Chapter 53: Fierce and Malicious

Looking at Xie Sui’s mocking expression, the villagers who had rushed over looked at each other, fuming but not daring to speak out.

There was nothing they could do. Who told him to be a major client who had brought over seventy sacrifices?

The villagers repeatedly apologized for their oversight. They then moved to collect the severed limbs, bloody flesh, and scattered bones from the floor.

However, Xie Sui blocked them before they could enter the house. “No need to clean up. I want to move my residence here. This house has plenty of Yin Energy, the smell of blood, and bones all over the floor. I like it here.”

He then pointed to the girl in the wedding dress lying nearby. “Since I’ve already handled the vengeful spirit that was sealed here for you, I’ll take this girl as my payment.”

The lead villager paused in his tracks, showing no reaction to Xie Sui’s request.

The Evil Cultivators who came here to trade all had various eccentricities; they had long since become accustomed to it. Besides, that girl was originally just a consumable for a Ghost Marriage; she was going to die sooner or later anyway. Giving her to this big client was no different from giving her to a client who wanted to form a Ghost Marriage Alliance.

Moreover…

The lead villager glanced at the bright red stains on the floor.

Moreover, the two clients who had wanted to form that Ghost Marriage Alliance had already been turned into bloody water and minced meat smeared across the ground.

It didn’t matter. They had already received the money, and they didn’t care about the grievances between clients.

“Very well. I will have your sacrifices delivered here immediately.”

With that, the lead villager led the others out of the courtyard.

Although the people in this village were capable of any evil, they still maintained a basic level of business integrity, especially when facing an Evil Cultivator they couldn’t afford to provoke.

They would never touch a guest’s goods.

After all, if a guest got angry and killed the villagers, Daoist Xiutian wouldn’t lift a finger to help them.

Wuqi Village was merely a base for Daoist Xiutian.

The fact that the villagers could live without worrying about food or clothing and grow as large as they had was all thanks to Daoist Xiutian and the Wuqi Sect.

All the villagers were merely tools for Daoist Xiutian. All they could do was work hard and strive for the favor of that great man, hoping to become official members of the Wuqi Sect. Once they became official disciples, they would be considered one of his own.

The villagers soon returned to the courtyard, bringing the production crew members and the show’s bus with them.

Xie Sui noticed that there seemed to be over forty additional people—these extra ones were likely the staff members who had arrived at the village ahead of time. The whole group should be accounted for now…

Wait, where was Old Liu?

He didn’t see Liu Wuyong, nor could he sense the aura of the Blood Curse inside him. Xie Sui froze for a moment, a bad feeling beginning to stir.

He remembered the faint, stubborn trace of the Blood Calamity on Liu Wuyong’s forehead… Could something have actually happened to him?

Despite his inner anxiety, Xie Sui didn’t let it show on his face.

Xie Sui stopped the lead villager. “Where is my companion? The one who came on the boat with me—a man in his thirties, looked very tired, with a scruffy beard.”

The leader shook his head with a blank look. “Guest, we are bound by talismans; we would never touch your goods… Since you came by boat, you can go ask the ferryman. He might know your companion’s whereabouts.”

As he spoke, the leader took a paper crane from his robe and handed it to Xie Sui.

“This can lead you to the ferryman’s location. It’s late; we hope the guest will try to return to your residence before midnight. The roads in the village are complex, and at night, there are ghosts raised by sect members and other guests wandering about. While those ghosts might be nothing to you, to prevent unnecessary disputes, we ask that you refrain from killing them if you encounter them.”

Clearly, the lead villager didn’t believe Xie Sui’s claim that ‘the seal on the marriage house was unstable, causing the Ghost Marriage spirit to go berserk and kill the couple.’ He seemed to think the couple had offended Xie Sui, leading him to go on a killing spree.

Fighting and killing over minor disputes wasn’t unheard of in this village, especially during this period when the number of guests increased near the time of the sacrifice. Wuqi Village’s main clients were all eccentric Evil Cultivators; the locals were used to their hair-trigger tempers and non-existent moral compasses.

Having finished his warnings, the lead villager took the others and left the small courtyard.

Xie Sui tucked the paper crane away and checked the condition of the production crew.

