A Massacre

Chen Bin understood what he meant at once and slowly nodded.

As the saying went, a gentleman did not stand beneath a dangerous wall. People like them, struggling just to survive, had all the more reason to understand the wisdom of protecting themselves.

"Officers, all the villagers of Nanxi Village are here."

The village head carefully stepped forward, his face wearing a somewhat ingratiating expression.

"Are you sure they're all here?" Chen Chong asked first, fixing his gaze on the village head.

"They're all here!" The village head raised a hand and touched his forehead, which seemed to be covered in beads of sweat.

Yet not a single drop of sweat was actually visible on him.

"Eldest Nephew, what do you want to do?"

Chen Chong turned to Chen Bin, his eyes full of inquiry.

With a grave expression, Chen Bin said methodically, "Line up. I'm going to inspect you one by one. Uncle Chong, have everyone help."

Chen Bin's gaze swept across the crowd before him.

He thought to himself that all he could see were Red Names. He only wanted to find someone who hadn't been possessed—even finding just one would be good.

Those who had already been possessed had the words "Ghost Servant" or "Ghoul Soul Fragment" above their Red Names.

That meant the evil spirits had completely devoured them. Now, only Ghost Servants remained, controlling their bodies.

"Quickly, quickly! We need to inspect everyone!"

The constables had traveled all this way without even having a chance to drink a mouthful of water. They had no reason to be polite now.

They shouted at the top of their lungs, their voices echoing across the Threshing Ground.

At the constables' urging, the dull-eyed, possessed villagers began to slowly form a line, passing one by one before Chen Bin and Chen Chong.

Then they lined up again.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chen Chong used the Red Name prompts to cleverly divide the "ghosts" into two groups.

Those with a value of three or higher went into one group; those below three went into the other.

Once they had all been sorted, Chen Bin's heart sank completely.

The Red Names above their heads showed it clearly: there truly wasn't a single living person among them.

Most were Ghoul Soul Fragments, with those whose values were below three accounting for nine out of ten.

Those with values of three or higher were all Ghost Servants. There were more than twenty of them, and even the village head was among them.

As for the seven Ghost Servants in the coffins, whose Merit was ten points, Chen Bin planned to deal with them last.

By then, the sun had already sunk halfway toward the horizon.

"Sir, we haven't found anything out of the ordinary. There's nothing wrong," the village head said, wiping his forehead again. He did it so often that he seemed to be suffering from unbearable heat. "Why don't you let us go home?"

"Eldest Nephew, what now?" Chen Chong looked toward Chen Bin again, his eyes full of trust.

After all, Chen Bin was at a higher level of cultivation. If even he hadn't found a problem, then perhaps there really wasn't one.

Chen Bin turned slightly and spoke to Chen Chong in a low voice.

Chen Chong's eyes widened at once. He stared at Chen Bin, his face full of disbelief.

Chen Bin nodded solemnly.

Then he turned toward the village head and said coldly, "In that case, then..."

In the very next instant, Chen Bin moved. He took one step forward, flashing like a streak of black lightning as he swiftly drew the long blade from his waist.

The blade was black as ink, radiating waves of cold. "Kill!"

With that furious shout, the black edge flashed like a streak of dark silk, splitting the old village head's head in an instant and cleaving him in two.

As the blade flashed like a meteor, a shrill ghostly wail burst from inside the village head's skin and quickly faded into the air.

Chen Bin glanced at the empty skin slumped on the ground, as if all life had been drained from it. It looked utterly withered.

Black liquid slowly seeped from the dry, hollow skin. In an instant, a powerful stench filled the air, making everyone gag.

Crimson patterns suddenly lit up across the face of the Soul Suppressing Blade. They were the unmistakable mark of demons and ghosts.

Just as expected, all these Red Names had been completely devoured by Ghost Servants.

[You killed Ghost Servant Zhang Zhantang. Merit +9. Remaining: 11.]

He had killed the Ghost Servant wearing the village head's body.

Chen Bin became a black whirlwind, rushing toward the dull-eyed villagers who still hadn't reacted. He cut them down as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

Chen Chong glanced at the foul-smelling skin on the ground, his expression instantly turning grave. Without the slightest hesitation, he drew his saber and shouted at the constables, "Draw your blades! Kill these Ghost Servants!"

Just as the constables were about to draw their blades and charge in, Chen Bin's furious shout stopped them. "These things are beyond you! Protect yourselves!"

In the distance, as Chen Bin slaughtered them, the dull villagers underwent a startling transformation.

Their skin, which had still retained some semblance of a human complexion, turned dry, brown, and hard in an instant, covered in countless spots.

Their eyes turned black as ink, as if steeped in thick ink. Fangs protruded from their mouths, making them look especially hideous.

Their fingernails turned black, long and sharp as daggers.

Their limbs grew astonishingly nimble. Moving with swift, agile steps, they swarmed toward Chen Bin.

It was two in the afternoon, and the sun was scorching hot.

The yang energy lingering between heaven and earth had reached its peak.

The Ghost Servants, stripped of the shells that had protected them, disintegrated beneath the intense sunlight, even if the Demon Suppression Blade hadn't killed them.

"Is Eldest Nephew really that fierce?" Chen Chong watched Chen Bin in astonishment. Alone, with nothing but his blade, he moved through the surging horde of Ghost Servants as if no one stood in his way.

With every swing, he cut down a Ghost Servant or Ghoul Soul Fragment.

A mere quarter of an hour later, the ground was covered in black muck—the remains left behind by the slain Ghost Servants.

Only a dozen or so Ghost Servants remained among the Ghost Servants and Ghoul Soul Fragments. They scattered across the field and charged at Chen Bin.

These Ghost Servants had no brains or thoughts. They could only attack by instinct.

Chen Bin took just a few swings to cut them down.

[You killed Ghoul Soul Fragment Zhang Shitou. Merit +1. Remaining Merit: 871]

The skin around this man hadn't turned completely black yet. When Chen Bin struck, he could still feel the faint texture of chopping through flesh.

Black, foul-smelling slime threaded with red seeped from the skin.

As Chen Bin pulled back his blade, he saw Zhang Shitou's face—confused, yet faintly relieved—as he slowly fell.

Chen Bin knew that all these Ghost Servants had to die.

And South Mountain Lord, lurking behind them, couldn't be spared either.

The County Office constables were already watching, stunned. They hadn't been able to help at all throughout the slaughter.

Partway through, so much black, foul-smelling liquid flowed across the Threshing Ground that some of them retched, while others simply couldn't bear the stench and retreated to the edge.

They were usually well-informed and naturally knew these villagers had been possessed by Ghost Servants.

At first, they had resented Chen Bin for setting off alone. Now, all they felt was lingering fear.

After all, if you had to face someone who had hacked four hundred people to death, wouldn't you be afraid?

Was it over?

Chen Chong was just about to call out to Eldest Nephew.

Just then, "Thud, thud, thud!" A muffled knocking sound drifted over from afar.

Holding his blade, Chen Bin spun around. His eyes blazed as he stared straight at the seven coffins.