Lotus-Seeding Great Demon!

At some point, the once-clear sky had gradually darkened.

Low clouds pressed down upon the barren ridges on either side, shrouding Locust Tree Village in a murky gray gloom.

The vast remains of the Old Locust Tree lay across the village entrance. Inky green sap still seeped from the broken ends, giving off a nauseating, earthy stench.

Jiang Yuechu watched the scene nearby with lowered eyes and an indifferent expression.

Zhao Hu and the others worked briskly, using ropes to bind the villagers slumped on the ground, one after another.

"Mercy, officer! I was forced into it!"

"I'm guilty... I'm guilty..."

Some time passed.

Footsteps sounded.

After settling his subordinates, Liu Chen walked slowly over to the tree.

There was no joy on his face at having finished the assignment. Instead, his brows were tightly knitted, as though something puzzled him.

"Miss Jiang."

Liu Chen stopped beside Jiang Yuechu. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "There's something... I can't figure out."

"Hmm?"

"I remember the office's records saying the most recent famine in Longyou was forty or fifty years ago."

"If they made a deal with this demon to survive back then, that would make sense."

"But I looked just now. There are some elderly people in their sixties and seventies here, but most are middle-aged, in their forties and fifties. There are even able-bodied men in their thirties."

Liu Chen pointed at the dejected villagers.

"If they'd fed all their children to the tree back then, Locust Tree Village... should have died out long ago. How could it have survived until now?"

At his words, Jiang Yuechu raised her head. Her gaze passed through the windblown sand and settled on the dilapidated village.

"Have you ever heard a saying?"

Liu Chen paused. "What saying?"

"It's easy to go from