Natural Disaster? Man-Made Calamity! (Two Chapters, Six Thousand Words—Please Vote Monthly Tickets!)

A wild boar was devoured clean by two men and a cat.

After eating and drinking their fill, they sat around the campfire beneath the moonlight. Chen Yan stroked Facai's fur in his arms as he asked Old Daoist Liu beside him, "When you went out to scout the way earlier, did you find anything?"

Curled into a ball in his arms, Facai exposed only a pair of ears. They twitched lightly beneath Chen Yan's touch, then went still again.

Across from him, the old Daoist lay reclined, drunkenly took a sip of wine, and said lazily, "Nothing much. Once we cross this forest and travel another ten li east, we'll reach the final village of this trip—Little Yellow Village."

Chen Yan nodded, tossed another armful of firewood onto the flames, and asked, "Old Daoist Liu, is it really impossible that the true culprit behind this is the Rebirth Cult?"

Old Daoist Liu shook his head, his tone inexplicable. "It's not easy to explain the exact reasons to you, but you only need to know this: at least in recent years, the Rebirth Cult wouldn't dare do something like this openly."

Chen Yan's brows furrowed. "If it wasn't the Rebirth Cult, then who was it?"

"And this person is extremely cautious. Not a single clue has slipped out so far. How are we supposed to drag him out?"

Old Daoist Liu gave a cold laugh, a sharp gleam flashing through his drunken eyes. "That fiend may have done everything without a drop spilled, seamless as heaven's own robe, but even horses stumble and men lose their footing. Of all things, he should never have refined so many Skin-Peeling Puppets. These Skin-Peeling Puppets are his greatest flaw."

"Oh? How so?" Chen Yan asked curiously.

The old Daoist sneered. "Investigate the movements of every person before they became skin. There will always be something those people had in common in the traces of their lives. That common point is most likely where the fiend is hiding!"

Chen Yan frowned. "Wouldn't that be an enormous amount of work? And with the size of the Shanxi County yamen, they may not have enough manpower to investigate in such detail. If anything gets missed, wouldn't all our efforts go to waste?"

"Don't worry. This mountain man has his own brilliant plan."

The old Daoist began playing coy, casting Chen Yan a smug glance that plainly said, Go on, beg me.

Chen Yan rolled his eyes and could not be bothered to ask further. Since Old Daoist Liu claimed to be confident, he would find out in time.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, when the sky had only just begun to brighten, a soft mist rose through the mountains and forests. The snowy-white fog shrouded everything in the hills in a hazy, dreamlike veil.

Treading on dew beneath the dawn light, Chen Yan and Old Daoist Liu emerged from the forest and returned to the official road just as the first ray of sunlight fell.

Perhaps because of the recent massacre cases, there were scarcely any travelers on the road. Only the unknown animal bones scattered along both sides seemed to give off faint, mournful whimpers.

After Chen Yan broke through to the Third Blood Qi Realm, the two of them traveled even faster.

In less than the time it took to burn an incense stick, Little Yellow Village appeared at the edge of their vision.

However.

Before Chen Yan and the others could even approach, a thick stench of blood mixed with rot rushed into his nostrils.

Chen Yan halted mid-stride and looked toward the old Daoist. Without a word, both saw a sense of foreboding in the other's eyes.

Whoosh!

Chen Yan drove off with both feet, unleashing Dragon Step. His body shot forward like a rabbit in flight as he raced toward Little Yellow Village ahead.

At his side, Old Daoist Liu used some unknown Daoist art, and his speed abruptly increased by a great deal as he followed close behind.

Within only a few breaths, the two had reached the entrance to Little Yellow Village.

From afar, white mourning banners could be seen hanging all across the village entrance.

And in the open space before the entrance lay corpse after corpse, large and small, wrapped in burial cloth. From a distance, they formed a dense, endless mass.

A hundred?

Two hundred?

Or three hundred?

Whoo—whoo—

A frigid wind swept past.

The village entrance was bleak and desolate, so silent that even the sound of sobbing seemed absent. Fallen leaves appeared to drift up and down through the sky alongside fluttering paper money.

Miserable and forlorn.

Like a dead village.

No.

Or rather, it was a dead village.

At some point, Chen Yan and Old Daoist Liu's expressions had completely darkened. Walking among the corpses, Old Daoist Liu looked toward Zhao Gang, who had arrived at Little Yellow Village before them, and asked, "What exactly happened here?"

Even Old Daoist Liu himself had not noticed that his voice had turned utterly icy at that moment.

Zhao Gang's eyes were vacant and his expression dazed. Only when Old Daoist Liu spoke did he notice Chen Yan and the other's arrival. The sturdy man's emotions finally collapsed, and he revealed a smile uglier than tears. "Dead. They're all dead... Little Yellow Village had ninety-seven households, two hundred and eighty-one people. From seventy-year-old elders to nursing infants, not one survived..."

Cold!

Bone-piercing cold!

At that moment, despite the Blood Qi raging through his body like a dragon, Chen Yan's heart turned colder and colder, the chill piercing straight through to his soul.

They were all dead?

At that moment, neither the frigid wind nor the cold night could compare to the dead silence of Little Yellow Village in making his heart go cold.

This was also the first time since crossing into this world that Chen Yan gained the most direct and clearest understanding of just how cruel this world was.

"Whew—"

A gust of cold wind swept past.

It lifted a corner of the burial cloth by Chen Yan's feet, revealing a tender, childish face—severed from its body.

It was the face of a little girl who looked only five or six years old. Her eyes were wide open, blood tears trailing from their corners. Her gaze still held the pain and pleading she had felt before death.

