Chapter 178: The Eerie Village

Chapter 178: The Eerie Village

The smile on his face dimmed a few degrees, and his tone turned flat. "Just a few nobodies—no point wasting time on them. What we need to do now is get the hell out of here."

"Otherwise, by the time we get out, other cultivators will have already swooped in and taken Fei Yun's legacy."

Shen Lian had been on high alert, but once he stepped inside, he couldn't sense anything off about this village.

It was so ordinary it was almost suspicious.

But that was exactly what made it so unsettling.

The villagers spotted them too, and their guard went up in an instant.

"Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?!"

More and more villagers crowded around, all eyes fixed on them.

Mo Xingyuan said, "We're just passing through and wanted to ask for directions."

The Shuihua Sect folks, though, were way more full of themselves.

"What's with that tone? What's with that attitude? We're cultivators!"

At that, an old man slowly shuffled out from the crowd. The people around him treated him with obvious respect—clearly the village chief.

He let out a cough. "Cultivators? Never heard of them."

Hearing that, the Shuihua Sect members' eyes went wide. "What did you say?"

"You've never heard of cultivators?"

When the Shuihua Sect folks took another look, they realized these villagers didn't even have a shred of basic spiritual energy!

Even their newborns were born with spiritual energy!

The young villagers shot right back, "Why the hell would we know what cultivators are?!"

"Where are you from? Get out of our village now."

At that, Li Xiang sneered and casually flicked his hand, sending a blast of spiritual energy at them. "A bunch of trash without a single drop of spiritual power—"

The attack came out of nowhere, and the young villager went flying.

His back slammed into the stone wall. He let out a muffled grunt and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Shen Lian frowned.

Seeing the young villagers cough up blood, everyone in the village's face changed. "Fangsheng!"

"Rulan!"

But what filled their eyes was fear. They turned to stare at Li Xiang.

This guy hadn't even touched them, and yet their young men had been sent flying?

The old man's voice trembled. "Who are you?"

Li Xiang felt a wave of satisfaction—all the frustration he'd swallowed on the ship was finally being viciously let out.

He sneered. "See that? That's what happens when you cross us. Now I'm asking—who are you people, and where the hell is this place? Why is it like a haunted maze we can't escape?"

"If you don't talk, I'll kill you on the spot."

The village chief said, his voice shaking, "Fine, I'll talk. This place is called Shen Village."

"We've never seen outsiders. We've lived here for thousands of years, completely cut off from the world. We've never met a single person from outside."

Hearing this, Shen Lian said to Yan Huaixuan, "Could it be that when Fei Yun set up this small secret realm a thousand years ago, he accidentally dragged this village into it?"

"The spiritual energy here is thin, so over time, the villagers lost the ability to cultivate."

Their lifespans naturally became like ordinary mortals'. Over a thousand years, they ended up knowing nothing about the outside world.

He finished talking, only to realize Yan Huaixuan hadn't responded.

Shen Lian's face changed. Had he lost Yan Huaixuan again?

Shen Lian quickly glanced down at his chest and saw the little paper figure still lying there, perfectly still.

Shen Lian called out, "Yan Huaixuan?"

But he found that the paper figure no longer held Yan Huaixuan's aura.

Shen Lian's pupils shrank.

Zhao Yin, standing next to him, noticed something was off and immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Lian said quietly, "Nothing."

But a flicker of murderous intent flashed in his eyes. Shen Lian slowly extended his spiritual sense, but he couldn't find Yan Huaixuan's presence anywhere.

Where the hell did he go?

Shen Lian wanted to leave right then and there, but the next moment, he faintly sensed Yan Huaixuan's aura somewhere in the village.

Shen Lian suddenly looked up.

The Shuihua Sect members weren't satisfied with the village chief's answer either.

They wanted to get out of the forest fast.

Li Xiang turned his anger on another young villager.

He raised his hand, yanking the villager toward him with an invisible force, then slowly tightened his grip.

The villager was lifted off the ground, his face turning red from lack of air. Even so, he didn't beg for mercy—he just glared at Li Xiang defiantly.

Li Xiang slowly squeezed tighter.

The rest of the Shuihua Sect members watched with blank faces.

Yan Fengyi's gaze was indifferent.

Li Xuan couldn't help but say, "They already said they don't know—"

But to his surprise, the old village chief, seeing the young man about to be strangled to death, quickly knelt and said, "Could it be that you've come for that thing? I'll take you there, just spare him—he's just a young, simple lad."

Hearing this, the group of cultivators immediately looked at the village chief.

Yan Fengyi narrowed his eyes, "Something in your village?"

The village chief lowered his head, "That thing's been in our village for a long time."

"Because of that lotus, our village has been protected all along, safe from wild beasts around us."

Lotus... flower?

The moment that name was mentioned, the Shuihua Sect, including Mo Xingyuan and Shen Lian, all stared at the village chief.

Could it be the Myriad Dharma Divine Lotus Platform?

The village chief said, "Spare the kid, and I'll take you there."

Hearing this, the surrounding villagers looked sorrowful, "Village chief, without that lotus, our village will lose its protection—what are we gonna do then?"

"Saving Xiao Lin is what matters."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiang let out a hearty laugh and tossed Xiao Lin aside, shooting a scornful look at the Qingfeng Sect members, "You see that?"

"If it weren't for me, how would you have ever found out about this!"

Li Xuan's face darkened, and he was about to speak when, in the next moment, Shen Lian's voice rang out in his ear.

"Dodge."

Li Xuan instinctively obeyed.

The next second, the entire Shuihua Sect attacked them.

Li Xuan dodged, but a sword came flying from elsewhere.

Just as it was about to pierce his chest, Li Xuan felt a hand grab his shoulder, and he was effortlessly yanked aside, dodging the attack.

Li Xuan shouted furiously, "You Shuihua Sect!"

Li Xiang sneered, "Now that we've found the Myriad Dharma Divine Lotus Platform, do you think we'd let you take it?"

Mo Xingyuan said coldly, "Watch out!"

The second he spoke, the two sides clashed again.

Meanwhile, Shen Lian's brows furrowed deeply; he was more worried about the missing Yan Huaixuan.

Even with the Shuihua Sect in front of him, genuine murderous intent flared in Shen Lian's eyes.

Ye Junhe and his two brothers immediately joined the Qingfeng Sect too.

Li Xiang said, "Who the hell are you three? Die together!"

As the two sides clashed.

Though Mo Xingyuan and his four were highly skilled, they were outnumbered by the Shuihua Sect.

But no one noticed the once-timid villagers subtly curling their lips.

In their pitch-black eyes, a cold, arrogant look slowly rose.

The ones who'd been lying on the ground spitting blood also calmly got up and gathered around the village chief.