Chapter 29
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 29: Title
“Go protect the people of Quan Village.”
This was Ning Jiwei and Mu Shezhi’s instruction before they set off. Yin Huai was cunning; if they let her escape like that, who knew when they would meet her again? They had to pursue her.
Ning Jiwei, worried for Ye Qingshang’s safety, gave her a special sound transmission talisman before leaving. Unlike ordinary talismans, this one allowed direct communication with the maker at any time or place, and the maker could also know the approximate location of the user. In case of an emergency, this talisman was perfect to use.
In her past life, Ye Qingshang and the others were deceived by the children transformed by Yin Huai. After falling into the trap and being trapped for days, they only saw daylight again when the people of Quan Village had already been poisoned by the monsters, turning them into puppets. At that time, they couldn’t save the villagers and, to prevent the monster poison from spreading, had to ruthlessly slaughter the entire village.
This time, upon entering the village, Ye Qingshang became entangled with Yin Huai; she thought that by keeping Yin Huai away from the villagers, there would be a chance to stop the monster poison.
It wasn’t until she followed Ning Jiwei’s instruction to return to Quan Village that she noticed the bruise around a villager’s neck.
That was when she realized it was already too late from the very beginning.
As night approached, the sun hung low in the west, casting a desolate scene over the empty streets.
The group returned to Quan Village intending to gather and protect the villagers, but after knocking on several doors and receiving no response, they forcibly entered only to find the houses empty.
Thinking that the villagers might have grouped together to hide from the monsters, they dispersed to search house by house.
Finally, in the middle of a street, they knocked on one door, and it opened to reveal an old woman, her hair frosted with age, peeking through the door with trembling eyes.
“Don’t be afraid, elder. We are from an immortal sect here to rescue you,” Mu Huaiyun said, presenting his token.
The fear in the old woman’s eyes slowly faded, but the door still did not open wide; she spoke through the crack, “Thank you, Immortal Lord, but I am an old woman nearing my end. Life and death are fated, and I do not want to impose. I just wonder if you could first save my son?”
“Elder, whether it’s you or your son, we will save both. But you must tell me, where is your son now?”
“He… he has left, along with the villagers, to a hidden place.”
“Are you saying the villagers have hidden away? Where is that place?” Mu Huaiyun pressed.
“At the end of the alley, to the west.”
“To the west?” Before Mu Huaiyun could ask more, the elder opened the door a crack, her dry hand offering a jade pendant.
“This is my jade pendant. If you take it, Immortal Lord, my son will see it and won’t trouble you. Please keep it safe.”
Through the crack, Ye Qingshang saw the room was dark. The dimness made it hard to see inside clearly.
The villagers in Quan Village were scared of monsters, so not lighting a lamp to avoid attention made sense. But…
The elder said her son hid with villagers at the alley’s end, so why was she left alone? Wasn’t that unfilial?
Also, though the elder looked afraid when she saw Ye Qingshang and Mu Huaiyun, Ye Qingshang felt a strange numbness in her eyes that made her uneasy.
Like a puppet…
“Thank you, elder.” Mu Huaiyun was about to take the pendant when, as the elder moved, Ye Qingshang saw a blue flash through the crack. She looked closely and spotted a bruise on the elder’s neck. The bruise looked old, spreading down her neck endlessly.
It appeared dark and heavy…
Ye Qingshang felt oddly familiar with it, like she’d seen it before.
She furrowed her brow and finally remembered scary things from her past life before the pendant could reach Mu Huaiyun’s hand.
“Mu Huaiyun, be careful!”
She yanked him back just in time.
At that moment, the pendant hit the ground, black smoke rising from it with a sharp smell.
The elder’s hand stayed outstretched as she smashed the door open, and light showed a horrible face.
The face had deep lines and blood, with no spot unharmed except her eyes. She opened her mouth wide, green liquid dripping out, mixing with the stink from the pendant, almost making Ye Qingshang sick.
Ye Qingshang sent out spiritual power, pushed the elder away, and pulled Mu Huaiyun to run.
That pendant wasn’t ordinary; the black smoke signaled a gathering. Once touched, it was hard to wash off. If Mu Huaiyun had taken it, endless trouble would have followed.
“Disciples of Yunshan Sect, listen! Quan Village is hit by monster poison; everyone retreat outside now!” Ye Qingshang shouted with spiritual power.
But it was too late. Hundreds of villagers poured into the street from all sides, about five to six hundred. Though unarmed, each looked as scary as the elder.
The Yunshan Sect disciples didn’t want to hurt the villagers and were pushed back, gathering in the street’s center.
“What are these things?!” someone asked, using the barrier holding the villagers back.
Ye Qingshang said, “It’s Yin Huai’s monster poison. As an ancient fierce beast, she is full of poison; mortals can’t resist her magic and get poisoned.”
“Sister Ye, is there a cure?”
“No cure. Lightly poisoned ones might force it out with spiritual power, but severe cases die in seven days. After death, the body doesn’t rot and turns into a puppet.”
Mu Huaiyun asked, “You mean these villagers are already dead and can’t be saved?”
“Yes. Even if some keep a bit of awareness, they’re just corpses; no cultivation can bring back the dead. The only way is to… destroy them.”
“Does that mean we have to kill… hundreds?” a shaking disciple asked.
Cultivators never stained their hands with mortal blood; their spiritual power wasn’t for use against mortals.
Ye Qingshang knew that unless it was the last choice, she wouldn’t want this. Even though the villagers were dead, destroying their bodies meant they couldn’t rest in peace.
How cruel…
Mu Huaiyun asked, “If we destroy these villagers, will the monster poison be contained?”
“It’s uncertain.” Ignoring the sheer number of villagers making elimination unlikely, no one knew how far the monster poison had spread—it might extend beyond these five or six hundred. “But… if we don’t destroy them, the poison will surely spread.”
Mu Huaiyun closed his eyes.
Moon’s Shadow was summoned, its silvery light flashing as the whip pierced the barrier and snapped a villager’s neck. The head tumbled down, green liquid oozing out, yet the villager kept advancing as if unaware.
