actually witnessing them. Was this really the same Xiao Yu who used to always be at the bottom of their class in schoolXiao Yu followed Old Yue past the counter and into a small hall. He didn't expect...Chapter 538: Medicine Fields

When Xiao Yu heard Li Suijun's words, he nodded and walked forward. The Soul-Eating Rat led the way ahead; after running for a while, it turned back to see if Xiao Yu was following, and continued walking when it saw that he had caught up.

Xiao Yu and Li Suijun followed this Soul-Eating Rat forward. After not long, suddenly the thick poison fog in front of them vanished, revealing an area as large as a football field before their eyes.

Dozens of dilapidated houses stood on the open ground within this space; these were mostly buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, many structures had already collapsed at this time, giving the place a desolate appearance.

The sudden appearance of this scene left both Xiao Yu and Li Suijun stunned; neither had expected to see anything like this here. They had imagined that there might be some kind of secret here, but they certainly hadn't anticipated seeing dozens of houses.

After all, this was a poisonous swamp with dense toxic fogs; these poisons were very potent, and even an ordinary person couldn’t stay here for long, let alone live here.

"Squeak squeak..." The Soul-Eating Rat in front saw that Xiao Yu and the others had stopped moving and called out to them.

Hearing this call, Xiao Yu and the others realized what was happening and walked toward the Soul-Eating Rat. After a few steps, they suddenly felt as if they’d entered another space.

Standing in their original spot, they looked at everything around them; above this space, it seemed there was some kind of large dome-like structure covering it, separating the toxic fog below.

Although it looked like a cover had been placed here, when Xiao Yu and his group entered, they felt nothing unusual, as if the scene was naturally formed.

If this space were just empty with no structures or life, Xiao Yu might have believed that it was naturally formed. But now with dozens of houses appearing here, he knew for sure it wasn’t natural.

Li Suijun was merely an Internal Energy expert and clearly didn’t understand much about such things, but Xiao Yu was different; as a practitioner of the Art of Oddities, he knew this should be due to some sort of formation. However, without examining closely, he couldn't tell what kind of formation it was.

Seeing this scene, Li Suijun’s mind was also greatly shocked; how amazing and miraculous this situation was! Right next to them, poison fog was everywhere, yet here the air was fresh and clean.

This place was actually like an underground aquarium, just without glass coverings.

At this moment, Xiao Yu’s mind had already begun to make sense of things; he remembered what the Corpse Driver told him about that ancient family of corpse drivers and their guardian spirit creature.

And judging from what the carriage-bearer said, almost no one knows where exactly that family is. Even if someone does know, they probably wouldn't say anything.

If his guess was correct, then this place should be the location of the ancient carriage-bearing clan!

Xiao Yu and Li Suijun followed the Soul-Eating Mouse deeper into the space. As Xiao Yu and his companions passed by these dilapidated houses, a sense of decay emanated from them.

"These houses look like they haven't been inhabited for several hundred years!" thought Xiao Yu and his companions to themselves as they looked at the houses.

The streets were covered with inches-thick layers of dust and mud. As Xiao Yu and his group walked past, they left behind rows of footprints.

Though the house styles here resembled those from the Ming and Qing dynasties, now nothing could be discerned except for ruins everywhere. Some houses had rotted wood that was completely gone, while others only stood with a few crumbling walls still erect.

As they walked on these streets, looking around them, it felt like an ancient village, but all that remained here was desolation and abandonment.

Xiao Yu pondered silently as he walked along. Where did the people from this place go Clearly, this was a hidden place for the clan, its roots and foundation. Therefore, such a clan wouldn't easily leave this area, yet no one could be found here now.

Moreover, the clan's guardian spirit beast was still around, as were the medicinal herbs in their fields. They obviously didn't voluntarily leave, but where they went, Xiao Yu did not know at present.

And right now, they also had no time to consider these matters. If it weren't for the possibility that there might be medicinal herbs Zhang Dahan and his group could use here, Xiao Yu wouldn't have been so anxious to come here. After all, ordinary people seldom came to such a place.

Given how this place seemed deserted for hundreds of years, if it were easy to find, the area likely wouldn’t still be so desolate. Furthermore, there was the natural barrier provided by the miasmic fog.

Xiao Yu and his group didn't linger here long and followed the Soul-Eating Mouse straight ahead.

As they walked further back, the courtyards became larger, clearly differentiated according to their status. When they reached the end, the small white mouse entered a courtyard three times bigger than an ordinary one. Xiao Yu and his companions looked at it and followed in as well.

After entering this courtyard, Xiao Yu and his group found that although the houses inside had collapsed, he could still sense its former grandeur.

