A Moment Ago, a Knight Walked Out of That House

Chen Xu's blade chopped down, right at the center of the old woman's forehead.

This strike was like chopping wood, as if intending to split the old woman directly in half.

The old woman's movements were too slow. She didn't have time to grab anything from her robes, but she suddenly opened her mouth, and a scarlet snake's tongue shot out like a viper's!

The snake's tongue traced a nimble arc in mid-air, carrying a foul-smelling spray of droplets that lunged straight for Chen Xu's face.

Seeing the snake's tongue strike first, it was actually faster than Chen Xu's blade.

The old woman let out a vicious, hateful shriek from her throat, "You dare kill my son, die... Ah!"

Pfft--

From the darkness, the youth whose form couldn't be discerned opened his mouth and spewed out a mass of flames.

The raging fire, like banners unfurling, instantly turned the old woman's snake's tongue into a limp, charred husk, sizzling and smoking.

Chen Xu's blade followed closely, slashing down vertically in the firelight.

A crack sound was heard.

Like firewood being split in two, the old woman only managed to utter her last unwilling sound from her throat, "You!"

Bang bang, blood sprayed.

Her body was already split into two halves, falling to the left and right respectively.

Was everything over?

No, not yet.

From the center of the body, now split into two, a dark red bead rolled down at some point. In the darkness, the bead was not very conspicuous, but fortunately, Chen Xu possessed the talent to see the traits of food.

[Evil Thought Bead, formed from nurturing by greed, anger, ignorance, obsession... all evil thoughts. Ghosts and gods can consume it, and doing so can increase their Nine Nether Spirit, allow them to see what the carrier of evil thoughts saw within an incense stick's time before death. It can unlock recipes, Ghost Punishing Pill.]

This thing held a secret!

As Chen Xu pondered, the dark red Evil Thought Bead, as if possessing its own sentience, rolled silently towards a shadowy corner the moment his gaze flickered away.

At this moment, Chen Xu had just killed two people, and all the clamor in the darkness seemed to have subsided into the night.

Yet, from afar, there seemed to be the sound of wind rustling, and the chill of the spring night vaguely assaulted him.

The neighbors of Embers Kitchen seemed to have heard some commotion from the sheep merchant's house, with indistinct voices asking in the dark night, "Dear, why is Old Man Yang's house making such strange noises?"

"Mind your own business!"

The whistling wind only made the night seem quieter.

Chen Xu suddenly darted forward, stepping on the Evil Thought Bead on the ground, and with a thought, he stored the item into Embers Kitchen.

At this point, Chen Xu felt a slight sense of relief.

But it wasn't enough.

He carried his blade and used its side to lift the black cloth covering the flatbed cart, clearly seeing six small sheep piled on top.

The lambs were nestled together, each with a pink nose and red lips, appearing tender and cute, so cute it was almost eerie.

Chen Xu's heart sank slightly. He first pushed the cart to the side of the closed courtyard gate, then turned back to observe the bodies of the mother and son on the ground.

After confirming that both were truly dead, Chen Xu began to handle the aftermath.

He took a bundle of rope from a large wooden frame nearby, tied the bodies on the ground together, and then dragged them into the adjacent room.

Chen Xu then entered the room and searched it quickly.

He didn't dare waste too much time, so his cursory search yielded only a little over thirty taels of silver and over ten strings of loose copper coins.

In addition, there were some seemingly eerie and unidentifiable sacrificial items. Especially in the main house, a dark, horned, ferocious sheep's head statue was enshrined. Chen Xu felt an extremely uncomfortable surge of malevolent energy just from the entrance, without even stepping inside to look closely.

He didn't even enter that room, simply throwing the bodies of the mother and son into the adjacent kitchen.

While called a kitchen, this room should more accurately be termed a corpse-dissecting room.

The room still contained some sheep bones, sheep heads, and scattered pieces of mutton.

But all these so-called "sheep goods" had no traits above them!

One could imagine the true composition of these sheep goods.

Although Chen Xu had killed the mother and son, his anger only intensified.

He exited the kitchen and came into the courtyard, snapping his fingers from a distance.

A ball of orange-red flame spontaneously ignited from the so-called kitchen.

Chen Xu's anger churned, his Heart Fire blazing. He heard the pounding of his own heart and the surging of his own Vitality.

The stronger the Heart Fire, the fiercer the flames.

In just a moment, the raging fire engulfed both the kitchen and the main house beside it.

The roaring flames soared into the sky.

[Fire Control Level 1 (92/100)]

[Fire Control Level 1 (93/100)]

(96/100)

Driven by this intense rage, his Fire Control skill experience surged straight upward.

The heart is the master of fire, the spirit the will of fire.

What is Fire Control?

So this is Fire Control.

[Fire Control Level 1 (100/100)]

Crack, as if a mighty pass was broken through.

Chen Xu had an epiphany in this instant!

And the panel of the Cauldron Scripture continued to display prompts.

[You killed to uphold righteousness, gaining an ounce of exhilaration and three parts melancholy. Reward: 100 Firework Value.]
[Your thoughts are clear, obtaining a dram of Heart Fire Divine Lotus. Reward: 100 Firework Value.]

Chen Xu let out a long breath.

Just then, he heard exclamations erupting from the surrounding neighbors.

"Fire!"

"What's going on? Old Man Yang's house is on fire? Quick, quick, go save it!"

Doors of houses were flung open, and figures rushed out.

Even those who were unwilling to meddle in others' affairs dared not ignore a neighbor's house on fire.

From further down the street, the urgent clang of gongs immediately resounded: "Dong dong dong—"

"Fire! Jingsha Quarter is on fire!"

The watchman on patrol shouted loudly.

The local constabulary also sprang into action, and more and more shouts merged into a continuous stream.

Chen Xu's movements, however, were faster than everyone else's.

He kicked open Old Man Yang's courtyard gate and, in the shadow of the flames, pushed the cart piled with lambs out the door.

The cart was placed in the middle of the street. Before the neighbors, who had rushed out of their homes, could even look at the fire at Old Man Yang's, they saw the cart in the middle of the street.

Naturally, people didn't pay attention to the cart at first. Some carried buckets, others splashed water, all shouting, "Quick, put out the fire!"

"Yang! Yang Dazhu, are you awake? Your house is on fire, come out..."

"Old Woman Yang, Old Woman Yang!"

More and more people poured out, and the street quickly became a crowded scene.

Finally, someone noticed the cart in the street and exclaimed in surprise, "Why is this cart in the middle of the road, blocking the way? Quick, move it..."

Before he could finish speaking, someone beside him grabbed him and said, "Don't rush. I just heard someone say that what's on this cart isn't sheep, but people who were transformed by the Yang family mother and son using the Livestock Creation Art!"

"What?"

In the chaotic scene, the bizarre words made one doubt if their ears were playing tricks.

Then, the young man in the darkness repeated, "It really is the Livestock Creation Art. These aren't real sheep; they're people turned into sheep. A chivalrous guest just came out of Old Man Yang's house and told me that if we pour water into the sheep, the Livestock Creation Art can be broken.

If you don't believe me, let's give the sheep some water right now."

With that, the young man snatched a bucket of water from a neighbor, picked up a sleeping lamb, pried open its mouth, and indeed, poured water into it, gulp by gulp.