Anomaly Appears in a Secluded Village at Midnight

It was an intuition; he wanted to see if he could find anything useful, since it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

Xu Bai raised his right hand, and a golden compass appeared. He stretched out his fingers and pressed them on it, and his True Yuan Power surged out, stirring up a gust of wind around him.

The golden compass slowly rotated, radiating dazzling light in mid-air. Then, the pointer on it suddenly began to spin wildly backward.

"There's hope!"

He knew very well that this situation must have indicated a change, and that something could be calculated from it.

As expected, the golden pointer spun rapidly for a while before gradually stopping. Then, the pointer pointed to a certain direction and trembled slightly.

Xu Bai squinted and looked in that direction; that was the backyard of the mansion.

"Let's go take a look; maybe we'll find what we're looking for there."

Since the Feng Shui Calculation Scripture points to this direction, it must be effective.

Wu Hua nodded and headed towards the location Xu Bai had indicated.

Xu Bai didn't stop either, and followed behind, quickly passing through the spacious front yard and arriving at the back yard.

The backyard was also very large, after all, it belonged to a large family, and its size alone was astonishing. Unfortunately, because everyone was gone, although it was large, it was empty and filled with a sense of death.

As Xu Bai walked into the backyard with the golden compass, the compass needle changed again, pointing in another direction. Xu Bai did not stop and continued walking in that direction, soon arriving at an old tree.

The tree looks very robust, but all the leaves on its branches have fallen off. Although it is still alive, it gives people a sense of being very old.

For some reason, the moment Xu Bai looked at the tree, he felt as if a pair of eyes were staring at him, and the source of those eyes was the tree itself.

It's a strange feeling; there's only a tree in front of me, but it feels like a living person.

"Have you noticed anything strange? For example, this tree always gives people the feeling of a living person," Xu Bai asked.

The pointer is pointing to this tree, so this tree is definitely related, but right now the main thing is still that feeling I had earlier, something is very wrong.

Wu Hua heard what Xu Bai said, he shook his head and said, "I don't feel anything else. I just look like an ordinary tree."

As if to confirm his feeling, Wu Hua circled the tree several times, carefully examining it from top to bottom, but found nothing.

Xu Bai then looked at Ye Zi, as if to say, "Can you tell?"

Ye Zi followed Xu Bai Xu Bai's example, standing next to him and looking him up and down. But after a long time, she still found nothing. She gently shook her head and said softly, "Young master, there's nothing unusual. It's just an ordinary tree. Young master, have you discovered anything?"

She couldn't see anything either. To her, the tree was ordinary and normal, and there was no sense that someone was watching it, as Xu Bai had described.

Xu Bai stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "This is really a strange thing."

He clearly had this feeling, and even now, this feeling hadn't disappeared; in fact, it sent chills down his spine. He felt as if someone was silently watching him, and that the gaze was undisguised, fixed intently on him.

But why is it that only he can feel it?

It's alright.

It doesn't matter. Someone is watching, and it's from this tree, so let's start with this tree. It's a very simple thing, and there's no need to go around in circles.

Xu Bai drew his Black Saber Hundred Rends, from his waist and with a gentle swing, countless fragments exploded, surrounding the tree.

In an instant, the towering ancient tree turned into countless fragments and disappeared without a trace, while something appeared within the ancient tree.

—The corpse.

Hidden within this withered ancient tree is a corpse, covered in wounds, dressed in fine silks and satins, seemingly belonging to a wealthy family.

He was a man in his fifties, and he had an air of authority about him. Even after he died, that air still reached people's hearts.

"This is... the head of the Gao Family?" Wu Hua quickly realized what was happening. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket. On the paper was a portrait, and the person in the portrait looked exactly like the male corpse.

People in their line of work would definitely gather intelligence beforehand, so it's normal for him to have this kind of information.

After the male corpse appeared, it did not fall to the ground, but stood still, as if it were alive. Except for not breathing, it looked no different from a living person. Of course, the wounds all over its body were shocking.

Wu Hua held the portrait in his hand and walked around the male corpse. Finally, he found a fatal wound on the corpse's neck.

