Chapter 237

Looking down from a high vantage point, the people below were laid bare, like ants. Jiang Tianming and his companions had already positioned themselves early on the main road north of the village. Some stood directly on the road, acting as roadblocks, others hid behind rocks, ready to act on cue, and some were stationed within the village to send immediate reports…

With such an arrangement, it was impossible for the villagers to secretly complete the array in the north of the village without being noticed. After a brief observation, the villagers naturally realized this, so they sent the Village Chief to coordinate.

“Tianming, why are you all staying here? Did you lose something?” the Village Chief asked with a benevolent expression, as if he genuinely wanted to help them solve a problem.

Jiang Tianming shook his head, offering the pre-prepared excuse: “We’re completing a school research assignment, studying the geology of a road section, and we chose this spot.”

The Village Chief genuinely had no sway over academic matters. After a moment’s thought, he asked: “So, how many days will you be studying?”

“Two days,” Jiang Tianming specified precisely. The mountain village was quite far from the city, so the person sent to buy cinnabar might not return until tomorrow. But in any case, two days would definitely be enough time for them to complete the Aura Concealment Array, leaving no opportunity for the Village Chief or his people to exploit.

Hearing this answer, the Village Chief’s expression darkened. He asked, troubled: “Does it have to be this road? I think other sections of road in our village are also good and very suitable for research. We’re actually planning renovations here in the next two days; the renovation team is already prepared, and it wouldn’t be good to delay them.”

“It’s fine, we can cover any lost wages,” Li Shu said with a smile. Ability users were generally quite wealthy; let alone hundreds or thousands, even tens of thousands of yuan were mere pocket change to them.

His words made the Village Chief choke. “That’s not what I meant, it’s just… does it have to be this spot?”

“We’ve already begun our research. Changing locations at the last minute would be a significant delay,” Jiang Tianming replied.

After a moment of hesitation, the Village Chief nodded and said no more: “Alright then, but even if you’re studying diligently, don’t stay up too late. Health is the capital of revolution, after all.”

As soon as he spoke, everyone understood his true intention. Clearly, the Village Chief planned to take the villagers to set up the array at night, but Jiang Tianming and his companions naturally wouldn’t let them succeed; they would definitely be out at night.

Su Bei grew bored sitting in the tree. After using an invisibility talisman, he jumped down and headed straight for the Village Chief’s house. He figured he might as well, since he was idle, to check out the Life Stone and make the charade complete.

The Life Stone was hidden by the Village Chief in his underground cellar, but since Su Bei had learned this information from Jiang Tianming beforehand, it posed no obstruction to him.

Descending into the cellar, the Life Stone was just as it appeared in the photos—at first glance, it truly looked like an ordinary large rock, roughly the size of half a washing machine.

This size was not considered large for a Life Stone. As Su Bei knew, some Life Stones protected by the Nightmare Beasts were as tall as a wall, and those possessed truly powerful effects.

However, the one the Old Ancestor acquired was also quite good; simply seeing that it could grant longevity to an entire village showed how potent it was. If the Old Ancestor had truly moved one of those gigantic Life Stones, it would likely have been impossible to hide it here for so many years.

Just as he was about to leave, the Village Chief’s family suddenly descended from above. Su Bei silently moved into a corner, activating his Ability as a precaution.

Although the four people who entered combined couldn’t defeat him, some things were best prepared for in advance, to avoid being caught off guard should any unforeseen circumstances arise.

However, to Su Bei’s surprise, his precautionary measure actually led him to discover something unusual—a Destiny Compass was also located above the Life Stone!

This thing actually had life!

Su Bei was filled with astonishment, even forgetting to listen to the Village Chief’s conversation. He cautiously approached the Life Stone to examine it closely. But the Life Stone showed no signs of life, leaving him unable to discern anything.

If the stone truly had life, Su Bei wouldn’t need to ponder further. Meteorites falling from the sky couldn’t possess life, and moreover, it had already been reduced to dust by an explosion; even if it had life, it couldn’t have survived.