Yet the murderer had mercilessly stabbed through the girl's chest, then committed an even crueler act by striking a second blow and severing her head with a single slash.

Meeting the girl's gaze in silence, Chen Yan felt as though a massive boulder had crushed down upon his chest, pressing until he could scarcely breathe.

Why???

Why, when robbery would have been enough?

Why massacre an entire village!!!

A nameless fury surged in his heart, begging to be vented, yet he could not release it no matter how he tried. Chen Yan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out. In the end, it became only a hoarse question: "Who did this...?"

"Judging from the traces at the scene and the wounds on the corpses, it should have been done by bandits and mountain brigands."

When it came to his field of expertise, Zhao Gang's expression regained its composure. As he spoke, he threw out a blood-soaked mountain-cleaving saber with a chipped blade. There was a clear tiger-head emblem on its hilt. Zhao Gang continued calmly, "A month ago, Yiling Commandery sent troops to wipe out the mountain bandits entrenched around Tiger Head Mountain in Lai'an County. Their stronghold chief, Ding Feihu, led a small group in breaking through the encirclement and escaping. They fled into other counties. Judging from the route they took... they may very well have entered Shanxi Town during this period."

Zhao Gang said no more, but his meaning could not have been clearer.

The culprits were most likely the remnant bandits who had fled into Shanxi Town!

"How strong are they?" Chen Yan's voice remained hoarse as he stared blankly at the girl's head.

Zhao Gang gave the youth a worried look, but still explained, "According to the wanted notice issued by Yiling Commandery, Ding Feihu's bandit group numbers nineteen in total.

"The stronghold chief, Ding Feihu, is at the Third Blood Qi Realm and excels in Fierce Tiger Fist.

"The second stronghold chief, Lu Qing, is at the Third Blood Qi Realm and excels in the Mountain-Breaking Saber Technique.

"The third stronghold chief, Wei Bing, died in battle.

"The fourth stronghold chief, Ma Wenfeng, is at the Second Blood Qi Realm and excels in the Wind-Chasing Sword.

"There are also five bandits at the Blood Qi Realm, and eleven ordinary bandits..."

Two Third Blood Qi Realm experts, one Second Blood Qi Realm expert, five Blood Qi Realm bandits, and eleven ordinary bandits—such a force could not be called anything but powerful. Throughout Yiling Commandery, aside from towns and cities protected by city walls, no nearby mountain village could withstand their slaughter.

"Daoist Liu."

After hearing Zhao Gang's report, Chen Yan suddenly looked toward the old Daoist at his side.

Seeing that the youth's emotions were somewhat off, the old Daoist could not help saying solemnly, "Kid, when great matters arise, you must keep a calm heart. Don't let anger cloud your mind."

"I'm very calm." Chen Yan shook his head, then continued evenly, "There were two hundred and eighty-one people in Little Yellow Village, but only two hundred and thirty-seven corpses are here. That means forty-four people should have died at the hands of the Skin-Peeling Puppets."

At this point, Chen Yan looked seriously at Old Daoist Liu. "Ding Feihu's group deserves to die a thousand deaths, but the true culprit behind the Skin-Peeling Puppets deserves a death even worse."

Seeing the resolve in the youth's eyes, the old Daoist asked, "What do you intend to do?"

"Old Daoist Liu, you go eliminate the escaped Skin-Peeling Puppets. I'll hold off Ding Feihu's group. Once you've destroyed the Skin-Peeling Puppets, come support me."

The old Daoist frowned. "How about I hold off Ding Feihu's group, and you eliminate the Skin-Peeling Puppets?"

But Chen Yan shook his head, his gaze serious. "I'm not acting on impulse. Ding Feihu's group only left not long ago, so I'm confident I can track them. But we don't know when the Skin-Peeling Puppets escaped. Only your Daoist arts can find them."

Hearing the youth's seemingly logical reasoning, Old Daoist Liu could find no reason to object. Still, he could not help offering one more warning. "Kid, I hope you won't act rashly. Once you find Ding Feihu's group, don't make a move lightly. Follow them in secret and wait for this old Daoist's support."

"I will," Chen Yan replied calmly.

Looking at the youth's tranquil face, the old Daoist sighed. He took out a blue talisman from his sleeve and handed it over. "This is an Evil-Slaying Talisman. You know the activation incantation. Use blood from the tip of your tongue to activate it, then throw it at the enemy."

With that, he patted the youth on the shoulder and turned to leave.

At that moment, Zhao Gang could not help saying, "Little Yan, I'll go with you."

Chen Yan shook his head in refusal. "Uncle Zhao, you're too slow. Bringing you along would only make you a burden. I'll leave marks along the way. Bring the others and follow them to surround the bandits."

Zhao Gang opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. In the end, he could only sigh and pat the youth on the shoulder. "You've grown up. Take good care of yourself."

Chen Yan grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "Don't worry. I'm still young. I don't want to die yet."

After everyone had left, Chen Yan crouched down and rubbed Facai's head on his shoulder. Then he pointed at the bloodstained Tiger Head Saber on the ground and asked gently, "Facai, can you find this saber's owner?"

Sensing that the youth's mood was wrong, Facai was especially well-behaved.

It leaped down from Chen Yan's shoulder, came before the Tiger Head Saber, and carefully sniffed around the hilt. Then it closed its eyes and sniffed the air before turning back and nodding at Chen Yan.

A cold smile appeared on Chen Yan's face. He stroked Facai's head and said softly, "Very good."

"Facai, remember this scent. We're going to slaughter him."

PS: Today's bonus update is six thousand words. Please, dear readers, see how hard Lotus Root has worked and toss in a monthly vote, add it to your collection, and follow along every day!!!