Chapter 58: Planning a Speedrun

Following the village chief's narration.

A piece of history from twenty years ago was finally unveiled, clearing away some of the fog for Li Heng.

It turned out that the so-called Jing'an Village was actually two villages.

Jing Village and An Village.

However, twenty years ago, everyone in Jing Village died suddenly. To avoid causing panic, the Government deliberately suppressed the news and had An Village renamed Jing'an Village.

At the same time, they did not allow the people of An Village to flee.

Li Heng listened, frowning.

Just to suppress the news, they wouldn't allow everyone in a village to flee? Wasn't that a bit too much trouble? He voiced this question to the village chief.

The old man also shook his head.

"I don't know about that either. But back then, I once overheard a conversation from your Demon Suppression Division, talking about something like human Qi, some kind of formation, and other profound, hard-to-understand things."

The village chief said with a bitter smile.

"Then didn't you ever think about forcing your way out? After all, this place is so remote; the Government and the Demon Suppression Division couldn't have been monitoring you every moment."

"It's useless, it's useless," the old man sighed.

"Some young people once tried to escape, but in the end, they all died suddenly. After the Government found out about this, they warned us even more severely."

"Those who flee without permission will be executed!"

"After that, how could we still dare? Staying here at least means we can stay alive. And reaching the Sanshan Gathering from here is already the maximum range we can move about, like a curse."

"So, young man, you had better leave quickly."

The old man advised Li Heng.

Li Heng remained unmoved and continued to speak.

"Then what exactly are you worried about? Stop talking in riddles."

The old man was silent, then continued.

"Last night, lights shone over in Jing Village, and there were even figures walking about. But everyone in Jing Village should have died out; that place has long been abandoned."

"And back then, when the people of Jing Village all died, someone from your Demon Suppression Division also came and warned us not to go to Jing Village, or we would bear the consequences ourselves."

Speaking of this, the old man gave a miserable smile.

"Although I, an old man, have lived in the mountains for most of my life and don't know many characters or have read many books, I still know the word 'Weird' clearly."

After listening, Li Heng was lost in thought.

He didn't doubt that the old man was lying; after all, under the gaze of his Heavenly Eye, the old man was truly just an ordinary person, and there was no abnormality in his words to suggest he was lying.

"Where is Jing Village?"

Hearing Li Heng's words, the old man was stunned.

"You want to go to Jing Village? No, absolutely not! Even looking over there during the day, Jing Village is gloomy. If you go there, you might meet with misfortune," he said anxiously.

"Just tell me where it is; no need for more words."

Li Heng said indifferently.

In terms of combat power, he had the Great Sun Dharma Image; in terms of escape, he had the Shrinking Ground to an Inch of his divine avatar. It wasn't him boasting, but even if a Great Demon broke its seal and emerged, he would still have the ability to run away.

"You young man, why is it that you don't know how to turn back until you hit the southern wall?" The old man leaned on his cane, shook the ground, and said with some annoyance.

"According to the laws of Great Li..."

Li Heng spoke calmly; although he knew the old man meant well, he did not need this kind of kindness.

"Fine, fine, fine, then I won't try to stop you!"

"Pass through the village and continue deeper, and you will see a ruin hidden in the deep mountains; that is Jing Village."

The old village chief said with some anger.

Why wouldn't this young man listen to advice?

Forget it, forget it.

Anyway, it's daytime now, so nothing should happen; once you get there, you'll definitely be scared back. The old man sat on a giant rock, thinking in a fit of pique.

Li Heng ignored him and headed straight for Jing Village.

Passing through An Village, he was now completely deep in the mountains.

Li Heng frowned; this place was indeed not simple, because the further he went toward Jing Village, the thicker the Yin Qi became. Just halfway there, the density was already the same as it had been last night.

He strongly suspected that the current Jing Village had long since formed a Ghost Domain and no longer belonged to the human world.

He took a step.

The surroundings instantly became gloomy, as if what he had just stepped over was the boundary between the human world and hell; the rising Sun was also blocked by dark clouds and could not shine here.

Li Heng arrived at Jing Village, or rather, at a ruin; all around were broken walls and dilapidated houses. The gates of some abandoned houses had already disappeared, revealing pitch-black interiors that looked like the entrance to hell.

He was not afraid and wandered around.

Unexpectedly, he walked through the entire village but still couldn't see a single Weird. Li Heng raised an eyebrow; this made no sense, as the Yin Qi was so thick it had almost formed a Ghost Domain.

Could it be... that he needed to wait until night?

As soon as this thought arose, he had a flash of inspiration; the five points of Luck he possessed pulsed faintly, seemingly corroborating this view.

Li Heng had a bit of a headache; this Ghost Village didn't seem very fierce.

It couldn't even come out in broad daylight; what was the point?

However, since he was already here, Li Heng thought it over and decided to stay here until night. He might as well perform Visualization of the Sun during the day; come to think of it, he hadn't performed it in a long time.

Although he had assigned the task of visualizing the Sun to his divine avatar, that didn't mean his true self couldn't visualize it. True self plus avatar, visualizing together would be faster.

Anyway, he had nothing to do while staying here during the day.

Time rolled by like a wheel, crushing the refuse of history and bringing forth long-sealed past events. It was now near dusk, a world where the Yin Qi rose and demons danced in chaos.

Outside Jing Village.

Li Heng woke from his state of Visualization and opened his eyes. The surrounding scenery was vastly different; the village was no longer a ruin but possessed complete houses, with wisps of cooking smoke rising from chimneys, as if people lived there.

From time to time, the laughter of playing children drifted over.

"Finally here."

He loosened his muscles and bones, his body popping and cracking.

He placed his Divine Dao clone outside Jing Village to prepare for the unexpected. Li Heng himself then slowly walked into Jing Village.

Under a large banyan tree, several old men were chatting and laughing.

Seeing Li Heng walk over, these old men showed expressions of surprise. "Eh, who are you? You look unfamiliar; are you here to participate in tonight's sacrificial ceremony? Then you have certainly come at the right time."

"Young man, let me tell you. Although the village is not large, it becomes very lively whenever the sacrificial ceremony is held." These old men laughed with great familiarity.

"Guest, have you prepared a gift? You cannot participate in the sacrificial ceremony without a gift," one old man reminded him.

Li Heng raised an eyebrow. A sacrificial ceremony?

Does that mean he has to wait until nightfall? Then participate in the ceremony, reveal the truth behind it, and uncover the truth of this Jing Village and the mystery of everyone's sudden death?

He smiled confidently; he was very familiar with this.

Isn't it just that Terror game routine: collect clues, solve puzzles, and successfully escape alive.

However, it is a pity that he intends to speedrun it.

With a thought.

The Great Sun Dharma Image manifested, its light illuminating this place!