Tu Men was once prominent in the world of术道 (Shu Dao – the esoteric arts), but now it has become an obscure and insignificant minor sect.

I suppressed the Liaodong Shu Dao, but I didn't know that Tu Men was hidden in a small mountain village not far from Liangjie Tang (Two Realms Hall).

I found the place according to the address Nie Xiaochun gave me, but all I saw was a farmhouse. The old man in the farmhouse was hard of hearing. I shouted at the top of my lungs for a long time, but he didn't understand a word.

I stood up and looked at Ye Yang, "Did Nie Xiaochun get the address wrong?"

Ye Yang also frowned and said, "I don't know. The earth qi and feng shui are fine, and I can't see any formations. This is just an ordinary village."

I looked up at the sky, "Let's go for now, and come back at night. Let's see if there are any changes at night."

The three of us waited until dark and quietly sneaked back into the village. The entire small village was still as calm as ever, but my eyes fell on the old man, "There's something wrong with that old man. When we came during the day, he was sitting at the door. He hasn't moved even now."

Feng Ruoxing lowered his voice, "Ye Yang, you guard the formation. I'll try to seal Li Po's eyes."

Feng Ruoxing put two fingers together, bit his fingertip, and smeared it across my eyes from right to left.

Low-level術士 (Shu Shi – practitioners of the esoteric arts) open their eyes from left to right, but seal them from right to left.

For術士 (Shu Shi – practitioners of the esoteric arts) at my and Ye Yang's level, our eyes have naturally become Yin-Yang eyes. Even if we don't deliberately use pupil techniques, we can still see ghosts. If we don't seal our eyes, what we see will always be different from ordinary people.

When I opened my eyes again, there was only a stone post for tethering horses left at the door. When I looked more closely, I found a turtle the size of a pot lid趴着 (pa zhe – lying prone) on the tethering post.

The tortoise, like the old man I met during the day, drooped its head, with its two front paws crossed in front of its body, looking like it was dozing in the moonlight.

A spirit has entered the mortal world!

Spirits generally reside in remote mountains and forests, rarely entering densely populated areas. Entering the mortal world requires concealing one's tracks.

At the very least, one must not let others see that they are different. Otherwise, they will inevitably be hunted down by術士 (Shu Shi – practitioners of the esoteric arts)!

If a mortal inadvertently sees through the true form of a spirit, they can only pretend they saw nothing. Otherwise, they will inevitably attract disaster.

When I was a child, I heard a legend: A group of children were playing in Cuntou. One child cried and said that a white-patterned snake was缠着 (chan zhe – twined) around the big pear tree.

The other children all said that an old man with a white beard was standing under the tree.

The child who saw the snake went back to find an adult to reason with, but when the villagers came, they all said nothing, and took their children back home.

Only the family of the child who saw the snake knelt on the ground and kowtowed, repeatedly saying: "The child is young and doesn't understand, he offended the Great Immortal."

That family磕 (ke – kowtowed) until their heads were broken, but the white-patterned snake still refused to leave!

Except for that child, everyone else saw the old man standing under the tree,嘿嘿 (hei hei – chuckling coldly).

The family was so frightened that they didn't know what to do, so they could only ask for help from a Da Xian (Great Immortal). The Da Xian (Great Immortal) came, talked to the old man for a long time, and then said with a沉着 (chen zhe – grave face), "He wants this child, it's up to you!" After saying that, he turned and left, and the family couldn't stop him.

That family was also tough, and they refused to give up the child no matter what.

The old man specially killed a chicken, bought two liang of wine, and had a full meal with his family. He hid his wife and children in the cabinet at home, and sat at the door with an axe in his hand.

He pointed at the sky with the axe and cursed: "The heavens are watching the妖精 (yao jing – demon) harm people and don't care. What gods and Buddhas don't even look."

"If the heavens don't care, I'll do it myself. My family and I will die together."

That old man had courage, but he couldn't beat the snake!

The next morning, that family was all dead. The old man was still holding the axe tightly in his hand when he died, and he was still crawling towards the house. His hand was full of snake scales.

It's not that he didn't resist, it's just that he couldn't resist. The villagers said: He desperately wanted to hold the snake to prevent it from crawling into the house. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold it.

Later, someone asked the Da Xian (Great Immortal): "Why was that snake so ruthless?"

The Da Xian (Great Immortal) said: "When spirits enter the mortal world, they are either seeking something or looking for a chance to become immortal. You called out its identity and cut off its chance to become immortal. How could it not kill people?"

The older generation told this story to children, but they were just telling it as a story.

Jiu Gui told me this story: He only told me that some things cannot be said even if you see them. When trouble comes from your mouth, no one can save you, and you may even implicate others.

At the same time, when you encounter someone who can't keep their mouth shut, the best way is to silence them. So as not to ruin your大事 (da shi – important matters).

Putting aside Jiu Gui's嘱咐 (zhu fu – instructions), it's definitely not a good thing for mortals to see精怪 (jing guai – spirits)!

According to normal thinking, when a mortal walks to the door of this house, they should see an old man dozing off. When a術士 (Shu Shi – practitioners of the esoteric arts) comes over, they should see an old turtle.

Tu Men is doing the opposite, deliberately putting out a守门 (shou men – guarding the door) spirit that mortals can see, but術士 (Shu Shi – practitioners of the esoteric arts) have difficulty discerning the truth from the falsehood. What is the purpose?

I pondered, "Does Tu Men mean that we have to seal our cultivation to enter the door?"

Feng Ruoxing was凛然一惊 (lin ran yi jing – shocked): "There has never been such a rule in the Shu Dao. To seal one's own cultivation, isn't that leaving yourself at the mercy of others?"

Feng Ruoxing is right: When術士 (Shu Shi – practitioners of the esoteric arts) visit a sect, even to show respect, they will at most hand over their weapons.

If even cultivation has to be sealed, it can only mean that the other party is deliberately humiliating the visitor, or that there is malice!