Dong long long, dong long long!

The sound of gongs and drums echoed ceaselessly across the sacrificial plaza. The entire stage was a scene of joyous celebration.

Some Ghost Villagers performed a vigorous lion dance, so agile and lifelike that one might think the lion had actually come alive.

Others held wine in their mouths and torches in their hands, spewing roaring fireballs that stunned the audience.

Even more shockingly, some villagers held sharp daggers and carved out their own hearts. They placed the trembling organs on the sacrificial platter before their bodies continued to dance wildly in a Spirit Jumping Ritual.

Xiezhi and An City’s Director felt as if they were witnessing the prosperity of Yin Fate Village from long before it became desolate.

An City’s Director frowned.

“If what they’re re-enacting is a past ritual, does that mean the Yin Fate Great God had its claws in this village many years ago?”

The Abnormal Affairs Bureau had been established for many years. Its various systems were already well-developed. Within the country, it had basically achieved proactive prevention of supernatural incidents or timely intervention to stop them from spreading.

Yet a place like Yin Fate Village had gone completely undetected before the incident?

Even after the “Chronicle of the Desolate Village” incident five years ago, they had investigated this place for two full months, nearly peeling back the earth itself. Still, they had found no lingering calamities or cursed items.

Only then was it archived and judged to be a non-threatening Calamity Lair. Some even felt it shouldn’t be defined as a Calamity Lair at all, because there was truly nothing left.

Who the hell knew how those five idiots found the place where the Yin Fate Great God was sealed!

Xiezhi’s face was devoid of expression.

“Mm, after we get back, you’ll write me a self-criticism report. If the investigation back then had been more meticulous, and the Yin Fate Great God had been sealed or dealt with in advance, today’s events could have been avoided. You bear responsibility for this matter.”

An City’s Director stared at him, bewildered.

We’re the same rank, buddy! Why are you acting like you’re my superior?

“Hehe, Old Xie, that joke’s a little cold,” he quipped cheerfully.

However, Xiezhi slowly reached out and materialized ten sheets of Talisman Paper from thin air.

“I’m not joking,” he stated flatly.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The Talisman Paper flew toward the sacrificial stage as if it had eyes, instantly surrounding it. In a flash, a faint blue light shimmered on the paper.

Projections of the performing and spirit-dancing Ghost Villagers’ faces appeared above their heads, but these projections were bound tightly by strange chains.

Xiezhi’s voice suddenly became filled with majesty.

“Court of Judgment! Open!”

The Ghost Villagers stopped what they were doing and abruptly knelt on the ground, kowtowing to him.

At the same time, a distinct golden glint lit up in Xiezhi’s eyes, as if he could see through all secrets and sin. He swept his gaze over the Ghost Villagers on the stage.

A moment later, he sighed. With a casual wave of his hand, he spoke.

“Your sins are heinous, your ignorance profound. Your souls have rotted to the core. Come back and repent in your next life.”

Clang!

The moment his voice fell, the shackles on the Ghost Villagers’ soul projections instantly shattered.

They were no longer bound by the Yin Fate Great God.

But before they could cheer, projections of pale golden swords materialized above their heads. With another wave of Xiezhi’s hand, the swords fell silently.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The next second, dozens of Ghost Villagers collapsed in unison.

Their souls, pierced by the swords, wailed as they dissipated between heaven and earth, filled with suffering and unwillingness.

The “next life” part was the cold joke Xiezhi had told.

It was impossible for them to have a next life.

Xiezhi narrowed his eyes, looking toward the distant Ancestral Hall.

“Let’s go to the Ancestral Hall. The source of the shackles binding these villagers is over there.”

In his eyes, countless black chains stretched out from that direction, binding every villager and torturing their souls. But Xiezhi felt not a shred of sympathy. He could also see that the souls of these villagers were already filled with filth.

It was just the number of these chains. There were simply too many.

