I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

"I, Tian Lin, possess a Divine Skill that can see through illusions, which is why I immediately saw that this is Ping'an Village, not Taiping Village."

Having said that, Tian Lin suddenly turned around.

Zhou Ting and the others sensed something amiss behind them and all turned around with their Magical Treasures in hand.

They saw an old man, seemingly formed entirely from Yin energy, had appeared behind them without them knowing.

His eyes were filled with resentment and murderous intent as he asked, "Gentlemen, are you here to collect corpses for the court?"

Zhou Ting and the others looked at each other in confusion. They were dressed in the attire of the Wenda Sect, not in official court uniforms.

If the old man addressed them as immortals, it would make sense.

But since the old man addressed them as officials, it meant either they appeared to him as officials, or there were indeed officials expected to collect corpses at this time.

How should they respond?

It didn't seem like a time for discussion. Zhou Ting thought for a moment and then nodded, saying, "Indeed, we're here to collect corpses. How are your preparations coming along?"

"The county master's demands for dried corpses are many, and there's still about half a month until the villages are supposed to turn them over. Why have you gentlemen arrived so early?"

Zhou Ting didn't know how to respond for a moment and then said, "We are acting under the county master's orders. We've come early this time to check on your preparations."

The old man said, "The Village Chief is gathering the villagers to nurture some new corpses, so please rest at my home tonight. The Village Chief will report in the morning."

The old man spoke politely, but the resentment in his eyes seemed as though he wanted to eat them alive.

Zhou Ting glanced at Tian Lin and Fairy Mei. Seeing Tian Lin nod, Zhou Ting said, "Alright, please lead the way."

The old man somehow had a wind lantern in hand, leading the way into the village.

The village had about a few hundred households, each with its own Corpse Well. It was evident that this was a village where corpse chasers collaborated to concentrate on Corpse Nourishment.

Tian Lin and the others followed the old man to his small courtyard.

The courtyard was small with only two or three rooms, and aside from the old man, there seemed to be no one else.

On the walls of the courtyard hung bamboo clappers and copper gongs for night watches.

The old man took out a key to open a side room. With a creak, the door opened to reveal two large beds inside.

"Please rest here tonight, and I'll fetch the Village Chief in the morning to report the situation."

The old man limped out and then closed the door.

In the small room, Tian Lin lit a candle on the table.

The bright candle illuminated the simple quarters. Zhou Ting glanced around, then turned to ask Tian Lin, "Brother Tian, did you notice anything unusual?"

Tian Lin shook his head, saying, "Everything seems real, not like an illusion. Did Brother Zhou notice anything?"

Zhou Ting said, "I suspect this place might be a village from the Daqi Dynasty. The residents here should be Corpse Nurturers controlled by the county master.

These Corpse Nurturers offer corpses, not grain, as tribute each year. In short, the villagers prepare dried corpses for the court."

Wang Yanyu spoke up, "The old man who brought us here should not hold a high position in the village and isn't a Corpse Nourisher. As we walked, every household seemed to have a Corpse Well—

Except for the old man's place, which had no Corpse Well but only a bamboo clapper—he's an unmarried, solitary old man."

"However, this old man might also possess the strength of the Golden Core Realm, though it's unclear if he had this power in life or acquired it after death by killing!"

Fairy Mei chimed in on Wang Yanyu's words:

"If the old man has such strength, the villagers and the Village Chief might be even stronger. The Evil Spirits we encounter here are far beyond what we can handle."

Zhou Ting then turned to Du Qiping from the Demon Hunting Bureau, "Brother Du, you've battled Evil Spirits for a long time. Have you encountered this kind of situation before?"

Du Qiping, though not very powerful, was the most experienced in catching Evil Spirits among them.

But he shook his head, saying, "Ordinary Evil Spirits usually act alone. While I've encountered one or two cases where hundreds of Evil Spirits acted as a group, none were as powerful as this.

Such group misdeeds often arise when they are exterminated simultaneously. Engaging them directly would only invite disaster."

Everyone nodded, and Tian Lin sighed:

"Now that there are Evil Spirits everywhere in the village, and an unknown large-club-wielding Evil Spirit outside. We either resolve this ourselves or wait for our fellow sect members to rescue us."

Just as he finished speaking, a banging sound suddenly came from the Peach House next door.

The sudden noise in the quiet night immediately made everyone inside tense up.

Everyone held their breath, and then came the sound of a door opening from the Peach House. The old man's voice followed:

"I know you all hold resentment, but with the county master demanding more dried corpses day by day, and our time getting tighter, what can be done? Now, rest, rest!"

Then came a series of bangs, continuing for about an hour before the sound of the old man closing the door was heard.

"Is a corpse hidden in the Peach House?"

The simple wooden house, with gaps in the worm-eaten wooden walls behind the bed curtains.

Through these gaps, Tian Lin and the others could see the dark Peach House.

As Golden Core Realm Cultivators, they had night vision abilities.

Thus, they all saw the seven coffins in the Peach House, and the previous banging likely came from one of them.

"Do you remember what the old man said when we entered the village? That there are new corpses here—"

Zhou Ting looked at Tian Lin, nodding, "Yes, the old man did say that. What do you think, Brother Tian?"

Tian Lin said, "Based on the old man's words, I suspect the so-called new corpses aren't corpses but living people."

He continued, "The county master demands a certain quota of dried corpses from Ping'an Village annually, but they can't always meet it. To avoid punishment, they might kill villagers to refine corpses or lure and kill travelers to do so—

I suspect the ones lying in the main house are the unlucky travelers."

Tian Lin's bold conjecture was not without logic.

Fairy Mei added, "If that's the case, then these villagers, having committed such atrocities repeatedly, were eventually struck back by a Resentful Soul of a victim they killed, leading to the massacre of the entire village."

"Do you think the club-wielding figure outside could be a traveler killed by the villagers, now seeking vengeance?"

Everyone exchanged glances, feeling this conjecture was plausible!

The Resentful Soul, killed by the villagers, eventually wiped them out, showing its great strength before their deaths.

With many years passed, even the old night watchman achieved Golden Core Realm strength. Thus, the Wolf Fang Club wielder having Divinity Transformation Realm strength was unsurprising.

Leaving Ping'an Village would mean facing the club-wielding figure, who apparently perceived them as villagers.

Evidently, the club-wielding figure forbids Ping'an Village's villagers from leaving the village.

"Is there a way to pit the villagers against the outsider?"