Chapter 164: Chapter 154: The Other 4 Paintings

"Sect Leader, what sort of problem do you have? I’m still young and my knowledge is limited, so I’m afraid I won’t be much help."

To save herself the trouble, Tang Mo didn’t mind belittling herself a little.

"Miss Tang, please don’t sell yourself short. It’s thanks to your intelligence that the people of Wuxi Village are no longer being deceived by the previous Sect Leader’s Medicinal Insect scam.

On the surface, the villagers of Wuxi Village seem to be living orderly lives, but they have no zest for life. Every day, they’re like robots, just going through the motions to complete tasks and get food, with no trace of hope on their faces.

If this goes on, Wuxi Village is bound to decline. I was wondering if you had any ideas, Miss Tang?"

The sorrow on Guo Mingyi’s face seemed genuine. After he rose to power, he provided better for everyone’s basic needs.

But after learning the Medicinal Insects were a scam, the drive people once had to work hard and complete tasks vanished. Everyone became listless, unwilling to cultivate, just muddling along as if every extra day they lived was a bonus.

Guo Mingyi didn’t understand. Why, when he was clearly doing a better job, could he not compare to a single scam? This left him deeply frustrated.

Hearing his words, Tang Mo understood. ’No wonder everyone I saw since entering Wuxi Village looked like a walking corpse. So that’s why.’

"Everyone used to work hard, completing tasks and hunting mutant beasts, all to trade for Medicinal Insects. In their hearts, those insects were like an elixir of eternal life that could keep them alive. Even if they knew it wasn’t entirely reliable, at least it gave them something to hope for.

Life might be stable now, but everyone knows it’s only temporary. If they get injured or some accident occurs, they are completely helpless.

If they can’t see even a glimmer of light in their difficult lives, where would they find the strength to keep going?"

Tang Mo’s words sent Guo Mingyi into deep thought. At the end of the day, no matter how capable or talented a leader he was, he was still just a young man in his twenties. There were many things he couldn’t yet see clearly.

He had been stuck in a loop, wondering why no one appreciated all the good he had wholeheartedly done for them, never once thinking about the real reason.

Perhaps his prejudice against the previous Sect Leader was so great that he never considered the problem from the villagers’ perspective or tried to empathize with them.

Only now did he understand that just working hard wasn’t enough to solve everything.

"Then... is there a way?"

Guo Mingyi looked up at Tang Mo, his eyes filled with hope.

His gaze made Tang Mo feel pressured.

"You’re the Sect Leader; I’m sure you can figure something out. What could I possibly do?"

Tang Mo wasn’t one to meddle in other people’s business. She had just been speaking her mind.

’I can’t be bothered to help him clean up this mess.’

A moment of silence followed. Tang Mo quietly looked up at the sky, continuing to play dumb.

"When I was young, my grandfather told me there were three paintings in the Sect Leader’s ancestral hall. They are heirlooms of Wuxi Village, passed down through the generations.

Grandfather said that one day in the future, a person of great power would take them and put them to great use.

The day I took charge of the ancestral hall, I searched it inside and out many times, but I didn’t find the three paintings my grandfather mentioned. Perhaps that powerful person has already taken them."

Guo Mingyi paused and took a sip of the cold tea by his side.

"My grandfather also said that there weren’t just three such paintings. According to what’s been passed down, there were seven in total. Long ago, all of them were here in Wuxi Village, but for various reasons, four ended up scattered elsewhere. However, our ancestors still recorded the general locations of those four paintings.

I wonder if Miss Tang is interested in the locations of the other four paintings?"

Guo Mingyi was clever, and Tang Mo appreciated that about him.

’The other four paintings?’

Tang Mo had used one painting when she retrieved the Spirit Power Pearl.

’If there are four paintings left, doesn’t that correspond perfectly to the four remaining pearls?’

’She wasn’t just interested—she was determined to get them.’

Both Guo Mingyi and Tang Mo were well aware that the other knew the three paintings from the ancestral hall were in Tang Mo’s possession. By offering the remaining four paintings as a condition for solving his problem, Guo Mingyi was truly catering to her needs.

"Sect Leader Guo, I do have an idea, but I’m not sure if it’s feasible."

Tang Mo immediately sat up straight, adopting the serious demeanor of someone dealing with a major client.

..................................

Tang Mo spent a long time in the ancestral hall, and in the end, Guo Mingyi personally saw her out.

By the time she arrived at Xiao Hu’s house, his family of four had already been waiting for a long time.

"Miss, we’ll be troubling you to look after our Xiao Tao from now on."

It seemed Xiao Tao had already told her family about her plans to leave with Tang Mo. The moment Tang Mo walked in, Xiao Tao’s parents knelt directly before her.

Their kneeling wasn’t just to ask Tang Mo to take good care of Xiao Tao in the future; more importantly, it was because Tang Mo had cured their beloved daughter’s illness.

Everyone had been prepared for Xiao Tao to die in her sickbed after immense suffering, but no one expected she would be so fortunate as to meet such a great benefactor.

"What are you doing? Please, get up."

Tang Mo couldn’t possibly accept such a gesture and quickly helped Xiao Tao’s parents to their feet.

"She told us about leaving with you. This child has always been smart; we’ve always known that. Wuxi Village is a small place; it would be a waste for her to stay here her whole life, get married, and have children. We all support her decision to go out, see the world, and make her own way."

Xiao Tao’s mother held her daughter’s hand, her eyes filled with reluctance to let her go.

But they understood clearly. Staying in Wuxi Village for a lifetime meant having no prospects. If they had the chance, who wouldn’t want to go out and see the world? As parents, they couldn’t stand in their children’s way.

"Sister, you can go with your savior without any worries. I’ll be here to take care of Mom and Dad. If things get tough out there, you can always come back."

Xiao Hu’s words were the reassurance Xiao Tao needed.

With the support of Xiao Tao’s entire family, Tang Mo also felt more at ease. Otherwise, she couldn’t shake the guilty feeling that she was abducting their child.

"I have some business to take care of here tomorrow morning. You all get some rest. You can pack your things in the morning; we’ll set off in the afternoon."

A peaceful night’s sleep followed.

The next day, Tang Mo woke up bright and early and went to the empty plaza the Sect Leader had mentioned yesterday to make preparations.

Today, none of the villagers of Wuxi Village went to work. Instead, they followed the Sect Leader’s instructions and gathered in the village plaza for a meeting.

Within about half an hour, everyone had arrived except for those who were bedridden and truly couldn’t move. They stood packed together in the plaza, their eyes hollow.

To them, it made little difference whether they went to work, attended a meeting, or went out on a mission.

Following orders like soulless shells was the entirety of their lives now.

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