After the village chief finished making the arrangements, Cao Ya left the Remnant Village, his face weathered and his right arm empty, gone.
During the day, the Great Ruins are not so dangerous, and various evil spirits rarely appear. But at night, gods and demons run rampant, and Cao Ya dares not run around. If he encounters any monster, he will be doomed on the spot.
He didn't become a god after all. In this world, those who become gods are equivalent to three-star level, and the powerful ones are even four-star level.
Even with the combined power of various systems, he could barely reach the three-star level, but he still couldn't defeat those terrifying gods and demons.
That kind of creature does exist within the Great Ruins.
Moreover, he wasn't born in Youdu, but in Yankang, a being in a world raised by the gods.
Otherwise, why would they rely on special stone statues to protect the old and disabled village and deter creatures in the darkness?
There is an ancestral rule in Daxu: do not go out after dark.
Having captured the Iron-Bone Tiger, Cao Ya dragged it back to the village with one hand.
Upon reaching the village entrance, he paused briefly, looked around, and his gaze became deep and unfathomable.
At the four corners of the Remnant Village stand four ancient stone statues, weathered and worn. They appear normal during the day, but at night they emit a faint glow, deterring monsters in the darkness and protecting the Remnant Village.
When Cao Ya returned to the village, everyone else was there. Qin Mu looked sullen, as if he had encountered something that was troubling him.
Not long after Cao Ya returned, night fell, and the stone statues at the four corners of the old village lit up on their own again. Qin Mu seemed to be trying to sneak out, but Cao Ya stopped him and dragged him back.
Cao Ya said with a half-smile:
"I've warned you so many times, don't go out after dark."
Qin Mu looked up and asked:
Why can't we go out after dark?
Granny Si walked over, pinched Qin Mu's ear, making him cry out in pain. Then Granny Si said solemnly:
"When it gets dark, there are some terrifying things that move around in the darkness; going out means certain death."
"The stone statues in the village will protect us, and things in the darkness will not dare to enter the village."
Qin Mu asked curiously:
Do other villages have similar stone statues?
Grandma Si nodded.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then looked at the two respected elders beside him and said:
"Grandma, Grandpa Cao, something strange happened today..."
In the village of the disabled, Cao Ya did not hide his identity. Although he was only one-armed, he used his real name and surname, and Qin Mu always addressed him as Grandpa Cao. Actually, he was initially called Uncle Cao, but Qin Mu addressed others as Grandpa and Grandma, which made Cao Ya feel that he was a generation lower, so he asked Qin Mu to call him Grandpa Cao, just like Grandpa Ma, who also only had one arm.
Qin Mu said that besides the strange things that happened today, a woman crawled out of the belly of the cow he raised and tried to kill him. In the end, the lame grandfather stabbed the woman who crawled out of the cow's belly to death.
He had just tried to sneak out to the riverbank to check the cowhide and find out what was going on.
Cao Ya glanced at Granny Si. That woman was the one Granny Si brought back from outside the Great Ruins, specifically to provide milk for Qin Mu.
In the Remnant Village, there was only one woman, Granny Si. Although she pretended to be an old woman, she was actually incredibly beautiful and stunningly gorgeous, to the point of being a scourge to the country. On her wedding night, she plotted against her husband and master, stole the sect's secret manual, and fled to the Remnant Village in the Great Ruins.
As for the woman who was turned into a cow by Granny Si using the secret methods of the demonic sect, she deserved to die. She was too vicious. It didn't matter that the cripple stabbed her to death.
Granny Si said casually:
“Oh, you mean that woman? The cripple told me about it, and he handled it very well. Back when you were four years old and weaned, I said I would sell the cow, but you couldn't bear to part with it, so I let you keep feeding it. Look, now look what's happened! I told you that if you breastfeed until you're four, you'll develop an attachment to the cow.”
Qin Mu blushed. Weaning at four years old was indeed a bit too long, but it seemed that the key point wasn't weaning at four years old.
"Grandma, that woman was killed by Grandpa the Cripple."
Grandma Si waved her hand, not minding at all, and smiled:
"Good riddance! She should have died eleven years ago. If it weren't for nursing you, how could that vicious woman have survived until now?"
Qin Mu was puzzled.
Grandma Si patted Qin Mu's head and said:
"That woman is the wife of the city lord of Xianglong City, which is thousands of miles away from here. The city lord of Xianglong City is lustful, and she is jealous. The city lord of Xianglong City likes to have affairs outside and abduct innocent women. Every time the city lord of Xianglong City ruins a woman's chastity, this city lord's wife will send people to beat the woman to death."
As she spoke, Granny Si gave a cold laugh:
"She got off too easy being stabbed to death by that cripple."
Cao Ya remained silent for a moment. The city lord and his wife of Xianglong City were despicable people who oppressed the people. In this world, there are countless people in power like them.
However, he offended Heaven and hid in the Great Ruins, not daring to go out easily.
In comparison, Granny Si, who was merely hiding from pursuers, was actually much freer.
Qin Mu was unaware of this and was somewhat bewildered upon hearing it. Then he became utterly distraught. The cows he had been drinking milk from for so many years... well, women, turned out to be some damned thing.
“I infiltrated Xianglong City intending to kill her, but I found out she had just given birth to a child, only three months old. I also remembered that you didn’t have any milk yet, while she did, so I turned her into a cow and brought her back to nurse you. I just didn’t expect that this woman would break free of the seal and be able to speak, which almost harmed you. Luckily, that cripple appeared in time,” Granny Si said thankfully.
Qin Mu was very surprised:
"Grandma, how can a person turn into a cow?"
Grandma Si chuckled, revealing a mouthful of missing teeth:
"You want to learn? I'll teach you."
Cao Ya shook his head and said:
"Let him build a solid foundation first. If he's too ambitious and tries to learn your techniques directly, it could easily backfire."
Grandma Si muttered discontentedly:
"Well, you mean you want to learn your left-handed knife technique? Mu'er is a normal person, why would he need to learn left-handed knife techniques? He might as well learn normal knife techniques from the butcher."
Qin Mu tugged at Granny Si's sleeve.
Grandma Si patted Qin Mu's little hand and smiled:
“Your Grandpa Cao isn’t that petty, right, Cao Ya?”
Finally, he went to ask Cao Ya, glanced at her twice, and his gaze was slightly different.
To be honest, before coming to the Remnant Village, Granny Si had no idea that Cao Ya existed. He was unknown and she had never heard of him. But after meeting Cao Ya, Granny Si was astonished to find that this guy was actually much more powerful than her.
If we were to ask who the strongest among the group of cripples in the village of Canlao is, it would undoubtedly be the village chief, who has lost his hands and feet. But if we were to ask who is the most unfathomable, it would have to be Cao Ya. No one can figure out Cao Ya's trump card. They have only occasionally heard Cao Ya mention that he once swung his sword at the sky, and after his defeat, he went into seclusion in the Great Ruins.
Those who dare to brandish their swords at the gods in the heavens are the most fearless warriors in the world!
In the village of the disabled and elderly, few have this courage.
Because many villagers in the Remnant Village have developed problems with their Daoist beliefs, some even breaking down, doubting themselves, and no longer possessing the courage and determination to advance.
Cao Ya was the only exception. Although he looked somewhat weathered, everyone else could sense in their daily interactions that Cao Ya's Dao heart was intact and incredibly strong, which made them envious and saddened.
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