Rightatthis moment, a murderous aura came from behind me. I shuddered. It seemed he was here.

I placed my hand at my hipand pretendedto scratch the skin there. Then, as fast as a lightning strike, I drew the Sirius Whipand lashedbackward!

Themanwas standingbehind me. When I turned around, I saw his red eyes gazing at me. The man carried a massive, bone-chopping machete, which he used tofuriouslyhack atme.

Luckily, I reactedin time. Otherwise, his knife would have killed me at that instant.Before his knifereached me, I swiftly rolled asideand lashedhiswrist withthe Sirius Whip.

The blow connected, and the pain forced him to drop the machete. I finally had a chance tolook athis face. He was wearing a traditional costume of theDai people.His skin tone was dark.The most eye-catching feature on his face was abig moleat the corner of his mouth.

Peoplewithskills knew theirlimitsbest. After receiving my lash, he became vigilant. Itook a deepbreathand askedcoldly,“Whydoyou want to harm Mr. Lu?”

“Heasked for it!”Mr. Big Moleanswered fiercely.

He had just confirmed that he was the one that had sold the purple clay teapot to Lu Ming.

I was curious. How could he get the purple clay pot in the first place? I was even more curious about the womenwho had killedthemselves in the stilt houses. What was the relationship between them and Lu Yu?

Unexpectedly, when the man heard my question, heflew into a frenzy.He stormedforward and hackedhis machete at me as if he didn’t care about his life anymore.

I passively defended. However, after a few strikes, he became much slower.He didn’t have good martial techniques. I became bolderand attackedhim. Soon, Iwas able toforce him backward.

“If you have the guts, come after me!”

Whenhe realized that he wasn’t my equal opponent, he sneered then ran toward the depths of the tunnel. After two incidents, I knew thatMr. Big Molewas good at setting up illusion formations. It was like theinsecttechnique of the Miao people.

I understood that if I chased after him, I wouldfacedeath. However, my hot-tempered head didn’t consider that much. I ran after him.

The depths of the tunnel werelike a labyrinth.There were many turns. I could only listen toMr. Big Mole’s footsteps to vaguely locate him.

He was old,so he was much slower than me. The distance between us quickly shortened. I was about to catch him when suddenly, he disappeared into a junction.Moreover, it was adead-end!“Not good!” I wanted to return, but I recognizedthatthe path had changed.

I lookedat the labyrinth-like surroundingsand felt worried. I thoughtthat I could touchmy way out of here. However, after a long time, Icouldn’t findthe exit. I foundmyselfbackat the starting point.

Then, I heard Mr. Big Mole's crazylaughter. The laugh came atme from every direction. “Kid, this is our Dai people’s special illusional maze formation. You can’t escape no matter how hard you try. The only thing you can do iswaitfor your death here! Hahaha…”

His perverted laughter lingered in myears. Sometimes, I thought he was right in front of me. Other times,he felt so far away. I couldn’t locate himbysound.

Gradually, his voice faded and disappeared. I knew he had left already. I didn’t wantthat, so I continued to move.Still, I couldn’t leave my spot. I had even tried the method I had used to deal withroad-blockingghosts, but it didn’t work.

I didn’t know what to do. Then,a silver light flashed in front of me. The old man wearing a shroud appeared.

Although he was stillmad,he looked strangely nice in my eyes.He shot me a furious glanceandturned around. He walked to an intersection. I followed behind him.

We had walked like that for around ten minuteswhenI was finallyable to escapethe labyrinth. The old man lookedathis picture in “The Classic of Tea.”He furrowed hisbrowsas if he was in pain. In the next second, he disappeared.

From his recent expression, I concluded that Lu Yu hadarelationship with those womenthat livedin the stilt houses. He would never tell me what happened. If I wanted to know, Iwould haveto learn fromMr. Big Mole!

After I crawledout of the tunnel, I saw that the sky was bright. The Yin energy that hadcoveredthe entire village was gone. However, it was still cold outside. I didn’t lingerand rushedback to the hotel.