All thirty-odd people who had come with him on the tour bus were present. Since he didn’t know the total number of staff members, he wasn’t sure if anyone from the group already in the village was missing.

Although the crew members all looked blank and dazed under control, they weren’t missing any limbs or sporting any injuries. Once the control was lifted, they should return to normal.

Looking at the Producer, who was staring at the sky with a vacant expression, Xie Sui sighed with exhaustion.

What an unlucky crew.

Once he found Liu Wuyong, he needed to resolve the village’s issues as quickly as possible. No one knew if the evil control methods of this village would affect the staff members’ intelligence.

With the presence of over seventy crew members and the bloody scent of the house acting as cover, Nie Pengpeng and Captain Yan shouldn’t be noticed by the villagers.

However, it was better to be safe than sorry. To prevent another accident like Liu Wuyong’s, Xie Sui summoned the One-Eyed Five Gentlemen from his shadow. After a moment’s thought, he also pulled out the two Daolao Ghosts and ordered them to guard Nie Pengpeng and the others.

The Daolao Ghosts were also ghost creatures given to Xie Sui by that enthusiastic Siamese Head-Lowering Master. Because Xie Sui hadn’t found the time to send them home, they were temporarily residing in his shadow along with the One-Eyed Five Gentlemen.

Although these two Daolao Ghosts weren’t very intelligent, the One-Eyed Five Gentlemen were old acquaintances of theirs, and they were very obedient to them.

Sigh… He still had too few ghosts at his disposal. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to call out the One-Eyed Five Gentlemen to help protect Nie Pengpeng.

The Ghost Infants currently residing within Xie Sui’s body were different from the Little Ghosts he had dealt with before. Their ferocity was too great. Once they left his control, they would indiscriminately slaughter every living being within their sensory range. Asking the Ghost Infants to watch over Nie Pengpeng and the others would only accelerate their deaths.

Before Xie Sui left the courtyard, Nie Pengpeng called out to him and handed him a piece of paper.

The paper was a map of the village outskirts. It had been given to Nie Pengpeng and Captain Yan by the mother of the two little girls when they had escorted them back to the village. The woman seemed to hope they could take one of her daughters away from this cursed place.

Although they hadn’t managed to save the little girl in the end, and she and Captain Yan had nearly died at the hands of the frenzied villagers…

“If you can find those two little girls and their mother, please help her,” Nie Pengpeng said, her voice tinged with guilt.

If only she hadn’t brought those two girls back to the village. If only she had been able to protect at least one of them when they were being hunted by the villagers… She had no idea how they were doing now.

The girls’ mother had helped them; she would surely be punished by her husband for it.

Xie Sui took the note. Seeming to sense Nie Pengpeng’s worry, he spoke up to comfort her. “I encountered those two girls and their mother not long ago. They are still alive. After I find Liu Wuyong, I’ll go check on their situation.”

Hearing that the two girls and their mother were still alive, Nie Pengpeng breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, then.”

Stepping out of the Ghost Marriage bridal house, Xie Sui opened the map Nie Pengpeng had given him, which detailed the routes around the village outskirts.

As he looked at the village layout sketched with crude lines and saw the familiar arrangement of the houses, Xie Sui paused.

He had wondered why these villagers were so arrogant, slaughtering ordinary people at will and sacrificing flesh and blood to various evil gods without being detected by the people of the Xuanmen. He had wondered why the Wutong God chose to flee here and how it had managed to evade the pursuit of the Xuanmen to survive until now…

It turned out the entire village was a massive formation designed to mask auras, even encompassing the waters adjacent to the village.

Since that was the case, what did he have to worry about?

Inside a Taoist temple in the exact center of Wuqi Village.

Daoist Xiutian stroked his long beard and looked down at the disheveled middle-aged man collapsed on the floor.

Daoist Xiutian had received intelligence from his two juniors. He knew the middle-aged man before him was very good at hiding himself, possessed a deep and calculating mind, and used sinister, ruthless methods.

This fellow had not only killed Zhang Dadao but had also easily dispatched Chef Shao. Now, he had entered this stronghold of his own accord and hadn’t even struggled when captured so easily. This might very well be part of the man’s scheme… He just didn’t know what the man was plotting.

