Liaozhai: Immortality Begins with Becoming Yan Chixia's Apprentice

Chapter 30 Blood Sacrifice to the Entire Village

She lowered her head and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, she raised her head, looked at Zhou Ning, and whispered, "Thank you."

Zhou Ning shook his head: "No need to thank me. I only hope that you can release these women and let them go home."

The woman in white nodded: "Okay. I promise you."

She then looked at Xiulan and said, "Your bodies have almost recovered. I will send you back tomorrow."

Xiulan and the other women were overjoyed and thanked her profusely.

Zhou Ning watched this scene with a mix of emotions.

The human heart is a den of demons, even more so than evil spirits.

But goodwill in people's hearts can also resolve hatred and eliminate resentment.

He turned around, ready to leave.

"Young Master Zhou," the woman in white called out to him.

Zhou Ning turned around: "Is there anything else?"

The woman in white hesitated for a moment, then said:

"That Taoist priest Wang... he might still be alive."

Zhou Ning's heart skipped a beat: "What?"

The woman in white said, "Over the years, Xiao Cui and I have been looking for him. Although we haven't found him, we've heard that he may have joined a force called 'Black Mountain'."

Montenegro again.

Zhou Ning's brows furrowed tightly.

Do you know where he is?

The woman in white shook her head:

"I don't know. But if you can find him, please... please ask him for me."

"What do you want to ask?"

Tears welled up in the eyes of the woman in white:

"Ask him why he harmed our family back then. Our fox clan has never done anything heinous. Why...why did he do that?"

Zhou Ning was silent for a moment, then solemnly said:

"I promise you. If I find him, I will definitely help you find out the truth."

The woman in white nodded and bowed deeply to him.

Zhou Ning turned around and strode out of the cave.

-

After returning to Lanruo Temple from Guobei County, Zhou Ning reported the matter of the white-clad women to Yan Chixia.

After a long silence, the master said only one sentence:

"What goes around comes around, and retribution is inevitable. We'll talk about that Taoist priest Wang another day."

He was then instructed to continue his cultivation and to pay close attention to the changes in the corpse energy beneath Baihe Village.

However, before Zhou Ning could go to Baihe Village again, an even more urgent matter came knocking on his door.

As dusk approached, Zhou Ning was practicing his art of manipulating objects on the back mountain. His Qingfeng sword was already able to hover in the air for the time it takes to brew half a cup of tea.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats and heart-wrenching shouts came from down the mountain.

"Immortal Master! Immortal Master, save me!"

Zhou Ning sheathed his sword, turned around, walked to the edge of the cliff, and looked down. He saw a fast horse galloping along the mountain road, and the rider on the horse was none other than Li Laoshuan, the village head of Baihe Village.

His clothes were tattered and his face was covered in blood, clearly indicating that he had run all the way here.

Zhou Ning felt a chill run down his spine and quickly walked down the mountain to greet him.

"Village head, what happened?"

Li Laoshuan dismounted, his legs buckled, and he almost knelt on the ground.

Zhou Ning quickly helped him up and found that his hands were trembling violently and his eyes were full of fear.

"Squire Wang... he... he's gone mad." Old Li gasped, his voice hoarse.

"He...he arrested the entire village, saying he wanted to...he wanted to perform a blood sacrifice."

Zhou Ning frowned: "Squire Wang? Is that the one who came to donate incense money last time?"

Old Li nodded, tears streaming down his face.

"It was him. So... so all those zombie resurrections were his doing. He dug a secret chamber in the back mountain, and inside... inside it was full of bones and evil creatures. He... he's not human."

Zhou Ning's heart sank.

When Mr. Wang visited Lanruo Temple last time, he felt that something was off about him.

The smile was too solicitous, and the eyes were too daring.

At the time, he thought it was just a businessman's nature and didn't investigate further.

did not expect……

"Village head, don't worry. I'll go with you to take a look."

Zhou Ning returned to his residence, took out the Qingfeng Sword and the Bixie Sword, hung the talisman bag on his waist, and also took the jade talisman containing his master's sword energy.

With everything ready, he mounted his horse and, following Li Laoshuan, galloped towards Baihe Village.

