Chapter 31: So It Was You!

Wu Chang asked, "What do you mean?"

Liu Shan looked into the distance and recalled:

"Two and a half years ago, a monk passed through the village. That monk’s skin was as black as charcoal, his nose was flat like garlic, his lips were as thick as sheep’s intestines, and his hair was naturally curled into a cluster, like the ushnisha on the head of a Buddha in a statue. He stayed in the village for three days, claiming he had a method to eradicate the evil spirit."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow. Oh, so this dungeon is an international server; a foreign monk has arrived.

"Indeed, foreign monks know how to chant scriptures. He said he would try, so you let him?"

"They say that when strange phenomena appear in life, there must be extraordinary abilities. That black monk was full of strange phenomena, and coupled with his remarkable skills, we thought he was certainly no ordinary person, so we let him give it a try."

Liu Shan said regretfully, "Many people had come before wanting to subdue the evil spirit, but if they failed to exorcise it, they simply failed; it wouldn't bring disaster. Who would have thought that the black monk, holding a wooden cross nailed with a small effigy, would step into the mountains alone? That very night, violent tremors occurred in the mountains."

"Not only did he fail to exorcise the evil spirit, but he also attracted a crazed mountain demon. It chased the black monk all the way here and, right in front of everyone outside the village, snapped the black monk's cross artifact and beat him to death."

Wu Chang curled his lip and said, "That’s what happens when you overstep your bounds."

The cause of the dungeon pollution was found: the black guy, in order to complete his mission, wanted to eliminate the sealed BOSS evil spirit, but his actions were too heavy-handed, attracting other monsters in the mountains.

Not only did this loosen the seal on the BOSS evil spirit, but his death also caused the hundred-mile Huai Mountain to be polluted by players, and the dungeon gradually spiraled out of control, step by step becoming the current situation.

Liu Shan continued, "Since then, the evil spirit has been out of control. Many practitioners have come to exorcise the demon, but all ended in failure. Some were even influenced by the evil spirit, falling into a frenzy and killing or injuring many villagers."

"It wasn't until a year ago that a scholar passed by and helped us improve the Year-End Exorcism Ritual, which restored control over the evil spirit."

"The scholar said that the exorcism is most effective at the end of each year, during the transition between the old and the new. But as monsters frequently appear in the mountains, the improved ritual is hard to maintain. There is still a month left until the date the scholar mentioned, but the evil spirit has already been frequently attacking the villagers."

Wu Chang felt this was perfectly normal. Over the past year in Huaigu Village, the dungeon's pollution level had increased significantly, and the dungeon's difficulty naturally increased along with it, heading straight for B-rank.

Using a C-rank difficulty seal to contain a B-rank difficulty BOSS—could that possibly work? The logic is simple, but to make Liu Shan understand, Wu Chang had to translate it into terms that the natives of this plane could comprehend.

"Now that spiritual energy has reappeared and the world is undergoing great changes, monsters are growing stronger as they are nourished by this energy. Using the methods of the past to bind the monsters of the present naturally makes it difficult to sustain."

Liu Shan realized suddenly, "So that's it. I was worried about repeating the black monk's mistake and dared not go against the scholar's instructions in the slightest. But Liu Wei, whom you saw earlier, believes we cannot delay any longer and has been insisting that I perform the Year-End Exorcism Ritual early."

"Listening to what you say, Great Hero, is performing the ritual early not impossible?"

Wu Chang said slowly, "In subduing demons and eliminating evil, one must be flexible. I believe performing the Year-End Exorcism Ritual early is feasible."

Hearing Wu Chang's words, the stone hanging in Liu Shan's heart dropped, and he immediately said, "Since that is the case, I will notify everyone tomorrow to discuss moving the ritual forward."

Before Liu Shan left, Wu Chang suddenly remembered something and asked, "Ghosts and monsters formed post-mortem often have a cause. Does the village chief know what originally caused the evil spirit in the mountains?"

Liu Shan frowned and shook his head, "I have never heard of it. Liu Wei is the most capable hunter in the village and knows the affairs of the mountains best; perhaps he might know something."

After Liu Shan left, Wu Chang lay on the bed, thinking about how to proceed with the next step.

The Moonlight Sanatorium, as the only dungeon he had experienced, had a great impact on him. Especially the hidden time limit for clearing the dungeon, which still left him with lingering fears.

His mission was only to participate in the Year-End Exorcism Ritual; what would happen to the village after the ritual was not within his scope of consideration.

