Increasingly Strange Ruins

Upon hearing this, an eerie silence fell over the room. A sudden gust of cold wind blew, causing the candles on the table to sway and casting flickering shadows.

Amidst the interplay of light and shadow, Xu Bai saw the old Daoist priest's face grow increasingly sinister.

Especially those eyes; the original ethereal and otherworldly air was gone, replaced by a cold light that sent chills down one's spine.

Amidst the interplay of light and shadow, the bone Xu Bai picked up with chopsticks, segment by segment, looked like human fingers, with bits of flesh clinging to the bones.

Xu Bai didn't move. After asking the question, he stared directly at the old Daoist priest in front of him, his eyes growing colder.

What nonsense about pig tail bones! Countless people have died at his hands, yet he can't tell the difference. This is clearly a human finger, smoked into cured meat by this old Daoist priest.

Remembering the old Daoist priest hanging those cured meats in the backyard, Xu Bai realized whose cured meats they were.

The old Daoist priest remained silent, staring coldly at the chopsticks in Xu Bai's hand.

After a long silence, he finally spoke slowly.

"Of course it's human food. Hasn't someone like you, a person in this industry, eaten it before?"

This was just a simple question, but the tone of the question was unusually calm, which, combined with the hand bone that Xu Bai was holding with his chopsticks, made it seem rather strange.

"Anyone in the trade who has eaten here?"

Xu Bai was certain that the old Daoist priest had not yet transformed into Thought Gods, otherwise he would not have been able to communicate with him.

But why was such a shocking statement uttered in such a calm tone? "Do people in this industry have to eat these things?" Xu Bai narrowed his eyes.

The old Daoist priest picked up his chopsticks, rummaged through the pile of meat dishes and found a bone, which he then put in his mouth and sucked on it repeatedly.

His cheeks bulged out in waves, which, combined with his old face, made him look like a nimble old monkey.

"How can you live without eating? Please eat quickly, and then get some rest."

"Since the great changes in the world, our own kind has also become a resource."

"I saw that you are someone in the business, so I brought out these good things for you to eat."

Every word was spoken in a plain and simple manner, yet the content of each word was astonishing.

Xu Bai put down his chopsticks and shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

A cold wind blew by again, and Xu Bai felt a gaze on him. When he turned around, he saw only an empty backyard, but he was looking in the direction of the main hall.

"It's that statue."

The feeling of being stared at was the same as the feeling he had at the statue at the beginning, and Xu Bai guessed that it was probably related to the statue.

Did the old Daoist priest not feel anything at all?

That's really weird.

Seeing that Xu Bai wasn't eating, the old Daoist priest brought the plate of meat dishes to himself and ate them bite by bite.

He ate while mumbling incoherently.

"It seems that the person in question had a very difficult life before, as they were reluctant to eat even when such good things were placed in front of them."

Xu Bai smiled and said, "Since it's a good thing, the Abbot is willing to share it with others. It seems he is a generous person."

He suddenly had a guess: this time period seemed to be in the later stages of that era of Ten Thousand Kingdoms War.

When the Ruins appear, they encompass all the scenes of that time; some are from before, some from after, and no one can say for sure.

The most important point the old Daoist priest just mentioned is that it seems some people nowadays treat their fellow human beings as resources.

Resources are nearly exhausted, cannibalism has broken out, and the world is a living hell.

In Xu Bai's mind, such a scene came to mind.

The old Daoist priest ate a plate full of meat dishes in just a few bites, chewing them haphazardly and not even leaving the bones behind.

In the eerie environment, a series of cracking sounds rang out.

The old Daoist priest wiped his greasy mouth with his hand. "Of course I am a kind-hearted person, but this meal is not free. Benefactor, even if you don't eat meat, eat more vegetables. Eat more so you can grow up plump and healthy."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old Daoist priest's expression changed.

The greasy mouth slowly split open, stretching from the corners of the mouth all the way to the ears, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

Two dark shadows suddenly emerged from behind the old Daoist priest. The shadows intertwined and transformed into gaping maws, swaggering through the air.

