Chapter 83 The Squad is Formed, Who is He?
"That's perfect. If you don't mind, let's go to my place for a bit."
Hua Li gave Tang Wanwan and Mo Ziyan a wink, and the three of them tacitly followed Aunt Qi back.
Tang Wanwan, holding Ao Bai, whispered, "Who is Qi Zhi? Is she a family member?"
Huali nodded, "Qizhi is a friend of mine. She's in Sunset City right now. I came here to pass on a message for her."
Tang Wanwan nodded and muttered, "The people in this village are quite simple and honest. They come up and ask whatever they want without asking any questions."
A single word awakens one from a dream.
Yes, Karin only verbally said she was Qizhi's friend, without any tokens or proof, and the couple believed her?
As they were talking, the group arrived at the dilapidated courtyard. Hua Li intentionally reminded Tang Wanwan not to expose other people's shortcomings, but Tang Wanwan walked in without looking at them and even straightened the door frame.
The little girl's eyes were clear and bright, without the slightest hint of disgust, causing Aunt Qi's tense back to relax quietly.
Karin was taken aback, then suddenly lowered her head and smiled.
Ao Bai nudged Tang Wanwan's palm with his head, "Little Tang is a very good girl."
The usually mild-mannered Tang immediately revealed her true colors upon entering the room: "This place is too small, it's not even as big as my dressing table. Is this really where Qi Zhi lives? There aren't even any things a girl would need?"
"And what have you been meowing about since the beginning, you little kitten?" She pinched Ao Bai's cheek. "If I find out you've been talking badly about me, you're dead."
Hua Li and Ao Bai: "......" A leopard can't change its spots.
Seeing this, Mo Ziyan quickly rescued Ao Bai, and after carefully smoothing its fur, he said, "This time, Junior Sister Wanwan and I came here for the Burning Heaven Tower."
Huali understood perfectly; it was the same thing she had thought.
"This Burning Heaven Tower was originally a divine artifact used to suppress evil spirits, but a few months ago, the sect was suddenly broken into and the barrier beneath the tower was destroyed. The tower spirit took the opportunity to escape with the tower. Wanwan and I searched for it all the way here and found its aura."
"The tower spirit set up a barrier here for some reason. The stronger your cultivation, the more likely you are to disturb it. That's why Wanwan and I disguised ourselves and came in."
No wonder Luo Chuan cooperated with her; now I understand.
The three quickly exchanged information, and a moment later there was another knock on the door. It was Aunt Qi who brought in a basket of fresh fruits and vegetables. "This is for you."
Hua Li glanced at them; they were all fruits uncommon on the plateau and quite expensive. She needed to leave a few spirit stones here after everything was settled.
Having made up her mind, Huali asked the crucial question: "Why did those people drip blood into the well water today?"
Aunt Qi seemed to have known they would ask, and sighed upon hearing this, "That was an agreement reached between the villagers and the gods."
"Gods?" Hua Li and Tang Wanwan exchanged a glance.
“Just a few months ago, this land wasn’t like this.” Aunt Qi was lost in memories. “The scorching sun burned the fields, the rice ears were dying, and the seven tax collectors were pressing us for survival. We were almost unable to live, otherwise we wouldn’t have sold Qizhi to Suoli in exchange for a mere three low-grade spirit stones.”
Huali's smile froze slightly. Sold to? Qizhi, however, said that she did it voluntarily at the time.
Thinking of Qi Zhi's frail appearance, and then looking at Qi Chun running around the yard with a chicken leg in his hand, Hua Li felt only irony.
Aunt Qi continued, "Fortunately, the gods appeared at this time. They brought ripe rice and full granaries, allowing Baiwang Village to rely on the weather for its livelihood. Wheat alone can ripen three times in one season."
"So the exchange is that you have to feed him blood? The god lives in the well?" Tang Wanwan asked in confusion. "This god has some rather peculiar habits."
“No one knows where He is, but we made a promise that as long as we irrigate the well with our blood day after day, and the well connects to the rice paddies, it will bring a bountiful harvest.” Aunt Qi hesitated for a moment, then added, “Actually, I know you are not ordinary people.”
She pointed at Huali, "From the first moment I saw her, I knew you were a cultivator from the cultivation world."
Karin: "??"
Has she developed such a strong aura now?
Tang Wanwan disagreed, "You're mistaken, she doesn't have any spiritual power at all."
Aunt Qi neither argued nor agreed, but when asked, her gaze was unwavering.
"Have you ever seen this deity?" Huali now seriously suspected that she had entered the scene of a large-scale brainwashing pyramid scheme, but she had no evidence.
"Could it be some kind of demon beast in disguise?" Or perhaps it's just the tower spirit itself.
Aunt Qi nodded firmly, "Yes, everyone in this village has seen him. He comes from deep within the wheat fields, and the land beneath his feet becomes fertile because of him. He truly exists."
But Aunt Qi's earnest gaze only earned her two suspicious and bewildered looks.
Perhaps feeling she was wasting her breath, Aunt Qi shook her head and left.
“Something’s not right. Something’s not right about this place.” Tang Wanwan stroked her chin. “What are gods? Aren’t they just humans, demons, and monsters who have successfully cultivated immortality? But no one has successfully ascended to immortality in the entire Xuanhuan Continent for over a thousand years.” She said with certainty, “I think it’s most likely that tower spirit’s doing.”
"Although it is true that the soul was born from a divine artifact, the Brahma Tower still locks up many evil demons. It is said that the core of the tower is connected to a powerful being who failed to ascend hundreds of years ago. One is influenced by one's surroundings, and it is hard to guarantee that he will not have evil thoughts and use the blood essence of mortals to strengthen himself."
Mo Ziyan nodded in agreement. "For now, we should wait and see how things develop."
*
In the pitch-black room, a sliver of moonlight peeked through a crack in the dome, and silvery strands of hair in the shadows of the stone walls rippled in the darkness, as if someone had braided the broken Milky Way.
Tick-tock—tick-tock—
Blood continued to fall, and an indistinct melody pierced the damp night.
"Knock, knock, knock on the stone wall. Stealing the moon in the middle of the night."
Grind and grind, grind until it turns to ash, scatter it to the wheat ears below the mountain.
"Old well water, sweet and crisp..."
*
Cultivators can restore their strength simply by meditating, so Huali took over the entire bed without any qualms.
The next morning, Tang Wanwan and Mo Ziyan were no longer in the room. She scratched her head and went outside, only to find the village unusually lively, with everyone gathered together.
But upon closer inspection, it became clear that their faces all betrayed terror.
Upon seeing Huali, he immediately moved closer and stared intently at her, his eyes filled with longing as if she were his savior.
Huali felt a chill run down her spine from those gazes. She stepped forward and saw Tang Wanwan and Mo Ziyan standing in the same circle, with a corpse at their feet that had clearly been dead for a long time.
The heart was pierced diagonally from the collarbone to the waist by sharp claws, and the internal organs were vaguely visible. The corpse's eyes were wide open, almost popping out of their sockets. From the blackened blood plasma on his face, Huali could vaguely recognize that he was the man who poured blood into the well with a glass bottle last night.
"Dazhu!" Heartbreaking cries echoed through the crowd as his family held his body and wept.
The villagers were terrified.
"The gods must be unhappy with the blood we offer every day. What should we do?"
"The gods are angry, and we will once again suffer a complete crop failure..."
Just then, a timid voice came from behind. Qi Chun sniffled and pointed at Hua Li and the other two, "I heard from my mother that you are cultivators. Do the gods like the blood of cultivators?"
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