A Powerless Death Loop

Pfft!

Before his memory could grow hazy, Xu Chunliang plunged his knife into his heart once more.

Rollback.

Standing beneath the familiar willow tree, Xu Chunliang breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, his memory of Liu Yong's death hadn't disappeared.

The steelyard's ability to erase memories was completely ineffective against death.

Whatever you are, putting on this supernatural act, I'll see through you.

Outside the courtyard, Xu Chunliang ignored Liu Yong, who was talking to Guo Si,

and walked into the courtyard, crouching behind the people kneeling in worship.

Kneeling before him was a child of about three or four. As the child kept kowtowing,

the little bottom in his split-crotch pants kept opening and closing.

Opening and closing.

Xu Chunliang reached out and pinched the child's pale cheek.

It was cold to the touch, ice-cold! It had none of the warmth of a living person.

This child was dead!

He grabbed the child by the shoulder and pulled him backward, sending him tumbling to the ground.

The little mouth kept opening and closing, as though he were still reciting the silent scripture.

All the black-clad figures kneeling like tombstones turned to look at Xu Chunliang.

They closed their mouths, their lifeless eyes fixed on Xu Chunliang.

Those were the eyes of the dead.

Lusterless and vacant, they seemed to be looking at him, yet also seemed not to be.

Then bloody holes appeared in the clothes over their chests, and rusty iron hooks emerged from them, hoisting them up one by one.

Xu Chunliang looked up and saw an enormous, pitch-black pole. The steelyard had appeared.

"Run!"

He shouted and was the first to charge toward the edge of the village.

"Outward is death..."

"Inward is life..."

A faint voice, like someone weeping, reached Xu Chunliang's ears.

Then a searing pain struck his chest.

Xu Chunliang looked down and saw a rusty iron hook piercing his chest, slowly hoisting his corpse into the air.

Then he fell into darkness.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing outside the courtyard.

The rollback point had updated to a time after Liu Yong's death.

Xu Chunliang recalled the voice that had sounded like weeping, but when he listened again, he couldn't hear anything.

Inward is life?

Xu Chunliang looked into the courtyard, unable to understand what "inward is life" meant.

Inside the courtyard, or inside the village?

Putting aside his doubts, Xu Chunliang looked at Guo Si and said, "Steward Guo, what deity are they worshipping?"

Guo Si quickly smiled and said, "You may not know this, sir, but worshipping the Scale Immortal is a custom passed down in the Guo Family. It's recorded in our family history. Our family started out as a very poor farming household. Our ancestor relied on a rusty steelyard just like that one to buy and sell goods, building up this great family fortune bit by bit. So this custom, which looks very strange to outsiders, was passed down in the family."

"Really, we're expressing our gratitude to our ancestor and our satisfaction with the prosperous lives we lead now."

Guo Si's smile was warm, and there were no obvious flaws in his words. It seemed he had always believed this himself.

"Was it this one?" Xu Chunliang asked, pointing at the steelyard the dead were worshipping.

"No, that steelyard, the one that brought prosperity to the Guo Family, is enshrined in our ancestral hall. It isn't brought out for people to see. What you see, sir, is a replica."

Xu Chunliang nodded and said that was only proper. He then asked if he could visit the ancestral hall and pay his respects to the steelyard, to share a little of the Guo Family's good fortune, but Guo Si refused.

"Sorry, only men of the Guo Family's main branch may enter the ancestral hall. Even the old matriarch isn't permitted inside. I'm afraid I can't grant your request, sir."

Xu Chunliang said he understood. Then he and Shi Qin followed Guo Si as they continued looking around the village.

The village could be called either large or small. Before long, Guo Si had shown the two of them around the whole place.

Standing where the old women had gathered to chat when they first arrived, Guo Si cupped his fists and said:

"Sirs, Squire Guo is ill, so it really isn't convenient to take you both to visit the main family's courtyard. Please forgive me."

"Since you've seen the village, sirs, you should head back now."

Xu Chunliang nodded and untied the pouch of Life Silver that had somehow appeared at his waist. He also took the Life Silver hidden under the flatbread in Shi Qin's robes and pressed it into Guo Si's arms. "Steward Guo, you're too kind. The two of us serve in the Demon-Slaying Bureau, where the rules are strict. We can't accept this silver."

"Please be sure to take it back on the family's behalf, Steward Guo."

Holding the silver, Guo Si smiled.

His smile was exceedingly eerie.

He bent his legs to kneel, but Xu Chunliang kicked him in the chest and instantly drew the small brass knife tucked behind his waist.

Awoo!!!

Eerie Tiger Howls at the Heavens.

Guo Si was engulfed by the sound waves and exploded in an instant.

He broke into several pieces.

A streak of clear light flew into Xu Chunliang, and his attribute points increased by three.

They reached 16.

As expected, the steward really was an evil entity!

Xu Chunliang pulled Shi Qin along, shifted his knife stance, and rushed forward with Eerie Tiger Descends the Mountain.

He charged toward the main family's courtyard at the center of the village.

An instant later, darkness appeared, enveloping Shi Qin and Xu Chunliang.

"I don't care what the hell you are, I'll break you!"

Xu Chunliang roared and unleashed another Eerie Tiger Howls at the Heavens!

Awoo!

A low tiger's roar rang out. Three eerie tigers appeared behind him and roared furiously at the rusty steelyard.

Pfft!

Pfft!

Iron hooks fell, pierced Xu Chunliang and Shi Qin through the chest, and hung them up.

Xu Chunliang died once again,

plunging into boundless darkness.

"Sirs, you've seen the village, so you should head back now."

"Shut up!"

Xu Chunliang kicked Guo Si over and plunged his knife into his neck.

Then he threw back his head and laughed.

"Ha ha..."

"Ha ha ha ha ha..."

"I'm going all the way against you!"

He let the darkness envelop him and, alone with his knife, slashed at the steelyard weight descending from the sky.

Awoo!

The three eerie tigers behind him roared at the heavens, and Xu Chunliang's eyes were filled with surging madness.

Facing this rusty iron steelyard that took lives without any apparent pattern, dying again and again, powerless every time,

Xu Chunliang, who had kept his emotions steady ever since his transmigration, was finally

driven mad!

His legs bent slightly and every muscle tensed. Xu Chunliang leaped high and swung his knife at the rusty steelyard weight.

Clang!

Metal rang against metal.

The iron weight didn't budge, and Xu Chunliang's chest was pierced.

Death.

"Sir..."

Pfft!

Xu Chunliang sliced off Guo Si's head with one stroke,

then raised his knife and faced the darkness again.

Then he died again!

Rollback, slash, death.

Rollback, slash, death.

Xu Chunliang faced death again and again.

The madness in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by numbness and despair.

He mechanically rolled back, killed Guo Si, and was killed.

The death loop continued without end.

What exactly was he doing? No one knew...