"If you don't eat, how can you grow up so plump and healthy? My food reserves are running low, and it's only recently that I've had some meat."

"Eat quickly, I must take good care of you so that your meat won't be tough."

"Eat, eat, eat more!"

The old Daoist priest muttered incoherently as he haphazardly placed all the vegetarian dishes onto a plate with both hands and brought it to Xu Bai.

He stood up, and the long, giant mouth formed by black shadows behind him opened again, emanating a foul stench.

Xu Bai looked at the disgusting food in front of him, then at the long, giant mouth. On the surface of the shadow, he saw human faces.

These faces, marked with pain and despair, struggled to break free from the shadows, pulling out strands of black silk, but unable to escape.

Xu Bai raised an eyebrow. "You ate all of these, right?"

The old Daoist priest lifted his robe, revealing his lame left leg.

"You eat me, I eat you, isn't that normal? Look at this leg, it was eaten by my master. It's a pity, before he could eat me clean, I ate him clean first."

The flesh on his left leg had long since disappeared; from the knee down, it was all bare bone.

The long, sharp maw-like shadows were closing in, and the stench of blood grew stronger.

Xu Bai sighed, "Although you haven't become Thought Gods, judging from the current situation, you can't communicate normally, so you might as well die."

The fact that the old Daoist priest can still speak and hasn't turned into a mysterious and strange Thought Gods proves that the person in front of you is still the old Daoist priest himself.

But looking at the current situation, if I don't eat, I'm afraid it will bring trouble upon myself.

Is it edible? Of course not.

The oil used for cooking isn't necessarily lard; eating that stuff might make you vomit up your internal organs.

Then the only option is to kill him.

Gold and gray-white intertwined behind Xu Bai, enveloping the entire room, and a chaotic aura gradually spread.

When the old Daoist priest heard the words "Thought Gods," he suddenly froze on the spot.

Then, he muttered to himself, a look of struggle on his face.

"Thought Gods ... Thought Gods ...am I dead? Oh, so that's how it is. I've been dead for a long time."

"Day and night, people are made to worship the statue, as if they were killed by it!"

"I served you my whole life, and you killed me!"

The old Daoist's madness became increasingly apparent, and a layer of inexplicable black mist obscured his face.

"If I die, why are you still alive, my lord? Let's die together."

After saying this, the clarity on the old Daoist's face vanished completely, replaced by endless madness.

It's a strange kind of madness.

It wasn't like a bizarre, irrational situation at all; it was utter madness.

This madness even had an effect on those around him, causing Xu Bai's soul to tremble slightly.

Xu Bai no longer held back; the person in front of him had completely transformed into Thought Gods, so there was no need to hold back.

The next moment, a dazzling blade of light bloomed between Xu Bai, illuminating the entire night sky in white.

Amidst the flashing blades, the old Daoist priest, who was about to pounce, suddenly froze, like a wooden sculpture.

Cracks appeared on the old Daoist's face, and his skin split and fell off like clay. In an instant, it turned into a handful of yellow earth and fell to the ground.

The surrounding gloom vanished, and Xu Bai waved his hand, Heavenly Change disappear.

A cold wind blew by, and the yellow earth that the old Daoist priest had turned into drifted and swirled with the wind, turning into ashes that filled the sky.

The candlelight flickered in the room, but Xu Bai's face was as cold as ice.

He felt the gaze, once again the stare from the statue, but instead of going to the main hall, he walked through each room.

After searching for a while, I didn't find anything noteworthy, not even a progress bar.

Standing in the backyard, looking at the cured meat hanging on the shelf, Xu Bai felt nauseous. The statue's gaze returned, as if there was something about him that drew attention.

"Since you want my life so badly, I'll see what you are."

Xu Bai did not walk directly to the main hall, but slowly raised his right hand and gently pressed it towards the main hall in front of him.

The next moment, a dazzling light burst forth from Xu Bai's hand, and the main hall in front of him turned into a gray mess, but the statue remained intact.

Xu Bai was originally standing in the backyard, and according to his position, the statue should have been facing away from him.

