The Truth

"Huang Pi Dao Master..."

Lu Jun looked at the statue in front of him and whispered softly.

"Follow me..." the old man whispered, then chuckled familiarly twice and said, "You haven't seen Him either, have you?"

Lu Jun was silent as stone. After a moment of hesitation, he finally chose to approach.

In his memory, the statue called 'Huang Pi Dao Master' always had a black cloth covering its head.

The villagers always solemnly said, "The deity cannot be looked at directly, cannot be spied upon, cannot be investigated," refusing to let any young person like him see the true face of the statue.

The old man led Lu Jun to the statue, which was covered in wood shavings, cobwebs, and a large amount of broken rubble.

The old man first solemnly bowed slightly to the statue in front of him, bowing three times.

Then, he reached out his hand, which was like a withered branch, towards the statue.

Lu Jun's heart pounded to the extreme. For an instant, he held his breath and concentrated, his eyes fixed on the statue, the deity worshipped by generations of Huang Family Village.

Crash!

The black cloth cover was pulled open. In the shallow mist formed by the flying dust and smoke, the statue's face was finally revealed to Lu Jun.

"This..."

Lu Jun's pupils contracted, and his breathing hitched.

Inside the shrine, the appearance of the statue was not unfamiliar to Lu Jun. It had triangular ears, an oval head, a protruding snout, and sharp fangs exposed, yet its body was remarkably similar to a human's.

It was the image of a demon, a combination of a weasel and a human, essentially no different from the demon forms of the old man and Huang Ni'er.

The old man spoke, his tone tinged with a hint of emotion.

"That's right. Legend has it that many years ago, our ancestors from Huang Family Village came here to escape war, established Huang Family Village, and established a connection with this unknown deity called 'Huang Pi Dao Master,' gaining power.

As you can see, it's the form of a demon. Later, we successfully obtained protection and avoided the war..."

Then, the old man sighed softly, "Originally, after all these years, nothing has happened. It seems the legend was just a legend."

"But ever since a month and a half ago, everything has changed. Villagers have been gradually transforming into the demon forms described by our ancestors and have begun to have an unusual craving for human flesh and blood..."

"So, this entire curse started a month and a half ago?"

"To be precise, it was more than forty days ago."

Lu Jun was slightly surprised.

This timeframe was too close to when he lost his memory.

The old man said, "Do you remember me telling you about the incident where the black bear came down the mountain and injured someone?"

"Actually, the truth is that those dead villagers were killed by the villagers who first transformed into demons."

"But we were afraid of causing unnecessary panic, so we lied and said that black bears had been frequently coming down the mountain recently to attack villagers. We reinforced doors and windows, the purpose of which was to prevent any villagers from transforming into monsters at night and to provide a certain level of protection."

"At that time, the situation developed within a few days, and everyone was terrified. So, the village chief gathered all the adults to discuss countermeasures."

"Furthermore, most of those who have transformed into demons recently are adults over twenty-five years old. You children have basically not transformed into demons... so we kept it entirely secret from you."

"After all, you children are timid, have weak dispositions, and are prone to letting secrets slip. Telling you in advance would be entirely detrimental. Moreover, if anything happens, the adults will always bear it first."

"Finally, we decided to implement a curfew in the village at night, and every adult had to lock their limbs with iron chains when sleeping at night."

"And we fed the young people in the village under twenty years old some calming medicine every night, so they wouldn't be woken up by the commotion in their rooms at night."

"After that, we also strictly prohibited outsiders from entering, the purpose being to prevent the village's situation from being known by outsiders..."

Speaking of this, the old man's expression became heavy. "Child, prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain. The people in the village also want to live. If outsiders were to find out... even if the Demon Slaying Division knew, the village would likely have no more peaceful days..."

Lu Jun's heart sank.

The old man's heartfelt words had already made him believe more than half of what he said.

Lu Jun still had many unanswered questions.

"Old man, will I also transform into that demon form?" Lu Jun asked, frowning.

Transform into a demon?

Lu Jun would rather choose to be reborn a second time.

The old man's face was full of complexity, and he sighed, "I don't know."

"The villagers are transforming one after another. The time each person transforms is uncertain."

"Just like before, I also thought I wouldn't transform into that monstrous form, but... I did last night." The old man said with complexity.

"Ah?" Lu Jun was surprised. "So, old man, last night was your first transformation!"

The old man nodded. "Yes. After drinking that dog blood wine you gave me last night, my head felt dizzy. I lay down on the bed and fell asleep not long after... When I woke up this morning, I found a scratch mark on the wall, so I knew I must have also transformed into that demon form last night..."

Then, the old man chuckled slyly. "But the good news is that thing is a real aphrodisiac. I feel like I've aged ten years younger this morning, and I'm completely hard as a rock..."

"..."

Lu Jun was speechless at the old man's lewd demeanor.

At the same time, his mind was filled with even more chaotic thoughts.

Last night, after I gave the old man the black dog blood medicinal wine, he turned into a demon monster that very night.

Lu Jun absolutely did not believe there was nothing fishy going on here.

What was the deal with that blind old beggar?

Or, could it be that the successive transformations of villagers into demon monsters in the village over the past month and a half were all related to him?

Even the most terrifying possibility was that the blind old beggar was the mastermind behind the villagers turning into demon monsters?

This thought sent a chill down Lu Jun's spine.

"Kid, but you can rest assured, at least, there hasn't been a precedent of anyone under twenty years old turning into a demon monster in the village." The old man chuckled, patting Lu Jun's shoulder, signaling him not to worry.

Lu Jun wore a bitter expression.

"Old man, why don't you guess who the monster that was about to kill me just now was?"

Only then did the old man realize, looking confused, "Right, that monster was a villager, so who was it that wanted to kill you?"

"Huang Ni'er..." Lu Jun's expression was complicated.

The old man's expression froze instantly.

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