Head Lantern

The first rays of dawn sprinkled across the land.

The crowing of roosters suddenly erupted.

In just one night, the Chen Family, who had been powerful on Spring Island and reported to that Taoist priest, was annihilated. Not a single soul survived.

With the Chen Family wiped out, the people of Spring Island, long oppressed, welcomed a new beginning. They embraced each other amidst the falling snow, celebrating.

For a time, the entire Spring Island seemed to have entered the New Year early, with every household hanging lanterns and pasting colorful decorations.

And Zhao Huaian, the instigator of all this, had already stepped onto a lone boat, disappearing into the vast waters.

"Damn it! What a pauper!"

On the vast waters, Zhao Huaian stood on his lone boat, calculating his spoils from this venture.

After killing the Taoist priest, he naturally didn't miss the opportunity to search the body.

Unfortunately, that Taoist was a pauper.

Apart from a storage bag, which was the only thing of value, he only had a few dozen low-grade spirit stones on him, like a beggar. Besides a bell, he didn't even have any decent equipment.

As for other spell scrolls, they were worthless, common trash, like chicken ribs.

"Fortunately, killing this demonic Taoist didn't take much effort. If it were like Lin Zihao, I probably wouldn't have even broken even."

"But it makes sense. If that demonic Taoist were truly wealthy, why would he specifically hide away on this mortal island, relying on hunting mortals for their blood to cultivate?"

Zhao Huaian couldn't help but complain, and at the same time, he checked his current assets.

Including these two instances of killing and looting, he now had three storage bags. He possessed a total of six hundred and seventy-three low-grade spirit stones.

Besides spirit stones, there were also many spirit talismans, which added up to a considerable fortune.

Furthermore, his collection of magic items had reached four pieces: one low-grade magic item and three mid-grade magic artifacts.

His total net worth, if converted into spirit stones, was worth nearly two thousand low-grade spirit stones.

"The road ahead is long... but with this wealth, for a cultivator at Qi Refining Layer Five like myself, I am indeed carrying a fortune."

Zhao Huaian let out a long breath, looking at the azure mid-grade magic artifact flying sword and the small golden bell. He pondered, "I wonder if there will be a market among rogue cultivators between the next two mission locations. If there is, I could take the opportunity to sell these two items, especially the magic item Lin Zihao used in life."

Although Zhao Huaian had always diligently cultivated within the Greenwood Sect, in his free time, he would specifically study and learn about matters in the cultivation world.

Based on the information he had gathered, in the Huai'an Water Region, besides the four major cultivation sects, there were also scattered small sects and a large number of rogue cultivators.

These small sects and rogue cultivators, in order to meet their respective needs, had naturally established markets throughout the Huai'an Water Region for buying and selling necessary items.

Now that he was out on a trip and had acquired some ill-gotten gains, Zhao Huaian naturally wanted to try his luck and see if he could encounter a market established by rogue cultivators to sell all these stolen goods.

"If I encounter one, it will be my fortune. If not, I'll just put them away. At worst, I won't use them. I don't lack spirit stones much at this stage anyway."

Shaking his head, Zhao Huaian looked ahead and sped up his lone boat.

The second mission location was not too far from Spring Island. In just half a day, Zhao Huaian not only reached the mission location but also successfully completed the objective.

When Zhao Huaian set off for the third mission location again, his storage bag already contained the corpse of a Qi Refining Layer Three demonic beast.

Completing the mission so quickly brought a few more smiles to Zhao Huaian's face.

At this speed, he would soon be able to return to the Greenwood Sect, submit the mission, and earn three months of undisturbed cultivation time.

A day later, night fell.

Zhao Huaian, standing on his lone boat, slowly docked at a rather desolate island.

This was the location of his final mission.

According to the mission description, this island was haunted by a strange entity with a strength of around Qi Refining Layer Three.

"Once I complete this mission, I can return to the Greenwood Sect."

Upon landing on the island and sensing the cool air around him, Zhao Huaian did not let his guard down despite the mission description.

Under the moonlight, he wore several Concealment Talismans and Protective Talismans, slowly heading towards the depths of the island.

This island was quite desolate. As he walked, Zhao Huaian saw no sign of anyone.

Perhaps it was due to the haunting, or perhaps it was because it was late at night, and the residents here had already retired.

Soon, as the surrounding mist grew thicker and the air became colder, Zhao Huaian vaguely saw streaks of faint red light flickering to his front left.

"There's light? It seems there are still people here. I can go and investigate the source of this island's strangeness."

Zhao Huaian muttered to himself and quickened his pace towards the faint red light.

In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, as Zhao Huaian passed through a winding, narrow path, the dim red light grew brighter.

It was light!

Not far ahead, there was a dim, small village.

Two large, fiery red lanterns hung at the entrance of the village, as vibrant as fresh blood.

The dim red light emanated from these two fiery red lanterns.

"There's ghostly energy!"

Zhao Huaian's nostrils flared as he sensed the dense Yin energy and gray fog surrounding him, causing him to frown.

He had originally intended to inquire in this village about the whereabouts of the anomaly.

Now, it seemed highly likely that this village, filled with dense Yin energy and emitting a gray-black smog, was connected to the anomaly's activity.

Zhao Huaian pondered for a moment, then quickly took out several Protective Talismans and affixed them to himself before striding towards the village.

As the surrounding mist swirled, Zhao Huaian's figure, clad in flowing white robes, entered the village.

Inside the village, every household hung red lanterns, some one or two, others four or five.

These red lanterns were all exceptionally vibrant, as if stained with blood, and the light they emitted grew increasingly bright and alluring.

Drip... drip...

The crisp sound of liquid dripping caught Zhao Huaian's attention.

He turned his head, spiritual energy flashing in his eyes.

When he clearly saw the scene before him, his expression immediately turned solemn.

Because, as the spiritual energy dispersed, the village before him held no red lanterns at all!

These were clearly countless heads stained red with blood, and blood was continuously dripping from the severed ends of each of these heads.

"In this bizarre and brutal world, where demons run rampant, the lives of mortals are truly like ants, utterly defenseless."

Zhao Huaian took a deep breath, his heart filled with emotion.

He was also fortunate to have embarked on the path of cultivation.

Otherwise, if he were to encounter any anomalies or demonic chaos on Golden Sand Island one day, he would likely be powerless to resist and become mere sustenance.

Taking another deep breath.

Zhao Huaian waved his hand, spiritual energy surging, instantly dispelling the mist before him.

He walked forward step by step, carefully observing the entire village.

An extremely dense Yin energy still lingered here. If his guess was correct, the anomaly that slaughtered all these villagers had definitely not gone far, and might even be hiding nearby.

"Where could it be hiding..."

Walking towards the area with the densest Yin energy, Zhao Huaian muttered to himself, warily scanning his surroundings.

Before long, as he ventured deeper, Zhao Huaian had reached another exit of the village.

The road at this exit was quite wide, and the mist emanating from the entrance was incomparably denser than that within the village.

"Could this be where the anomaly is hiding?"

Zhao Huaian stared intently ahead.

Just as he hesitated whether to step into it, a gust of cold wind suddenly swept through, and countless dense wisps of mist instantly enveloped Zhao Huaian.