If they were still in the “start-up phase” of the past, Ning Tao would never have spent the exorbitant amount of 200,000 to rent a place to stay. However, he was no longer the person he was. A rental of 200,000 was nothing to him. He could easily earn it back with a breast enlargement surgery or slimming procedure.

After the house had been rented, Qing Zhui was feeding Hu Xiaoji milk. Bai Jing and Jiang Hao distributed the rooms and furnished them. Ning Tao then ran off to the Sky Clinic.

The good-evil tripod's eyes were shut, appearing to be unbothered.

Ning Tao could not be bothered with it either, then headed to the lock wall.

In fact, every time he drew a blood lock, a corresponding blood lock would appear on the Sky Clinic's lock wall. For example, the blood lock he drew on an ordinary prescription slip would appear as over 10 blood locks overlaying each other, becoming a fuzzy blood circle. But as soon as he tore it off and placed it somewhere, a clear blood lock would appear on the blood wall.

The blood locks drawn on each slip of the stack of ordinary prescription slips had also always been on the lock wall, except it was a fuzzy ball of blood, which could not be opened. Now, a separate blood lock appeared on the lock wall, which was very distinctive, and could be unlocked.

Ning Tao took out his cellphone to look at the time. It was 10 p.m. sharp in Beidu. The time difference between the United States and Hua Country was 12 hours. It would be 10 a.m. in the US now. Joanna's phone call was made two hours ago, which was 8 a.m. in the US.

With that, Ning Tao had given up on the thought of going over to visit straight away. Joanna could have called right after waking up. He was not sure where she was. If she were still in her room or someone else could be cleaning her room, would his sudden appearance in her room or office through the convenient door not scare them to death?

“I said tomorrow is fine too. Then let's wait for another 10 to 20 hours. The flight takes about over 10 hours anyway. I shall make some preparations in the meanwhile,” Ning Tao thought to himself. He then opened a blood lock.

Two minutes later, Ning Tao appeared at the foot of the cliff inside the forest near the Shennongjia Sword Pavilion Village.

The Cloud-lying Village, which was enveloped by the night, was silent and peaceful. The villagers had the habit of sleeping early, so only two houses were still lit.

Jian Mi's house was one of them.

Ning Tao followed the village's stone path that led to Jian Mi's house. A field dog rushed out from the courtyard of its house, wagging its tail at Ning Tao.

He was unsure if it was because of that bite by Chen Pingdao that it became rare for dogs to bite Ning Tao. However, there were also exceptions, like that poodle that had called him stupid the other day at Hakka Alley in Guan City. It seemed to have something to do with dogs' temperaments. After all, they were all the same animal that were inclined to often quarrel and fight.

Ning Tao paused in his tracks and pet the dog. “Go back, don't follow me.”

The snowflakes in The Whisperer surged. His voice was transmitted to the field dog.

The field dog's voice also resounded in his head. “Give me a bone. I haven't had meat in half a month.”

Ning Tao: “…”

Ever since learning that The Whisperer could translate dogs' speech, he kept running into such amusing situations.

“Never mind, it seems like you don't have any.” The field dog then turned to leave.

Ning Tao's heart skipped a beat and he said, “Oh right, doggie, have you seen any strangers here lately?”

The field dog stopped, then looked back at Ning Tao. “A woman who I've never seen before came today.”

“What did she look like?”

“Short and fat, with a face full of pockmarks. Uglier than the mistress of my house,” the field dog said.

Ning Tao smiled. “Thank you, doggie. I'll bring a bone for you next time.”

“All right.” The field dog ran off.

Ning Tao came to in front of the courtyard of Jian Mi's house, observing through the gap of the door. There was no light in Auntie Jiang's room, she seemed to be asleep. Jian Mi's room was still lit up, but Jian Mi was not staying in his own room. That room was currently occupied by Hanks' widow, Maria. She had yet to fall asleep.

After observing, Ning Tao leaped. With a Ladder under Feet, he quietly jumped over the wall. Before he could land on the ground, a person lurked out of the firewood room, creeping inconspicuously toward the lit-up room.

Ning Tao instantly thought that it was a thief. But once he looked carefully, he was stunned.

That person heading toward Maria's room was not a thief, nor was it an a.s.sa.s.sin. It was Jian Mi.

“What is he doing?”

Ning Tao was overwhelmed with curiosity. He squatted down to avoid attracting Jian Mi's attention.

Jian Mi came to the door, and knocked on it gently.

The door opened. A woman appeared behind the door. It was Maria. She was wearing only lingerie, as light was cast on her tender and smooth skin. Even though she was older than Jian Mi, her skin and figure were well-maintained and she could still be considered an alluring s.e.x symbol.

The two people's eyes met. Maria suddenly reached out to Jian Mi and pulled him into the room, and that was when the two began entangling with each other. Among the chaos, Maria lifted a leg to close the room door shut.