“There is no point in continuing the facade. Fellow Daoist Liu, I actually quite admire your ruthlessness and decisiveness. Zhang Dadao falling by your hand was a death he deserved.”

Liu Wuyong, lying on the ground, desperately wanted to roll his eyes.

The words “ruthless and decisive” had absolutely nothing to do with a salted fish¹ like him. If he had the strength to kill Zhang Dadao, would he have spent eight years slacking off under the man’s command?

He was so unlucky. He was truly too unlucky. He had been staying obediently in the courtyard doing absolutely nothing, just watching over the staff members while waiting for the boss to return, and then a black-robed Taoist had descended from the sky and carried him off.

What kind of “hero fights the dragon to save the princess” plot was this? Dammit, why was he the one in the princess role? A wrinkled, middle-aged salted fish princess like him had absolutely no value in being kidnapped. Dragon, are you blind?

Daoist Xiutian flicked his sleeves and paced slowly toward Liu Wuyong. “Although I do not know why you came to my domain, I have no wish to make an enemy of someone like you. What I want are all the ghost artifacts you scavenged from Zhang Dadao, as well as the list of the righteous Xuanmen sects that participated in the siege against him.”

His tone as he advised Liu Wuyong was even full of admiration. “As long as you hand them over obediently, I promise not to harm you. I will even recruit you into our Wuqi Sect. Our Wuqi Sect needs excellent talents like you, who are cunning, treacherous, and stop at nothing to achieve their goals.”

Liu Wuyong was powerless to complain.

Big brother, have you mistaken me for someone else? Why are you targeting me like this? I’m really just an ordinary, unremarkable salted fish employee.

Despite his internal monologue, Liu Wuyong knew that if he wanted to save his life, he couldn’t show any weakness. He had to play along with the version of himself this Taoist had imagined, trying to stall for time until the boss realized he was missing.

Liu Wuyong lowered his voice, trying his best to make his expression look profound and mysterious. “Heh, I knew this was your stronghold long ago. I noticed your handiwork back at Shao’s Restaurant. So, do you know why I came here of my own accord?”

The best way to answer an enemy’s inquiry was to answer a question with a question… This way, he could fish for more information and make it easier to keep acting.

Daoist Xiutian looked thoughtful, his voice carrying a hint of hesitation. “Could it be that you also received that news?”

Liu Wuyong wanted to roll his eyes again. Damn it, everyone here was a riddler.

“What do you think?” Liu Wuyong imagined the black-robed Taoist before him was an unscrupulous boss who owed him six months of salary and made him stay up late editing videos without overtime pay. He gave the man a murderous, cold smile.

The wrinkles on Daoist Xiutian’s face smoothed out as he laughed. “Indeed. I was wondering why Fellow Daoist Liu, after lurking under Zhang Dadao for so long, would choose to kill him so suddenly at this time… You are indeed well-informed!”

The black-robed Taoist walked right up to Liu Wuyong, his tone excited. “Did you come here voluntarily to discuss this matter with us? What did you bring? If it is valuable enough, the small grievance we have over Zhang Dadao can be completely wiped clean.”

Liu Wuyong tried his best to maintain his arrogant and sinister smirk, feeling like his facial muscles were about to cramp.

He really couldn’t make up any more. How was he supposed to respond to that? Boss, save me! Your subordinate is going to die!

Perhaps because Liu Wuyong’s internal prayers were so sincere that they moved the heavens, not long after the black-robed Taoist finished speaking, the ground actually began to tremble gently.

Daoist Xiutian froze for a moment, then spun around to look outside the courtyard.

The tremors grew more intense, sounding like the heavy, muffled beat of a drum.

It sounded like a heartbeat… the heartbeat of the earth. It felt as if something terrifying was being gestated, something about to be unleashed upon the world.

It was an ancient aura that had crossed through time and countless spatial barriers, radiating omens of misfortune and despair, as if it were the collective manifestation of all the world’s malice and resentment.

This terrifying, sinister aura hung from the night sky like a black curtain, enveloping the entire village. It lurked within the shadows, impossible to perceive, yet omnipresent.

The black-robed priest could no longer spare a thought for Liu Wuyong lying on the ground. He rushed into the temple, setting up an altar before the divine statue at maximum speed to perform his rites.

