I See What I See, Seeking Only Clarity

"Whew..."

Lu Jun let out a long breath.

He lowered his head and glanced at the bronze lamp in his hand.

There was still quite a bit of oil left in the lamp. Lu Jun estimated that it could burn for at most another hour.

Although there was still plenty of time, Lu Jun did not dare to keep wasting it. He hurried toward the Huang Pi Dao Master shrine at the center of the village.

The blind old beggar's words from earlier kept ringing in his ears.

"Do you want to know the whole truth?"

"Do you want to save the villagers in your village who have been cursed?"

"Go. Go to the center of your village, and in front of all your villagers, use this knife to cut down the idol of that so-called Huang Pi Dao Master."

"By then, you'll understand everything..."

"..."

Lu Jun gripped the ancient long saber the blind old beggar had given him. Powerful emotions burst from his eyes, and his expression was as firm as iron. He muttered under his breath, "I see what I see, seeking only clarity!"

Inside the Huang Pi Dao Master shrine.

The place was already boiling with noise. Countless villagers held torches or lanterns, illuminating the entire area around the shrine.

The village chief had already gathered dozens of strong men from the village to carry over a massive palanquin and set it down at the shrine's entrance.

Then, the village chief led the villagers to the shrine, where they once again prostrated themselves and bowed in unison.

"Invite the deity!"

"Welcome the Huang Pi Dao Master to the procession!"

The village chief shouted at the top of his lungs.

At the same time, the dozens of burly men waiting near the palanquin surged forward and entered the shrine.

Before long, the Huang Pi Dao Master's idol, shrine cabinet and all, was carried out.

The Huang Pi Dao Master idol still had a black cover over its head, making it seem eerie and mysterious.

The burly men then carried it onto the palanquin.

"Raise the shrine!"

The village chief shouted at the top of his lungs once more.

Dozens of strong men lifted the palanquin. The densely packed villagers around them also raised their torches one after another, pressing tightly around the palanquin.

From afar, they looked like a crimson flame dragon about to soar into the sky.

By the time Lu Jun arrived, the palanquin had already been lifted. With the crowd packed tightly around it, Lu Jun could not get close at all.

I'll wait until the palanquin stops before I act. Lu Jun made up his mind.

Lu Jun blended into the congested crowd, his gaze constantly searching among the villagers for something.

"Old man..."

Lu Jun's eyes flickered slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he finally moved quietly toward Grandpa.

At the same time, Grandpa, who was in the procession, clearly seemed somewhat distracted.

"Hey, Fourth Master, where's your grandson A-Jun?" one of Grandpa's acquaintances came over and asked.

"Ah, that boy's a little rascal. He's probably with a few of his friends." Grandpa answered.

"A-Jun, a rascal? A-Jun's been the most obedient of the village children since he was little. He's a fine-looking boy, filial too, and one of the few children in the village who can read and write..." The man chuckled. "Fourth Master, don't go acting spoiled after getting such a blessing..."

Grandpa burst into laughter, his face full of pride, though his tone grew more boastful. "Not at all, not at all. He's just a cheeky little brat. If he heard you talking him up like that, he'd be climbing onto the roof and tearing off the tiles!"

"But the boy really is filial, and quite well-behaved too..." By the end, a smile had appeared on Grandpa's face.

"Then you'll enjoy a comfortable old age from now on."

"Hahaha... If he lets me hold a great-grandson soon, that'll be the greatest blessing of all."

"..."

Lu Jun followed silently behind Grandpa. For some reason, the tip of his nose stung with emotion. Looking at the ancient long saber in his hand, his gaze grew even more resolute. The hatred he felt toward the Huang Pi Dao Master idol inside the palanquin deepened as well.

The deity procession wandered through the village, circling around it and passing every household.

They claimed this would allow the Huang Pi Dao Master's blessings to reach every person in the village.

But Lu Jun was growing anxious.

He had not expected there to be a deity procession today. He had thought there would be plenty of time, and that all he needed to do was rush into the shrine and cut off the Huang Pi Dao Master's head.

