The Unruly Immortals

As soon as the old hag died, the believers of the Dharma Sect around her suddenly snapped out of it, like awakening from a dream, and they scattered into the darkness outside the village with cries of panic.

The air was filled with the stench of blood and feces, everyone stood still, and it took a good while before they understood that they had won.

The strength in their hearts was unloaded, and many people simply collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, but soon the sound of gasping was replaced by the cries of fear and the disgusting noise of retching.

The others who came out of the Qingfeng Taoist Temple were okay, having followed Li Huowang along the way, they had already adapted a lot.

Chun Xiaoman wiped the blood from her face, about to say something when her body suddenly went limp and she collapsed on the ground, breaking out in cold sweats.

"It's... it's nothing, the masters who came have left, and this is what happens after Divine Strikes."

It wasn't until the children and Gao Zhijian saw that others who had undergone Divine Strikes were the same that they could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh man, Scholar, you can't handle this, huh? The Magical Treasure Li brother gave me was much more useful; thank goodness I didn't learn that useless stuff," Doggie boasted, brandishing the tongue-shaped Ruyi in his hand.

"Go to hell! This is just the simplest mantra! You're only fit to compare with this; if you have the guts, wait until I learn the more powerful Two Spirits Diagram and Three Spirits Cultivation! Then let's have another contest!"

"Oh! Look at you, all full of yourself, let's do it! What shall we bet on?"

"Doggie, will you ever stop? Is this the time to mess around? Hurry up and help us to the courtyard! Didn't you see Gao Zhijian is injured?"

With the help of others, the villagers from Niuxin Village regrouped in the Bai Family Courtyard, and to avoid those people coming back for a sneak attack, the wall was hung with torches that lit the entire courtyard as bright as day.

Although they had won, the entire Niuxin Village was shrouded in a thin veil of sorrow, for no other reason than the twelve bodies covered with white cloths lying in the center of the hall.

Niuxin Village was not densely populated to begin with, and for the living villagers, those twelve that had died were at least acquainted if not friends.

"Drip drop," Top Scholar Lv, with a worried frown, drew on his dry pipe; among the twelve who died, two were his newly accepted apprentices, one of whom was the most talented, what a pity.

"Sigh... how did it come to this, why the bandits all of a sudden? Isn't Da Liang Kingdom very peaceful?"

"Those people aren't bandits," Chun Xiaoman, having regained her composure, started treating a wounded child while speaking.

"These people, talking about something God Yu'er, God Yu'er. It seems like they've fallen into some superstitious beliefs."

"Hmm, I also think they're not bandits. I've seen bandits in the village before, bandits usually target the property of wealthy families in the village, storm in, loot, and leave, but they wouldn't do something like attacking tenant farmers," intervened an experienced militiaman.

Top Scholar Lv tapped his pipe against a nearby pillar, then pulled out some dark yellow tobacco from the pipe and stuffed it back in. "Why bother killing people when you can live a good life? They must be full and bloated with idleness."

"Want to know why they wanted to harm us? Just ask them," outside the main gate, Doggie, who spoke these words, came in dragging something.

As the others drew close for a look, they were instantly startled. The thing barely qualified as a person; his limbs and facial features were twisted and disarrayed, looking grotesquely like a monster.

"How about it, isn't my Divine Needle awesome? This guy got hit by my Divine Needle and immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to walk or die, just perfect for bringing back and questioning," said Doggie proudly.

A group of people crowded around, looking at the mass in front of them, no one spoke at first.

"How are we going to ask? Brother Li was always the best at this kind of interrogation, but he's not here now," someone mumbled.

"I'll do it!" Anger flared within Chun Xiaoman at the thought of Nan'er's death, and without hesitation, she grabbed the bamboo broom from the corner and started beating the person relentlessly.

After his deformed body had turned patches of blue and purple from the beating, Chun Xiaoman stopped and demanded fiercely, "Speak! Why did you come to our village to kill people!"

"You bitch! If you have the guts, kill me! Once you kill me, I'll become a ghost of God Yu'er and be an Emperor in my next life! All you misguided fools are only fit to be pigs and dogs, eating shit for life!" the Dharma Sect believer taunted crazily using the mouth under his arm.

"You really think I wouldn't dare?" Chun Xiaoman suddenly drew her sword with one arm and pointed it directly at his throat, just to the left of his ear.

Confronted with that person's mocking smile, rage once again flared within Chun Xiaoman. She could barely restrain herself from cleaving him in two.

"Hey hey hey, that's not the way to do it, watch me," Gouwa said as he stepped out.

When he returned, he was clad in a red Taoist robe, carrying an assortment of knives, large and small.

"Brother Gouwa, why are you wearing Brother Li's clothes? And what are you doing with the knives I use for slaughtering pigs?" the child asked curiously.

"Don't waste words, just watch!" As Gouwa sat squatting in front of the man, he coughed a few times and began speaking with Li Huowang's tone, "I know you are not afraid of death, but what about a fate worse than death?"

He then methodically laid out the collection of knives. There were sharp daggers for stabbing pig hearts, hooks for hanging pigs, broad choppers for cutting bones, and small knives for scraping pig hair.

As the knives glistened chillingly, the man's eyes twitched, yet he shouted loudly, "Kill me, you damn son of a bitch!"

"Oh? Still playing tough? Which one shall we start with then?"

In the end, Gouwa's hand did not reach for any of the knives; instead, he picked up a rough hemp rope that looked quite ordinary. "Heh heh, bet you didn't expect me to use a rope, huh? Let's start with an appetizer using this, shall we?"

"This hemp rope isn't smooth silk. It's very coarse, oh look, so very coarse." As Gouwa spoke, he rubbed the rope forcefully against the man's skin, quickly turning the area red.

"Just you wait. I'll thread this rope through your crotch, left and right, like a saw, slowly pulling it along. This rope's not a knife, it's coarse, and it will grind your skin and flesh bit by bit into a pulp," Gouwa continued.

With Gouwa's narrative, fear gradually appeared in the man's eyes, and his body began to tremble involuntarily.

"Oh, right, since it's threading through your crotch..."

As Gouwa was vividly describing the use of the rough hemp rope, the man completely broke down, tears and snot streaming down his face. His body shook like a sieve. "I'll talk! I'll talk!! I'll tell you everything!! Please just kill me quickly!! Waaaah...."

Seeing this scene, Gouwa clapped his hands excitedly, turning around triumphantly, "Ha! See how capable I am!"

However, what welcomed him was not the admiration and awe he expected, but wariness and unease.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? Hey, I didn't do anything. I was just imitating how Brother Li used to talk," he said.