Chapter 45: The Festival Concludes

Wu Chang looked at the attribute panel, repeatedly confirming the side quest.

"Hidden Side Quest: Find the source of the evil aura in Huaigu Village."

Although when the hidden quest was triggered, Chi Yuan handed him the Soul-Cleansing Command Flag to have him find and clear the source of the evil aura.

But it was not written in the side quest.

Just like what the third eldest in the dormitory, Gao Xuezhong, said when he snuck fried chicken while losing weight: if it isn't stated, it's zero calories!

The conditions for quest completion—if they aren't written, they don't exist! In other words, the main quest and the hidden side quest should be able to coexist.

"Main Quest Two: Protect Huaigu Village and complete the Year-End Ceremony."

The requirements of the main quest are to protect Huaigu Village and complete the Year-End Ceremony.

Protecting Huaigu Village—there are many ways to interpret this requirement.

Is it to protect the continuation of the village, protect the safety of the villagers, or does it just mean protecting this plot of land?

If it only means protecting the land and buildings, that would be easy.

The abilities of the evil spirits are all directed at people; their impact on buildings and terrain is minimal. The only thing that needs to be guarded against is a fire breaking out during the battle, causing Huaigu Village to be burned to the ground.

However, the Four Directions Year-Fire Lamp has the ability to control fire, so there is no need to worry too much.

If what needs to be protected is the villagers or the continuation of the village, he already had a clue.

After a brief hesitation, he did not continue to attack the evil spirit, but instead raised his muzzle and aimed it at the huge eternal lamp above the open space.

A gunshot rang out, the eternal lamp shattered, and the cavern plunged into darkness.

Without the light, the forty-nine locust trees surrounding and sealing the evil spirit emitted the creaking sounds of rotting wood bending.

Wu Chang raised his torch and saw the locust trees rapidly withering, fading, decaying, and finally turning into fly ash.

He said softly to the evil spirit that had lost the restriction of the Year-End Formation and broken free from suppression: "Go. When will the cycle of vengeance end? Remember, when cutting weeds, one must remove the roots."

A low, rumbling thunderous sound came from the red clouds, as if responding to Wu Chang, and then it rushed toward the surface.

In the darkness, Wu Chang shook his torch and asked toward the person behind him: "If I had continued to perform the transcendence on it just now, what were you prepared to do?"

"I would have risked my life to stop you."

A thin, small figure walked out from the darkness; it was the Village Guardian of Huaigu Village.

To be precise, he was the only Huaigu Village villager currently in the valley.

The Village Guardian was surrounded by several black shadows; they were the Zhenshan Beasts that had escaped during the chaos.

Wu Chang shook his head and said: "This matter is not for you to do. If I were you, I would run away immediately, run away without looking back."

"I heard you tell Liu Wu that you could communicate with vengeful spirits. I believe you are a good person and will stand on our side," the young Village Guardian said earnestly.

Wu Chang: "I remember we had an agreement not to peek at what I go to do in the Ghost-Crying Forest. Good children don't lie."

The young Village Guardian revealed a cunning smile, "I've been lying since I was little; I was never a good child."

Wu Chang walked to the side of the Village Guardian, patted his head, and said in a ghostly voice: "Don't worry, after tonight, everything will pass."

The Village Guardian was stunned. He seemed to understand something, and tears could not stop falling from the corners of his eyes.

Feeling the tears, his body trembled subconsciously. While wiping his face randomly with his hands, he forced out a silly, naive smile.

Wu Chang grabbed the Village Guardian's hands, shook his head, and said: "It's no longer needed."

After a brief silence, heart-wrenching crying resounded through the cavern.

Emotions suppressed for too long were suddenly vented; it was bound to be an eruption like a mountain collapse or a tsunami.

After a long time, the young Village Guardian finally regained control of his emotions.

Seeing that the young Village Guardian's emotions had stabilized, Wu Chang asked: "You were able to enter the cavern—do you know of other paths leading to the surface?"

The young Village Guardian nodded and took a pangolin out of his pocket, "It can lead us out."

"Let's go, it's time for us to go up. There is still a debt waiting for us to settle."

The formation of the bottomless cavern in the Hollow Mountain was due to that earthquake five years ago.

The area beneath the cavern is intricate and complex, like a natural maze; it is very difficult for an ordinary person to find the exit.

But precisely because the cavern routes are complex, as long as one can distinguish the underground routes, one can go directly to the cavern from any mountain around Huaigu Village.

Wu Chang followed the young Village Guardian all the way. The two crawled out of a mountain cave, pushed aside the weeds surrounding the cave entrance, and discovered that the outside was actually Chunlai Mountain.

He took a small package of things from his space backpack and stuffed it into the hands of the Village Guardian, instructing: "The village is too dangerous. No matter the outcome today, you should not stay here anymore. I parked the horses of Liu Wei and Liu Wu outside the village; you will see them if you walk east for a while."

