I flew over to Yingxuan Shan with Xu Yun and Li Cheng balancing on Destiny Blade behind me. Meanwhile, I used the Flying Transport technique to fly the few villagers of Yingxuan Shan through the air.

When we reached the village, everyone was feeling pretty much frozen except for me, so I had to use a little qi to warm everyone with the Warm-Hearted Embrace technique.

Then we entered.

Yingxuan Shan was a mountainside village that had been built on parts of the Glittering Mountains that had been carved out for farming, like terraces. The houses were all pretty far apart, and because it was lower-down on the mountain, there was less snow here and the farming fields were still green.

As soon as we landed in this charming mountainside village infected by a not-so-charming illness, I turned to Gao Hong.

"Lead me to the nearest house of an infected person. I want to see this disease for myself."

Gao Hong paled.

"But — Wise Immortal Xia...there is a chance you could be infected by entering the house of a diseased person. Are you sure you want to — ?"

"Hey, hey, don't worry about me. I'm the High Immortal Xia; nothing's gonna happen! Heh. Also, I have a suspicion about this disease. I need to see it up close."

"Okay..."

Gao Hong led us to a nearby small farmer's house. She knocked on the door, and a tired-looking middle-aged woman came to answer. Immediately, she shrank back.

"Gao Hong? What are you doing here? Stay back! Don't you know my husband and i have been infected?!"

Gao Hong looked awkwardly at me, bowing her head.

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"Madam Lian, this is the Wise and High Immortal Xia of the other side of the Glittering Mountains."

"Yep, that's me, the High and Beautiful Immortal Xia. Madam Li, I would like to examine a person infected with the Frightful Aging Disease. Did you say that you're infected?"

The woman nodded, her face pale.

"Yes...I am. My husband and I were infected last week, and since...we have aged over a decade."

Huh. So this wasn't actually a middle-aged lady, heh. More like a young-ish woman? Eh, whatever. It was too hard to tell age from someone's face anyways.

"All right! Madam Lian, can you come outside for a sec? I wanna take a look at this disease up close and check some stuff out."

"...All right..."

Madam Lian took one step outside her doorframe. I stepped closer with my hands behind my back like a cool immortal, and she shrank away.

"Hey, hey, don't worry — this immortal won't get infected, I promise. Now — excuse me for a sec."

I grabbed her temples and closed my eyes.

Under my fingers, my divine sense felt the pathways of qi running throughout her body. They were weak, as she wasn't a cultivator, but they were still there. I traced them in an instant, from her head to her toes.

Just as I thought.

This wasn't a contagious disease, but a curse.

I opened my eyes and grinned.

"Good news and bad news! The good news is, this isn't a disease people can catch — it's just a really nasty curse! And the bad news — it's not a disease, it's a really nasty curse. Heh. And more good news — this means, instead of working to find some rare and crazy alchemy cure for this and quarantining everyone with the disease, instead...we just need to find the demon that cast this curse!"

"But...this humble student is wondering, in what way is this good news, Wise Immortal Laoshi Xia?" Xu Yun puzzled.

"Yeah...isn't a demon worse than a sickness?" Li Cheng stammered.

I turned around, grinning.

"It's all a matter of perspective, my temporary-students! See, the good-good news is, this demon left a trace of their demonic qi in the curse. Meaning, if we trace the essence of its demonic qi, we can find that demon! And it just so happens...that I can sense this not-so-smart demon's demonic qi radiating like a fire from underneath this mountain! Basically...we've already found it!"

Gao Hong and Madam Lian paled.

"There's...a demon living under our mountain?"

Xu Yun's eyes sparkled. "Immortal Laoshi Xia, I aspire to be as perceptive as you one day!"

Li Cheng trembled. "A demon...u-u-u-underneath us?"

"That's right! All right, my temporary-students — your immortal laoshi is going on a trip underground. Follow me!"