"His body was covered in small, broken wounds, but the wound on his neck was fatal. It seems he had a fierce fight before he died, otherwise he would have been killed instantly."

"But why was his body hidden in the tree? Is there something strange about this tree?"

"Why aren't there any other corpses here?"

Wu Hua began to talk to himself, each sentence pointing to a problem, but there were no clues to these problems.

At this moment, Ye Zi suddenly spoke up.

"Young master, perhaps a new discovery can be made at the original spot under this tree."

"I once saw this method of hiding people in trees in an old book, but the book did not record its purpose."

"It's just that the method involves hiding the body in a tree or burying it at the base of a tree."

Upon hearing what Ye Zi said, Xu Bai turned to look at the golden compass in his hand. The pointer was still pointing to the same spot as before. No matter how he moved it, the pointer's position would not change, meaning it would ultimately remain in the spot in front of him.

If nothing has changed, then this place is the key.

Looking at the male corpse standing in front of him, Xu Bai raised his foot and kicked it. The male corpse rolled around and quickly rolled to the side, still facing the yellow earth.

At this moment, Xu Bai noticed a hole under the tree, and a putrid smell was coming from inside.

The stench of a corpse.

The extremely strong stench of the corpse made Xu Bai cover his nose and take a step back.

Although the entrance to the cave was not large, one could see from the outside that it was filled with countless pale corpses, some of which were already rotting and crawling with maggots.

"Found them! They were all dead, not just missing," Wu Hua exclaimed in astonishment.

Even without seeing the whole picture, one can still tell from the hole that these people are dressed as servants. Coupled with the disappearance of the entire Gao Family, with hundreds of people vanishing inexplicably, it's easy to connect the dots.

"The missing Gao Family was buried under a tree, and the tree gave me a feeling of being stared at."

"What exactly are these guys up to? Does the Gao Family family know something and they're trying to silence us?"

"Or rather... similar to those demon masters we encountered before, trying to use human lives to open some kind of passage?"

Xu Bai carefully sorted out his thoughts, and after thinking for a while, he looked at Wu Hua and said, "Brother Wu Hua, it seems we have to dig this place up."

As he spoke, he took Ye Zi's hand and silently stepped back a few paces.

We can't see the whole picture from this hole alone. In that case, let's dig it open and see if there are any clues inside.

As for who dug it, of course it was Wu Hua dug it.

The smell was rather disgusting. It wasn't that Xu Bai couldn't stand it, but rather that he avoided smelling it when there was no need to.

It's like going to the toilet. The toilet may smell bad, but you can still get used to it. However, getting used to it and liking it are two different things.

It's impossible for someone to go to the toilet and sniff around when they have nothing to do, right? Wu Hua's lips twitched slightly, but he also knew that since he had already said it, it would be difficult to refuse.

Wu Hua was mostly an honest person, but of course, this honest person could also be quite cunning at times.

But at this point, he felt there was no need to refuse.

Of course, Wu Hua wouldn't dig it up; there are simpler methods.

Rays of light appeared on Wu Hua's body, gradually gathering and covering Wu Hua entire body.

This is the wondrous method of Vajra Temple, the Vajra Body.

Xu Bai's Vajra Heart Demon Body was formed from this fusion. He had seen Wu Hua use it before, but it wasn't as strong as it is now.

The current Wu Hua gives people a sense of unity, like an airtight bucket, which looks very durable.

"Hmm... I wonder if it can withstand one of my punches," Xu Bai thought to himself.

Wu Hua originally planned to act immediately, but for some reason, he felt that Xu Bai's gaze was strange, as if he had an itchy hand and wanted to punch him.

Without further ado, he raised his right foot and slowly stomped it on the ground.

"Thump!"

A dull thud sounded, and the next moment, the ground in front of them cracked open and collapsed with a crash.

Only then did the view below come into view.

There were over a hundred pale corpses, lying horizontally, diagonally, stacked on top of each other, or scattered in a huge pit.

The deep pit is centered on the location of this ancient tree, forming a circular ring.

