Green Bamboo Village

Night gradually draped itself across the sky, and the stars began to show. Moonlight spilled onto the small mountain village nestled amongst the peaks, while the green bamboo surrounding the settlement started to emit a faint, verdant glow.

This was the specialty bamboo of Green Bamboo Village, and the village itself derived its name from it.

Despite the beautiful scenery, no one was there to appreciate it. Instead, the sounds of footsteps echoed through the village.

"Quick, quick, it's almost dark, the gray mist will be here soon. Go patrol in your assigned groups for today."

The speaker was a stern-faced middle-aged man dressed in a Martial Artist's attire. He carried a long spear on his back and held a torch in his hand, shouting loudly at the patrol members gathered in the open space.

This was the village's guard captain, Qu Yong.

Hearing Captain Qu Yong's words, the village's patrol members sprang into action, heading in pairs towards their designated patrol areas.

"Brother Wang, I heard your daughter is sixteen this year. Do you think I'd make a suitable son-in-law?"

"Get lost. Joining this patrol team is like having one foot in the grave. With your short lifespan, you think you can marry my daughter?"

The two men speaking were members of the village patrol team. The one with slightly graying hair was Wang Qiang, while the other, Liu San, was eyeing Brother Wang's daughter.

Today, they had been assigned to patrol the rice fields outside the village to the southeast.

They were considered veterans of the team. Although they were currently bantering, their hands remained on their weapons, constantly alert to any rustling in the surroundings.

Listening to Old Wang's words, Liu San knew he was speaking the truth. Joining the patrol team meant a life of comfort and plenty, but it also came with the responsibility of maintaining that privileged life. This job required not only meticulousness but also luck; it was a perilous path.

As Liu San pondered Old Wang's words, Old Wang, standing beside him, noticed something amiss with the rice fields tonight.

After walking for so long, Old Wang hadn't heard a single sound of living creatures. He quickly alerted Liu San, drawing his saber with his right hand.

The moment Old Wang drew his saber, a flicker in his peripheral vision made him think he saw a scarecrow move.

"Liu San, did that scarecrow just move?!"

Hearing Wang Qiang's serious tone, Liu San's heart skipped a beat, and he turned his head towards the scarecrow.

"Brother Wang, something's not right. The smile on that scarecrow's face looks a bit unsettling!"

As Liu San finished speaking, the scarecrow's body instantly came to life. Simultaneously, the rice stalks in the field began to move, surging towards Liu San and Old Wang like waves.

"Liu San, don't panic! Go send the Signal Talisman. I'll hold it off for a while. We absolutely cannot let it enter the village."

With that, Old Wang slapped a Talisman Paper onto his saber. The blade glowed with yellow Talisman Light, and Old Wang charged towards the scarecrow, saber in hand.

The scarecrow ignored the yellow Talisman Light and lunged directly at Old Wang.

Old Wang dodged the scarecrow's attack with a swift sidestep as he reached it, then slashed at its arm with his saber.

The saber, empowered by the Talisman Paper, inflicted a deep wound on the scarecrow's arm. However, as rice stalks from the nearby field flowed into the scarecrow's body, the wound healed instantly.

Old Wang's eyes widened in shock. Before he could react, he was engulfed by the rice stalks swept up by the scarecrow.

As Liu San sent the Signal Talisman, he saw his good friend Old Wang being swallowed by the rice stalks. His eyes widened in fury, and he grabbed his saber, slashing at the scarecrow. He had even forgotten to slap on a Talisman Spell.

Without the Talisman Spell, his saber struck the scarecrow with a clang like metal on stone. Liu San, stunned, was then struck down by the scarecrow's palm, his head crushed.

Not long after, a beam of red light suddenly appeared in the sky to the southeast of Green Bamboo Village.

Qu Yong, stationed at the village entrance, saw the red light and knew someone had used a Signal Talisman. He immediately rushed towards the location of the incident.

"How dare you."

Qu Yong, who had just arrived, saw endless rice stalks about to engulf Liu San's corpse. After the scarecrow had finished consuming Wang Qiang's body, the rice stalks on it seemed to have taken on a bloody hue!

Qu Yong drew his long spear, Vital Energy staining the spearhead and shaft red, and thrust it towards the scarecrow.

Sizzle... sizzle... sizzle...

The sound was like water being added to boiling oil.

Three holes appeared on the scarecrow's body. Nearby wheat stalks surged towards it, attempting to heal the wounds, but the Vital Energy covering the holes made healing difficult.

"So it's a Weirdness on the verge of evolving to Crimson Grade. No wonder they died at your hands."

Saying this, Qu Yong prepared to attack again, intending to finish off the Weirdness in one go.

Suddenly, the rice stalks in the field stopped flowing towards the scarecrow and instead lunged at Qu Yong. Qu Yong became wary. Although he was a Vitality Realm Martial Artist, a level higher than this scarecrow, the Weirdness's abilities were difficult to guard against, and many Martial Artists had met their end due to carelessness.

When the rice stalks reached within a foot of him, Qu Yong moved. He swept his spear out, and the wall of rice stalks before him instantly shattered. The scarecrow behind the wall had vanished without a trace.

"This is troublesome. This scarecrow is about to advance to Crimson Grade. No, I must inform the Village Chief and the Talisman Master."

With that, he picked up Liu San's corpse, which the scarecrow hadn't fully consumed, and returned to the village entrance.