Chapter 30: Relocating the Grave (18)

Just as Village Chief Shi was so enraged that he clutched his chest, barking orders for others to seize Qi Yiqing and Xia Junyao, the sky underwent a dramatic transformation.

The villagers of Stone Village changed right along with it.

Terrified, they ceased their movements and knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly while offering desperate apologies: "Lord Mountain God, please calm your wrath! Lord Mountain God, have mercy!"

Xia Junyao, coughing up a mouthful of blood, dragged his partially limp body, inching toward the coffin. His eyes were a horrifying shade of crimson. As his blood-stained fingers first brushed the edge of the casket, they suddenly trembled. Xia Junyao looked down in disbelief at the massive hand that had punched straight through his chest. Thick, boiling blood splashed onto the red thread lining the coffin, dripping onto the ground and vanishing into the soil in an instant. Even as his pupils dilated and a milky film veiled his eyes, Xia Junyao’s gaze remained fixed firmly upon the coffin.

Seeing his rival so easily dispatched, Qi Yiqing arched a brow, feeling not a shred of pity. It was better that he was dead—and even better that he hadn’t had to do it himself. This way, the little NPC wouldn’t harbor hatred toward him, making it easier to take her away.

"Jingle, jingle—"

The bells tied to his ankles chimed crisply. The man in red robes wore a smile, ignoring the sea of kneeling people as he untied the red thread as if opening a gift. He paused for a moment while pushing back the coffin lid, side-stepping to dodge a blade aimed at him. With lightning speed, Qi Yiqing delivered a flying kick, sending Qi Man hurtling backward.

Crashing into a thick tree, Qi Man managed to steady himself, his bewitching, handsome face dark enough to drip ink.

*Where did this mad dog come from, daring to stop me from touching my wife?*

*Where did this stray dog come from, daring to covet his little NPC?*

The two were locked in a fierce struggle. The nearby villagers, caught in the crossfire, retreated in fear, patting their chests with lingering dread. Village Chief Shi, unable to mask his excitement, knelt on the ground, gazing at their Lord Mountain God with eyes full of hope. The Mountain God had appeared! Their village would surely be blessed with favorable weather in the coming year! Thank the gods!

Village Chief Shi kowtowed heavily several times, then tremblingly leaned on his cane and unconsciously took a few steps forward. Suddenly, he froze. His pupils contracted sharply in sheer terror, his face a mask of uncontrollable horror.

"...How can this be!"

The villagers on the ground caught a whiff of a thick, putrid stench carried on the wind. They looked up in confusion, searching for the source of the foul odor, only to discover with horror several ghostly shadows flickering behind the trees and in the grass of the mountain behind them.

"Ah! Ghosts! Help me!"

The crowd descended into chaos. Those who tried to run were torn in half in the next second, their expressions of terror frozen in time. Village Chief Shi had not expected that even with the Mountain God’s appearance, the protection would fail, plunging Stone Village into such a nightmare.

The shifting ghostly shadows tilted their heads as if catching a sound, then stood eerily still, their eyes fixed on the villagers with deep resentment.

"It’s those rotting corpses!"

The traveler players had a vivid memory of them; the sight of being besieged that night was still fresh in their minds. They shivered, clutching their items tightly. This time, however, the skeletal corpses were not targeting them—they were targeting Stone Village.

Village Chief Shi gritted his teeth, staring into the distance.

The bushes parted, and a pot-bellied man walked out leisurely, standing beside the skeletal corpses. His mouth stretched wider and wider, the skin tearing to reveal blood: "Shi Yong, long time no see."

Village Chief Shi—Shi Yong—stumbled back in fear, forcing himself to steady his mind. *It’s fine, it’s fine,* he comforted himself. *With Lord Mountain God here, the corpses won’t dare to commit a massacre.* He ignored the corpses lying in pools of blood nearby, deluding himself that the Mountain God would never abandon them, for they were his most loyal followers!

Little did he know, Qi Man didn't have the slightest clue who these people were. Far from saving them, Qi Man wanted to annihilate everything that offended his eyes, leaving only his little bride behind to spirit her away into his cave for a blissful life.

"J-Jiang Luo! You’re Jiang Luo!" A chord in Shi Yong’s brain finally struck a note, and he recognized the "Director Sun."

"Director Sun" cackled, touching his cheek with a grin. "I’m impressed you can still recognize me in this state. Since you know it’s me, why did you lay such cruel hands on my child?!"

Jiang Luo extended a sharp, pointed finger, sliding it gently across his back. A few seconds later, the Village Chief collapsed to the ground, his legs turning to jelly from the bloody scene before him, his entire body trembling. Casually tossing the useless skin bag in front of Shi Yong, Jiang Luo sniffed, mocking him with disgust: "Pissing yourself already? You’ve grown more cowardly with age. You weren't like this back then."

"Tell me, am I right, Village Chief Shi?"

Shi Yong’s eyes went blank. As his peripheral vision caught something on the bloody skin bag, his twitching mouth let out a "h-h-h" sound—he had suffered a stroke on the spot.

A birthmark shaped like a fingerprint! This was his son, who had gone missing over a decade ago!

The other rotting corpses approached Jiang Luo, their decayed mouths moving in unison:

"Village Chief, I hate you so much! My bones hurt! He’s in pain too!"

"My future! My life! All ruined by a selfish man like you! I want you to pay with your life! I want you to pay!"

"Why did you have to drag my child into this? Wasn't ruining us enough? You had to ruin our children too!"

In an instant, all the corpses closed in on the pale-faced Shi Yong. "Die, Shi Yong! You are the one who deserves to die the most!"

The faces pressed against his nose seemed to magnify in Shi Yong’s clouded eyes. Between the suffocating stench and the horrifying sight, he was on the verge of passing out from shock.

"Ah!"

In the next second, the corpses lunged in unison, tearing the culprit to shreds. Piercing screams echoed across the sky. The remaining villagers covered their mouths, too terrified to even sob. They trembled like leaves, kowtowing frantically for mercy: "We’re sorry! We were blinded by greed! It was all Shi Yong’s fault! You have your grievances and your debt-holders—please, spare us!"

Qi Yiqing and Qi Man, who had been locked in combat, stopped simultaneously. Seeing that the Mountain God was finally looking at them, the others wept with gratitude: "Lord Mountain God! Please save us! Kill these evil spirits! They all deserve to die!"

Qi Man’s overflowing rage had nowhere to go. He had thought himself powerful, but he hadn't expected to encounter a monster like Qi Yiqing, whose strength was on par with his own, and perhaps even slightly superior.

"I don't recall having a group of hypocritical, heartless believers."

Qi Man’s words ruthlessly tore away their ugly masks, trampling them into the dust. The villagers turned deathly pale, staring in disbelief at the god they had worshipped for a century. *How could this be... how could this be!* He was the god who protected Stone Village! How could he not care if they lived or died? A flicker of fury and resentment ignited in some of their eyes.

Qi Man didn't care about their shock or their resentment. He watched vigilantly as Jiang Luo stepped toward the coffin. Just as he was about to speak, Qi Yiqing retorted, "So unobservant? It seems a god’s intelligence and emotional quotient are nothing special."

Qi Man choked.

The coffin was pried open. The woman lying inside squeezed her eyes shut as the sudden light pierced them. Jiang Sheng-Sheng waited until she had adjusted to the glare before trembling and opening her eyes.

To her horror, the first thing she saw was a rotting face thrust directly in front of her.

...Help!