"This is the spice I had left over from that day. If you find someone who knows its value, you can exchange it for an equal weight in gold. Keep it well; you will use it in the future." The young Village Guardian held the package, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Wu Chang said with a smile: "Among the people I know, those who could play the fool for years to take revenge and endure humiliation all became world-renowned figures later on. I believe you won't be any worse than them! Go."

The young Village Guardian wanted to say a lot, but not knowing how to express it, he prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed heavily once.

"Master Wu, please take care."

After sending off the young Village Guardian, Wu Chang extinguished the torch and sneaked back into Huaigu Village.

He found a high vantage point to spy on the current state of Huaigu Village.

Soon he found Liu Shan.

After he was ambushed and knocked into the cavern, this old man stopped pretending entirely.

At this moment, Liu Shan seemed twenty years younger. He wore black leather armor and silver claw-gloves on his hands. He moved like the wind, and his palms could split stones and break monuments wherever they passed.

The former Great Leader struck again, making the group of bandits boil with excitement.

Of the two Year-End People controlled by evil energy, one had already died, their head twisted off alive by Liu Shan.

The other was also on the verge of death. The scale armor on their body, which could withstand ordinary swords and blades, was like nothing under Liu Shan's eagle claws.

Seven or eight fist-sized bloody holes had been clawed into the chest and lower abdomen of the Year-End Person; bones and internal organs were clearly visible. Their defeat was only a matter of time.

And to fight the two Year-End People, Liu Shan only used one hand.

His other hand was held in a sky-supporting posture, lifting the Four Directions Year-Fire Lamp. Under the illumination of the raging Year-Fire, the evil spirit red cloud that had broken free from its predicament was firmly suppressed.

Liu Shan pointed his fingers like a knife, pierced through the chest of the last Year-End Person, dug out their heart, and fed it into the Four Directions Year-Fire Lamp, converting it into lamp oil.

The Year-End People were eliminated. Liu Shan looked at the red cloud above his head and said with a ferocious expression:

"I offered you as mountain gods, but you refused, insisting on turning into vengeful ghosts and biting without letting go! Since that is the case, today I will turn you into lamp oil, make your spirits and souls vanish, and ensure you never reincarnate for eternity!"

The evil spirit had divided part of its power into the three Year-End People and had been severely injured by Wu Chang with the Soul-Cleansing Command Flag; it was currently in a weakened state.

And Liu Shan had turned the evil energy of the two Year-End People into lamp oil; the fire of the Four Directions Year-Fire Lamp was burning vigorously.

As one waned and the other waxed, the sky-high Year-Fire swept through the blood cloud, actually showing signs of refining the evil spirit.

Just as the evil spirit was about to be unable to withstand the burning of the Year-Fire, the gate of Huaigu Village was smashed open by a great force, and three monsters roared as they rushed into the village.

The three monsters were all old acquaintances; they had all appeared in the resentment of the deceased from Chen Village.

One was an ape with a ghost face and yellow light flashing all over its body; one was a tree demon with roots like feet and branches like swords; one was a snake demon composed entirely of refined iron, its scales emitting a metallic friction sound as it slithered.

The three demons rushed into Huaigu Village and, just like when they attacked Chen Village that day, began a massacre.

Among them, the mountain demon that could fight the best set its sights on Liu Shan as soon as it arrived.

The man and the demon fought into a ball.

Liu Shan's claws were sharp enough to easily pierce through scales and leather armor, having great lethality against humans and humanoid monsters.

But the disadvantage of claw techniques lies in their short range and small area of effect.

One inch short, one inch dangerous. The claw technique, which was unpredictable and dangerous against humans, seemed somewhat humorous when facing a four-meter-tall mountain demon.

Not to mention that his claw technique could not break the mountain demon's armor, even if he inserted his entire palm into the mountain demon's body, how much damage could it cause to the mountain demon's massive physique? Liu Shan's iron claws were like scraping sand to the mountain demon, but the mountain demon's fist was a touch-and-die, graze-and-injure situation for Liu Shan.

After a few exchanges, Liu Shan realized there was no chance of winning and turned to flee.

The title of "Flying Cloud Eagle" was not just for show; once he unleashed his movement technique, even the mountain demon could not catch up.

He shook off the mountain demon in a few leaps and fled into the mountains.

Seeing that it was difficult to catch up, the mountain demon could only unwillingly give up the chase, roar powerlessly at Liu Shan's back, and turn around to kill back into Huaigu Village.

In the mountains, the figure of the mountain demon could no longer be seen at all.

Liu Shan had shaken off the mountain demon and was just about to stop to catch his breath when a loud noise suddenly came from his side.

Bang! Liu Shan's body shook. He lowered his head and saw an extra bloody hole in his abdomen.

He only felt his strength rapidly flowing away along the hole; no matter how he covered the wound, he could not save it.

Just as he took golden sore medicine out of his pocket, wanting to stop the bleeding from the wound first, he heard a voice by his ear that he should not have heard.

"Please listen to the question: as a villain, how should one laugh to fit the character design?"

(End of chapter)