When Ireturned to the room,Lu Ming was idlywatchingthe ceiling. His hand supported hischin.When he saw me, he lookedsurprised.

“How did you get back?” He sat on his bed.

“Why did you think that I wouldn'tcome back?”

I saw theworryin his eyes.However,since there was something wrongaboutthis, I deliberatelymadea face.

He shook his head.“Master Zhang, I’m sorry.”

“All right, all right. Tell me everything fromstarttofinish.”If he wanted to tell me the truth, I shouldn’t be mad at him. I sighedand signaled athim totalk.

“I know that old ghost.Itwas Lu Yu,the Tea Sage. He was also myfamily’s ancestor.”

Since I had guessed itearlier, I wasn’t surprised. I noddedand asked,“Whydidn't youtell me this right from the start?”

“How could I tell someone about this? I don’t want to be deemed a bad descendant who has no regardforhis ancestor.” Lu Ming licked his lips. “Thatvillagewas myancestor’sobsessionwhilehe was alive. I got the purple clay teapot from there. If I can’t keep it anymore, I would like to return it to that place. However, I didn’t expect that the teapot would turn to harm me…”

It seemed he didn’t know the relationship between Lu Yu and that village. “Do you know a man with abig mole? Did he sell the teapot to you?”

“How did you know that?” Lu Ming was surprised.

I told him about the encounter I had last night. His face paled shortly. He shiveredhard. Soon, sweat beaded his forehead. I hurried to press on his medial cleft. Lu Ming seemed to recall something very frightening.

He got a hold of himself. After a while, he opened his mouth. “It seems… The legend of the thirty-six women who killed themselves to keep their dignity is true.” Then, he grabbed my hand. “Did you count those houses? Aretherethirty-six in total?”

“I don’t remember the number, but I guess it’s approximatelythirty-six.Whatare thethirty-six womenwho killedthemselves for theirdignity?”

Lu Ming’s eyes reddened.He wept andtold me a story that was recorded in his family’sgenealogy.

Lu Yu lived in the Tang Dynasty. For his whole life, he had always been interested in tea.Sincehehada surprisingly broad knowledge of tea, hebecame friends withmany high-rank courtiers.

To dig deeper into the world of tea, Lu Yu got on his skinny horseand traveledthousands of miles to the Nanzhao Kingdom, wheretea was abundant.

At that time, the Nanzhao Kingdom was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. The people there welcomed Lu Yu warmly.Moreover, with his vast knowledge and aloof,immortal-like appearance,many girlssecretlyloved him.

Thirty-six young women lovedhim the most. They volunteered togoto Lu Yu’sresidenceto help himwrite “The Classic of Tea.” Lu Yu was touchedbytheir sincere affection. He created a stilt house for each of them. Although he was with them every day todiscussteas and how to make good teas, he was never close to any of them.However,those women thoughtofhim as their husband.magic

Unfortunately, the happy days didn’t last long. A few years later, the war burst out. The Nanzhao Kingdom took the chance to rebel against the Tang Dynasty. The relationship between the two countries tensed up. Lu Yu was forced to go home. Before he left, he asked the women to dry tea leaves for him.If afterthree yearshe didn’t come back, it meant he was dead. If that happened, the women should dismissthetea house and start their lives anew.

Lu Yuwasgone for three years and there was no piece of newsabout him. The thirty-six women remembered the times they had spent with him. Being brave and loyal women with dignity, they decided to commit suicide to show their loyaltyto their husband.

However, Lu Yu wasn’t dead yet. He had been jailed for years because he made satirical poemsthatmocked the imperial court. After a few years, his good friends helped himget out. As soon as he was released, he criedand whippedhis strong horse. He seizedeach second to go to the Nanzhao Kingdom where he found that his thirty-six confidantes had killed themselves for their love.

Lu Yu’s heart died at that moment. Hethenspent allof his mindand efforts to studytea. In the end,he introducedtheworld to “The Classic of Tea.”

Lu Yu didn’t spend the last days of his life in the Nanzhao Kingdom. Before leaving, he used his blood mixed with copper to create thirty-six purple clay teapots, whichhe buried with each of the women.