If Xu Bai hadn't destroyed that ancient tree at the beginning, it would have been the brightest star in this circular pit.

No, to be precise, it was the corpse of the head of the Gao Family.

"Who... who could be so cruel? Forgive me, forgive me." Wu Hua put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist prayer.

The Vajra Temple has always taken it upon itself to subdue demons and exorcise evil spirits. Most of the monks there are covered in malevolent energy. After all, people who do this kind of work these days will inevitably get a little bit of it. Of course, they also practice Buddhism frequently, so their Buddhist nature is stronger and can cover up their malevolent energy.

There are benevolent bodhisattvas and wrathful vajras.

But ultimately, they were still monks, so seeing this scene before him, Wu Hua felt a pang of compassion.

If the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, he would have even recited a sutra for salvation.

It is an occupational disease.

Xu Bai didn't feel anything. Being born into this world and entering this circle, seeing dead people is a normal thing, even if there are so many dead people.

He glanced at them and noticed that the corpses were covered in a dense array of wounds, the last of which was a fatal wound on the neck.

"Something's not right. It can't possibly be because they had a fierce fight." Xu Bai turned his head and said, "There must be a deeper reason."

These wounds are the same as those on the Gao Family head's body. His whole body is covered in fine, scattered wounds, while the final, fatal wound is on his neck. Just this combination alone makes it impossible that the wounds were left from a fierce fight.

To put it simply, in the Gao Family, the Gao Family is undoubtedly the strongest.

If the other party can kill the Gao Family Gao Family head after a fierce battle, then this person is definitely stronger Gao Family head.

So, would someone stronger than the head of the Gao Family need to cause so many injuries and engage in such a fierce battle to kill the other members of the Gao Family? No, not only is it unnecessary, but it could be a single, decisive blow.

Therefore, considering all the above ideas, Xu Bai felt that this person must have deliberately left such a wound.

"Could it be a special weapon?" Xu Bai stroked his chin, thinking to himself.

If such wounds are caused by the use of special weapons, then everything seems to be easily explained.

Of course, this is just his guess.

Xu Bai used the Feng Shui Calculation Scripture again, and a golden compass appeared on his fingertips.

This time, he planned to use the corpses in front of him as clues to calculate again.

But before he could even begin to calculate, a huge anomaly appeared.

The deep pit underground originally contained hundreds of corpses, but as he moved, these corpses were rapidly turning to ashes.

Not only that, but even the corpse of the Gao Family head on the ground vanished into nothingness at the same time.

"What's going on?"

The unusual situation before him made Xu Bai frown.

"Young master, look at the bottom of the pit. It looks like something is about to grow out," Ye Zi suddenly pointed to the pit on the ground and reminded him.

Xu Bai turned his gaze over and noticed that the soil in the deep pit was bulging.

It's like boiling water, with countless large bubbles rising to the surface.

There is only one reason for this situation.

There's something under the soil.

"Be careful, everyone. Let's see what kind of trash comes out," Xu Bai said, narrowing his eyes.

Everyone nodded and became wary.

The next moment, the soil that had been bulging up in large mounds suddenly broke apart, and one small insect after another flew out of the mounds.

Each insect is only about the size of a thumb, yet they fly out of so many bags in such dense numbers that they are impossible to count.

The insect has wings on its back, its whole body is shiny black, its triangular mouthparts are disgusting, and it also has a strong stench of decay.

"What the hell is this?" Xu Bai swung his Black Saber Hundred Rends, and the fragments suddenly exploded, carrying endless starlight, shredding the insects in front of him.

These little insects look terrifying and are quite unsettling, especially the sound of their wings beating, which is extremely jarring to the ears, but they are not very strong.

The fragments scattered some of the insects, turning them into ashes. On the other side, Wu Hua slightly raised her hand, and a beam of light shot out, causing the remaining insects to vanish into thin air.

However, Wu Hua's expression was very serious, clearly indicating that he had noticed something from these insects.

Xu Bai immediately noticed that something was wrong with Wu Hua and frowned, asking, "Have you discovered something?"

