The Demon's Chosen.

Hair Stream In Confluence Village Story.

Dominic decided to approach the source of the light to investigate.

As he got closer, he sensed the light moving upward from the ground. Weaving through some bushes, he discovered the light emanated from a young man. The man's body emitted a half-green, half-white glow. The reason Dominic saw the light moving upward was that the young man was climbing a tree, trying to pick a high-hanging Dead Buffalo fruit.

Suddenly, the man's hand slipped, and he hastily grabbed onto a nearby branch. Seeing him awkwardly dangling from the tree, Dominic couldn't help but let out a laugh before calling out: "Hey, what are you doing up there?"

Hearing the voice, the young man was startled and lost his grip, tumbling down to the ground. Dominic paled a bit, worried about the fall from such a height, fearing broken limbs, and hurried over to help the man up.

Before he could reach him, the young man clumsily got up, seeing Dominic looking older than himself, and grumbled: "Big brother, you scared me to death.”

Dominic approached, offered a hand half-heartedly, and replied: "Sorry, I saw you hanging up there and feared you might fall, so I meant to warn you. But as soon as I spoke, you actually fell.”

“In the dead of night, suddenly hearing a voice, who wouldn’t be startled?”

Dominic broke into a sweat and stuttered: "You’re a snake spirit, possessing the skill to transform into a human, yet you’re so easily frightened?”

The young man blinked: "How do you know I’m a snake spirit? Are you one of those chickens that dance around fires?”

“Why would you see me as a chicken? Can’t you tell I’m a mountain goat spirit?” Dominic, sensing the man's simplicity, blurted out something nonsensical.

To his surprise, the young man, naive as he looked, really believed him: "Oh, so you’re the big brother mountain goat. Where have you been all this time that I'm only meeting you now?”

Dominic played along: "I’ve been wandering around the world, only recently arrived here a few days ago.”

“Big brother, you’re so admirable. I envy people like you. I’ve always stayed in this forest, never venturing out. Can you tell me about the world outside?”

“There are countless stories out there. What would you like to hear about?”

“Anything about past lives?”

Dominic was surprised: "Why are you interested in past lives?”

The young man turned his back: "Take a look at this.”

Dominic's eyes widened, seeing a third leg protruding from the man’s backside.

“Why do you have three legs?”

“I really don’t know. Ever since I could take human form, it’s been like this.”

Dominic suggested: "You’re a snake spirit. Minor injuries shouldn’t bother you. Why not try removing that extra leg?”

The young man waved his hand: "I’ve tried, but it just grows back.”

“First time I’ve seen a three-legged snake. Before, I only heard about three-legged toads.”

“Big brother, start your story. I want to learn about past lives.”

“You think your problem is related to a past life?”

“That’s what everyone says. I don’t know for sure, but I can't think of any other reason, so I just believe it.”

Dominic pondered: "Of all the places I've been, the Hair Stream story in Confluence village might be most related to past lives.”

The young man's eyes lit up: "Then please tell me.”

Dominic looked around: "Is there a comfortable place to talk? We can’t just stand here.”

“Yes, right nearby. Let me call someone to take us there.” He whistled sharply, and immediately two giant snakes, as thick as house pillars, slithered over.

The young man climbed onto one snake’s neck, instructing Dominic to mount the other. Then he commanded the snakes to move.

Dominic grimaced: "So much for calling a person!”

The two large snakes slithered so quickly that the trees and plants bowed down in their path, the wind whistling past their ears. In an instant, they reached a steep cliff, where the snakes clung to the rocks, coiling around a few times before lowering the two men onto the highest ledge.

The ledge was flat and bare, offering a panoramic view of the valley below. With the bright moon hanging overhead, Dominic admired the scenery: “You’ve chosen a beautiful spot, pity there’s no wine here.”

The young man smirked: "Big brother, you underestimate me.” He then commanded the snakes to leave, and soon after, they returned carrying two heavy stone flasks of wine and a bunch of fresh grass.

Dominic frowned: "What is this...?”

The young man proudly explained: "This is the essence of Myriad Flowers, distilled into liquor. There are few in the world that can compare to these two flasks of wine.”

Hearing the word ‘essence’, Dominic remembered the sweet and potent essence of the Gem Flower, and not wanting to drink another snake concoction, he shook his head: “Don’t tell me Myriad Flowers is the name of a snake lady.”

The young man looked puzzled: "Who’s name? Myriad Flowers means a hundred types of flowers. There’s no other liquor in the world distilled from a hundred types of flowers.”

Relieved, Dominic asked: "And this bunch of fresh grass?”

“It’s for you, big brother. As a mountain goat, your favorite must be fresh grass, right?”

Dominic sighed internally; having been fed vegetables and grass by Aurora for two days, he was already fed up. If only he had claimed to be a tiger spirit, perhaps the young man would have brought him a roasted wild boar. But it was too late now. Putting the grass aside, Dominic picked up a stone flask and took a sip.

Indeed, the liquor was exceptional, a rare find in the world. He exclaimed: "Excellent!”

The young man laughed heartily, also taking a large gulp from his flask.

With the beautiful scenery, fine wine, clear moon, and cool breeze, Dominic began to recount the story of Hair Stream in Confluence village.

At the foot of Ocean Scenery Mountain in the Twin Rivers region lies a small village called Confluence.

The layout of the village is designed in the shape of the pre-heaven Bagua diagram.

Nine houses built in a row form a yang trigram.

Eight houses in a row, but with a gap in the middle splitting them into two groups of four, form a yin trigram.

Three rows of yang houses are built parallel to each other to form the Qian trigram.

Three rows of yin houses are built parallel to each other to form the Kun trigram.

Centered in the village is a large Tai Chi-shaped pond, with the Qian and Kun trigrams symmetrically arranged around it. In this manner, the Dui houses face the Gen houses, Kan faces Li, and Zhen faces Xun.

Half of the Tai Chi pond is filled with water, and the other half is white stone. In the water-filled half, there's a round rock representing the yang eye, while in the stone half, there's an open well representing the yin eye. The water in both the pond and the well is always in slow, circular motion, barely noticeable at first glance, but clearly moving upon closer observation.

This circular pond was a closed one, its structure mysterious as to how the water inside could continuously rotate. No one in the village had ever dared to dive down to explore its depths. Generation after generation lived here without any legends or historical records about the origin or the builder of this place.

There was only a simple story passed down that when the first settlers arrived, the pond was already constructed. It was a time of chaos, and those who stumbled upon this place came from diverse backgrounds, leading them to name the village Confluence. Despite its crudeness, the name stuck over time and remained unchanged.

Whether it was due to the unique Bagua-shaped layout of the place or not, everyone who lived here seemed to possess a serene and carefree spirit. Even those burdened with heavy worries before moving here felt as if they were cleansed of all their troubles once they settled in Confluence.

However, once all the houses in the village were occupied, it was impossible to build more. Attempts to erect even a small hut resulted in unexplained collapses, and no construction was feasible in the vast area surrounding the village. It seemed as if the land itself had an inherent control over itself, impervious to human intervention.

The population here was also peculiar; a family could only conceive a child when an elderly member of the village passed away. If no one died, no family could have children. Thanks to the spiritual energy of the Bagua, the villagers rarely fell ill, so deaths were mainly due to old age. And since aging is not a swift process, there were periods when the village had not a single child.