Chapter 119: The Teacher

A wisp of Divine Sense crossed ten thousand miles of Void and arrived at the Ye Family Ancestral Land.

Although it is called an ancestral land, it is actually a prosperous county seat with a very simple name: Ye Cheng. Of course, this Ye Cheng also has a County Magistrate sent by the imperial court.

But the commoners living here all know.

The true decision-makers are actually those born of noble stock.

The division of the Inner City and Bei'an City is much the same, split into two layers: inner and outer. The Outer City is entirely filled with what the noble families consider "mud-legged" peasants, so it makes no difference whether they are massive merchants or high-ranking officials.

Even the County Magistrate—these people are all in the Outer City!

And the Inner City is, naturally, the residence of the Ye Family descendants.

At the beginning of the founding of Great Li, that founding Emperor declared that any noble family who followed him would receive at least one city as a fief. These noble families have already become equivalent to feudal lords and vassal kings.

However, in the eyes of the noble families, that is actually nothing.

Their families have been passed down for thousands of generations, deep-rooted and firm. Regardless of whether you, the Emperor, grant it or not, this remains our territory; they are the true emperors here.

And now, this local emperor is enraged.

In the largest mansion within the Inner City.

An elderly man received the Divine Sense sent by Wang Xuanji and could not help but frown, feeling somewhat annoyed. Yin energy suddenly manifested around him, swirling, and behind him, red eyes appeared within the mist of Yin energy, as if some Great Terror were lurking within.

This tiny Bei'an County could actually fell so many of their Ye Family members? The Second Young Master, that lucky piece of trash, is one thing, but even Ye Xuan, a junior he thought highly of, was lost there.

Moreover, that group of mud-legged peasants...

Actually dared to resist the Ye Family's investigation?

He naturally knew that the Divine Sense Wang Xuanji transmitted was somewhat embellished, intended to stir up trouble. But he did not care; what he cared about was this group of mud-legged peasants' contempt for the dignity of the noble families.

And with so many people lost there, he must give the others an explanation.

However... there are people from the Ma Family obstructing the investigation?

Recalling the message sent by Wang Xuanji, the old man pondered slightly. He did not expect to encounter their family's old rival in this matter? No wonder that Wang Xuanji of the Wang Family suffered such a great loss...

"Xiao San, you go over there and resolve this..."

The old man spoke indifferently, his sound waves sinking directly into the Void and reaching a small academy located in a secluded, quiet corner on the east side of the Inner City, where the sound of clear, bright reading could be heard.

"At the beginning of the Strange, nature is inherently evil, nature..."

In this small academy, over a dozen humanoid Weirds held books in their hands, shaking their heads as they recited the text, appearing without a trace of evil energy, as if they were truly students of a normal academy.

And standing before these Weirds was a teacher dressed in a white jade and gold-threaded robe, very scholarly, about twenty or thirty years old. At this moment, he looked calmly at the Weirds below, occasionally revealing a smile of "the child is teachable."

Suddenly, he frowned.

That old fellow actually dared to order him to do something? Is he bullying others because they are temporarily away? He pondered for a moment. Forget it, forget it, I had better go; otherwise, that old fellow will nag again.

"You all study hard here; I will return shortly."

He put down the teaching rod in his hand and stepped into the Void in one stride...

After he left, the sound of reading still echoed in the small academy, but as time passed and this teacher did not reappear, these Weirds revealed a bit of evil energy once more...

Time moved forward.

Night had already fallen on Bei'an City.

The Yin energy grew increasingly dense, the situation became increasingly dire, and Strange Monsters appeared very frequently—so frequently that most people were unwilling to go out at night, fearing that they might run into something unclean on the road and lose their lives.

However, there are always people in the World who do not fear death.

For example, a drunkard who is intoxicated and frolicking on the street.

On a quiet, deserted street without lights, a drunkard carried a wine gourd, his face flushed red, walking with a staggering gait, swaying back and forth as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

He was still shouting, "Bring me another jar..."

"Eh? How is there a wonton stall there..."

The drunkard opened his eyes, which were on the verge of closing, and looked ahead, discovering that at the end of the street, there was a small wonton stall with lights glowing and a few people eating there.

The drunkard intended to go sit there and sober up by the way.

He arrived at the wonton stall with difficulty; the steaming meat broth emitted white mist and wafted an enticing aroma, which gave him a jolt and made him much more sober.

"You... you old woman, give me... a bowl of wontons!"

Having said that, he tossed out a few large coins, sat on a chair, and then tilted his head, emitting thunderous snoring.

This sound directly disturbed the conversation of the guests nearby, who immediately glared at the drunkard, stood up, and wanted to take action.

"Slow down, it is better to avoid trouble than to add to it."

"You should be clear that this is a troubled autumn."

The stall owner said slowly and hoarsely. She clearly looked like an old woman of eighty or ninety, her face covered in deep furrows, her body hunched over, as if she were at the end of her rope.

But as soon as she spoke.

These young and strong guests immediately lost their nerve.

"Fine, fine, fine, everything is as you say."

"Actually, even if you didn't say it, we wouldn't dare to take action. It is very dangerous here now; there are actually two experts of the Innate Realm. If they hadn't fought a battle during the day, we wouldn't even have known!"

A burly man gave a bitter smile.

"Exactly, exactly, I also intend to run; I didn't expect such terrifying existences to be in this tiny county seat. It was a loss that I just moved over from the Sanshan Gathering," a weak-looking scholar lamented.

"But have you heard? There is news saying that we should all go to Baishou Ridge tomorrow night. I don't know what it is about to cause such a big commotion."

The one speaking was a charming and alluring woman.

