Ruined Village

They had just returned to Withered Locust Village at the foot of the mountain.

The easy smiles on everyone's faces slowly stiffened.

Before them lay a village reduced to a state of utter ruin, with sections of courtyard walls collapsed.

Dead branches and muddy slush littered the streets and alleys.

Even the large house they had stayed in the previous day was now in shambles, with rotten wood and broken tiles scattered all over the ground.

The entire village was lifeless, as if it had been abandoned for over half a year.

Xiong Hui swallowed and instinctively felt for the weapon at his waist. "This isn't right. The village was perfectly fine when we came in yesterday. How did it end up like this overnight?"

"How is that possible? Where's the village chief? Let's go find him." Xu Long of Azure Rock Martial Hall spoke up.

"Come on. Let's go to the village chief's home." Peng Huo's face was as dark as water.

The group hurried to the village chief's residence. The gray-brick house was now covered in dust, as if no one had lived there for some time.

At the sight of this bizarre scene, a chill crept up through all seven of them.

It was compounded by the incident last night, when a fake Yu Qianqian had knocked on their door.

Lin Nan's expression darkened, and he couldn't help tightening his grip on the Blood Talisman he wore.

"This place is seriously haunted!"

Yu Qianqian, who was also from White Snake Martial School, grew nervous as well. She unconsciously edged closer to Lin Nan.

Faced with such a strange occurrence, everyone instinctively felt safer with someone from their own martial school.

All of a sudden,

Lin Nan spotted a yellowed, brittle sheet of paper tucked beneath the table.

"There's a piece of paper here."

Lin Nan bent down and picked it up. On it, several crooked lines of dried ink had been written with a brush.

"I am Li Anping, the village chief. By the time you read this, I will have..."

"Six months ago, a group of young people from the village dug up an ancient tomb in the back mountain. They brought out a bronze cup from the tomb. We told one of the Yanei officials in the city about it. Not long after, an official came to the village. He called himself..."

The writing became too hurried and smudged to make out. It seemed the village chief, Li Anping, had written it in haste.

"Let me see."

Peng Huo reached out and snatched the yellow paper from Lin Nan's hand.

Lin Nan furrowed his brows slightly, inexplicably displeased.

The others gathered around to examine the writing on the paper.

"A bronze cup... a man... Could this person be responsible for the destruction of Withered Locust Village overnight?"

Yu Qianqian speculated.

"Brother, let's go back! I don't want to stay here."

Xu Qingqing's voice broke with tears. She hadn't expected that a simple collection mission would lead them into something so strange.

"All right. We're leaving now!"

Xu Long nodded, then urgently addressed Peng Huo. "Captain Peng, whatever happened here has nothing to do with us. We've already collected the Soul-Congealing Flower Dew, so there's no reason to stay."

"Fine. I'll take you out." Peng Huo nodded.

"Let's go."

Xu Long reassured his sister, pushed open the door, and stepped out first.

The instant he crossed the threshold—

Whoosh!

A shadow sprang up without warning from outside and lunged at Xu Long, moving so fast no one had time to react.

Xu Long's pupils contracted. Caught off guard, all he could do was hurriedly circulate his qi and blood to protect himself as a sharp claw shot straight for his throat.

Slash!

At this critical moment, Peng Huo and Zhou Yi attacked at the same time. They drew their weapons, flicked their wrists, and slashed toward the shadow.

"Breaking Gate Saber!"

"Gale Wind Sword!"

Saber and sword light, wrapped in boiling qi and blood, swept across the shadow with a sizzling sound, like meat roasting over a fire.

The shadow let out a scream and crashed heavily to the ground.

Only then did everyone see that the creature that had attacked Xu Long was shaped like a monkey and covered in short, reddish-green fur.

"It's a Corpse Wraith!"

Zhou Yi was older and more experienced, and recognized the creature immediately. He rushed forward, twisted his wrist, and swiftly cut off all four of the Corpse Wraith's limbs.

Corpse Wraiths belonged to the mountain-spirit demon class. They were usually formed from the corpses of children who had died young, hunters who had fallen in the mountains, or monkeys and other beasts, after being tainted by the mountains' baleful aura. They had no intelligence and knew only to devour blood and kill.

