Chapter 180: Mars Guards the Heart

They circled the village, which was not large, comprising only a few dozen scattered households.

By the time they completed their circuit, night had fallen. Men who had been toiling in the fields were returning home, and laughter and cheer emanated from various rooms. Of course, there were also less fortunate families; their arguments could be heard from a distance, along with sighs of distress. It was clear, without needing to ask, that these households were facing significant difficulties.

From every perspective, the village was a typical ancient rural settlement.

Zuan and Qiao Xueying found an opening and slipped in discreetly. They listened at many homes in a row but found no problems or clues.

"Hmm, is that a strange sound coming from that house?" Qiao Xueying tugged on Zuan's sleeve, gesturing towards another house.

They approached the window of that house and finally deciphered the strange sounds: heavy breathing mingled with the creaking of bedsprings, along with vulgar whispers between a man and a woman.

Qiao Xueying's face immediately flushed. She spat disdainfully, "Doing that so early in the evening? How shameless."

Zuan chuckled, "You, having always lived among affluent families, naturally wouldn't understand the hardships of the common folk. Many are so poor they can't even afford lamp oil at night. What else are they supposed to do?"

Qiao Xueying covered her ears. "You talk as if you know everything about it," she retorted. "Alright, alright, that's enough listening. Let's go to another house."

"This situation reminds me of a riddle," Zuan said, his expression a little strange. "How about I test you with one?"

"What kind of riddle? Tell me," Qiao Xueying responded. She naturally didn't want to admit to intellectual shortcomings, and besides, she was a little bored. Listening might help ease the awkwardness from moments ago.

Zuan wore a mischievous grin. "The Divine Physician Ji in the city invented a medicine," he began. "If a man takes it, the woman can't stand it. If a woman takes it, the man can't stand it. My question is, if both the man and the woman take it, who will be unable to stand it first?"

Qiao Xueying's face instantly turned crimson. She cursed under her breath, "That old man, Ji, is truly disrespectful of his age. He's unworthy of being a divine physician! Instead of saving lives and healing the wounded, he invents such scandalous things!"

Zuan chuckled, "You can criticize Ji Dengtu all you want when we get back to Brightmoon City. But right now, I'm asking for your answer."

"How am I supposed to know the answer to such a vulgar question?" Qiao Xueying retorted, turning away abruptly. Her small face grew even redder.

"Your little mind is definitely wondering whether the man or the woman would be unable to stand it first," Zuan teased, then burst into laughter. "Haha, I'll just tell you the answer: it's definitely the bed that can't stand it first!"

Qiao Xueying bit her lip. "If you dare tell these vulgar jokes to Miss Chu, she'll most likely kick you right out of the Chu family."

"She might kick out others," Zuan replied, "but she definitely won't kick me out."

"I don't know where you get such confidence," Qiao Xueying snorted, then stopped talking to him and continued to search for other clues.

Zuan shrugged and quickly followed her.

After a while, they eventually found their way to the village chief's house, which was also Chen Wei's home, as his father was the village chief.

As village chief, his family was clearly wealthier; at least they could afford to light an oil lamp at night. Two figures were silhouetted against the window, clearly standing and conversing.

They heard Chen's father speaking in a voice filled with extreme fear and trepidation: "Mars guarding the Heart, a great calamity is coming, a great calamity is coming!"

Chen Wei, meanwhile, dismissed it from the side: "Father, Mars guarding the Heart is merely an ancient legend, a forced interpretation by those with ulterior motives. It doesn't signify any disaster."

"You're still too young, you don't understand..." Chen's father said, shaking his head. "When everyone in the world believes something, even a falsehood becomes true. Disaster will arise even if there was none to begin with."

Chen Wei snorted, "Even if Mars guarding the Heart is truly as the legends say, it's the emperor who suffers. What does that have to do with us ordinary folk? The world would celebrate if that tyrant died."

"Silence! Do you want to die?" Chen's father was horrified and quickly covered his son's mouth. "If anyone hears you and reports it, it could lead to the extermination of our entire clan."

Chen Wei huffed resentfully, "I wasn't wrong. Every time Mars guarding the Heart appears, it's a headache for emperors and nobles. What does it have to do with us common people?"

"I hope so, I truly hope so," Chen's father said, his voice filled with worry.

They lost the interest to converse further and soon extinguished their lamps and went to sleep.

"What exactly does 'Mars guarding the Heart' mean?" Zuan was confused by what he heard. He was about to ask Qiao Xueying but found her gazing blankly up at the sky.

"What's wrong?" Zuan also looked up, but only saw a sky full of stars, with nothing unusual.

Thinking of the air and light pollution caused by urbanization in his previous life, it had been many years since he had seen such a sky full of stars.

Qiao Xueying's face was filled with worry. She pointed to a spot in the sky and said, "Do you see those two very bright stars?"

Zuan followed the direction of her finger and indeed saw two celestial bodies significantly brighter than the other stars.

Qiao Xueying explained, "The star in the upper left is Yinghuo, commonly known as Mars. It is widely believed to represent disaster and death, an ominous demon star. Currently, there are three stars to its lower right. These three stars form Xinsu, the Heart Constellation, one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions. The largest and brightest star in the center represents the Son of Heaven, the Emperor, and the two stars beside it represent the Crown Prince and the common people. Now, Mars is stationed within Xinsu, close to the star representing the Emperor. This is precisely the most ominous celestial phenomenon in all of astrological history: 'Mars guarding the Heart'."