"Hmph, I have heard this news too. It was actually spread by certain fellows in the city; I don't know what they are plotting. I advise you all not to go; it is better to leave quickly."

The weak-looking scholar said with conviction.

"No, you must go."

The old woman suddenly spoke, staring at the three of them.

"You have eaten my wontons, so you must go. If you don't go, you will bear the consequences yourself." The old woman scooped the broth in the pot, accidentally scooped up a skull, and tossed it back into the pot.

The three of them looked at each other; what was going on here?

"Hahaha, this Baishou Ridge looks like a lot of fun, can I go too?" At this moment, the drunkard who had been fast asleep suddenly woke up, stood up, and laughed as he said this.

The old woman's expression turned cold, and she immediately realized something was wrong. The lamp light at the wonton stall suddenly extinguished, leaving the surroundings in total darkness. Without the illumination of the light, the true forms of the few were revealed.

The man directly transformed into a butcher with his belly ripped open. Naturally, he had ripped his own belly open; his intestines were half-exposed, and intestinal fluid and gastric juice dripped onto the ground, drip by drip.

The frail scholar also turned into a dried corpse, his entire body devoid of flesh and blood, shriveled down to nothing but a skeleton; if one were to peel off this skin, he could pass for a skeleton monster.

As for that charming woman... if one only looked at most of her body, she was indeed charming. It was just that she had no head, or rather, the head was being held in the woman's hand.

As for the old woman, her appearance had not changed much.

At most, she looked a few years older.

"I thought it was just some drunkard; it seems he wants to find trouble with us. To be able to be this reckless in the middle of the night, he must be one of those idiots from the Demon Suppression Division," the butcher said with a sinister grin.

"Originally, we didn't want to make a move and were going to spare your life. Couldn't you just pretend to be asleep until dawn? Forget it, seeing that your body is quite sturdy, your assets must be substantial; you can at least provide me with some comfort."

The headless woman giggled.

"Young man, listen to my advice and back away."

"You heard what they said just now; they intend to leave. It is better to be forgiving when one can; why persist so stubbornly?"

At this moment, the old woman suddenly spoke up.

"Spare me? That's fine, then." The drunkard began to laugh.

"I ask you, have you ever killed anyone?"

Killed someone? The three Weird were stunned for a moment, then burst into loud laughter. "We Weird have naturally killed people; just as you humans eat chicken and fish, is there anything wrong with that?"

"Very well." The drunkard nodded.

Immediately, a wisp of Sun True Fire flew out. Before the three Weird could even react—as their strength was not high—they were instantly burned into nothingness, not even leaving behind any ashes.

Source Power increased by fifty.

"Alright, have you ever killed anyone?"

That moment had happened in the blink of an eye. Now, he turned his head to look at the old woman. However, the old woman reacted quickly; she didn't even want her own stall anymore and took off running.

Her figure was like a ghost, though, of course, she was a ghost to begin with.

"Don't run."

Before the old woman had run very far, the drunkard had already appeared in front of her. He then picked her up in mid-air with one hand and walked back to the stall step by step.

"I ask you, have you ever killed anyone?"

The drunkard continued, while his other hand used a ladle to nonchalantly scoop around in the pot of soup, fishing out several skulls and several human hands that had not yet been stewed until soft.

The old woman was suppressed and unable to break free, but she remained silent.

"You are a member of the Sunset Organization, aren't you?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the old woman's expression changed drastically. How could this terrifyingly powerful drunkard know about this?

"Hmm, it seems so."

The drunkard nodded. "Then what did that leader of yours tell you to do? What are you doing at Baishou Ridge tomorrow night?"

He continued to question her, which only made the old woman more terrified.

Why did he even know this? Who exactly was this drunkard!

"Not talking? If you don't talk, I can only let you die." The drunkard's words carried killing intent, making the old woman feel as if a Great Terror had descended, and her body trembled in fear.

"I'll talk, I'll talk!"

"We are going to build a Descent Array there!"

The old woman said in terror.

"Build a Descent Array?" The drunkard laughed. "This array shouldn't need to be built, right? You might just be the Nodes of this array; gathering together is enough to form the array."

"I am not clear on that." The old woman said, bewildered.

"But I am."

The drunkard seemed to have sensed something from the old woman, and immediately, Sun True Fire ignited on his hand, burning the old woman to nothingness in almost an instant.

However, no Source Power was credited.

Because this old woman was truly still a human. But for a human to eat humans is to walk the path of demons and Weird; she was no longer a human, no different from a demon, and deserved to be killed!

After resolving everything, there was no one else nearby.

The drunkard returned to his true form; it was Li Heng.

He had felt a whim tonight and pretended to be a drunkard to fish for information, not expecting to actually catch the information he wanted. Thinking of what he had sensed on the old woman, he couldn't help but sneer.

That leader thought they could deceive the heavens, but did they really think he was unprepared?

He pondered in his heart, wanting to think of a countermeasure.

Suddenly, he felt a sensation and directly pulled up his Data Panel, only to see his Luck drop directly from the precarious five points to two points—a consumption of three whole points of Luck.

What was going on? Li Heng was shocked.

Across ten thousand miles of Void, outside the territory of Great Li, on a desolate land, that scholar stepped out from the Void. Looking at the scene before him, a look of contemplation appeared on his face.

He... had he taken the wrong path?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shake his head. It really had been a long time since he had gone out if he could even take the wrong path. However, the scenery here was quite beautiful, but attending to his business was more important...

With a thought, he stepped into the Void once more.

Then, the next moment, he was directly ejected by the Void. His white jade gold-threaded robe was torn in several places, and he looked quite disheveled.

He fell silent. There was actually Void Turbulence in this place?!