Tearing Off the Mask

Li Fang was the village chief's name.

Elder Li and the village chief were of the same clan. By blood relation, the village chief ought to call Elder Li "maternal uncle," even though they were only a few years apart in age.

"Nothing much. There were simply some things I had always wanted to do, and now that I've finally done them, I'm happy. That's all."

The village chief smiled, though there was something sinister about it.

In the distant corner, Chu He immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Why was that old bastard smiling so perversely?

"Done some things..." Elder Li murmured under his breath. His fingers tightened around his cane instinctively before gradually relaxing again.

"I don't care what you've done. I only want to ask you this: you had someone send word that you had a way to resolve the yin-cold energy in their bodies. Is that method real?" Elder Li fixed the village chief with an unwavering gaze.

The sickly villagers also pricked up their ears.

"If I dared to say it, then naturally I have a way."

The village chief stepped forward first, passing everyone and entering the ancestral hall.

He looked back and suddenly laughed. "What are you all standing around for? If you want to know the method, come inside and we'll talk. Don't you think there are too many people here?"

Elder Li pondered this for a moment, then nodded lightly.

Behind him, Wang Lao'er snorted in disdain and muttered under his breath.

"Putting on airs..."

The village chief turned his head, and a glint of cold light flashed through his eyes.

One after another, they entered. Amid the villagers' heated discussion, they shut the side chamber's doors, cutting off the noise and bright light outside.

Within the side chamber, orange candle flames flickered. Several ancestral tablets stood before the hall, their shadows crisscrossing the walls in the firelight, clawing and baring their fangs.

As soon as he entered, the village chief sat down and began drinking tea by himself. Seeing his manner, the other village elders all frowned. Every one of them had noticed that something was off about him.

A whole group of people whose bodies had gone wrong were waiting outside. If it had been the village chief of old, he would have been running himself ragged, trying to find a solution. How could he be as casual and leisurely as this, sipping tea without a care?

"Li Fang, tell us your method."

Elder Li's face darkened completely as he spoke bluntly.

"My method is simple. Just worship the Land God."

The moment those words were spoken, everyone froze.

"Do you take us for those uninformed villagers outside, thinking we're so easy to fool? Everyone here knows the true nature of the Land God. What use is worshipping a strange entity? Have you lost your mind?"

Wang Lao'er could no longer hold back and questioned him outright.

The other village elders began talking at once, condemning the village chief from every angle.

"Village Chief, don't make trouble at a time like this! You saw the condition of the people outside just now. Some of them can't even last through the night. If we don't find a solution soon, Earth River Village truly will have no descendants left!"

"That's right. Stop toying with us now. The villagers chose you as village chief because they trusted you. You can't make such a muddleheaded joke at a time like this."

"Why don't we wait until President Hong returns? It seems to me that the village chief is old and dim-sighted, and can't come up with any good solution."

"Hahaha..."

No one knew which remark had struck a nerve with Li Fang, but he suddenly burst into laughter. His laughter was filled with coldness, mingled with an inexplicable wild abandon.

The village chief's abnormal laughter left everyone bewildered.

"How do you know worshipping the Land God won't work?" The village chief wiped the tears that had spilled from the corners of his eyes from laughing so hard. "A pack of old fossils. The one you worshipped before was fake, so why not worship the real one?"

The others' expressions shifted slightly as they sensed something was wrong. Just as they were about to speak again, Elder Li slowly raised a hand, stopping them.

He looked deeply at Li Fang. There was complexity, helplessness, and confusion in his eyes, as though he were getting to know Li Fang all over again.

"I had intended to ask whether you were behind all this, but it seems there is no need now. But when you did these things, didn't your conscience hurt? This is the place where you grew up. Every person here shares blood ties with you. Could you really be so ruthless?"

"I..."

Li Fang's body trembled. He lowered his head in guilt, but the next second, he suddenly raised it again and let out a savage laugh. "Of course I can! I waited ten whole years for this day! For this goal, I worked like an ox and a horse for you all for so many years. It's time for you to pay me back!"

"You... The Li clan truly failed in teaching its children. I have wronged all the villagers by raising a disaster like you—a thankless white-eyed wolf!"

Elder Li's eyes widened, his face full of anguish.

The others were utterly confused, unable to understand the riddle the two were speaking in.

"What are you talking about?"

One of the village elders asked blankly.

"What are we talking about... Naturally, where your lives are headed."

Li Fang's smile vanished, and his face turned frosty.

"Li Fang, you have truly betrayed President Hong's trust in you." Even after accepting the truth, Elder Li remained unhurried.

"You people weren't affected by the statue at all. Someone must have tipped you off beforehand, right?" The village chief's eyelids twitched, as though he had guessed the source of Elder Li's confidence. "And do you really think this sandalwood incense can poison me? Aren't you underestimating me?"

The calm look on Elder Li's face changed drastically.

Han Zhong, who had remained silent all this time, immediately understood. He took a step forward and arrived before the altar table in the blink of an eye, raising his hand to snuff out the smoke from the incense burner.

Yet halfway through the motion, his hand suddenly turned like a venomous snake. It shot out like a shadow, lunging for a curtain behind the ancestral tablets.

Crack!

The curtain shattered. A crimson hand reached out from behind it and collided fiercely with Han Zhong's palm. In an instant, dazzling sparks flew between their hands.

Amid the clang of metal striking stone, the shockwave swept the ancestral tablets from the altar table with a clatter, exposing the person hidden behind the curtain.

His skin was coarse, his clothes plain, and his trouser legs were rolled up below his knees. His face was ordinary, making him look like an old farmer tilling the fields.

It was none other than the long-missing Wu Feng!

The two did not remain locked in a standoff. After exchanging just one move, a shallow probe, they each kept their distance and watched one another with grave eyes.

"Senior Brother, you seem to have become rather taciturn."

Wu Feng said coldly.

"Junior Brother, I knew you hadn't fled..."

Han Zhong spoke, but his voice sounded as though someone were scraping glass. It was not merely hoarse and rough; it also carried a strong sense of eeriness.

"Don't mind Senior Brother's voice. Some little things just scratched my throat." Han Zhong looked at Wu Feng in astonishment. "You hid for so long just to wait for me here?"

"Master didn't want you to become like this."

Wu Feng, unusually, spoke at length and even tried to persuade him.

But at the mention of their master, Han Zhong avoided the subject and said nothing.

On the other side, the village chief was not surprised by Wu Feng's appearance. He twisted his neck and said calmly, "Maternal Uncle, your poison is quite potent. But I'm no longer human. Do you think this poison can still affect me?"

As he spoke, Li Fang's head suddenly spun one hundred and eighty degrees to face his back. His eyes stared eerily at Wang Lao'er, who, sensing that things were going badly, had quietly made his way to the side chamber door. "And where do you think you're going?"