The last character was penned.
The needle at the center of the compass instantly began to spin rapidly.
Just like the first time Liou Yuan used the Fixed Star Compass at home.
The needle, from its initial wild swing, gradually slowed down.
Liou Yuan's eyes were fixed on the needle without blinking.
Until the needle stopped, fixed on the 'Li' position directly south.
"That's it!" Liou Yuan glanced in that direction.
It was the direction of the Xuanhu Clinic's storeroom.
After a short pause, the needle moved again, shifting to the 'Kan' position.
"Two directions again! This Xuanhu Clinic really has good stuff." Liou Yuan's eyebrows lifted with delight.
The Fixed Star Compass only reacts to spiritual items and Star Evils.
If there weren't any Star Evils this time, Liou Yuan could, at the very least, obtain two valuable spiritual objects.
However, Liou Yuan's fantasy was quickly shattered.
After designating two directions, the Fixed Star Compass erupted in brilliance, and a map curtain appeared again, showing the full view of Xuanhu Clinic.
Through the map, Liou Yuan clearly saw that in the 'Kan' direction, there was an obvious layer of gray-black color, similar to when previously detecting Ms. Qiao.
"It's indeed a Star Evil!" Liou Yuan's hopes were shattered, replaced with a grave expression.
Perhaps it was because the Fixed Star Compass previously absorbed the two Star Evils of Ms. Qiao and Ping'an.
This time, the Fixed Star Compass's area expanded, covering a range of sixty meters.
Liou Yuan clearly saw the entire area of that gray-black color.
That location was the old well in the backyard.
Less than ten meters from the room where Liou Yuan was recovering from illness.
Xuanhu Clinic had two wells in total, one in the front, which was used daily for making medicine.
And the other in the backyard, which was abandoned after the habit of using the front well's water, and had not been touched for years.
Later, after Liou Yuan moved in, Kong Yi tidied the room and cleaned up that well.
And it was from then on that her father became bedridden with illness.
"It's an issue with the well water! The Star Evil resides beneath the well!" Liou Yuan provided the most reasonable explanation.
Everything made sense now, as Kong Yi's father was the first to drink the well water.
Then today, the clinic's cook likely used the well's water for cooking.
And his own mother's tea was also drawn from that well.
Liou Yuan did not eat or drink, so he was safe.
Understanding the connections, Liou Yuan also showed a sign of lingering fear.
"That was close!"
Fortunately, Mr. Ge and Mr. Xin came to see him today, or else he would have been affected too.
Since the cause was found, the next step was to go directly to the Yanhe Government Office.
Before leaving, Liou Yuan's eyes turned towards the 'Li' position previously pointed out by the Fixed Star Compass.
There, a cluster of brown light flickered.
It wasn't the color of a Star Evil, indicating that the light was a spiritual object or related item.
"Kuixu is on duty, the Star Evil dares not come out from under the well; I'll check the storeroom before leaving to see whose object it really is."
Liou Yuan made a reasonable decision.
As this thought crossed his mind.
The light on the star plate gathered into new words.
[Detected Star Evil presence within sixty meters.]
[Danger Level: Unranked.]
[Slay the Star Evil to receive treasure reward: Cyan Wood Talisman.]
"Unranked again." Liou Yuan's eyes lingered briefly on the danger level.
This indicated that the power of the Star Evil this time would not be more ferocious than the previous Ping'an grandparents.
Only the reward had changed, no longer the Micro-Star Elixir but a talisman instead.
No matter what the reward was, for the impoverished Liou Yuan, it was useful.
Moreover, his mother and Kong Yi had fainted due to the Star Evil.
Even without a reward, Liou Yuan had to press on regardless of the danger.
"First to the storeroom!" Having confirmed the source of the Star Evil, and determined that it dared not emerge, Liou Yuan headed straight to the clinic's storeroom.
He must take away the treasures within Xuanhu Clinic ahead of time, otherwise, it would be inappropriate to take them after Mr. Ge and the others arrived.
The clinic's storeroom mostly contained some dried, treasured herbs.
These were bought in bulk and stored by Kong Yi's father cheaply.