"Brother!"

Xu Qingqing's heart-rending cry rang out.

Everyone turned to see Xu Long's eyes bulging as he clutched his throat with both hands. Blood gushed through his fingers like a spring.

"Please, save my brother! I'm begging you!" Xu Qingqing cried desperately.

"He can't be saved."

Peng Huo looked at Xu Long and shook his head.

"Although a Corpse Wraith isn't a high-level monster—it's only as strong as a first-stage qi-and-blood martial artist—this wound hit a vital spot, and the baleful aura has entered his body. Unless one of the physicians from the Inner City were here..."

Peng Huo didn't finish, but his meaning was clear.

"Captain Peng, what should we do with this Corpse Wraith?" Zhou Yi asked.

The reddish-green creature lay on the ground, its limbs severed and black blood flowing from its body. It twitched faintly, barely clinging to life.

"Brother Zhou, you're older. Why don't you handle it?" Peng Huo replied with a smile.

"No, no, Captain Peng. You're leading this expedition. I can't steal the credit from you."

"No, no..."

The two pushed the task back and forth, though they knew perfectly well why.

Killing demons and Evil Spirits caused baleful energy to enter the body and affect one's current martial arts state.

Removing it could take an unknown amount of qi and blood.

Risking his martial arts state over a low-level Corpse Wraith wasn't worth it, so neither of them wanted to make the first move.

"Stop arguing. I'll handle it!"

Lin Nan stepped forward at once, took up his steel saber, and, his qi and blood surging, plunged it into the Corpse Wraith's skull.

Buzz!

A chill of baleful energy, cold as if it had seeped into his bones, raced along the blade and burrowed into his body. The furnace flashed, instantly converting it into Yin Qi Points, and a wave of pleasant tingling swept over him.

Peng Huo, Zhou Yi, Xiong Hui, and Yu Qianqian all froze for a moment. Then they looked at Lin Nan with strange expressions, as if he were a pervert.

They'd seen plenty of people afraid of death. This was the first time they'd seen someone actively seeking a beating.

"You're truly a hero among the young... among the youth," Peng Huo said after a long silence, barely managing to get the words out.

"I fight for justice. How could I let everyone remain in danger?"

Lin Nan spoke with righteous conviction.

Just then, Yu Qianqian's voice rang out, trembling slightly. "Everyone... has anyone noticed that it's getting foggy?"

They looked around. It was midday, when the sun should have been scorching, yet a layer of gray mist now shrouded all of Withered Locust Village, making it feel like dusk.

Fog wasn't a good sign in Black Dragon City. The old folks in the city often said: Whenever fog rises, demons and Evil Spirits must be near!

"Let's go. If we delay, things will change."

Zhou Yi's expression was grim. Among them, only he and Peng Huo were third-stage qi-and-blood experts, giving them some authority.

"No, I'm not leaving. I'm taking my brother's body with me!"

Xu Qingqing let out a shrill, piercing cry.

Only then did everyone notice that Xu Long had stopped breathing. His eyes bulged like eggs, and he lay in Xu Qingqing's arms, his face full of unwillingness, seemingly unable to rest in peace.

"Impossible. We won't get far if we carry the body."

Zhou Yi rebuked her coldly.

"Senior Brother, aren't we being a little..."

"Shut up," Zhou Yi said coldly.

Xiong Hui opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing.

"Either come with us, or stay here with him."

"You! You're all bullying me! When I get back, I'll tell Azure Rock Martial Hall. I'll report you to the Yanei!"

Xu Qingqing trembled with anger, her eyes red-rimmed.

Zhou Yi ignored her and turned toward the village entrance without even asking Peng Huo, the expedition leader, what he thought.

"If you don't want to die, follow me."

The others exchanged glances, but no one dared say a word. They hurried after him. After walking several hundred meters, the fog grew thicker and thicker.

"Quickly."

Zhou Yi saw the village exit just ahead, and a trace of delight crossed his face.

In the next moment, another shadow burst out of the gray fog and pounced at Zhou Yi like a mad tiger.

Another Corpse Wraith!?