But half an hour had already passed, and there was still some distance left to cover. This made the time Lu Jun had to sever the Huang Pi Dao Master's head suddenly very tight.

"We should make it..."

Lu Jun's expression was tense as he repeatedly calculated the time in his head.

At last, after the time it took to burn a stick of incense.

The grand deity procession finally completed its circuit of the entire village.

Lu Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had kept his eyes fixed on the bronze lamp, but now he slowly raised his head.

Yet the instant he saw what lay before him, his heart jolted.

Ahead, the densely packed villagers had all turned into countless monsters with weasel heads atop their necks. The exposed skin at their necks and arms was likewise covered in fine brownish-yellow fur.

The scene before him was unmistakably a world of monsters!

Moreover, not a single person present seemed surprised. They continued holding their torches and lanterns high, allowing the firelight to clearly illuminate their own faces and those of the people beside them, displaying their bizarre monster features as they chatted and laughed with their friends and relatives.

"This isn't a case of ninety percent of the village being cursed and turned into monsters..."

"Everyone except me has turned into a monster."

Lu Jun's heart tightened, and he silently swallowed.

At that moment, he was walking among a horde of monsters, the only aberration among them. He did not even dare breathe too loudly.

Just then, a monster beside Lu Jun sniffed hard in his direction.

Lu Jun flinched in fright, hurriedly dodged away, and then quickly slipped out of the procession.

Immediately afterward, the voices of two monsters talking reached his ears.

"Did you smell something? It smells so good!"

"I smelled it too. I've never encountered such a delicious scent in my life."

"What could it be? I really want a bite..."

As they spoke, foul-smelling saliva unconsciously dripped from the mouths of the two monsters.

Lu Jun felt a wave of revulsion.

Finally, amid Lu Jun's terror and unease.

The deity procession stopped.

It stopped in front of the stage where the village's painted-skin troupe had performed earlier.

"Invite the deity out of the shrine."

The village chief, now transformed into a monster, shouted again in his hoarse, low voice.

Next, the burly men who had become monsters entered the palanquin, carried out the Huang Pi Dao Master's idol, and brought it directly onto the stage.

At the same time, Lu Jun quietly followed them onto the stage.

After the monster-like men set the idol in place, they hurried back down.

Only Lu Jun remained on the entire stage.

"Everyone, raise your heads. Pray for the deity's blessing and beseech the deity's might..."

Standing at the very front of the village's monsters, the village chief continued shouting in that hoarse, shrill voice.

In an instant, more than a hundred grotesque weasel monsters throughout the area raised their heads in unison and began praying to the idol on the stage.

From the stage, Lu Jun saw this scene clearly—every last detail.

More than a hundred pairs of golden eyes, their pupils vertical slits, glimmered with madness, fervor, and an eerie light. In the dim night, they were even brighter and more scorching than the torches and lanterns held by the monsters.

Lu Jun swallowed, silently watching the scene without daring to make a sound.

After taking several deep breaths, Lu Jun finally steadied himself. His arm no longer trembled, and he at last raised the ancient great saber.

He lifted the saber high, fixing his eyes fiercely on the Huang Pi Dao Master's neck.

Die!

Lu Jun shouted inwardly.

Just as he was about to bring the saber down with all his strength.

A violent gust suddenly swept past, raising a sky full of dust and sand.

The dust blew into Lu Jun's eyes. His heart clenched, and inexplicable panic rose from within him. He could no longer afford to think, and prepared to hack down at random.

But in the next second, Lu Jun was horrified to discover that he could no longer move.

His body seemed to have been frozen solid.

At the same time, the gale blew the black cover off the Huang Pi Dao Master's head.

It also extinguished the tranquil pale-blue flame inside the bronze lamp.

Lu Jun saw it.

Once again, he saw the Huang Pi Dao Master's monstrous form.

That clay-molded, loathsome, nauseating... monstrous form.

Reflected in Lu Jun's pupils, the Huang Pi Dao Master before him—whose body was clearly made of clay—gradually grew soft, developing the supple texture of living skin...

It gently twisted its head around and revealed a wide, mocking smile at Lu Jun.