Wu Hua nodded, his expression serious, and said in a slightly low voice, "If I'm not mistaken, these insects should be from the Gu God Sect."

The Gu God Sect? This was the first time Xu Bai had heard of this name, and he couldn't help but be curious. He turned around and looked at Ye Zi, and saw a look of astonishment on Ye Zi's face.

"You've heard of this name too?" Xu Bai asked.

As his personal knowledge expert, Xu Bai Ye Zi was very sensible. She already knew what Xu Bai wanted the moment he asked his first question.

Ye Zi recounted what she knew in detail...

"The Gu God Sect is an extremely evil organization. Their doctrine is to use humans as Gu to raise the most powerful Gu worms in the world."

"They have one characteristic: wherever they go, nothing grows. As long as there is a person, they will suffer at their hands. Regardless of whether there is any enmity, they kill indiscriminately."

"After killing someone, they would inject the Gu worms into the corpse to raise the Gu worms, with the aim of cultivating ferocious Gu worms."

"It now seems that the entire Gao Family of one hundred people has been used as tools for raising Gu poison."

As she spoke, Ye Zi shook her head, clearly feeling that mentioning the so-called Gu God Sect was bad luck.

Raising Gu poison?

This is easy to understand; there was related content circulating online in my previous life.

However, using corpses to raise gu was something he had never heard of before.

"Young Master, I'm afraid the only ones here who can deal with you are the Gu God Sect," Ye Zi said.

"It is said that the Gu God Sect never associates with others, because in their eyes, no one else is worthy to be with them except their so-called Gu God Sect."

"If we force ourselves to be with them, we'll probably become their tool for raising poisonous insects long ago. After all, there have been examples of this, and quite a few of them, almost nine out of ten."

After listening to Ye Zi's explanation, Wu Hua added a sentence.

"It is precisely because of this characteristic that, to date, they are basically hated by gods and ghosts. Whether it is good or evil, no one wants to have anything to do with them."

Xu Bai stroked his chin and said, "If that's the case, it's much simpler. At least it won't involve more forces. Wait, anyone who's with them, unless they're from the Gu God Sect, will become their tool for raising Gu."

His gaze fell on the empty pit; the corpse was long gone, leaving only some insect fragments.

"If being with them will make me a tool for raising poisonous insects, was the Gao Family planning to harm me beforehand?"

As I just mentioned, this group of the Gu God Sect members kills simply to raise Gu, and they don't care who their victims are.

But now it's the Gao Family that's been hit, while everyone else is fine. Could it be that the Gao Family is planning to join forces with them to deal with us?

Thinking about it that way, it seems to make sense.

"Whether or not we deal with Benefactor Xu, it seems we've lost our trail again," Wu Hua smile.

Everyone is dead, and there's no follow-up. What role the Gao Family plays now is no longer important.

"No, there are clues." Xu Bai smiled slightly.

In his hand, the golden compass reappeared, and this time, he used the insect fragments in the pit as a basis for divination.

Now that the Gao Family is gone, all that's left are these insect fragments; perhaps they can be used to deduce something.

The golden compass slowly rotated in mid-air, creating a mysterious and eerie atmosphere.

Gradually, the pointer above started to move, and Xu Bai lit up; this meant it was working.

After a moment, the pointer gradually stopped vibrating and then pointed in a direction, as if telling them that this direction was the source of the clue.

"Let's go take a look," Xu Bai said.

This Feng Shui Calculation Scripture is truly a valuable skill. If he didn't have it before, he would have had no choice but to retreat and wait and see. But now he has the upper hand.

Without hesitation, the group, having found a clue, quickly left in the direction the pointer indicated.

The pointer pointed to a secluded street. After leaving the abandoned house, they followed the pointer's direction and ended up outside the boundaries of Soaring Cloud Prefecture.

The road ahead was no longer an official road, but a desolate wilderness. There was no one around, and it was unusually deserted except for the moonlight.

"Why did they bring us out? Could they be hiding here?" Xu Bai wondered to himself.