But after the entire hall turned to ashes, the statue strangely turned around and faced him directly.

With its dilapidated body and blurred facial features, the statue, though seated, evokes a sense of desolation and decay.

After the entire hall turned to ashes, Xu Bai could feel the statue's gaze on him becoming more and more intense, and that chilling feeling spread from his fingertips and gradually spread throughout his body.

"I understand, you're Thought Gods too," Xu Bai said slowly.

There were no eerie things in the Ruins, only Thought Gods.

The current terrifying and eerie state can only be attributed to Thought Gods; there is no other possibility.

A dilapidated Daoist temple, yet it houses two Thought Gods; though small, the temple has all the essential elements.

As soon as Xu Bai uttered those words, the statue in front of him suddenly cracked open.

The cracks start from the top of the statue's head and extend all the way to the bottom.

The crack was initially small, but after it appeared, the statue began to shake violently.

The crack gradually widened, starting from the middle, and a perfectly intact statue was split in two.

The statue, now broken in two, fell to the ground and turned into rubble. In the spot where the statue had stood, a naked girl remained seated cross-legged.

Xu Bai glanced at it, his eyes clear.

The reason is simple: although the girl was completely naked, she did not arouse any desire in anyone.

The girl's skin was very fair, but apart from that, it was covered in horrific wounds.

These wounds were numerous and covered the entire body, and they were all stitched up.

The already horrific wound, after being stitched up, resembled a disgusting earthworm, sending chills down one's spine at the mere sight of it.

The girl kept her eyes closed. On her forehead, there were crisscrossing wounds, and stitches ran from the corner of her eye to her chin, leaving a dark bruise.

At this moment, Xu Bai felt a chill spread throughout his body. Compared to the previous cold, the temperature was even lower, which was appalling. He raised his left hand and saw that a layer of frost had appeared on it.

"It's truly an eerie thing."

Xu Bai's heart stirred.

The next second, his body was covered with gold and gray-white patterns, giving him a unique and eerie beauty.

Undying Demon Soul Buddha Body!

The frost on his hands melted away, and Xu Bai's True Yuan Power was rapidly dissipating.

He rushed towards the girl in front of him like an anxious guest.

"Come on, let's hurry up."

The girl finally opened her eyes, but there were no eyeballs in them, only empty holes.

After the girl opened her two empty eye sockets, the surrounding cold became even more pronounced. The ground was covered with thick ice, and snow began to fall heavily from the sky.

Xu Bai did not stop; he raised his palm and gently traced the path.

Behind him, gold and gray-white hues intertwined, the chaos carrying the deadly Slaying Man of the Blade Sword Three Absolutes, arriving in an instant!

Frost rose, resisting the dazzling blade light with astonishing destructive power, and for a moment, it actually stopped the blade light for a brief time.

But it only stopped for a moment.

Under the terrifying blade's light, the girl was gradually devoured and turned into a pile of ashes.

Xu Bai withdrew the Heavenly Change, and the patterns on his body gradually disappeared.

"Call..."

He breathed a sigh of relief. If it weren't for the Blade Sword Three Absolutes and the Undying Demon Soul Buddha Body, he could have won this battle today, but it wouldn't have been an easy victory. Fortunately, with these two skills, he won with ease.

The naked girl showed no expression even at the moment of her death.

This is Thought Gods, not a human being at all.

The surrounding statues disappeared, and so did the sense of being watched.

Xu Bai wondered to himself, "What exactly happened here?"

From the moment you enter the Daoist temple, everything becomes eerie: an old Daoist priest who eats people, and a young girl named Thought Gods hiding in a statue.

Xu Bai frowned and gradually connected all the threads, but without any extra clues, he could only come up with a guess.

—The people here, even if they haven't become Thought Gods, are probably no longer the same people they used to be.

Just as the old Daoist priest said before, there are many places in this world where cannibalism has already occurred due to resource shortages.

In other words, the environment he is in now is like a Human Realm Purgatory.

"This is just one of the mountains. Maybe after I finish exploring this mountain, if the time limit for the Ruins hasn't expired yet, I can go and see other places."