"Celestial phenomenon?" Zuan scoffed. "Do you really believe in such superstitions?"

Having been educated in science in his previous life, how could he believe such things? However, as he spoke, he suddenly thought of his keyboard system and the various forms of cultivation in this world, none of which seemed explicable by science.

"How can this be called superstition?" Qiao Xueying retorted. "Every time such a celestial phenomenon has appeared in recorded history, either a monarch has died suddenly, or high-ranking officials have met violent ends, or even the world has plunged into chaos with rivers of blood." Qiao Xueying was clearly displeased by his dismissive attitude, wondering, *Everyone in this world should know about this, so why does this guy act like it's nothing?*

A thought struck Zuan. "Do you think this 'Heaven's Seal' might be connected to 'Mars guarding the Heart'?" he asked.

Qiao Xueying's expression changed. "I can only hope not," she said, "otherwise, we might be in danger."

As she spoke, she suddenly noticed Zuan's face brighten slightly. Puzzled, she then saw him looking up at the sky and quickly looked up as well.

The previously dark sky suddenly became as bright as day; a large, burning fireball was descending from the heavens.

"A meteor from beyond the sky!" Qiao Xueying exclaimed, her expression changing.

"You actually know the concept of a meteor?" Zuan couldn't help but ask, surprised.

"Of course!" Qiao Xueying retorted, finding his surprise to be an overreaction. "Don't you know that high-level cultivators of fire and earth elements have a forbidden spell that can summon meteors?"

Watching the fireball glide across the sky, growing larger and larger, its surface wreathed in visible flames, Zuan muttered to himself, "Where do you think this meteor will land? We wouldn't be so unlucky for it to fall right on us, would we?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the colossal meteor suddenly burst apart, breaking into countless smaller fireballs. This explosion seemed to alter their trajectory, diverting them slightly from their previous course and sending them directly towards the two of them.

"You and your jinxing mouth!" Qiao Xueying exclaimed, speechless, as she grabbed him and ran off at full speed.

The sky full of fiery rain initially looked far away, but its descent speed was incredibly fast; within just a few breaths, it was already upon them.

Qiao Xueying's expression changed dramatically. This naturally formed meteor shower was definitely far more powerful than any forbidden spell cast by cultivators. From a distance, it had appeared as only a small cluster, but up close, she realized the vast extent of the fiery rain. There was simply no time to escape its attack range.

At first, Qiao Xueying pulled Zuan as they ran, but soon, it was Zuan pulling her.

Zuan unleashed his Sunflower Phantasm, weaving through the fiery rain. Each of these fireballs possessed power comparable to missiles from his previous life. With his ghostly movement technique, it wasn't difficult to ensure he wasn't directly hit. However, the massive shockwaves and extremely hot air currents generated by each fireball hitting the ground were very dangerous. Furthermore, the surrounding oxygen was rapidly being consumed.

If he were still an ordinary person, even a single fireball landing near him could have killed him. Fortunately, his physical constitution now far surpassed that of his previous life, and he managed to withstand several waves of impact.

However, there was no telling when this continuous fiery rain would end. After enduring several shockwaves, he felt intense pain all over his body, and the air he breathed was scorching hot, making his lungs feel as if they were about to explode.

Just then, Qiao Xueying flicked her wrist, and countless green leaves formed a barrier around them, shielding them from the shockwaves generated by the surrounding explosions.

"I feel that the wisest decision I made today was bringing you along," Zuan said, genuinely sighing in admiration as he gazed at the young woman before him. "I never expected you'd be so useful."

"Hmph, the biggest mistake I made today was coming in with you," Qiao Xueying huffed resentfully. "I've lost out greatly."

Suddenly, another loud bang resonated. Qiao Xueying let out a muffled groan and stumbled uncontrollably into his arms. The surrounding green leaf shield showed signs of being dispersed, but she quickly channeled her cultivation to stabilize it.

Noticing a trickle of blood at the corner of her lips, Zuan quickly said, "Stay closer to me. Don't make the shield so large; that way, you'll save a lot of energy."

"No way," Qiao Xueying retorted, even taking a step back and deliberately making the shield larger.

"Are women always such impulsive and irrational creatures?" Zuan was utterly baffled. However, as a man, he had to be decisive at that moment. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her tightly into his embrace so they were pressed close together. This way, the area of the shield she needed to maintain could be much smaller.

"What are you doing!" Qiao Xueying exclaimed, instinctively struggling.

Zuan firmly held her struggling arms. "Why are you reacting so strongly?" he said irritably. "It's not like we haven't kissed or hugged before. The Heaven's Seal is surely more dangerous than before. Wouldn't it be better to conserve your energy to face the danger later?"

Qiao Xueying knew what he said was true. After a moment of hesitation, she eventually didn't retort, silently shrinking the surrounding green shield.

After an unknown period of time, they emerged from their hiding place to find their surroundings devastated. The village was a sea of flames, with figures everywhere fighting fires and tending to the wounded, and cries of distress echoing throughout.

Zuan fell silent. Although the fiery rain just now was powerful, it wasn't enough to warrant the name "Heaven's Seal." *Could something else be happening?*