Although he was very puzzled, Xu Bai believed that Feng Shui Calculation Scripture were reliable, so he continued to follow.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, something unusual finally appeared ahead.

A small village appeared before them. Due to the darkness of the night, blackness enveloped the village, making it appear unusually eerie.

"A village, a small village, why is it here?" Xu Bai's doubts grew stronger.

When the group arrived at the village, they discovered that it was already dark and deserted, with no lights on.

"Shall we go in and take a look?" Wu Hua asked.

Xu Bai thought about it carefully and nodded in agreement.

He'd already come this far; if he didn't go in and take a look, he'd feel like he'd missed out.

The group became more cautious and entered the small village. It was quiet, except for the occasional meowing of cats and barking of dogs, and the sound of their footsteps.

Ye Zi suddenly whispered, "Young Master, have you noticed that there isn't even a snoring sound here?"

The quieter the environment, the more subtle the sounds can be heard.

This was just a dilapidated little village, and the soundproofing in the rooms wasn't very good. Even though everyone was a master, they couldn't hear anyone snoring.

Xu Bai's brows furrowed deeper and deeper; he felt as if this place were a dead zone.

But the clean streets told him that someone had cleaned the area.

He stood there for a while, then came to a house and gently knocked on the door.

I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to see if anyone was living in the room.

He thought no one would pay attention, but to his surprise, after he knocked on the door, he heard the sound of clothes being put on inside the room, followed by an old voice coming from the door.

"Who is it, knocking on the door so late at night?"

The aged voice was initially distant, but gradually drew closer. However, it did not open the door, clearly indicating that it would not open it rashly without knowing who was outside.

"Old man," Xu Bai softened his tone, "We are traveling merchants passing through. We got lost because we were traveling at night. Could we stop in the village and rest for a while?"

"Squeak..."

As Xu Bai spoke, the wooden door creaked slightly and opened from the inside.

Only then did Xu Bai get a clear look at what was behind the door.

Behind the door, an elderly man with a frail face was leaning on a cane and wearing thin clothes.

"Traveling merchants?" The old man said warily, "Don't try to fool me. Let me tell you, everyone in the village is here. As long as I shout, they will come over. Why are you traveling merchants coming here instead of the official post station?"

Xu Bai smiled, took out some silver from his pocket, looked into the old man's hand, and said with a smile, "There's nothing we can do. We're in a hurry to get on the road, and we have some goods that need to be delivered as soon as possible. I didn't expect that in our haste to get on the road, we would get lost and the goods would be lost along the way. Sigh, now we just hope to get back as soon as possible and we don't care about making money anymore."

Even after receiving the money, the old man remained vigilant, still scrutinizing Xu Bai Xu Bai if to see if he was lying.

In terms of acting skills, Xu Bai is a master; there are no flaws to be seen on the surface.

The old man then looked at Ye Zi and Wu Hua beside him and asked in confusion, "It's normal for you to have a woman with you, but why is there a monk with you as well?"

Ye Zi was veiled, so her face was not visible, but this did not arouse suspicion. Only Wu Hua puzzled the old man.

Where can you find a monk who travels as a merchant?

As for the Fourth-Rank Puppet, it's dressed like a human, at least much more ordinary than a monk.

Xu Bai explained, "Sigh... This is my good-for-nothing younger brother. He doesn't like studying, but he loves to worship Buddha. He happened to be going to the temple in our area, so he came with me."

Wu Hua: "..."

Good heavens, during this exchange, he suddenly became a generation lower.

When the old man heard Xu Bai speak, he looked at the winnings in his hand, then looked around, and finally pointed to a thatched pavilion not far away, saying, "All the houses in the village are full, and I won't let you in rashly. You can rest in the pavilion, and I will have someone take you to the nearest city first thing tomorrow morning."

Xu Bai: "..."

He hadn't expected the other party to be so vigilant, but looking at the open space, he still nodded.

"Squeak..."

The door closed, and silence fell over the room.

Xu Bai led Wu Hua to the pavilion, where they found some wooden tables and benches.

This pavilion is very crude; it's just a few pieces of wood and some thatch that make up the structure.

