Yellow Springs Ruins, inside a side room of Fengdu Prefecture.
"Thank heavens, thank heavens!"
Seeing the Village Head emerge from the small courtyard, along with the three burly men standing behind him, Ping'an let out a long sigh of relief and slumped against the back of his chair.
Old Daoist Huang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said:
"Judging by the situation, if Taiping had given the wrong answer just now, he would certainly have died at the hands of that Village Head and the three villagers behind him."
Ninth Madam likewise looked shaken as she said:
"The evil ghost that the Village Head of Three Paths Village became is the strongest fighter in the entire village. With those three helpers beside him, Xu Taiping might not be their match even if he used the Fengdu Token."
Hearing this, Heavenly Lord Xuanbei nodded slightly and said gravely:
"The most troublesome part is that this Village Head can summon all the villagers directly. Once that happens, even the strongest means at your disposal will be useless."
Daoist Fengzhu suddenly asked in great puzzlement:
"But why would this Village Head suspect Xu Taiping?"
Ninth Madam realized this as well and said gravely:
"Judging by Old Man Liu's words, they don't merely suspect Xu Taiping. They suspect all the outsiders."
Ping'an asked with great curiosity:
"Has anything like this happened before?"
Ninth Madam frowned.
"At least, nothing like this has appeared in the information we know of. Even the villagers learning of the Mountain Bandits' arrival beforehand has rarely happened."
Ghost King Qin Ming gave a helpless smile.
"Never mind all that. Even the sight of Old Man Liu and his granddaughter appearing together in the image before us is something I've never seen in all my years guarding this place."