96: Chapter 96: The Festival of Sacrifice (Forty-One)

"Ah..."

"My head hurts so much."

A villager clutched his head.

"It feels like something is moving inside my head!"

"It hurts, it hurts!"

"Save me, save me!"

"Ah!!!"

"I... I remember now."

At that moment, the black shadow also resumed its movements.

It stared directly at Qian Ye, its form churning incessantly.

"It's you, you're the one behind this!"

"What did you just do!"

He actually...

He actually relived everything that had happened once more!

Qian Ye shrugged innocently; she hadn't done anything.

By now, the treasure chest in Qian Ye's hand had disappeared. The black mist surged toward her, looking as if it were forcing her to hand it over.

Qian Ye tilted her head slightly and looked at the group of villagers behind her who were no longer clutching their heads. She said in a lazy voice, "Well, the Village Chief is right here. If you want revenge, you shouldn't miss your chance."

"Village Chief!"

"Where is he?"

"I want to kill him!"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

"..."

The villagers' eyes glowed with a crimson light.

They remembered everything.

They were already dead!

They had been dead for a long time!

They died in that sudden, massive fire!

They were still fast asleep!

They were buried in a sea of flames just like that, without even leaving any remains behind.

At the thought of this, the villagers gradually began to change. Their bodies dissolved into nothingness and reappeared as clumps of black mist.

They had no physical bodies; those forms were merely illusions they had created to believe they were still alive.

"Where is he?"

Why couldn't they see the culprit?

Qian Ye was being stared at by a group of black mists, so she pointed right in front of her.

At that massive clump of black mist.

"He's right before your eyes~"

The villagers stared at the massive black mist in front of them. Sensing a faint aura similar to their own, they were somewhat shocked.

"How is that possible!"

"No... impossible!"

"How could he become like this?"

"Because he was killed too~"

Qian Ye covered her mouth.

"Song Hao, aren't you going to come and explain?~"

Upon hearing his name, Song Hao, who was hidden among a group of puppets, stiffened.

Song Hao walked to the front and stared at Qian Ye, gritting his teeth. "When... when did you find out!"

Qian Ye shrugged.

What did she find out?

She had simply seen that among the villagers, he was the only one currently alive.

However, she wasn't going to say that out loud.

Song Hao glared at Qian Ye. "It's all because of you. Why?"

"Clearly... clearly I was just one step away..."

"Just one step away!"

"I could have saved them!"

Song Hao clutched his head and muttered to himself.

He kept saying he was just one step away.

In the next instant, Song Hao suddenly looked up, his eyes crimson. "Where is the treasure!"

"Where did you hide the treasure!"

"Just one step away..."

"And now everything is gone."

Song Hao slumped to the ground.

Qian Ye stared at him with a half-smile. "You wanted to save these villagers?"

"Then do you know that these villagers are nothing more than lingering obsessions born from their grievances?"

"Even if that treasure really had the power to bring the dead back to life, they could never return."

Qian Ye looked at the black mists and shook her head.

"No, impossible!"

"You're lying to me! Their souls are right here. As long as I find the legendary Soul Gathering Pearl, I can save them all."

"Save them all..."

He began muttering to himself again.

"See, you don't even believe it yourself."

"No, I don't!"

Song Hao covered his head, not wanting to hear her speak.

"You should be able to feel it, shouldn't you?"

Qian Ye stared at the clumps of black mist.

Within these black mists, there was no aura of a soul.

This was merely their unwilling, lingering, and resentful obsession.

That was why they had been controlled by the Village Chief for all these years.

"No, no, no!"

"You're lying to me."

Song Hao suddenly looked up and stared at the giant black mist. "It's all you!"

"It's all your fault!"

"How dare you!"

"Just because they opposed your cruel sacrificial method, you had the heart to kill every single villager in the village."

"I will never forget that day. I thought you were being kind by inviting them to dinner, but I never expected... I never expected..."

"That you would actually drug them."

"And even more, while they were unconscious, you directly burned down the entire village."

Song Hao stared at him intently. If he hadn't been young and playful back then, running off to the back mountain to play, he would have also perished in the sea of fire.

But...

His father and mother...

They remained in that sea of fire forever.

"Heh heh heh... so you knew all along."

"So what if it was me."

The clump of black mist spoke in a somber tone; it hadn't expected there to be a fish that escaped the net.

"Kill you!"

"I'll kill you..."

The clump of black mist laughed upon hearing this. "You want to kill me? You also..."

"Ah..."

The black mist stared at its own abdomen in disbelief. Even though there was only churning black mist there, it felt like the location of a stomach.

A massive hole had appeared there now.

Qian Ye retracted her hong ling umbrella.

"Heehee~ Villains die because they talk too much; that's exactly what happened to you."

"Why?"

"That was clearly just an ordinary umbrella."

Qian Ye picked up red singer and looked it over. "Well, any person or entity who asks that question doesn't get a next life~"

In the next instant, the black mist vanished directly into the air.

The spider lily in her sleeve couldn't help but let out a burp.

The flower bud looked as if it were about to bloom.

Truly sorry, but the black mist hadn't dissipated; it had been absorbed by the spider lily.

As the giant black mist vanished, the villagers behind also began to become flickering and translucent.

"How can this be?" Song Hao stood up and stared at the villagers.

He wanted to go up and grab them, only to discover that he suddenly couldn't touch them; his hand passed directly through their bodies.

"So it's Xiao Hao. You must live a good life and don't do anything for us anymore."

"Sorry, Mom and Dad didn't recognize you all this time. You've worked hard, Xiao Hao."

"We've delayed you, Xiao Hao has already grown up..."

"Go, son, you must be well."

"Don't do anything foolish again."

"..."

Song Hao was already in tears.

He didn't dare to look.

With the sudden death of the Village Chief, those obsessions finally found peace.

Slowly, they dissipated before everyone.

At this time, the Trench Coat Boss also woke up.

"What happened??" He looked around with a face full of confusion.

The Trench Coat Boss's first instinct was to look at Qian Ye's arms, but there was nothing there.

His expression turned ugly for a moment.

"Where is the treasure chest?"

"Where did you put the treasure chest!"

The Trench Coat Boss rushed to Qian Ye's side in a fit of rage, seeing that her hands were empty.

Qian Ye raised an eyebrow, finding it somewhat amusing.

Why on earth did they think there was treasure inside the treasure chest?

How did that rumor even get out?

"If you don't want to suffer, you'd better be quiet."

Qian Ye threatened him blatantly.

Right now, she had no time to deal with them.

She only wanted to leave this place now.

In any case, she was getting a bit tired of staying here.

The Trench Coat Boss had clearly seen Qian Ye's methods before, so he gave her a glare.

Heh, let her be smug for a little longer.