It was probably built by some villagers themselves, and it's unclear what its purpose is.

Xu Bai sat on a wooden stool, looking out at the darkness of the night.

Wu Hua asked, "Benefactor Xu, have you discovered anything?"

"No, what about you?" Xu Bai asked in return.

The old man was perfectly normal; there was nothing wrong with him, and his behavior was perfectly normal.

Ye Zi shook her head.

Wu Hua also shook his head.

They didn't see anything different either; on the contrary, they thought it was very ordinary.

"The more normal something seems, the more abnormal it is," Xu Bai said. "My math won't fool me. Let's wait and see what's different tonight, or maybe we can wait until tomorrow morning and see what happens after those people get up."

Everyone nodded; this was the only option for now.

Xu Bai raised his right hand again, and a golden compass appeared. After the pointer entered the village, it kept swinging around, sometimes up and sometimes down, sometimes left and sometimes right.

Xu Bai understood this situation perfectly; it meant that the entire village was his target.

Since we're here, let's see what's going on here.

Xu Bai calmly took out the Heavy Sword Method and continued grinding the progress bar.

The night is long, but the bright moon keeps me company.

It's almost late autumn now, and the temperature drops suddenly at night. Fortunately, these are unusual people, so this temperature drop has no effect on them.

Under the moonlight, as the night deepened, even the meows of cats and dogs gradually ceased.

Each of them went about their own business without disturbing the other.

As the night deepened, the bright moon in the sky gradually disappeared into the clouds.

Suddenly, Xu Bai's ears twitched, and he looked in a certain direction.

Just now, his spirit sensed that there were people in that place.

As Xu Bai looked over, a figure flashed by at the far end of the street.

"Let's go!" Xu Bai put the book into his bag and walked towards that location.

The figure wasn't moving fast, and everyone was following carefully.

Gradually, Xu Bai could make out the figure's appearance.

He was dressed as an ordinary villager, not very old, probably in his thirties. He was wearing tattered clothes and was cautiously looking around, as if afraid of making a commotion.

Xu Bai and the others followed while remaining vigilant about their surroundings.

Just then, a melodious sound suddenly rang out.

The sound wasn't music; it sounded like the wind rustling through the trees.

Normally, in such a remote and desolate place, the sound of wind blowing through the trees is a common occurrence.

But as soon as the voice appeared, Xu Bai saw the villager in front of him and suddenly froze.

"Hehehehehe..."

A strange laugh came from the villager's mouth.

The villagers' steps became stiff as they slowly moved forward.

"That sound is strange; it can affect a person's soul, but it's rather weak," Xu Bai said.

"I've heard that the Gu God Sect has a type of Gu that can influence others through special syllables," Ye Zi said.

Xu Bai nodded. "In short, be careful, and if anything unusual happens, be decisive."

Ahead, the villager was still walking, and after about half an incense stick's time, he finally stopped.

The villagers were standing in a huge tree, its branches and leaves swaying gently. Clearly, the sound they had just heard likely came from this tree.

"I'm here, beauty, I'm here! Come out quickly, I can't wait any longer!" The villager's voice was urgent, but his movements were stiff, creating a stark contrast.

Just then, the huge tree began to act strangely.

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the center of the tree trunk, and soon, a pale arm covered with lividity emerged from the crack.

The arm was as white as paper, covered with dense lividity, making it look extremely gruesome.

As the arm appeared, a naked female corpse crawled out from inside.

The woman's body was covered in lividity, and in some places it had begun to decompose.

Most importantly, the woman's eyes were empty, just two large, hollow holes, giving her an appearance of utter despair.

Inside the large cave stood two strange Gu worms, flapping their wings and making a rustling sound.

Clearly, the sound that could affect one's soul just now came from these two Gu worms.

"Ring ring..."

At that moment, a clear bell rang out from the Giant Tree.

The bell rang crisply and sounded quite pleasant.

Xu Bai looked up and followed the direction of the bell, seeing a woman standing on a dense tree branch...

My cold is getting worse, my head hurts a lot, and I feel a bit sluggish, but it's not a big problem.