"Just mentioning the White Dragon Venerable drove him to such madness. It seems the White Dragon Venerable's name must have quite a deterrent effect here. It's just a pity that he's already dead."
Looking at the old man's corpse on the ground, Bai Hao murmured to himself, then turned and walked towards the edge of the village.
Trees gradually appeared all around, and there was only one road leading forward from outside the village. A thick layer of black ash had accumulated on the ground, indicating that no one had walked through here for a long time. When Bai Hao passed by, he left two distinct sets of footprints on the ground.
Although it was a forest, the surrounding trees were already withered and rotten, without a single leaf on them. It was impossible to tell whether these trees were dead or alive.
The drizzle had stopped, but the dampness made the stench of decay in the air even stronger.
Bai Hao's gaze fell upon the surrounding trees, and the system indeed brought up the control panel.
A tree that's neither dead nor alive is like a person who's lost their humanity; it could probably burn for a long time as firewood.
"Neither dead nor alive...like someone who has lost their humanity..." Bai Hao murmured to himself, not paying much attention, and continued walking forward.
As Bai Hao walked further, something else came into view—a few scattered bones!
One after another, almost complete human skeletons gradually appeared on the ground. They lay on the ground with their hands outstretched, as if they were determined to move forward no matter what.
The further you go, the more bones you find on the ground. They were pursuing something in life, relentlessly pushing forward even in the face of death, but sadly, they never obtained what they wanted. Perhaps some took public transport, while others died along the way, left only as skeletons by the ravages of time.
They were pilgrims, seeking the light, but unfortunately, they died halfway through.
The system's words were inappropriate, but Bai Hao couldn't laugh.
This is a death from many years ago, welcoming outsiders from many years later.
Perhaps they were also warning Bai Hao not to go any further.
But the visitors never believed these things.
After silently mourning for a moment, Bai Hao continued walking forward. As he left the forest, a huge palace came into view.
This palace is extremely grand. The city gate alone is ten zhang high, not to mention the sprawling city walls, which are dozens of times larger than those of ordinary palaces.
Clearly, this is not a palace that ordinary people can live in.
However, the palace also exuded an aura of decay, dilapidated and in ruins, with skeletons hanging on the walls, as if desperately trying to climb the walls, but ultimately being stopped by someone.
A thick layer of bones was piled up in front of the city gate, with corpses piled up like mountains. What exactly happened here?
"White Dragon Venerable... divine beast... could it be a demon beast living inside?" After pondering for a moment, Bai Hao resolutely strode forward, reaching the city gate of the gold coin, and pushed it open with both hands.
“Squeak!”
The city gate, long neglected and not as sturdy as one might imagine, opened slowly from the outside in with a single push, accompanied by a piercing sound.
"call……"
A gust of cold wind swept over me, like someone's breath, arriving so abruptly.
Behind the gate was a vast square, in the very center of which stood a large tree—or more accurately, a tree composed of countless branches and roots—exuding an aura of death. Its dense branches covered most of the square, their reach unknown.
Even more shockingly, people completely wrapped in strips of cloth were hanging from the trees, just like the people Bai Hao had seen in the village ahead.
The person in the tree was not yet dead, but was tightly bound by the tree, struggling desperately and making eerie sounds that sent chills down one's spine.
"Bang!"
The door behind him suddenly slammed shut, and wisps of black mist seeped in through the cracks, and from the dense roots of the trees, black mist surged like a tide.
"Is it finally time to make a move?" Bai Hao decisively drew Qian Jing from behind him, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding black mist.
Seemingly sensing the Thousand Scenes in his hand, the black mist suddenly stopped moving forward, lingering around and "watching" Bai Hao menacingly.
From the black mist, a figure slowly emerged. It was a man with lifeless eyes, wearing clothes that Bai Hao recognized.
"The clothes of the Moon Invitation Sect... You're from the Moon Invitation Sect?!"
Bai Hao recognized the man's face; he was one of the people from the Inviting Moon Sect who had been working with them this time. Although he didn't know the man's name, Bai Hao remembered him.
Previously, they were all enveloped in the light, but when they arrived here, he was all alone. Bai Hao thought he wouldn't encounter anyone else, but he didn't expect to meet the people from the Inviting Moon Sect so quickly.
"Where are the rest of you? Are you alone?" Bai Hao stepped forward and asked.
Just then, the man suddenly became violent, his expression ferocious, and pounced on Bai Hao like a hungry wolf.
After quickly dodging, Bai Hao frowned and shouted, "What are you doing? I'm from the Falling Sea Sect!"
But the man seemed not to hear him. His first attack missed, so he continued to attack again and again without hesitation, charging at Bai Hao once more.
Bai Hao dodged several times, but it was no use. The man kept lunging at him relentlessly, without any skill, like a wild man, moving clumsily. Bai Hao just didn't want to hurt him.
He has lost his humanity; killing him is the best redemption for him. Of course, you can also become his companion and squat in a corner eating flies.
The system's words gave Bai Hao the determination to take action. He stomped his foot and flashed past, his Thousand Scenery sword transforming into a black streak of light, directly cleaving the Yaoyue Sect disciple in two.
"Bang!"
Like the previous demon king, the man's waist-severed wound did not bleed; instead, wisps of black energy flowed down like blood, taking away the last trace of his life force.
"I've only been here for less than a day, and someone has already been corrupted?" Bai Hao frowned deeply as he looked at the two pieces of corpse on the ground.
He still hasn't figured out where he is, and the people of the Inviting Moon Sect have all been corrupted and lost their humanity.
And what exactly does this so-called "human nature" refer to?
"System, you said this is a completely new world, why haven't you given me anything, like a reward or something?"
With no one able to answer the question, Bai Hao simply focused his attention on the system.
Since arriving here, he has noticed that his system has become much more active, but there are still no rewards.
[There's no chance of a reward, but I suggest you give up on that idea, because that little puppy up ahead is coming to kill you.]
"Puppy?"
As soon as the system finished speaking, the black mist surged again, and a gigantic figure slowly emerged from within...
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