Chapter 57: Fear Spreader? I Am a Law-Abiding Gentleman!

Inside Yin Yuan Mountain, the environment is eerie and treacherous.

This mountain has always been feared by the locals; even old farmers who once climbed it to gather herbs only wandered the edges, never daring to venture deep inside.

The reason is nothing else—just the two words: danger.

Every year, hikers or children from some family would enter the mountain, lose their way, and vanish without a trace.

Locals spread rumors that the Mountain God was displeased with humanity's wanton destruction of nature.

Thus, anyone entering alone might be punished, forever trapped within the mountain.

But in recent years, news of people getting lost inside has become rare; elders in surrounding counties and towns joke that the Mountain God has calmed his anger.

As for the reason he calmed his anger...

They remain silent.

Because the last time the Mountain God raged, he turned a village of over a hundred people into a deserted wasteland overnight.

Not a single soul survived; none escaped.

It is said that the police squad sent to handle the tragedy back then left nearly everyone vomiting, their faces pale, and all of them went for psychological treatment afterward.

The ground was littered with remains, rivers of blood flowed; calling it a human hell would not be an exaggeration.

Today, this place is bustling again.

"Remember! Do not speak to any villagers! Guard the mountain entrance; if they try to leave, shoot them on the spot!" Minister Ancheng ordered with a cold face.

He then looked toward the direction of Yin Yuan Village with a worried gaze.

There, everything appeared flourishing and vibrant.

Yet, half an hour ago, it had still been an unchanged, desolate village.

They had been waiting for Old Xiezhi quite patiently.

But in the blink of an eye, Yin Yuan Village erupted with noise, and bizarre, inexplicable villagers suddenly appeared, busying themselves within the village.

From afar, it seemed they were preparing some traditional grand sacrificial ceremony; the stage in the center of the square was built with magnificent splendor.

Facing this sudden situation...

To avoid accidents, they could only order subordinates to temporarily retreat outside the village and simply guard the crossroads.

After all, these villagers were clearly not human.

Some of them didn't even have heads; only bodies with intestines and internal organs dangling outside, mechanically moving trusses to help build the sacrificial stage.

"Minister Xiezhi has arrived!"

Just then, good news came.

Minister Ancheng's tightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed, and he felt much more at ease.

Not long after, Old Xiezhi and Chen Baili appeared before him, led by a subordinate.

"Old Xiezhi, this trip is truly troubling you. You know me; I'm good at fighting people, but I have no way against ghosts," Minister Ancheng joked.

Old Xiezhi, chewing gum, replied grumpily, "Remember to treat me to a good meal later; I want to drink Maotai."

"Fine, fine, fine, no problem, haha!"

The two chatted as they walked deeper into Yin Yuan Village.

Now, Minister Ancheng had no more worries; these ghost villagers could not cause any trouble before Old Xiezhi.

Chen Baili and another trusted aide of Minister Ancheng followed closely behind.

While gaining experience, they could also help with minor tasks; they were not qualified to face the Great God of Yin Yuan, but dealing with ghost villagers was no problem.

After all, these villagers all looked very weak!

Boom! Boom! Boom-boom!

The four had just entered the village.

A deafening sound of gongs and drums began to echo.

It seemed the sacrificial ceremony on the square was beginning; most villagers stopped their work, stood in place, and started dancing wildly.

But many of them were missing limbs here, or had their bellies torn open there, looking miserable.

Once they jumped, severed hands and feet flew everywhere, intestines and organs scattered across the ground.

Yet no one thought anything was wrong.

They continued to display their grotesque dances with reckless madness, as if offering everything they had to the so-called Great God of Yin Yuan.

This was a Shiva Tandava dance from hell.

Slowly burning its way into the human world.

【Spiritual Power: 47—46】

【Spiritual Power: 100—99】

Minister Ancheng and Old Xiezhi, walking at the front, both changed expressions, sensing their Spiritual Power beginning to fluctuate.

Remember, both of them were Level 27 Spiritual Disaster players!

Although level cannot directly represent strength.

After all, relying solely on attribute points granted with each level-up...

In a sense, it is actually impossible to instantly fast-forward a person into a superhuman who stands above the social system.

Even a player who has reached the level cap of 30, putting all attribute points into Strength, could not punch a mountain into pieces.

But the reason they are powerful...

Is because players who survive past Level 20 have experienced at least dozens of dungeons, possessing countless equipment bonuses and hidden items.

For instance, both Minister Ancheng and Old Xiezhi wear some kind of passive defensive equipment that can resist insidious mental pollution without conscious effort.

Even so, both of them still lost one point of Spiritual Power.

This indicates that the mental pollution within the village has reached a terrifying degree.

He turned to look back.

Chen Baili and the other man's faces had nearly turned purple.

Without any special defensive equipment, their levels were low and their spiritual power was even less; that single blow had directly drained a quarter of it.

Swish—

Old Xiezhi waved his hand casually.

Two yellow talisman papers stuck to the chests of Chen Baili and the other man; instantly, a surge of mental clarity flooded their hearts.

Their dazed brains immediately became much clearer.

The depleted spiritual power was instantly replenished.