With this in mind, Xu Bai made up his mind. He searched the Daoist temple again, and after confirming that he had not found it, he left the area and continued walking upwards.

Today he wants to see what strange things are inside this mountain, what kind of Thought Gods are there, and whether he can find the progress bar.

So we need to explore this mountain first before looking for other places.

Because it was already late, only a few scattered moonlight shone down, and the mountain path was hidden in darkness, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

The surrounding trees rustled in the wind, making a sound that seemed to carry a shadowy figure through the silent, deserted mountains, touching the leaves.

If an ordinary person were to walk here in the dark, they would surely be frightened into a serious illness.

Xu Bai walked with ease, but his spiritual senses were always present around him, so he could react immediately to any unusual changes.

As he walked, Xu Bai suddenly stopped, sensing something unusual ahead.

Through his spiritual perception, he saw a person lying on the ground in the dense forest ahead.

The man was dressed in tattered clothes and was obese, like a perfectly round ball.

His eyes were tightly closed, and a contented smile graced his oily face.

"Asleep?"

In this environment, a person dressed in rags was asleep, and was so obese.

This kind of person is obviously abnormal. How can someone dressed in rags be so fat that they look like a ball? "Another one who hasn't become Thought Gods."

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Bai lifted his foot and walked in that direction. After walking for about half an incense stick's time, he arrived at the location he had sensed earlier.

In the woods, there was only one clearing where the Fat Man was still asleep, and he did not wake up even after Xu Bai approached.

Xu Bai circled the man once before finally speaking.

"Wake up, the sun is out."

The Fat Man heard the sound but still didn't wake up. He turned over and changed from lying on his back to lying on his side.

Its spherical body swayed with the movement, making it look like a mountain of flesh.

Xu Bai frowned and kicked the Fat Man, leaving a footprint.

When Xu Bai kicked the Fat Man, he felt a huge force rebounding from the impact and took a step back.

"He's definitely not simple."

Xu Bai stroked his chin, thinking to himself.

The fact that even he had to take a step back shows that this Fat Man has a high level of defense.

Because of the kick, the Fat Man finally woke up, opened his drowsy eyes, rubbed them with his hands, and sat up with a puzzled look on his face when he saw Xu Bai.

He is very agile. Even though he is as big as a ball, his movements are still incredibly swift. Combined with his spherical body, he gives people the feeling of a nimble fat man.

"Huh? How come there's someone deep in these mountains?" The Fat Man didn't even look down, but subconsciously rubbed his stomach, where Xu Bai had kicked him earlier, and rubbed away the shoe print.

Xu Bai said, "I got lost in the deep mountains by myself. May I ask your name, sir?"

"My name is Tan." Tan said, then suddenly seemed to remember something. His squinty eyes widened abruptly, and he said incredulously, "That's not right. You came up from below. How could you have come up? There's a man-eating old Daoist priest there."

The cannibalistic Daoist priest? Xu Bai already understood; this man was well-versed in the things in the mountains.

Being able to name the cannibalistic Daoist priest proves that they know which Daoist temple it is.

However, he didn't say anything else, but made up a reason instead.

"The Abbot of that Daoist temple offered me the place to stay, but I saw it was still early, so I didn't stay and left immediately." Xu Bai sighed, looking unlucky. "Who would have thought it would get dark so quickly? I've gotten lost. Brother Shen, could you help me? I really can't walk anymore."

The scorpion stretched out its palm, as big as a palm leaf fan, and rubbed the fat face, muttering, "How strange, the old Daoist priest eats human flesh every day, how could he let go of such a delicacy?"

However, the muttering didn't last long; after just a few words, the tuna quickly returned to normal.

What's your profession?

"I am a martial artist." Xu Bai knew that the other party was aware of his profession and did not take offense. After all, the old Daoist priest knew this as well, so he just gave a random answer.

"Oh." The scorpion quickly got up. "It's getting late, and I don't dare to wander around at night. Why don't you come to my place? Don't worry, I don't eat people. You can stay at my place for the night. The mountain path is much easier to walk during the day."

