The Massacre!

Lin Xia's gaze was as sharp as a hawk's; he saw it clearly.

Like ink splashed, it was splattered on the mottled earthen walls, gray stones, and withered grass.

The blood spots vary in size, some dense like rain, others radiating out in a fan shape. These are the cruel marks left by a sharp weapon or immense force striking the human body instantly, causing blood to splatter at high speed.

Some of the bloodstains even reached a height of more than a person above the ground, demonstrating the helplessness of the victims and the brutality of the violence.

On the dirt road, dark, winding tracks extend from the gaps in the houses, stretching out into the darker corners of the village or deeper within it.

These marks have blurred edges and a darker center, as if a heavy object had been Sheer Force dragged over them, leaving behind traces of life being Sheer Force taken away.

Near some of the marks, there were scattered pieces of cloth or shoes.

In several of the most severely damaged areas, where fierce resistance seemed to have taken place, pools of dark red blood, not yet fully congealed, formed on the ground.

The blood pool had irregular edges and a somewhat viscous surface, glistening with a nauseating sheen in the setting sun.

An unclaimed straw sandal, half-submerged in the bloodstains around its edge, looked particularly forlorn.

Lin Xia could even see tiny specks of dust Levitate in the pool of blood, and a few black flies, attracted by the blood, greedily sucking at it.

On some walls and collapsed wooden beams, bloodstains were mixed together.

Above, there are fine, spray-like dots, while below, there are larger, more continuous flowing marks, as if someone was seriously injured and leaning against the wall, with blood Spit Up from the wound and flowing down the body, eventually collapsing to the ground due to exhaustion, leaving behind a last, spreading pool of blood.

The edge of the blood pool was transitioning from bright red to dark brown, but the center still had a glaringly wet feel, indicating that not much time had passed since the tragedy occurred.

In addition to the smell of soil and vegetation, the air was filled with a heavy, cloying, and suffocating stench of blood!

The smell, a mixture of dust and a faint, indescribable, sulfurous Stench, drifted in on the evening breeze, irritating everyone's noses and nerves, silently testifying to the horror that had just occurred here.

"The bloodstains... aren't completely dry yet..."

Ye Lingling's voice trembled slightly, almost Frisk. As Nine Heart Begonia Soul Master, she was most sensitive to the state of life force and blood.

"In some places... it's still fresh... the tragedy must have happened within half an hour, at most an hour!"

Her face was a little pale, and the petals of the Nine Heart Begonia trembled slightly in her palm, emitting a soft halo, as if to comfort her, or as if to express silent pity.

Xie Yue's hand was already on the Moon Blade at his waist, his eyes sharp as knives, scanning the eerily silent village. His body was tense, ready for battle.

"Blunt force damage... mass bloodshed... massacre? Or... something else?"

He keenly sensed the lingering fluctuations of Soul Power in the air and the unsettling smell of burning sulfur.

Yan's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and his eyes blazed with fury.

"Damn it! Who did this? They're not even sparing ordinary villagers!"

He has a fiery temper and cannot tolerate such acts of bullying the weak and slaughtering the innocent.

Furthermore, the doctrines of the Spirit Hall fueled their extreme anger!

Hu Liena and Dugu Yan also looked solemn, ready to fight at any moment.

Hu Liena's Charm ability is not very effective in this environment, but her combat skills are equally superb.

Dugu Yan cautiously sensed her surroundings, Medusa's Toxic perception seemed to detect a trace of unusual residual energy.

Lin Xia stood at the very front, the afterglow of the setting sun casting a long shadow over him.

His face was icy cold, and the deep blue in his eyes seemed to be frozen solid for millennia. A chilling killing intent silently emanated from him, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud between his brows felt slightly hot, as if echoing the anger within him.

He took a deep breath; the strong smell of blood and acrid sulfur filled his lungs, but it only made him more alert.

"Lingling, be ready to receive treatment at any time."

Lin Xia's voice was low and cold, like the clash of cold iron.

"The rest of you, stay alert, follow me into the village. Watch for any unusual noises or residual Soul Power. See... if there are any survivors!"

Lin Xia's icy words were like a stone thrown into a cold pond, stirring up a chilling killing intent in everyone's hearts.

They endured their churning stomachs and the pungent stench of blood and assailed Lin Xia, silently infiltrating the desolate Qingshui Village like Ghost type.

The scene before us was far more shocking than what we had seen at the village entrance, truly etching the words "hell on earth" deep into everyone's soul.

The village was no longer simply a place of destruction, but a complete slaughterhouse.

Amidst the ruins, the bodies of villagers lay scattered haphazardly; a cursory glance revealed well over a hundred corpses!

Their deaths were gruesome. Some were disemboweled, their dark red entrails mixed with mud and grass clippings dragging on the ground, leaving long, sticky trails.

Some heads were smashed to pieces, and red and white matter was splattered all over the walls.

Some limbs were torn apart, the severed parts scattered not far away... Blood soaked every inch of the land, pooling into dark red mud that reflected a nauseating luster in the setting sun.

The air was filled not only with the stench of blood, but also with the Stench of ruptured organs and incontinence. Some of the corpses even bore signs of being gnawed on!

The culprit behind all of this, just as Lin Xia was tracking, was a group of "people" with extremely strange attire.

There were about three hundred of them, each one incredibly strong, generally over two meters tall, with muscles as bulging as rocks, exuding explosive power.

Their clothing was simple and rough, mostly made of animal hides or coarse hemp pieced together haphazardly, barely covering their vital parts, with their exposed skin covered in thick gray body hair.

Their heads are the most striking feature.

His hair, like a dirty mane, was a lifeless, deathly gray, and hung loosely in a disheveled manner.

The facial features were even more horrifying—the lips were abnormally thick and protruded forward, unable to close completely, revealing two huge and sharp canines, as long as an adult's thumb, like the fangs of a wolf, and even stained with undried blood and bits of flesh!

Their noses were broad and flat, with nostrils pointing upwards, and each heavy breath Spit Up white steam carrying a sulfurous odor.

His face was smeared with oil paint made from a mixture of minerals and plant juices, the patterns grotesque and primitive, like some kind of evil totem, appearing particularly eerie and terrifying under the blood-red sunset.

At this moment, these monsters, like hyenas carrying prey, roughly dragged the villagers' corpses toward the mountains behind the village.

Their movements were brutal yet efficient; some carried the corpses on their shoulders, while others bound their ankles with rough ropes and dragged them across the muddy ground.

Some of the monsters held spears with tiny, lifeless children impaled on the tips, swaying them like spoils of war, producing dull Tackle and chilling, menacing laughs.

The cries did not come from the dead, but from dozens of young women who were Bind and driven forward by these monsters with vines.

They were dressed in rags, covered in blood and mud, their faces etched with extreme fear and despair, their cries hoarse and powerless, like lambs to the slaughter.