161: The ruined Willow Village

Southern Region, Cursed Ground.

The area where Jiang Hanxi was teleported during her re-cultivation now radiated a light, gradually forming a crystal screen.

Finally, with a whoosh, a person appeared from within the crystal screen—it was Wang Feng!

As Wang Feng's figure appeared, he was momentarily blinded by the dazzling sun.

“Hiss~”

Wang Feng looked at the surrounding forest, unsure of his location, and walked around for a bit.

Finally, he discovered… a faded strip of cloth hanging behind a tree.

Wang Feng reached out, picked it up, and examined it. He felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't pinpoint the source of this feeling, which was quite frustrating.

“System, detect whose cloth this is?”

Since he couldn't remember, he decided to let the system check. The system could detect items of this low grade.

“Ding! Detecting… This is a piece of clothing torn by an idiot during Ice Empress Jiang Hanxi’s re-cultivation.”

Wang Feng: …

Wang Feng finally remembered. So, this was from his first encounter with Jiang Hanxi as enemies.

Wang Feng held the extremely faded red cloth in one hand and couldn't help but shake his head and smile softly.

At this moment, they were no longer the same people, having experienced countless things.

“So, this is where Liu Village is located?”

Wang Feng walked through the forest, carefully tying the faded red cloth into a bow and putting it into his storage space.

“Ding! That’s right.”

“Hiss~”

How much power did she use? She directly teleported him from the Northern Region back to the Southern Region. Wang Feng couldn't help but gasp at the thought.

It should be known that cross-regional teleportation was not as simple as adding one region to another. Jiang Hanxi had managed to make the location so precise, though he didn't know how.

“Ding! After detection, there is only one Great Emperor left in the world, and it’s not the Ice Empress~~”

“Go away, go away, get out of here.”

Wang Feng listened to the system’s teasing voice and shooed it away a few times.

However, he didn't cut off his connection with it. Instead, he started chatting playfully with it, kicking pebbles as he walked.

“System, what do you think the people of Liu Village will look like when they see me again?”

“I want to see if they’ve built a temple for me, hahaha.”

“If they really did, I’ll transcribe a Heaven-grade cultivation technique for them.”

After speaking, Wang Feng picked up a small pebble, flicked his hand, and a large eagle in the sky fell straight down.

Looking at its chest, there was a tiny hole, about the same size as the pebble, from which blood was flowing.

“What good luck, hahaha. I remember the first time I came here, it took me forever to find a demonic beast.”

Wang Feng laughed a few times. If anyone were there, they would think he was talking to himself.

However, the system in his mind was chatting playfully with him, occasionally teasing Wang Feng, almost making Wang Feng curse at it.

“Back to the village!!”

Wang Feng put the large eagle, which was as big as two adult men, into his storage space and instantly flew up.

As his cultivation realm increased, Wang Feng had noticed something was very wrong with this place as soon as he returned.

It was as if something was buried deep underground.

But Wang Feng was too lazy to bother, and he didn't want to. He always felt that whatever it was wouldn't be anything good.

Flying in the sky, Wang Feng’s vision also became much wider.

What he didn't expect was that besides Liu Village, there were several other villages, but the people in them seemed somewhat listless.

They were like the people of Liu Village when Wang Feng first saw them, as if they were all starving and desperately short of food.

Wang Feng didn't pay them any mind. Following his old memories, he flew towards Liu Village with incredible speed.

In a short while, Wang Feng arrived at the location of Liu Village in his memory.

However… below, there were only dilapidated houses covered in branches, and the villagers were nowhere to be seen.

It was evident that the village had been in ruins for quite some time, possibly deserted within the few months Wang Feng had been away.

Wang Feng was a bit dumbfounded. What was going on?

Then, with a whoosh, his body instantly appeared at the very center of the village, where the willow tree used to be.

At this moment, the willow tree was completely unrecognizable as a willow tree. It was just a stump, devoid of any spirituality.

This was… its essence stolen?

Wang Feng recognized the problem at a glance. With its essence stolen, the willow tree must have only lasted a few days before completely decaying and collapsing.

Wang Feng searched around the village for a few turns and suddenly saw a large temple, bigger than all the other houses in the village.

Wang Feng’s heart trembled. They really built it. Given the situation in Liu Village, building this temple must have taken a lot of time and effort.

He walked inside and saw a statue positioned directly opposite the temple gate. It was very exquisite; although made of wood, it was clear that much care had been put into it.

Beside the large wooden statue were several smaller child statues, very crude, as if carved by those children.

They were placed intimately next to Wang Feng’s wooden statue, as if they greatly revered and thanked Wang Feng.

However, both the temple and the wooden statues were now very dilapidated and decayed. Over time, they had inevitably rotted away.

Wang Feng ran out of the temple gate, channeled his spiritual power, and roared loudly: “Where is everyone!???”

The entire Liu Village trembled from the roar, and distant birds were startled and flew away, but no one from Liu Village appeared.

Wang Feng waited for a while, then roared a few more times, attracting people from the surrounding villages.

They cautiously approached Wang Feng, their eyes full of wariness.

“Who are you!?”

The leader of a few strong men shouted.

The cultivation of the four men was not high, even lower than the hunting team of Liu Village in previous years, only around the third or fourth layer of the Body Tempering Realm.

Wang Feng naturally noticed them. His body flickered, and he instantly appeared before them, asking, “Where are the people of Liu Village?”

The men were startled by this scene, their hearts filled with unparalleled shock. A powerful cultivator—this was an existence they could not afford to provoke.

“Dead.”

The leading man replied, his eyes fixed on Wang Feng, as if greatly fearing he would suddenly attack.

“D-d-dead!???”

Wang Feng was stunned by this news for a while before he stammered.

“Yes.”

“How did they die!”

Wang Feng’s voice was a bit agitated. He had heard the village chief say that the village had existed for at least several hundred years. How could it suddenly die out?

Moreover, the willow tree’s cultivation was definitely strong enough in this area.

Wang Feng had just noticed that most of the guardian spirits in the surrounding villages were only around the sixth or seventh layer of the Gathering Spirit Realm.

“A Skeletal General riding a Bone Horse Skeleton General, holding a large saber, suddenly appeared from nowhere and invaded several villages during the day.”

“Daytime!? How is that possible? Aren’t those skeletons only supposed to appear at night!?”

Wang Feng’s voice was very agitated, and he couldn't help but think of the Bone Horse Skeleton General who had tried to kill him at the edge of the cliff.

“We don’t know what happened, we only know that the commotion was huge at that time.”

“All the village’s divine barriers went up, and no one could get out, so we don’t know the situation in Liu Village.”

“When we came out, we found several villages covered in bloodstains, and all the bodies were gone. However… Liu Village only had dilapidated houses, and the people were nowhere to be found.”

Wang Feng was a bit dazed after hearing his words. His figure flickered and disappeared from the spot.