“Uh… how did Jian Mi hook up with Maria?” Ning Tao could not believe his eyes, but he kept hearing the ridiculous sounds made by Maria, reminding him that it was all real. Uh, this was real. Ah. It was real.

Something even stranger happened.

After about a minute, the door to Auntie Jiang's bedroom opened. A coat was draped over the mistress of this household, while she was lurking out surrept.i.tiously from the pitch-black room, then creeping to below the window of Jian Mi's bedroom, and listening to the sounds in the room through the window.

Auntie Jiang was evidently not hiding under the window just to listen to a certain sound. She seemed to be eavesdropping to confirm a certain situation. Indeed, after she heard what was going on in the room, she smiled then crept back to her room.

Ning Tao could not help putting on a smile. “Auntie Jiang, oh Auntie Jiang. It was probably you who encouraged Jian Mi to do this, wasn't it? Even if you were craving a grandchild, you should at least find an unmarried virgin lady for Jian Mi. Isn't it a little inappropriate to look for a widow? How am I supposed to take Maria to Italy now with that guy doing this?”

After about 10 minutes, the room became quiet.

But it seemed like Jian Mi had no intention of leaving the room. Ning Tao squatted on top of the wall, waiting about 10 minutes more, and he still had not left the room.

After a while, a weird sound came from the room again.

Ning Tao was instantly speechless. He came all the way here to deal with proper business, yet was met with such a situation. He wanted to jump off the wall and knock on the door, but gave up after some consideration. Jian Mi, a rural youth, had finally met a woman, and a Caucasian one with blonde hair and blue eyes. It was normal that he had become a little greedy after having a taste of sweetness. It would not be nice to disturb them.

Ning Tao was no longer willing to sit on the wall while listening to the live broadcast. He was still a chaste and pure man until now. That sound was too triggering for him, making him feel terrible. He jumped off the wall, then headed toward the small temple at the end of the village.

It was dark inside the small temple. A wind blew across a very old Ginkgo tree located at the entrance of the temple. The entire tree shook and its golden leaves rained down, creating a beautifully melancholic ambience.

Autumn was coming to an end before he had realized.

Ning Tao stood at the entrance of the small temple, taking out and turning on a tactical flashlight. The bright light shone on the Shennong idol.

He was actually not interested in the Shennong idol. His goal of coming here was still for that red-clothed woman. Until now, he could still remember the moment when he had met her here. Every detail was vivid in his memory.

Suddenly, Ning Tao's eyes landed on the idol's head.

It was unknown how old this Shennong idol was. Its facial features had been worn off, and was now blurry. He could very clearly remember its appearance, but this time, he realized that there was a crack beside its ear.

Ning Tao entered the small temple, coming to the side of the idol. He held the tactical flashlight and shone on the idol's head, and found that there was something off with that crack. It did not seem like it had been cracked open naturally on its own, but rather, the two parts that had been composed as the head had been loosened.

Ning Tao climbed up onto the altar, coming to beside the idol. He then took the Blade of the Solar Eclipse and stabbed into the crack, prying it open. With a light sound, the back of the idol's head was instantly separated, revealing a secret compartment beneath.

“Could a secret be hidden inside the idol's head?”

Ning Tao became excited. He carefully held the back of the idol's head and took it away. The secret compartment was revealed.

The secret compartment's size could accommodate a book, or something of equal size.

However, the secret compartment was empty. There was nothing inside.

Someone was here before him.

Ning Tao was suddenly reminded of the conversation he had with that field dog. A short and fat woman with a face full of pockmarks. He thought to himself, “I definitely did not see any crack on the idol's head the last time I was here, but I've found it this time I am here. Could it be that that woman had come here and taken away the thing inside but could not return the idol's head to its original state, thus leaving the crack behind? It is most probably that way. But who was she?”

No matter who she was, it was definitely no ordinary person to have come looking for something in a place like this.

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Ning Tao pushed the back of the idol's head back, and jumped down from the altar. He activated his state of smell, capturing the smells of the place. But with this, he was left stunned.

He captured a woman's smell—Tang Zixian.

That made sense then.

Tang Zixian actually had more understanding of the civilization of the Feminine-moon people, relics, and that formation than he did. It would make so much sense for her to come here to retrieve something. He did not know what the thing she had taken away was, but it must have something to do with the Feminine-moon people civilization. Even though the Feminine-moon people and that peculiar formation were buried underground, there could possibly exist more secret pa.s.sages leading to Feminine-moon City or that formation. Didn't Tang Zixian manage to escape when the formation was activated previously anyway?

Tang Zixian had obviously not given up. She was still searching and trying to crack the secrets of the Feminine-moon people, as well as that odd formation.

After confirming that it was Tang Zixian, Ning Tao turned to walk away. He had even given up the thought of meeting the red-clothed lady through entering the state of Ancestor-seeking Elixir allergy.