Settling into the Village, Night Exploration

The village was dim, as if bathed in silver light under the moonlight.

But the deathly atmosphere, even the moonlight, couldn't completely dispel it.

Even an ordinary person entering the village could feel an atmosphere like old age setting in.

Not far from the village, following Shen Bai's gaze, he saw a shabbily dressed middle-aged man squatting by the roadside, staring blankly at the moon in the sky.

The man's clothes weren't tattered, just a bit old, but draped haphazardly, they gave off a sense of decadence and desolation.

Especially his eyes, dull and lifeless, as if they had lost their spirit.

Shen Bai's gaze shifted, resting on the man's wrist.

On that muddy wrist, scars crisscrossed, looking gruesome and terrifying.

Occasionally, villagers passed by the man.

A few villagers even spat at him.

Some children playing, upon passing the middle-aged man, grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and sprinkled it on his head.

Upon closer inspection, Shen Bai noticed that whether it was the middle-aged man or the villagers, even the children, all had dense scars on their wrists.

"Benefactor Shen, the scars on their hands were caused by sharp objects, and their steps are unsteady, their qi and blood weak. They must have been bled recently."

Wuhua whispered.

Shen Bai nodded and said, "That seems to be the case."

Recently, Shen Bai had been replenishing his qi and blood, and coupled with his already abundant qi and blood, he had a heightened perception of it.

So he could tell at a glance.

"Let's go have a look."

An anomaly appeared as soon as they entered the village, and combined with the stark difference between this down-and-out middle-aged man and the villagers, Shen Bai's interest was piqued.

The two exchanged a look, said no more, and walked towards the disheveled middle-aged man.

But before they could get close, an anomaly occurred.

"You two, are you outsiders?"

A voice sounded behind Shen Bai and Wuhua.

Shen Bai turned his head and saw an old man with white hair, slowly approaching, leaning on a walking stick.

"Yes, we are outsiders. We were passing through, and as it's getting late, we'd like to ask for a place to stay for the night. May I ask your name, elder?"

The old man lightly tapped his walking stick. "This old man is the village chief of Huaixi Village, surnamed Yang. You can just call me Village Chief Yang."

"You two, Huaixi Village doesn't usually host outsiders, but today is a great day as we're making offerings to the Sophora Spirit. If you wish to stay, you can rest in Huaixi Village for a night before leaving."

Offerings to the Sophora Spirit?

Shen Bai rubbed his chin and asked, "Village Chief Yang, what are offerings to the Sophora Spirit?"

Village Chief Yang chuckled, "Huaixi Village has a giant Sophora Tree. Nurtured by Liuyun Lake in Huaixi Village, it gained sentience and can ensure favorable weather for Huaixi Village."

"Every so often, the villagers go to make offerings. Repeating this nourishes the Sophora Tree's sentience, which can make Huaixi Village even more prosperous."

"Everyone, look around. In the past, these were all dilapidated houses, but because of the Sophora Spirit, the entire village has transformed."

Shen Bai looked around and found that the village was indeed prosperous.

Just the buildings alone were much more thriving than those in other villages.

Wuhua took two steps forward and asked, "Then why is this benefactor in such a state of despair?"

The old village chief glanced at the disheveled middle-aged man and sneered, "This person was originally a villager of our Huaixi Village, but he offended the Sophora Spirit and ended up like this. He deserved it."

"How did he offend it?" Shen Bai became even more curious.

Hearing this, Village Chief Yang seemed to open up, explaining, "The Sophora Spirit itself protects the village and ensures favorable weather, but this fellow said that our offerings to the Sophora Spirit were depleting ourselves, saying that the Sophora Spirit was evil. This outcome is his own fault."

As he spoke, Village Chief Yang even spat at the middle-aged man.

After saying this, Village Chief Yang seemed to recall something and gestured with his hand.

"You two guests, let's not talk about this anymore. Follow me, I'll arrange your lodging."

Seeing this, Shen Bai knew that Village Chief Yang didn't want to say anything more.

He didn't ask further and followed along with Wuhua.

Village Chief Yang led Shen Bai and Wuhua to an empty house in the village.

"This is an empty house," Village Chief Yang said. "It used to be occupied by a villager, but that villager moved their entire family to Maple Forest Province, so it became vacant."

"It wasn't cleaned normally, but today we made offerings to the Sophora Spirit, so the entire village was cleaned."

Village Chief Yang stood at the doorway and said, "You two, although you can temporarily stay here because of the Sophora Spirit, you'll still need to pay some money."

Shen Bai nodded, then took out some silver from his money pouch at his waist and placed it in Village Chief Yang's hand.

There was no such plotline as in storybooks where one could eat and stay for free in a place; it was normal to pay some money.

After taking the money, Village Chief Yang bid them good rest and turned to leave.

Wuhua closed the door, then turned and said, "Benefactor Shen, shall we go out and take a look tonight?"

Shen Bai sat in a chair, tapping the table with his fingers. "Master Wuhua noticed it too?"

Wuhua nodded. "The Sophora Tree is clearly a Bizarre Entity, yet they treat it as a Sophora Spirit. That's a very obvious problem."

Shen Bai stopped tapping the table and withdrew his hand. "There's another thing: Village Chief Yang told us too much."

"Oh?" Wuhua asked, intrigued. "Talking too much is also a problem?"

Shen Bai nodded. "He was eager to explain the Sophora Tree, and eager to explain the reason behind that middle-aged man's situation. All of it was to make us believe that everything here was the man's own fault and had nothing to do with them."

"Sometimes, explaining too much can actually be a sign of a guilty conscience."

"He didn't have to let us stay, but because we saw that middle-aged man, he needed to keep us for a night and explain the situation to alleviate our concerns."

Wuhua's eyes lit up when he heard this. "Benefactor Shen isn't just powerful, his mind is also incredibly sharp. This humble monk didn't think of that."

Shen Bai waved his hand. "No need for extra words. We'll go out and see tonight."

The two of them weren't in a hurry to find the giant Sophora Tree, because to get to Liuyun Lake, they had to pass through this village first.

And the current abnormalities in this village had to be resolved first.

Otherwise, if something went wrong at the giant Sophora Tree, and it was due to the village, they would be the ones at a disadvantage.

Time passed gradually, and in the blink of an eye, the night grew deeper.

A few oil lamps had been lit in the village, but as time went on, they gradually extinguished.

The front door of the house opened from the inside, and Shen Bai and Wuhua stepped out.

Outside the village, the moonlight had hidden behind the clouds at this hour, with only scattered light visible.

Shen Bai oriented himself and walked towards the middle-aged man's location.

As they got closer, they could vaguely make out the disheveled figure of the middle-aged man.

As Shen Bai and Wuhua approached, the middle-aged man seemed to hear their footsteps, turning his head stiffly. He looked in Shen Bai's direction and spoke with a dull, numb voice.

"Beasts, they're all beasts!"