Though he had no idea what had gone wrong in this village that was completely under his control, nor what this terrifying entity about to emerge actually was… he had to use his trump card immediately. There was no time for hesitation.

This horrifying aura was even more fearsome than the previous Water God Riot. When the Water God had been enraged last time, he had barely managed to suppress it by sacrificing over a hundred human lives. He didn’t know which of those meddlesome fools in the sect had summoned such a formidable existence this time.

Damn it, every year during the sacrificial rites, all sorts of problems cropped up.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed the black-robed priest’s eyes.

Once he used this sacrifice to take complete control of the Wuqi Sect, he would definitely offer up those disobedient evil cultivators as sacrifices to heaven.

The heartbeat and the tremors of the ground grew stronger and stronger. That unknown, terrifying entity seemed to be drawing closer to his temple.

Cold sweat broke out profusely on Daoist Xiutian’s forehead. He forced himself to stay calm, desperately trying to summon the only evil god he could control.

However, the Wutong God, who was usually at his beck and call, gave no response today for some unknown reason.

Daoist Xiutian flicked his black sleeves violently, sweeping all the offerings off the altar.

He couldn’t gather enough flesh and blood sacrifices on such short notice… Damn it, if it really came down to it, he would have to sacrifice everyone in the village.

Though those dogs in the village were useful, his own life was obviously more important.

After the terrifying aura surged to a certain peak, it suddenly stopped. All sound in the world vanished, as if the entire world had been put on pause.

Daoist Xiutian sensed something. He steadied his nerves and slowly turned around to look at the courtyard gate.

Standing there was a thin figure, the source of the dread that had caused all of this.

Daoist Xiutian’s eyes slowly widened. He stared blankly at the figure for a long time before he finally found his voice.

“How can it be you?!” Daoist Xiutian looked at Xie Sui, his eyes full of disbelief. “Aren’t you the living corpse Liu Wuyong refined?! How-“

Then he watched as the ‘living corpse’ simply gave a casual wave of his hand, instantly shattering the restriction he had used to trap Liu Wuyong. Immediately afterward, Liu Wuyong-the man he had considered profound and deeply calculating-flopped up like a fish out of water and scrambled to hide behind Xie Sui.

Daoist Xiutian’s mind went blank as he began to realize the truth.

“You’ve slaughtered so many lives and committed so many atrocities, yet you still hope to escape karmic retribution and seek immortality?”

The thin young man approached step by step, and Daoist Xiutian couldn’t help but retreat step by step.

Although this person didn’t radiate any sense of danger or that terrifying aura from before, he gave off the feeling of the eerie calm before a storm.

Xie Sui looked at the priest, his voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation. “There is no such bargain in this world.”

“Do you want to see the Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts? After all, in this sinful village of yours, the thing you lack least is the vengeful souls of the innocents you’ve murdered.”

“The seals you used to suppress those dead souls mean nothing to me… If there isn’t enough resentment, well, I have plenty right here…”

Among the righteous Xuanmen sects that had once hunted the White Tiger Fetal Fiend, some had viewed it as a natural treasure, wanting to refine it and claim it for themselves to boost their cultivation while it was still defenseless.

Others truly feared it, wishing to slay it the moment it appeared in the world.

This was because the White Tiger Fetal Fiend could freely absorb, contain, and purify resentment… but it could also bestow resentment upon ghosts, strengthening the malice within them.

A malevolent star deity with a physical form-if allowed to grow to a certain point, he would become a node affecting the balance of Yin and Yang for the entire world. Turning the world into a chaotic era overrun by demons was not beyond his capability.

Only at this moment did the black-robed priest realize exactly what Xie Sui was.

He looked at Xie Sui in horror, his lips trembling involuntarily. Aside from broken, meaningless sounds, he couldn’t utter a single complete sentence.

“What use is there in worshipping those statues of dead things and evil gods?”

The blood-red tint in Xie Sui’s eyes deepened, and an incredibly terrifying pressure radiated from him.

The corners of his mouth curled into a mocking smile. The violent emotions and cold killing intent within those Double Pupils were completely undisguised. The ancient aura of a malevolent star deity slowly spread from his body, as if a god had descended upon the earth.

“The one you should be kneeling to is me.”

Translator’s Notes