Crouching Tiger Manor When the group came to Blackstone Stronghold again, the sky had begun to darken.
The sun sets in the west, and the afterglow falls on the open space outside the village gate, dyeing the thick wooden fences dark red.
The village gate was still closed. When the figures on the watchtower saw them leaving and returning, they immediately became panicked and ran down to report the news.
After a while, the village gate opened with a rumble.
Blackstone Stronghold Everyone swarmed out, each of them looking terrified, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
The leader was none other than Blackie, who was punched away by Mo Yun before.
His face was still pale at this moment, his clothes were stained with dried blood, and his burly body was trembling slightly, but he still stood at the front bravely.
"F-Crouching Tiger Manor, my lords..."
Blackie's voice was trembling, and his originally fierce eyes were full of fear and regret.
He knelt down with a plop and banged his forehead heavily on the soil. "Blackie I know my mistake! Blackie shouldn't do anything to you adults! If you want to kill or cut into pieces, Blackie will not hesitate! I just ask you all not to vent your anger on Blackstone Stronghold!"
The men of twenty or thirty behind him who were swinging hammers also knelt down in unison.
"Please, my lords, have mercy!"
"Blackie He is also obsessed, he didn't mean it!"
"We Blackstone Stronghold are willing to compensate! We are willing to pay more rent!"
The dark and rough faces were filled with panic and pleading, and the voices came and went, echoing in the dusk.
Mo Yun stood behind Commander Li, looking at this scene with some emotion in his heart.
Not long ago, these people were fierce and fierce, wielding weapons and trying to fight them.
Now he is kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy like a child who made a mistake.
This is the deterrence of strength.
This is the prestige of the Crouching Tiger Manor in this area.
Of course, it is more likely that these people were previously mentally affected by Demon.
Commander Li frowned slightly and was about to say something.
At this moment, there was a commotion from behind the crowd.
Blackstone Stronghold Everyone moved out of the way.
Xu Zhenyue leaned on the black crutch and walked out of the crowd tremblingly.
The gray-haired old village leader looked even more haggard than before, as if he had aged ten years all of a sudden.
He walked closer, his cloudy old eyes full of bitterness and helplessness, and his stooped body bent a little more.
"Commander Li..."
Xu Zhenyue's voice was old and tired, as if it was squeezed out from deep in the throat.
He bent down tremblingly and was about to kneel down.
Commander Li stretched out his hand to support him. "Master Xu Village doesn't have to be like this."
Xu Zhenyue raised his head, a trace of surprise flashed in his old eyes, but it was quickly replaced by fear.
He gritted his teeth, as if he had made some kind of determination, and said with a trembling voice:
"Commander Li, what happened today is my fault, Blackstone Stronghold! We are willing... willing to pay an additional 10% of the annual rent in the future! I just ask you to be kind and don't embarrass Blackie them..."
As soon as these words came out, Blackstone Stronghold everyone's expressions changed.
Paying 10% more rent is not a small sum.
Mine Vein Mining is not easy. There have been several collapse accidents this year, and the village is already stretched thin.
If I pay another 10% more, I'm afraid I won't even be able to eat enough.
But no one dared to speak out against it.
They all know what will happen if they offend Crouching Tiger Manor.
Being able to spend money to eliminate disasters is already the best result.
Commander Li waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "We will talk about the rent later. We are not coming back this time for accountability."
Xu Zhenyue was stunned.
Blackstone Stronghold Everyone was also stunned.
Not accountability?
Then why go and come back?
Commander Li didn't talk nonsense to them and said straight to the point, "Take us to Mine Vein."
"Mine, Mine Vein?"
Xu Zhenyue looked shocked, his cloudy old eyes full of confusion.
He couldn't understand what Crouching Tiger Manor people were doing at Mine Vein.
Could it be that you think Mine Vein is valuable and you want to take it back directly?
Thinking of this, Xu Zhenyue's face turned a little whiter, and his body started to tremble slightly.
Commander Li saw what he was thinking, took a step forward, and lowered his voice:
"Master Xu, there may be Demon in Mine Vein that you are responsible for."
"Demon, Demon?!"
Xu Zhenyue trembled all over, as if struck by lightning.
The wrinkled old face instantly turned as pale as paper, and the entire figure seemed to have had its backbone removed, and the body was crumbling.
He has lived for seventy or eighty years and has experienced too many things.
Young people may not know what Demon is and only think of it as a monster in a storybook.
But an old man like him has seen the horror of Demon with his own eyes.
That's a real nightmare.
