Indulgence (Please Recommend)

Outside the window, the night was quiet.

Yet Zhong Shenxiu's thoughts remained unsettled for a long time.

"Was Su Daozhi's luck terrible, or was it good? He actually communed with such an existence and was tragically possessed... This was the First Legendary Earl of Hestings, who had dared to come carve out territory while the Yanhan Empire was collapsing—and had truly succeeded!"

Through the memories just now, he gained a little more understanding of that period of history.

"The Fufeng Protectorate had originally been within Hestings County... After the First Generation Count founded his nation, he had indeed considered praying to a Great Existence..."

"It came from the Boundless Chaos, a True God... Though I don't know the outcome of the sacrifice, that existence clearly had no interest in protecting Hestings County and watched it perish... But whether it exerted some influence over the sacrificer is uncertain."

People did not care about ants, nor did they care about ants' pleas.

Perhaps the ants merely prayed for strength, while a person casually tossed down a few bread crumbs.

Or perhaps the ants begged for a few crumbs, only for the person to step down and crush them dead by the dozen.

Zhong Shenxiu estimated that Earl Hestings had encountered precisely such a situation.

That True God had not protected his nation, yet it seemed to have influenced him, allowing him to remain undying after death and transform into a form like a Vengeful Spirit, enduring until now!

"Though... he seems to have lost his mind."

"So I can draw a few patterns from this. That True God unconsciously responded to rituals, but did not necessarily comply with the worshippers' prayers. And any power gained always came at a grievous cost..."

Zhong Shenxiu shook his head. "Why am I calculating all this? I have no desire to pray to that Great Existence from the Boundless Chaos... Besides, I don't know its ritual."

The Earl's memories were fragmented, especially those concerning the ritual, the runes, and even that existence's name, which were extremely vague.

They were also accompanied by an intensely dangerous feeling.

That made Zhong Shenxiu realize that if he insisted on seeking out that god's name and power, the First Legendary Earl of Hestings within him would be the best example.

"Come to think of it... Was this Earl truly favored by a god? Why does this feel more like a curse?"

Zhong Shenxiu continued attempting Daoist arts.

This time, amid the haze, he seemed to see a tall, thin figure.

It wore a black woolen formal suit with two rows of golden buttons and black deerskin boots...

Its limbs were long, its skin pale...

Most crucially... it had no head!

The Headless Count!

Zhong Shenxiu did not know that while he was attempting Daoist arts, strange changes were also occurring inside the room.

Drip. Drip.

Drops of dark-red blood, appearing from nowhere, continuously dripped from the bed.

Thin mist began spreading in all directions, gradually enveloping the little village.

Beneath the Twin Moons, the entire village was shrouded in a light fog. The buildings became illusory and hazy, and not a single sound could be heard.

Had it been daytime, this would certainly have caused panic, but it was now deep in the night.

Within the dim mist, a figure appeared and wandered endlessly.

He wore splendid formal attire, like a gentleman attending an evening banquet.

The only difference was that he had no head!

The Headless Count!

Even stranger, from outside the village, the little village appeared entirely normal.

"According to the military report, this is the place."

"Looks like this squad was indeed badly wounded during the day. Unable to return to camp, they could only rest and recover in the village..."

Tian Bufeng had changed his clothes and thrown away everything that could link him to the Company Commander of Black Mountain Fortress.

Xue San had lost an arm, and members of the squad had died, so naturally they had requested reinforcements from the military.

Unfortunately, Tian Bufeng intercepted the message midway and directly suppressed it.

Not only that, he had come in person, intending to take Su Daozhi's life.

"Heaven is truly helping me... If they encountered Monsters in the Black Mist, even the entire squad being wiped out would be perfectly normal..."

As a Company Commander, Tian Bufeng's martial arts might not have reached Xiantian, but he was already at the absolute peak of Houtian. Dealing with Su Daozhi—even if he brought along the rest of his companions—would be as easy as turning his hand over.

His knowledge was limited. He only knew that martial artists were divided into Houtian and Xiantian.

If one could cultivate the Dao, one entered directly at the Xiantian level.

Beyond that, within the Second Yanhan Empire, there were many Western methods as well, with divisions of professional ranks that were said to be quite detailed.

With a trace of arrogance, Tian Bufeng walked directly into the village.

The moment he took a step forward, heaven and earth became entirely different.

The quiet, safe little village in Tian Bufeng's eyes was suddenly enveloped in fog. The buildings blurred, and shadows of people crowded everywhere.

"What is going on? Has this village already been swallowed by the Black Mist? Where is the protective formation arranged in advance?"

Tian Bufeng's thoughts raced. With a tap of his toes, he prepared to withdraw beyond the village boundary.

But in the next moment, he discovered that he had retreated onto an open stretch of ground, seemingly the village threshing yard.

Because of that action of "retreating," he had instead sunk even deeper, entering farther into the village!

Fine beads of cold sweat emerged on Tian Bufeng's forehead.

He vaguely understood that he had encountered a terrifying danger. Before such eerie strangeness, a Houtian martial artist was no different from an ordinary person.

Perhaps only Xiantian experts, or even true cultivators, could resolve all this.

Tap. Tap!

Footsteps came from within the mist. A tall, thin figure flickered in and out of view before gradually solidifying.

It was a... headless figure!

"Ah!"

Tian Bufeng let out a strange cry and crashed into a house.

There was not a single person inside. It seemed that all the villagers had vanished without a trace.

In the darkness, Tian Bufeng suddenly grabbed a hand!

A hand as cold as ice, as stiff as if forged from iron!

With his strength, he was actually unable to break free.

Tian Bufeng even discovered that he could no longer move. He could not even close his eyelids, and could only watch as the Headless Count emerged from the darkness and seized his neck...

Crack!

Not long afterward, a corpse fell to the ground.

Zhong Shenxiu's entire body jolted. He opened his eyes and stared at his palm with a slightly dazed expression.

He looked toward a bronze mirror and suddenly felt as though he had seen that Headless Count. But after rubbing his eyes, he found only his own reflection.

Outside the window, the years were peaceful, with the occasional bark of a dog drifting over.

But Zhong Shenxiu knew that something bad had inevitably happened.