There is no time to lose; delay leads to changes.

The villagers aren't ready, and the dungeon BOSS is certainly not ready either.

Another important reason for supporting the early holding of the Year-End Exorcism Ritual also came from the Moonlight Sanatorium: the First Law of Mysticism.

The more people believe in its existence, the more powerful its strength becomes.

From Liu Shan's description, it is not hard to hear that the evil spirit's power was not strong at first. When it wasn't trapped by the ritual in the beginning, it only made children and the elderly sick, and its targets were mostly such people.

But now, even though the evil spirit is suppressed by the ritual, it can still cause adult villagers to lose their souls.

The huge gap between before and after is definitely not just caused by the dungeon being polluted.

The villagers' long-standing fear of the evil spirit will also make the evil spirit's power even stronger.

One month before the ritual, due to the loosened seal, the villagers' fear is at its most intense. For every day it is delayed, the evil spirit's power grows by one point. From any perspective, the ritual should be held early.

Wu Chang exhaled a breath of turbid air and closed his eyes.

Due to the lack of energy, driving the Soul-Cleansing Command Flag consumed a lot of his stamina, which he had to recover through sleep or the meditation method Chi Yuan taught him.

Following the method Chi Yuan taught him, he closed his eyes, emptied his mind, and tried to detach his spirit from his body to feel the spiritual energy drifting in the air, using it to nourish his spirit and replenish his loss.

Under the blessing of high inspiration, his comprehension was extremely high, and he quickly entered a meditative state.

In a trance, his spirit left his body, rising higher and higher, having a bit of the flavor of an out-of-body experience.

However, due to the lack of orthodox Daoist methods, he could not control his out-of-body spirit and could only remain in a semi-dreaming, semi-awake state, letting his spirit follow the guidance of his inspiration.

His spirit drifted aimlessly, and when passing by a certain forest, he heard a conversation coming from below.

"Big Brother, this kid is different from the trash that came to the village before; he has real skills. Should we make a move?"

"Not yet, keep him until after the Year-End Exorcism Ritual."

"I'm worried he might run away halfway..."

"You are too impatient. He is so conceited about his sect and his abilities that he won't run away even if he ends up in a mutual destruction with the evil spirit. You are too impatient, especially with today's matter. Let this be the last time; don't do it again in the future."

"Understood."

Huh? It seems someone wants to deal with him.

The voices were somewhat familiar, but being in a semi-dreaming, semi-awake state, Wu Chang did not hear them clearly.

He wanted to concentrate his spirit to look below, but he concentrated too hard, and under the effect of his Will attribute, it directly woke him up from his meditation.

When he entered the out-of-body state again, the two conspirators had already disappeared and could no longer be found.

Who was that person speaking? "Who was that person speaking?"

"Great Hero Wu, what are you saying? Is my Shi Ning's problem very serious?" a middle-aged female villager asked anxiously.

Wu Chang shook his head and said, "I was thinking about something else just now, don't mind it. Your child's soul is just a bit unstable, and he has caught a cold. I have steadied his soul; just go back and find a physician for normal treatment."

It is no wonder that many people in the village agree to hold the Year-End Exorcism Ritual early; many villagers have been possessed by evil spirits these days, and upon learning that Wu Chang has real skills, they all came to his door.

In just one morning, he saw seven patients, the longest-possessed one having been so for two months.

But none of them were as serious as Liu Ning, and he did not see the red flesh-ball resentment during the treatment.

However, what he was more concerned about now was not whether the evil spirit had escaped, but who exactly the voices he heard during his out-of-body experience before sleep last night belonged to.

In his semi-dreaming, semi-awake state, he didn't hear them clearly to begin with, and those unclear, fragmented words were continuing to blur with the passage of time.

If he hadn't been constantly recalling them, he probably would have completely forgotten those two voices.

Forget it, he would let those two go this time. Now that he was on guard, there would be plenty of opportunities to catch them in the future.

After sending off the villagers, before he could even catch his breath, Village Chief Liu Shan came to his door.

"Great Hero Wu, are you free now? Liu Wei and the others will be here soon; they want to discuss moving the Year-End Exorcism Ritual forward with you."

"No problem."

As they spoke, Liu Wei walked over with several prestigious villagers and greeted him, "Great Hero Wu, did you rest well yesterday?"

Hearing Liu Wei speak, Wu Chang clapped his hands and said joyfully:

"So it was you!"

(End of chapter)