Sophora Tree Bizarre Entity

If Shen Bai had thought the bizarre aura was perhaps a figment of his imagination before, seeing the Sophora Tree Bizarre Entity start to move and wrap its branches around the Scholar's neck now confirmed his perception was accurate.

"It really is a bizarre entity!"

A glint of excitement flashed in Shen Bai's eyes, his hand already on his sword hilt.

For the past few nights, he had been constantly thinking about where to find Malevolent Qi, and now it had delivered itself right to his doorstep.

Shen Bai casually fumbled in his embrace and pulled out a black cloth to cover his face.

Since last time, he had developed a habit of carrying one at all times.

After all, carrying a black cloth allowed him to conceal his identity when necessary.

As the black cloth covered his face, the excitement in Shen Bai's eyes grew even more intense.

"I'm here, bizarre entity."

Accompanying Shen Bai's voice, he leapt off the wall, and Blood Sword Dance followed like a shadow. The long sword in his hand slashed at a branch.

The branch was severed, twisted, and transformed into black smoke.

The Scholar, entangled by the branches, rolled his eyes and fainted to the ground.

Shen Bai ignored him. As his long sword returned, he noticed the Sophora Tree Bizarre Entity shaking its branches, which densely enveloped him.

If one were to be entangled by these branches, even a cultivator would likely be powerless.

Shen Bai remained unhurried, executing Blood Sword Dance. It was impenetrable, forming layers of sword shadows around him.

As the sword shadows emerged, all approaching branches snapped and vanished into black smoke.

"Hand over the Malevolent Qi."

Shen Bai clenched his left fist, imbued with Buddha's Light and Buddha's Voice, and an boundless aura of killing intent, striking the trunk of the Sophora Tree Bizarre Entity.

The trunk of the Sophora Tree Bizarre Entity began to tremble violently.

With the shaking, the dense leaves fell into the courtyard like rain.

Within the Buddha's Light, Shen Bai was like a wrathful Buddha, steadfastly thrusting his fist through the Sophora Tree Bizarre Entity.

Wafts of black smoke continuously rose from the branches of the Sophora Tree Bizarre Entity.

The trembling Sophora Tree Bizarre Entity disappeared, turning into a pile of ashes.

Before him, a wisp of Malevolent Qi appeared, which Shen Bai collected into his possession.

Only then did Shen Bai withdraw his hand and turn to look at the unconscious Scholar on the ground.

The Scholar looked frail, not only with dark circles under his eyes but also with a completely black forehead.

Shen Bai stepped forward to roughly examine him, then shook his head.

Even though he wasn't a doctor, he could tell the Scholar was in a terrible state, his entire Essence, Qi, Spirit having been depleted to a certain extent.

If this continued for a few more days, it would result in death.

Due to Shen Bai's examination, the Scholar weakly opened his eyes, then looked around, a hint of confusion in his gaze.

When he saw Shen Bai, who was masked with black cloth, he immediately showed a startled expression.

"Who are you? Why are you in my house? Could you be a robber?"

Given Shen Bai's current appearance, it was perfectly normal for the other party to have such thoughts.

Shen Bai looked at the Scholar's expression; it seemed the Scholar didn't know what had happened.

Thinking of this, Shen Bai voiced his question.

"You knelt and bowed to the Sophora Tree in your courtyard, don't you remember?"

"Sophora Tree? Bowed? Me?"

"There's no Sophora Tree in the courtyard, I…"

The Scholar's words trailed off halfway, a look of astonishment on his face.

He suddenly reacted, struggled to get up from the ground, and looked at the corner of the courtyard, his astonishment turning into bewilderment.

"I only remember that on my way back from the academy, I encountered a Strange Man, who told me my writing brush was cracked."

"The brush was cracked…" Shen Bai continued to ask, "What happened next?"

Actually, Shen Bai didn't want to get involved, but this matter seemed to have a continuation, and it might be related to the bizarre entity. If he could get more Malevolent Qi, it would be a huge gain for Shen Bai.

Nothing in this world comes for free, but Shen Bai hoped to at least secure a stable source of Malevolent Qi, so he wouldn't be stuck at a crucial moment, hence his question.

The Scholar frowned, trying hard to recall: "I didn't believe it at the time, so I took out the brush I carried with me. To my surprise, the shaft of the brush really was cracked."

"That Strange Man then took out a branch and told me that a brush handle made from this branch would be even better."

At this point, the Scholar scratched his head, pausing slightly as if recalling.

"Usually, for brush handles, people mostly choose bamboo, since we don't have much money for good wood. But that wood of his was truly excellent. I couldn't resist and took the wood."

"After I came back, I prepared to make a brush with the wood, but the next day, the wood was gone."

"I searched everywhere in the room and the courtyard, and finally found the wood stuck in a corner of the courtyard."

At this point, the bewilderment in the Scholar's eyes finally subsided significantly, revealing a hint of fear.

Shen Bai saw through the Scholar's fear: "After you planted the Sophora Tree, you encountered some phenomena that couldn't be explained by common sense?"

The Scholar quickly nodded and said, "That very night, I realized something was wrong. I had a very strange dream. I dreamt of a branch taking root and sprouting in the soil, eventually growing into a tree. On the tree was a beautiful Red-Clad Woman, swinging on a swing."

"She called me husband, and I walked over. Every night, we happily swung on the swing, and later we got married."

"My wife loved meat and strong liquor the most, so I went to buy them for her every day."

At this point, a touch of confusion appeared in the Scholar's eyes.

"This memory is so vivid, did I really get married?"

"No, I'm not married. These are all dreams."

Seeing this situation, Shen Bai understood.

Bizarre entities don't kill in simple ways; some special bizarre entities use special methods when killing.

If this Scholar were to wait much longer, his entire Essence, Qi, Spirit would probably be drained by that Sophora Tree.

By then, he would become a corpse, and the Sophora Tree would go looking for its next target.

After clarifying the sequence of events, Shen Bai asked about the purpose of his visit.

"Where exactly did you encounter it?"

Since there was a follow-up to this matter, Shen Bai actually wanted to go and see if he could acquire any extra Malevolent Qi.

The Scholar thought carefully, then pointed in a direction: "It seems to be on the way from the academy to my home, about three streets away. I'm not very clear on the name of that street either."

For this group of Scholars, the county town was sometimes quite unfamiliar.

After all, to pursue official careers, most Scholars chose a two-point-line lifestyle and didn't worry much about external affairs.

However, this description was already detailed enough.

Shen Bai turned, preparing to leave.

The Scholar froze, instinctively asking, "Who are you, sir?"

But he received no response, only seeing Shen Bai's back disappear from view.