That's a monster that eats people without spitting out their bones.
It was a disaster that could easily kill an entire village, leaving no one behind, young or old!
Xu Zhenyue I felt a tightness in my chest, my breathing became rapid, my vision went black, and I couldn't stand still.
"Master of the village!"
"Old village master!"
Blackstone Stronghold Everyone quickly stepped forward to support him.
Xu Zhenyue waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.
He raised his head, his cloudy old eyes were full of despair, his lips were trembling, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a sentence:
"Blackstone Stronghold... is going to die..."
Zhou Tieshan's face turned dark and he said angrily, "Master Xu, if you don't want Blackstone Stronghold to be destroyed, just take us there quickly!"
Xu Zhenyue was stunned for a moment and then came to his senses.
Yes!
Aren't these people Crouching Tiger Manor here to deal with Demon?
He nodded quickly, turned around tremblingly, and said loudly to Blackie and the others behind him:
"Quick! Pick a few Martial Dao masters with higher cultivation levels! Take all the adults to Mine Vein!"
Blackstone Stronghold Everyone looked at each other, not knowing why.
But they quickly did it.
After a while, Blackie and several burly and calm men came out, each with a weapon in their hand.
Including Xu Zhenyue, there are six people in total.
"My lords, please follow me."
Xu Zhenyue walked on crutches and led the way.
Commander Li followed Crouching Tiger Manor and his party.
The group passed through Blackstone Stronghold and walked along a rugged mountain road toward Rear Mountain.
As dusk fell, the woods on both sides of the mountain road rustled in the evening wind, as if something was whispering in the dark.
Mo Yun walked in the middle of the team, scanning the surroundings with vigilant eyes.
This was the first time he faced Demon, and he felt a little nervous but also vaguely expecting.
He wanted to know how many rounds he could withstand Demon with his current strength, and he also wanted to see what Demon in this world looked like.
Walking on the road, Commander Li quickened his pace, came to Xu Zhenyue, and asked in a deep voice:
"Master Xu, when was that sarcophagus dug?"
Xu Zhenyue's body trembled, as if some horrifying memory had been evoked.
He took a deep breath and said with a trembling voice, "Yes... it was dug six days ago."
"Tell me specifically, how you dug it up and what you did with it after you dug it up." Commander Li asked.
Xu Zhenyue nodded and recalled as he walked.
"That day was the afternoon six days ago. I happened to go to Mine Vein for inspection..."
He paused and continued, "When the miners were digging a new mine tunnel, the pickaxe suddenly hit something hard and made a dull sound. At first, everyone thought they had dug a large piece of rock, so they tried to go around it."
"But there was a sharp-eyed miner who said that the surface of the rock was too smooth to be natural."
"Everyone was curious and continued digging along the edge of the hard object."
"After digging for about half an hour, the whole thing was revealed."
Speaking of this, Xu Zhenyue's voice trembled even more.
"That's a sarcophagus."
Xu Zhenyue swallowed, "The sarcophagus is about seven feet long and three feet wide. It is blue-black in color. The material is not like ordinary Shitou. It feels cold and biting, as if it was fished out of a thousand-year cold pond..."
Commander Li frowned. "Are there any patterns on the sarcophagus?"
"Yes! There are lines!"
Xu Zhenyue nodded repeatedly, with a hint of fear in his old voice.
"The lid of the sarcophagus is carved with many twisted patterns, densely packed, like some kind of runes."
"Those lines are very strange. At first glance, they look like distorted human faces."
"Some are crying, some are laughing, some have ferocious faces, and some are full of sadness."
"And, and..."
Xu Zhenyue's voice trembled even more.
"And the intersections of those lines are inlaid with dark red beads."
"Those beads are about the size of a fingernail, and their surface is dull, but you can vaguely see red liquid flowing inside."
"Like, like coagulated blood."
Commander Li's face became solemn when he heard this.
Mo Yun also pricked up his ears and kept these details in mind.
Distorted facial lines, dark red blood beads...
This description makes people's hair stand on end just listening to it.
Xu Zhenyue continued, "In addition to the human face lines, there are also some strange patterns carved around the sarcophagus."
"What pattern?"
"It's like... like some twisted bodies." Xu Zhenyue gestured, "Those bodies are all mutilated, some are missing arms, some are missing legs, and some have their heads tilted to the side."
"But they all keep the same posture..."
"It's like worshiping..."
"All the mutilated bodies kneeled in one direction towards the front of the sarcophagus."
