Chapter Forty-Nine: Worshiping This Wretched God Statue Is Better Than Worshiping Me, Fan Wu!

[Nie Village Villager A--HP:55--Strength:1.5--Skill:None]

[Nie Village Villager B--HP:49--Strength:1.1--Skill:None]

[Old Village Chief of Nie Village--HP:...]

[...]

Not one of the Nie Village villagers before him was a cultivator. Even the old Village Chief, who looked to be well over seventy, was merely an ordinary man blessed with a longer life.

Naturally, he had heard the old Village Chief's warning.

If Fan Wu had been an ordinary person, he would have turned and left the moment he heard the warning.

This was, after all, the World of Gods and Anomalies.

When it came to strange affairs involving demons, monsters, ghosts, and spirits, ordinary people were best off hiding as far away as possible.

But Fan Wu was no ordinary person.

"A man bearing a sharp weapon will naturally develop murderous intent"—using that phrase to describe his state of mind was not entirely accurate.

But it was somewhat fitting.

When it came to anomalous objects, Fan Wu was no longer as wary as he had been at the beginning.

In his eyes, as long as he stayed away from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau and that Great Venerable, there would be no major problem.

As for other strange affairs...

If he encountered one, then so be it!

He even wanted to encounter one deliberately, because encountering strange affairs meant he could obtain Free Attribute Points! Who wouldn't like one walking Free Attribute Point after another?

At any rate, Fan Wu did!

Leading Old Green Ox, he approached the Nie Village villagers.

Fan Wu could see that every one of them wore an expression of vigilance mixed with timidity.

Clearly, the aura around him had put them under tremendous pressure.

It made them extremely tense.

"This Daoist merely happened to be passing through. I won't be staying in Nie Village for long," Fan Wu explained to them.

The old Village Chief still insisted, "Daoist Priest, you may not know how dangerous it is around here. Only poor mountain folk like us, who don't know where we could move to for refuge, are still hesitating over whether to leave the place our ancestors have lived for generations."

"Families with somewhat substantial means left with their entire households several months ago. To be honest with you, Daoist Priest, there is a Lijia Village less than a mile from Nie Village."

"Lijia Village has roughly a hundred households. Their village is fairly wealthy, and every family has many children. Each household has at least seven or eight people."

"Lijia Village has more than a thousand people in all. It's a large village!"

"But..."

The old Village Chief drew a deep breath, a trace of grief in his cloudy eyes.

After a brief pause, he continued, "Several months ago, Lijia Village suffered a sudden calamity. They encountered a strange affair. It was terribly baleful. Everyone in Lijia Village... died overnight!!"

"The Imperial Astronomy Bureau in Baihe County sent people to investigate. I still remember that the leader was a female official named Shen Jiyue. But the Imperial Astronomy Bureau couldn't discover the cause..."

"The people from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau also said that Nie Village wouldn't encounter the strange affair that happened in Lijia Village. But those words were only meant to calm us. We could listen to them, but not take them seriously."

"..."

The old Village Chief recounted, one incident after another, the strange affairs that had occurred nearby.

The Nie Village villagers listening nearby couldn't help shuddering even in broad daylight!

Although they all knew about this matter, hearing it again still chilled their hearts.

Fan Wu nodded thoughtfully.

His gaze passed over the old Village Chief and the villagers before him, finally landing on the statue of Lord of Fortune and Virtue atop the incense altar.

He saw no attribute information above the statue's head.

That meant the statue possessed no Incense-Fire Power.

The ritual of inviting the deity that the old Village Chief and the others had just performed...

Had basically accomplished nothing.

It had been utterly useless!

Their ritual today might have been the final hope and expectation entrusted to the deity by the people of Nie Village.

Unfortunately...

Their hopes had shattered.

"Chief... Chief! It's... it's bad! It's bad!"

Just as Fan Wu was about to say something else, a panicked, breathless voice came from afar and drew near.

Everyone's attention was pulled toward it.

Seeing who had arrived, the old Village Chief barked sternly, "What's with all the panic? Have you no decorum? Catch your breath before you speak!"

The old Village Chief held considerable prestige in Nie Village.

That scolding made the Nie Village villager who had just run over quickly take several deep breaths. Once he had smoothed out the breath lodged in his chest, he hurriedly continued, "The people who fell ill a few days ago seem to be getting worse today! Several of them have already fainted!"

"What?!"

The old Village Chief immediately grew anxious. He slapped the back of the man's head and ground his teeth. "Such an important matter—why didn't you tell me sooner, you brat?"

"Huh? But, Chief, you told me to..."

The old Village Chief cut him off. "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and take this old man over to have a look!"

"Yes, yes, yes..."

The Nie Village villagers hurriedly ran in one direction.

The old Village Chief was too old to run.

A young man with a stronger build immediately hoisted him onto his back and sprinted wildly.

Before long, only a few people remained at the entrance to Nie Village.

Fan Wu watched their retreating figures.

He pondered.

Then... he turned and glanced at the completely useless statue of Lord of Fortune and Virtue.

He clicked his tongue.

Fan Wu reached out, grabbed a fruit offering, and stuffed it into his mouth without the slightest ceremony.

The practiced motion made it obvious that back in Prison Dragon County...

He had done this more than a few times!

"Worshiping this useless broken clay idol and hoping for its protection... You might as well worship me. At least I can help people eat their offerings, so these offerings won't go to waste."

Fan Wu muttered under his breath.

Chewing fruit, he led Old Green Ox and followed the Nie Village villagers.

Fan Wu walked for roughly half a stick of incense before arriving at a place inside Nie Village.

He saw the group of Nie Village villagers from the entrance.

The Nie Village villagers saw him too.

"Are you the Daoist Priest from before?" A sallow, emaciated villager looked up at Fan Wu and swallowed hard. After hesitating for a moment, he still mustered his courage and asked, "How did you get in here?"

"I came to take a look," Fan Wu replied.

The moment he finished speaking, the door of the thatched cottage ahead opened.

The old Village Chief and several villagers emerged with bitter expressions.

The other villagers immediately crowded around them, speaking all at once.

"Chief, are they all right? Is it serious?"

"Grandpa Chief, is my father all right? They all say my father has been possessed. What kind of illness is possession? Grandpa Chief, you studied medicine before, so... so you should be able to cure my father, right?"

"Can the people inside still be saved?!"

"..."

The old Village Chief waved his hand, signaling for them to quiet down. The crowd fell silent and stopped shouting.

"When this old man was young... I did study medicine, but in this condition..." He was utterly helpless. "In this condition, there is nothing this old man can do."

Those few words struck everyone like thunder on a clear day.

Until.

A sudden voice rang out. "Can this Daoist enter and take a look?"

The old Village Chief froze. When he looked up, he saw Fan Wu's extraordinarily tall figure.

"Daoist Priest, how did you get in here?" The old Village Chief was stunned and had yet to react.

But Fan Wu had already reached out and parted the crowd, then passed by the old Village Chief.

He stepped straight into the thatched cottage before replying, "This Daoist sensed a strange aura."

He had sensed the scent of Free Attribute Points!