Xu Bai was worried about how to break the deadlock, but after hearing this, he nodded in agreement.

The trevally didn't say anything more. It shook its large, fat hands and walked like a rolling ball, leading the way.

Xu Bai followed behind, sniffing the air a few times.

He discovered that the trevally had a disgusting fishy smell, like the smell of a boatload of fish that had been caught at sea and had been dead for a long time.

However, he didn't show it and silently followed behind.

With the fat trevally leading the way, they soon arrived at a dilapidated house.

The chubby fish raised its thick palm and pushed open the door in front of it.

A gust of wind blew by, carrying a disgusting fishy smell that hit me.

Xu Bai looked around and found that several large pits had been dug in the yard behind the door, filled with water, and some lively fish were swimming in the water.

"I went out to find some grass to feed the fish tonight, but I never expected to fall asleep on the way. Luckily I fell asleep, otherwise your journey today would have been difficult."

As he spoke, the tuna led the way.

"But you're really lucky. That old Daoist priest didn't even spare his own daughter, imprisoning her in a statue to keep the incense burning to lure ordinary people, yet he managed to let you leave safely."

"Oh?" Xu Bai became interested. "Hidden inside the statue?"

Of course he still remembered the girl Thought Gods hidden inside the statue.

So now that this topic has come up, he asked the question instinctively.

The mantis stopped and turned around, a regretful look on his fat face. "His daughter is a pitiful person, sealed in a statue, which has an unusual attraction to ordinary people."

"After the old Daoist priest led the person over, he fed the person until they were plump and white. Before slaughtering them, he first threw the person into the statue and did some things with her daughter before killing them to make cured meat."

What exactly those things were, is certainly indescribable.

"Why do we need to do these things?" Xu Bai asked.

A hint of regret appeared on the scallop's face. "Do you think that putting a dead person into a statue doesn't come at a price? If we don't do it, the old Daoist priest won't live much longer."

"Alas, what a pity. Her daughter was so beautiful when she was alive. I even went to propose to her, but after that, her daughter died."

His words contained no emotion other than regret, and only regret for not being able to propose marriage successfully.

The scorpion didn't continue speaking. It led Xu Bai to a room, opened the door, and then added, "You'll stay here tonight. I'll take you away tomorrow morning. Oh, and don't you dare run away secretly. There are many strange things in these mountains."

After saying this, the scorpion seemed unwilling to have any further interaction with Xu Bai and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Xu Bai didn't say anything more. After closing the door, he lit the oil lamp on the table.

Compared to that Daoist temple, the layout here is much worse.

A bed, a table, a chair—that's all.

Xu Bai considered the information in his mind, the most important being the information about the Fat Man.

But after thinking about it for a while, they couldn't find any clues.

After a moment's thought, Xu Bai raised his index finger and made a light sweeping motion in the air.

A golden compass appeared, hovering in mid-air.

Feng Shui Arithmetic!

This time, he wanted to predict whether it would bring good or bad fortune.

As the True Yuan Power surged, the pointer on the compass began to spin wildly. In an instant, a sense of unease began to swirl in Xu Bai's heart.

Fierce! Bad luck!

Moreover, the wildly spinning pointer indicates that feng shui arithmetic cannot solve the problem.

"I knew this place was here. There's no such thing as a free lunch." Xu Bai waved his hand, dispelling the golden compass, and then took out the Deity Summoning Heart Sutra from his robes to continue grinding.

He remained completely calm. Since he was already trapped, he would adapt to the situation and deal with whatever came his way.

As the night deepened, Xu Bai became increasingly engrossed in working on the progress bar.

The golden progress bar is slowly increasing.

Xu Bai didn't know how much time had passed, but when he had completed the progress bar to one-tenth of its full progress, he suddenly looked up and put the Deity Summoning Heart Sutra into his pocket.

Something's not right, absolutely not right! Although he's arrived in this place and his sense of time has become weak, he can still use the progress bar as a reference.

I've been working on this for so long, why isn't it daytime yet?

Through the window, one can see dappled light and shadow, traces left by the moonlight; it is still late at night.

