The other two trainees remained silent. Shen Boyuan was filled with shame and was about to leave when he saw the courtyard gate next to him open, and one ghost after another floated out.

He was startled at first and subconsciously drew his sword, but then he realized that the ghosts had no ill intentions. Instead, they all bowed to Ming Zhuoying.

In the courtyard, several villagers had faces swollen like pig heads.

Shen Boyuan looked closely before recognizing the familiar features on one of the faces.

"Village chief, what happened to you?"

The village chief pointed at Mingzhuo, and a female ghost emerged from the crowd of ghosts; she was Hu Zhigao's wife.

She glared menacingly at the village chief. "What are you pointing at? I did it! Any objections?"

Shen Boyuan: "But you can't either..."

"Personal grudges are none of your concern, young Taoist priest," Hu Zhigao's wife retorted directly.

Her son's death was not an accident. The top scholar was greedy for fresh flesh and blood, and in addition to the usual sacrificial offerings such as the three kinds of animals, he also needed young boys and girls.

Things are different now. Even if the village chief and the sorceress still have a lot of influence, they wouldn't dare to openly ask villagers to sacrifice their children.

If girls are targeted like this, what about boys? The boys in the village are precious and difficult to seduce, so her son became the target.

She was simply certain that her husband wouldn't dare to cause trouble.

That man was so cowardly. Twenty-four years ago, he had a crush on a girl and had witnessed her getting into a red sedan chair.

The men in the village were all familiar with that sedan chair; they had all seen it in the ancestral hall.

After that, the girl got into trouble, but he didn't even have the courage to ask her a single question.