He took out the pendant from his necklace and examined it with his Ability. The Life Stone fragment didn’t generate a Destiny Compass, clearly indicating it was lifeless.

Composing himself, Su Bei looked at the Compass again. Upon seeing it, he realized he had overthought things; this Destiny Compass absolutely couldn’t belong to the Life Stone itself.

He saw that the Major Destiny Pointer within the Compass, like most villagers, was at a death point. The Life Stone couldn’t be destroyed, so the one destined to die had to be someone else.

With life attached to the Life Stone, and having ruled out the idea of the Life Stone itself possessing life, Su Bei’s thoughts cleared considerably, and he immediately understood who the owner of this Compass was.

If there were no surprises, this should be the Destiny Compass of the Old Ancestor, who had feigned death to escape. The Old Ancestor’s soul was attached to the Life Stone.

The fact that the Old Ancestor had died of old age at home was witnessed not only by the villagers but also by the gravekeepers who dealt with corpses year-round. Since they all said there were no issues, the Old Ancestor’s body should indeed have lost its vitality.

However, the Life Extension Array required the beneficiary to be on the verge of death, not truly dead, so the Old Ancestor must have kept a trump card. This trick he held absolutely couldn’t be moved out of the array’s range by any accident, so possessing the Life Stone was the best choice.

Knowing this, Su Bei treated it as a minor interlude. He couldn’t possibly tamper with the plot; how else would the comic author survive?

Back in the tree, it was late at night. As expected, Jiang Tianming and his companions had quietly set up their ambush again. Hidden on the main road by the cover of night and Li Shu’s Ability, they just waited for the Village Chief and his group to arrive, then they would find a way to disrupt their plans.

Not long after, the Village Chief and his group arrived, a grand procession carrying torches. Leading the way were two tall men, one of whom held the Life Stone. Between them was an elderly woman, clearly the chosen “sacrifice” for this occasion.

The elderly woman showed no signs of struggle; she had probably been convinced. However, those around her didn’t relax their vigilance, unwilling to allow any mishap at this critical moment.

As the group walked onto the main road, Jiang Tianming and his companions suddenly emerged. “Village Chief, what are you all doing?”

“…” The Village Chief was first startled upon seeing them, then remained stunned for a good while before asking, confused, “Why are you here?”

Jiang Tianming smiled, a hypocritical smile. “Didn’t we suddenly get inspired, and so hurried over to continue our assignment? We’re planning to pull an all-nighter here today. You don’t need to worry, staying up for a day is nothing for young people; we’ll just catch up on sleep when we get back.”

Village Chief: “…” Was he worried? He was having a heart attack, alright!

“But you see, something urgent just came up in our village. How about you delay for a day?” Having no other choice, the Village Chief dropped his benevolent facade and said sternly.

“Speaking of which, Village Chief, what exactly are you doing?” Li Shu asked, feigning curiosity and half-jokingly. “Anyone who didn’t know might think you were about to carry out a private execution.”

Officer Zhou, very tactfully, immediately chimed in: “How could that be? Intentionally harming someone would lead to a prison sentence. Our villagers are all honest and simple; they would never do something illegal like that.”

He had already understood the matter of the Life Stone. Although he was tempted by longevity, reason ultimately prevailed. Putting aside other considerations, even if he wanted to go back on his word and side with the villagers, he might not be able to defeat Jiang Tianming and the others. It was better to honestly assist the government; perhaps he could even plead for the villagers afterwards.

In fact, pleading for them would be difficult, as three people had already been killed. Although the law doesn’t punish the masses equally, the matter was truly heinous. He couldn’t imagine what kind of punishment these people would receive. Longevity was indeed a powerful tool for seducing minds, easily causing the uncles and aunts, whom he had always considered honest and kind, to go on a killing spree, targeting their own fellow villagers.

