The night was deep and still, and the village elders were already asleep. Jiang Wen's eyes could see clearly in the darkness, with Mo Xiang following beside him, holding a flashlight.
The two of them stood by the well, both scrutinizing the water-filled opening.
"Brother Jiang, should we go down and take a look?" Mo Xiang asked softly.
"Of course. There should be something at the bottom of this well," Jiang Wen nodded, taking out a water-repelling talisman. He stuck it to his body, which would allow him to breathe freely underwater for three hours. This was even more useful than diving gear, but it required keeping the talisman close to the body when entering the water.
Mo Xiang imitated him, taking out a talisman in a practiced manner and sticking it to herself with a hand gesture.
The two smiled at each other and then jumped into the well.
The well opening was narrow, and looking up at it from the water's surface made it seem even smaller. No wonder the ancients had the saying 'to view the sky from the bottom of a well.' It was probably Han Yu, that fellow, who jumped into a well out of boredom, and was inspired by what he saw outside.
A slight chill ran through him, but Jiang Wen dispelled it with a little magic. Then, he plunged into the water and swam towards the bottom.
Mo Xiang followed behind him, curiously looking around. The two of them moved through the water as freely as fish, and soon they reached the bottom of the well.
The bottom of the well was a rather large pool, spanning hundreds of square meters. The water was so clear that they could easily see everything around them.
However, this place was indeed centuries old, and perhaps because it hadn't been cleaned for a long time, there were scattered white bones at the bottom of the well. The bones were covered in moss, indicating that they were the remains of corpses from hundreds of years ago.
There were also many other things at the bottom of the water, from ancient, rotten wooden boxes and broken porcelain to modern-day short guns and discarded mechanical watches, and even current-day beer bottles and plastic bottles. It was as if they were witnessing the decline of history.
Jiang Wen surprisingly found a museum-like feel in the small well, which truly filled him with endless sighs. Perhaps many years ago, this place wasn't as desolate and deserted as it was now, and many people came to this well to draw water.
"Brother Jiang, what are you looking at?" Mo Xiang didn't understand these things. She looked a little flustered when she saw the white bones and hid behind Jiang Wen. She peeked out a little and asked curiously.
"Looking at a piece of history," Jiang Wen replied with a smile.
He waved his hand towards the bottom of the well, and all the filth was swept into his sleeve. He felt satisfied only when he saw the bottom of the well clean and free of dirt.
After all, knowing there were bones at the bottom of the well made drinking the water feel unsettling.
There was a passage on the side of the well, deep and unknown. It looked like a man-made escape route, which could be used to escape to other places in case of danger.
Jiang Wen focused his magic power on his eyes and looked towards the passage. He saw an unknown substance constantly flowing from the passage, affecting the water quality of the well.
"Mo Xiang, can you see where the strangeness in this well is coming from?" Jiang Wen asked Mo Xiang.
Mo Xiang made a hand seal with both hands and brushed them over her eyes. She felt clarity in her eyes, and the world looked very different.
This technique was a common eye-opening method in Taoism, which could temporarily open the Yin-Yang eyes and observe things in both the Yin and Yang realms. Most people with low cultivation levels would use external objects to open them, such as bull's tears or morning dew.
However, compared to real Dharma eyes, these Yin-Yang eyes could see fewer things. Some invisibility spells would also be difficult to detect. But Mo Xiang had only been practicing Taoism for half a year, and it was already a remarkable talent for her to open her eyes without external objects. After all, he knew the difficulty of the Yellow Court Scripture, and it was difficult for ordinary people to cultivate anything from it.
Yan Gongli had also tried to practice the Yellow Court Scripture, after all, Jiang Wen never minded teaching the Yellow Court Scripture to others. To him, sects were just names, and the Taoist lineage was the real thing.
He had always suspected that the Taoist lineage option on the stone tablet was also related to preaching. In the history of China, Taoist ancestors were willing to spread the Taoist lineage widely, and were willing to teach anyone who could listen.
However, Yan Gongli also found it extremely difficult to cultivate the Yellow Court Scripture, and even found it difficult to perceive the feeling of spiritual energy flowing through the three springs. She had recently been studying in the temple how to combine the Yellow Court Scripture with the Sovereign Art to create a method that suited her.
According to her, this Yellow Court Scripture took a different approach and was a unique path outside of the path of cultivating life fire. She even faintly felt that the path taken by cultivating the Yellow Court Scripture was the real path of cultivation. However, this matter was too shocking and world-shattering, no less than denying the cultivation system of the past millions of years.
Furthermore, back to the topic, after Mo Xiang opened her Dharma eyes, she saw the ink continuously gushing out from the passage, completely lacking the crystal-clear feeling, only this indescribable disgustingness.
Mo Xiang took a few steps back and pointed to the passage, saying, "Brother Jiang, I see black things constantly flowing out of this place, it should be inside."
"Not bad, your spells have improved," Jiang Wen praised, making a hand seal and using his magic power to maintain the talisman, then throwing it towards the passage.
This talisman was called Exorcising Evil and Suppressing Calamities, and it belonged to a type of Maoshan Taoist magic. Jiang Wen had read all the books in the world, and he had deduced everything he could. He had gained a lot and was pleasantly surprised.
This Maoshan magic was one of them, and he deduced it and manifested it in the world.
The talisman flew through the water and stuck to the wall of the passage. The black water flowing out was instantly stopped, and the well water, which had been emitting fluorescence, began to return to normal.
Seeing this situation, Jiang Wen nodded in satisfaction. The two of them swam towards the passage one after the other.
At first, it was extremely narrow, barely enough for one person to pass through, but after dozens of steps, it suddenly opened up. It was a passage built of bluestone, three or four meters high. It twisted and turned in nine bends and eight folds, and no one knew where it led. The two of them didn't see the cave entrance until half an hour later.
It would have taken more than a moment to build such a long passage. Moreover, it was in the water, and the water taken should be groundwater. The villagers said that this well had a history of more than five hundred years, and it was difficult to imagine how the ancients built this well back then.
They emerged from the cave and floated on the water, hearing the gurgling of the water.
Everything was black above and below, but in Jiang Wen's eyes, it was bright and clear. He leaped onto the underground path and turned on the flashlight he had bought. At this time, magic lighting still had some flaws, and it was not as far-reaching as technology.
Cultivation and the use of technology products did not conflict, and Jiang Wen even felt that if the method of cultivation could be popularized in the world, perhaps the human world would usher in an even greater leap forward.
However, the advantages and disadvantages of this naturally needed time to consider.
The two of them looked towards the depths of the underground river and saw that the underground water was already covered in black water, and a strange fragrance came.
"Interesting, let's go to the source and take a look. Let's see what it is that can pollute the groundwater so much," Jiang Wen said, looking into the distance and striding forward.
