What a chilling experience—different from the supernatural. Zhang Yuanqing stared at the cat's skinless body hanging from the eaves of the room, silently murmuring to himself. Whether someone had slipped in or something had slipped out, either way, it wasn't good news… Everyone exchanged silent glances, their eyes filled with alertness and seriousness. Only Li Li, the one with the poem "Wild grass grows on the open plain," broke the quiet, her face blazing with anger, speaking in a low tone: "Such brutal treatment of the animals—this cannot be tolerated. I demand retribution. Let's kill the Old Wang right now." Zhang Yuanqing glanced at her and said: "Don't rush. Clearly, the Old Wang has her own story unfolding. Let's observe and wait for the moment when the task is triggered. After all, from my experience completing two S-tier dungeons, I've learned that the key to survival is to think deeply and act less. The S-tier dungeons have very little room for error—what seems like a minor action might just cost you your life." "Call me Queen," she turned to the wood spirit youth, the two silver rings on her earlobe swaying, and said, "The captain is right—higher-level instances offer fewer hints, full of danger everywhere. This is unlike the C- and D-tier instances we've faced before, where the mission requirements and rules are clearly laid out. In these more challenging instances, a single misstep could mean the entire team is wiped out." Li Chunfeng paused and added, "The same goes the other way—perhaps by defeating the Old Woman, we can successfully resolve this incident. Hm, it's just like Schrödinger's cat." The Fire-Star Army was taken aback, "Who is Schrödinger? Does he also enjoy tormenting cats? Li Chunfeng, deeply knowledgeable, was momentarily stunned, his expression odd as he opened and closed his mouth several times before finally deciding against explaining further and simply said, "That about covers it." The Fire-Star Army nodded, glanced at the room across the courtyard, and seeing that Wang Po had not yet appeared, spoke softly, "Have you ever thought about why it's the cat corpses that are hung up, rather than chickens, ducks, geese, sheep, or dogs? If it were any of those latter animals, we might just be able to have a meal here." By asking this, he implied that the choice of cat corpses was no mere coincidence—it might be a hint provided by the quest itself. Zhang Yuancheng, from the perspective of the Night-Wanderer Spirit, offered his thoughts: "These cat corpses are of a yin nature, a yin material. Drawing their yin energy can nourish yin spirits and is also useful in creating zombies." Li Chunfeng added, "They can also be used to craft items, conduct special rituals, or perform magical ceremonies." As he spoke, the wooden door creaked open, and Wang Po emerged, holding a walking stick, her back slightly … Li Xianzong walked alongside his teammates along the roadside, with a small stream cutting through the ancient town beside them, its surface spanned by a stone bridge built of stacked gray stones. "What a dump! Not a single person in sight—let alone a beautiful young woman." The thin, middle-aged man glanced back and forth, muttering complaints. "The Yin-Yang Realm is a defensive realm against the spiritual realms, not exclusive to our professions—so it's impossible to have an environment where you can do exactly as you please." The bald, sturdy man surveyed the thin middle-aged man and chuckled, "Before you became a Wuguo master, were you never a rapist?" The thin man smiled indulgently, "I can only say the security officers are simply incompetent. What about you?" The bald man replied calmly, "Murder. Li Xianzong—we've already used up eight minutes. If we don't find the blacksmith's shop soon, we're finished." Clang! Clang! Clang! As they were speaking, they began to hear the rhythmic sound of metal being hammered. Li Xianzong looked ahead, lifting a corner of his mouth. "Isn't this where we've arrived?" His teammates were delighted, "Indeed—you were right! Right on this street." "Right?" Li Xianzong scoffed. "Just use your pigs' brains and think about it—would a blacksmith open his shop deep in a narrow alley? High-temperature smelting requires constant airflow; a large mansion can certainly manage Quenching requires a large amount of water, and the riverbank is the best choice. "Just follow the main road along the riverbank, and you'll surely find it," said the guide. As they spoke, they stopped in front of the blacksmith's shop, where a sturdy figure, standing two meters tall, was slowly lifting and striking the iron billets with a hammer, head down, rhythmically. Li Xianzong studied the man and asked, "Are you Wang, the blacksmith?" The blacksmith slowly raised his head, revealing eyes bright and crimson, like blood. ... "Thank you, grandmother," said Zhang Yuanqing, holding her teacup and glancing at the wood-elf youth. Lili, the wood-elf, took a delicate sip and nodded slightly. Zhang Yuanqing felt reassured and took a long drink of the cool tea. As a restorative mage, the wood-elf is particularly sensitive to toxins; if the water were compromised, he would have noticed. Guan Ya and the others either sipped water to moisten their throats or carefully avoided it, pondering the next development in the story, when, quite naturally, the leader, Yuan Shishen, asked: "Wang "Master Wang's voice, soft and slow, said: 'The town used to be very lively. A few years ago, something happened that gradually caused people to move away from Yin-Yang Town.' 'Oh? What was it?' Zhang Yuanqing quickly asked. The plot had been triggered... everyone immediately became alert. 