After hearing his words, the Village Chief’s expression darkened further, though it wasn’t obvious in the night. “What intentional harm? Of course, we don’t mean that. It’s just, it’s just…”

For a moment, he couldn’t think of a way to explain the current situation and stammered for a long time. It was a young man behind him, quick-witted, who spoke up: “Grandma Chen felt her end was near and told us she wanted to be buried here, asking us to come with her to take a look.”

After speaking, he turned to the elderly woman: “Grandma Chen, am I right?”

Hearing this, the elderly woman lowered her head, her body hunching even more. “Yes…”

Receiving an affirmative answer, the man turned back, satisfied: “This is a custom of our village; it’s not very convenient for outsiders to be present. Gentlemen, perhaps…”

His words were incomplete, but the meaning was quite clear. If they truly knew nothing and were just there for their assignment, they would have wisely left upon hearing this.

However, Jiang Tianming and his companions knew the truth, so naturally, they couldn’t simply leave. The atmosphere between the two sides had reached a tense standoff; it was impossible to use any more verbal tactics to stay there.

“Go!” Jiang Tianming commanded. The three of them, plus Officer Zhou, rushed forward to confront the villagers.

Ability users’ physical constitutions already far surpassed ordinary people, and with Abilities as assistance, within just ten minutes, all the villagers present were firmly tied up with ropes.

The Village Chief, horrified and deeply bewildered, cried out: “What do you want to do, Xiao Jian? We watched you grow up! You can’t just come back and harm the village once you’ve made it big, can you?”

“It’s you, Village Chief, who’ve been deluded,” Officer Zhou said, his face filled with exasperation. “Do you think we don’t know how those three people died? Of course, I couldn’t stand by and watch you make one mistake after another.”

“What? How could you… No, who exactly are you?” At this point, the Village Chief finally realized something was amiss. Jiang Tianming and his companions were clearly not ordinary students; otherwise, Officer Zhou, even if he was here on a case, wouldn’t have brought them along.

Jiang Tianming no longer intended to conceal the truth: “We are Ability users, specially assigned to investigate this incident. We have already thoroughly investigated the matter of you choosing to kill people to keep the treasure.”

Upon hearing this, the Village Chief’s face immediately turned ashen. He hadn’t imagined that in just two short days, all their secrets would be unearthed. If this matter got out, he didn’t need to think to know how bleak the future of their entire village would be.

Helpless, he could only play the emotional card. He looked at Officer Zhou, his aged face instantly covered in tears: “Xiao Jian, I regret it! I shouldn’t have taken such a risk just for our villagers to live long lives. But you know, those people were all willing; I didn’t force them.”

Officer Zhou clearly understood the purpose of his sudden words and, with a helpless expression, told him: “Uncle, I’m not even in the same system as these Ability users; I can’t help you.”

If he could help, perhaps he really would, but unfortunately, he genuinely couldn’t. Officer Zhou continued: “This stone you possess is extremely important. Once its aura leaks, not only will our village be trampled by Nightmare Beasts, but the surrounding areas will likely not escape disaster either.”

Hearing that the treasure was so terrifying, fear arose in the Village Chief’s heart, though he still somewhat disbelieved: “But it was in our village for so long before, and nothing happened, right?”

“That’s because the Old Ancestor was here, and the Old Ancestor himself was an Ability user!” Officer Zhou said, rubbing his temples. He never imagined his own Old Ancestor had hidden such a huge secret. Nor did he expect the villagers to be so brazen as to commit mass murder.

To be honest, Officer Zhou now somewhat regretted his choice to report the problem after discovering it. If he had known, it would have been better to resolve it quietly in private; even if they couldn’t keep the Life Stone, at least the entire village wouldn’t end up in prison.

The young man was still quick-witted. The one who had helped cover up earlier suddenly thought of something: “This treasure will bring catastrophic disaster to the surroundings, so wouldn’t our act of sealing it be considered atoning for our sins?”