It was already late at night when we arrived at Baihe Village.

The pale moonlight cast eerie shadows on the houses in the village.

Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, several pale lanterns hung, their surfaces painted with eerie runes, swaying gently in the night breeze.

A strong smell of blood filled the air.

Zhou Ning dismounted and handed the reins to Li Laoshuan:

"Village head, you wait here. I'll go in and take a look."

"Brother Zhou, please be very careful," Li Laoshuan said in a trembling voice.

"Squire Wang... he also had several men in black with him, all of whom knew sorcery."

Zhou Ning nodded, gripped his Qingfeng sword tightly, and silently slipped into the village.

The sight of the village made his heart sink.

The doors and windows of every household were nailed shut from the outside, and faint sounds of weeping and pleas could be heard from inside.

In the open space in the center of the village, there was a large pile of firewood, and around the firewood were several stone platforms, on which several unconscious villagers were tied.

In the center of the open space, Wang, the local gentry, sat cross-legged, with a black incense burner in front of him, from which wisps of black smoke rose.

Beside him stood three people dressed in black robes, the same kind of black robes he had seen at Black Wind Stronghold last time.

They really are from Montenegro.

Zhou Ning took a deep breath, pulled out an "evil-repelling talisman" from his waist and held it in his hand, then quietly circled around to the side of the open space and approached using the shadow of the house.

"Master Wang, the sacrificial offerings are ready," a man in black robes said in a hoarse voice.

"We can begin the blood sacrifice as soon as midnight arrives."

The local gentryman chuckled, a hint of madness in his laughter:

"Good! Good! Once the blood sacrifice is complete, I will officially join Black Mountain and become a disciple of the immortals."

"At that time, I will make those gentry who look down on me kneel before me and beg for mercy."

Zhou Ning was furious upon hearing this.

In order to join Black Mountain, the lives of the entire village had to be sacrificed.

This kind of person is absolutely insane.

Without further hesitation, he burst out of the shadows and threw the "evil-repelling talisman" in his hand at Wang, the local gentry.

"disease!"

The talisman burned in the air, turning into a golden light that shot straight toward Wang, the local gentry.

"Who is it?"

The three men in black robes reacted swiftly, raising their hands simultaneously. Three streams of black mist shot out from their palms, blocking the golden light.

"boom!"

The golden light collided with the black mist, producing a muffled sound.

The local gentry was thrown to the ground by the blast wave. He scrambled to his feet, and when he saw Zhou Ning, a flicker of fear crossed his eyes, which quickly turned into a ferocious glint.

"It's you, Yan Chixia's disciple."

Zhou Ning ignored him, his gaze fixed on the three men in black robes.

The aura of these three men in black robes was even stronger than that of the one they encountered at Black Wind Stronghold last time.

Especially the one in the middle, whose chilling aura caused Zhou Ning's internal energy to involuntarily accelerate.

"Boy, you've got some nerve," the black-robed man in the middle sneered.

"You managed to escape last time, but you dare to come here to die again?"

Zhou Ning gripped the Qingfeng Sword tightly, channeling his inner energy into it, causing the sword to glow with a blue light.

"Release those villagers, and I might spare your lives."

The three men in black robes burst into laughter at the same time.

"Spare us? You think you can?"

The man in black robes in the middle raised his hand, and a black beam of light shot out from his palm, heading straight for Zhou Ning's chest.

Zhou Ning was prepared and dodged the attack with a quick movement.

The beam of light struck a large tree behind him, causing the trunk to explode instantly, sending splinters flying everywhere.

Such powerful force.

Zhou Ning dared not be careless and pulled out three "evil-repelling talismans" from his waist and threw them out at the same time.

Three golden beams of light, arranged in a triangular shape, shot towards the three men in black robes.

The three men in black robes used their respective skills to dodge, but the golden light was too fast, and one of them was still grazed on the shoulder, letting out a scream.

"You're asking for it."

The black-robed man in the middle became enraged, forming hand seals and chanting incantations.

The ground began to tremble, and countless black tentacles surged from the ground, coiling towards Zhou Ning.