"We somewhat underestimated that Yin Yuan Great God. You two get out first, and have the others retreat even further; this level of spiritual pollution is no joke for you." Old Xiezhi's expression turned slightly serious.

Seeing this, Chen Baili hurriedly retreated backward.

But he did not expect that the moment he turned his head, he crashed full-force into a ghost villager whose chest had a large hole blown through it.

After stumbling two steps, he steadied his footing.

Only then did he discover in terror—

At some unknown time, ghost villagers had filled the space behind them, blocking every possible escape route so tightly that not even water could pass through.

"These guys... want to keep us here!?" Chen Baili gritted his teeth and pulled a nine-ring broadsword from his backpack.

Its blade was slightly thick, with nine iron rings pierced through the spine, making a clattering sound when swung.

【Bloodthirsty Ring Blade (Fine): After equipping this weapon, increase maximum Strength by 5 points and maximum Constitution by 3 points. Each enemy slain temporarily increases Strength by 1, stacking up to 20 times, with a duration of one minute.】

【Equipment Requirement: The user must possess a hand structure in their biological form.】

【Note: My great blade has long been thirsty and eager!】

This was his most proficient and best equipment.

He was very lucky; this weapon happened to be suitable for facing area-of-effect attacks, the more he killed, the higher the bonus he received.

The other confidant also took out a pair of gauntlets and, with a pale face, put them on; clearly, this was a player specializing in close-quarters combat.

At this moment, they could not possibly trouble two department heads to escort them out; the department heads still had to deal with the source of the incident—the Yin Yuan Great God!

Now, the only option was to carve a bloody path through!

"Kill!" Chen Baili shouted loudly.

Wielding the nine-ring broadsword with a whooshing wind, he charged into the midst of the ghost villagers and began to break out.

————

While the two fought desperately amidst the blood.

They completely failed to notice that the ghost villagers on the other side of the village were frantically fleeing toward them in a continuous stream.

That's right! Not blocking or reinforcing!

They were fleeing!

As if encountering some great terror, even the legless ghost villagers scrambled away on their hands, unable to choose a path.

Standing before them was a bewildered youth named Zhang Wei, who was also Wei Wang Ren.

Of course, only the name on this face was Zhang Wei.

Borrowing the identity of a member from the External Affairs Bureau outside, Wei Wang Ren easily infiltrated the outskirts of Yin Yuan Village; after entering, he removed his uniform and changed back into the appearance of the amnesiac youth Zhang Wei.

He had naturally noticed the ghost villagers as well.

And he even knew what these guys were—

They were all village souls bound by the Yin Yuan Great God; all the unlucky ones who formed Yin Marriages this year were here, and it seemed the villagers who died avenging themselves after he released the resentful spirits were also present.

But none of that mattered.

What mattered was, the moment they met.

A nonsensical system prompt sounded in Wei Wang Ren's ears, and something new appeared on his personal panel—

【Fear Spreader • Wei Wang Ren】

He had seen IDs in this format before.

Back in "Runaway Dragon," Chen Baili's ID was exactly like this—【Eagle Vision • Chen Baili】

The one in front should be the so-called 【Title】.

Chen Baili's title allowed him to easily observe distances and micro-movements invisible to the naked human eye.

The title that suddenly popped up for Wei Wang Ren now was even more absurd.

【Fear Spreader: When a certain target feels fear toward you or things you cause, the degree of their fear will be amplified deep within their soul, potentially causing biological creatures to die suddenly or spiritual bodies to scatter.】

【Note: From the Fear Artist who released resentful spirits, using screams as the score, explosions as the drums, and flying flesh and blood as the movement—Wei Wang Ren】

"?"

"Slander! I'm suing you for slander!"

"I, a respectable young man, how did I become a 'Fear Spreader' in your words?"

Although he knew the reason these villagers were terrified was that he had released those resentful spirits, and they indeed died very miserably and painfully; in a sense, he was the chief culprit of their destruction.

Moreover, there was the feedback of the Yin Yuan Great God's own feeling of being scared by the Black-hearted Penguin transferred onto them.

But Wei Wang Ren was not convinced!

He grumbled, grabbed the collar of a ghost villager lying collapsed on the ground, and roughly lifted the other up, asking: "Are you afraid? Are you very afraid of me? I didn't kill you with my own hands!"

Boom—

The other party, unable to break free.

Exploded right there into a pile of white bone powder.

A ghost, scared to death.

Wu Wang: "..."

Taking a closer look, the ghost villager's clothes looked somewhat familiar, and it had been the most afraid of him at the sight of him, unable even to force its legs to run.

Oh, it seemed to be Li Shu.

Then there was no problem.

This old wall-lamp really did seem like it ought to be afraid—retracting his earlier words, after all, he really had pushed it into that group of Holy Maiden wraiths with his own hands.

He patted the bone ash off his body.

Wu Wang smiled a relieved smile.

It was just that this smile looked somewhat helpless and barely held together.

Speaking strictly on the matter, for now this title really was quite useful—at the very least, in Yin Yuan Village he absolutely wouldn't be pestered by ghost villagers; they couldn't run fast enough.

He seemed to be able to just go straight to find the Yin Yuan Great God—hope the brothers of the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs can hold on!

My sword spirit is counting on you all!