The person who came was none other than Zhao Shuning.
At this moment, she was wearing a veil but had uttered such indecent words.
Haiyou City was located at the junction of Qingyun State and the Eastern Wilderness.
So after Zhao Shuning came down from Qingyun Peak, it didn't take long for her to reach Haiyou City.
Since she knew that Song Zhiyi was the city lord of Haiyou City and she had been too busy with various matters to visit him, she thought she might as well drop by to see how this young man Song Zhiyi was doing.
However, as soon as she arrived in Haiyou City and before she could go to see Song Zhiyi, she saw a group of people gathered in this place, chatting animatedly.
Curious, Zhao Shuning stepped forward to check, but to her surprise, the subject of their discussion was none other than herself.
"Little girl, what do you know? Such vulgar words!"
Zhao Shuning glared at them, showing no kindness.
She could act like a noble young lady, but towards those who slandered her, she didn't want to act like a shrinking gentlewoman.
"This person clearly drowned. How can you say that he was dragged down by Ye Ling's vengeful spirit?"
"We're just making a speculation."
"Speculation? Speculate about what?"
"Otherwise, you tell me. This place is about several hundred miles away from the ancient tomb. Why did these people disappear in the desert but show up near Zhou Pass?"
Another passer - by said, "Why did the body show up near Zhou Pass next to the Female Emperor's Shrine instead of other places?"
"And, and, Haiyou City has been short of water for a long time, and many places are arid. Where is there enough water for them to drown?"
An old woman also said, "Look, most of the dead are men. I've heard that the Female Emperor was alone all her life and didn't even have a man."
Zhao Shuning could tolerate other things and remarks.
But she couldn't tolerate the last sentence.
Was she, the great Female Emperor, short of men?
Moreover, there were people who liked her. In her previous life, even though she was arrogant and domineering, her face was still quite good - looking, wasn't it?
"Old woman, I see that your forehead looks gloomy and there's a big mole on your long eyebrow. You must be a woman who has caused the death of her husband. Am I right?"
The old woman got angry and was about to reach out and grab her.
Zhao Shuning deftly dodged.
The old woman was relentless and said, "Little girl, how dare you make wild guesses and slander people? I not only haven't caused the death of my husband, but I also have two chubby sons. It's none of your business!"
"Don't be so impatient. I'm just speculating, just like you. How come when you speak ill of others, you think what you say is the truth, but when others speculate about you in the same way, you can't stand it?"
The old woman fell silent.
Then she cursed angrily.
"We don't need you to teach us how to do things, you good - for - nothing girl. What do you know?"
"I know a lot of things. Besides reading faces, I can also tell fortunes. Well, let me tell your fortune and see when you'll go to heaven and when you'll cause the death of your husband."
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you to death."
Zhao Shuning said, "You really have the nerve! Such a shrew and so unreasonable. I bet the children you've raised are no good either."
"You, you, you—"
Zhao Shuning said, "What are you stuttering about? You good - for - nothing woman. You're wearing shabby clothes but have put on a lot of rouge and powder. I'm afraid all the food stored in your family has been used to buy rouge. Well, let me give you some advice. If you have extra money and food, buy something to get rid of your bad breath. Look at your mouth. It's full of crap, and none of your words are worth listening to."
"You, you, you—"
"What are you stuttering about? Do you still want me to look at your fortune again?"
The old woman was so angry that she stamped her foot hard and then said, "What a sin!"
Then she ran away.
Zhao Shuning was thirsty after scolding, so she took out a kettle of water from her Qiankun Bag and drank it.
Didn't this old woman know that when she was Ye Ling, she was already good at scolding people?
She hadn't scolded anyone for a long time, and she hadn't performed well this time.
After a while, the city - patrolling guards arrived. They took the body back to the city lord's mansion. Zhao Shuning originally wanted to follow them to the city lord's mansion, but unexpectedly, she found that there were traces of mucus left on the place where the body had lain.
By this time, most of the people who had gathered near Zhou Pass had dispersed.
Zhao Shuning squatted down, touched the mucus on the ground with her hand, and sniffed it gently.
There was a fishy smell.
And the saltiness of the sea.
However, in Haiyou City, although there was a "sea" character in its name, it was extremely short of water. Water was a very scarce resource here.
"Why is there the salty and wet smell of sea water?"
Zhao Shuning followed the trail of mucus and found that it disappeared at Zhou Pass.
Could it be that the body had emerged from the shrine?
Zhao Shuning frowned tightly.
She formed a hand seal, and then she disappeared from the spot.
When she came to the shrine, Zhao Shuning found that the salty and wet smell was getting stronger.
Others might not be able to smell it, but as an alchemist, she had to rely on her nose to distinguish the types and properties of medicinal materials when necessary.
So she was very sensitive to the smell of the sea.
The shrine was very large, but there was not a single person in the yard.
It seemed that this place was a forbidden area in Haiyou City, and no one dared to come in during normal times.
This explained why every time a corpse appeared, people didn't know how it got there.
In the middle of the shrine's yard, there was a dry well.
Zhao Shuning came to the dry well and saw a scale beside the wellhead.
The scale was still shining in the sunlight.
She picked up the scale, examined it carefully in her hand, and tested its hardness.
"Mermaids? The female mermaid tribe?"
Zhao Shuning had been well - informed since she followed Yan Ruyu when she was young. Naturally, she had seen such things before.
She leaned over the dry well and looked down. There was an endless void inside.
She threw a stone down, and it took a long time to hear the echo. It didn't seem like there was water down there.
Zhao Shuning was very puzzled. Since there was no other way at the moment, she decided to go and find Song Zhiyi first to ask if there was anything strange about this dry well.
As she was walking out, she stepped on something that hurt her foot.
Zhao Shuning bent down and picked up the thing.
It turned out to be a wooden plaque.
When she examined it carefully, she was greatly shocked.
This was the wooden plaque she had given to the venomous snake when she rescued it on the Dark Swamp. Looking at the patterns, they were exactly the same.
How could this wooden plaque appear here?
Could it be that the venomous snake had also encountered trouble?
Zhao Shuning went back to the dry well again. Looking at the dark bottom, she sighed silently in her heart.
She took out a night pearl from her Qiankun Bag, then leaped and jumped down.
Xie An had been kind to Zhao Shuning and was also her friend. Zhao Shuning wouldn't just sit back and watch him get into trouble.