"Xiao Yu, it seems that this courtyard belongs to the most important figure here!" After entering, Li Suijun, who had been silent until now, spoke to Xiao Yu.

"Mm-hmm. But it might also be a family shrine!" Xiao Yu nodded and replied. Given that Xiao Yu possessed Zhong Kui's memories, his understanding of the hierarchy in ancient clans was better than Li Suijun’s.

Upon hearing this, Li Suijun thought for a moment before nodding.

The Soul-Eating Mouse did not linger here but leaped over this collapsed building. Seeing it jump over, Xiao Yu and the others quickly followed suit.

Once they bypassed the collapsed building, both Xiao Yu and Li Suijun were taken aback. Behind the collapsed building was a small courtyard.

A hint of green suddenly appeared in their field of vision in this courtyard. Since entering this mountain ravine, everything they saw had been dark gray or black.

Now that there was finally a touch of green, it seemed to add some vitality to the desolate space.

When Xiao Yu took the yellow essence from the Soul-Eating Mouse's mouth, he knew that the yellow essence had just been dug up. Back then, he had thought something might be growing here, but seeing this single hint of green made him feel much better.

However, Xiao Yu immediately frowned. In this small courtyard were four to five one-meter-square medicinal herb fields. However, these herbal patches had obviously been damaged by someone who didn’t know about herbs; now only two or three plants remained in each field.

Xiao Yu frowned and walked towards the little herbal fields. Around these herb gardens lay a chaotic mess of animal prints. After glancing at them, Xiao Yu realized that they were all from animals.

Moreover, it was clear that someone who knew nothing about herbs had randomly gathered these medicinal plants here; some had even been wasted for no reason.

Suddenly, Xiao Yu recalled something and looked at the monkey Li Suijun was carrying on his shoulder.

Although Li Suijun didn't know much about medicinal herbs, he could tell that they were randomly picked from these small herbal fields. The patches felt very messy; there were even animal prints in them.

When Li Suijun saw the footprints, he also looked at the dead monkey on his shoulder.

The footprints here were all left by monkeys. Since they had only seen this one monkey here, they quickly realized that the herbs must have been ruined by this beast. Fortunately, it hadn't completely destroyed them; there remained a few of each kind of herb.

"I see!" Not only Li Suijun was looking at the monkey he was carrying, but Xiao Yu was also staring at it. After a while, Xiao Yu suddenly understood and whispered.

"Xiao Yu, what's wrong" Upon hearing Xiao Yu's words, Li Suijun turned to him and asked.

"Hehe, old man, I know why this creature has not only survived for so long but also grown這麼大。"

After hearing Li Suijun's question, Xiao Yu nodded at him and said.

"Uh... Do you mean it's because of these medicinal herbs" Hearing Xiao Yu's words, Li Suijun was stunned for a moment before he quickly understood. He pointed to the herbs in the small herb garden and asked.

Xiao Yu nodded when he heard what Li Suijun said.

After seeing those herbs in the field, many things became clear to Xiao Yu.

Just like that corpse conductor mentioned, this monkey only emerges every few decades. When Xiao Yu saw these herbs, he immediately understood why.

The potency of these herbs was extremely powerful; even if mixed with other herbs, an ordinary person would be overwhelmed and possibly suffer adverse effects from consuming too much.

Only cultivators or ancient martial artists can refine them through their cultivation practices. This monkey clearly doesn't know any techniques and relies solely on instinct to absorb the herbal potency.

The strength of these herbs is too great for this monkey to handle, causing it to fall into a coma from the drug force. It then absorbs the herbal essence until the herbs' power dissipates before waking up.

Given the potency of these herbs and the monkey's physical condition hundreds of years ago, falling into a coma for decades is quite normal. In Zhong Kui's memory, there were instances in the cultivation realm where cultivators or spirits would sleep for hundreds of years after consuming rare medicinal treasures; this monkey only slept for several decades.

The monkey's tough skin and thick muscles are also due to this reason: without understanding any cultivation techniques, its body absorbed all the herb's potency through its flesh and blood.

Moreover, as these herbs grow longer over time, their efficacy becomes stronger. Each time the monkey consumes them, it sleeps for a longer period.

Xiao Yu didn't want to waste any more time. He got up and picked all of those herbs from the field. These herbs were all high-quality medicinal plants that had grown for over five hundred years, making them almost akin to rare treasures.at had previously entered its mind."G咕..." Upon hearing Xiao Yu's words, the golden eagle happily nodded in response.“Yuxin, you go with Daoist Friend Wang and others to wait for me at the main camp....