The more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed, and his eyes lit up: “No, what ‘atoning for our sins’? We killed people earlier precisely to continue sealing this stone after the Old Ancestor was gone, to protect the people in the surrounding areas! We were forced into it!”

Everyone was almost infuriated to laughter by his shamelessness. Jiang Tianming calmly asked: “Then your Old Ancestor told you not to touch this stone, and also said that if you did, you could call someone to take it away. He gave you two options, yet you specifically chose a third option that involved murder. Why was that?”

The man hadn’t expected them to know even this, and was instantly speechless: “We… we…”

After stammering for a long time, he finally decided to throw caution to the wind: “Anyway, our actions were inherently good, so even if we’re sentenced, it should be a lighter one, right?”

That was actually possible. If they hired a sufficiently reliable lawyer, it was indeed possible to use this point to sugarcoat their intentional killings, thereby achieving a lighter sentence.

However, knowing that they hadn’t thought of this at all when they committed the murders, yet having to watch them use it to escape guilt—it was truly infuriating no matter how one looked at it.

Before Li Shu could mock him, Jiang Tianming’s phone suddenly rang. He opened it and saw a message from Lei Ze’en. After a search with friends, they had finally discovered the purpose of the Human Blood Array.

After reading the message’s content, Li Shu revealed a kind and gentle smile: “I’m sorry, but it seems we’ll have to disappoint you. The array you created is for resurrecting the Old Ancestor, not for shielding auras. So, I don’t think you’ll be able to get off scot-free with that, you know!”

“What? Resurrect the Old Ancestor?” The Village Chief was full of questions, and not just him; the villagers behind him were also very confused.

Li Shu, in good spirits, explained the function of the Human Blood Array to them. The array’s main purpose was to extend someone’s life, not to conceal auras. As for whose life it would extend, it was naturally the life of whoever gave them this array.

Only then did they realize they had been tricked by the Old Ancestor. After all their hard work killing so many people and doing so much, in the end, they wouldn’t achieve longevity and would even lose their own lives.

But if Su Bei were to say it, they deserved it. The Old Ancestor indeed had considerable selfish motives and intentionally set a trap for the villagers by exploiting their selfishness. Yet, it couldn’t be denied that the Old Ancestor had also provided plenty of room for maneuver; it was just a pity the villagers chose none of them.

Just as everyone, except Su Bei, thought everything was settled and they were preparing to escort the Village Chief and his group away to conclude their mission, the “sacrifice,” the elderly woman who had been released from restraints, suddenly flashed a determined look in her eyes. She pulled a fruit knife from her waist, slit her wrist without hesitation, and then lunged onto the main road.

“Cui Xia, what are you doing!” the Village Chief questioned, startled. “You don’t need to die now!”

The elderly woman’s face turned pale from rapid blood loss, but her expression showed no weakness; instead, she had a radiant look. “You don’t need me to die? Now is when you’ll be begging me not to!”

Completely different from her previous calm, or rather, despondency, her eyes were now filled with hatred, accompanied by the satisfaction of impending revenge: “Since even if I send you to prison, you won’t serve many days, I might as well drag you all down with me here.”

“Elderly woman, you…” Ling You, rarely speaking, frowned deeply, wanting to say something.

However, the elderly woman directly interrupted her: “I know you few are good people; hurry and leave, don’t get entangled in this array. He said that as long as I shed blood on this road, the array will automatically form. You can’t stop me now.”

As soon as she said this, Ling You suddenly noticed that the blood flowing from her wrist onto the ground was strangely and automatically forming a pattern. Although only less than half of the outline was complete, Ling You could still recognize it as the pattern of the Human Blood Array.

Jiang Tianming discovered this array even before her. He was initially thinking about how to handle it—whether immediately stopping the elderly woman’s bleeding would be effective—when he heard her words.

He suddenly looked up: “‘He,’ elderly woman, who told you this?”

