected.
For now, the villagers of Huyang Village were still without any outside aid.
Not wanting to disturb their sleep, Lin Xiao didn't approach the group. Instead, he stopped nearby and released his aura.
Fang Tuantuan, just finishing a round of patrols and about to drag the villager away from the fire, suddenly sensed something. It quickly looked up in a particular direction.
Standing quietly in the open field was a familiar figure.
Recognizing Lin Xiao, Fang Tuantuan bounded toward him with a leap.
A soundproof barrier had already been set up around the area.
Over the past year, with the generous feeding from the entire Lingxian Sect, Fang Tuantuan had grown from its once slim figure into a plump, nearly spherical shape. Its cheeks had filled out, and its head seemed to merge with its body, its neck now completely hidden.
Lin Xiao knelt down, stroking Fang Tuantuan's head and scratching its chin with his finger, watching as it happily squinted its eyes and purred.
He then softly asked, "Tuantuan, how have things been these past few days?"
"Meow~" Everything's fine!
Lin Xiao used his divine sense to scan the villagers and found that their conditions had greatly improved since before.
Their complexions had brightened, their breathing was steady, and the villagers whose eyes had nearly bulged out had now returned to normal... In short, they were all steadily recovering.
Fang Tuantuan continued to meow as it reported the villagers' specific conditions over the past two days.
"Thank you for your hard work," Lin Xiao said as he stroked the cat, pulling out a small bag of dried fish and placing it in front of Fang Tuantuan.
"Meow!" Fang Tuantuan eagerly began to devour the snack.
Lin Xiao, meanwhile, approached Huyang Village, strolling around its outskirts and pondering as he surveyed the area.
Although the villagers had temporarily moved out of the village due to the illness, this was not a long-term solution.
Setting aside their deep attachment to their homeland, Huyang Village was impoverished and its people had no means of relocating to a new place and establishing a new home.
If possible, Lin Xiao still wanted to help resolve the problems plaguing this place.
Even though the matter had already been handed over to the Alliance Army, based on his interactions with Elder Zhiyu and Elder Xunfang, Lin Xiao did not hold high hopes for the Alliance's commitment to this issue.
If only there was a way to seal off the harmful aura affecting the mortals here…
He rummaged through his personal storage, searching for anything that might be useful.
While he didn't find anything immediately useful, his attention suddenly landed on a formation stone he had acquired from Wei Hai.
He recalled that the system had described it as a formation stone for something called the Taiyin Sealing Formation.
But what kind of sealing formation was this Taiyin Sealing Formation exactly...?
Curious, he took out the formation stone and examined it.
As soon as Lin Xiao held the stone up to his eyes, it emitted a humming sound, vibrating at such a high frequency that it made his fingers tingle slightly.
This vibration resonated with the surface of his divine sense, and a faint sensation suddenly welled up from within him.
Startled, Lin Xiao quickly focused on investigating this sensation.
However, the feeling was incredibly subtle, and as soon as he made a move, it vanished.
He closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and concentrated carefully.
Before long, the faint sensation returned.
After focusing for a while, he determined that the sensation was coming from the southern part of the village.
Lin Xiao immediately opened his eyes, clutching the formation stone as he rushed toward the village!
The closer he got, the stronger the faint sensation grew. Though still weak, it was now more stable and less likely to disappear.
He followed the direction of the sensation, heading deeper into the village until he arrived at an ancient well.
This well looked like it had been there for a long time.
The stones around it had been worn smooth and shiny, like polished black jade.
The mouth of the well was covered in signs of repair, old patches layered with new ones.
The water level inside wasn't high, but the water itself looked incredibly clear. Even Lin Xiao, who had access to a spring fed by a spiritual vein, couldn't resist the urge to scoop up a handful to taste.
But before he could act on his impulse, the formation stone in his hand suddenly emitted a sharp, piercing hum.
The next moment, Lin Xiao felt the space around him twist, and a massive force suddenly pulled him downward.
When he came to his senses, he found himself in a completely sealed, small space of less than ten square meters.
The room was dimly lit, with a faint glow in the center of the space serving as the only source of light.
Lin Xiao looked around and realized that the glowing object in the center wasn't just the room's sole light source; it was the only thing in the room at all.
Well, not entirely.
There was also a small stream of water trickling along one of the walls.
It was impossible to tell where the water was flowing or where it originated from.
But those weren't the important details. The most intriguing thing was the faintly glowing object in the center.
Instinctively, Lin Xiao used his divine sense to scan it, but just like when he had first discovered the royal seal, he found his divine sense completely unable to penetrate it.
The only difference was that this glowing object wasn't as bright as the royal seal had been before the previous king activated it.
Lin Xiao stepped forward and found that he could actually see into the glowing object with his naked eye.
However, due to the surrounding glow, the view wasn't very clear.
After observing for a while, Lin Xiao raised the formation stone in his hand for comparison.
It seemed very similar...
Considering the circumstances—finding the ancient well and being pulled into this space—it was reasonable for him to suspect that the object within the glowing light was likely something similar to the formation stone in his hand.