'Well...' Master Wang seemed a bit hesitant, pausing before saying, 'Many years ago, suddenly one day, people in the town began to die one after another. Their hearts and livers were removed. Everyone grew very afraid, believing that there was some evil presence in the town. The wealthiest resident, Zhao, hired a magician from outside to help. After arriving, the magician soon identified the culprit—turns out to be a descendant of the Yin-Yang hermit, secretly harming the townspeople by extracting their hearts to make medicine. Together with the magician, the community worked hard and finally eliminated this female demon. Before she died, she cast a curse upon the people of the town, promising that they would all transform into cats.'" "The descendants of the Yin-Yang Dispenser... Zhang Yuanqing and his teammates exchanged glances and asked, "Then what?" The old woman sighed, "At first, no one took much notice. But gradually, more and more people began to vanish, and the number of cats in the town kept growing. Only then did everyone start to fear, and one by one, they moved out of the town." He's quite good at conversation, isn't he? The Queen smiled at Zhang Yuanqing and took up the thread, "Then why hasn't the old woman left?" The old woman shook her head, "I'm old now. I don't want to leave my hometown. I'm already on the verge of being buried—my foot has stepped into the coffin—so I'm not afraid of these." The young wood spirit raised his head, gazing at the cat corpses hanging from the ceiling beams, and said solemnly, "Then, why have you hung these cats here?" The old woman spoke calmly, "This is the method left by the mage. He said that by hanging cat corpses and peeling off their skins inside the house, one can prevent the curse." The young wood spirit chuckled dryly. Just Zhang Yuanqing asked again, "Mother-in-law, who is this Yin-Yang hermit, and why does his descendant extract human hearts and livers to refine pills?" Wang Po sighed and said, "The Yin-Yang hermit was a highly enlightened master, said to be a celestial being. Shortly after he founded this town, he ascended to heaven and became a god. I've heard this from my elders since childhood, but I'm not sure if it's true or not. His descendants remained in the town, and everyone held them in great respect because of the hermit's reputation. Yet no one could believe that they would do such a thing." Zhang Yuanqing lowered her gaze, pondering, how so unorthodox were the Daoist cultivators of the Ming Dynasty? At San Dao Mountain, the temple attendant murdered his disciples; here, the descendant of the Yin-Yang hermit extracts hearts and livers to make pills. "Is there only one descendant of the Yin-Yang hermit?" Zhang Yuanqing sipped her cold tea. "Yes," said Wang Po. "Most of the descendants of the Yin-Yang hermit have passed away early. It's said that with one family member ascending In fact, the Yin-Yang Immortal never made it to the celestial realm—his goal of attaining eternal life had failed. Perhaps the practice of extracting hearts and livers to refine pills is connected to longevity. Zhang Yuanqing was pondering this when Guan Ya suddenly asked, "Grandmother, besides us, had there been any visitors from outside the town in the past?" Wang Po glanced at her and replied softly, "Yes, there were." "What did they do once they arrived?" Guan Ya smiled. Wang Po hesitated, "I can't quite recall..." The others didn't understand why Guan Ya was asking this question, but Zhang Yuanqing and Queen Wang paused, then fell into thoughtful reflection. They had reviewed several guides—none of them mentioned the curse. Moreover, the guides clearly indicated that Yin-Yang Town was not entirely deserted, otherwise how could the case have been solved in the inn? Could it be that the quest scenarios kept evolving, with each group of spiritual travelers having different side missions? If that were the case, would the hidden mission the demonic king mentioned still be something I could encounter? His experience with side quests must have been quite different from mine... If hidden quests only trigger through a fixed storyline, that would be terribly unfair and frustrating. Well, let's set hidden quests aside for now. What exactly is the side quest we're currently triggering with the Old Lady Wang? Is it about breaking a curse? Thinking about it, Zhang Yuanqing asked cautiously, "Madam, do you have any specific needs that we could assist with?" The Old Lady shook her head. The Scholar Li Chunfeng, checking details, inquired, "Madam, besides yourself, are there any other residents in the town?" After a moment's thought, the Old Lady replied in her weathered voice, "Besides me, there are five others. One is Xu's widow from the west side of the town. Another is Zhao, the town magistrate, who lives in the central part—the largest house in the town is his. Then there's Wang, the blacksmith. And there's also the magician hired by Zhao's household; I'm not entirely sure where he resides." The round-faced young man, eating lotus root, was momentarily surprised, "Only five? Then who's the sixth?" Wang Po glanced at him and said, "The last one is my son..." Chi, eating lotus root, was surprised, "Your son? Where is he?" Wang Po turned her gaze toward the room just stepped out of, her voice soft and distant, "He's right inside..." As she turned back to face everyone, her wrinkled face broke into a strange smile, "You'll soon see him." For some reason, Zhang Yuanqing felt an instinctive weight settle in his heart. Then he saw the terrifying scene: the military officer from Huo De Star, seated across from him, had his pupils shrink to slits, transforming into emerald cat's eyes. Thick black fur sprouted on his cheeks, neck, and hands. His mouth and nose bulged outward, and sharp cat-like tufts grew on his head. Within just a few seconds, the officer had completely transformed into a black cat measuring fifty centimeters long. "Yuan... Yuan Shi..." Zhang Yuanqing heard Guan Ya's voice trembling. He turned to see Guan Ya's face pale, her eyes fixed in wonder upon him. What's wrong... he uttered instinctively, but as the words reached his throat, they emerged as a long, sharp meow. A sudden chill ran through him. He looked down at his own hands and saw them covered in cat fur. Zhang Yuanqing felt an indescribable fear rising within him—he had completely failed to notice any physical change. At the same time, the wood spirit youth, the earth monster who ate lotus roots, and the scholar Li Chunfeng underwent dramatic transformations. Furry cat hairs burst from their pores in various colors, their lips and chins protruded, cat ears grew on their heads, and their bodies rapidly shrank. Then came Guan Ya and the Queen. "Meow! Meow!" the meows rose and fell in succession, and all seven of them had now transformed into cats of different fur colors. The old woman, holding her cane, stood in the shade, gazing into the room, her voice hoarse: "Finally, outsiders have arrived. Son, aren't you eager to see them?"