Ethan Thompson's smile became somewhat meaningful. Along the way, everything he saw and heard pointed to the fact that almost everyone was intentionally steering clues toward William Foster. It was obvious that they were deliberately trying to let outsiders notice William Foster's extraordinary nature, with the intention of bringing him out of the mountains.

This place was quite interesting: William Foster deliberately lured outsiders to seek immortals, while the villagers deliberately drew outsiders' attention to William Foster. Though their perspectives differed, each had their own calculations.

Was it that William Foster was unpopular in the village, causing people to want to drive him away? Ethan Thompson didn't think so; perhaps there was another reason.

William Foster himself also found it strange. The original owner of this body was clearly not the same as himself in temperament, yet the villagers seemed to notice no difference at all. Were they just too simple and honest?

He didn't dwell on it, and cupped his hands in a circle: "Thank you all for taking care of me over the years. Immortal Trace Village is my home. If William Foster has the time, I will come back to visit everyone. Now that Little Peach Blossom is married, please save Little Little Peach Blossom for me in the future..."

The crowd erupted in anger: "Get lost! Have you no shame?"

Amidst the uproar, the old man surnamed Xu spoke again: "Why come back? If you do well, don't come back. If you don't, there will always be a meal for you here."

With that, he turned around and led over an old horse from the side. "This horse doesn't have much time left either. Take it and ride out of here. Hopefully you won't ride it back. Go, go, go!"

Even if it didn't have much time left, it was still a horse. Usually, Edward Clark treasured it dearly, but now he gave it away just like that.

William Foster took a deep breath, said nothing more, bowed deeply to the ground, and mounted the horse.

Ethan Thompson gave the small village one last meaningful look, then mounted his horse together with his sister. The three horses, facing the morning sun, slowly left the village.

"I haven't asked yet, Brother Thompson, where is our destination?"

"The capital of Nanli Kingdom, Lihuo City."

One who had gained immortal fate but refused it, one who longed to seek immortals, and one who didn't believe in immortals at all—together, they left the legendary mountain village rumored to have immortals and stepped into the mortal world.

Chapter 8: The Daoist Temple

Nanli Kingdom, named for the meaning of "southern bright and blazing fire," has its capital called Lihuo. Immortal Trace Village is a small village in the southwest of this country.

Over the past two months, William Foster had not only visited the city for fun, but had also deliberately gathered a lot of information. He learned that this was a vast continent with many nations. Nanli was just a small, wild country. Further south lay a great rift valley, bottomless and impassable even for birds. No one knew if there was another world on the other side; in theory, Nanli was the southernmost border of the continent.

Because Nanli was remote, mountainous, and forested, with rugged roads and poor connections to the Central Lands, news was scarce and the people were self-sufficient. William Foster had tried to inquire about the Central Lands, but most of what he heard was mere rumor, passed along so many times that who knew how much it had changed.

But the people here were known for their martial spirit. While great nations in the Central Lands rose and fell, this remote little kingdom had stood for countless generations, as if blessed by the gods. The current king, King Wude, had been on the throne for twenty years.

Before William Foster learned that the The Thompson siblings's enemy was the national preceptor, he hadn't expected the The Thompson siblings to be from the capital, Lihuo. Though Nanli was small, it still had several prefectures, and Lihuo City was at least two large prefectures and several small towns away from Immortal Trace Village. He had thought they were from a prefecture, which would have been impressive enough, but they were actually from the capital, and even people who could stand up to the national preceptor... If Ethan Thompson had his own plans, that was one thing, but Olivia Thompson had come all this way just to see a legendary, elusive immortal trace that most people didn't even believe in. She really had too much free time...

"Brother Foster, you really won't change horses?"

"No. The road is rough, and you can't gallop anyway. Even if I changed horses, how much faster could we go?" Of course, William Foster wouldn't tell them that he was lucky to be able to ride at all; if he tried to gallop, he'd probably fall off and die.

"Every bit faster counts. I really don't get how a young man like you can be so slow and leisurely, just like an old man!"

"Olivia Carter!" Ethan Thompson stopped his angry sister. "Brother Foster won't change horses out of sentiment, and that's a rare quality. Besides, Brother Foster is right—this road isn't fit for galloping, so it makes no difference what horse you ride."

"Hmph, we clearly could have gone faster when we came."

On the mountain path, two fine horses, their riders dressed in brocade, with gold and silver belts and black iron silver spears. Several yards behind followed an old horse, its rider a young man in coarse clothes, a dirty wolf-tooth club hanging by the saddle, an old gourd in hand, leisurely drinking wine, paying no mind to the strange looks from passersby or Olivia Thompson's sidelong glances.

Olivia Thompson ignored William Foster and sighed to her brother, "I really wish there were real immortals, riding the clouds and mist, flying with the wind—how carefree that would be."

This girl had been angry with her brother before, but now she was close to him again, simply because she was so used to being close to him since childhood. William Foster glanced at her sideways, always feeling this girl was a bit slow-witted—she might even help count the money if she were sold.

This time, Ethan Thompson didn't dampen his sister's enthusiasm for seeking immortals. Instead, he smiled indulgently, "I wish so too."

Olivia Thompson said dreamily, "I suppose everyone wishes that."

Suddenly, singing came from behind: "Setting out at dawn for Cangwu, returning at dusk; in the cave, sun and moon are mine to command. The sword in the box roars from time to time, but if it doesn't meet..."

Olivia Thompson gazed longingly at the sky. No matter what she thought of William Foster, the things this guy occasionally came up with really struck a chord with her dreams.