There were also several shelves holding sundries.
Liou Yuan opened the storeroom door, and as soon as he entered, he caught a whiff of the strong scent of herbs.
Fortunately, he had gotten used to the smell after helping out at the Xuanhu Clinic for a while.
Expressionlessly, he reached into his pocket, took out a flint, and lit the oil lamp mounted on the storeroom wall.
He took in the layout of the storeroom with his eyes.
The herbs on the shelves were directly glossed over by Liou Yuan.
He headed straight to the location marked by the Fixed Star Compass.
There was a stone platform made of brick and stone, about ten square meters, displaying all sorts of odd and curious items.
There were clay statues of deities, fragments of ancient relics, and bottles and jars with peculiar patterns.
Without exception, these odd items were covered in a thick layer of dust.
Liou Yuan's eyes swept over these objects, muttering to himself:
"I heard that big mouth Kong Yi say before that her father had a habit of collecting odd and strange things in his younger years."
"It's only in recent years that he calmed down."
"And then these things never moved again, just gathering dust in this storeroom."
It might be precisely due to this reason that her father inadvertently picked up something rare and bought a spiritual item in ignorance.
But alas, he had no cultivation and didn't realize he'd purchased something valuable, leaving it as a pearl covered in dust here.
"If it weren't for the detailed pattern on the Fixed Star Compass, I truly wouldn't have been able to find the spiritual item among all this junk."
Liou Yuan recalled in his mind the pattern of the glowing dot he saw earlier on the Fixed Star Compass.
The map displayed by the Fixed Star Compass allowed every brick and tile to be seen clearly; naturally, the spiritual item could also be identified on the compass.
Quickly, Liou Yuan found in the midst of the sundries the object with the flickering brown glow.
It was a clay Buddha statue.
About a foot tall, resembling the Maitreya Buddha from Liou Yuan's past life, sporting a big belly and a smiling face.
"Here it is." Liou Yuan stepped into the clutter and took out the statue.
The statue was too crudely made, and because it had been placed for too long, many parts had already become brittle. With a simple motion of picking it up, a crack opened on the statue's surface.
Even though Liou Yuan was careful throughout, it still crumbled in his hands.
Poof! Dirt flew as the fragmented statue fell to the ground.
Liou Yuan stared blankly at the handful of remaining clay, briefly surprised.
He couldn't believe that a spiritual item detected by the Fixed Star Compass could be so fragile.
After a brief pause, he bent down and began searching through the pile of dirt at his feet.
Indeed, after some groping with his hand, he finally found a string of smooth objects within the dirt.
"I knew it," Liou Yuan smiled with joy, picked up the string of objects, and blew off the remaining dirt to reveal its true form.
It was a string of prayer beads.
Carved from nineteen pieces of yellow Spiritual Jade, they were smooth to the touch.
Each piece of Spiritual Jade had characters engraved on it.
Liou Yuan frowned at the characters on the Spiritual Jade, his eyes full of confusion.
He recognized all the characters in this world, yet none of these were readable to him.
One thing was certain though, these beads were no ordinary items.
Once in his hand, several strands of spiritual power within Liou Yuan reacted to it.
Following the principle of asking the Fixed Star Compass if unsure.
Liou Yuan cleaned the filth off the beads, summoned the Fixed Star Compass, and placed them on it, preparing to use its appraisal ability to determine the use of this spiritual item.
The last of the star energy from the Fixed Star Compass was just enough for appraisal.
After a flash of white brilliance.
This bracelet's details were presented before Liou Yuan's eyes.
[Name] Yellow Jade Buddhist Beads
[Category] Magical Artifact
[Quality] First Class Medium Grade
[Effect] Defense Magical Artifact, when infused with spiritual power, it forms a protective barrier. The defense strength is determined by the user's spiritual power.
[Hidden] The beads contain a passage of Buddhist True Words, which, when recited with activated spiritual power, have the power to attack enemies.
[Magic Quality] Ting Level Medium Grade
Insufficient star energy, unable to explore Buddhist True Words, try again when star energy is replenished.