Xu Bai frowned, went to the window, opened it a crack, and looked out into the backyard.

Outside the window, in the large pit in the backyard, the water surface shimmered, and under the moonlight, the shadows of fish swayed within.

Through the crack, one could clearly see a round, spherical figure moving around in the backyard.

At the junction of each puddle, there are crisscrossing paths.

The trevally was walking along these paths with nothing in its hands.

Seeing this, Xu Bai wondered, "Why are they walking around in the yard in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? It's really creepy."

He did feel something was off, especially now.

Under the moonlight, the trevally's eyes held a strange emotion, and cold sweat beaded on its forehead.

Xu Bai looked at the moon in the sky. When he entered the house earlier, the moon was still in the same position, and it was still in the same position now, as if it had never changed.

In other words, once he entered the mountain, time seemed to stand still until night fell.

There is no daytime anymore; it's always night.

"The Ruins should be a reproduction of a certain period of time, so it seems that it is fixed at that time," Xu Bai pondered.

This place is really strange. From the old Daoist priest who ate people at the beginning to the Fat Man in front of us who is shaped like a ball, there is a strangeness about it that is hard to understand.

Especially now, with the night still present and the day yet to come, a new layer of shackles has been added to the fog.

The trevally took several steps and finally came to the farthest puddle, where it slowly squatted down.

With his physique, squatting was extremely difficult for him, and all the fat on his body was shaking.

Especially the abdomen, where the fattest part hangs down, covering the entire leg, making it look like a ball without legs.

His legs were hidden by the folds of fat, and if it weren't for the fact that he suddenly became two inches shorter, it would be hard to tell whether he was standing or squatting.

The chub looked at the puddle in front of it, especially the live fish in it, and suddenly reached out and grabbed one of them.

Then, like a savage, he put the fish right into his mouth.

The mouth was huge; once you put a fish in it, it would jump around inside, its gills bulging.

The trevally acted as if nothing had happened, its teeth snapping open and closing with a chilling crunching sound that was especially noticeable in the darkness, sending shivers down one's spine.

Blood slowly flowed from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin into the water and spreading on the surface.

He didn't even spit out the fish's innards and bones; as he swallowed, a large bulge formed in his throat.

"Eat it raw?" Xu Bai squinted.

Another weirdo. Everyone here seems to have gone mad.

In the courtyard, after eating a live fish, the trevally rubbed its belly and showed a satisfied expression.

His words echoed throughout the courtyard.

"Sigh, if you eat one a day, you won't be able to keep up with the production speed. Then you won't have enough to eat and you'll have to go find someone to fight with."

"Speaking of which, there are fewer and fewer graves in these mountains, and I'm almost starving. How will I be able to afford to raise these spirit fish?"

"Forget about all that, let's feed them properly today!"

Although she spoke very softly, Xu Bai heard her clearly.

Xu Bai fell into deep thought.

Spirit fish?

It seems the fish here are no ordinary catch; this fat man cherishes them so much that he only eats one a day.

And if he heard correctly, the fat man said that he was almost full and that there were fewer and fewer graves on the mountain.

Could it be that this fat guy goes out every day just to find graveyards and then look for food there? What he eats is self-evident.

The spirit fish might be good for the fat man, but then he'd have to eat things from the graveyard.

Most importantly, he said that if they couldn't find food, they wouldn't be able to feed these spirit fish.

What should we feed them? Xu Bai didn't think much of it and continued watching, because the tuna had just said that it would be fed today, and he was very curious about what that feed was.

After saying these words, the tuna stood up with some difficulty, its fat jiggling again.

The fat accumulated into wrinkles, layer upon layer.

After standing up, the scallop reached into its collar and pulled out a dagger with difficulty.

Upon closer inspection, it was not a dagger made of any metal, but a curved rib. The edges of the rib were sharpened to a very sharp point, reflecting a pale white light under the moonlight.

"Phew... I'm so afraid of the pain, but I want to eat the spirit fish." The tuna sighed, then grabbed one side of its fat and lifted the rib in its hand.

laugh...

A tearing sound rang out, and blood splattered.