“The Old Ancestor told me; I recognized his voice,” the elderly woman replied, not minding the question. “He told me in my ear that he is about to be resurrected.”

After saying this, she weakly sat on the ground. The array was still continuously drawing blood from her wound; at this point, only half of the area remained until the array was fully formed.

Simultaneously, the villagers also began to genuinely feel their bodies weakening. They noticed that something seemed to be slowly draining from their bodies, and as this substance flowed out, their condition deteriorated.

They still had to stop the elderly woman. Although these villagers were indeed hateful, they shouldn’t die in such a way, nor should they use their lives to satisfy another person’s gain.

Thinking this, Jiang Tianming immediately stepped forward to restrain the elderly woman, taking out a hemostatic bandage made by a healing-type Ability user from his storage ring and applying it to her. This bandage could generally stop bleeding as long as the wound wasn’t too large.

However, the next second, a translucent, soul-like man suddenly appeared, ripped off the bandage Jiang Tianming had just applied, and kicked Jiang Tianming away.

Su Bei, watching from the tree in the distance, couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He glanced at his phone, which was recording, and his smile deepened. A great clip, whether for sharing in the group for fun or for threatening Jiang Tianming into doing his homework.

If he wasn’t mistaken, that man should be the “legendary” Old Ancestor. Seeing the elderly woman prevented from completing the final array, he was naturally anxious. It was unexpected that this fellow could even appear in a spirit body form to stop others; he truly had some tricks.

But then again, it made sense. To be able to enter the Nightmare Beast World, retrieve a Life Stone from there, and leave unharmed, he must be a very powerful Ability user.

At this moment, Su Bei could somewhat understand him. The Old Ancestor had lived in seclusion in the mountain village for the sake of so-called longevity, and presumably, even with no worries about food or clothing, he had lived a rather frustrating life all these years.

Ultimately, he found that it was all for naught; he could only live a bit longer, not become immortal. All those years before had been wasted, so wouldn’t that drive someone to psychological abnormality?

Su Bei sat in the tree, leisurely watching Jiang Tianming and his companions fight the Old Ancestor’s phantom. This phantom had a rather buggy aspect: he could interact with others, but others couldn’t interact with him.

Li Shu’s Ability could affect the Old Ancestor, but his Mental Energy wasn’t as abundant as the Old Ancestor’s, so his influence was naturally limited. Thus, among the three, Jiang Tianming was the only one who could physically touch the Old Ancestor, yet he couldn’t defeat him.

Ultimately, Ling You played a crucial role. She produced a soul-affecting virus, first transmitting it to Jiang Tianming. Then, Jiang Tianming endured severe soul pain to infect the Old Ancestor.

The Old Ancestor writhed in agony on the ground, finally unable to prevent them from stopping the elderly woman’s bleeding. However, it was too late to stop the bleeding now; enough blood had been used to create the array. In less than a minute, the array would be fully formed, and then the entire Life Extension Array would take effect, resulting in the death of all villagers.

“Quick, tell us how to prevent the array from activating! If you don’t tell us, even if you successfully extend your life, this virus will remain on you permanently,” Jiang Tianming, in a moment of crisis, had a flash of inspiration and thought of a good way to threaten the opponent.

Although what he said wasn’t necessarily true, it didn’t matter; only Ling You present knew the truth, and Ling You wouldn’t contradict him.

Upon hearing this, the Old Ancestor also became afraid. He certainly didn’t want to be resurrected only to end up wishing he were dead. After a moment’s thought, he rolled his eyes and pointed at Ling You: “I want you to promise that you won’t use your Ability on me after I answer.”

Ling You pursed her lips: “If what you say is the truth.”

The Old Ancestor smiled, then answered: “As long as my true body is killed before the array activates, without a user, the array will naturally dissipate.”

Hearing this, Su Bei in the tree also smiled. Wasn’t this a perfect match for his expertise?