An Yin Fate Great God capable of binding so many souls was likely far more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

After hearing Xiezhi point out the direction, a faint smile touched the corner of An City’s Director’s mouth.

With a heavy stomp, his entire body shot out like a cannonball toward the Ancestral Hall. He raised his fist, its knuckles covered in thick calluses, and smashed it down fiercely.

Boom!

A pillar of dust billowed into the sky.

The sight of shattered tiles and collapsing walls made the corner of Xiezhi’s mouth twitch. The large, exquisite Ancestral Hall was nearly half-collapsed from a single punch. The long corridor, in particular, was now a complete ruin.

Just as An City’s Director had said before entering the village, he was very good at hitting people.

To put it another way, when it came to physical damage, he considered himself a powerhouse.

“Where’s the ghost! Get your ass out here and face me head-on!” An City’s Director’s arrogant voice echoed from within the ruins.

He cracked his neck and tore through the building, one room at a time, with a barbarity that was crude to behold. He had no fear of a mental sneak attack from that damned Yin Fate Great God.

Xiezhi was still watching from below. He knew that stubborn mule.

Aside from losing a little Mental Strength when he first entered the village, he hadn’t felt any mental attacks since. It was obvious that Xiezhi was secretly exerting his power, suppressing or blocking them.

He talked a big game about making him write a self-criticism report, but in reality, he wouldn’t slack off on what needed to be done.

What did the young people call it again? A classic tsundere.

Xiezhi’s voice rang in his ear.

“Ten o’clock, two hundred meters away.”

An City’s Director didn’t hesitate for a second.

His entire body shot out again, crossing the two hundred meters in an instant.

There, he saw a decaying Pig’s Head, little more than a skeleton, floating in mid-air.

Though its eyes were hollow, a single glance made the Director feel as if his head was being repeatedly struck by a hammer. A wave of dizziness washed over him.

“Silence!”

Before An City’s Director could start losing Mental Strength, Xiezhi’s majestic voice, empowered by the Court of Judgment, rang out again. The dizziness vanished completely.

The Pig-headed Ghost’s floating husk also trembled, as if it had been struck by some kind of attack. Xiezhi himself had appeared by the Director’s side at some point.

“You’re the Yin Fate Great God, correct? I know you possess sentience. Now, I will ask, and you will answer.”

Xiezhi looked up and spoke calmly. The blue light from the ten sheets of Talisman Paper circling him grew brighter. His aura continued to climb, and an inexplicable pressure emanated from his body.

Even An City’s Director, standing right next to him, felt the unease of a thief facing a policeman. It was a tension akin to having the filth in one’s heart laid bare, preparing to accept judgment.

Damn, this guy’s Court of Judgment is getting stronger and stronger. I never felt like this standing next to him before.

“First, how long ago did you begin to meddle with Yin Fate Village? Second, what is your purpose in descending? Third, who sealed you? Give me the specific details.”

Xiezhi’s tone was unhurried, like a veteran detective interrogating a criminal with a fragile psyche. He had no fear that the other party would be stubborn or lie.

Under the Court of Judgment, a Spirit Body was powerless to resist.

Hearing this, the Pig’s Head looked over. Unexpectedly, it only transmitted a strange mental fluctuation. From this, Xiezhi could sense the meaning the creature wanted to convey.

Yin Body… face-changing… madman…

Penguin… aura… hatred…

Praise… Calamity…

Xiezhi’s expression grew increasingly unnatural. The other party’s sanity seemed to be in a state of chaos. But the last words made him feel a trace of unease.

【Praise Calamity】

This was the creed of an extremely powerful and influential evil organization, the 【Calamity Cult】.

This meant that this Yin Fate Great God was either a creation of the Calamity Cult from the start, or they had tampered with it during its imprisonment.

“You…”

Omm!

Before Xiezhi could continue his judgment, a booming sound echoed in his mind.

Following it was a powerful shackle that locked down Xiezhi’s Mental Strength, preventing him from mobilizing the items and equipment that could deal with a Spirit Body. The Talisman Paper floating around him also dimmed.

