In the darkness, after listening to these people's conversation, an image surfaced in Shen Bai's mind.
In that image, a young woman in plain clothes entered the village carrying a medicine box, her face full of anxiety as she prepared to treat the villagers.
Yet what greeted her were the villagers' disgusting faces.
The woman in plain clothes fell, and one burly man after another rose and fell atop her.
Covered in filth, the woman in plain clothes wore a look of utter despair, her eyes as dull and lifeless as wood.
Afterward, the elderly Village Chief Yang pulled up his trousers and waved for the villagers to carry the woman in plain clothes over to the locust tree, where they brutally dismembered her and hid her within it.
The enormous locust tree swayed its branches and leaves, absorbing that terrifying resentment.
Shen Bai raised an eyebrow.
"The matter is already clear."
At some point, he had instinctively reached for the longsword at his waist.
To be honest, Shen Bai had been in this world for so long that he had thought his mental fortitude was already strong. Yet after hearing these words today, he suddenly felt that the evil in this world was far more complex than he had imagined.
Beside him, Wuhua pressed his palms together, the nine burn scars atop his head exceptionally conspicuous.
"Benefactor Shen, this little monk's Buddhist heart has been tainted."
Shen Bai frowned, not understanding what he meant.
"Xuanxin Temple cultivates Buddhist teachings and the heart. If there is dust upon the heart, it must be wiped away as early as possible."
Wuhua slowly said, "I know Benefactor Shen wishes to act, but could you give this little monk a chance? This time, consider this little monk indebted to you, Benefactor."
As he spoke, Wuhua's gaze fell upon Shen Bai's longsword.
Shen Bai's sword had already been drawn halfway from its sheath.
Though the Heart-Cleansing Incantation could calm the mind, Shen Bai still harbored killing intent.
Calmness was calmness, killing intent was killing intent. There was no conflict between them.
Shen Bai considered it and said, "What does Master intend to do?"
Wuhua recited a Buddhist invocation. "Do the deeds of a Wrathful Vajra."
As his words fell, Wuhua's figure vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already inside the ancestral hall.
Seeing this, the many villagers immediately stared at Wuhua in shock.
Village Chief Yang reacted the fastest and shouted, "We've been discovered! There's no time—kill them first!"
Village Chief Yang had originally intended to make use of the Sophora Spirit, but now that the truth had come to light, he could only strike first.
With Village Chief Yang's command, the villagers all charged toward Wuhua and Shen Bai.
Wuhua rolled up his sleeves. Golden Buddhist light surged from his body, and like a Wrathful Vajra, he charged into the crowd.
Every punch broke tendons and shattered bones in a villager.
In merely a few breaths, all several dozen villagers lay on the ground, wailing without end.
Their limbs were all broken, and they crawled across the ground in twisted shapes.
A current of killing intent flowed continuously around Wuhua.
Village Chief Yang's face went blank. He suddenly threw away his cane, turned, and tried to flee.
But the next moment, a single fist smashed his face into a distorted mess.
"Ah!"
Village Chief Yang's scream burst from his mouth.
Shen Bai withdrew his fist and said with interest, "I thought you would be like some stinking monks and try to use Buddhist teachings to reform them."
Wuhua's face was solemn. "The abbot once said that in troubled times, Xuanxin Temple's Buddhist teachings save only good people."
"And what about evil people?" Shen Bai asked.
Wuhua pressed his palms together. "Evil people are unworthy of Buddhist salvation. If they are evil people, those of Xuanxin Temple should become Wrathful Vajras and slay demons and exorcise evil."
Shen Bai nodded. "Master, you suit my taste very well."
If Wuhua had spoken of reforming them today, Shen Bai would have made him taste the might of the Blood Sword Dance no matter what.
But Shen Bai was very satisfied with what Wuhua had done today.
The fury in Wuhua's eyes had yet to fade. "Moreover, Hundred Healers Valley has never fought or contended for anything. It only wishes to hang a pot and save the world amid troubled times. How could this pack of beasts commit such evil deeds?"
"The evil in people is boundless." Shen Bai shook his head.
He said no more and lifted his foot, stepping on Village Chief Yang's face.
"Ah!"
Village Chief Yang was still screaming, but Shen Bai's foot continued to press down harder.
"Shut up."
When those words reached him, Village Chief Yang shut his mouth instinctively in terror.
He was afraid.
These two had dealt with every villager in only a few breaths. They were definitely no ordinary people.
Village Chief Yang recalled the scene from when he and the villagers had defiled that woman, when she had raised her hand and sent several villagers flying with a single strike.
"Sir, spare my life..."
Shen Bai said flatly, "What exactly is a Guiding Guest? Tell me everything you know, including that woman from Hundred Healers Valley."
Since matters had reached this point, Shen Bai could take this opportunity to learn some useful information.
Village Chief Yang swallowed and hurriedly answered, "It happened like this. Our village had been poor all year round. Then, several months ago, a Strange Man suddenly came and planted a locust tree on the island in the center of Liuyun Lake."
"That man told us that as long as we were sincere and used blood to nourish the locust tree, a Sophora Spirit would be born and grant Huaixi Village favorable winds and timely rains."
"At first, we did not believe him, but unexpectedly, it really happened. From then on, strange phenomena gradually began appearing in Huaixi Village."
"As long as we entered the mountains, we would surely return with great gains, so... we began our days of making offerings to the Sophora Spirit..."
Every villager had wounds on his hands. Combined with what Village Chief Yang had said earlier, Shen Bai knew those wounds had all come from the offerings.
"Why did you also harm a disciple of Hundred Healers Valley?" Wuhua clenched his fists.
Village Chief Yang cowered as he said, "The Guiding Guest said... if a cultivator was used as blood food, the Sophora Spirit could grant us even more benefits... We borrowed a section of locust branch and ambushed her..."
"At the time, we saw that she was beautiful. We had never tasted a woman like that before. Since she was going to die anyway... we..."
Village Chief Yang could not continue, because Shen Bai was stomping on his face again and again.
Every stomp sent Village Chief Yang's flesh and blood flying.
In only a moment, Village Chief Yang's face had become a bloody, mangled mass.
Wuhua watched the entire time and did not stop him.
By the time Shen Bai withdrew his foot, Shen Bai's expression had relaxed considerably.
"You vented your anger earlier."
"You do not mind if I vent mine as well, do you?"
Wuhua was caught off guard by the question and answered instinctively, "Of course not."
Shen Bai carried his longsword as he walked past every villager.
Each time he passed someone, the sword in his hand pierced the blood vessels in that person's neck.
Every strike of the sword was casual and effortless.
When Shen Bai delivered the final strike, the villagers writhed on the ground, experiencing the terror and agony of their blood draining away bit by bit.
With his longsword in hand, Shen Bai looked in Wuhua's eyes like something eerie that had crawled out of hell.
Even more like a reaper who disregarded life, coldly watching the villagers gradually die.
After a long while, only corpses remained scattered across the ground. Not one had died peacefully; all had died in agony and pleading.
Shen Bai turned around and asked flatly, "How does it feel?"
Wuhua pressed his palms together. "Xuanxin Temple is not filled with pedantic monks. These people had long fallen onto the evil path. What Benefactor did was the right thing."
Shen Bai smiled. "Let's go."
Wuhua was slightly stunned.
Shen Bai sheathed his longsword. "It is time to end the matter of the locust tree."
Before you continue