"And on the front of the sarcophagus, there is a figure carved that is much larger than the other patterns."
"The figure is blurry and cannot be seen clearly, but it can be seen that it is wearing a gorgeous robe and a high crown, like an ancient king."
Commander Li's brows furrowed even more tightly.
He pondered for a moment and then asked, "After digging out the sarcophagus, how did you deal with it?"
Xu Zhenyue smiled bitterly and said, "Everyone was frightened at the time and did not dare to move. Some people suggested burying the sarcophagus back, while others suggested moving the sarcophagus out of the mine and throwing it away."
"What's the end?"
"In the end, it was the old man who made the decision." Xu Zhenyue sighed, "The old man felt that the sarcophagus had been buried in Mine Vein for countless years and nothing had happened. It would be inappropriate to move it rashly, so he asked everyone not to touch it and continue mining in another direction."
Commander Li nodded, this decision was a wise one.
Unfortunately, it's too late.
"After the sarcophagus was dug, was there anything unusual in the village?" Commander Li continued to ask.
Xu Zhenyue was silent.
His hand on crutches trembled slightly, and it took him a long time before he said, "Yes."
His voice was lower, as if he was afraid of being heard by something.
"Ever since the sarcophagus was dug, the people in the village seem to have become more impulsive."
"Although everyone was rough in the past, their voices were a little louder, their tempers were a little quick, and they never took action easily."
"But in the past few days, there have been quarrels every now and then in the village."
"Over trivial matters, I can get very angry and even get violent."
"At first I thought it was because everyone was under a lot of pressure recently, so I didn't pay much attention to it."
Commander Li said in a deep voice, "Is there someone who disappeared inexplicably?"
Hearing this, Xu Zhenyue's body trembled suddenly.
He turned his head, his cloudy old eyes full of horror. "Commander Li, how do you know?"
Commander Li did not answer, just said, "Please tell me carefully."
Xu Zhenyue took a deep breath and said with a trembling voice:
"Someone is indeed missing."
"The first missing person is a young man named Shitou. He is twenty-one years old and has not yet married a wife."
"He disappeared three nights ago. He said he was going to Rear Mountain to chop wood, and he never came back."
"We searched Rear Mountain everywhere, but we didn't even see him."
"The second missing person is a miner named Lao Li, who is forty-three years old."
"He disappeared at night two days ago. His wife said that he got up at night to go to the hut, and then never returned to the house."
"The third..."
Xu Zhenyue's voice choked up. "The third one is the old grandnephew, he is only sixteen years old this year..."
"He disappeared yesterday evening. He said he was going to pick up the fallen tools from Mine Vein, and then..."
At this point, Xu Zhenyue can't say any more.
Commander Li was silent for a moment and said slowly, "It seems that it is indeed Demon."
"Don't dare to devour flesh and blood directly, but lurk in secret, manipulate people's hearts, and make people disappear without knowing it."
"If Li guessed correctly, it should be an immature Corpse Charm."
"Corpse Charm?"
The experts at Xu Zhenyue and Blackstone Stronghold were stunned.
They have never heard of this name.
Commander Li explained, "Corpse Charm is a kind of Demon formed from resentment and corpse energy. It is usually born in evil places such as ancient battlefields or burial pits."
"They have no physical body when they are first born. They can only cling to coffins or corpses and grow by devouring the flesh, flesh and essence of living people."
"Before it becomes a reality, Corpse Charm does not dare to openly devour flesh and blood. It can only secretly control people's hearts and make people be swallowed up by it without knowing it."
After listening to Commander Li's explanation, the experts at Blackstone Stronghold finally came to their senses.
Something big happened at Mine Vein!
Blackie walked behind the team, his face as pale as paper.
After hearing the conversation between Commander Li and Xu Zhenyue, he was terrified.
It turns out that the reason why I suddenly went crazy before was because I was controlled by Demon!
He subconsciously glanced at the slightly thin figure in front of him.
There was a surge of complicated emotions in my heart.
There is awe, there is fear, but more importantly, there is gratitude.
If this little brother hadn't taken action at that time and punched him away, causing him to lose the ability to move...
The consequences would be disastrous!
If someone really loses his life, no matter what the reason is, Crouching Tiger Manor will never let Blackstone Stronghold go.
By then, the entire Blackstone Stronghold will be buried with him!
Thinking of this, Blackie looked at Mo Yun with eyes filled with gratitude.
Mo Yun seemed to notice something and looked back at him.
Blackie quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at him.
Commander Li continued to ask, "Is the sarcophagus still in place?"