【Mental Chains Remaining Time. 30 minutes.】

【This is the effect of a Legendary-grade item and cannot be dispelled by items of the same or lower grade.】

A symbol resembling an inverted triangle gradually appeared on the Pig’s Head’s forehead. In the next moment, its aura instantly crushed his Court of Judgment.

“This is bad! It’s a trap set by the Calamity Cult!” Xiezhi said, gritting his teeth.

That symbol basically confirmed the other party’s connection to the Calamity Cult. They had even left behind a powerful and highly targeted trap item. It would only trigger when an item specializing in dealing with Spirit Bodies was used on the Yin Fate Great God.

It was as if they had long anticipated that someone would come to probe the Yin Fate Great God’s memories. They had put a failsafe on it in advance.

And it was even a Legendary-grade item!

This was a trap meant for him.

“Old Fist! Run!” Xiezhi’s face turned pale as he shouted.

An City’s Director was no fool. The moment he saw the Talisman Paper weaken, he grabbed Xiezhi and turned, intending to leave Yin Fate Village and regroup.

But to his surprise, the Yin Fate Great God moved.

Boom!

Rolling thunder descended from the sky, surrounding the entire Ancestral Hall and forming a lightning cage.

They were trapped.

The Yin Fate Great God floated toward them, its speech halting.

“Although I… dislike male bodies… your… physical strength is adequate. Your soul’s strength is superior. As a temporary vessel… barely acceptable.”

It was clearly planning to use the two of them as its temporary carriers for its descent into the human world. Its current state was actually not very good either. Its power was temporary; it would soon lose its sanity and strength again unless it found a suitable host.

Only by devouring the host’s soul and flesh could it maintain its great power for a period of time.

The seal that damned Penguin had casually thrown down was also terrifyingly strong. If it couldn’t find a soul powerful enough to possess, it had no way of breaking free from this humiliating Pig’s Head.

Once it returned to the human world, the first thing it would do was find that damned, face-changing madman! His body was the best of all!

Watching the Pig’s Head draw closer, An City’s Director found that no matter how he attacked, any physical damage would simply pass right through it.

He was beginning to feel afraid.

They might really meet their end in this wretched place.

Clang!

At this moment of extreme tension, a sound of something tearing through the air and piercing brick and stone rang out. The three beings inside the lightning cage turned their gazes.

They saw a strange, rusty, broken sword stuck in the ground, its hilt wrapped in bandages.

A figure walked in from outside the cage.

The moment his body came into contact with the terrifying lightning, he only paused for a fraction of a second before walking through completely unharmed, as if he had just stepped over a curb.

He pulled the sword from the ground.

The young man extended his index finger, raised his arm to shoulder height, leaned his upper body back slightly, and turned sideways to face the Yin Fate Great God. He struck a pose with the distinct feel of a Jojo character.

He tilted his head and spoke calmly.

“Trash. Do you want to sleep in the ground for another five years? Or are you planning to sleep forever this time? Both I and the Black-hearted Penguin can grant your wish.”

The moment his voice fell, Xiezhi and An City’s Director saw the Yin Fate Great God freeze in mid-air.

It even pulled back a great distance.

It seemed to be filled with terror toward the young man before it.

Because from the man’s words, the Yin Fate Great God recalled the powerlessness it had felt when facing that strange Penguin. If that creature had wanted to kill it, it would have been as simple as crushing an ant.

Its strength was stripped away just like that.

Its main body was sealed just like that.

This fear was now being infinitely amplified by Wu Wang’s 【Fear Monger】 effect, as if that Penguin was about to pop out and smack it with its cane again.

Of course, Xiezhi and An City’s Director knew none of this.

In their eyes, the young man had suppressed the Yin Fate Great God with a single pointed finger. The creature was clearly terrified of him.

You could tell he was terrifyingly strong just from his stance.

Damn it! Where did this powerhouse come from?