Wu Ling looked at the ruined village. His teeth clenched before he realized it.
He was no saint. If someone became his enemy, he would not hesitate to cut them down to the root. But speaking of massacre and seeing one with his own eyes were two different things. Faced with such a scene for the first time, Wu Ling still found his emotions difficult to control.
Once he forced himself calm, Wu Ling turned his gaze to the two bodies lying before the village entrance. He murmured an apology in his heart, then found a stick and used it to turn them over.
The moment they rolled over, his brows tightened. Their bodies had turned, but their heads still lay where they had been.
Two people running away. Someone cut off their heads from behind with a sharp blade.
Wu Ling leaned in and studied the severed necks. The longer he looked, the more startled he became.
What a sharp weapon. The cuts are this smooth, even across the spine. No tearing. No uneven marks.
After inspecting the wounds, Wu Ling examined their bodies. Their clothes had been torn to rags. Cuts covered them from head to toe, and half-dried blood had glued the remaining scraps of fabric to their skin.
A short blade... a dagger... no, some kind of short-edged weapon. Not a common one, at least not one I can identify. And judging from the coagulation, this happened within the last day.
Wu Ling used the stick to turn their heads over as well. Their expressions had frozen in the final instant before death.
Shock. Terror. A trace of madness. Their faces looked grotesque, as if they had seen something that defied reason before dying.
The time frame is within one day. The killer uses a short-edged weapon. He was able to slaughter an entire village, so he must be a Spirit Master. Motive unknown, but if he is that kind of Spirit Master, this becomes much easier to understand. An Evil Spirit Master.
Evil Spirit Masters were the most hated heretical profession on Soul Land. They cultivated by devouring Spirit Power, life force, flesh, blood, souls, and similar things. Before reaching Titled Sage, their cultivation speed often surpassed ordinary people, and because their Martial Souls were bizarre, they usually possessed combat strength beyond others of the same level.
At present, Spirit Hall still suppressed them. Once traces of Evil Spirit Masters were discovered, troops would be sent to cleanse them. Slaughter City also served as a so-called good destination for Evil Spirit Masters, so these past few eras had never allowed them to stir up a true storm.
But with Tang San's rise, Slaughter City would be destroyed, and Spirit Hall would be annihilated. Worst of all, after Tang San became a god, he would pay no attention to these parasites that harmed the continent. With no destination and no suppression left, Evil Spirit Masters would begin to grow.
By the era of Soul Land Two, they would even form an organization. Under the leadership of powerful Evil Spirit Masters, they would create the Holy Spirit Cult, marking the peak of Evil Spirit Master influence.
Now, Wu Ling had encountered someone who was very likely an Evil Spirit Master. Since he understood how dangerous they were, he had no time for hesitation.
He told Azure, Ember, and Rose in his shadow to prepare. Then he activated his first Spirit Skill and allowed Sasaki Kojiro's shadow to possess him. As the sun vanished completely, Wu Ling walked into the village, long blade in hand. The darkness carried a faint sheen of red.
But after Wu Ling entered the village, he did not notice that one of the heads outside slowly turned toward his back, even though there was no wind.
The skin on that face began to bulge, as if something beneath it wanted to peel itself away.
At the same time, inside one house somewhere in the village, a man lying on a bed suddenly opened his eyes.
The village was so quiet it felt wrong. In that silence, the skittering of rats and the occasional caw of a crow sounded painfully sharp.
Wu Ling walked along the village road. Every house he passed had several bodies collapsed nearby.
On the old trees lining the road, the tender green buds of spring had been covered by a red coat of blood.
Tap.
From an alley between two houses came the sound of something like a bead falling to the ground and rolling a few times. Wu Ling placed his hand on his sword hilt, slowly turned, and walked toward the alley.
As he approached, a soft call drifted out.
My lord... over here, my lord...
Wu Ling followed the voice. A woman in ragged clothes was quietly waving at him. Under normal circumstances, the torn clothing might have revealed something alluring, but through the holes in the fabric, Wu Ling saw only a body wasted down to skin and bone.
Who are you? Wu Ling asked cautiously.
The woman first studied Wu Ling carefully. Then she leaned out and looked left and right, as if confirming something. Only after that did she answer.
My lord, you are a Spirit Master, right? I am a villager here. It is too dangerous outside. They may appear at any moment. Come back with me first, and I will explain slowly.
After speaking, the woman looked around again, then turned and slipped into an even narrower alley behind her.
Wu Ling's expression turned strange. As a survivor from the scene of the incident, should she not be rushing toward an outsider and begging him to save her? She was far too calm. No matter how he looked at it, she was suspicious.
In the end, because Wu Ling was confident in his own ability, and because a Titled Sage stood behind him, he thought for a moment and decided to follow. Based on the horror films he had watched before, if things continued like this, then whether that woman was good or evil, the killer would eventually appear. Once that happened, the truth would come out, and he could save himself the time and effort of searching.
Wu Ling followed her through a winding route. Less than ten minutes later, they arrived at the back courtyard of an old house.
Only after confirming that Wu Ling was the only person behind her did the woman crouch in the dark, search through the grass, and open a cellar door.
Watching her familiar movements, Wu Ling believed her a little more. If she were not a local, she might not have found such a hidden place so easily.
Wu Ling followed the woman into the cellar. When he was about to close the door, he paused for an instant while she was not paying attention. After feeling a faint thread of wind pass across his face, he sealed the cellar door shut.
As Wu Ling walked downward, a faint strange smell entered his nose. He adjusted his breathing and continued after the woman without changing expression.
Although Wu Ling did not ask, the woman began explaining on her own.
Our cellar was originally used for pickling vegetables. That is why it smells strange.
After reaching the cellar, Wu Ling scanned the room. Six large vats stood in the center.
He opened one lid, and a sour, salty stench rushed out. Wu Ling took the wooden pole beside the vat and poked around inside. It really was pickled vegetables, and nothing else.
After confirming that, Wu Ling looked at the woman and asked directly, Who exactly are you? If you are truly a villager, tell me in detail what happened here.